The Cup

CHAPTER 61

Rashid Jaffari finished the afternoon prayer in his cabin.

Soon, Lord, soon I will see your face.

He got up and folded his prayer rug. He paused for a moment as he held it, remembering the day his father had given him the rug and taken him to the mosque for the first time. He set the rug down on top of the bomb and went out on deck.

In the distance, the coast of the far enemy was coming near. He could smell the land, even here, almost thirty miles offshore. By the time Athena had taken on a pilot and docked, it would be early evening. The night breeze from the ocean would have started, in time to carry the radioactive fallout far inland.

In his pocket he carried a remote detonator to trigger the bomb. He'd told the crewmen who carried it to his cabin that it contained all his personal possessions. They thought he was emigrating to America. It was all the same to them. Most of the crew was Greek. They could care less about one more escapee fleeing from the chaos of the Middle East.

Only the captain and one of his mates spoke any Arabic. Now the captain came down from the bridge and joined Jaffari. Rashid tried not to show his distaste. The man reeked of ouzo and cigars. As far as Rashid could tell, Captain Nikos was usually half drunk by three in the afternoon. It was already well after four.

He won't find any ouzo in hell, Rashid thought.

A ship appeared on the near horizon, heading toward them with white water curling past her bow. It was still several miles away. Nicos gestured at the approaching vessel.

"U.S. Coast Guard. They will stop us and ask to see our papers."

Jaffari remained calm. "Will they search the ship?"

"No. I have been here many times. They know the ship, they know I do not bring drugs or things that are illegal. They will ask for the manifest, they will make little checkmarks in their boxes and then they will go away."

"Is it usual for them to stop ships like this?"

"Yes, especially someone like us coming from a Muslim country. Since what they call 9/11, their security has increased. It is the way of the Americans. It is understandable, given what happened."

After today, their security will increase again, Jaffari thought.

Captain Nikos took out a cheap cigar and lit it. The smoke drifted across the deck. The two men leaned on the railing and watched the Coast Guard ship come closer.

When the cutter was within hailing distance, an officer with a bullhorn hailed them.

"This is Lieutenant Commander Michaels of the United States Coast Guard. Heave to and prepare to be boarded for inspection."

Rashid eyed the ship. Something didn't feel right. All her guns were trained on the Athena, including the aft deck gun.

The crew of the cutter lowered two Zodiacs into the water, each carrying six men. The men didn't look like sailors and they were armed. They looked hard, as if they had seen and done more than they would've wanted.

Rashid felt the detonator in his pocket. A stiff breeze had sprung up, drawn by the heat of the landmass ahead. If he had to detonate the bomb, the breeze would carry the fallout to land. Perhaps it would be enough. But he would wait until he was certain they were going to search the ship.

In Virginia, Nick and the others were glued to the monitor as the drama unfolded. The cutter and Athena were hove to and bobbing up and down in the choppy swell, separated by thirty or forty yards. On the deck of the freighter, crewmen had gathered by the rail to watch. Two Zodiacs went into the water.

"There go the SEALS," Lamont said.

The image from the satellite was clear and crisp. Odin was the latest in satellite surveillance technology, sent up without public fanfare only eight months before. Now it was earning its keep.

Stephanie zoomed in on one of the men on Athena's deck, watching the zodiacs approach. He wore a woolen watch cap. He had a full beard. He looked up suddenly, as though he could sense the eye in the sky watching him. Stephanie drew in a breath.

"I recognize him," she said. "His name is Rashid Jaffari. He's a physicist, one of Saddam's scientists. He was working on building a nuclear bomb."

Nick picked up his phone and called Hood.

"Director, you see that guy on the deck of the Athena with the cap and the beard?"

"Yes."

"His name is Jaffari. He's a bomb maker. That nuke has got to be on board. Better give the captain of that cutter a heads up."

"On it," Hood said. Nick left the connection open.

On the monitor screen, the Zodiacs had reached the side of Athena. Someone had lowered boarding stairs on the side. The first of the SEALS started up the steps.

"In the name of Allah, the Magnificent…"

Jaffari triggered the detonator in his pocket.

The screen blanked out in a sudden blast of white that overwhelmed the camera.

"Oh my God," Stephanie said.

"Jesus," Lamont said.

The satellite image reappeared on the screen. Streaks and spots distorted the picture but there was no mistaking the mushroom cloud rising from the surface of the ocean. Of the Athena, the Coast Guard ship and the Zodiacs, there was no sign. A huge plume of seawater rose into the air and collapsed back onto the surface of the ocean.

A towering, foaming, wave rolled out in a perfect circle from the point of the blast.

They stared in silence as the wave moved toward land.

Nick gripped the phone in his hand. His knuckles had turned white.

"Director, are you still there?"

Hood's voice was grim. "Yes, I'm here."

"That wave is headed toward Savannah," Nick said. "We have to warn them."

"I'll take care of it." Hood disconnected.

"He was almost to Savannah," Selena said. "If he'd gotten into port…"

She left the rest unspoken.