The Amulet of Power (23 page)

Then she heard an ear-splitting roar, followed by two shrieks of terror.

Well,
she thought, recalling what Oliver had told her,
if you know enough not to run away, if you don’t panic, you just might live through the night, which is more than you planned for me.

She resisted the urge to see if they had enough self-control to survive, and went back inside the Ark to have a cup of tea before turning in for the night.

29

They were up at sunrise, and immediately sought out Franz Theibolt. Lara decided to wear her pistols and didn’t much care what kind of commotion they caused, but almost everyone was asleep after watching animals all night long.

“Did you get us a car?” asked Oliver.

“Yes,” answered the old hunter. “I also got a pretty interesting radio message about two hours ago. Seems a couple of our employees showed up at the park gate, pretty badly bruised, all cut up from running into thornbushes in the dark, and scared half to death. I don’t suppose either of you know anything about them?”

“Why should we know anything?” asked Lara.

Theibolt chuckled at her exaggerated innocence, then turned to Oliver. “How long will you need the car?”

“Just a few hours,” said Oliver. “I’ll leave it at the airport.”

“It could take hours to find it in that parking lot,” complained Theibolt.

“Wilson Airport, not Kenyatta.”

“Oh, that’s okay then,” said Theibolt. “Remember when that was the only airport in all of East Africa?”

“Yeah,” said Oliver. “There are probably still a couple of us who remember.”

“Damned jet planes damned near put it out of business,” said Theibolt. “It had one of the best bars in town, too. You’d sit there, have a couple of gin and tonics waiting for the plane to land, pick up your clients, drive ’em through the Nairobi Park so they could get their first look at some of the game they’d be hunting, and then haul ’em off to the Norfolk or the New Stanley. Now everything is jet planes and computers and the like.” He shook his head sadly. “Time just kind of snuck up when we weren’t looking and passed us by, Malcolm.”

“It happens to everyone sooner or later,” answered Oliver. “At least we’re still working.”

“Pointing out elephants at sixty yards and explaining to the tourists why they can’t walk up and pet one,” snorted Theibolt. “Ah, well, I’m in a country I love and I’m getting paid for what I do. Not much sense feeling sorry for myself.” He handed a set of keys to Oliver. “Here you are. It’s the zebra-striped safari car.”

“I hate those stripes,” said Oliver disgustedly. “I’d love to have the tour operator who thought up those damned things lined up in my sights.” He made a face. “They’re just out-and-out ugly. When the game notices them at all, they run the other direction.” He turned to Lara. “Are you ready?”

“Yes.”

“Then let’s go.”

He led her to the car.

“What’s all that stuff in the back?” asked Lara, looking in through the window.

“Looks like a tent,” answered Oliver. He opened the back door. “Yeah, that’s what it is. If the rangers can’t make it back by dark, it’s safer to set up the tent than risk running into an animal.”

She put her pistols in the backpack, they got in, and twenty minutes later they passed through the gates and were out of the park. Oliver turned south and headed for Nairobi. When they were a few minutes out of the city Lara turned to him.

“It’s only eight-thirty,” she said, “and we left without eating. Have we got time for breakfast?”

“Yes, we’ve got a couple of hours. There’s never a crowd at Wilson. Most of the flights are little five-seat charters, or the occasional DC-3 taking tourists to the Maasai Mara.” He paused thoughtfully. “As long as we have time, I might as well take you to my favorite local restaurant.”

“I thought that was the Carnivore.”

“I said local—where I live.”

Before long they were on Ngong Road, and they soon pulled up to a very British-looking Tudor-style building.

“The Horseman,” announced Oliver, getting out of the car. He pointed to a rail in front of the building. “That’s from the old days, when the only way to get here was on horseback. I think the Yanks call it a hitching post.”

They entered the restaurant. The walls were covered in a burgundy fabric, and the curtains were held back with brass hooks. Prints of horses were everywhere. Most of the customers were ex-pat Brits who lived in the area.

