Ark

Chapter 32

The sun shone brightly in the afternoon sky. The wind rustled a pleasant tune in the trees that lined the garden. Among their branches, colorful birds added their tunes to the harmony. It was a perfect day.

From the corner of his eye Ibrahim Shawa spotted Yusuf waiting at the garden gate. He could tell at first glance that the news, whatever it was, was not good. He closed his eyes, closed the book he was reading, and placed it carefully on the table. Next, he took three deep breaths to calm his nerves. He had been on edge of late and it would not do to lose his temper with Yusuf. After all, the man was only the bearer of bad news. He opened his eyes and forced his lips into a patient smile.

“Come,” he said.

Yusuf hurried in, stopped in front of Ibrahim, and bowed deeply, the sinuous movement of his long, slender frame affording him a serpentine quality. His small, dark eyes and light brown skin, so like that of the inaccurately-named black mamba, added to his snakelike appearance. Of course, there was nothing venomous about Yusuf.

Ibrahim return the bow with a slight bob of his head. He sat back, steepled his fingers, and waited.

“I have news, Mu’alim.” The word was Arabic for ‘teacher’, a title Ibrahim had chosen for himself long ago. Yusuf paused, his eyes flitting from side-to-side as if he could somehow escape this moment.

Ibrahim felt his anger began to rise, but he maintained his calm façade. “Please tell me, my son.”

Yusuf stiffened, and raised his chin. He didn’t quite meet Ibrahim’s eyes as he spoke. “Tyson has failed. More than once.” He cleared his throat. “I fear I do not hold out much hope for his success.”

Ibrahim’s fingers twitched, the desire to ball his fists and strike someone strong within him. Calm, he told himself. He waited patiently until the man summoned the courage to continue.

In a shaky voice, Yusuf outlined the events of the previous several days. Tyson and Ahmed had caught up with Dima Zafrini in a small coastal town in the United States, but had failed to take her, or to acquire the page from the Book of Noah. They had succeeded in finding clues to the locations of two of the three stones. However, one lead had proved to be false. They had infiltrated the bank in which it was supposedly kept, but the stone was not there. They caught up with Zafrini again as she attempted to recover the second stone from a shipwreck in the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of some place called South Carolina. Tyson and Ahmed had taken the items that Zafrini and her companions had recovered, but none of them proved to be a Noah Stone.

Ibrahim began to tremble with suppressed rage as Yusuf outlined Tyson and Ahmed’s latest blunders. They had followed Zafrini and two other men, former United States Navy men named Maddock and Bonebrake, to Turkey, and then to the Vatican. Both times, Zafrini and the others had eluded them. “Felipe was injured. He is recovering in a hospital in Turkey.”

Ibrahim kept his silence until he could speak calmly.

“The Vatican?” he said. “Zafrini was wasting her time there. I have placed researchers in the secret archives many times. The Book of Noah is not there.”

Yusuf’s lips moved, but he made no sound. He winced and lowered his gaze.

“What is it?”

“She did not go to the secret archives,” Yusuf said to the ground.

That was a surprise. “No? Where did she go?”

Yusuf muttered a reply to soft to reach Ibrahim’s ears.

“Speak up!” he snapped.

“She took the Scavi tour. Down into the Vatican Necropolis.”

“The Tomb of the Dead. What did she think she would find down there? There’s nothing but dry bones and graffiti.”

“I don’t know. All we can say for certain is that she and her companions went down into the catacombs and never came back out again.” Yusuf flinched as he spoke the last words.

Ibrahim looked up at the clear blue sky, a canvas for his thoughts. If Zafrini had indeed vanished beneath St. Peter’s, that meant there were places down there yet to be discovered. He would have to find a way to get men inside there as soon as possible.

“Zafrini must be found. If she has, in fact, recovered any of the stones, or the Book of Noah, we will take them from her. I need not remind you how important to me those stones are.”

Yusuf shook his head.

Ibrahim stood, reached out, and clasped Yusuf’s trembling hand. “I do not blame you. The fault lies with Tyson. Tell him I will permit him to correct his mistakes, but my patience is nearing an end. We will change the world, and we will begin by bringing peace to our land through the power we will unleash.” He did not miss Yusuf’s small frown. “What is it? Speak freely, man.”

“Forgive me, Mu’alim, but I always find it odd when you speak of peace, given the work that we do and the way that we do it.”

Ibrahim smiled and gave the man’s hand a squeeze.

“There are many paths to peace, my son. Some look to the dove, but I will bring peace by the sword.”