Sands of Redemption

16

Georgia sat on the lounge chair, her book resting upon her chest as she stared out into space. She had turned the television off, intentionally steering herself away from the inevitable cascade of more bad news. It had been a very busy week for the media, even for an already troubled country like Abassa as violence swept through Karduh in a deadly wave.

Over the past two days there had been several violent sieges against two of ANPC's compounds followed by a successfully deflected attempt against one of its refineries. Soon after, came the death of two civilians caught up in an explosion involving one of ANPC's oil tankers. Apparently an IED had been set off, catching the tanker unaware along with the car trying to overtake it.

In direct response, troops had been sent in to try to track down the culprits responsible. All it did, however, was merely exacerbate the bloodshed. They hadn't yet found who'd done it but fingers were starting to point at the Mujahideen who arrogantly denied nothing.

Earlier in the day she had received a call from her parents, her mother frantic as she tried to convince her to return home. After trying to argue her case haplessly for several minutes, Georgia finally gave-in, informing her that she would probably fly home by the end of the week.

Pushing her book aside, Georgia rubbed her tired eyes. She knew it was inevitable but it still made her sore in the heart. She wasn't ready to go home yet. She hadn't even been in Abassa two months for Christ's sake. She thought about Bianca and how much fun she must be having gallivanting across Europe. If only she wasn't so broke.

'Hey, Georgia.'

She looked up. 'Oh, hey Jasper. You going out?'

'Yeah, I'm going back to the club, if you want to come.'

Georgia wasn't silly; she knew he was just being nice. 'Thanks for the gesture but no thanks. I think I'll just go to bed.'

'Are you sure?' Georgia nodded adamantly. 'Well, okay then. See you tomorrow.'

'Make sure you're extra careful.'

'I'm always careful.'

*

Georgia blinked against the darkness, confused as to why she had woken so early. She glanced over towards Bianca's bed, for a moment forgetting that she'd left four days ago. At the unexpected thump of rushing feet outside her door, Georgia got out of bed with a weary sigh.

What now?

Changing into a crumpled singlet and a pair of shorts, Georgia opened the door and stepped outside.

It was quiet in the hall. But in the common room it was a different story.

Gathered in the glow of the television was a small but growing crowd of people. Still early, most were dressed in their pyjamas as they watched, with disturbing intensity, one of Hamrachi's local news programs. Though everyone was silent, Georgia felt the current of barely controlled panic. Unable to see what they were looking at, Georgia sidled her way through the motionless figures.

She found Natalie kneeling on the floor, her hands held together as though in prayer, Georgia crouched down beside her. She touched her on the shoulder but received no reaction, Natalie's horrified eyes fixed fast on the screen.

It was a breaking news report. Amidst the slash of glowing Arabic, blared an image of the Imperial Palace Hotel. Wreathed in black smoke, the building bore a great smouldering hole in its side, revealing the interior of what was once an elaborate dining hall. A cameraman had gained access to the devastation and was filming it all.

Viewed through the thick, smoking haze was an image of what was once a beautiful mahogany table, one that had been torn to bits by the force of the explosion. Scattered among its remains were hundreds of tiny blackened jewels, the dislocated crystals from the two large chandeliers lying like dented crowns within the splintered ruins. Georgia turned away with a wince at the sight of a body.

The scream of sirens filled the room as the view switched to the surrounding mayhem, the much too familiar cobblestone square now strewn with smoking rubble and teeming with panicked victims, their faces etched with ash, anguish and sometimes blood as they fled the scene.

The incident needed no English translation. It was obvious to them all that the violence in Karduh, which had mostly been confined to its distant corner of the country, had finally arrived upon their doorstep.

'Can someone change it to a Goddamn English channel!' someone bawled.

And with that, as though it were the spark that lit the flame, pandemonium descended.

Georgia winced as a girl behind her burst into tears while on the couch beside them a pair of men started arguing loudly about what they should do. A bunch of people pushed and shoved their way down the hall in an attempt to access the only computer in the hostel.

All around her people were whipping out mobile phones or fleeing to their rooms to rouse their sleeping roommates. For everyone else, they simply remained as they were, staring into the flickering television screen as they tried to digest the enormity of the shocking situation.

'Natalie,' Georgia said. Still getting no reply, she shook her shoulder. 'Natalie.'

In a daze, Natalie turned her head. 'Can you believe this?'

'Tell me what's happened.'

'An explosion. An attack on the hotel. It happened a few hours ago. Nothing else is known. Nobody knows who did it. I can't believe this has happened.'

Unable to get any further information out of her, Georgia turned her attention back to the news and saw that the focus had changed from the Imperial Palace to another devastated building.

Little more than a hole in the ground, all that was left of the building were the charred fragments of crumbled brick and shattered glass which had been vomited outwards from ground zero by the force of the explosion. In amongst it was a chair, one which sent a jolt of recognition down Georgia's spine. Although warped by the fury of the explosion, Georgia thought it looked a lot like one of the spindly chairs from the underground Red Chilli Club they had all visited together. Looking at more of the scene, there was little doubt it was so.

Any remaining warmth drained from Georgia's body. The significance of the two attacks was clear despite being so seemingly unrelated—they were after Ali. And knowing Ali as the slippery bugger that he was, Georgia was sure he was not lying in pieces alongside the innocent collateral of The Red Chilli, just as surely as she knew he wasn't one of the slaughtered in the misdirected attack upon the Imperial Palace Hotel.

'Natalie!' John called from across the room. Rushing over, he dropped to his knees beside her. 'Are you alright? What's going on?'

'The Imperial Palace has just been blown up. The Red Chilli too,' Georgia answered for her. 'I'm betting they were after Ali.'

Gently pushing John away, Natalie stood, her face filling with resolve. 'We need to make plans to get out of here. We need to contact our embassies. We need to catch a flight as soon as possible.'

'I think that'll be easier said than done now,' John told her, standing beside her. 'Everyone will be running for it.'

'We need to tell Jasper,' Georgia said.

Jasper.

A dreadful cold rushed through Georgia's body, as though she'd been dunked into a tub of ice chips.

Leaping to her feet, she grabbed John's arm. 'You haven't seen him, have you?'

'I haven't seen him for a couple of days actually. Why?'

Georgia's heart was racing as she twisted on the spot, frantically searching the room.

'I have to find him.'