“It’s a nice place to come if you want to get away from the tourists,” Oliver told her as they were ushered to a table. A waiter took their order, and a few moments later brought their breakfast to the table. Lara feasted on a mushroom omelet made from ostrich eggs.

“Interesting taste,” she commented.

“You use what you’ve got,” he explained. “Someday I’ll get you a pizza made with eland cheese and warthog sausage.”

When they finished they went back out to the car.

“We’ll be an hour early,” said Oliver, “but the airport’s public rooms are comfortable. Besides, I don’t know what our pilot looks like; he’s going to have to hunt us up.”

“I thought you knew him,” said Lara.

“I know his boss,” answered Oliver. “An American who flew close to a hundred missions in Vietnam, or so I’m told. When they told him he was too old to fly in the Gulf War, he came out here, bought himself a few Piper Cubs, and went into the charter business. I use his company whenever I have to take a client to Marsabit or Lamu.”

“Why?”

“Marsabit’s across two hundred and fifty miles of bandit-filled desert, and there are no roads to Lamu, so we fly to those two locations. Not many people go to Marsabit these days, but that’s where the greatest elephant of them all used to live.”

“Ahmed of Marsabit,” said Lara. “I’ve read about him.”

“He was the only elephant ever protected by presidential decree,” said Oliver. “He had three or four armed guards who accompanied him everywhere he went until the day he died.”

“Did you ever see him?”

“Not in the flesh, but his skeleton’s at the Nairobi Museum. I’ll take you there someday.”

He turned onto Langata Road.

“Isn’t that the Nairobi Game Park?” asked Lara as they began driving past a seemingly-endless fence.

“Right,” answered Oliver.

“It’s just amazing that you’ve got wild game within sight of the city’s taller buildings.”

“It’s a lovely park,” said Oliver. “Better than forty square miles, yet it’s actually within the Nairobi city limits. I’ll show it to you when we have some time.”

“You’ll show it to her
now
,” said a deep voice from directly behind them. They both turned in surprise and the car almost swerved off the road.

A white-garbed Arab sat in the backseat, a pistol in each hand, pointing toward each of them.

“Remove your shoulder bag
very
carefully, Lara Croft. One false move and I will not hesitate to kill you both right now.”

Alone, she might have ducked and gone for her knife, but she knew if she did he’d put a bullet into Oliver’s head, so she slipped her bag off and passed it to the backseat.

“Thank you,” he said. “Don’t even think about looking for your Magnum. I have already appropriated it.”

“You weren’t in the car when we left the Ark,” said Oliver. “You must have entered it at the Horseman when we were eating.”

The man nodded his head. “It is well known that the Horseman is your favorite restaurant, Mr. Oliver. One of us has been posted there ever since Lara Croft arrived in Kenya. When you went inside I entered your vehicle and hid under the tents. Now we will enter the game park, and then I believe we can conclude our business.”

“If you’re going to kill us anyway, why should I drive into the park so you can do it with no witnesses?” said Oliver.

“Because like all other living things, you will do almost anything to extend your life another five minutes,” said the man with total confidence. “I know the guard at the Langata Gate is a friend of yours. You will not stop the car or pay a fee, because I do not want you speaking to anyone. Just wave to him as you drive up and then continue through. He will not understand why you didn’t stop, but he will not report you.”

Oliver did as he was ordered, and a few minutes later they were driving through the park. As they came to the area known as Hyrax Valley, the Arab ordered him to stop the car.

“Get out.”

Lara and Oliver got out of the car, followed by the Arab.

“Someone will hear the gunshots,” said Lara.

“What makes you think I’m going to shoot you?” asked the man with a grin.

“Let me guess,” she said. “You’re going to talk us to death?”

“You know, I have always despised liberated women,” he said. “You can’t imagine how glad I will be to cause the death of one.” He pointed to a small glade about two hundred yards away. “I have come here every day for a week. There is a pride of lions living in that glade, a huge black-maned male and four females. They are very hungry.”

“What makes you think so?” asked Lara.

“Because every time they have gone hunting for the past three days, I’ve used my car and my horn to frighten away their prey. They will emerge from hiding any moment and you will be the first thing they see.”

