The Cup

by Alex Lukeman

  Stephanie named all of her computers. Freddie was her favorite, a maxed out Cray that was her pride and joy.

  "Good old Freddie," Nick said. "Anything new from the hospital?"

  "Nothing's changed. She's still unconscious. But her brain is active and that's a good sign."

  "I could use a good sign about now," Nick said. "I'll be back in about four hours."

  After he'd disconnected, Stephanie had thought about what he'd said. Putting Haddad into the equation narrowed the search. They'd been running across ISIS at almost every step of the way on this mission. If Haddad's plans involved something named Athena, it had to be high priority for ISIS.

  Think like the enemy, Steph thought. If I'm running ISIS, what do I want to do? What do I want to accomplish?

  The answer didn't require much thought. Annihilate the infidel and raise the black flag over the entire world. Islamic fanaticism had only one goal in mind. Stephanie couldn't believe there were still people who refused to see the reality of that goal and acknowledge the hatred aimed at achieving it. But then again, reality had never been popular if it conflicted with belief. In this case, far too many people wanted to believe only in the positive aspects of Islam without looking at its dark side. All they had to do was study history to see that the cancerous aberration of ISIS was nothing new.

  Annihilate the infidel.

  Trying to pin down the ISIS connection to Athena was worse than trying to find one particular grain of sand on a beach.

  She needed to come up with new assumptions if she wanted to find anything useful.

  Okay, start assuming. Assumption number one is that Haddad wouldn't have that in his pocket if it didn't mean something. Assumption number two is that it has to be important because of his role in ISIS. Assumption number three is…What is assumption number three?

  She sat back in her chair and glanced over at her sleeping child.

  What's the most important thing we need to know right now, about ISIS?

  That was easy. If they had a bomb, where was it and what were they going to do with it? Thanks to Adam, they knew the answer to the second part. They'd set it off somewhere in America.

  Assumption number three is that first they have to get it here.

  She didn't think they had a way to fly it in. ISIS had captured some planes when they overran parts of Iraq, but they didn't have anything that could reach America.

  You couldn't just put the bomb in a box and ship it FedEx. It had to be reasonably large, possibly leaking radiation that could be detected when it entered the country. You weren't going to fly here on a commercial plane with the bomb conveniently checked into baggage. She supposed you might be able to get it overland through Europe and into England. But then they'd still have to move it from there to America.

  Across the ocean.

  A ship! It has to be a ship. There can't be any other way they could get it here. If it's a ship, it's registered somewhere. If it's not registered, that's a problem I can't beat. But if it is, there's a record of any ports of call and I can find it.

  Her fingers flew over her keyboard, changing the search filters she was using.

  An hour and a half later she had the answer.

  CHAPTER 59

  Nick drove to Virginia and found Stephanie sitting at Elizabeth's desk. The baby was on the couch. Burps lay on the next cushion. He looked up as Nick came in.

  "Mrreow."

  Nick walked over and scratched him behind the ears. Stephanie got up from the desk.

  "I didn't mean to take over your desk," she said.

  "It's still Harker's desk," Nick said. "Did you find out anything about Athena?"

  "Do you know how many references there are to the goddess Athena?"

  "No. A lot."

  "Sometimes I wonder how anybody figured anything out before we had computers. Without those Crays downstairs crunching data, I wouldn't have gotten anywhere."

  "Does that mean you got somewhere?"

  "I hope so. I made an assumption that the word 'Athena' was somehow related to the nuke ISIS obtained."

  "Go on."

  "We know they want to set it off here. I asked myself, how do you get a bomb here from Syria? The answer is, it has to come by ship. There isn't any other way for them to transport something like that without being detected. I looked for any ship named Athena that had recently left a port somewhere in the middle east. Guess what?"

  Her voice was edged with excitement.

  "Son of a bitch. You found one."

  "Yes. A freighter. Athena left Turkey five days ago, headed for Savannah. She's somewhere in the Atlantic."

