An Empire's War
Copyright© 2012 by James Douglas
Chapter 19
Why are they looking for me? Mamercus asked himself, Where did I screw up? I didn't, I did everything by the book.
Mamercus crouched in the shadows of the abandoned building as the Aksum Army searched it. Somehow he had been burned. His first thought was one of his informants got picked up for something, but they did not know his face or Arab name.
The Mole, he thought, It had to be. Now what do I do. If only I had made contact with the Underground, then I would have a way out of the city.
The soldiers were getting closer, and they were thorough. They went so far as to check every seam on the concrete floor, checking for trap doors. The sound of an engine penetrated the building, and it was getting louder.
An old truck came barreling into the building taking out a good portion of the soldiers. The driver came straight to Mamercus doing a 180 before stopping. The passenger door opened and a familiar voice came from the darkened cab.
"Get in, now Roman."
Mamercus had no other options, he climbed in and the driver took off the same way she came in.
"Thanks Subira. How did you know who I am?" asked Mamercus.
"We have our own informants. We've been watching you since you came to New Aksum, wondering if you were a friend," she replied.
"Who is 'We'?"
"The Underground. I was going to tell you soon, but this happened. We had to make sure you weren't one of the Secret Police trying to infiltrate us."
"I need to get out of the country and back to Rome."
"Already taken care of. You leave tonight. The only ones who know the entire route are the Elders; they are the ones who set it up. Each leg has their own guide; all I know is the first meeting place. There is a safe house nearby that you can rest in until it is time."
The safe house had a sparse yet lived in look, but Mamercus didn't see it. The small bed in the house beckoned to him and he fell asleep, the adrenaline and stress of running, knocking him out.
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