Covenant (28 page)

“You’re kidding me?” Ethan said in surprise.

“No,” Hassim replied, “and the church bought them for good reason. There are many in the United States who would like to see their interpretations of biblical prophecy fulfilled, of an undivided Jerusalem as capital of Israel heralding the supposed Second Coming of Christ.”

Ethan sat down on a crate near Hassim and looked at his watch.

“The peace accord is due to be signed in fifteen hours’ time,” he said. “Who else was involved in Lucy’s work?”

“Four of us that I know of,” Hassim said. “Hans Karowitz, Lucy Morgan, myself, and another American—Joseph Coogan—a biochemist from Washington DC. He was to receive any remains that Lucy found and attempt to identify them.”

“We need to contact them,” Ethan said. “Get the word out about what’s happening here.”

Hassim smiled bitterly.

“That’s what I was trying to do when my friends here were able to bring me to safety before I too was abducted. All of the other scientists involved in the project have either vanished or been silenced ever since Lucy found the remains out there in the Negev.”

Ethan thought about Hans Karowitz and his reluctance to speak of what had happened in front of the MACE bodyguards.

“Lucy made a brief radio call about her discovery to the museum in Jerusalem. Do you think it likely that she was tracked because of those communications?”

“It is possible,” Hassim agreed. “But the Negev is a very large desert and Lucy was digging in a restricted area where few people travel. To have found her, somebody was most likely watching her movements all along and followed her out there.”

“Which means either the IDF or MACE,” Ethan said, turning to look at Rachel, “and given what we’ve seen so far today I know who I’d put my money on.”

EREZ
ISRAEL

S
pencer Malik watched as Rafael approached from the shadows, gliding silent as a ghost before stopping a meter away from where he stood. The darkness obscured his features; the broad face, the skin darkened by the passing of endless suns in countless countries. A thin silken scarf covered the lower half of his face, shielding him effectively enough to prevent identification.

“Information,” Rafael demanded in his husky accent.

“I don’t take orders,” Malik hissed. “You do.”

“A shame, then, that you so often fail to carry them out.”

Malik flashed a brittle grin in the darkness, but said nothing.

“I will contact you with the coordinates as soon as I have them,” Rafael said. “Try not to screw up this time.”

Malik’s grin did not budge.

“Just get the job done.” Malik produced a small set of folded papers. “These will get you past the security at the crossing. Israel closed it some time ago, but there …” Malik stared as Rafael walked past him without another word, ignoring the papers. “Where are you going?”

Rafael turned back to face him.

“Fool, you would have me approach a guarded crossing? I will make my own way into Gaza. There is always a way in and out for those who know. Be gone.”

Malik whipped his pistol out of its holster, strode forward, and jammed the metal barrel against Rafael’s head.

“Who are you calling a fool?”

Rafael stared up at Malik for a long moment before speaking in a soft whisper, his shoulders slumping. “Forgive me, I did not mean to offend.”

Malik felt his features melting into a grin of deep satisfaction, and with his free hand he tapped Rafael’s stubbled cheek a few times for good measure.

“Run along, little man.”

Rafael nodded obediently before turning and walking away. Malik watched him stride into the night, then basked in the surge of adrenaline that coursed through his veins. Rafael was just big talk, dominated as easily as a whipped dog. A euphoric sense of well-being enveloped him as he looked down and slipped his pistol back into its holster.

It was only then that he saw the small tear in the fabric of his shirt, just below his rib cage. He tugged at the material, saw the clean cut, and cursed. The bloody Arab had held a blade to his ribs and he never even noticed.

He looked up, but Rafael had vanished.

IDF NORTHERN COMMAND (PATZAN)
NEVE YAAKOV, JERUSALEM

T
his had better be important.”

Byron Stone stood inside the doorway to the office of Lieutenant General Benjamin Aydan, a craggy, broad-shouldered veteran of the Six-Day War.

“It is.”

The Israeli Defense Force was never off duty, even in the small hours of the night. In a country surrounded by populations violently opposed to its very existence, it had long been learned by both the government and the military that letting one’s guard down was tantamount to submission and an invitation to destruction.

Within just a few years of its independence, Israel had been subjected to a joint military invasion by all three of its neighboring enemies, Arab states infected with the divine certainty that to destroy Israel was to enact the will of Allah. Israel had fought back, repelling even this concerted assault on its statehood, and had done so alone.

“Enter.”

Byron Stone walked into the office and closed the door. Benjamin Aydan stood and was courteous enough to shake Stone’s hand before gesturing for him to sit in the chair opposite.

“What may I do for you?”

“We have a situation in the Negev,” Stone said briskly. “Several hours ago one of our encampments in the Negev was infiltrated by what we believe to be a terrorist cell. Several items were stolen from the site and smuggled into Gaza.”

