by Chris Ryan
The door shut behind them.
Silence.
It was only when the figure walked to the left, out of the glare of the sunlight, that Luke made out his features. Stratton looked thinner than he did on TV. Smaller. Gaunt. He was wearing a grey business suit with a red tie and he looked unusually relaxed, given what the day ahead held.
He stepped towards Luke and Finn.
‘SAS?’ he asked. His voice was very soft.
Luke and Finn nodded.
‘Are we ready to go?’
‘Ready, sir. Israeli secret service officers will take you as far as the border. We’ll follow as a counter-attack-team escort. Once we cross over into Gaza, you’ll be with us.’
Stratton nodded, then turned his back on them to look out over the sea.
‘We’ll be making a diversion,’ he said.
The three men looked at each other.
‘With respect, sir,’ Luke replied carefully, ‘diversions aren’t a good idea. Our route has been carefully planned.’
A pause, and then Stratton turned round again. He walked straight up to Luke – who was almost a head taller than him – and looked the SAS man up and down. ‘With respect, sir,’ he said, ‘you’re here to escort me. Not advise me.’
The two men stared at each other, while Finn and the Israeli looked on.
‘Where are we diverting to?’ Luke asked finally. ‘Sir.’
‘Jerusalem.’
Luke recalled the mapping he’d examined. Jerusalem was about twenty-five klicks south-east of Tel Aviv. It would only take them an hour to get there, but it knocked the whole fucking op out of shape. He heard Finn swear under his breath.
‘Can I ask,’ Luke said, his teeth gritted, ‘whereabouts in Jerusalem?’
‘Of course,’ Stratton replied mildly. He smiled a dazzling smile. ‘The Garden of Gethsemane, at the foot of the Mount of Olives.’ He paused. ‘The name means nothing to you?’
Luke shook his head. ‘Should it?’
‘It certainly should, if you’d listened to the scriptures at school.’ He inclined his head. ‘Perhaps you weren’t the type.’
‘Perhaps I wasn’t.’
‘The Garden of Gethsemane is where Our Lord prayed on the night he was betrayed.’ He turned to look out of the window again. ‘The world,’ he said, ‘is on the brink of war. If my negotiations go well, perhaps it can be avoided. I shall go there for a few moments of quiet reflection before we enter the lion’s den.’ Suddenly the smile was gone and he started walking towards the exit of the room. ‘We leave now.’
Luke, Finn and the Israeli officer gave each other a look. But Stratton had already left the room and they had no option but to follow him.
07.15 hrs.
‘Zero, this is Tango 17.’
‘Tango 17, this is Zero. Send.’
‘The Cardinal’s demanded a diversion. Requesting permission to travel via East Jerusalem, Garden of Gethsemane.’
A pause. ‘What the fuck . . . ?’
Luke scowled at Stratton, who was striding on ahead through the hotel foyer. ‘Tell me about it,’ he muttered. He and Finn followed him through the doors of the hotel and out to where the Land Cruiser was waiting, along with a black Mercedes and two police outriders. ‘You’d better come back with that permission sharpish, buddy,’ he said. ‘Or even better than that, refusal. He looks pretty eager to move.’
‘Roger that,’ said the radio operator, and the connection to the ops room fell silent.
07.18 hrs.
Julian Dawson, OC B Squadron, looked at his radio operator in disbelief. ‘Diversion? Half the fucking IDF are mobilised to get this wanker into Gaza. What’s he playing at?’
The radio operator could only shrug.
‘Get me London,’ Dawson ordered. ‘Now.’
07.30 hrs.
It was not by chance that the Director Special Forces and the Director General SIS were sitting in the same office in the SIS building when the call came through. Today was a major operation for both services. High-profile. If either of them had their way, the Middle East peace envoy would be safely tucked up at home. But they didn’t have their way – it was the politicians who made the decisions, leaving others to live with the consequences. Today it was crucial that their lines of communication stayed open. Both men knew that if it all went to shit today, their actions would be scrutinised minutely. The two men didn’t always see eye to eye, but today they had a common purpose.
