“What about those who reach Petra?”
Carpathia laughed. “Petra as a place of refuge is ludicrous! It is as defenseless as Masada. They will be on foot, stuffed into a bowl of rock. An air attack should be over in minutes, but for that we shall wait until the last of them are there.”
“The Judah-ites did display heavy firepower today,” Akbar said.
“That merely justifies whatever level of retribution we deem appropriate. Any casualties?”
“No reports of anyone actually hit. Two unaccounted for.”
“Missing in action?”
“If you wish.”
A long pause. Then Carpathia: “Two MIAs.”
Buck and Chaim sat under an ancient tree on the Mount of Olives and watched thousands find their way in. Within an hour the Operation Eagle choppers began floating into position, Rayford himself among the first. The birds were loaded to capacity but were in no way keeping up with the growing crowd.
Buck had relayed the Carpathia meeting word for word to Chaim as he listened by phone, but Dr. Rosenzweig had remained expressionless. In the end he said, “I am not surprised. I will pray that God will lift the plague of boils completely and restore everyone to full strength. I want them overconfident, full of themselves when they try to take vengeance. And when the second plague rains down, I pray it will carry God’s full potency.”
“Doctor, do we risk catastrophe at Masada?”
The old man shook his head. “I do not know, but I do not feel we should back down. We will finish before nine o’clock and warn the Jews of Carpathia’s plan. They may leave or stay and fight, but I hope they will feel even more urgency to make their decisions for Christ too. As people are sealed by God, we will rush them to Petra.”
Rayford felt alone in the packed chopper. Listening in on the Carpathia meeting had confirmed his worst fears. The only location he was confident of was Petra, and even there, he had to wonder if it was the place or the people who would be protected. He used his secure radio to reroute all air traffic directly to Petra. “No stops, repeat, no stops at Mizpe Ramon. Ground vehicles will deliver their charges to the foot passage into Petra. Those who can walk in, will. Those who cannot—or when the passageway is too crowded, those who are left exposed—will need to be air-hopped inside. Continue the routes to and from the Mount of Olives. And ignore an expected air curfew. Take evasive and defensive action as necessary, but do not fail these people.”
Rayford conference-called Albie, Mac, and Abdullah. “Wish we could get our heads together,” he said. But each was either flying a load to Petra or returning to pick up another.
“Rethinkin’ your no-shootin’ policy there, Chief?” Mac said.
“I hope so,” Albie said.
Rayford let out a heavy sigh. “I just don’t want to lead anyone to slaughter.”
“Arm us, Ray,” Albie said. “George has enough weapons for—”
“Tell me George was not privy to the Phoenix patch-in,” Rayford said. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust the man, but keeping need-to-know circles close was important and had been made clear.
Silence.
“Tell me, Albie!”
“Ray, you know me better than that. You said nobody but Trib Force, and that’s the way we played it.”
“How many of our pilots would know how to handle a fifty-caliber?”
“None of ’em, Ray,” Mac said. “You issue those to drivers. Too erratic and dangerous from the air. Give us the DEWs. Somebody stops us on the ground, we heat ’em up.”
“They’re planning to shoot us out of the air, gentlemen!”
“Only way to prevent that with the fifties is to shoot first,” Mac said. “It means a change of policy. Is that where you’re goin’, Ray?”
Rayford stalled. “Haven’t heard from you, Abdullah. You there?”
“Here, boss.”
“Well?”
“Not bad, thank you, sir.”
“I mean, well, what do you think?”
“About what?”
“Smitty! Come on! I need some counsel here.”
“We cannot shoot the big guns and fly too, Captain. That would take two pilots to a chopper. And out of what hole do we shoot such a weapon?”
“He’s right,” Mac said. “As usual.”
“I am willing to trust God with my life,” Abdullah said. “And if he would allow me, I would happily use a DEW to make toast of the enemy.”
Rayford peeked over his shoulder at the believers huddled behind him, fear and hope etched on their faces. They could not hear him over the noise of the engine and the whirring blades.
“All right, gentlemen,” he hollered into the phone, “after you unload your passengers, swing by Mizpe Ramon and pick up a third of the DEWs each and distribute them to your respective squadrons. Albie, get George involved too. And the first one there, get Ms. Rose and Ms. Palemoon evacuated if they’re ready. You’ll need room for all their supplies too.”
“You think the GC is going to waste the landing strip and our quarters?” Albie said.
“Likely.”
“Where are we EVACing these women?”
“Masada for now.”
“You gonna distribute fifties to ground drivers, Chief?”
“Still noodling that one, Mac,” Rayford said.
David guessed it would be two hours from Chaim’s speech at the Temple Mount until he saw his first arrivals. He called Rayford. “What gives with our nurses? Hannah owes me an e-mail response. They okay?”
“No reason to believe otherwise. Did you try calling them?”
“No response.”
“I’ll check in on them.” He told David what was happening with the weapons and the med center.
“Need my help on that?” David said.
“You’ve got to hang in there and coordinate until Chaim arrives, and that could be a couple of days.”
