by K. T. Tomb
Sara said, “So we come back at night?”
Judge nodded. “Sounds about right. I say we go back to your office, grab some supplies, like a map and flashlights, and a quick nap for me, and then, head back out here at midnight.”
***
There was no rest for Saul, as Asa pushed him to go deeper and deeper into the caves and tunnels. Every thirty feet, Asa would pull out his GPS device.
“What are you looking for, Asa?” Saul asked after they had been walking for more than an hour.
“I want to know where we are in relation to the city,” Asa said, “and right now, we are about a mile from the Western Wall and Temple Mount.”
Saul smiled. “Then we can turn back? It is late in the afternoon.”
“Almost, Saul, let’s go a little farther. I want to see how close we can get to the Western Wall,” Asa said.
Saul grudgingly nodded and walked right into a spider’s web. He let out a tiny scream and clawed at his face. Once he got control of himself, Saul gave Asa a sheepish grin and went back to walking. Fifteen minutes later, Asa pulled out his GPS again, looked up, and let out a yell of his own.
“What is it, Asa?” Asa held out the GPS to Saul and said, “Right now we are directly under the Western Wall. Now, look up and tell me what you see?”
Saul did as he was told, and saw the ceiling of the cave was roughly fifteen feet above him. “It is good that the ceiling is so high, Asa; it keeps me from feeling claustrophobic.”
Asa rolled his eyes and said, “It also means the base of the Western Wall does not sit on twenty feet of solid dirt and rock, it’s only about five feet. Explosives placed in the right spots will bring down the wall and Temple Mount.”
Saul backed up two steps away from Asa in shock. “Why would you want to do that? Those sites are thousands of years old, and hold significance to billions of people.”
Asa said, “You have answered your own question, Saul. I would do this because of the significance. I would do this because of the damage done to my home and my country. America and its allies in the Middle East stood idly by while monuments of equal importance throughout modern-day Persia were decimated during the war and its aftermath; it’s time to repay the courtesy.”
Saul couldn’t believe what Asa was saying. Destroying so much history was unimaginable. “Please Asa, reconsider this. You would be ruining countless lives and the religious relics of three major religions. I really can’t stand for this.”
Asa pulled out a small handgun and said, “Then you can be the first to die for it.” He then shot Saul in the chest, right through the heart. It took a moment for Saul to realize what had happened. He stared at the red rose of blood that was blooming on his shirt, and then, Saul sank to his knees.
“Asa…please…help me,” Saul said as he fell on his face.
Asa turned his back on Saul and said, “I think I’ve helped you long enough, Saul.” He walked back the way they’d come and pulled out his satellite phone and called Jamaal. “I am 90 minutes from the surface. How long until the packages will be ready?”
“I am told it will be five hours,” Jamaal said.
“They have four hours to get them done and to the site. We are doing this tonight, so when morning comes to Jerusalem, the sun will only shine on the Dome of the Rock,” Asa said and then clicked off the connection.
***
Judge and Sara had spent two hours putting together their supplies for the evening’s adventure. Judge’s eyes kept trying to close, since he hadn’t gotten much sleep on the plane. The seventh time it happened, Sara pulled him into her bedroom.
“All right, Adventure Boy. It’s naptime for you,” she said and pushed him down on the bed.
Judge rolled over onto his back and gave her a rakish smile. “Suddenly, I’m not so tired.” Then he patted the spot next to him.
“Not gonna happen, Judge,” Sara said. “Just because we’re working together and have somewhat patched things up doesn’t mean I’m hopping back into bed with you. Besides, there are a few things I still need to pack. You catch forty winks and then we will head out. Okay?”
“Fine, but I always sleep better with you beside me,” Judge said as he rolled onto his stomach. Before Sara left the room, Judge was lightly snoring.
Sara kept moving around the apartment, adding something to one bag or subtracting something else from another. After an hour, she decided she had enough and went to check on Judge. He was in the same position, barely making any sound. Sara walked to the other side of the bed and eased down. She set an alarm for an hour and closed her eyes, not expecting sleep to come. Her expectations couldn’t beat reality, and Sara dozed off in minutes. When her alarm went off, Sara and Judge both woke with a start.