And a shared sense of foreboding once they heard what the Regiment representative had to say.
Neither of them had any love for Alistair Stratton. But they knew what was riding on him. They knew how he was the darling of the Israeli administration, and the Americans too.
They knew that what he said went.
They barely needed to discuss it. Within less than a minute the DG had picked up his phone. ‘I need the PM,’ he instructed. ‘And after that the Israeli Defence Minister. Quickly.’
08.16 hrs.
‘I can’t believe we’re screwing around like this so some bastard can go pray . . .’
It was the third time Fozzie had said it. The rest of the guys just sat there with scowls on their faces, none of them quite able to accept that the plans they’d been briefed on so carefully were being altered on a whim.
‘Pray, my arse,’ Finn muttered. ‘He’s probably got a bit of skirt hidden away. Wants her to wring him dry before he goes to meet the ragheads.’
Fozzie snorted. ‘He’s not the fucking type.’
They drove in convoy: two police outriders, a black Merc with tinted windows carrying Stratton, and the Land Cruiser at the back. They’d left Tel Aviv forty-five minutes ago and the outskirts of Jerusalem were just coming into view. The moment Luke had returned to the vehicle from the hotel, the unit’s conversation had been a string of expletives. And it was even worse when word came through that Stratton’s demand had been indulged. Even now, local law enforcement were vacating the Garden of Gethsemane area of tourists. Someone somewhere clearly thought enough of Stratton to give him the full VIP. Luke had other ideas. ‘Something’s not right,’ he muttered in the back of the Land Cruiser, his hand resting gently on his 53.
‘What’s that, mucker?’ Fozzie asked, both eyes firmly on the traffic ahead.
‘You not suspicious?’
‘Suspicious of what?’
Luke looked out of the window. ‘I don’t know. I just don’t think this guy’s as holier-than-fucking-thou as he pretends.’
Silence.
‘I just can’t believe,’ said Fozzie, ‘that we’re screwing around like this so some bastard can go and pray . . .’
08.30 hrs. It was the height of Jerusalem’s rush hour and the convoy moved slowly as they headed east through the network of bland white-grey modern blocks, green open spaces and wide boulevards. There were well-heeled areas and those that were run-down, noisy, fume-filled. It could have been any other sprawling Mediterranean town, if you ignored the unusually high police presence. There seemed to be a blue and white patrol car on every street corner, and Luke noticed a fair sprinkling of uniformed soldiers and khaki military vehicles. He remembered being in London in the days after 9/11, not long before he’d been deployed to Afghanistan for the first time. Jerusalem had the same atmosphere. The same tension. It was a city waiting for something to happen.
08.45 hrs. The imposing walls of the Old City loomed into view, and beyond the walls, golden in the morning sun, the Dome of the Rock. Luke fixed his attention more firmly on the convoy ahead and the surrounding traffic, picking out potential firing points or suspicious activity, clocking the military presence, which was increasing the closer they came to the Old City.
Russ had been almost silent since they left the base. Now he suddenly spoke. ‘Holy city for ragheads, Yids and Bible-bashers,’ he murmured. ‘You ask me, they’re as bad as each other.’
The convoy didn’t head straight for the ancient walls of the Old Town, but skirted round to the no
rth instead. Twenty minutes later they found themselves heading back south, down a road that ran between the elevated eastern wall of the Old Town and a gently sloping hill, covered with squat olive trees. It was quieter in this part of the city. Less traffic, fewer people. East Jerusalem, bordering on the West Bank: where Israel met the Arab world. Fifty metres ahead, he saw three Israeli police cars, their blue lights flashing. They had congregated beside a stone wall about three metres high. On either side of the road, Luke saw that the access panels at the bottom of each of the street lamps had been taped over to prevent anyone secreting anything there, and a couple of waste bins had been sealed too. The Jerusalem authorities had clearly responded very quickly to Stratton’s change in plan.
