Out of the Shadows (Akira and Deane Thriller Series Book 1) by Tim Jopling Page A

assignment.
    As the car came closer, he
looked out for the orange medallion painted on the bonnet and doors
of the vehicle. It would provide information as to its destination
and home region.
    Olsen called
out to raise the taxi. ‘Ajara!’ As the car pulled over, he got into
the back and informed the driver he would be paying for all four
seats, making it a private taxi, as he was not wanting any
company.
    Throughout the
country of Oman, no rail network had ever existed. Instead, a
complex structure of long distance taxis and Microbuses were in
operation, taking customers to their destinations, often together
rather than alone.
    Olsen leaned
forward and told the driver he wanted to go to the UK Embassy. The
driver seemed confused as to where it was, so he responded with the
street name. ‘Al Khuwair na’am?’ The driver smiled, with a quick
inspective look as he returned to the wheel. Olsen fluffed his
shirt and pulled down the window, allowing some much needed air
into the cab. He sat back and studied his surroundings, wondering
whether Geoff Olsen had ever taken a taxi along the same
road.
    Oman had once
been known as the hermit of the Middle-Eastern region. In recent
times, large efforts had been made to build up a tourist
infrastructure to show off its narrow coastal plain, together with
its beautiful ranges of mountains and hills. Sultan Qaboos bin
Said, who deposed his father in 1970, had made great strides to
allow Western influences to penetrate his country since being
appointed by the governing cabinet. With a population of over 2
million people, Oman was now a member of the UN, with Matrah
becoming one of the leading ports in the Middle Eastern
state.
    Olsen picked up
a stray newspaper from the back seat and began to read the Arabic
printed from right to left, on the front page. The news that
temperatures had broken over thirty degrees Celsius didn’t please
him. In his eight years of service as a Government agent, working
in the heat had never pleased him, only adding to the woes and
stresses of whichever assignment he was working on.
    The taxi slowed
down to a halt as streams of traffic flowed out of a road ahead
despite it being Saturday, the weekend in Oman had always fallen on
Thursday and Friday. Other days were opportunities for taxi drivers
especially, to boost their income.
    The car moved
onto one of the main, tarmac roads and followed the stream of
traffic into the Muscat capital. Several small, rocky mountains
passed by in the distance, as the cloud free blue sky continued to
look down from every vantage point.
    Olsen turned
his head slightly to catch sight of some of the coastline. A small
stretch of a beautiful white, sandy beach caught his eye, looking
untouched in the early morning sunshine. As the taxi came into
Muscat, it slowed to walking pace as it progressed through the
tight and winding streets. Taking in a deep breath, he made a
decision and told the driver to let him out here. ‘Ogaf hina, law
samaHt!’ Olsen fumbled for some notes in his pocket and paid the
driver with close to six thousand baiza. The taxi driver smiled a
toothy grin, kissed the money and stuffed it in his
jacket.
    Outside the
cab, Olsen looked at his surroundings and focused on the faces of
the people around him, half expecting his father to be among them.
He shook his head and carried on walking through the busy street,
passing several shops and stalls. The market place was electrifying
in its atmosphere, even at such an early time. Large stalls selling
fish, fresh fruit and vegetables caught his eye, with vibrant
colours standing out wherever he looked. Near the end of the
market, several shops were selling stacks of gold jewellery, from
bangles to dazzling gold daggers.
    One elderly
Omani eyed him up and down closely. He was sitting next to his
stall, which was stacked high with carefully crafted copper pots
and smaller sized pottery. Wearing a dishdasha, a traditional men’s
shirtdress, his eyes refused to leave