Judge leaned over and kissed Sara. “See, I knew you couldn’t resist getting into bed with me.”
“Sure, Judge, and as always, you slept through the whole thing,” Sara jabbed back.
Judge clasped his hand to his heart. “Oh, you wound me, lady.” He then laughed and jumped out of bed and went into the bathroom. When he was done, Sara did the same, and Judge looked over the two packs that Sara had finished.
“How many pants did you pack, Sara?” Judge yelled out.
Sara walked out of the bathroom. “None, you dunce. There is nothing in there that we don’t absolutely need. Are you ready to go? Or do you need another nap?”
Judge gave a theatrical yawn and said, “No, I’m good. Let’s do this.”
Thirty minutes later, they parked Sara’s car on a side street and made their way to Temple Mount. Judge spotted two guards walking simple perimeter routes, and guided Sara around them. Once they were in the ruins, Judge and Sara stayed low to the ground, avoiding all spotlights. In less than a minute, they were back in The Chamber.
“Okay, I am going to ease up the stones,” Judge whispered, “while you watch for guards.”
Sara simply nodded.
Judge pulled up the stones, one by one, and Sara pulled out a flashlight to shine down into the hole being revealed. When the last stone came out, the hole appeared to be no more than two-and-a-half feet wide for about five feet.
“That is going to be a tight fit,” Judge whispered.
“Not for me,” Sara said, and then dangled her feet over the edge and eased herself down into the hole. Judge took hold of her hands and lowered her down.
“Have you hit solid ground yet?” Judge asked as Sara’s head disappeared into the hole.
“Not yet, but I think I am close… wait… yes, I’m on a ledge. You can let go,” Sara said. She turned on her flashlight, and swept it across the room. Sara discovered the ledge was actually the first of seven steps. As Judge handed down the packs, she told him about the steps.
“Good, glad to hear I won’t be entrusting my life to a little ledge,” Judge said. He then squeezed into the hole and Sara helped guide his feet to the first step. Once they descended the steps, both used their flashlights to sweep the area. They discovered two pathways, one to the left and one to the right.
“So, I guess this will be the first of the rights,” Sara said.
“Yep. The first clue was to fall from The Chamber, and the second was to take as many rights as your commandments,” Judge said. “Now, do you figure that is the commandments you’ve broken or commandments in general?”
“In general,” Sara said, and she started in the right direction. Judge followed closely behind, having to crouch a little because of the size of the tunnel. He had no doubt that this tunnel was man-made. Sara didn’t move her flashlight from pointing right in front of her, and that was how she missed the second right and almost toppled over the edge of a small cliff. Judge noticed her tipping over and grabbed a belt loop of her pants and pulled her back from the edge.
“Okay, Sara, you’re moving a little too fast for your own good. Slow down or we’ll be carrying you out in a body bag,” Judge said.
Sara nodded in embarrassment, and let Judge take the lead as t
hey backtracked to the second right. The next five rights were also hidden, but the last three were fairly easy to see. As they took the last right, they entered a wider room that was roughly twelve feet long. Sara was about to take a step, but Judge stopped her.
“Whoa there, Sara. What is the next clue?” Judge asked. He knew it, but wanted her to understand his caution.
“The sand is fast, but not bottomless,” Sara said and pointed her flashlight at the ground. It was definitely much sandier in the room. “I guess we’re talking quicksand?”
“Yep,” Judge said, “so it is a good thing that you packed the rope. If I can get enough of a running start, I should be able to jump at least halfway across, and then wade the rest of the way.”
Sara wasn’t so sure. “What if ‘not bottomless’ means there is only one spot that doesn’t have a bottom, and you don’t land on it?”
Judge shrugged. “I’m open to ideas, but at this point, I’m fairly confident in my plan.”