As the convoy approached the police cars, Luke saw a low rectangular gateway. Two armed Israeli soldiers stood outside. On the other side of the road a small crowd of locals had gathered. Why had the area been cordoned off? they wanted to know, and who was about to arrive?
Luke and the guys were the first to exit their vehicle. They brought their 53s with them, and as they approached, the soldiers and the Israeli police officers gave them the kind of look that you soon got used to in situations like this. Not friendly, certainly; but grudgingly respectful. They knew they were being approached by military personnel of a different tier.
‘Who’s in charge?’ Luke asked no one in particular, but one of the Israeli soldiers stepped forward. ‘Is the area secured?
‘My men are performing a final sweep.’
Luke gave a curt nod, then checked out the entrance. Above the gate was an inlaid stone with the words ‘Hortus Gethsemani’, and beneath it a small blue arrow indicating the entrance. Luke walked inside to see a walled garden, well tended, although the ground was dusty. There were olive trees dotted around, many gnarled and ancient. He could tell at a glance that the police and IDF had done their job. It was entirely deserted. Adjacent to the garden, and just visible through the trees, was an old church – more like a highly decorated temple. Famous, probably.
He walked back to Stratton’s Merc and opened the back door to see their man sitting serenely, face forward. ‘OK, sir. Let’s go.’
Stratton got out of the car and walked towards the gate, with Luke shadowing him just a metre behind. As they approached, the guards stepped back to allow the peace envoy through. Luke stuck close, sensing Finn just behind him. The three of them walked through the gate and several metres into the garden before Stratton stopped.
He took a deep breath and appeared to be soaking in the atmosphere of the place.
‘Leave me,’ he said.
Luke and Finn glanced at each other.
‘Our instructions,’ Luke replied in a level voice, ‘are to provide close protection. The close bit is important.’
Stratton turned to them, and his eyes shone.
‘At the other end of this garden,’ he said, ‘is the Church of St Mary Magdalene. If you think I am going to allow you into such a sacred place carrying weapons . . .’
Luke saw red. ‘If you think I’m going to try and defend you armed with a fucking prayer book . . .’
Stratton’s lips thinned. ‘You forget yourself, soldier.’
The two men stood their ground for several seconds. Finally Luke turned to Finn. ‘Check the church,’ he instructed. ‘We’ll guard the entrance while he’ – he glanced at the peace envoy – ‘while he does whatever he has to do.’
Finn didn’t look too happy. ‘Luke, mate, we . . .’
‘Just do it.’
Finn nodded, strode across the garden towards the church and disappeared inside, leaving Luke and Stratton to stand awkwardly together, surrounded by the distant noise of the East Jerusalem traffic and the cheeping of the birds in the olive trees.
Five minutes later Finn returned. ‘It’s clear.’
Luke nodded at Stratton. ‘All yours.’
Stratton surveyed Luke with a mistrustful glare before marching up to the church with the two Regiment men following behind. The façade of the building was highly ornate, with three large arches forming its entrance. He disappeared into the gloom, while Luke and Finn took up their positions outside.
‘I don’t know why you’re winding the fucker up,’ Finn said. He sounded almost as pissed off with Luke as Stratton did.
‘I’m just a bit fed up with the holy-man act,’ Luke replied.
Finn shrugged.
Luke glanced into the temple. ‘No one diverts from a meeting as important as the RV with Hamas just to kneel before a fucking altar. Holy man or no holy man.’ He turned back to his mate. ‘Wait here,’ he said. ‘I’m going in.’
He made to enter the temple, but Finn grabbed him by the arm. ‘Mate, what’s going on?’
For a moment Luke thought of telling him. But where the hell would he begin? No. Now wasn’t the time or the place. He pulled away from his friend. ‘I don’t want a bollocking from the Ruperts for leaving him alone. He doesn’t have to know I’ve got eyes on.’ Without another word, he slipped into the church.