  "Steph, that's great work."

  "I could be wrong. It's all based on the assumption that the word 'Athena' and the bomb go together."

  "It's a hell of a lot better than anything else we've got," Nick said. "I'll get Hood on it. If that ship's out there, we'll find it. If it's got that bomb on board, we'll sink it."

  "It could just be bringing olives or dates or something," Stephanie said.

  "Maybe. We've got technology that can smell a radioactive date from twenty thousand feet," Nick said. "If you're right, we'll find it."

  "I'm going downstairs to feed the baby. Let me know if you need anything."

  "Great work," Nick said again. "I'll call Hood now."

  Hood answered on the second ring.

  "Nick."

  "Director, we may have something."

  He explained about the slip of paper in Haddad's pocket and what Stephanie had discovered.

  "It's a long shot but it's better than no shot at all."

  "It makes sense," Hood said. "We're not talking about something you can carry in a suitcase."

  "I'd be surprised if there wasn't some kind of radioactive signature," Nick said. "If we can find that ship, we can do a flyover and see if we can pick anything up."

  "Even if we don't, we can intercept and board her. There's only one problem."

  "What's that?"

  "We have to find her, first."

  CHAPTER 60

  Two days later, they still hadn't located Athena. They knew she was headed for Savannah, but it was a big ocean. The shipping lanes weren't marked with nice white lines. For all they knew, she wasn't following a conventional path. Besides, she was a tramp steamer. She could have stopped off in any one of half a dozen places before setting out across the Atlantic. Satellite overpasses and surveillance flights by the Air Force had failed to turn up the ship.

  Nick sat at Elizabeth's desk and found himself drumming his fingers on the wooden top. It was uncanny, almost as if whoever sat there was channeling her energy. She was still in a coma. Her EKG was stable but that was the only positive sign. They'd had to take her back into surgery to relieve pressure on her brain, where fluid had built up from the injury. Now there was nothing more to do but wait and see if she woke up.

  The rest of the team was in the room. The box they'd found in Syria rested on the desk in front of him.

  "When are we going to get a look inside that box?" Lamont asked. "Hell, I'm dyin' of curiosity."

  "We all are," Nick said. "I've been focused on this search for the Athena."

  "It says a lot about the way the world has changed," Selena said.

  "What do you mean?"

  "That box may contain the most sacred relic in Christianity. A thousand years ago no one would have hesitated to get it open. But we're worried about a bunch of lunatics with a nuclear bomb instead."

  "It's a question of priorities," Nick said.

  "That's what I mean about how the world has changed," Selena said. "People have lost a sense of spiritual things, things that inspire all that's good in the world. The Grail is one of those things. Maybe our priorities are wrong."

  Nick was about to say something when his phone signaled a call from Hood.

  "Yes, Director."

  "Please call me Clarence, Nick. I hear director all the time. That's not why I called. We've spotted Athena."

&n
bsp; Nick pumped his fist in the air. "Yes!"

  He turned on the speaker. "They found Athena," he said to the others. "Director, uh, Clarence, I put you on speaker so the others can hear."

  "The good news is that we found her," Hood said. "The bad news is that she's thirty miles offshore, headed straight for Savannah. I would've preferred to find her farther out in case something goes wrong. I've talked with Rice about what to do."

  "What did he say?"

  "He wants to board her. She's well within our waters and there's nothing she can do about it. The Coast Guard is heading for her right now with two SEAL teams on board. With a little luck this will all be over in an hour."

  "It might be smarter to sink her before she gets any closer," Nick said.

  On the couch, Lamont and Ronnie were nodding.

  "I argued for that with Rice," Hood said. "He was adamant that we don't do that. He's not convinced she's anything more than what she appears to be. I can see his point. If we sink a civilian ship because we think it's got a bomb on board without proof, we'll be vilified by the international community. Accused of war crimes."

