The Nostradamus File

CHAPTER FORTY-SIX

Phillip Harrison called Croft on a secure link from his Boston office. The view from the office was spectacular. Harrison could look down like Zeus from Olympus on the Charles River and the city. It was a sensation he enjoyed, knowing he was far above the worker ants below. He watched a group of racing sculls cut thin, white lines on the river surface.

"Weisner is gaining ground in the Israeli election but he needs a boost," Harrison said.

"What do you want to do?"

"We implement plan B. Stage an assassination attempt on Weisner. Kill one or two of the people next to him. Don't warn him. That way it will look completely authentic. Make sure you've got a convenient Palestinian patsy handy, someone who's not too smart. We need to do it quickly."

"He's speaking at a big rally in Tel Aviv in two days. It can be arranged. What is the status on the Ark?"

"We have no leads at all. If there was anything in that tomb, the Project has it now. They'll follow up on it and we'll follow them. Then we'll see."

"They've been a real problem."

"Yes, they have. Once we know where the Ark is, we'll eliminate them. In the meantime, we have to be patient."

"Boyd is getting nervous."

"He ought to be. His financial position is overextended. He needs to see the price of crude go up."

"It will go up. As soon as the shooting starts."

"I'll talk to him," Harrison said. "He's in too deep for second thoughts."

"Do you think we'll find it, Phillip?" There was something wistful in Croft's voice.

"You mean the Ark?"

"Yes. Imagine. The real Ark of the Covenant. I wonder if it looks like the pictures and drawings people make of it? The two angels with their wings stretching in, all golden."

"Cherubim, Arthur, not angels."

"What's the difference?"

Harrison didn't feel like giving Croft a rundown on the hierarchy of angels. "When we find it, it won't matter."

"Do you think it had any real, mystical power?"

Yes, but I'm not going to tell you that, Harrison thought. "Only what people gave it," he said.

After he'd hung up, Harrison thought about the Ark. When it was in his possession he would use it to sweep away the non-believers. He would use it to motivate a new crusade. The Holy Land would be safe again.

God would surely be pleased.