The Solomon Scroll

CHAPTER 49

Dov Yosef watched the Ethiopian countryside slip past underneath his helicopter. He was riding in a Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk, one of the new versions purchased from the Americans. One thing you can say about the Americans, Dov thought, they make good helicopters. This one had been launched from the INS Eilat, one of three Saar Class Corvettes in the Israeli Navy, the same ship that had spotted the stealth helicopter sneaking into Saudi Arabia. The chain of events that started then had led to Dov and his men flying over this remote wilderness.

It was amazing how quickly politicians could get something done if it really needed to happen. The potential for recovering artifacts from the Second Temple had lit a fire in Tel Aviv. Dov's helicopter was supposed to be part of an official Israeli mission to explore the possibility of upgrading the Ethiopian military with the Iron Dome air defense system developed by the Israelis. He would be tracked by the outdated SAM sites deployed by the Ethiopian Air Force but not fired upon.

The radio intercom in his helmet crackled.

"Major, we have the objective in sight. Sir, there are four people on a ledge high up on the side of a mesa. Looks like a cave behind them."

"What's the access?"

"A trail going up. They've spotted us. One of them has lenses on us."

"Hostile?"

"Can't tell, sir. There are bodies on the ledge. It looks like there was a fight and casualties."

"Find the trailhead and land as close as you can. We'll wait for whoever it is to come down."

"Yes, sir."

The engine note changed as the chopper banked sharply to the left and the pilot began his descent. They set down on a flat area not far from where the steps began to climb up the side of the bluff.

Dov deployed his men between the helicopter and the trailhead. He studied the bluff through binoculars and adjusted the focus. From where he stood he couldn't see the ledge and the cave. Only the trail of primitive steps.

Dov let the binoculars hang by their strap and took out a green pack of Noblesse cigarettes. He shook one out and lit it. He'd been warned more than once to quit. It didn't matter, there was nothing like a smoke when he needed to think.

Like now.

There were bodies on the ledge. Something in the cave had to be worth fighting over. If it was the body of Solomon or treasure from the Temple he was sitting on top of political and religious dynamite.

Dov took another drag, stubbed out the cigarette and put it back inside the pack. He raised the binoculars again and watched as a man wearing civilian clothes and armed with a pistol on his hip came into view and started down the steps. He was followed by a woman dressed like a hiker. Adhesive tape was plastered across her nose and there was blood on her shirt. She wore a holstered pistol and was followed by two men carrying a third between them. They were having a hard time on the narrow, crumbling steps, moving at a snail's pace. Dov looked at his watch. He estimated they would reach him before sundown.

Two and a half hours later the team reached the bottom. Nick and Ronnie gently set Diego's body down on the dry earth. Nick looked at the Israeli major and the hard looking men who were pointing Tavor assault rifles at them.

"Special ops," Nick said to Ronnie.

Dov stepped forward. "I'm Major Yosef. Please keep your hands away from your weapons. You are American?"

"That's right."

Dov looked at him. "I know you. You were in Jerusalem, when they tried to kill your president."

Nick nodded and rubbed his arms, sore from carrying Diego's body down the side of the bluff.

"Nick Carter. I wish you had gotten here sooner, Major."

"You've lost a comrade. I'm sorry, Mister Carter, but tell me why are you here."

"I think you know why we're here."

"The scroll led you to this place?"

"Two scrolls. Yes, they led us here. And if you're wondering whether or not Solomon is up there, he is. So is the Queen of Sheba."

"You're joking."

"No. She really is up there."

Dov signaled his men to relax. He took out his cigarettes.

"Smoke?" He took one out and lit it.

"No thanks," Nick said.

"What else is in the tomb?"

"Gold, a lot of it. Relics from the Second Temple."

"Ah."

"I'm sure your government will be happy to hear that."

"What happened?" Dov gestured at Diego's body

"There's a Lebanese scumbag named Al-Bayati."

"I know who he is."

"He showed up with a half-dozen men. That's what happened."

"Is he up there?"

"No, he's gone. He must have made it out just before you got here. He took something of Solomon's with him. A gold ring with symbols on it."

"It was Solomon's seal," Selena said. "I'm sure of it."

Dov turned to her. "How do you know this?"

"I've studied the period and I know the stories. The ring was the one thing Al-Bayati wanted above everything else. I always thought the seal was a myth. It's clear Al-Bayati believes the ring has real power. He said it would protect him. It was in an ossuary with Solomon's bones, the only other thing in there. What else could it be?"

"You should listen to her, Major. She knows what she's talking about."

The voice of the pilot came through Dov's headpiece. "Sir, there's a helicopter approaching."

"Identity?"

"American, sir."

Nick heard rotors coming closer. He looked up and saw a gray CH-53 Sea Stallion with Navy markings heading for them.

"Here comes the cavalry," Nick said.

"Maybe you could use another word to describe our rescuers," Ronnie said.

"You getting sensitive in your old age?"

"My people have not had good experiences with the cavalry."

"You called them here?" Dov asked Nick.

"My boss did."

Dove started to say something when the pilot's voice sounded again in his ear. "Sir, there's a call for you."

"Patch it through."

"Major Yosef."

Dov recognized the voice of Colonel Cohen.

"Colonel."

"The U.S. president has been talking to Tel Aviv. You have found the tomb of Solomon?"

"Apparently, sir. I've not yet had a chance to verify the contents. There are Americans here who say it is. They also say that gold and artifacts from the Temple are inside."

"That is what their president told our prime minister. You are ordered to secure that tomb and prevent any further intrusion."

