Alex Mitchell - The 13th Tablet

‘We’ve already tried out lots of the restaurants, but there’s a real nice place with authentic Thai cuisine, close by,’ said Jack’s mother.

‘It’s really awesome,’ added Jen.

Knowing his mother, Jack could just imagine the restaurant: an ordinary joint with a congenial owner smooth-talking his mum into believing the most absurd things about ‘traditional Thai cuisine.’ But he was happily surprised by his mother’s choice of venue for their Christmas Eve dinner. It was not at all the tacky restaurant he had imagined but a small well-established restaurant, owned by a Frenchman who had married a local Thai woman. They had opened the place a few years back, offering simple and well-prepared food, using only fresh produce from the island. It was a delightful meal. Jen kept smiling at Mina and Jack, she was so happy and proud to be spending time with her brother. When Mina went to the bathroom, both women starting peppering Jack with questions.

‘One at a time, you’re not making any sense!’ said Jack.

‘How did you meet?’ asked Jen.

‘In Iraq. She was working at the university in Mosul, on leave from Columbia University in New York.’

‘They have a university out there?’ asked Jack’s mother.

‘Yeah,’ answered Jack.

‘She’s awesome,’ said Jen.

‘I like her. She seems real smart, but she’s no snob,’ said his mother.

The conversation went on and on in the same vein. Jack wondered if he could take much more of it. When Mina returned, she looked worried. Jack stood up immediately.

‘What’s wrong?’ he asked.

‘I’m not sure. My phone was on silent. I’ve just realised that I have twelve missed calls from Daniel.’

‘What? You gave him your Thai number?’

‘Yes. I emailed it to him, just in case.’

‘In case of what?’ Jack replied, frustrated by Mina’s carelessness. ‘What if the Bamarts’ phone was tapped?’

‘Well, I don’t know. But Daniel’s obviously trying to reach us, isn’t he?’ she said. ‘I’m going to call him back’ she added, and walked out to the beach front to make the phone call.

‘What’s wrong with her?’ asked Jen.

‘I’m not sure. She needs to make a phone call. She’ll be back in a few minutes,’ said Jack.

Mina dialled the Bamarts’ number in Hildersham.

‘Hello?’ said Daniel.

‘Daniel, it’s Mina,’ she said.

‘Mina! Thank God! I’ve been trying to reach you guys all day,’ he yelled down the phone.

‘Can you call me back on this number?’

‘Yes of course,’ he said, and hung up.

She sat down in the sand, and tried breathing deeply through her nose, to calm herself. She jumped as the phone started ringing in her hand.

‘Daniel?’

‘Yes.’

‘What’s going on? Why have you been trying to reach us?’ asked Mina.

‘It’s a catastrophe, a disaster!’ he answered frantically.

‘What? What’s a disaster? You’re not making any sense!’

‘I made a terrible mistake in my calculations,’ he replied, lowering his voice.

‘What do you mean? Did you make a mistake when transposing the dates from the Akkadian calendar to the Gregorian or Julian calendars?’

‘Nothing like that. I misread Jack’s notes. I…’ The line went dead.

Jack stepped out the restaurant and found Mina sitting in the sand holding her head in her hands. He knelt beside her.

‘So?’ he asked.

‘The line went dead. He said he made a mistake in his calculations.’

Her phone rang suddenly.

‘Mina?’ said Daniel.

‘Yes. Daniel, Jack is next to me. I’m putting it on loudspeaker, so the sound won’t be that great.’

‘Hi Jack. You both need to hear this.’

‘What?’ asked Jack.

‘Well, I made a mistake. It’s most embarrassing, I calculated everything but I misread two of Jack’s figures.’

‘You do have an appalling handwriting, Jack,’ Mina said. But Jack didn’t take any notice of her. ‘What mistake, Daniel?’

‘Well, instead of the events happening in 2014…’

Mina and Jack looked at each other with growing unease.

‘Yes?’

‘… Guys, it’s going to happen now, exactly ten years earlier, in 2004. In two days time in fact.’

Jack and Mina went dead silent.

‘Mina? You still there? Jack? You need to contact the appropriate authorities right now . You both need get out of there with your family. There’s no way of knowing what’s going to happen and how safe you are in Thailand,’ Daniel said. He had obviously been thinking of nothing else since realising his mistake.

‘I understand,’ said Jack, ‘but are you sure this time?’

‘Yes, one hundred percent.’

‘The problem, Daniel,’ said Jack, ‘is that we still don’t know exactly what is about to happen, nor where exactly it will hit. That means I’m not sure who to contact.’

‘But something is going to happen; think of everything you’ve gone through, Wheatley, Shobai’s people scouting for this tablet through the ages… it must mean something! It must be for real!’

Jack felt his stomach churn. He had to spring into action. ‘OK Daniel. We won’t stick around to find out if it is or isn’t,’ he answered, ‘we’ll get back in touch once we land in the US. We’ll try to contact the appropriate authorities.’ Jack added, ‘Not that anyone will believe us.’

‘Alright. I’m really sorry about this,’ said Daniel.

‘It’s not your fault,’ answered Jack through clenched teeth, before hanging up the phone.

Jack reached for Mina, who was shaking violently. They held each other tightly, then stood up and returned to the restaurant, where Maureen and Jen were wondering what on earth was going on.

‘Mum, Jen, don’t freak out. We all need to return to the hotel right away and pack.’

‘Why, what’s happened?’ asked Jen.

‘I’ll explain everything later. Hopefully we’ll manage to get flights out tonight, or at the latest tomorrow morning. All you need to know right now, is that something catastrophic is about to happen in this region and we need to get the hell out of here.’

‘Alright Jack,’ said his mother, trusting her son instinctively.

They left the restaurant and separated near their hotel. Jack gave his mother and sister a few more instructions and left with Mina to find an internet cafe. They located one off the main street, next to a shop selling anything and everything from telephone cards to sandals. Mina realised she was still wearing winter shoes. She hadn’t even had time to buy sandals. They sat at one of the terminals and Jack starting looking for flights.

‘Who should we contact?’ asked Mina.

‘I’m not sure, Mina. We need to work that out.’

‘Why don’t you just call your “friend” in the secret service or whoever she is?’

‘I told you. I can’t do that,’ Jack replied, ‘it would start off a whole snowball effect of questions. Believe me, we’re better off staying off their radar. No, we need to figure it out ourselves.’

‘What would be the first point of call in a situation like this? Some sort of Earthquake centre, or Seismic tremors?’ asked Mina.

‘I guess, but then again, it’s supposed to happen in the Indian Ocean, so maybe we should contact NOAA.’

‘That sounds pretty biblical,’ said Mina.

‘N.O.A.A.’ said Jack, spelling out each letter, ‘not Noah! It stands for the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA.’

‘Ah, where are they based?’

‘I’m not sure. Let’s look it up online.’

Mina typed the word ‘NOAA’ and ‘Indian Ocean’ into Google. Lots of results came back, but searching some more, she found their switchboard number in Hawaii.