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ALEX RELUCTANTLY LEFT the warm fire in the to follow the Russian he knew as Viktor Popov. “This guy has been on the move since Singapore. Now, where are we going?” Alex discreetly followed, confident of his attire and dark complexion; they would consider him another Kathmandu local. Nevertheless, he preferred the busy marketplace.
“Blasted snow, I can barely see him. There he is, crossing the plaza. I don’t like this. It’s too open with no one around.” Alex’s senses were on high alert, knowing he had to rely on his experience. Alex was one of the Ritchie Boys, a military intelligence officer trained at Camp Ritchie in Maryland.
Alex stepped out onto the plaza, staying close to the buildings, hopefully rendering the impression he was on his way home to a warm fire when the bullet smacked against the wall next to his head! He jumped over a snowbank, sliding on his left side while aiming his large mitten in the shot’s direction. He was clutching his automatic revolver inside to keep his hand from numbing in the cold air. Another shot hit the ground next to him, throwing ice in every direction. He rolled towards a doorway for cover.
“Damn, it’s a sniper on one of the roofs, but where?” Alex peered out from under the door overhang, but the falling snow made it almost impossible to look up. He estimated the shooter must be directly across the plaza. “Yes, there’s movement, he’s behind that parapet.” Alex removed his gun from the mitten and steadied his gloved hand, holding his Glock pistol with his left arm as he aimed at the rooftop.
His patients had saved him during the war, now all he had to do was wait, but this time he made a mistake. A bullet hit him low, spinning him into the doorway that knocked him forward into the snow. Saving his life when the next shot from the roof hit the door where he was standing. He tried moving but could only use his free arm to push himself along the ice surface as he randomly fired at the rooftop. He slid down a side street further into the darkness.
Alex listened to the clicking sound as his eyes adjusted—he was sure it was a bolt being locked into place on the sniper’s rifle. He tried sliding closer to the building to use it as a support to help him stand, but the pain was so intense he fell back, shoving a mitten in his mouth to keep from crying out. Alex knew he was going into shock. His breathing was irregular, and his pulse was racing; soon, the weakness would overtake him. He was in trouble...
He awoke hearing gunshots hands were rolling him over, a voice said. “Its Tej—try not to shoot me, I’m getting you out of here.” Alex realized he was lying on a sled face down, moving fast downhill, when Tej jumped on his back, sending an awakening pain in his side. “Hang on, Alex, old son, don’t die on me now, use that stubbornness that got you into this predicament. I told you not to go at it alone.” Tej stopped talking as they negotiated a fast turn leading down a hill. At the bottom, he jumped off and pulled with the attached rope wrapped around his shoulders like a harness, Skating gracefully on his flat boots until they reached another hill.
Alex wheezed after Tej landed again on top. “God, you’re trying to kill me. You need to lose some weight, Tej.”
This hill was steeper. Alex couldn’t see through the snow but felt the incline as the speed increase. Suddenly, the sled turned hard to the left, skidded into a small alley, quickly stopping. Tej jumped off, tying the sled to a stairway railing.
“Don’t leave me, old boy, back in a shake.” Alex could hear the pounding on a door above, through bleary eyes, saw the light when it opened but could only hear mumbled conversations before blacking out.
When he awoke, an old man skated alongside Tej with a tight rein on another sled as they raced through the icy streets of Kathmandu, he passed out again. Alex’s brain was clearing, probably from the tea mixture forced down him. Tej and the old man were applying a smelly patch to his hip.
“Where are we? What is that horrible smell?”
“You’re awake, Alex. We are doing our best, but the problem is my Grandfather, our village shaman, has no knowledge or the tools to remove the bullet lodged in your hip. We use potions in our village. You see, we don’t go around shooting everybody like you, yanks. So I have sent a radiogram to Sylvester, they’re flying you out. I also was in touch with Johnathan; he suggested not to contact your people to remove you. He believes you were ambushed by them old thing.”
“Something about this assignment was wrong. It had been bothering me since the beginning. Who sent the orders to follow Popov? How did they know I was in Kathmandu?” His thoughts seem to drift; it was hard to focus.
“Thank God for Tej. He was educated in England, paid for by his conning mother who took advantage of her lover, a married Duke beyond scandal. Tej became one of Sir Jonathan’s Far east operatives during the war. Through the years, Alex and Tej worked together in the past—however, he was surprised to find him in Kathmandu, not London.” Alex’s thoughts were mixed again, then cleared, remembering that Tej told him he was surrounded by family in Katmandu and could care for his aging mother. Who was still the matriarch, in command of the family pottery business. Alex remembered how shrewd she was when he purchased several pots to be sent to Clara in Clovelly. “Clovelly, I need to finish my painting. He murmured.” Then thoughts of Tej came back. He was married to the girl he loved since childhood, Geetu.
Geetu was beautiful and gentle, Alex’s jumbled thoughts knew she projected a healing power that would cure him. “Thank you, Geetu, I love you for helping me,” Alex’s words were becoming more slurred after drinking from a bowl the shaman provided.
Tej smiled, knowing the narcotic was working. “Sleep, my friend, I will tell my wife you love her, and we will take care of getting you out of here, old boy, so we can return to peace and tranquillity again.”