"Understood. Colonel, an American helicopter is about to land."

"You have your orders, Dov. No further intrusion. That includes the Americans. You are authorized to use all means necessary."

Dov looked at Nick and the others. "The Americans told me something was stolen from the tomb by Al-Bayati."

"What was taken?"

"They say it was the Seal of Solomon."

Cohen swore. "That pig. He defiles everything he touches."

The Navy helicopter touched down and a squad of Marines piled out in full battle gear. Yosef's men had already taken up position to protect their aircraft.

"Better caution your men," Nick said. "We don't want any mistakes."

"My orders are to secure the site," Dov said.

"Of course they are. And now you have help."

A Marine lieutenant commanding the squad made his way across the distance between the two choppers and stopped. He was about six feet tall, tanned and fit. His camouflage battle dress was clean and crisp, his polished boots just beginning to show dust from walking over to them. Dov had no rank insignia on his uniform. That was standard for his outfit in the field.

"Who's in charge?" The lieutenant said.

"I am." Nick and Dov spoke at the same time.

The lieutenant looked at the two of them. "Are you Major Carter?" He addressed Nick by his old rank.

"Yes."

"Lieutenant Axton, sir." He saluted. "I've been instructed to inform you that elements of the Ethiopian military are on the way here. My orders are to take you back to my ship."

"Wait just a second, Lieutenant."

Axton looked at the Israeli major. "Who are you? Sir."

Nick interrupted. "This is Major Yosef. He's been ordered by his government to secure this area."

"Those are my instructions as well. I'm to post some of my people here before I leave."

"The contents of that tomb are the legal and historical property of Israel," Dov said.

"The Ethiopians may have something to say about that," Nick said.

The Israeli's face was tight. "The only people guarding it will be mine."

"Sorry, sir. I have my orders and I will carry them out."

Nick almost smiled. Axton reminded him of himself when he was younger.

"I don't think you want to take on my men," Yosef said.

"I don't think you want to take on mine," Axton said.

Nick interrupted. "There's no need for a pissing contest. Nobody's going to take anything out of that tomb until the big shots figure out how to handle it. Major Yosef, you're forgetting something."

"What's that?"

"We're on Ethiopian soil and this is a sacred site for them. The tomb is a shrine of the Coptic church, as you'll see for yourself. Addis Ababa is sure to make a claim on everything in it."

Selena had been watching the testosterone levels building.

"If I could make a suggestion?"

Nick and Dov turned toward her. Lieutenant Axton gave her an appreciative once over.

"Nick's right. Nothing is going to happen here until the politicians sort it out. Major, there's no reason why Lieutenant Axton's men and yours can't post a joint guard. I assume that would be all right with you, Lieutenant?"

"Yes ma'am, I think it would. As long as my men are on site to prevent any unauthorized access. Nothing is to be removed. By the Israelis, the Ethiopians or anyone else."

"Major?"

"It's a solution," Yosef said. "No one except my men are to go inside the tomb. The objects in there are sacred to us."

Axton said. "We don't have to go in as long as nobody takes anything out."

This young officer will go far, Nick thought.

"Agreed," Yosef said.

"Thank you sir. With your permission, I'll have my Sergeant pick men to work with you. Perhaps you would like to do the same?"

"Very well."

"Then I'll get to it." Axton saluted and turned to Nick. "When you're ready, sir."

"Thank you, Lieutenant."

Dov watched Axton go back to his men. "Not much seems to bother him."

"He's a Marine," Nick said. "What else would you expect?"

"More company coming," Lamont said. "Looks like the Ethiopians are joining the party."

He pointed off to the east. Two military helicopters were headed their way.

"Let's get out of here," Nick said. "I've seen enough of Ethiopia for a lifetime."

They picked up Diego's body and headed over to the American helicopter.

Al-Bayati and Badr had reached their vehicles an hour before the Israeli helicopter landed. They'd stopped at the same spot where Nick had left the Toyota.

"Disable all of them except one," Bayati said. "Tear out the wires."

It only took a few minutes. Al-Bayati and Badr got in the last vehicle and drove away.

Badr drove. Al-Bayati felt the glow of Solomon's ring in his hand and thought about what he would do when he got back to Lebanon. He'd bind the ring to him with the blood sacrifice, as the ancient book of magic passed down to him by his ancestors instructed.

The book dated from before the thirteenth century, a collection of Arabic incantations and formulas copied with painstaking care onto pages of yellowed vellum. Among its secrets was the hallucinogenic formula of the Hashishin, Hassan-i-Sabbah's society of assassins. Sabbah had used it to reveal paradise to his followers and control them. Al-Bayati used it for pleasure. It was the drug Rhoades had preferred.

Thinking of Rhoades soured Al-Bayati's mood. He'd been a useful asset and it would be difficult to replace him. Badr could be trained to perform the part Rhoades had played in the monthly ritual, it was simple enough and Badr could be trusted. Someone else would have to be found to take the dead spy's role in the West.

Al-Bayati felt cheated. To have come all this way and then to have been denied entrance to the tomb. Denied the gold, the pleasure of holding Solomon's skull in his hands, because of meddling Americans. It was unfair. He imagined exploring Carter's capacity for pain with one of the ancient instruments of torture he had in his collection. As for the woman, his thoughts turned to how acceptable she would be as an offering to the god, after he'd sampled her wares, of course. The god didn't care about that. It was unlikely he would see either one of them again. If he ever had the opportunity, Al-Bayati vowed he would turn imagination into reality.