Damascus Countdown

Knowing the truth about David was a burden that fell heavily upon Marseille’s shoulders. She was grateful that Dr. Shirazi knew too. It created a solidarity between them. But it didn’t change the fact that she might never see David again, and that was a truth she wasn’t certain she could bear.

  After so many years, so much distance, so much silence, she had finally reached out to David Shirazi and asked to see him again. To her shock, he’d said yes, and she’d loved every second in his presence. He wasn’t a boy anymore. He had truly grown into a man.

  Of course, being with David was impossible. He wasn’t a believer, as far as she knew. She could never join her life with someone who hadn’t given his heart to Christ. Still, there was no denying how she felt. She couldn’t describe how good, how safe she had felt when he’d embraced her after their too-brief visit. She could still feel his warm breath on her cheek, and it made her shiver. She couldn’t say such things to his father, of course. Still, she wanted to tell someone. But whom? Her mother was gone. Her father was gone. Lexi was far away. She didn’t have anyone to confide in, and even if she did, she had given her word not to say anything about David’s real work, which made knowing all the more painful.

  17

  HAMADAN, IRAN

  “You said there was another prophecy about Iran,” Ali noted.

  “There is,” Dr. Birjandi said. “Turn in the Old Testament to the book of Ezekiel, chapters 38 and 39.”

  Birjandi then proceeded to walk them through a series of prophecies he said was widely known as the War of Gog and Magog. They revealed an apocalyptic showdown against Israel and the Jewish people that would be led by a nation called Magog. “There are quite a few clues that make it clear the nation referred to as Magog is modern-day Russia,” Birjandi said, “including the writings of Flavius Josephus, a Roman historian. But what’s critical for us to understand is Ezekiel 38:5. What is the first country mentioned that will form an alliance against Israel?”

  “Persia,” Ibrahim said.

  “Exactly,” Birjandi confirmed. “The ancient prophecies speak of a Russian-Iranian alliance sometime in the future. To many scholars, this has seemed very odd, given that for most of the last several thousand years, the Russians and we Iranians have never had such an alliance. Indeed, the leaders of these countries have hated each other. Until 1943, the Russians occupied parts of northern Iran. Under Khomeini, we prayed for Allah to bring judgment upon the heathen, godless, atheist Communists in the Kremlin. But then what happened? We suffered through eight years of the war with Iraq. We had lots of oil money but desperately needed new weapons. The Soviet Union imploded, and the Russians suddenly had lots of weapons but desperately needed money. Sure enough, in the mid nineties, Iran started buying weapons from Moscow. When Vladimir Putin came to power in 2000, we started buying even more weapons. When Hosseini and Darazi rose to power, we hired the Russians to help us build our first nuclear power plant and other nuclear facilities. They sold us nuclear materials and trained our nuclear scientists. Today, as you well know, we’ve developed military, diplomatic, and economic ties between our two countries, just as Ezekiel 38 suggests will happen.”

  Birjandi explained that the prophecies indicated that this Russian-Iranian alliance would also draw more nations. Ancient Cush, he said, was modern Sudan. Put was modern Libya and Algeria. Gomer was modern-day Turkey, and Beth-togarmah he described as a group of other countries in the Caucasus and Central Asia, all with Muslim majorities or strong Muslim minorities, that would come together under Russian leadership intending to attack Israel and plunder the Jewish people.

  “Now, look at 38:16,” the aging scholar said. “When does God say this war is going to happen?”

  Ali read the verse. “‘It shall come about in the last days that I will bring you against My land.’”

  “Precisely,” Birjandi said. “So this is clearly an End Times prophecy. It’s future-oriented, not something that has already happened.”

  “So who wins this apocalyptic Russian-Iranian war with Israel?” asked Ibrahim.

  “Short version?” Birjandi said. “Not us.”

  ISRAELI-LEBANESE BORDER

  Without preamble, the Israeli Air Force launched a massive new air campaign against Hezbollah positions in southern Lebanon. The first wave of fighter jets targeted Hezbollah command centers, communications facilities, missile pads, rocket launchers, arms depots, and Lebanese military bases. The next wave took out bridges over the Litani River, roads, tunnels, and other transportation infrastructure, all designed to cut off—or at least hobble—resupply efforts from the north.

  Hundreds of Merkava Mark IV battle tanks—the most advanced in the IDF arsenal—soon began crossing the border into Lebanon, clearing mines and laying down withering fire against stunned Hezbollah forces, who for days had been told by their commanders that the Zionists were too cowardly to attack them. Racing across the frontier, backed up by artillery units and a massive deployment of Israeli reserve infantrymen, the Israelis gained ground faster than expected, demolishing any home, farm, factory, or mosque where rocket launchers or arms were being used or stored.

