The Left Behind Collection: All 12 Books (101 page)

Buck nearly laughed. “Your praying has resulted in a lot of mayhem tonight,” he said.

There was no response from the back. Buck pushed the bus for all it was worth. He got it up to over eighty kilometers an hour, which he guessed was in the fifty mile-an-hour range. It rattled and shook and bounced, and the various metal parts squeaked in protest. He knew that if he could see the border patrol car, its driver could see him. There was no sense cutting the lights and hoping they assumed he had pulled off the road.

It seemed he might be pulling away from them. He could not judge distances well in the darkness, but they didn’t appear to be coming at high speed. The lights were flashing, and he was convinced they were after him, but he pushed ahead.

From the back: “Cameron, I think I have the right to know. What is your plan? What will you do when they overtake us, as they surely will?”

“Well, I’ll tell you one thing, I’m not going back to that border. I’m not even sure I’ll let them pull me over.”

“How will you know what they want?”

“If it’s the man who searched the bus, we’ll know what they want, won’t we?”

“I suppose we will.”

“I will holler at him from the window and urge him to deal with us at the airport. There’s no sense driving all the way back to the border.”

“But will that not be
his
decision?”

“I guess I’ll have to engage in civil disobedience then,” Buck said.

“But what if he forces you off the road? Makes you pull over?”

“I’ll try to avoid hitting him at all costs, but I will not stop, and if I am forced to stop, I will not turn around.”

“I appreciate your resolve, Cameron. I will pray, and you do as God leads you.”

“You know I will.”

Buck guessed they were thirty kilometers from the airport outside Al Arish. If he could even keep the bus close to sixty kilometers per hour, they could make it in half an hour. The border patrol car would surely overtake them before that. But they were so much closer to the airport than to the border, he was certain the officer would see the wisdom of following them to the airport rather than leading them back to the border.

“Tsion, I need your help.”

“Anything.”

“Stay down and out of sight, but find my phone in my bag and get it to me.”

When Tsion crawled next to Buck with his phone, Buck asked him, “Sir, how old are you?”

“That is considered an impolite question in my culture,” Tsion said.

“Yeah, like I care about that now.”

“I’m forty-six, Cameron. Why do you ask?”

“You seem in pretty good shape.”

“Thank you. I work out.”

“You do? Really?”

“Does that surprise you? You would be surprised at the number of scholars who work out. Of course there are many who do not, but—”

“I just want to make sure you’ll be able to run if you need to.”

“I hope it does not come to that, but yes, I can run. I am not as fast as I was as a young man, but I have surprising endurance for one of my vintage.”

“That’s all I wanted to know.”

“Remind me to ask
you
some personal question sometime,” Tsion said.

“Seriously, Tsion. I did not offend you, did I?”

Buck was strangely warmed. The rabbi actually chuckled. “Oh, my friend, think about it. What would it take to offend me now?”

“Tsion, you’d better get back where you were, but can you tell me how much gasoline we have left?”

“The gauge is right there in front of you, Cameron. You tell me.”

“No, I mean in our extra cans.”

“I will check, but surely we do not have time to fill our tanks while we are being chased. What do you have in mind?”

“Why do you ask so many questions?”

“Because I am a student. I will always be a student. Anyway, we are in this together, are we not?”

“Well, let me just give you a hint. While you’re tapping on the sides of those gas cans to tell me how much we have left, I’m going to be checking the cigarette lighter on the dashboard.”

“Cameron, cigarette lighters are the first to go in old vehicles, are they not?”

“For our sakes, let’s hope not.”

Buck’s phone buzzed. Startled, he flipped it open. “Buck here.”

“Buck! It’s Chloe!”

“Chloe! I really can’t talk to you now. Trust me. Don’t ask any questions. For right now I’m OK, but please ask everybody to pray and pray now. And listen, find the phone number for the airport at Al Arish, south of the Gaza Strip on the Mediterranean in the Sinai. Get hold of Ken Ritz, who should be waiting there. Have him call me at this number.”

“But Buck—”

“Chloe, it’s life or death!”

“You call me as soon as you’re safe!”

“Promise!”

Buck clapped the phone shut and heard Tsion from the back. “Cameron! Are you planning to blow up this bus?”

“You really are a scholar, aren’t you?” Buck said.

“I just hope you wait until we get to the airport. I mean, a flaming bus may get us there faster, but your pilot friend may just ferry our remains to the States.”

“That’s all right, Chloe,” Rayford said, “I long since gave up trying to sleep. I’m up reading anyway.”

Chloe told him of her strange conversation with Buck. “Don’t waste time on the Internet,” Rayford said, “I’ve got a guide to all those phone numbers. Hang on.”

“Daddy,” she said, “it’s gotta be a closer phone call for you anyway. Call Ken Ritz and tell him to call Buck.”

“I’m tempted to fly over there myself, if I had a small enough craft.”

“Daddy, we don’t need both you and Buck endangering your lives at the same time.”

“Chloe, we do that every day.”

“Better hurry, Dad.”

Buck guessed the border patrol car was less than half a mile behind him. He put the accelerator to the floor and the bus lurched. The steering wheel shook and bounced as they hurtled down the road. The gauges still looked OK for the moment, but Buck knew it was only a matter of time before the radiator overheated.

“I am guessing we have about eight liters of gasoline,” Tsion said.

“That will be plenty.”

“I agree, Cameron. That will be more than enough to make martyrs of us both.”

