" . . .no mood to entertain"

We drove for about three hours. I didn't know what direction, at this point I didn't care. I just wanted to get the hell far away. The further the better. I frequently looked back, trying to see if I could see dust clouds rising into the air, the tell-tale sign of fast moving vehicles.

"Jae-mi-jo-u-se-yo?" I asked her how she was.

"Jol-rib-sum-ni-da." Her voice quivered.

"You feel dizzy?" I asked.

"Ne."

"Do you speak English?"

I think she nodded, or was it the bumpy ground.

"Yes, a little."

"Good, I'll speak Hangul, when I can. O-Ke-i? What is your name?"

"Kim Tae Jae."

"Tae Jae, very pretty name." I think it meant bamboo ashes. "My name is Karen."

"Karen-san?"

"Yes."

I drove the jeep behind a sand dune and parked. Vegetation was sparse, scattered every few hundred feet or so. I broke a dry limb off a scrawny bush, drove it into the ground, placed a small rock at the end of the shadow, and waited. Ten minutes later, I think it was ten minutes later, I place another rock at the end of the new shadow. I stepped on the first rock with my left foot and the second rock with my right foot. 'North is straight ahead.' I said to myself. I moved away from the two rocks and drew and arc connecting and running through them. '1400 hours. Great, a few more hours of hot temperatures.' I walked back to the jeep and took several swallows from the canteen. "Here, Tae Jae, take a drink.'

She looked at me, reached out and grabbed it. She swallowed four times. "We'll camp here, until night time." I reached into the back and retrieved some clothes. "Here, Tae Jae. I know they aren't much."

She took them, sniffed and crinkled her nose.

"I know, they ak-ch'wi-ru'l nae-da."

She smiled and started dressing. She was skinny, looked rather awkward with those big tits.

"Do you have any family. Ka-jok?"

"Yes, brother and mother. Where we are?"

I looked around, "Not sure. Somewhere in North Africa. I think. Night time should confirm it."

"I'm scared."

I walked over to her, and placed my hand on her shoulders. "So am I."

She trembled again.

"The first thing I'm going to do is get you out of the sun." I pulled out two blankets. One I placed under the jeep, length wise. The other I draped over one side of the jeep.

"We can stay under the jeep for a while. It won't be cold, but it'll be cooler."

She got up from the seat.

I handed her the second pair of boots I retrieved. "Here, It'll keep your feet from burning up."

"Gam-sa-ham-ni-da Karen-san." She slipped on Mohammed Jahi-li's clothes on, they looked sillier on her than me, and got under the jeep.

"Want something to eat?"

She nodded.

In the basket was wine, cheese - soft cheese, bread, and some lamb or goat. I grabbed it and handed it down toward her. She took it, took out a piece of meat and cheese and gave it to me.

"Gam-sa-ham-ni-da."

She smiled.

I took the binoculars. No one in sight, good. The longer it stayed that way, the better. I didn't want to go back, and I was quite sure Tae Jae had the same feelings. I took the rifle and rounds from the back and placed it down on the ground next to the blanket.

"Can you shoot a pistol?"

She shook her head. I slide under the jeep, took a bite from the meat and cheese. Other than having to eat greasy cheese and cold meat my world was under control. The first thing I was going to do when I got to civilization would be to take a bath. I would've thought about buying clothes, but my credit card and cash were across the atlantic, could've been half way across the solar system as far as I was concerned. I know one thing, we were most likely in North Africa, or the middle east. Not too many places speak Arabic. Once I had a good idea where we were I could decide which way we would travel. We probably had about another two hours of driving. I don't want to get stuck out here looking for a gas station. I took another bite of meat and cheese.

"Cheese is funny."

"I know." I took the wine out, "A toast to our plight." And swallowed a large volume of wine. I gave it to Tae Jae, she looked at me. I smiled. She took an equal amount of volume in one swallow.

I would occasionally get up from under the jeep and check our surrounding area for signs of life. Nothing. The air was dry and hot, burned to breathe hard. The heat made getting any real sleep next to impossible. I hoped Ahab was all right, and that his men would settle on masturbating tonight. I was in no mood to entertain.