Chapter Seventeen
Manama, Bahrain
Anastasia was tired. She had traveled for nearly twenty-four hours, had been in Bahrain for nearly a day, and had gotten precisely nowhere.
When she arrived, she went straight to her father’s office as soon as it opened and talked to his coworkers, but no one seemed to have any idea where he was.
They explained that he had been planning an expedition to Saudi Arabia, and that it had recently been funded, so why he would simply vanish was a mystery.
Next, she went to his home. Again, there was nothing out of the ordinary.
He was just gone, and so was his work laptop.
It was as if he had just vanished off the face of the earth.
She spent the rest of the day talking with the Bahraini police force, but that also seemed to be a dead end.
Her father’s coworkers had filed a missing persons report when he didn’t show up for work after several days, but so far there had been nothing to indicate his whereabouts.
The most that law enforcement could tell her was that he hadn’t left the country by air, and there was no indication of him leaving through one of the ports or by land into Saudi Arabia.
That meant he was still in the country, or that he had left without going through official customs procedures.
Or he was dead. Anastasia shuddered and tried to push the thought from her mind.
He was the last person she had left on this earth that she was truly close with.
Her mother was gone. Her relatives in Egypt were more acquaintances at this stage of her life, with many not approving of her decision to put her career before starting a family.
And she’d not had a true relationship in years.
Her father was all she had, and without him she would be lost.
Anastasia sipped her tea, trying to relax.
She’d rented a room at the Crowne Plaza from which to conduct her search, and though they were very nice accommodations, it hadn’t done much to improve her mood.
Her sleep had been restless last night, and the rising sun provided little additional comfort other than to allow her to restart her search.
She would not be able to relax until she found her father, let alone enjoy luxuries such as those afforded by the fancy hotel.
Her main reason for choosing such expensive lodging was the security it provided.
Perhaps there was a reason that her father disappeared, she thought to herself.
She wasn’t sure why, but maybe he had left her a clue of sorts.
She grabbed her MacBook Air off the table and propped it up on her lap.
Pulling up her email she again read through the last message he had sent her, a simple request to review a hydrological report on the Rub’ al Khali that was related to his latest project.
Could this be the answer? Was it possible that he had gone on the expedition and the Bahraini security forces simply misplaced his customs papers?
She opened the report attached as a PDF document.
It was from Western Michigan University and gave a breakdown of their findings.
They had used remote sensing technology, ground-penetrating radar, and the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment, nicknamed GRACE.
It was a NASA satellite mission that measured minute changes in Earth’s gravity to identify, among other things, underground water sources.
Through these methods, they had determined changes in groundwater storage over time and accumulation and depletion trends, allowing them to ascertain the location of underground water sources in the desert based on the placement of ancient, dried streambeds.
It was a common geological phenomenon for ancient rivers to be absorbed by the landscape over time, yet still present deep underground.
This was certainly an interesting find. With water being a rapidly diminishing resource in the Arabian Peninsula, the prospect of additional freshwater sources was noteworthy to be sure, and Anastasia could understand why her father had been excited.
Not only would this help a lot of people, but if he were the one to actually discover these sources, he would be set in his field for life.
She wished she had looked at the report sooner.
Maybe she could have offered her opinion on it, which, giving it a cursory glance, seemed promising.
Maybe he would have told her his plans. Maybe he wouldn’t be missing.
Her computer chimed, indicating that she’d received an email.
She had sent out messages to multiple individuals, including colleagues of her father in various departments at the United Nations, and several Bahraini officials who she hoped might be able to help.
But as yet she hadn’t heard anything back.
Anastasia minimized the hydrology report and saw that she had received an email from Gilbert Richter of the U.N.
It took her muddled brain a moment to realize that his was the name on the forwarded email chain and he had worked with her father to coordinate the report.
She hoped that perhaps he had news of her father’s whereabouts.
She excitedly opened the email and read its contents.
It sounded like he had information about her father, which was great.
But it also sounded as if her father might be in some type of trouble, which was not.
Richter wanted to meet in Cairo, which was certainly convenient, even though Anastasia loathed the thought of returning there.
She would be obligated to visit her family and would hear all manner of rebukes for her lifestyle, having chosen to leave Egypt and pursue a career in Europe.
But she knew she had to go; there was no other option.
Her heart sank when she saw that he wanted to meet next week. It was such a long time, and she was already exhausted from searching for answers. Another few days seemed a torturous amount of time to wait. She sipped her tea and pondered this development.
No, this was a good sign, she decided. Clearly this Richter individual was working with her father. If he wanted to meet, it was to discuss something concerning her father, which meant he might be in trouble, but that he was also alive. She allowed herself to relax. It was one step closer.
Anastasia settled in and began drafting her reply, telling Richter she would meet him in Cairo.