Then, without taking her eyes away from the newly created object, she said, in a voice broken with emotion, âJack come here, youâve simply got to see this.â
The Colonel, who by now had given Petri all the indications to find the two targets, turned towards her and, with leisurely pace, approached her. He looked absent-mindedly at the object that Azakis was holding in his hand and, in a bored voice, said âa bottle? And what's so interesting to see?"
"Yes, a bottle," answered Elisa crossly. âOnly, until a few seconds ago it was a beautiful coloured vase."
"Yeah, come on, stop kidding me!"
âZak, show him.â
The alien performed the same simple operation as before and this time a huge sphere, black as pitch, appeared in his hands.
"Yikes," exclaimed the Colonel jumping backwards.
"You should recognise this, shouldnât you?" said Azakis, hugging the ball which was almost a metre in diameter.
"Yes, yes," exclaimed the doctor all excited. "Itâs identical to the one we found buried at the camp, inside the mysterious stone container.
"And there were three more," added the Colonel, "which then acted as a base for the shuttleâs landing."
"Precisely,â confirmed Azakis. "We left them behind last time and we used them as a reference for the recovery of the cargo with the plastic."
"Wow," exclaimed Elisa. "Now everything is slowly becoming clearer.â
âForgive me if this is a silly question,â said Jack turning to the alien. "But if we wanted to use these things as containers, say for water for example, weâd also have to invent a practical system of opening and closing them. How could we do that?"
âEasy. Simply use another and shape it like a stopper.â
"What a fool I am. I hadn't thought of that,â said Jack giving himself a little slap on his forehead.
"What do you call these cute little things?" asked Elisa intrigued.
"On our planet theyâre called Shans," Azakis answered while he again made the ball disappear and gave her back the little dark rectangle.
"So this is a little Shan," said Elisa smiling, holding it between her fingers, as she looked at it very closely. "Can I try to build something?"
âWell, it's not quite so simple. I can do it because I use my N^COM implant for its real-time programming. So, either I implant one in you too or you can use ...â He broke off and began rummaging in a small drawer on the side of the console. After a few seconds he took out a sort of helmet, very similar to the one they had previously used for breathing and, handing it to her, ended the sentence saying "this".
"Do I have to put it on my head?" asked Elisa, hesitating.
âCertainly.â
"This thingâs not going to blow my brains out, is it?"
Azakis smiled. He gently took her hands and helped her to position it correctly.
âAnd now?â
"Hold the Shan between your fingers and think of any object. Don't worry about size. Itâs programmed not to turn into anything bigger than a cubic metre.â
Elisa closed her eyes and concentrated. After a few seconds, a fantastic three-arm silver candle holder materialised in her hands.
"My God," she exclaimed astonished. âItâs ludicrous. Itâs incredible." Elisa could not control her emotions. She continued to turn the object over and over in her hands, analysing its every detail. "Itâs exactly how I imagined it. Itâs not possible, I must be dreaming."
Nasiriyya â The ambush
Two large, open top Jeeps, coming from the direction of the Northern part of the city, each with three people on board, drew to a halt at the red light of a seemingly deserted crossing. They waited patiently for the green light and then carried on slowly for another twenty metres, until they reached the entrance of an old abandoned workshop.
A large, portly guy jumped down from the first of the two Jeeps and, armed with a pair of old shears, cautiously approached the entrance and cut the rusty wire holding the big door closed. Immediately behind him, another man jumped out of the second vehicle and joined him. He too was pretty big and heavyset. Together they tried to move the old panel that served as a front door. They struggled for quite a while and then, with a sinister metallic screech, the panel moved. They pushed it sideways with decision, completely flinging open the entrance.
The drivers of the two vehicles who had been waiting, one behind the other, with their engines idling, leaving a large cloud of black smoke behind them, drove into the old workshop and turned their vehicles off.
"Come on," said the one who seemed to be the boss, jumping down from the Jeep, followed by the other three. The two who had been at the entrance joined the little group and all six headed quietly towards the main entrance of the restaurant.
"You three, round the back,â ordered the boss.
All the members of the small assault team were equipped with AK-47 rifles and the typical curved sheaths of the Arab Janbiya knives were clearly visible, hanging from the belts of a couple of them. They weren't very long daggers but their sharp blades, on both sides, undoubtedly made them deadly weapons.
The restaurant owner, aware of the fact that at any moment his companions would appear, continually shuttled back and forth between the dining room and the back entrance, where he peered outside to check for any suspicious movements. His nervousness, however, did not go unnoticed by the General who, crafty old fox that he was, began to smell a rat and realise that something was not right. With the excuse of picking up the bottle of beer, he approached the big guy and whispered close to his ear, "Don't you think your friend is a little too nervous?"
âActually, Iâd noticed that as well,â answered the big guy, also whispering.
âHow long have you known him? You donât suppose heâs organising a nice little surprise for us, do you? "
"I wouldn't think so... heâs always been a dependable sort."
"Perhaps," said the General, rising quickly from his chair, "but I don't trust him at all. Letâs get out of here quick."
The other two looked at one another for a moment, perplexed, then they stood up too and quickly headed towards the owner.
"Thanks for everything," said the big guy, "but we really have to go now" and he shoved another hundred-dollar bill into his shirt pocket.
"But I haven't even brought your desserts,â answered the curly-haired man.
âBetter that way, I'm on a diet,â said the fat guy and set off quickly towards the door. He peered out from behind the curtain and, not seeing anything unusual, motioned to the other two to follow him. He barely had time to cross the threshold when, out of the
