Charles Brokaw - The Lucifer Code

‘Lover’s quarrel while I was gone?’ Cleena asked.

‘Not hardly.’ Lourds accepted his new beer and surreptitiously examined the surface for any signs of foreign materials.

‘Please.’ Cleena rolled her eyes. ‘I’m not that juvenile.’

‘You have acknowledged that you’re incredibly young,’ Lourds pointed out.

‘We were discussing the possibility of you coming with us,’ Olympia stated bluntly.

‘That isn’t a possibility,’ Cleena replied. ‘That’s a fact.’

Olympia smiled sweetly, as if butter wouldn’t melt in her mouth. ‘We weren’t sure if you still wanted to go after everything that’s happened.’

Calmly, Cleena met the older woman’s gaze full measure. ‘Are you thinking about dropping out of this little treasure hunt?’

‘It’s not,’ Olympia insisted through gritted teeth, ‘a treasure hunt.’

‘Whatever.’ Cleena flicked her gaze to the book in front of Lourds. ‘But I’m betting you didn’t invite the professor over for a little slap and tickle and a wild goose chase.’

Crimson briefly coloured Olympia’s cheeks before she regained her composure. ‘What Thomas and I have between us isn’t so cavalier as you propose.’

‘Please,’ Cleena protested. ‘I’m trying to keep my drink down. What you and the professor do in the sanctity of your borrowed hotel room isn’t any business of mine.’

‘Yet you were a peeping Tom.’

She has you there, Sevki said into Cleena’s ear. Cleena’s face burned for just a moment.

‘Learn anything?’ Olympia taunted.

‘Only that wine and cheese are probably the only things that get better with age.’

Oh, that’s cold, Sevki said.

Looking both irritated and discomforted, Lourds cleared his throat. ‘Ladies, perhaps we should stick to the agenda.’

Olympia crossed her arms and glared at Cleena. ‘If you’re looking for some sort of profit, you’re going to be sadly mistaken.’

Cleena sipped her water. ‘I know you and I don’t hang out in the same social circles, but I can tell you one thing I’ve learnt, and that is that people don’t kill each other for nothing. Whatever this thing is you’re looking for, somebody plans to profit from it. Money will be involved. Eventually.’

That, she knew, was inarguable.

Lourds followed Olympia through the narrow streets. Many of the older buildings were in their original unaltered state and dated back several centuries despite the times the city had been conquered. Street vendors occupied corners and hawked their wares.

Galata had been colonized by the Republic of Genoa in 1273. According to legend, the name had been taken from Calata, which roughly translated as ‘downward slope’. The city had also been called Pera, taken from an old Greek name that meant ‘the fig field on the other side’, referring to the Bosphorus between the two halves of the city. Most of the walls of the medieval city had been torn down first during the Fourth Crusade, when Christians fought Christians and the line had been drawn between the Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church. The remaining walls had nearly all been destroyed under Muslim rule in the nineteenth century to allow further urban expansion.

Glancing over his shoulder, he checked on Cleena. The young woman trailed him by a couple of strides and looked alert. She’d pulled her hair back into a ponytail.

‘Have you been to Istanbul before?’ he asked.

She glanced at him. ‘Making conversation?’

Lourds shrugged.

‘Yes, I have,’ she acknowledged after a moment. ‘A few times.’

‘I love the older parts. This city has a lot of history written into it.’

‘Is that what this hunt is all about? History?’

‘Yes.’

Cleena smiled at him. ‘But you’re not saying which history. The Greeks, the Romans or the Ottoman Empire.’

‘Many other cultures have lived here,’ Lourds replied.

‘But those are the big three.’

‘So they are.’

They paused at the ruins of the Palace of the Genoese, which was called the Palazzo del Commune, the Palace of the Municipality behind Bankalar Caddesi on Banks Street, which featured several Ottoman-era finance structures.

‘What have you learned from the book?’

Lourds stepped round a small group of children playing at the curb. ‘Maybe this isn’t the time to talk about it.’

‘Really? I was thinking this was the perfect time. You know, before we get to wherever we’re going?’

Lourds resettled his hat on his head and shifted his backpack over his shoulders. He didn’t say anything.

‘You do know where we’re going, don’t you?’ Cleena asked. ‘Your girlfriend did tell you, didn’t she?’

‘Somewhere safe,’ Lourds replied. ‘I’m also quite sure that Professor Adnan wouldn’t appreciate being referred to as my girlfriend.’

‘I think main squeeze would be less appreciated, don’t you?’ Cleena smiled sweetly.

Lourds chose not to respond.

‘This place we’re heading, is it somewhere you think is safe? Or somewhere she thinks is safe?’ Cleena asked.

Lourds was certain that no matter what he answered, it was going to lead to an argument.

At that moment, six men gathered round a cart of melons turned towards the trio. Lourds caught sight of them from the corner of his eye. Cleena spotted the men as well and reached under the lightweight shirt she had hanging outside her jeans.

‘Don’t!’ Olympia ordered. She walked back towards Lourds and Cleena.

Adrenaline cascaded through Lourds’ bloodstream at the men’s approach. He sought the quickest avenue of escape, but the street was packed.

Cleena had her pistol in hand out of sight beside her thigh.

‘They’re friends.’ Olympia stepped between the men and Cleena.

Personally, Lourds thought that an extremely foolish move. Cleena probably wouldn’t hesitate to shoot Olympia first. Before he could stop himself, Lourds stepped between Olympia and Cleena. Now this – this is stupid.

‘Perhaps,’ he suggested while mentally chastising himself, ‘you could introduce us to your friends…’ His voice trailed off as he recognized one of the young men in front of them from the catacombs. It was the man who had been dressed in monk’s robes and who had led him to safety. Today there was no robe. Instead, he wore khaki cargo pants, white and navy Chuck Taylors and a Coldplay concert T-shirt.

‘Thomas,’ Olympia said almost brightly, ‘I suppose you’ve already met Joachim.’

‘Not formally, no.’ Lourds didn’t know whether to extend a hand in greeting or take a step back. Only that would have made him an even bigger target for Cleena.

Joachim kept his face sombre and nodded. ‘Good afternoon, Professor Lourds. You have been highly spoken of.’

‘Thank you. I wish I could say the same of you.’

Olympia took the young man by the arm and smiled. For a brief instant, something close to jealousy flared through Lourds.

‘I know you’ve never met,’ Olympia said. ‘But I’m glad the two of you do have this chance. I just wish it had been under better circumstances.’

‘What does he have to do with this?’ Lourds asked.

‘Joachim is going to help us,’ Olympia explained.

‘How do you know that you can trust him?’ Cleena asked.

‘Because Joachim is my brother.’

Now that he was given more time and wasn’t as stressed out, Lourds could see the family resemblance between Olympia and Joachim. Her brother was younger than she was, although older than Lourds had first thought in the catacombs, but surely no more than late thirties.

After meeting them in the street, Joachim had guided them to an apartment building. He had rooms set up on the third floor. In addition to sleeping quarters for Lourds, Olympia, Cleena and the men, there was a sizeable kitchen and dining room, as well as a large room equipped with a conference table and computer hardware, including a satellite uplink.