The Temple Mount Code

by Charles Brokaw

  Miriam shoved the transmission into reverse and backed again at a sharper angle. Lourds reached for the open passenger door, intending to close it, but one of the security posts took it off in a wrenching rasp.

  This time when the taxi backed up, it hit the burning car. Flames spread across the back of the vehicle and stayed with them as Miriam sped forward again.

  38

  Tactical Room

  Covert Operations

  Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations (Mossad)

  Tel Aviv, the State of Israel

  August 11, 2011

  ‘Orchid, be advised that we have a team en route.’ Tense and frustrated, Sarah Shavit watched the wallscreen in the tactical room.

  Miriam Abata was showing considerable resilience despite the odds against her and the element of surprise her enemies had wielded. She had seized control of the taxi and almost fought free. Unfortunately, it looked as though the burning vehicle had spread a pool of flaming liquid across the taxi’s rear.

  ‘Affirmative, Gardener.’ Miriam’s voice splintered as she responded. The noise of the gunfire and her unwillingness to reveal her true identity to Lourds made her hard to understand. She wore an earpiece that picked up vibrations along her jawbone and transmitted them.

  Covering her mouthpiece, Sarah turned to the computer operator beside her. ‘Have you reached the airport’s security chief?’

  ‘Not yet, ma’am. I’m still trying.’

  ‘Let me know as soon as you do.’

  ‘Of course.’

  No longer able simply to watch, Sarah paced back and forth in front of the wallscreen. The attackers moved efficiently, mowing through the airport’s security people, predators stalking game. They wore bulletproof armor and weren’t afraid to die for their cause, and that was a terrible combination for anyone to face.

  The door opened and Isser Melman walked into the room, leaning heavily on his cane. ‘I hear we have a situation.’ His stony face revealed nothing of his thoughts. ‘What happened?’

  ‘Orchid and her package were attacked on-site.’ No names were used inside the tactical room.

  ‘Do we know if they’re targeting Orchid and her package?’

  ‘Yes. Orchid is in the taxi. The shooters are converging on the vehicle now.’

  On-screen, the taxi rammed the car in front of it again, creating more space. This time it kept surging against the other car till it fought free.

  ‘Who’s driving the taxi?’

  ‘Orchid. The first round took out the driver. The attackers have snipers on the scene who dropped the driver and the airport security team.’

  Melman’s face creased into a grim smile. ‘She’s a very determined young woman.’

  ‘She is.’ Sarah knew she should take pride in Melman’s recognition of Miriam’s abilities and drive, and later she would. But for the moment, her heart went out to the young woman whose life could be snuffed out at any second.

  The taxi finally bulled through the bottleneck created by the stalled vehicles. Fenders and bodywork dropped along the pavement behind her.

  ‘And a very lucky one.’

  ‘She makes her own luck.’

  ‘Do we have a team covering them?’

  ‘Yes. They’re moving into position now.’

  On-screen, armored attack vehicles were being deployed. Mossad agents dressed in Israeli army fatigues boiled out the doors and took up positions.

  ‘Sniper Team Alpha in position.’

  ‘Sniper Team Bravo in position.’

  Sarah clicked back into the frequency. ‘All sniper teams, acquire targets and take them down. Be advised your targets are armored.’

  The sniper teams opened fire immediately. A handful of attackers dropped before they realized they had aggressors targeting them. Reacting quickly, they took up positions behind the stalled cars. As Sarah watched helplessly, the attackers ruthlessly killed the citizens inside the cars.

  Melman’s voice was hard when he spoke. ‘Tell your teams there are to be no survivors. We already have an idea who sent these men.’

  Without any remorse, Sarah relayed the command.

  ‘Katsas.’

  Sarah turned to the computer tech at her side. ‘Yes?’

  ‘I have the security chief.’

  ‘Patch him through.’ Sarah heard the click. ‘This is Mossad Intelligence Division Officer Sarah Shavit. With whom am I speaking?’

  The man sounded out of breath, and gunfire could be plainly heard around him. Evidently he’d gotten into the action quickly. ‘Captain David Lavi. I’m in the middle of a situation.’

  ‘We’re there as well, Captain. I’ve got agents taking out your attackers as we speak.’