Lara glanced quickly at Oliver, who didn’t seem unduly concerned.

“Yes, Mr. Oliver, I know that lions are nocturnal hunters, and under ordinary circumstances they might not appear for hours. I also know that men are not their prey of choice.” He pulled a black plastic gun out of a pocket. “A child’s water gun, available in almost any toy store,” he announced. “But this one is filled not with water, but with the blood of a topi that I killed yesterday.” Keeping his distance, he squirted Lara and Oliver thoroughly. “Now as soon as the wind changes, I think we can expect some company.”

“You’re staying until then?” asked Lara.

“Why not?” responded the man. “After all,
I
don’t smell like a lion’s favorite dinner. Besides, once they begin approaching, I’ll watch from inside the car.”

They stood motionless in the morning sun for another ten minutes.

“It won’t be long now,” said the Arab. “The breeze has just shifted.”

“You’re right about that,” said Oliver, looking just past the man. “It won’t be long now.”

The Arab turned to see what Oliver was staring at and found himself facing a two-ton black rhino from a distance of about fifty yards. He aimed his pistol at the rhino and fired two quick shots. Both missed.

The rhino trotted forward, looking agitated. The Arab shot again at thirty yards. This time they could see the dust rise where the bullet had hit on the beast’s massive chest, but it didn’t seem to do him any harm. He began trotting toward the Arab, who got off one more shot. Then his nerve broke, and he turned and raced away.

The rhino snorted, increased his pace, and lowered his head as he charged. His horn caught the Arab in the middle of the back, and he hurled him high into the air. The man fell heavily to the ground and lay still. The rhino trotted back to him and gored him a few times with his horn, then seemed to see Lara and Oliver for the first time. He trotted off at an angle, then stopped, turned, snorted again, and pawed the earth. Two more mock charges followed; both times he stopped well short of them.

“He’s getting ready to charge in earnest,” said Oliver softly.

“What do we do?” asked Lara.

“Get out of his way.”

“Have you got any more useful advice?” she said irritably.

“That’s not a joke,” said Oliver. “This is a lot better than having an elephant mad at you. Remember you told me how you dodged a truck back in Khartoum? Trust me—if you can dodge a truck, you can dodge a rhino.”

“Our Arab friend didn’t have much luck,” she noted.

“He was a fool.”

“I’m not a fool, I’m just ignorant,” said Lara as the rhino trotted in a little semicircle to observe them from a new angle. “Tell me what the Arab didn’t know.”

“It just takes nerve, and you’ve always had an abundance of that,” said Oliver. “If you try to get away when he starts running toward you, the same thing that happened to the Arab will happen to you. But if you can stand your ground until he’s ten yards away and lowers his head to impale you on his horn, you can evade him. A rhino is blind once he lowers his head to charge; all he can see is a few inches of grass. If you can sidestep a truck, you can sidestep a rhino.”

“You’d better be right,” she said tensely as the rhino began snorting again. “I think he’s about to start.”

The rhino raced toward her. She stood motionless, waiting for him to lower his head—but he didn’t. Instead he veered off to the left at the last instant and ran another fifty yards before he stopped and turned back to her.

“What was that all about?” she asked.

“He knows he’s blind when he charges,” said Oliver, “so he was trying to scare you into running. Watch yourself. Here he comes again!”

Lara watched as the huge beast moved from a trot to a gallop to a dead run. Now he was forty yards away, now twenty, now ten, and finally he lowered his head and she saw the huge horn reach out for her. She took two quick steps to her left—and the rhino continued his charge, not slowing down until he was another forty yards past her.

“I’ll be damned!” she exclaimed. “You were right!”

The rhino continued running in a straight direction. He stopped about one hundred yards away and began browsing on some bushes as if nothing had happened.

“He thinks he tossed you,” said Oliver. “Otherwise he’d come back and try again.” He paused. “They’re not very bright animals; that’s why they’re so easy to poach. Before we get on the plane I’ll tell the game department that he’s walking around with a slug in his chest. I don’t think it did him any damage, but he’s going to be in a bad mood for the next few days.”