Back To Earth. Danilo Clementoni

actually, I came very close once, but the military life doesn’t work too well with marriage. And you?” he added, changing a subject that was still painful to him. “Have you ever been married?”

      â€œAre you joking? And who would put up with a woman who spends most of her time going around the world digging underground like a mole and enjoys desecrating thousands of year old tombs?”

      â€œI see,” said Jack, smiling bitterly. “You’re obviously not cut out for marriage.” And raising a glass, he offered a melancholy “To us.”

      The waiter arrived with a few more Samoons¹³ fresh from the oven, which fortunately interrupted that moment of sadness.

      Grateful for this interruption, Jack tried to quickly banish a series of memories that had suddenly come into his mind. It was water under the bridge. Right now he had a beautiful woman sitting with him and he had to pay attention to her. This was not proving too difficult.

      The gentle background music around them was just right. In the light of the three candles positioned at the centre of the table, Elisa looked wonderful. Her hair had gold and copper highlights, and her smooth skin was bronzed by the sun. Her penetrating eyes were of the deepest green. Using her soft lips, she was trying to pull a piece of sturgeon off the bone that she was holding between her fingers. So sexy.

      Elisa was certainly not going to let the colonel’s moment of weakness go by. She placed the bone on the edge of her plate, and sucked the juice from her thumb and fingers with apparent nonchalance. Lowering her head, she gazed at him so intensely that Jack feared that his heart would leap out of his chest and land on his plate.

      Realising that he was no longer in control of the situation, the colonel tried to pull himself together. He was much too old to behave like a lovesick school boy, but there was something about her that he found irresistibly attractive.

      Taking a deep breath, he wiped his face with his hands and tried to say “Do you think we can finish this last piece?”

      She smiled, gently took the last morsel of sturgeon and, leaning forward in her seat, moved it towards his mouth. In that position, the neckline of her dress fell away slightly, revealing her generous breasts. Jack, visibly embarrassed, took only a bite. He did not, however, manage to avoid her touching his lips with her fingers. He felt a growing sense of excitement. Elisa was playing with him like a cat with a mouse, and Jack was unable to defend himself.

      Then, with the air of an innocent girl, she sat back in her chair as though nothing had happened and signalled to the tall, thin waiter, who arrived promptly.

      â€œI think it’s time for some nice cardamom tea. What do you say, Jack?”

      Still recovering from the previous incident, he stammered something like “Er, yes. Okay...” Straightening his jacket, he tried to adopt a more casual tone, adding “I believe it’s great for the digestion.”

      He realised he had said something ridiculous, but at that time nothing else came to mind.

      â€œThis is all very pleasant, Jack. It’s been a lovely evening. But we mustn't forget the reason for our meeting tonight. There's something I have to show you, remember?”

      In that moment, the Colonel was thinking of anything but work. She was right, however. There were more important things at stake than a foolish flirtation. The truth was that, to him, the flirting did not seem foolish.

      â€œSure,” he replied, trying to recover his authoritative expression. “I can’t wait to find out what you've discovered.”

      At this point, the fat man in the nearby car, who was listening to everything, shouted “What a bitch!” Women are all the same. First they make you feel like they're going to take you to the moon, then they drop you as though nothing had happened.”

      â€œI think your ten dollars will soon be lining my pockets,” said the thinner guy, following up his comment with a hearty laugh.

      â€œTo tell you the truth, I don’t give a damn who gets into bed with the professor. Don’t forget that we’re only here to find out what she knows.” While he was trying to find a more comfortable position in his seat because his back was beginning to ache, he added, “We should have found a way to place a camera inside that damn restaurant.”

      â€œYes, under the table, even. That way we’d have got a good look at her thighs.”

      â€œIdiot. Which asshole picked you for this mission?”

      â€œThe boss, my friend. And I advise you not to insult him. He knows about bugging devices and he may even have bugged this car.”

      The big man winced. For a moment he thought his heart had stopped beating. He was looking to build a career, and insulting his immediate superior was not exactly the way to get ahead.

      â€œStop talking bullshit,” he said, trying to sound serious and professional. “Just think about getting on with the job, and let’s get back to base with something concrete.” As he was saying this he was staring at a point in the night darkness, not well-defined through the slightly steamed up windscreen.

      Elisa removed her beloved computer from her bag. Placing it on the table she began to scroll through the photos. The colonel, whose curiosity was aroused, tried to focus on something, but the angles did not allow it. Having found what she was looking for, she got up and moved to the seat next to him.

      â€œNow,” she began. “Make yourself comfortable. It’s a long story. I’ll try to summarise as much as possible.”

      Scrolling rapidly down the screen of her computer, she found a picture of a tablet engraved with strange drawings and cuneiform writings.

      â€œThis is a photograph of one of the tablets found in the tomb of King Baldwin II of Jerusalem,” Elisa went on. “He is thought to have been the first to open the Cave of Macpela, also known as the Cave of the Patriarchs, in 1119. This is where Abraham and his sons Isaac and Jacob are believed to be buried. These underground tombs were found beneath what today is called the Mosque, or the Sanctuary of Abraham in Hebron on the West Bank.” At this point, she showed him a picture of the mosque.

      â€œInside these tombs, in addition to many other things, the king found a set of tablets that would have belonged to Abraham. It’s even believed to represent some kind of diary that he kept, where he recorded some of the most significant events in his life.”

      â€œHis travel notes,” Jack suggested, hoping to make a favourable impression.

      â€œIn one way, yes. For someone of that period of history he wrote a lot down while he was travelling.”

      She scrolled to another photo and continued to explain. The greatest experts on the language and graphical representation of the time have tried to translate what has been recorded on this tablet. Obviously, opinion is divided in some respects, but everyone agrees that this,” she continued, enlarging a detail on the photo, “may be interpreted as ‘vessel’ or ‘amphora of the gods’.” Then there are the words ‘burial’, ‘secret’ and ‘protection’, which are also quite clear.”

      Jack was beginning to feel a little confused, but he kept nodding his head to convince Elisa that he had understood perfectly. She looked at him for an instant, then continued. “This symbol, on the other hand,” she said, adjusting the screen to make the image as clear as possible, “would, according to some, represent a tomb, and the tomb of a god. Whereas this part probably describes one of the gods warning or even threatening the people gathered around him.”

      The colonel, partly due to the alcohol and partly due to the intoxicating perfume emanating from Elisa, and perhaps partly due to his being lost in her eyes, was no longer following what she was saying. In spite