  "What else is new?" Nick said. "Three quarters of the UN wants to try the last ten presidents for war crimes. Hell, if they could get away with it, they'd indict Eisenhower. As far as I'm concerned they can take their hypocritical bullshit and shove it."

  "I happen to agree with you," Hood said, "but Rice is running the show. We'll board her and see what we find. Tell Stephanie to access Odin. You can watch the intercept live."

  Stephanie was already tapping keys on her laptop. The monitor on the wall lit with a live satellite shot of a small ship moving across the ocean. Stephanie zoomed in and the Athena filled most of the screen.

  "Got it," Nick said. "How long until intercept?"

  "About twenty minutes."

  "I can see a radar array on the Athena. She'll pick up the Coast Guard coming in."

  "Nothing I can do about that," Hood said. "It won't necessarily spook her. The Coast Guard routinely stops ships approaching our shores, for a lot of reasons. They won't know it's anything unusual until the SEALS board her."

  "You got that right," Lamont said.

  "That had to be Lamont," Hood said.

  At Langley, someone said something in the background.

  "I have to go, Nick."

  Hood disconnected.

  CHAPTER 61

  Rashid Jaffari finished the afternoon prayer in his cabin.

  Soon, Lord, soon I will see your face.

  He got up and folded his prayer rug. He paused for a moment as he held it, remembering the day his father had given him the rug and taken him to the mosque for the first time. He set the rug down on top of the bomb and went out on deck.

  In the distance, the coast of the far enemy was coming near. He could smell the land, even here, almost thirty miles offshore. By the time Athena had taken on a pilot and docked, it would be early evening. The night breeze from the ocean would have started, in time to carry the radioactive fallout far inland.

  In his pocket he carried a remote detonator to trigger the bomb. He'd told the crewmen who carried it to his cabin that it contained all his personal possessions. They thought he was emigrating to America. It was all the same to them. Most of the crew was Greek. They could care less about one more escapee fleeing from the chaos of the Middle East.

  Only the captain and one of his mates spoke any Arabic. Now the captain came down from the bridge and joined Jaffari. Rashid tried not to show his distaste. The man reeked of ouzo and cigars. As far as Rashid could tell, Captain Nikos was usually half drunk by three in the afternoon. It was already well after four.

  He won't find any ouzo in hell, Rashid thought.

  A ship appeared on the near horizon, heading toward them with white water curling past her bow. It was still several miles away. Nicos gestured at the approaching vessel.

  "U.S. Coast Guard. They will stop us and ask to see our papers."

  Jaffari remained calm. "Will they search the ship?"

  "No. I have been here many times. They know the ship, they know I do not bring drugs or things that are illegal. They will ask for the manifest, they will make little checkmarks in their boxes and then they will go away."

  "Is it usual for them to stop ships like this?"

  "Yes, especially someone like us coming from a Muslim country. Since what they call 9/11, their security has increased. It is the way of the Americans. It is understandable, given what happened."

  After today, their security will increase again, Jaffari thought.

  Captain Nikos took out a cheap cigar and lit it. The smoke drifted across the deck. The two men leaned on the railing and watched the Coast Guard ship come closer.

  When the cutter was within hailing distance, an officer with a bullhorn hailed them.

  "This is Lieutenant Commander Michaels of the United States Coast Guard. Heave to and prepare to be boarded for inspection."

  Rashid eyed the ship. Something didn't feel right. All her guns were trained on the Athena, including the aft deck gun.

  The crew of the cutter lowered two Zodiacs into the water, each carrying six men. The men didn't look like sailors and they were armed. They looked hard, as if they had seen and done more than they would've wanted.

  Rashid felt the detonator in his pocket. A stiff breeze had sprung up, drawn by the heat of the landmass ahead. If he had to detonate the bomb, the breeze would carry the fallout to land. Perhaps it would be enough. But he would wait until he was certain they were going to search the ship.

  In Virginia, Nick and the others were glued to the monitor as the drama unfolded. The cutter and Athena were hove to and bobbing up and down in the choppy swell, separated by thirty or forty yards. On the deck of the freighter, crewmen had gathered by the rail to watch. Two Zodiacs went into the water.

