Stones of Fire

79

‘Giving us very little time.’

As he spoke, Cædmon was acutely, painfully, aware of the play of opposites. Good and evil. Love and hate. Life and death.

‘So are you saying that MacFarlane intends to destroy the Dome of the Rock on December the eighth?’

‘It does fit in with all his apocalyptic posturing. And there’s a certain irony in his selection of the day, Eid al-Adha being the Muslim day of sacrifice, commemorating the day when Abraham intended to sacrifice his beloved son Ishmael to prove his love to Allah. The Dome of the Rock marks the precise location of where the sacrifice was to have taken place. It is also the spot where the Prophet Muhammad ascended to heaven. Making the Dome of the Rock the third-holiest site in all of Islam.’

‘Right behind Mecca and Medina.’

He nodded, staggered by MacFarlane’s dark vision. Eid al-Adha. The Day of Sacrifice. Muslim worshippers would be packed onto the Temple Mount. Thousands of them.

‘Maybe we need to pull back a bit. I mean, the encrypted message doesn’t specifically mention anything about destroying the Dome of the Rock,’ Edie pointed out, playing devil’s advocate.

‘But MacFarlane did unequivocally state that he intends to install the Ark of the Covenant in the newly constructed temple,’ he countered. ‘And it’s surely no coincidence that the Dome of the Rock sits on the very spot where Solomon’s Temple once stood.’

‘Solomon’s Temple?’ Edie gave him a long wordless stare, her pupils contracting into microdots. ‘Oh God… I didn’t know,’ she murmured. ‘That changes everything.’

‘The terrible thing about the truth is that sometimes you find it. Since the Temple Mount is a holy site for the three major religions of the world, over the centuries it has been one of the most fought-over pieces of land anywhere.’ The history of the Temple Mount was a fantastical tale almost too violent to be believed.

‘I know that in 1967, during the Six Day War, the Israelis captured the Temple Mount.’

‘That’s right. Although in an attempt to placate the Muslims, the Israelis permitted a waqf, an Islamic trust, to continue to act as the official administrators of the site.’

‘So while the Israelis have sovereignty over it, the Muslims retain control.’

‘And, as you undoubtedly know, this arrangement has been a source of contention for several generations.’ A heaviness in his heart inspired him to say, ‘I have often wondered if the world would have been a better place had Solomon’s Temple never been constructed. It’s one of the most volatile spots on the planet.’

Slumping in her chair, Edie stared at the innocuous sheet of lined notepaper in front of her.

Cædmon also gazed at the deciphered message. ‘And now a madman has arrived on the scene, intent on destroying the Dome of the Rock so he can build a third temple. With the Ark in his arsenal and a well-trained force at his disposal, he could easily bring about events that mimic those foretold in the Old Testament. Thus fulfilling Ezekiel’s prophecy.’

‘We can’t let that happen,’ Edie whispered, her body rigid with the strength of her emotion. ‘I don’t know if you’re aware of this, but for some time now there’s been a growing alliance between Jewish and Christian fundamentalists.’

‘Birds of the same dark feather.’

‘They both believe in the Old Testament prophecies, which means that MacFarlane might have allies inside Israel who would be willing to help him destroy the Dome of the Rock.’

Cædmon shook his head, the scenario becoming more and more frightening.

‘Fanatical Christians working with fanatical Jews to attack Muslims. Incite any of the three and you have global instability. Incite all three and you have the makings of the next world war.’

Cædmon turned his head and stared at the churning water visible through the picture window on the other side of the club room.

We can’t get to Malta soon enough.