The Cup

CHAPTER 40

They'd been driving for several hours. Nick had been waiting to see flashing lights in his mirrors. They'd passed a large town called Viransehir. Now they were back in open country, all fields and orchards.

"I'm sorry about Mercurio," Selena said. "He was a good man. There aren't many of those left these days. At least we don't meet many of them."

"The people we tend to meet are anything but good," Nick said.

"How did those assholes find us?" Lamont asked.

Nick swerved to avoid a pothole.

"Good question. Someone in ISIS is good at what he's doing. A better question might be why do they keep showing up?"

"That's easy," Selena said. "They think we'll lead them to the Grail."

Ronnie sat next to Lamont in the back, behind Nick. "How did they get on to Mercurio in the first place?"

Selena turned in her seat to look at him. "Probably their contact in the Swedish police. I wonder if they caught him yet?"

She turned back and looked out at the flat, Anatolian plain passing by.

"What are we going to do next, Nick?"

"It depends on Harker. She'll probably send us to Malta."

"There's no proof it went to Malta."

"No, but there's a pattern here."

"What pattern?" Ronnie asked.

"Each time the Grail is about to fall into the wrong hands, it's moved somewhere else. Theodosius gave it to Anastasius as he was dying. Anastasius gave it to the monk at Mor Gabriel, so he must've been worried about its safety. Then it was handed over to the Hospitallers when the monastery was going to be overrun by the Mongols. The Hospitallers took it to Rhodes. Then Sulemein shows up with an overwhelming force."

"It's like trouble follows it," Lamont said.

"Right. If I were protecting the cup and I saw Sulemein coming, you can bet your ass I'd find a safer place for it. It makes sense it would be sent on to Malta. The Knights held out there, so they wouldn't need to move it again. If it's anywhere, it's likely to be hidden somewhere on the island. Malta is our best bet."

"What if we don't find anything there?"

"Then we're done."

They came around a sweeping curve. Straight ahead police blocked the road with two cars nose to nose across the highway, leaving only a narrow space between.

A policeman stepped out from the cars and held up his hand. He was armed with a pistol in a holster. Two more cops waited beside him with M-14s held at port arms. They looked unfriendly. Two others were stationed behind the cars, taking aim at the Toyota with their rifles.

Ronnie said. "We try to run that, we're toast."

"Get your diplomatic passports out," Nick said. "We'll try to bluff our way through."

He turned to Selena. "You do the talking."

He slowed the Toyota and stopped.

The cop with the pistol kept his hand on the butt of his gun and approached the car.

"What's the trouble, Officer?" Selena asked in Turkish.

"Passports," the cop said. He had a sergeant's stripes on his sleeve. He held out his hand.

"He wants to see our passports," Selena said.

"Give them to him."

They handed their passports to Selena. She gave them to the cop. The Turk looked at the passports.

"Get out," he said in English.

Selena switched to English. "We're on a special fact-finding mission for our government. You can see we have diplomatic immunity. "

The cop stepped back from the car and took out his pistol.

"Get out. Now."

"Do as he says," Nick said.

They got out of the car.

"Raise your hands."

As they put up their hands, the other cops closed in.

"We have immunity," Nick said. "This is harassment. You're making a mistake."

One of the policeman with an M-14 had come up beside the sergeant.

"Shut up," the cop said.

He swung his rifle, aiming the butt at Nick's head. Nick grabbed the rifle as it came around, pulled it from the man's hands and kicked his leg out from under him. As the cop fell, Nick leveled the rifle at the sergeant.

Safeties clicked off. Everyone stopped moving. Nick heard the sound of a helicopter approaching.

I hope that's ours.

"Listen up, Sergeant. You tell your men to fire and you'll be dead before the words are out of your mouth. You hear that helicopter? It's coming for us and there are Marines on board or I miss my guess. Even if you take us down, you won't live to talk about it. Put your pistol on the ground. Tell your men to lower their guns."

"You are murderers," the cop said. He was red in the face.

"ISIS are the murderers. Tell your men to put down their guns."

The helicopter came into sight, a Sikorsky Blackhawk painted in desert camouflage.

The Turkish policeman's eyes darted toward the helicopter and back towards the rifle pointed at him. Nick hoped the man wouldn't do anything stupid.

"Silahlarinizi indirin," the sergeant said in a loud voice. He bent and put his pistol on the ground. His men lowered their rifles and laid them down.

"What did he say?" Nick asked Selena. He kept his rifle leveled at the sergeant.

"He told them to put down their weapons."

The sound of the rotors grew loud as the Blackhawk settled on the road nearby. The wind from the blades whipped dust and bits of debris into the air. The compartment door slid open and a half dozen Marines in battle dress poured out, weapons at the ready. They deployed and aimed their rifles at the cops.

A tall, young Marine with lieutenant's insignia sewn on his collar walked over to Nick and saluted. His name tag read Williams.

"Major Carter?"

It was strange to hear the familiar title again.

"In person. Lieutenant, I'm glad to see you."

"Any trouble here, sir?"

He eyed the Turkish police.

"Not anymore." Nick set the rifle he'd taken from the cop down on the ground. "Let's go."

The Turkish police sergeant looked as though he was about to have a stroke. Nick and the others ducked under the whirling blades of the chopper and climbed aboard. The Marines followed, keeping the Turks covered. Williams was the last to board. They lifted away as he pulled the compartment door shut.

Below, Nick saw the Turkish sergeant shaking his fist at them.