The Shaman
First Post
Marcel squats down and gingerly sifts the sand where Normand kicked up the shell, then widens his search bit by bit. A meter or so away, another shell, identical to the first. The medic begins anew, and finds a third and fourth, a dozen centimeters further along. Glancing back Marcel realizes that they seem to be following a ragged line.
As Raffaele pulls back from the hole in the mausoleum, Kat leans forward, shading his eyes as he peers into the shadows. The sergent is interrupted when Normand arrives and announces finding the shell in the ruins. “Burhan found two more, over there,” the section leader replies with a tilt of his head. “Give me a hand.” The two legionnaires follow the sous-officier, and he instructs them to fan out and start looking. Immediately Raffaele finds another shell a couple of meters away.
Marcel continues in the direction suggested by the lost or discarded ammunition, eyes searching for the curve of a viper under the sand as well as the glint of a brass casing. There’s nothing for a couple of meters, and then two more cartridges just under the surface of the sand. Glancing up the medic sees Raffaele, Normand, and Kat all poking at the ground near the wall surrounding the cemetery – looking back at his line of travel, he realizes that it’s a meandering path that leads from the tree toward the graves.
Normand finds another shell, standing on end in the sand, and looks up to see Marcel moving slowly toward him, kicking up another shell as he approaches. Raffaele and Kat locate another a meter away, then two more, now moving away from the cemetery slightly, turning around the wall and heading west.
“Sergent.” Capt. Martini walks toward where the four legionnaires are spread out along the line of the scattered rifle rounds. “Pamuk says you found ammunition.”
“Oui, mon capitaine,” Kat replies, offering one of the rounds to the officer, “scattered in the dirt from here to that tree over there. It looks like they were dropped and buried. Mador says that it looks like stock was tied up at that tree, and the ammunition we found so far stretches from there to here.”
The captain looks back toward the tree, and turns to Raffaele. “Barzini, I saw you searching that grave there. Why?” The veteran paratrooper listens as Raffaele describes his observations, looking at the low stone mausoleum while the Algerian speaks. When Raffaele is done, the captain says, “Sergent, follow me. You too,” he adds to Normand, Marcel, and Raffaele.
At the mausoleum the capitaine kneels down carefully and examines first the stone that Raffaele dislodged, then the hole in the side of the mausoleum. He shines his flashlight into the darkness, playing it about and peering through the opening, then reaches in as far as he can, up to his shoulder. His brow furrowed in concentration, he twists slightly, back and forth as he reaches around inside the grave, then abruptly withdraws his arm, now covered in grimy dust. He opens his palm and reveals another shell, this one quite different from the rifle rounds the legionnaires have found – it is old and spent, the brass corroded and pitted, a vintage Lebel rifle cartridge ravaged by time.
Capt. Martini peers inside the tapered opening of the shell, then taps it into his palm, discharging a slip of paper. “A message drop,” he says, looking around at the assembled legionnaires, displaying the corroded shell and the tiny roll of paper.
Descending the east wall of the gorge along the narrow path, Pyotr and Nedjar see a small knot of legionnaires clustered in the cemetery below. “Looks like they found something,” Nedjar says quietly as the two legionnaires concentrate on keeping their footing down the steep, exposed trail.
Palming the casing, the captain unrolls the paper. It appears to be a small piece of torn newsprint, upon which Arabic script has been written in a plain hand. The officer smiles slightly as he reads aloud, <Arabic>“We bring forth green foliage and close-growing grain, palm-trees laden with clusters of dates, vineyards and olive groves, and pomegranates alike and different. Behold their fruits when they ripen. Surely in these there are signs for true believers.”</Arabic> Martini looks up at at the legionnaires. “Any of you know the Quran?” he asks.
As Raffaele pulls back from the hole in the mausoleum, Kat leans forward, shading his eyes as he peers into the shadows. The sergent is interrupted when Normand arrives and announces finding the shell in the ruins. “Burhan found two more, over there,” the section leader replies with a tilt of his head. “Give me a hand.” The two legionnaires follow the sous-officier, and he instructs them to fan out and start looking. Immediately Raffaele finds another shell a couple of meters away.
Marcel continues in the direction suggested by the lost or discarded ammunition, eyes searching for the curve of a viper under the sand as well as the glint of a brass casing. There’s nothing for a couple of meters, and then two more cartridges just under the surface of the sand. Glancing up the medic sees Raffaele, Normand, and Kat all poking at the ground near the wall surrounding the cemetery – looking back at his line of travel, he realizes that it’s a meandering path that leads from the tree toward the graves.
Normand finds another shell, standing on end in the sand, and looks up to see Marcel moving slowly toward him, kicking up another shell as he approaches. Raffaele and Kat locate another a meter away, then two more, now moving away from the cemetery slightly, turning around the wall and heading west.
“Sergent.” Capt. Martini walks toward where the four legionnaires are spread out along the line of the scattered rifle rounds. “Pamuk says you found ammunition.”
“Oui, mon capitaine,” Kat replies, offering one of the rounds to the officer, “scattered in the dirt from here to that tree over there. It looks like they were dropped and buried. Mador says that it looks like stock was tied up at that tree, and the ammunition we found so far stretches from there to here.”
The captain looks back toward the tree, and turns to Raffaele. “Barzini, I saw you searching that grave there. Why?” The veteran paratrooper listens as Raffaele describes his observations, looking at the low stone mausoleum while the Algerian speaks. When Raffaele is done, the captain says, “Sergent, follow me. You too,” he adds to Normand, Marcel, and Raffaele.
At the mausoleum the capitaine kneels down carefully and examines first the stone that Raffaele dislodged, then the hole in the side of the mausoleum. He shines his flashlight into the darkness, playing it about and peering through the opening, then reaches in as far as he can, up to his shoulder. His brow furrowed in concentration, he twists slightly, back and forth as he reaches around inside the grave, then abruptly withdraws his arm, now covered in grimy dust. He opens his palm and reveals another shell, this one quite different from the rifle rounds the legionnaires have found – it is old and spent, the brass corroded and pitted, a vintage Lebel rifle cartridge ravaged by time.
Capt. Martini peers inside the tapered opening of the shell, then taps it into his palm, discharging a slip of paper. “A message drop,” he says, looking around at the assembled legionnaires, displaying the corroded shell and the tiny roll of paper.
Descending the east wall of the gorge along the narrow path, Pyotr and Nedjar see a small knot of legionnaires clustered in the cemetery below. “Looks like they found something,” Nedjar says quietly as the two legionnaires concentrate on keeping their footing down the steep, exposed trail.
Palming the casing, the captain unrolls the paper. It appears to be a small piece of torn newsprint, upon which Arabic script has been written in a plain hand. The officer smiles slightly as he reads aloud, <Arabic>“We bring forth green foliage and close-growing grain, palm-trees laden with clusters of dates, vineyards and olive groves, and pomegranates alike and different. Behold their fruits when they ripen. Surely in these there are signs for true believers.”</Arabic> Martini looks up at at the legionnaires. “Any of you know the Quran?” he asks.
smart class character
