Hammond Innes - The Doomed Oasis

‘I think you know why,’ I said. ‘You were employed by the Company, and the Company to him meant Erkhard.’ And I added, ‘Erkhard knew your background, didn’t he? He used that as a lever to get you to spy on your father.’

It was a shot in the dark, but it went home. ‘He tried to.’ His tone was almost sullen; he looked uncomfortable.

‘And you agreed?’ I’d no wish to conduct a cross-examination, but I thought it essential he should see it from his father’s point of view if I were to succeed in bringing them together again.

‘I hadn’t any choice,’ he said, stung to anger by my question. ‘Erkhard threatened to turn me over to the Cardiff police.’

‘And your father knew about that?’

‘It didn’t mean I was going to do what Erkhard wanted.’

‘But you’d agreed to do it,’ I insisted, ‘and your father knew you’d agreed.’

‘I suppose so.’ He admitted it reluctantly. ‘He’s still got his friends inside the Company.’

So there it was at last, the basic cause of the rift between them — the thing that girl Tessa had hinted at, that Sue had felt but hadn’t been able to explain.

‘Christ!’ he said. ‘What a bloody stupid mess! And all because we didn’t trust each other like we should have done. How could I guess what he was up to? Though it’s just the sort of twisted, devious approach … ‘ His voice faded and once more he was staring out into the void. ‘I got very close to him at one time, but even then I was always conscious of a gulf, of something hidden that I couldn’t fathom. He’s very unpredictable, you know, Mr Grant. More Arab than the Arabs, if you see what I mean.’ He was very much on the defensive then. ‘After four years I can’t say I really understood him. Switching races like that, and his religion, too — it left a sort of gulf that couldn’t be bridged. And when Khalid told me he’d been to see the Emir, it made me wonder … ‘ He hesitated. ‘Well, as I say, he’s unpredictable, so I decided it was time I put my plan into action and disappeared. Khalid thought so, too.

Ill

He’d brought Hamid and AH, two of his most trusted men. and a spare camel. So … ‘ He shrugged. ‘I knew it was hard on Sue. Hard on Tessa, too- and on my mother. But I was alone, you see. I’d nobody to turn to, except Khalid He was the only man in the world who had faith in me. And I couldn’t look to the Company for help. Erkhard had made that very plain. And anyway, oil companies are in business for themselves, not for the Arabs. They’ve beer known to sit on an oilfield for years for political or commercial reasons … ‘ The sweat was pouring off him and he wiped his hand across his brow. ‘Well, go on,’ he said. ‘What happened when Erkhard came to Saraifa — die my father succeed in getting a concession signed?’

But I think he’d guessed that I shouldn’t have come here alone if it were all settled. He listened, silent, not saying a word, as I told him the rest of my story. Once his eyes came alight with sudden excitement; that was when I told him or my second talk with Whitaker and how Khalid and I had seen the drilling rig being dismantled for the move up to the Hadd border. The thought that his father was at last doing what he’d been wanting him to do for so long gave him a momentary sense of hope. But it was only momentary, for I went straight on to tell him of the scene at Dhaid and how the lone rider had brought the news that Gorde and Erkhard had left and Hadd forces had crossed the border into Saraifa. ‘So it’s come to that, has it? Open war between Hadd and Saraifa.’ His body was suddenly trembling as though with fever and his voice was bitter. ‘And Khalid sent you to me. What did he say before you left? What message did he give you?’

‘He said he thought this time Saraifa had reached the point of desperation.’ And I gave him the gist of what Khalid had said to me. When I had finished he didn’t say anything for a long time, sitting there lost in thought, staring out across the flat misery of the Umm al Samim ‘The only home I ever had,’ he whispered. ‘Did you see it when the shamal was blowing, with the Rub al Khali like a sea, the dunes all smoking and the sands pouring into the date gardens? It’s like a flood then.’ His father’s words — his father’s voice almost. ‘The oasis is doomed, you see. Doomed to extinction by the desert. But that’s a natural process; something to be fought with the natural resources of the country. Khalid and I, we were going to rebuild the old falaj channels with the money from oil royalties. That was our dream. But this … ‘ He stared at me hard, his eyes wide. ‘You’re sure it’s war, are you? It’s not just a border raid?’

I gave him Khalid’s speech then, as near as I could remember it word for word.

‘So it’s my fault, is it?’ He said it with deep bitterness and after that he was silent for a long time. Finally, he looked at me. ‘Unto death, you said. Khalid used those exact words, did he?’ And when I nodded, ‘So it’s not just a raid-it’s the real thing this time.’ He was almost in tears, he was so deeply moved. And then sadly: ‘My father’s fault, too — he’s made his decision too late.’ And he began cursing softly to himself. Those dung-eating bastards from Hadd, they’ll smash down the last of the falaj channels. What would have taken twenty years by natural means will take less than that number of months. The desert will roll in. Christ Almighty! The bastards!’ It was a cry from the heart and I was conscious of desperation here, too — a desperation that matched Khalid’s. ‘They can’t fight a war against Hadd. They’ve nothing to fight it with — only antiquated guns.’

He began questioning me then, pressing me for details, many of which I couldn’t give him, for he wasn’t interested in his father now, or Gorde or the Company; his attention was fixed on Hadd and the way Sheikh Abdullah, the Emir’s representative, had behaved, and what had passed between him and Sheikh Makhmud that morning before Whitaker and Erkhard had arrived. The sun sank in a blood-red haze and the air became dank. My head nodded, my body suddenly drained.of warmth and shivering with fatigue. ‘You’d better get some rest now,’ he said finally. ‘We’ll be leaving as soon as the moon’s up and it’s light enough to see our way through the quicksands.’ He seemed to have reached some decision, for his voice was firmer, his manner less depressed. He brought me a tattered blanket musty with sand. ‘I’ve kept you talking when you should have been getting some sleep.’

‘What do you plan to do?’ I asked him. ‘You’ll go to your father, I take it?’

‘Yes. He’s still got a few of his bodyguard left. A dozen men and I could create a diversion that would keep the Emir busy until my father has time to make his influence felt in Bahrain. Khalid’s right. We must work together now — my father and I.’ The mention of Khalid’s name seemed to bring his mind back to his friend. ‘He said he was my brother, didn’t he? Unto death?’

‘Your brother, yes,’ I said. ‘But as I remember it, he used the words “into death” in connection with the Emir- “my enemy into death”.’

‘Well, pray God it doesn’t come to that.’ There were tears in his eyes and standing there, staring straight into the flaming sunset, he quoted from the Bible: ‘The Lord be between me and thee, and between my seed and thy seed for ever. ’

Dimly I recognized the quotation as the oath sworn by his namesake; I didn’t realize it then, but this was the covenant, sworn in the midst of the quicksands of the Umm al Samim, that was to take him to that fort on top of Jebel al-Akhbar and to the terrible final tragedy.