General Aydan sat in silence for a moment, regarding Stone through icy eyes that had seen untold horrors. “Value?”

“High,” Stone replied crisply. “We’re not sure of the insurgents’ intentions but we were able to track them into Gaza just after sundown.”

“What do you want us to do?”

Stone took a deep breath. “I’d like to conduct an air strike on the insurgents’ lair.”

Aydan’s eyes narrowed.

“How can you be sure that the target will not incur civilian casualties?”

“I have a man inside Gaza as we speak. He’ll identify the insurgents and their locations and be ready to provide coordinates.”

“You’ve a man on the ground right now? That’s beyond your remit.”

Stone maintained a neutral expression.

“Sensitive data was stolen that concerns both MACE and Israeli Defense Force operations in the Negev. Exposure of that data to insurgent networks could be catastrophic.”

Stone saw the general’s fist clench on his desk as he spoke.

“What could they have taken from a little company like MACE that might possibly cause such a disruption?”

Stone didn’t miss the jibe.

“It isn’t just data that they’ve stolen,” he uttered. “They murdered one of my men and injured several others. Whoever they are, they’re serious enough to kill.”

The general offered Stone a dispassionate stare. “In fifty years, thousands of Israel’s sons have lost their lives defending us. Your men know the risks of service here and are paid considerably more than our conscripts. Live with it.”

“They also have footage of Israeli troops beating an unarmed Bedouin.”

The lie fell out of Stone’s mouth as though it had been waiting there all along.

“What?”

“Almost five minutes’ worth,” Stone went on without missing a beat. “I’ve been assured that it was immensely brutal.” He leaned forward on the desk, staring hard at the general. “It could cause a crisis should the footage be released to the media. The northern Negev battalions are under your command, are they not, General?”

Benjamin Aydan glowered at Stone.

“Do you have copies of this supposed footage?”

“No, the cameraman escaped before he could be apprehended.”

“Incompetent.”

Benjamin Aydan remained silent and still as though hewn from a vast chunk of granite. Stone maintained what he hoped looked like an expression of confidence. For several seconds it seemed as though neither he nor the general was actually breathing. Then Aydan exhaled.

“How accurately can your man identify where these individuals are located?”

“He’ll report in from the location itself. I suspect that it’ll be within one of the tunnels that the Palestinians use to smuggle goods across the city. The destruction of the evidence is my aim here, not the taking of lives.”

Aydan frowned.

“Then why doesn’t your man on the ground simply recover the footage for himself and avoid the need for an air strike?”

“Simply?” Stone echoed. “What’s simple about entering a heavily guarded insurgent network and escaping with your life? My man is doing enough as it is to locate the evidence showing your troop’s brutality. I’d hoped that you’d be good enough to meet us halfway and avoid a firefight on the ground. Unless you’d rather send your own men in to clear the insurgents out of the tunnels?”

General Aydan’s eyes glittered like the points of twin bayonets.

“I would lead them myself, but I can’t commit the Israeli Air Force to an attack on Gaza without good reason. Our own Heron TP drones are for reconnaissance only.”

Byron Stone resisted the urge to smile as the general wandered into his trap.

“A MACE Valkyrie drone carries Hellfire missiles and cannon. It’s the perfect opportunity for our drone to be tested in combat conditions, and the ideal means for us to bring this unfortunate episode to a close.”

“It’ll have to be cleared with Southern Command,” Aydan growled.

“Israel’s involvement in this incident will be minimal,” Stone insisted. “Everybody wins.”

“Except anyone caught in the line of fire.”

Byron Stone chose not to respond, allowing instead the delicacy and danger of the situation to weigh on the general’s shoulders. Aydan reached down and opened a drawer at the side of his desk. He produced a card and handed it to Stone.

“Call me as soon as you have the coordinates, and I’ll clear the flight.”

Stone took the card as he stood.

“Thank you, General.”

He walked out of the office and closed the door behind him. Spencer Malik stood waiting in the corridor.

“Well?”

“Prepare the Valkyrie for flight, and ensure that all of our loose ends are vaporized when you receive the target coordinates. Then find the surgeon. We may need him soon.”

JABALIYA
GAZA STRIP

E
than Warner sipped water from a chipped mug as he listened to Hassim Khan.

“The American Evangelical Alliance owns MACE, is run from Washington DC, and has consistently sought to alter the course of American history by distributing false information to schools, colleges, and universities throughout the country. It was partly responsible for the attempted insertion of ‘Intelligent Design’ into the education curriculum, which was thwarted in 2005 by state courts as being no different from creationism. Their efforts were exposed after a leaked document called ‘The Wedge Strategy’ reached the mainstream media, revealing their plan to put a wedge between science and the public through a campaign of deliberate disinformation in order to generate doubt in scientific endeavor.”