Covenant

34

Byron Stone stepped out of the sleek Gulfstream V550 jet and onto the tarmac, catching the commingled odors of aviation fuel and distant deserts on the night air. He might have briefly reveled in the unmistakable, aromatic scent of the Middle East, were it not for the pall of displeasure that enveloped him. A ring of uniformed soldiers surrounded the aircraft as Spencer Malik strode out to greet him.

“Good trip?” Malik saluted Stone, his back ramrod straight and his expression unreadable.

“What news?” Stone asked without preamble. Malik dropped the salute and joined him as they walked toward a parked car nearby.

“The preparations are continuing as planned, and the remains will be here by tomorrow and flown back to the States. Customs won’t be a problem, I’ve handled that.”

“What else?” Stone demanded.

Malik squirmed uneasily.

“Our site in the Negev was compromised earlier today by a journalist.” Stone ground his teeth but remained silent as Malik spoke. “The man’s name is Ethan Warner. He’s got history in Gaza going back a few years.”

“So I’ve heard. What was he doing at the site?”

“We’re not sure, but he wasn’t alone. He was led in by a Bedouin guide whom we captured but who subsequently escaped. Warner also escaped, along with Rachel Morgan.”

Stone hissed a breath from his lungs as he stopped beside the car.

“Go on.”

“The pair fled in a private aircraft that was intercepted by the IDF at Ben Gurion. Warner was not on board, nor was the woman. The owners of the aircraft claim they took off alone and were then harassed by a MACE helicopter in a case of mistaken identity, a story that the IDF appears to believe, and they have no apparent interest in Warner or the woman. The pair must have jumped out over the Gaza Strip, in which case they’re now almost certainly trying to return to Israel with the evidence.”

Stone cast a fearsome glare in Malik’s direction. “Evidence?”

Malik carefully formulated his response.

“The Bedouin guide was involved in an altercation with the guards at the site that resulted in an unfortunate incident. It would appear that Warner was able to film part of the altercation and escape with the footage.”

“Your purpose was to ensure that MACE maintained a low but professional profile,” Stone growled. “What kind of imbecilic morons have you employed here?”

“My men were guarding a site on the border of the Negev’s training area,” Malik replied quickly. “They had no knowledge of what the site contained, as we agreed. Our people are told only that which they absolutely need to know.”

“What happened to the soldiers at the site?” Stone snapped.

“One was killed, another two injured. They’re being treated in a field hospital in Jerusalem. The dead man’s family have been informed. We can use his demise to illustrate the aggression faced by our team at the site.”

Stone forced his chest to expand and suck in air, calming himself by force of will.

“How long ago did this man Warner infiltrate Gaza?”

“Two hours at most,” Malik said. “We have narrowed their position down to a small area of Jabaliya.”

“What of the IDF?”

“They remain convinced that we were pursuing terrorists of one kind or another. The pilots of the civilian aircraft have not made any statement to the effect that they flew by choice over Gaza or allowed people to parachute into the territory: to do so would render them liable to prosecution for violating any number of Israeli aviation laws.”

Stone thought for a moment.

“Then we must ensure that Warner does not make it back into Israel with this evidence of his. MACE cannot afford an investigation here in Israel, financially nor professionally, especially at this time. We’ve only just closed the litigation against us in Iraq.”

Malik nodded. “I will deal with it personally.”

“You will do no such thing,” Stone snapped, and glanced over his shoulder.

Rafael walked slowly across the tarmac toward them, dressed in a traditional Arab shawl that couldn’t conceal his powerful frame.

“We don’t need Rafael,” Malik uttered quickly, his authority suddenly under threat. “If he learns of our activities in Gaza, he could become a liability and—”

“Right now, you’re the goddamn liability,” Stone snapped.

“This way,” Stone gestured toward a SUV parked nearby as Rafael joined them.

The three men climbed aboard and closed the doors. Rafael regarded Stone for a moment before speaking. “What would you have me do?”

Spencer Malik sat in frigid silence as Stone spoke.

“I require you to infiltrate the Gaza Strip, locate and retrieve explosives and a camera stolen from one of our encampments, and ensure that you are not identified.”

Rafael nodded silently in response. Malik, mastering his humiliation, spoke up.

“When should we implement this?”

“Immediately,” Stone said. “I will speak to the IDF in Jerusalem. You will provide me with any and all evidence supporting the infiltration of the Negev site by insurgents crossing the Sinai. Provide tracking evidence and have it ready for presentation within the hour. I will then request clearance from Israel’s Northern Command to use Gazan airspace. Once Rafael has located and recovered the evidence, we will use one of our Valkyrie drones to vaporize the problem. Understood?”

Malik twisted his features into a crooked smile as he glanced suspiciously at Rafael.

“I know that we need this situation contained, but the more people we bring into this the more complicated everything becomes. This should remain an internal affair and—”

“If you’d done your job, we wouldn’t be having this conversation,” Stone snapped.

“What evidence am I looking for?” Rafael asked Stone.

“Photographic evidence,” the Texan drawled. “A camera and film.”

Malik looked at the Arab. “You don’t need to know any more than that, Araboosh.” He took the word, twisted it, and shoved it into Rafael’s face.

Rafael regarded the soldier in stony silence, not rising to the provocation.

“Do whatever you feel necessary to obtain that equipment,” Stone said to Rafael, then looked directly at Malik. “Let me down again and I’ll have you guarding illiterate drug dealers queuing for bread in Chechnya, understood?”

Malik winced but said nothing as Rafael climbed out of the vehicle. Stone waited until he was out of sight before leaning closer to Malik.

“I would prefer that the evidence is destroyed rather than recovered during this mission, along with all witnesses.”

In the darkness, Malik’s grimace twisted into a cruel smile.