The Cup

CHAPTER 60

Two days later, they still hadn't located Athena. They knew she was headed for Savannah, but it was a big ocean. The shipping lanes weren't marked with nice white lines. For all they knew, she wasn't following a conventional path. Besides, she was a tramp steamer. She could have stopped off in any one of half a dozen places before setting out across the Atlantic. Satellite overpasses and surveillance flights by the Air Force had failed to turn up the ship.

Nick sat at Elizabeth's desk and found himself drumming his fingers on the wooden top. It was uncanny, almost as if whoever sat there was channeling her energy. She was still in a coma. Her EKG was stable but that was the only positive sign. They'd had to take her back into surgery to relieve pressure on her brain, where fluid had built up from the injury. Now there was nothing more to do but wait and see if she woke up.

The rest of the team was in the room. The box they'd found in Syria rested on the desk in front of him.

"When are we going to get a look inside that box?" Lamont asked. "Hell, I'm dyin' of curiosity."

"We all are," Nick said. "I've been focused on this search for the Athena."

"It says a lot about the way the world has changed," Selena said.

"What do you mean?"

"That box may contain the most sacred relic in Christianity. A thousand years ago no one would have hesitated to get it open. But we're worried about a bunch of lunatics with a nuclear bomb instead."

"It's a question of priorities," Nick said.

"That's what I mean about how the world has changed," Selena said. "People have lost a sense of spiritual things, things that inspire all that's good in the world. The Grail is one of those things. Maybe our priorities are wrong."

Nick was about to say something when his phone signaled a call from Hood.

"Yes, Director."

"Please call me Clarence, Nick. I hear director all the time. That's not why I called. We've spotted Athena."

Nick pumped his fist in the air. "Yes!"

He turned on the speaker. "They found Athena," he said to the others. "Director, uh, Clarence, I put you on speaker so the others can hear."

"The good news is that we found her," Hood said. "The bad news is that she's thirty miles offshore, headed straight for Savannah. I would've preferred to find her farther out in case something goes wrong. I've talked with Rice about what to do."

"What did he say?"

"He wants to board her. She's well within our waters and there's nothing she can do about it. The Coast Guard is heading for her right now with two SEAL teams on board. With a little luck this will all be over in an hour."

"It might be smarter to sink her before she gets any closer," Nick said.

On the couch, Lamont and Ronnie were nodding.

"I argued for that with Rice," Hood said. "He was adamant that we don't do that. He's not convinced she's anything more than what she appears to be. I can see his point. If we sink a civilian ship because we think it's got a bomb on board without proof, we'll be vilified by the international community. Accused of war crimes."

"What else is new?" Nick said. "Three quarters of the UN wants to try the last ten presidents for war crimes. Hell, if they could get away with it, they'd indict Eisenhower. As far as I'm concerned they can take their hypocritical bullshit and shove it."

"I happen to agree with you," Hood said, "but Rice is running the show. We'll board her and see what we find. Tell Stephanie to access Odin. You can watch the intercept live."

Stephanie was already tapping keys on her laptop. The monitor on the wall lit with a live satellite shot of a small ship moving across the ocean. Stephanie zoomed in and the Athena filled most of the screen.

"Got it," Nick said. "How long until intercept?"

"About twenty minutes."

"I can see a radar array on the Athena. She'll pick up the Coast Guard coming in."

"Nothing I can do about that," Hood said. "It won't necessarily spook her. The Coast Guard routinely stops ships approaching our shores, for a lot of reasons. They won't know it's anything unusual until the SEALS board her."

"You got that right," Lamont said.

"That had to be Lamont," Hood said.

At Langley, someone said something in the background.

"I have to go, Nick."

Hood disconnected.