“I could appoint one of the first to get here. There’s no science to this. How are you going to handle those big guns by yourself?”
“I’ll get Leah and Hannah to help.”
“They done tearing down and packing up?”
“Should be.”
“You regret having the airstrip built and then having to abandon it?”
“Sure, but we needed it on the front end anyway. Where else were all our birds going to land?”
“Got any prospects on board?”
“For your job? I don’t know, David. Why don’t you stay put?”
“If they speak Hebrew and can elicit trust, that’ll free me up to hop back to the strip with you and load the guns.”
“I’m not even sure I’ll issue the fifties,” Rayford said.
“Well, I’m willing if you need me.”
Late in the afternoon David climbed to the high place and scanned the horizon. Nothing yet, but he heard movement in the rocks below. No way anyone on foot could have arrived before the choppers. He knelt and crept to the edge, holding his breath to listen. His heart banged against his ribs. He guessed two sets of footsteps, slowly moving.
David pulled out the only weapon he could think of, his phone, and readied himself to speed-dial Rayford. He rose to where he could peer over the side. Resolutely and gingerly picking their way through loose rock not fifty feet below him were two sickly, stumbling GC Peacekeepers, uniforms drenched in sweat. Each carried a high-powered rifle. David punched the speed-dial button for Rayford, and the Peacekeepers both looked directly up at him at the same time. Before he could get the phone to his ear, they dropped to their knees and angled their weapons at him.
David dropped the phone and dove for cover, sharp rocks digging deep into his knees and hands. The soldiers, obviously left for dead by their compatriots, must have felt a surge of adrenaline. They couldn’t have expected to find anyone here after surviving the fifty-caliber assault from the other direction, but now they advanced with vigor.
David scrambled to his feet, only to discover something seriously wrong with his
ankle. He tried hopping toward a cave, but unarmed he would be easy prey there. He heard his pursuers separate just below the ridge, the sounds of their boots in the rocks coming from about twenty feet apart. If they rushed him, David had nowhere to go.
He was no match for them, but retreat wasn’t an option. He hopped toward the edge, bent to scoop a handful of jagged rocks, and reared back to fire at the first head that popped up.
Rayford glanced at his ringing phone and saw who was calling. Again. So soon. David had never proven to be a pest. “Steele here,” he said.
All he heard were sounds of boots on rocks.
“David? You there?”
From a distance, “God, help me!”
“David?”
A desperate cry, a shout in Hebrew, burps of gunfire from at least two weapons, a fall, a grunt. David’s hoarse whisper, “God, please!” Liquid splashing.
David lay on his back, his body numb, no pain even in his ankle. The cloudless blue sky filled his entire field of vision. His heart galloped and his panicked lungs made his chest rise and fall in waves. Though he could feel nothing, he heard blood gushing from his head.
The soldiers leaned over him, but he could not move his eyes to focus on either of them. If only he could appear already dead . . . but he couldn’t stop his heaving chest. David could pray only silently now. He pleaded with God to let him neither hear nor feel the kill shots as the two pointed their muzzles at his heart and pulled the triggers.
Rayford’s phone was still open, but all he heard after more deafening rifle shots were expressions of effort and what he could only imagine was the lifting of a body and the flinging of it over the side of a mountain. Then footsteps away from the phone, until they faded out of range.
Besides dreading what he would find at Petra, Rayford couldn’t deliver a chopper full of believers to a spot that could be teeming with the enemy lying in wait. Hating himself for already thinking past what sounded for all the world like David Hassid’s death, Rayford knew he had to keep that phone from falling into the wrong hands.
CHAPTER 11
Leah didn’t understand Hannah, but that was okay. She didn’t always understand herself either. They had secured the last of the medical supplies into hard-sided boxes that would fit into a cargo hold and were now monitoring Hannah’s computer.
“You know for sure it was Hassid who called?”
Hannah nodded.
“And you want to talk to him, so why didn’t you—”
“I’m not sure I want to talk to him until I know how he’s going to respond to my e-mail. He should have written me back. Then I’d know and I could take his call. Maybe.”
Leah shook her head. “Even if we didn’t have only three and a half years, I’d tell you life’s too short and you ought to call him. He’s a busy guy. When would he have had time to write you back?”
“I found time to write.”
“Hannah! We’re not building a computer system here that has to serve a million people.”
Hannah was staring at the screen. The news was nothing but Carpathia propaganda, pundits trying to spin his temple folly into something that made sense. Leah leaned in to look at the scroll across the bottom of the screen. “His Excellency the potentate guarantees healing from the affliction of sores by 2100 hours Carpathian Time.”
“I’m stupid,” Hannah said.
“I know.”
“Stop it! We hardly know each other.”
“Sorry. Why are you stupid?”
Hannah pointed to the computer’s status bar below the scrolling message. It showed she had mail. “Bet that’s from David,” she said.
“Let’s find out,” Leah said, but before either could switch screens, their phones rang simultaneously. “Rayford,” Leah told Hannah.
“Mine too,” Hannah said.
Leah held up a hand. “Let me,” she said. “Med center.”
“Leah, Rayford. You two okay?”
