The Solomon Scroll

CHAPTER 17

The next morning Nick and Selena went out for breakfast. Their plane wasn't leaving until the afternoon. They passed a newsstand.

"Nick. Look at that headline."

Nick bought a paper and glanced at the article. "Guess who was murdered?"

"Not Sir Peter?"

"Right the first time. Somebody cut his throat. I didn't like him much but he didn't deserve that."

"It can't be a coincidence," Selena said.

"No."

"Does it say anything about the scroll?"

Nick scanned the article. "It says an inventory is being conducted and police suspect theft as the motive."

"Somebody killed him and took the scroll," Selena said.

"It looks that way. Good thing you have those pictures."

"It has to be the same people who blew up the train and the research facility in Grenoble."

"Seems likely." Nick looked at his watch. "A little early in Virginia to call Harker."

"You think she'll want us to stay here?"

"I don't see any reason why she would. Wainwright's dead and I'll bet that the scroll is gone. There's nothing we can do about it on this end."

"What about breakfast?"

"That's one of the things I like about you," he said. "The way you pay attention to what's important. We'll eat, go back to the hotel and get to the airport. I'll call Harker from there."

Five hours later they were over the Atlantic headed home. The business class seats on the British Airways 777 were wide and comfortable. Selena sipped a Mimosa and began making notes as she worked through the pictures she'd taken of the scroll, reading the story.

Ephram had left Jerusalem with a trading caravan in the same year the Romans reached the city, headed to the southern part of the Arabian Peninsula and what was now Yemen. There was no mention of Solomon or anything to do with the Temple. She came to the part of the scroll that seemed odd to her. Selena was familiar with many variations of classical and biblical Aramaic. She'd never seen anything like what Ephram had written.

"This is really interesting," she said.

Nick sat next to her. He was nursing a glass of whiskey and reading about the gadgets offered in one of the magazines provided by the airline.

"What is?"

"This part of the scroll." She tapped her finger on the notes she had made. "It just doesn't make sense. Up until this point it's typical Aramaic, then suddenly it becomes unreadable. It's almost as if the letters were scrambled."

"Maybe they are," Nick said.

"Why would Ephram…" Selena paused. "Oh. You think it's deliberate. A code?"

"It could be. Maybe he's hiding something."

"Like where he hid the treasure?"

"At least something he didn't want people to know about. Why did he go on that trip in the first place?" Nick asked.

"Rome was advancing on the city. This caravan could be the one that took Solomon's body out of Jerusalem. The scroll says it was carrying cloth and wine to the south. I have trouble believing that. Why go overland? If you were a trader back then, it was easier and quicker to sail down to the southern tip of Arabia with your cargo. Ephram's route went down the eastern side of the coastal range in Arabia, through the kingdom of the Dedanites. They're the ones mentioned in the other scroll. It's hard to believe he'd take that route to sell goods."

"Maybe he had a stake in the profits. They must have needed money to fight the Romans."

"I don't see how a trip to the bottom of Arabia would help. It's a long way from Jerusalem and Judea, especially in those days."

"No mention of Solomon?"

"None. Only the reference to the Queen of Sheba. The section I can't read comes right after that."

"What does Ephram say about Sheba?"

"That she was the Queen of the Night. Then he says that those who follow the route to her home will find wisdom."

"That's all he says?"

Selena nodded. She finished her Mimosa and signaled the attendant for another.

"The mention of Sheba seems out of context," she said. "It doesn't make any sense. That's right where everything becomes garbled in the narrative. Part of that section is damaged and can't be read at all. Then the narrative picks up again and Ephram starts talking about the coast of Arabia. He calls it a terrible country and says that hostile tribes live in the mountains. There's nothing else of interest to us that I can see. The end of the narrative is illegible. It looks like something ate part of the scroll."

The attendant brought Selena's drink.

"If that section is in code it can't be that complicated," Nick said. "Those old codes worked great back then but they're child's play compared to the modern stuff. Give it to Stephanie when we get back and have her run it through the computers. If it's a code, she should be able to crack it."

Selena gathered up her notes and put them away.

"How come you're not using your laptop?" Nick said.

"I like the feel of pen and paper. It's more personal and I think better that way. Once I know what I want to say, that's when I go to the computer."

"Kind of old-fashioned," Nick said.

"That's me. How long do you plan to keep Diego on probation?" she asked.

"You think he fits?"

"He's not afraid to say what he thinks and he does have the skills we need."

"He did a good job in Beirut. I'm giving him a qualified yes. He has a quick temper. That could cause trouble if he doesn't control it."

"So he's still on probation."

"For the time being. Besides, it will keep him on his toes."

"I wonder how Lamont is doing?"

"He's leasing a dive shop in Florida," Nick said. "I talked to him a couple of days ago. He sounded bored."

"Compared to what we do, just about anything is boring."

"Yeah, like that old Chinese curse about living in interesting times. Interesting times meant the barbarians were about to ride over your fields and kill you and your family. In old China nobody wanted things to be interesting."

"Would you rather be bored?"

"No," Nick said. Just the same I wouldn't mind if things were a little less interesting, at least in that department."

He paused. "I've been thinking."

"That's a change."

"No, really. I've been thinking about us getting married."

There was something in the tone of his voice that was different. Selena felt a jolt in her stomach. What was he going to say?

"I think we should do it soon."

"You do?"

"I was thinking maybe September or October. While the weather's still good."

"Why? I mean, why now?"

"You don't want to get married?"

"No. I mean, yes, I want to get married. What changed your mind? You've been putting it off."

Nick looked out the window and turned back to her. "So have you."

It was true. He wasn't the only one who'd been ambivalent about taking the final step.

Nick continued. "I've been putting it off because I still had some feelings I had to work through."

"What feelings?"

"You know I worry about one of us getting killed. We talked about that. After Megan, I shut everything down. I didn't want to feel like that again."

Selena nodded. Megan had been the love of Nick's life. He'd watched her die in a meaningless plane crash.

"I remember when my parents and my brother died," Selena said. "I didn't think I'd ever be happy again or that I could ever let myself feel love again because it was just too painful. I guess what I'm saying is I've been holding back for pretty much the same reasons you have."

"Hell, nobody gets out of here alive. Sooner or later something is going to get us. Life's too short. I love you. Getting married seems like a good way to prove it."

"You don't have to prove anything." She leaned over and kissed him. "I know where there's a nice church in Alexandria."

"You already picked out a church?"

"Just in case. If you don't like it we'll find somewhere else."

The flight attendant stopped by their seats. "Can I get you another Mimosa?" he asked.

They both spoke at the same time. "Yes." "Sure."

When the drinks came Nick held his glass up. "To us."

"To us."