  ‘Did you bring your baggage into our airport?’

  Sarah ignored the angry accusation in the man’s voice. Mossad wasn’t thought well of by everyone. ‘No. We were providing a loose backup to a probable situation when this erupted.’

  ‘Why wasn’t my office notified?’

  ‘If we had known this would happen, we would have notified your office.’ Sarah hardened her tone. ‘There is a taxi that has just gotten past your checkpoint.’

  ‘I see it.’

  ‘I don’t want the occupants harmed. They are not part of this.’

  ‘If they don’t stop, they’re going to be shot. I can’t allow them to gain access to the planes or the buildings.’

  ‘Understood. I will get them to stop and surrender themselves.’

  ‘Do it now.’

  Sarah clicked out of the channel and back into the one with Miriam Abata. ‘Orchid, local security has been notified of your situation, but not your identities. Stand down before you are shot.’

  ‘We’re not clear.’

  ‘You don’t have a choice. Do it before the airport’s security people take you out.’

  On-screen, the taxi screeched to a halt. Coolly and calmly as she could, Sarah continued to watch.

  Behesht-Zahra (The Paradise of Zahara)

  Tehran

  The Islamic Republic of Iran

  August 11, 2011

  In disbelief, Davari watched as his well-made attack plan fell to pieces. He cursed and wished he were there, feeling that somehow he could have saved things, but knowing in his heart that was a foolish thought, and that he would have only died with the attackers.

  ‘Our comrades among the Hezbollah will count this as a victory though we do not.’ The Ayatollah spoke quietly, but his rage was evident in every clipped word.

  ‘I apologize for this, Supreme Leader.’ Standing there, the colonel realized that his life was forfeit if the Ayatollah chose to view the situation as his fault. Mohammad Khamenei was not known as a forgiving man.

  The Ayatollah shook his head. ‘This is not a bad thing, Colonel. Think of this as a feint. Perhaps we have not secured our prize yet – and we will – but we have managed to draw out our true enemies in this endeavor.’

  Watching the organized warriors spill out across the scenes, taking out the Hezbollah gunners one by one and securing the area behind them, Davari nodded. ‘The Mossad.’

  ‘Exactly. Now we know for certain that the infidels and nonbelievers are warring against us.’ The Ayatollah took a deep breath. ‘This is proof that our war is for God. Otherwise, Shaitan would not have arrayed so many of our enemies against us.’ He smiled grimly. ‘And we will have opportunities to kill them as we search for our goal.’

  On-screen, Davari saw the bodies of two Mossad agents lying on the paved road leading up to the security checkpoint. Their efforts had been costly as well.

  ‘Do we know where Lourds is going?’

  ‘Yes, Supreme Leader. Tehran.’

  The Ayatollah looked at Davari. ‘He’s coming here?’

  ‘Yes. We confirmed his plane tickets. There is a layover in Istanbul. We could arrange an abduction there.’

  ‘No. The benefit of taking Lourds on Israeli soil was to give us deniability in his disappearance, a
nd a chance to bloody Israel’s nose. If Lourds is coming here, let him come. We will make him vanish here if necessary. If he’s coming here, I believe everything we need to know to find Mohammad’s Koran and the Scroll is here. God has put our salvation in our own backyard.’

  ‘What if the Mossad chooses to stop Lourds from coming here?’

  ‘They would have already done it. And now they have no choice in the matter.’ The Ayatollah smiled. ‘Now they know that we know what is being searched for. With Mohammad’s Koran and Scroll here, they have to allow Lourds to look for it. They will also have a harder time keeping watch over him in our country. We will make that work for us as well.’

  On-screen, a dark-haired black woman opened the taxi door and got out.

  ‘Who is the woman?’

  ‘According to our intelligence, she is a graduate student.’

  ‘Lourds has a weakness for women. When they get here, exploit that. Take that woman into custody and find out what she knows. Use her against the American infidel.’

  ‘It will be done, Supreme Leader.’

  The Ayatollah started to walk away, then turned back. ‘Has Von Volker arrived?’

  ‘Yes. I have placed him in guest quarters.’

  ‘Good. I will talk to him soon.’