Buck eased off the throttle just enough to smooth out the ride. Smooth, of course, was a misnomer. Buck felt it in his back and hips as they bounced along. The border patrol car had closed to within a quarter mile.

Tsion called out from the back: “Cameron, it is clear we are not going to outrun them to the airport, do you agree?”

“Yes! So?”

“Then it makes no sense to push this vehicle to its limit. It would be smarter to conserve water, oil, and gasoline to be sure we make it to the airport. If we break down, all your resolve means nothing.”

Buck couldn’t argue with that. He immediately slowed to about fifty kilometers per hour and sensed he had bought several miles. However, this also allowed the border patrol car to pull right up behind him.

A siren sounded and a spotlight flashed in his outside rearview mirror. Buck merely waved and drove on. Soon it was yellow flashing lights, the spotlight, the siren, and the horn of the patrol car. Buck ignored them all.

Finally, the squad car pulled even with him. He glanced down to see the very guard who had searched the bus. “Fasten your seat belt, Tsion!” Buck hollered. “The chase is on!”

“I wish I
had
a seat belt!”

Buck continued at his modest speed as the patrol car stayed with him, and the guard pointed that he should pull over. Buck waved at him and drove on. The guard pulled in front of the bus and slowed, again pointing to the side of the road. When Buck made no attempt to pull off, the car slowed even more, forcing him to swerve around it. He had no acceleration, however, and the patrol car, now on the other side of him, sped up to keep him from passing. Buck merely backed off and got behind the car again. When it stopped, he stopped.

When the guard got out, Buck backed up and drove around him, building about a hundred-yard gap before the guard jumped back in and quickly caught up again. This time, the guard pulled alongside and showed Buck a handgun. Buck opened his window and hollered, “If I stop, this bus will stall! Follow me to Al Arish!”

“No!” came the reply. “You follow me back to the border!”

“We are much closer to the airport! I don’t think this bus can make it back to the border!”

“Then leave it! You can ride back with me!”

“I’ll see you at the airport!”

“No!”

But Buck slid his window shut. When the guard pointed his weapon at Buck’s window, Buck ducked but kept going.

Buck’s phone was buzzing. He clicked it open. “Talk to me!”

“This is Ritz. What’s the deal?”

“Ken, have you passed through customs there?”

“Yeah! I’m ready when you are.”

“You ready for some fun?”

“I thought you’d never ask! I haven’t had any real fun for ages.”

“You’re gonna risk your life and break the law,” Buck said.

“Is that all? I’ve been there before.”

“Tell me your position and all, Ken,” Buck said.

“Looks like I’m the only plane going out of here tonight. I’m just outside of a hangar at the end of the runway. My plane is, I mean. I’m talking to you from the little terminal here.”

“But you’ve been processed, and you’re ready to leave Egypt?”

“Yeah, no problem.”

“What did you tell them as far as other passengers and cargo?”

“I figured you wouldn’t want me to talk about anybody but you.”

“Perfect, Ken! Thanks! And who do they think I am?”

“You’re exactly who I say you are, Mr. Katz.”

“Ken, that’s great. Hang on just a second.”

The guard had pulled in front of the bus and now slammed on his brakes. Buck had to swerve almost all the way off the road to miss him, and when he pulled back on, the bus fishtailed and nearly went over.

“I am rolling back here!” Tsion said.

“Enjoy the ride!” Buck said. “I’m not stopping, and I’m not turning around.”

The guard had turned off his flashing yellow lights and his spotlight. The siren was silent now too. He quickly caught up with the bus and tapped it from behind. He tapped it again. And again.

“He’s afraid to hurt that squad car, isn’t he?” Buck said.

“Do not be so sure,” Tsion said.

“I’m sure.” Buck slammed on the brakes, making Tsion slide forward and cry out. Buck heard the screeching tires behind him and saw the squad car lurch off the right side of the road and down into loose gravel. Buck punched the accelerator. The bus stalled. As he tried to start it he saw the squad car, still in the gravel, coming up along his right side. The engine kicked in, and Buck popped the clutch. He picked up the phone. “Ken, you still there?”

“Yeah, what in the world’s going on?”

“You wouldn’t believe it!”

“You bein’ chased or something?”

“That’s the understatement of the year, Ritz! I don’t think we’re gonna have time to go through customs there. I need to know how to get to your plane. You need to be cleared, engines running, door open, and stairs down.”

“This
is
gonna be fun!” Ritz said.

“You have no idea,” Buck said. The pilot quickly told Buck the layout of the airstrip and the terminal and precisely where he was. “We’re within about ten minutes of you,” Buck said. “If I can keep this thing rolling, I’ll try to get as close to the runway and your plane as possible. What am I gonna run into?”

The squad car came up onto the road, spun, and now faced the bus. Buck swerved left, but the car cut him off. Buck couldn’t avoid smashing him. The impact turned the car around in the road and knocked the hood off. Buck sensed little damage to the big old bus, but the temperature gauge was rising.

“Who’s chasing you anyway?” Ritz said.

“Egyptian border patrol,” Buck said.

“Then you can bet they’re gonna radio ahead here. There’ll be some kind of a roadblock.”

“I just hit the squad car. Is this going to be a roadblock I can blast through?”

“You’ll have to play that one by ear. If you’re as close as you say you are, I’d better get out to my plane.”

“The cigarette lighter works!” Buck hollered to Tsion.