Alex Mitchell - The 13th Tablet

‘Sorry. Mina. It’s not you. I’m worried.’ He ran a hand over his weary face.

‘Why? You look tired, Jack. Did you manage to get hold of your mother and sister last night to let them know you’re bringing a guest?’

‘No. They weren’t in. I’ll leave a message at their hotel, telling them we’re on our way.’

‘I’m sure they’re fine. Don’t worry,’ she said.

‘They’ve never travelled before. Of course I worry.’

‘What flight did you find?’ she asked, changing the subject.

‘I managed to get two seats with Thai Airways, but the flight was overbooked. We might be on standby today and tomorrow.’

‘That’s good, isn’t it?’ Mina said, sitting up, her hair flowing down, covering her breasts.

‘It’s alright, but I’d rather be there already.’

‘Me too!’

He kissed her, ‘I’m going downstairs to have breakfast.’

After a short drive through the countryside, Jack and Mina had joined the M25, the infamously congested ring-road, which would take them all around London, westward to Heathrow. The departure from Hildersham had been an emotional one. As British as the Bamarts were, they had hugged both Mina and Jack for a long time and wished them the best of luck. They agreed to meet after the New Year to discuss future plans concerning the tablet.

‘I wanted to ask you something,’ said Mina, ‘when you said your mother and sister had never travelled before, you meant abroad?’

‘Yes. They’ve travelled a few times to Philadelphia, to see my dad’s brother and his family, but that’s about all.’

‘So where are we going in Thailand?’ asked Mina.

‘Well, our final destination is Phuket, but we have a stopover in Bangkok.’

Jack thought about the last time he had travelled to Thailand. It was a covert operation in cooperation with the D.E.A. and Thai military forces. The operation had been successful in uncovering a drug smuggling ring with international connections. He had been sent as a military liaison officer, to make sure that their coordinated efforts would run smoothly. After the happy conclusion of the operation, he had spent a wonderful holiday travelling on a chartered boat in the Andaman Sea, stopping here and there in secluded coves to swim to his heart’s content. He had been to Thailand a few times before for other, more personal reasons and always felt at home there. He smiled to himself, remembering his last conversation with his mother.

‘Jack? A penny for your thoughts, as the Brits say?’ asked Mina.

‘I was just thinking of the efforts I had to make to convince my mum to go to Thailand.’

‘And?’ asked Mina, quizzically.

‘It was so funny. How often do you have to convince people to go on holiday?’

‘You didn’t have to talk me into it!’

‘Well, it was quite different with my mum. She could’ve stayed in any remote spot, without another tourist on the horizon. But instead, she preferred to be somewhere where other Americans stayed.’

‘Ah?’ said Mina, ‘not very adventurous, is she?’

‘Yeah. In the end, I bought them a package holiday to Phuket. She’s terrified of anything new and exotic. Jen, my sister, is hardly different. Anyway, that’s why I sent them to Patong beach: even if you’ll find as many sex shows as restaurants there, she wanted to be somewhere full of tourists, rather than one of Phuket’s more secluded beaches.’ A few more miles and Jack had to slow down almost to a halt, as they were stuck in traffic. Mina had been thinking of her own situation for a time.

‘I’m not sure I want to return to Iraq when we get back from our travels. I think I have enough material now to wrap up my PhD at Columbia and surprise the academic world.’

‘You might want to be a little careful.’

‘Why? Now that we’re pretty sure that something will happen in a decade, and the secret will be out in the open before long, won’t everything sort itself out?’

Jack looked at her. He didn’t want to disclose his fears about Wheatley, so he chose his words carefully; ‘I don’t think the Intelligence services would appreciate us going public without preparation,’ he said.

‘I wish you hadn’t contacted your… friend,’ Mina said, speaking through gritted teeth.

‘Who? Stella?’ Jack asked.

‘Yes Jack, Stella. Don’t play dumb with me.’

Jack could not believe his ears. With everything they had gone through, Mina was fishing for information about another woman. He responded with just a hint of a smile. ‘She’s just a friend, a really old friend in the service.’

‘Oh. That’s it, just a friend?’

‘Yeah.’

‘Was she more than a friend, years ago?’

‘Alright. We had an affair but it didn’t work out. Come on Mina, don’t tell me you’re jealous?’

‘You’re right. Why should I be? First you put me on a train to Cambridge on my own and then you run off to meet some wonder-woman in a pub in London. Hey, why should I be jealous of an operative who was previously your superior officer?’

He laughed and she punched him in shoulder.

‘Why are you laughing?’ she asked.

‘I never thought I’d enjoy fighting with you so much.’

‘You’re impossible,’ she blurted.

Heathrow airport. Thai Airways check-in desk.

Mina crossed her fingers, and prayed they would make the flight that evening rather than the next day. Unfortunately, around eight p.m. the final call for passengers sounded in the departure zone and their names weren’t announced. Jack was quite dejected.

‘Don’t worry, Jack. I’m sure we’ll catch tomorrow’s flight and you’ll find your mum and Jen are just fine. They probably went off on a fishing trip or something.’

‘Yes, you’re probably right,’ he replied absent-mindedly.

The airline offered them a double room in a four star hotel near the airport at a reduced price. They accepted the offer, picked up the vouchers and walked out of the airport to hail a cab.

Heathrow airport, four star hotel.

After a quick but delicious dinner, Jack and Mina went up to their room. Mina had tried cheering Jack up throughout the meal, but he seemed out of sorts. ‘Not a great start to the holiday,’ she thought to herself. He seemed so remote. She wondered if he’d soon snap out of his mood. He sat on the corner of the bed, his arms hanging by his side. Mina sat down next to him.

‘Jack? Please talk to me.’

He sighed and then looking away from Mina, began to speak.

‘I know it might sound stupid, but I didn’t really keep in touch with my mother and sister for almost a decade, until I quit the army. And even then, I only went to see them for the first time six months ago. That’s when we decided to spend our first family reunion holiday together in Thailand.’

‘So where’s the problem?’ asked Mina.

‘I guess I feel guilty for not being there already.’

‘Is something else bothering you, Jack?’ she asked.

‘Why do you say that?’

‘You’re not used to doing nothing with your time, are you? Wasn’t it Daniel who called you an Action Hero?’

‘Maybe. I felt at peace when I started my engineering work at the village.’

‘You were still doing something.’

‘So?’

‘So, I think that instead of worrying for no good reason, you should embrace this time to think about where you’d like to be going.’

He searched her face for any signs of pity and found nothing but an inviting smile. Jack felt the wisdom in Mina’s words, and understood what she meant, but he still couldn’t shake off his worry. Where were his mother and sister? He still hadn’t been able to get in touch with them. But maybe Mina was right and he was worried for other reasons. His family history didn’t usually bother him that much. He just tended to avoid thinking about it. But right now, he felt that his tough guy act was crumbling under Mina’s penetrating gaze.