“Okay, Adventure Boy, get to it,” Sara said. She moved out of his way, as Judge went back as far as he could go to make the running jump.
Judge took a deep breath and ran as fast as he could. At the lip of the quicksand, he jumped, sailing as far as he could. Judge would never make any Olympic long jump records, but it was a decent distance at eight feet, two better than he expected. That was where the good news ended, because as his feet made contact with the quicksand, he sank straight down, his entire body disappearing. As his head went under, Judge took in one last big breath.
“Nooooo!” Sara yelled as Judge vanished from sight. The quicksand didn’t even ripple with the addition of Judge’s body. For three minutes, Sara looked for signs of Judge, but nothing surfaced. Just when she was sure he was gone, Judge’s hand appeared on the far end of the room and grasped the edge of the doorway. Then, a second hand appeared, and Judge’s head followed.
“Ahhh! That was a horrible idea!” Judge yelled as he pulled himself out of the quicksand.
“Are you okay?” Sara asked, doing her best to keep any of the worry she was feeling out of her voice.
Judge turned to her and nodded.
Sara saw that he was covered in quicksand and was still breathing hard.
“Yeah, I’m fine, just a little embarrassed. Throw me the rope.”
Sara dug into the pack, got the rope, and threw it to Judge. He tied a rock to one end and threw it back to Sara, who untied the rock and tied it to the ends of the packs. She then stepped lightly into the quicksand and let Judge pull her and the packs across the quicksand.
As she stood up on the other side, she said, “Now, we’re both covered in quicksand and have learned something from this adventure.”
“Yeah, well, I don’t know how much my quicksand revelation will help me in the future. Quicksand is not nearly as big a problem as I thought it would be when I was a kid.”
Sara laughed and walked into the next room, but she stopped cold just a foot inside. This room was a true cavern, with a roof that was easily thirty feet up, and covered in crystals that shone when Sara and Judge’s flashlight hit them. In a way, it looked like a galaxy of stars.
“Hold the right hand of the star,” Judge whispered behind her. “I hope it is not one of those, because we didn’t pack a ladder.”
They both moved to opposite parts of the room, searching for some kind of clue. They circled the entire room, and found nothing. Then Sara looked down on the ground, and noticed a faint outline.
“Judge, on the floor, do you see the lines?”
He looked down and noticed them, too. “Yes, that has to be it. Help me clear it off.”
They both got on their knees and brushed the dirt away. They soon saw the shape of a Star of David appear on the ground. Judge and Sara went back to the entrance to the room to re-orient themselves, and then stepped to the right hand of the star. Judge got back on his knees to examine the outline. “There’s no hand per se, but I think if I pull down on the top part,” Judge said as he worked, “something might come loose.” He pulled down and it turned out that it was actually a shallow three-foot stone, placed on a track that allowed it to slide up and out. Once Judge moved it out of the way, Sara aimed her flashlight into the hole that was revealed. Inside was what looked like a sack, but when Judge tried to grab it, the sack deteriorated in his hands. The item that was inside didn’t, and it shone brighter than the crystals on the cave’s ceiling.
“That’s it!” Sara yelled. “That has to be the First Menorah!” She got down on her knees next to Judge, who handed it to her. It was the most beautiful thing either of them had seen. Made of pure gold, the menorah was covered in intricate designs and Jewish symbols.
“We found it, Sara! We found the Jerusalem Gold,” Judge said, as he kissed her cheek. They both stared at the menorah for several minutes in silence, marveling at its beauty. Then a loud crash brought them both to their feet.
“What was that?” Sara hissed as she stashed the First Menorah into her pack.
Chapter Twelve
Judge put a finger to his lips and turned off his flashlight.
Sara got the message and did the same. After their eyes adjusted, they noticed a light coming from the back left corner of the room. Judge took cautious steps in that direction, and once he found the doorway, he looked through. There, in a chamber almost as large as the room they were in, were five men standing on ladders, lifting a large package to the lower ceiling. There were several battery-powered lights filling the room. Judge recognized none of the men working, but he had seen the man supervising them. Judge had never met Asa Rama in person, but he had read the man’s file.
