The Cup

CHAPTER 42

Elizabeth was on the satellite link to Nick at Incirlik. She'd put the call on speaker. Stephanie sat nearby, listening. Nick briefed them on what had happened at the roadblock and what they'd learned at the monastery.

"There's already been a protest from the Turkish government," Elizabeth said. "President Rice is not happy."

"He'd be a lot less happy if those cops had opened fire," Nick said. "It's a good thing that Turkish sergeant had more brains than balls."

"You have a gift for words, Nick."

"Selena thinks ISIS is hoping we'll lead them to the Grail. I think she's right. They're following us, that's why they keep showing up. Someone smart is directing them. If we could figure out who that was and take him out, it would make things a lot simpler."

"There aren't many in ISIS with the authority to send these men after you. But pinning down who it is and where he is might be difficult."

"We recovered a phone at the monastery. Maybe there's something on it that will help."

"Give me a minute," Steph said. She entered commands on her keyboard. "Go ahead. I'm ready for transfer."

"Stand by."

They waited for Nick to connect the phone to his unit.

"Transferring now."

The contents of Nawabi's phone scrolled onto the wall monitor.

"Got it," Stephanie said.

"See anything offhand?"

"There are three calls to the same number, no text messages. I have to run it through the computers. I'll let you know if I find something."

"Good enough. Maybe we'll get lucky and can drop a missile on the son of a bitch."

"One can always hope," Steph said.

"Are you sending us to Malta, Director?" Nick asked.

"Not yet. There's not much point without knowing where to start. Stephanie is searching records from around the time of the siege of Malta."

"When was that?"

"1565 CE," Steph said. "The battle was the turning point in the struggle between the Christians and the Muslims for control of the Mediterranean. I've started looking but don't expect too much."

"You think it's a dead end?"

"It could be. To make it more complicated, the Knights didn't go to Malta right after they left Rhodes. There's a period of about eight years before they got there."

"Where were they in between?"

"They wandered around Europe. France and Italy, mostly. The Pope gave the Hospitallers holdings he'd seized from the Knights Templar."

"Great," Nick said. "Then the Grail could be anywhere in Europe. It might never have gone to Malta at all. The only thing we know for sure is that the Hospitallers had it on Rhodes before Sulemein defeated them."

"We can assume it's not on Rhodes anymore," Elizabeth said. "The Knights wouldn't have taken a chance on it being captured."

"Maybe it's time to call off the search," Nick said.

"Not yet. Let's see what Stephanie comes up with. In the meantime, stay on the base. I don't want to give the Turks any excuse for arresting you. They can't bother you there."

"Copy that."

"That's all for now, Nick."

Elizabeth ended the call.

Stephanie said, "He has a point, Elizabeth. About finding out which of those ISIS thugs is looking for the Grail."

"While you're looking for some indication of where the Knights might have taken the Grail, I'll look at current leadership of the caliphate. There are only a few key players at the top. We've managed to eliminate some of them but they're like cockroaches. You kill one and another takes its place."

"Do you think we'll ever be able to defeat them?"

"We can defeat the organization. I don't think we can defeat the ideology, at least in our lifetime."

"That sounds hopeless, Elizabeth."

"I don't mean it that way. But it's going to be a long time before the fanatics fade back into the woodwork. Until moderate Muslims take back their religion, we're at war."

"That's not a popular view."

"Realism never is," Elizabeth said.

"Most people don’t like realism, not when it comes to something they can’t control. They want to believe everything is okay."

"That’s the heart of the problem," Elizabeth said. "Everything isn't okay."