It was musty, thick with incense, all gold and marble. The ceiling was vaulted and the air colder than outside. Stratton stood about twenty metres ahead at the altar, his head bowed. He looked very small in the large chamber of the church, and he stood very still. Luke crept to the left-hand side of the building, much as he had done in St Paul’s two nights previously, only this time he had his 53 in his fist and his Sig strapped to his body. Stratton did not notice his presence as he crept silently up the church, before stopping behind a metre-thick pillar, out of the peace envoy’s view.
Luke had heard a noise.
Footsteps.
He barely breathed. His back was pressed against the pillar, so he was looking towards the front entrance of the church. On the ground to his left, the stained-glass window behind the altar had cast a colourful arrangement of reds and blues and greens on the marble floor. Luke looked down at it. A dark shadow there would give him a split-second warning of anyone approaching; and it was difficult, in the echoing acoustic of the church, to work out from which direction the footsteps were coming, or where they were headed.
They stopped after a few seconds and for a moment there was silence.
Someone spoke. A woman. She had a husky voice and a pronounced Israeli accent.
‘This had better be important,’ she said, speaking only just loud enough for Luke to hear. ‘You know Jerusalem isn’t safe for me.’
‘You don’t need to worry,’ Stratton replied. ‘The church is empty. So is the garden. I’ve seen to it.’
‘Obviously. But if I know about the tunnel to the crypt, other people will know about it too.’
‘Right now this is the most secure place in Jerusalem. We can talk freely here.’
‘I don’t like it.’
‘I didn’t ask you to like it.’ Stratton’s voice was sharp now, like he was reprimanding an employee. ‘That little bit of housekeeping in London. Ostentatious, wouldn’t you say?’
There was a pause. Luke could feel his blood pumping in his veins.
‘I thought you’d be pleased,’ she said, though her voice didn’t indicate that she cared either way. ‘And you should know I don’t like loose ends.’
‘Was the kid really necessary? The old woman? And the priest, for heaven’s sake?’
The woman made a sound almost as if she was spitting. ‘Don’t give me that,’ she said, her voice full of derision. ‘What difference do they make?’
‘Four bodies attract more attention than one,’ Stratton retorted.
‘It would be better,’ the woman said, ‘if I worried about what I’m good at.’
‘Are you sure nobody saw you?’ Stratton persisted.
A pause.
‘Don’t try my patience, old man.’
‘Are you sure nobody saw you?’
‘Have I come all the way to Jerusalem to hear you complain?’
‘You’ve come to Jerusalem because I told you to.’ Stratton had raise
d his voice slightly. ‘Don’t forget who you are working for.’
‘Quiet!’ The woman’s voice was little more than a whisper.
A brief silence. ‘For crying out loud, woman. Put that weapon away.’
The woman didn’t reply. Suddenly Luke heard her footsteps again. They were coming in his direction.
He moved his left arm very slowly, so as not to make a noise, and felt for the safety catch on his 53. His fingers pinched the switch and turned it very gently.
The footsteps grew nearer, perhaps five metres. Luke saw a shadow on the colourful pattern of the stained glass. He could determine the outline of a person, with a weapon in their outstretched hand. He prepared himself for it to go noisy.
‘Maya!’ Stratton sounded almost schoolmasterly. ‘There’s nobody in this church. It’s been checked. Now get back here. We haven’t got much time.’
Silence.
The shadow receded, but one word echoed in Luke’s head just as surely as it echoed softly around the church.
Maya.
For a moment he was no longer in Jerusalem. He was many miles further east, by the side of the road in Iraq, at night. A gravely wounded Mossad operative was shaking in the car. He was close to death, and knew it.
You must find her. You must tell her what I did.
Luke shook his head as the memory came flooding back. What did it mean?
And then Stratton was speaking again. ‘Do you know where we are?’
‘Of course I know where we are,’ the woman replied.
‘But do you really know? Here, at the foot of the Mount of Olives. Do you really know where you are, Maya?’
‘What are you talking about?’
Footsteps again. But not towards Luke this time. Away from him. He pictured Stratton hurrying up to the altar. ‘The Book of Daniel,’ he announced loudly. ‘It tells us it is here that the End Times will start. It’s quite clear about that, Maya. Quite clear.’