  Simultaneously, Israeli tanks, armored personnel carriers, and special forces units punched into Gaza as well, initially encountering fierce resistance but responding with overwhelming force that soon crushed the front lines of the Hamas and Islamic Jihad fighters and caused them to scatter and regroup deeper in Gaza City.

  Levi Shimon provided the prime minister with fresh updates over a secure e-mail system every fifteen minutes, but Naphtali’s initial questions were not so much about the progress being made in Lebanon and Gaza but about whether there was any sign that Syria was getting into this fight. Thus far, the answer was no. Yet the prime minister and Shimon still couldn’t understand why.

  The Syrians had signed pacts with the Iranians and with Hezbollah. They were legally and morally obligated to fight. And Shimon had no illusions about just how lethal the Syrian threat was. Damascus had long ago embarked on an aggressive program to develop and stockpile large amounts of chemical weapons such as sarin gas, VX, and mustard gas. The Mossad had identified at least five facilities in Syria that were producing these deadly chemicals and had solid evidence that the Russians had helped the Syrians become fully capable of launching such weapons against Israel by aircraft, missiles, and artillery shells.

  Yet something was holding the Syrians back. Yes, Naphtali and Shimon had sent Mustafa warnings through numerous intermediaries, not just the British ambassador. They had also passed word through the king of Jordan, through the U.N. secretary-general, and through the French foreign minister. Yet the silence was unnatural. Syrian missiles were not being unleashed on Israel thus far. Nor were Syrian tanks or artillery units engaging IDF forces on high alert in the Golan Heights. Something was wrong. Mustafa and the Syrian high command were up to something. Prime Minister Naphtali sensed it. It was why he kept asking questions. But Shimon had no answers, and as he opened his third pack of cigarettes since midnight, his mind raced to figure out the mystery before his country was blindsided by an evil they didn’t see coming.

  HAMADAN, IRAN

  “The War of Gog and Magog will be unlike any other war in human history,” Birjandi told his students. “No nation will come to Israel’s defense. Not the U.S., not the U.N., not NATO—nobody. But Israel will not be alone. Ezekiel tells us that the God of Israel will go to war on behalf of the children of Israel and against her enemies, with devastating results.”

  Birjandi directed them to consider verses 18 through 20 of Ezekiel 38. “What does the text say will happen to the enemies of Israel?”

  Ali took a moment to read the passage. “It looks like there will be a huge earthquake,” he said.

  “Correct,” Birjandi affirmed. “‘All the men who are on the face of the earth will shake at My presence,’ the Lord says. The epicenter of the earthquake will be in Israel, but its shock waves will be felt around the world. What else?”

  Ibrahim read, “
‘I will call for a sword against him on all My mountains. . . . Every man’s sword will be against his brother.’”

  “Right,” said Birjandi. “In other words, in the ensuing chaos, the enemy forces arrayed against Israel will begin fighting one another. The war will begin all right, but Russian, Iranian, and other Muslim forces will be firing at one another, not at the Jews. Now look at verse 22.”

  Ibrahim continued reading. “‘With pestilence and with blood I will enter into judgment with him; and I will rain on him and on his troops, and on the many peoples who are with him, a torrential rain, with hailstones, fire and brimstone.’”

  “Here the Lord talks of the judgment he will bring against Gog, the Russian dictator, and his allies. This will be the most terrifying sequence of events in human history to date. On the heels of a supernatural global earthquake that will undoubtedly take many lives will come a cascading series of other catastrophes. Pandemic diseases, for example, will sweep through the troops of the Russian coalition. And the attackers will face other judgments such as have rarely been seen since the cataclysmic showdown in Egypt between Moses and Pharaoh. Devastating hailstorms will hit these enemy forces and their supporters. So, too, will apocalyptic firestorms that will call to mind the terrible judgment of Sodom and Gomorrah. The Scriptures indicate that the firestorms will be geographically widespread and exceptionally deadly.”

  Birjandi took a sip of tea as he let the implications of the words sink in.

  “Think about it, gentlemen. This suggests that targets throughout Russia and the former Soviet Union, and perhaps throughout some of Russia’s allies, will be supernaturally struck on this day of judgment and partially consumed. These could be limited to nuclear missile silos, military bases, radar installations, defense ministries, intelligence headquarters, and other government buildings of various kinds. But other targets could very well include religious centers, such as mosques, madrassas, Islamic schools and universities, and other facilities where hatred against Jews and Christians is preached and where calls for the destruction of Israel are sounded. We don’t know for certain because the text does not say. So we need to be very careful not to overreach in our interpretation. But I think however it plays out, it’s fair to say we would have to expect extensive material damage during these supernatural attacks, and it’s possible—not definite, but very possible—that many civilians will be at severe risk.”

