An Errant Prince

The Magician

The cab drive into the darkened warehouse.
Concrete K-rail barriers herded their car down a ramp into an underground tunnel. Once they stopped moving, it took a minute for Kash's eyes to adjust to the harsh lighting. A dark haired man in green camo fatigues was emptying a crate marked explosives onto the ground. Seeing their arrival, he stopped working and holstered his gun at his side. He pulled a phone out of his pants pocket and answered it as he walked towards them.

"What is this place?" Kash asked.
"There were two MI6 agents on the plane following us. We're going to disappear off the map."

Sam gestured towards the approaching figure. "This is my contact. Wait here. I'll go talk to him." He held out his hand. "Let me have your phone." Sam got out of the vehicle and approached the dangerous looking man as if they were old friends.

Kash watched Sam hand the his phone to the what he assumed was a viscous mercenary. I guess when you're dying, caution goes out the door. The two men conversed briefly, then Sam returned to the car. "Amareth here will take care of covering our tracks. We're leaving the country tonight. He's a magician when it comes to moving contraband, and that's what we are now. We're headed East, but your phone will show you're moving South." He handed Kash a new phone. "We'll use these. They can't be tracked."

Amareth whistled, and a young boy scampered out of the darkness. He was dirty and dressed in ill fitting clothes. Kash noticed his feet were bare. "Why are you with this man?" The solemn, dark eyed boy silently stared back at him.

The mercenary laughed. "He can't speak. That's why he works for me. His name is Angel. He gestured to an eight foot aqueduct tunnel cut through a wall. He'll guide you through the tunnels to the cargo ship."

Kash spun and looked at Sam. "Cargo ship?"

"A reverse cruise if you prefer." Amareth soothed. "The tunnel is how you're going to get on that ship undetected. You'll have living quarters with the staff."

"That's perfect," Sam said. He handed Amareth a packet of cash.

Angel motioned for them to follow him and headed into the hand hewn tunnel.

"Don't worry Kash, we're in good hands."

"Well, I was not in the best frame of mind when I left with you. I was wildly drunk." A sense of doom enveloped him. But then he saw a luminescent white tiger walking ahead of him down the tunnel.

Kash realized that he didn't feel as awful as he thought he would. He hadn't had a drink last night and he didn't want one now. For the first time in ages he was interested in something besides his own misery. He had purpose, or at least he had a distraction.

Back in the warehouse, Amareth, the magician, looked in surprise at his incoming texts. Both the MI6 agents searching for Kash and Sam had unknowingly hired him. He smiled at the irony of the situation. I have no qualms working for both sides simultaneously as long as I get paid. He put his phone away and walked over to his Jeep.