  "There go the SEALS," Lamont said.

  The image from the satellite was clear and crisp. Odin was the latest in satellite surveillance technology, sent up without public fanfare only eight months before. Now it was earning its keep.

  Stephanie zoomed in on one of the men on Athena's deck, watching the zodiacs approach. He wore a woolen watch cap. He had a full beard. He looked up suddenly, as though he could sense the eye in the sky watching him. Stephanie drew in a breath.

  "I recognize him," she said. "His name is Rashid Jaffari. He's a physicist, one of Saddam's scientists. He was working on building a nuclear bomb."

  Nick picked up his phone and called Hood.

  "Director, you see that guy on the deck of the Athena with the cap and the beard?"

  "Yes."

  "His name is Jaffari. He's a bomb maker. That nuke has got to be on board. Better give the captain of that cutter a heads up."

  "On it," Hood said. Nick left the connection open.

  On the monitor screen, the Zodiacs had reached the side of Athena. Someone had lowered boarding stairs on the side. The first of the SEALS started up the steps.

  "In the name of Allah, the Magnificent…"

  Jaffari triggered the detonator in his pocket.

  The screen blanked out in a sudden blast of white that overwhelmed the camera.

  "Oh my God," Stephanie said.

  "Jesus," Lamont said.

  The satellite image reappeared on the screen. Streaks and spots distorted the picture but there was no mistaking the mushroom cloud rising from the surface of the ocean. Of the Athena, the Coast Guard ship and the Zodiacs, there was no sign. A huge plume of seawater rose into the air and collapsed back onto the surface of the ocean.

  A towering, foaming, wave rolled out in a perfect circle from the point of the blast.

  They stared in silence as the wave moved toward land.

  Nick gripped the phone in his hand. His knuckles had turned white.

  "Director, are you still there?"

  Hood's voice was grim. "Yes, I'm here."

  "That wave is headed toward Savannah," Nick said. "We have to warn them.
"

  "I'll take care of it." Hood disconnected.

  "He was almost to Savannah," Selena said. "If he'd gotten into port…"

  She left the rest unspoken.

  CHAPTER 62

  The man-made tsunami from Jaffari's bomb had been forty feet high when it reached shore. The port of Savannah was heavily damaged, most of the city's facilities destroyed. Thousands were homeless, hundreds were dead, thousands more were injured.

  Then came what many were calling the Miracle of the Wind. The cloud of radioactive fallout was blown out to sea by a storm front that suddenly appeared out of nowhere and moved in from the west. No one knew what the long-term effects on the ocean would be.

  Savannah was deeply injured, but she would survive.

  The days after the bomb were filled with half-truths, rumors and rage. Everyone wanted an explanation. With few facts to work with, the media turned to speculation and accusation.

  Blame was assigned to any convenient enemy. Russia and Iran topped the list. The White House fended off questions with standard responses that did nothing to ease the tension. If Rice admitted it had been an ISIS plot, the country would be forced into all out war against the Islamic State. That was guaranteed to lead to a broader conflict.

  The story was put out that the explosion was an accident, caused by a failed attempt to defuse a nuclear mine that had drifted from its mooring. Where the mine had come from or who it belonged to was never quite clear. The media turned its attention to questions about why there were nuclear mines in the first place. Protesters appeared on Pennsylvania Avenue by the thousands.

  Two days after the bomb Nick and the others were in a lab at Langley with Clarence Hood. The lab had a scanner and a CIA technician named Edwards to run it. Nick gave the box to the tech to put in the device. Everyone wanted to know what was inside. No one had been able to open it.

  "All set, Director," the tech said

  "Turn it on."

  Edwards turned on the machine. The interior of the box appeared in blacks and grays and shadows on a wall monitor. The shape inside the box was distinctive, darker than the rest of the image, about nine or ten inches long.