Sahara Page #2

We don't like to say "plague."

- What do you think it is then?

- A plague.

So you do business in Mali?

Do you know anyone there

who could help us

by pressuring the WHO

to send a team?

Well, you see, much of Mali

is controlled by a warlord.

General Kazim. Do you know him?

Yes. He used to be a colonel

in the Malian army,

and gave himself an upgrade

the day he shot the president.

He's the man who put the "war"

back into "warlord."

And he controls the country?

Half of it. And the other half

no one controls,

but I don't know which is worse.

But I have to warn you, it is very

dangerous for foreigners right now.

I would say it's probably

more dangerous for locals.

Yes, but your death would

look very bad in the papers.

So does the word "plague."

All right, I will call some people,

but at the end of the day,

I'm just a businessman,

so be patient.

Oh, yeah, she's good at that.

He's not gonna help us.

This was a waste of time.

Eva, we can't just wander into

the middle of a Malian civil war.

The fighting with the Tuaregs

is too severe. You know that.

I think we should go back

to the hospital...

Admiral, have you ever seen

a Confederate gold dollar?

- Dear God, don't start this again.

- Of course not.

The Confederacy never made

a gold dollar.

The mint was destroyed

near the end of the war.

Dirk, I beg you on my hands

and knees. Don't.

But not before Jefferson Davis

had five samples made.

He gave four of those samples

to his top generals:

- Lee, Jackson, Stuart and Johnston.

- Every time we come to Africa,

out comes that stupid ship model.

Out come the old port journals.

We are leaving for Australia

tomorrow.

Four of those samples

have been found.

But the fifth never was.

That one was given to

an old family friend of Davis.

A brilliant young sea captain

named Mason Tombs.

Captain of the CSS ironclad Texas.

- Where in the hell did you get this?

- Frederick Oshodi.

And he got it from a man

named Indigwe.

But the important thing is that Indigwe

found this in Labbezanga, Mali.

Hey, my dad collects coins.

No, that coin and the Texas

were on the Niger River.

It's impossible. An ironclad

couldn't make it with her draft.

Let me take the Calliope

to Labbezanga, have a look around.

- You can't have my boat, Dirk.

- Three days, admiral.

Just three days. Imagine.

Imagine.

All right, if I strike out,

you'll never hear another word

about this.

You got 72 hours.

And not a nanosecond more.

You fellas just bought

yourself a boat trip.

You're a gentleman, admiral.

I don't care what they say about you.

I got a bottle says we never find it.

- Make it a case.

- All right. You're on.

- Okay, I'll see you later.

- See you later.

Hey, yo!

- You're late.

- Excuse me?

- I was told 8:
00 departure.

- Eight o'clock?

- I never said 8:00.

- I said 9.

- Nine.

- It's after 1 0.

Who said 8?

Admiral Sandecker.

Yeah, he said to give him a call

if you had any problems.

A problem? With what?

He wants you to take us

up the river to Mali.

- What?

- Oh, no, no, no, no, no.

- Taking you to Mali?

- Wait.

There's been an outbreak in Mali.

- It's going to become an epidemic.

- And you wanna hitch a ride, doctor?

What, WHO's making

budgetary cutbacks?

Please. It's important.

- You guys got enough gear?

- Probably not.

Small boat. No privacy.

I'm not shy.

Where do you call home?

I have a house in Monterey,

but I'm never there.

Monterey. There's great diving

in Monterey.

Is that all you ever think about?

Diving?

No. Sometimes I think about

Petricola pholadiformis.

The angel wing clam.

- Beautiful.

- Yeah.

This river's the only place

on earth they're found.

When they're underwater,

they glow in the dark.

Now, the amazing thing is that

modern science cannot explain why.

There must be a reason.

Till then, my theory is that

they do it because they can.

Dirk! That's it. Let's go.

Angel wings.

World would be a lot cooler place

if more of us were like that, huh?

This is the center of the cluster.

Here. Asselar.

That's where we have to go.

Right in the middle

of Kazim's civil war.

Hey, you ever been

after marlins, doctors?

Oh, no, not

the marlin story again, Al.

Seven hundred

and thirty-three pounds.

Five and a half hours

in the fighting chair.

- I thought it was 600 pounds.

- Hey!

What did you catch that day?

I can't remember anything at all.

How long you guys been together?

Oh, since kindergarten.

College. Navy. NUMA.

Poor guy's always

been in my shadow.

Always the Al's-maid, never the Al.

Right?

Nice, doc.

You're pulling your weight.

- My watch, chief.

- All right, my man. Excellent.

Your friend Al told me all about

your Captain Tombs and his boat.

Oh, he did, did he?

He also said ironclads were

not made to cross the ocean.

Well, neither was man. Tequila?

And you found a coin?

Not just a coin.

I found the coin.

Now, I also have a letter

from the captain's widow

alluding to her husband's

urgent Eastern voyage.

I have a sailor's log

on an Atlantic clipper

who swears on a stack of Bibles

he saw a great iron beast

steaming two miles

off the African coast.

Now, what kind of man tries to take

a ship like that across the ocean?

Why? How?

I don't know.

But I plan on finding out.

Al loves it when people ask me that,

thinks it makes me look a bit:

This must be nice.

To have this as your office.

Well, every great thing that's ever

happened to me

happened in the water.

Every one.

Hey, Rudi, come on,

help me out with this.

Oumar.

- You got it?

- There you go.

- How long to Asselar?

- Oh, six, eight hours. No problem.

- You stay for long?

- No, not long.

All right, this one too.

- Think it'll be safe?

- Oh, it's okay.

Where we go now,

no fighting. No problem.

- Yeah, no problem.

- No Tuareg.

Listen, I've been thinking.

When this is over,

there's a place I know.

It's called Monterey.

- Never heard of it.

- No?

It's got a beautiful beach.

Golden sands, aqua-blue surf.

The place is paradise.

- Sounds good.

- Oh, yeah.

I also happen to know a woman

who has a house there.

And because she's a workaholic,

she's never at home.

Now, I haven't asked her, but I'm

pretty sure that she wouldn't mind

if you dropped by.

Can I bring a friend?

You'd have to ask her.

I already did.

You did?

You, me and the bay of Monterey.

Thank you for everything.

- You're welcome.

- And good luck to you.

You as well. Bonne route, doctor.

Mr. Indigwe, he lives...

Indigwe. He find this

one week before, yes?

You know, I'm not

too much of a linguist...

...but that didn't sound too good.

Indigwe is dead.

Yeah. Hey, the check.

What is "the check"? L'addition,

Hey, you know, my dad

collected ancient coins.

From Rome, China, Siam, Persia.

Somehow they all ended up

in a shoebox in New Jersey.

- Meaning?

- Coins travel, Dirk.

Even if that poor guy was still alive,

it could have been nothing.

Yeah, but the coin traveled

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