Sahara (Dirk Pitt 11)

She made a small gesture at brushing back her hair and straightening out her dirty and tattered clothing. "But certainly not one who hasn't bathed in two weeks and is as skinny as an underfed alley cat."

"Oh I don't know. Unwashed skinny women have been known to bring out the animal in me."

Without another word, Pitt led her down to the parade ground and into a small storeroom off of what was once the kitchen and mess hall. It was empty except for a wooden keg of iron spikes. No one was in sight. He left her for a minute and returned with two blankets. Then he laid the blankets on the dusty floor of the empty storeroom and locked the door.

They could barely see each other from the light that crept under the door as he squeezed her with his arms again. "Sorry I can't offer you champagne and a king-size bed."

Eva daintily straightened the blankets and knelt down, looking up at his dim, rugged-looking face. "I'll just close my eyes and imagine I'm with my handsome lover in the most luxurious suite in the finest hotel in San Francisco."

Pitt kissed her and laughed softly. "Lady, you've got one fantastic imagination."

Massarde's chief aide, Felix Verenne, stepped into his boss' office. "A call from Ismail Yerli at Kazim's headquarters."

Massarde nodded and picked up the phone. "Yes, Ismail, I hope this is good news."

"I regret to tell you, Mr. Massarde, the news is anything but good."

"Did Kazim catch the UN combat unit?"

"No, he has yet to find them. Their plane was destroyed as we thought, but they vanished in the desert."

"Why can't his patrols follow their tracks?" Massarde demanded angrily.

"The desert wind has blown sand over them," Yerli answered calmly. "All trace of their trail has been obliterated:"

"What is the situation at the mine?"

"The prisoners have rioted, killed the guards, and destroyed the equipment and ravaged the offices. Your engineers are dead too. It will take six months to put the mine back in full operation."

"What of O'Bannion?"

"Disappeared. No sign of his body. My men did find his sadistic overseer, however."

"The American he called Melika?"

"The prisoners mutilated her body with a vengeance, almost beyond recognition."

"The raiders must have taken O'Bannion as informant against us," suggested Massarde.

"Too soon to tell," Yerli replied. "Kazim's officers have just begun interrogating the prisoners. Another bit of news I can pass along that won't sit well with you is that the Americans, Pitt and Giordino, were recognized by one surviving guard. They somehow fled the mines over a week ago, crossed into Algeria, and returned with the UN raiders."

Massarde was thunderstruck. "Good God, that means they reached Algiers and made outside contact."

"My thoughts also."

"Why weren't we informed by O'Bannion they had escaped?"

"Fear of how you and Kazim would react, obviously. How they traveled over 400 kilometers of desert without food and water is a mystery."

"If they exposed our operation of the mine with captive labor to their superiors in Washington, they must have also revealed the secret of Fort Foureau."

"They have no documented proof," Yerli reminded him. "Two foreigners who illegally crossed sovereign borders and committed criminal acts against the Malian government will not be taken seriously in any international court of law."

"Except that my project will be besieged with news correspondents and world environmental investigators."

"Not to worry. I will advise Kazim to close the borders to all outsiders, and have them expelled if they do."