The Quest: A Novel

custody until Ethiopia was free again. At least that was the promise.
    Mercado asked Gann, “What is the situation in the countryside?”
    “A bit unsettled.” He explained about the counterrevolutionaries, and the Royalist partisans, both of whom he was in touch with. He also said, “The Gallas have mostly gone east where the Eritreans are fighting for independence from Ethiopia. But there are some left to see if the fighting here resumes.”
    Purcell told him, “We saw some Gallas from the air.” He said to Gann, “I meant to ask you—what do they do with all those balls?”
    “They eat them, old boy.” He further explained, “Not the Christian or Muslim Gallas, of course. But the pagan Gallas.” He added, “Gives them courage.”
    “Right. You’d need a lot of courage to do that.”
    “Never thought of that.” Gann further addressed Mercado’s concerns and told them, “The Israelis have smuggled in some firearms for the Falashas, to be sure the exodus goes off without a problem.” He reached into an empty urn and retrieved an Uzi submachine gun. “Nice piece of goods.” He handed it to Purcell and told them, “We’ll take that with us.”
    Purcell looked at the compact weapon with a magazine longer than the barrel. “This should scare the hell out of those monks.”
    Gann smiled. “I was thinking more of the Gallas—or anyone else who we may meet in the jungle.” He also informed them, “Getachu has sent some units down this way, but they’ve gotten a bad reception from the Royalist partisans and the anti-Marxist counterrevolutionaries.”
    “Good.” Purcell asked, “Do you have three more Uzis?”
    “I’m afraid not.” He let them know, “The few men left here need them.”
    Purcell passed the Uzi to Mercado, who said, “Reminds me of the old British Sten gun,” and gave it to Vivian.
    Gann said to his guests, “It’s a simple weapon, and I’ll show you how to use it in the event… I’m not with you.”
    Miriam looked at her lover, but said nothing.
    Mercado asked Gann, “Is Shoan safe?”
    “It is to the extent that the Provisional government has agreed to let the Jews leave, unhindered.” He added, “So far the exodus has gone well all over the country, though there have been a few incidents, and thus the Uzis.”
    Purcell asked Gann, “How do you communicate with the Royalists here, and in Addis?”
    “I have a shortwave radio. I keep it outside the village, so as not to compromise the people here.”
    “Can you show it to us?”
    “Of course. But my batteries have died, and I’m waiting forreplacements.” He added, “My Kipling poem to you was my last transmission.”
    “We would have brought batteries if they’d been left for us at the hotel.”
    “If you’re found with a shortwave battery, you are shot. After being tortured.”
    “Right.” Maps and photographs were maybe explainable. Shortwave radio batteries were as hard to explain as a gun. He’d rather have the gun, which could explain itself.
    Gann took the gun from Vivian and said, “We should push off tomorrow.” He asked them, “Do you have any idea where you would like to look?”
    Purcell replied, “I hoped you—or Miriam—could suggest something.”
    “I’m afraid I can’t, old boy.” He said, “I thought perhaps you’d seen something from the air.”
    “We did. But we don’t want to see all those places on the ground.”
    “Well, we may have to do that.” Gann stayed silent for a moment, then glanced at Miriam and said to his guests, “As I mentioned to you in Rome, the people of Shoan have some contact with the monastery. However, those who had this contact are gone.”
    Purcell looked at Miriam. She told them, “The secret is with the elders who have left, and they took their secret with them.”
    Gann looked at his guests. “A relationship… a friendship, that has lasted four hundred years, since the monastery was built, is now severed.” He told them, “The last meeting took place two weeks ago, and the monks have been told.”
    Purcell again had the feeling he’d slipped into an alternate universe. He asked Miriam, “When the people who went to this meeting place left, how long were they gone?”
    She looked at him but did not reply.
    He asked, “Which way did they go?”
    She replied, “They went in a different direction each time, and they were never gone for the same number of days.”
    “Well, that narrows it down.”
    Vivian said to him, “Frank,