Judge turned back to Sara and whispered, “It’s Asa Rama and five men. They’re lifting something to the ceiling, and I am going to bet the proceeds from the book I will soon be writing that there are explosives involved.”
Sara’s eyes bugged out. She mouthed one word: Why?
“I don’t know, but I have to stop them. You stay here,” Judge said.
Sara moved to argue, but Judge cut her off. “I will not endanger your life, not now that we have created a new start. Stay here. I can handle this, I promise.” He then pulled his gun out of its holster and walked to the opening. The workers were all concentrating on the package, so they didn’t see him walk in. He aimed his gun at the head of Asa Rama and said, “I’m sorry, gentlemen, but visiting hours at Jerusalem’s Funhouse Caverns are over.”
Asa turned toward Judge and smiled. “Judge Foster, so good to meet you. If you leave right this very minute, I promise you will live to see the destruction I am about to rain on Jerusalem. If you do not,” he said while pulling what looked like a car key fob out of a pocket, “I will detonate the bomb right now.”
The men standing on the ladders looked at the package and then back to Asa. Judge caught their eye movement. “Asa didn’t tell you this was a suicide mission, did he? Tell you what, why don’t you come down from those ladders and I’ll let you beat the crap out of him.”
Asa laughed. “They wouldn’t dare. Besides, that is only one of the bombs we have placed this evening. The others are already in place, and with the press of my thumb, they will all go off.” To emphasize his point, Asa extended his thumb. That proved to be his mistake, as Judge shifted his aim and shot, taking Asa’s thumb off.
The man looked at the bloody stump where his thumb used to be and screamed, “YOU BASTARD!” Asa tried to mash the button with his other hand, but Judge fired again, sending a bullet straight into Asa’s brain. As he fell backward, Judge ran over to the man and grabbed the remote detonator out of Asa’s hand.
Then, Judge turned around to face the stunned men on the ladders. “Okay, gentlemen, slowly descend those ladders and place the package on the ground. Then we can all walk out of here and call the police. Your cooperation will determine how much I tell police about your involvement. Are we agreed?” Every man nodded as placed the device on the ground. “Good. Sara? Time to go!” Judge yelled.
<
br /> Sara walked out with the two packs and all the blood drained from her face when she saw Asa’s body. She took a few steps more and then saw Saul’s body as well. “Did you have to kill Saul?”
Judge turned around and saw the man’s body. “I didn’t shoot him.” He turned to the other men. “Did you guys kill him?” They all shook their heads. “Well, then, I’m going to guess that Asa did him in. Let’s get out of here. I don’t like standing in the middle of all this blood.”
***
“When we got to the surface, I called an old friend in Mossad, who sent in two teams to defuse the bombs and take possession of my captives,” Judge told Michael as they sat in his office.
Michael was speechless for a minute, but then said, “And what about the First Menorah? Are we going to get to display it?”
Judge laughed. “I told you a story of death and double-crossing, and all you care about is the candle holder?”
“Yes, Judge. I am the curator of the museum that funded the expedition,” Michael said.
Judge leaned over and opened his bag to pull out the First Menorah. “Mickey, I would never hold out on you. But you do have to share the rights and the glory with the Israeli Museum of History. Sara was adamant about that.”
Michael took the menorah and couldn’t help but admire its beauty. “Speaking of Sara, why isn’t she here?”
“Funny story; it appears that Asa Rama was behind the Iraqi incident. According to his bodyguard, Jamaal, Asa didn’t like the idea of destroying Iraqi artifacts to get his point across to what he referred to as the ‘Western infidels.’ So, he’d had Jamaal find a counterfeiter who could replace all of the pieces in the shipping crates with fakes. Jamaal said all of the real pieces are somewhere at Asa’s compound in Baghdad. Sara has gone there to re-catalog them,” Judge said.
Michael nodded and looked at the younger man. “So, what is next on your agenda? There is always room for one more in Punta Arenas.”