“Yeah, except it looks like you called us both at the same time.”
“I did. Hannah there?” Leah nodded at her and Hannah answered too. “You packed up and ready to go?”
“Yes,” Leah said. “But where—”
“Just listen. I’m short on time. You know George?”
“Big guy? Calif—”
“That’s him. I just pulled him off another assignment. He’s gonna land there within three or four minutes and he’s going to need help setting up a nest of fifty-caliber rifles. Smitty will join him soon.”
“Don’t they each have a load of passengers?”
“Yes, and we need to get them as far from the airstrip and the buildings as we can.”
“They’re not going to Petra?”
“Eventually. Just listen. By the time it’s dark, those people need to be isolated and invisible from the air. After I land there briefly and take off again, any other aircraft over Mizpe Ramon will be GC, and George and Smitty will be defending the airstrip.”
“And we’ll be babysitting two loads of passengers until someone comes for them?”
“Three. I’ve got a load too, and I need to pick up a fifty myself.”
“Where are you going?”
“I’ve got a situation at Petra, and I’m going to need one of you to go with me. Leah, that would be you.”
“Hold on!” Hannah said. “Who’s at Petra besides David?”
“We’ve delivered no one yet. I want to be sure the area is secure before we—”
“Why wouldn’t it be? What’s the problem?”
“I don’t know yet, but—”
“But there’s a problem or David could tell you.”
“I just can’t reach him right now is all,” Rayford said. “Let’s not jump to any—”
“Then I’m coming. Leah can help George and Abdullah and herd these people somewhere.”
“Hannah,” Rayford said, “I—”
“Don’t try to talk me out of this, Captain Steele. I—”
“Hannah! This is a military operation and I am your superior officer. I decide who will do what, and I’ve told you who is going and who is staying. Do you understand?”
“Yes, but—”
“Any questions?”
“No, but, well, I think I just heard from David.”
“Either you did or you didn’t. Did he call?”
“He e-mailed.”
“You’re sure?”
“Not entirely,” Leah said. “Check it, Hannah.”
She switched screens. “Yes, it’s from him!”
“When was it sent?”
“Just a sec—oh!”
“Just now or . . . ?”
“No. Some time ago.”
“Anything pertinent? Problems? He need help?”
“No,” Hannah said, scanning it quickly. “Just personal stuff.”
Leah put a hand on Hannah’s shoulder and raised her chin at Hannah in encouragement. The younger woman looked terrified.
“Okay, Hannah? We clear?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Let me talk with just Leah now, all right?”
Hannah slapped her phone shut while reading David’s message.
“Leah,” Rayford said, “I don’t know what we’re going to find at Petra, but David tried to call me and all I heard sounded like him being shot.”
“Oh, no!”
“Bring heavy-duty, first-aid stuff and a stretcher.”
“Got it.”
“If we have to load him on the chopper, can you and I do that?”
“Worry about your end, Captain,” she said. Then, whispering and turning away from Hannah, “And you’d better start worrying about that phone and those computers.”
“Way ahead of you,” Rayford said. “Be there in a few minutes.”
Chang was studying the itchy spot on his leg under a light in his New Babylon palace apartment when Rayford called. After a fast briefing, Chang said, “Don’t worry about the phone. I can neutralize that from here.”
“What do you mean?”
Chang began tapping keys as they spoke. “I can nuke the innards, erase the mother chip. In fact, I just did.”
“Now let’s hope they haven’t found it yet.”
“When you connect with David,” Chang said, “I need to talk with him.”
“I didn’t like what I heard, Chang.”
“I know, but you can’t be sure what you were hearing.”
“I know David was unarmed.”
“I’m checking on those computers.”
“Right now? You can do that?”
“Thanks to David, we can do just about anything from here. Luckily, there’s no way they can break into the software. That’s on a revolving encoder that can only unravel itself, and it’s programmed not to.”
“Well, I don’t understand all that, but I’m more worried we’ve got a bunch of crazed GCers up there who think they’d be helping their cause by just destroying all the hardware.”
“They would be helping their cause. And they would set us way back. But there wouldn’t be a bunch of them, would there?”
“How would we know?”
“These have to be leftovers from your attack, right?”
“Probably.”
“You heard the Phoenix meeting,” Chang said. “There were two unaccounted for.”
Rayford put down well off the south end of the airstrip at Mizpe Ramon and sat talking with Mac and Albie by radio as Hannah and Leah met the chopper with medical supplies and a stretcher. As Hannah led the escapees away from the craft, first finding out who understood English and Hebrew and using them to interpret for her, Leah tossed the supplies aboard and waited outside. “Mr. Smith is bringing your weapons,” she mouthed.
Rayford nodded and told Mac and Albie to fly their charges to Wadi Musa, near Petra, and to assume they would be both seen and heard by the two GC suspected at Petra. “Tell your people to stay with the choppers until you come back for them, and then get to the footpath entrance as soon as you can. Don’t go in until I get there with weapons for you.”
“Question,” Albie said.
“Make it quick.”
“Have we been all wrong about this being a place of refuge?”