  ‘He won’t be able to help us with Lourds. His own wife turned against him and helped Lourds escape. He’s wanted for questioning in his own country.’

  ‘An embarrassing moment, perhaps, but all that can be made to go away. Politics allows convenient forgetfulness. Von Volker is still a powerful man in the Austrian People’s Party. As such, he is a friend to our country and our God. We can use him.’

  Davari nodded. Then he turned back to the screens and watched the slaughter of the Hezbollah continue as the Mossad agents walked among their wounded enemies and executed them.

  Security Checkpoint

  Ben Gurion International Airport

  Outside Lod, the State of Israel

  August 11, 2011

  ‘Why are you stopping?’

  Scared and angry, Miriam put the taxi’s transmission in park and looked at Lourds staring at her in disbelief.

  ‘Keep going.’

  ‘If I do, the security people will shoot us.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘They’ll think we’re carrying explosives. Get out of the car.’ Miriam opened her door and got out. A hail of bullets took out the front-passenger-side tire, and the taxi settled heavily on the ground, like an old dog lying down. She reached back into the vehicle, captured Lourds’s arm, and yanked. ‘Get out of the car now!’

  Temporarily overpowered, Lourds flailed, then slid across the bloody seat on top of Miriam, pinning her to the ground under him.

  ‘Sorry.’

  Before Miriam could reply, the professor pushed up off of her, got to his feet but remained hunkered down, and opened the rear passenger door. Bullets sprayed the flaming rear of the taxi. Instead of going away, the flames had spread, taking hold of the vehicle. As Lourds reached into the backseat, the fire spread to the rear tire, burning through the wall to let the air out, and the vehicle sagged again.

  Miriam got to her feet. ‘What are you doing?’

  Lourds pulled back from the taxi. He slung his backpack over one shoulder, held the thick book, their passports, and his journal in one hand, and clapped his hat on his head with the other.

  Miriam silently cursed. In her efforts to save them, she’d forgotten about the book. But Lourds hadn’t. She reached out and took his hand, yanking him into motion as they ran away from the burning car. More bullets smacked into the taxi as they ran, and a moment later either the fire got to the gas tank or the bullets did.

  The taxi exploded and leaped into the air, then came crashing straight back down. The concussive wave knocked Miriam and Lourds flat on the pavement.

  Briefly stunned, Miriam gathered her whirling senses and struggled to get to her feet. Before she could stand, someone planted a hand in the middle of her back and shoved her back down again. She rolled over and the sun shone into her eyes, turning the men standing over her into painful silhouettes. Behind them, black smoke coiled up from the burning taxi and other vehicles, staining the blue sky.

  She moved her head slightly and brought the man into view. She recognized the airport security uniform at once and felt relieved.

  Beside her, Lourds sighed. ‘Thank God that’s over.’

  39

  First Class

  Turkish Airlines

  34,000 Feet

  Leaving Istanbul, the Republic of Turkey

  August 12, 2011

  Lourds sat in the quiet gloom of the first-class cabin and blinked blearily. He hadn’t known he’d gone to sleep. The first thing he did was to make certain Lev’s book was still in his backpack at his feet. It was. Then he noticed that someone had covered him with a blanket.

  At his side, Miriam Abata kept sleeping. She had turned sideways facing him, one arm tucked up uncomfortably under her chin like a child. He didn’t know how she could sleep like that. If he had, he’d have awoken stiff and hurting.

  Glancing around, he found a bottle of water in the armrest, uncapped it, and took a sip. Then he leaned down, took the book from his backpack, took out his journal, and settled back to work. He felt eyes on him. When he looked back at Miriam, she had her eyes open.

  ‘Sorry. Didn’t mean to wake you.’

  ‘It’s okay. I didn’t mean to fall asleep.’ She sat up and rubbed her eyes. ‘Guess I’m not a very good lookout.’

  ‘On the contrary, I think you did an exemplary job yesterday. But I’m beginning to think we should have restructured our trip to Tehran. Neither one of us is going to be much use for this morning’s meeting.’

  ‘Speak for yourself.’

  Lourds smiled at her. ‘Actually, I’m not sure if we should stick to our schedule at all.’

  Miriam suddenly looked more alert. ‘Why?’

  ‘I’ve been thinking about the attack at the airport.’

  ‘What about it?’

  ‘I don’t think that was a typical terrorist attack.’

  ‘Is there such a thing as a typical terrorist attack?’

  Lourds shook his head and grinned wryly. ‘Of course not. But I’m thinking maybe the attack was aimed at us.’

  ‘Believe it or not, Professor, not everything is about you.’

  ‘I know. But I saw the media footage of the attack while we were in Istanbul. It’s already on YouTube. From what I saw, those men were coming straight for us.’

  ‘We were the only ones there in a taxi. Perhaps that marked us as a target of opportunity. Outsiders. Tourists. Killing Americans always makes a big international news splash. That’s what terrorists want.’

  Lourds couldn’t argue that point. The media was already erupting with news of the attack. It was currently in the top ten on Twitter. ‘I’d think someone in a limousine would have made a better target.’

  ‘People in limousines tend to have more defensible vehicles and security guards.’

  ‘True.’ Lourds scratched his goatee. ‘We were fortunate the Israeli army was arriving. Otherwise, there would have been no help at all.’

  ‘Then we should count our blessings.’ Miriam’s gaze dropped to the book in his lap. ‘How are you coming on with the translation?’

  Lourds shrugged and opened his journal. ‘If you just read the text, you don’t see anything eventful.’ He cleared his voice and started to read. “The prophet of God said: ‘While I was sleeping within the wall of the Ka’ba, Gabriel came to see me and kicked me with his foot, so I sat up, but not seeing anything, I lay again on my bed. He kicked me then once more, and I sat up and did not see a thing, so I lay back on my bed. He then kicked me a third time, and I sat up, whereupon he pulled me by the arm, and I rose, and went to the door of the temple. There was standing a white beast, between a mule and an ass in size, with two wings on its thighs, digging its hind legs in and placing its forelegs
as far as it can see. Gabriel carried me on the beast, and we went together at the same speed.’ So the Prophet of God journeyed, and with him also Gabriel, until they reached the temple in Jerusalem. He found there Abraham, Moses, and Jesus, among other prophets, and he led them in prayers. Then he was given two vessels, one filled with wine and the other with milk, so the prophet of God took the vessel with milk and drank it, leaving the vessel of wine. Seeing that, Gabriel said to him: ‘You were guided to the true religion [Islam] and so was your nation, for wine is forbidden unto you.” This is all pretty much relayed in any version of the Koran you’d care to peruse.’

  ‘You have a wonderful reading voice.’

  Startled, Lourds looked at the young woman. ‘Thank you.’

  ‘Sorry. I didn’t mean to distract you.’ Miriam looked embarrassed. ‘But we already knew the surface reading wasn’t extremely helpful.’

  ‘I know. It’s just frustrating because I know the answers Lev was looking for are somewhere in these pages. I just can’t seem to find them.’

  ‘Yet. Remember, Professor Strauss also believed Professor Namati has a cipher key that will unlock this book.’

  ‘Perhaps.’

  ‘You said the man who wrote this book was Yazid Ibn Salam.’

  ‘Right.’

  ‘All I can remember about him was that he had something to do with the Dome of the Rock.’

  Lourds smiled. ‘Dear girl, not just something to do with that building. He was involved in the engineering of the Dome of the Rock, and he certainly cocontrolled the purse strings with Rajah ibn Haywah.’

  ‘What do we know about Salam?’

  ‘Not much. He’s almost a shadowy figure in history.’

  ‘Sounds suspicious already.’

  ‘Yes.’ Lourds chuckled. ‘What historians are fairly sure of is that Salam was born into a local Jerusalem family. Haywah was deeply enmeshed with the political doings in Palestine.’

  ‘It’s a wonder they got along.’

  ‘I think it was probably the idea of creating something lasting and unique that drew them together. Jerusalem had been conquered by the Rashidun Caliphate army at the time the Muslims overran Syria. Rome had already been battling the Persians during that time. That was in AD 637, shortly after Mohammad’s death in AD 632. The Dome of the Rock, Masjid Qubbat As-Sakhrah, was intended to be a shrine for pilgrims, not a mosque.’