  Ali and Ibrahim were taking notes as fast as they could. But Birjandi was not finished.

  “Now, look at Ezekiel 39:12,” he continued. “It tells us that the devastation will be so immense that it will take seven full months for Israel to bury all the bodies of the enemies in her midst, to say nothing of the dead and wounded back in the coalition countries. What’s worse, verses 17 and 18 indicate that the process of burial would actually take much longer except that scores of bodies will be devoured by carnivorous birds and beasts that will be drawn to the carnage like moths to a flame. This is going to be a horrible, gruesome time. But this is what is coming. A terrible judgment is coming against Russia, against Iran, and against our allies. And perhaps what is most sobering of all is that some of Ezekiel’s prophecies have already come true.”

  SYRACUSE, NEW YORK

  Marseille turned off the lights of the Ford and shut off the engine but didn’t get out and go into the house just yet. She had been thinking about David, but now, despite how tired she was, she found herself thinking about the enemy David was fighting against—the Twelfth Imam. Who was this monster that was wreaking havoc throughout the Middle East? Who was this fiend that was trying to kill her best friends, that was trying to kill all the Jews in Israel, that was trying to build a global kingdom he could rule with an iron fist? Could he be stopped? How? And by whom?

  For some time now, Marseille had been seriously mulling over the possibility that the Mahdi was, in fact, the Antichrist that the Bible said would rise and rule in the last days. She had, therefore, been carefully studying the Scriptures to truly understand the prophecies about the Antichrist from both the Old and New Testaments. She had read dozens of news stories about the Mahdi, his mysterious background, and his murderous objectives. At first, she felt there must be a connection between the two. But in the past forty-eight hours or so, she had become less sure that the Mahdi, however horrible, was really the final, satanically driven tyrant of which the prophets and apostles wrote. Wasn’t the Antichrist supposed to conquer Israel and rule the world? Why, then, was the Mahdi losing this war to the Jews?

  She shook off the thought and put the keys in her purse. It was too late for such thoughts, and she had other matters to be concerned with. She pulled out her iPhone. She had been texting and e-mailing Lexi for days but hadn’t heard anything back yet. The last e-mail she had was from several days before the war had actually begun.

  Marseille wondered where her friend was and prayed for her and Chris’s safety. She wiped moisture from her eyes, then checked the rearview mirror to make sure she wasn’t too much of a wreck. She needed a shower and a cup of tea, but that would have to wait. For now, she just needed to close her eyes and let all the cares of the world melt away, at least for the next few hours.

  She made herself get out of the car and quietly closed and locked the doors behind her. Lexi’s parents—Richard and Sharon Walsh—had been through enough the past few days, and the last thing she wanted to do was wake them up. Still, as she walked up the driveway to the front door, she found herself glad that she had opted to stay with the Walshes rather than go back to the Sheraton on the university campus. Lexi’s parents had strongly discouraged their daughter and new son-in-law from taking their honeymoon in Israel. Now they were beside themselves with fear. They were watching cable news nonstop as the hailstorm of rockets and missiles kept hitting the Holy Land hour after hour. Whenever she’d been able to spend time with them, Marseille had done her best to comfort Lexi’s parents, though her efforts hadn’t seemed to do much good. She had prayed with them and for them, but they were not believers and didn’t care much for Lexi’s interest in spiritual things. Marseille just hoped they were getting a decent night’s sleep, at least.

  She carefully opened the front door and let herself in. But to her shock the house wasn’t dark and quiet. Lexi’s parents weren’t asleep. Her father was pacing the kitchen with a phone to his ear. Her mother was weeping, crouched in front of the television in the family room, while images of a roaring fire filled the screen.

  “Have you heard the news?” Mr. Walsh asked as Marseille entered the kitchen.

  “No, why? What’s happening?” Marseille said.

  Lexi’s father pointed to the television set, and Marseille gasped as she read the text scrolling across the bottom of the screen: “CNN BREAKING NEWS—Israeli hotel in Tiberias destroyed by missile strike. . . . 46 confirmed dead, say local police. . . . 93 injured . . . Frantic search under way to find more survivors.”

  18

  KARAJ, IRAN

  David and the team arrived back at the safe house exhausted and discouraged, David most of all. He had led his team into some extreme risks, and what had they gotten for it? Nothing. They were no closer to finding out where the warheads were, and time was running out.

  He badly needed a shower, but the apartment had only two, and both were already being used. Pacing his tiny room in the safe house—a room with one small window looking out into an alley and covered with rusty metal bars that obscured what little view there was anyway—he pulled out his satphone and began dialing again, trying to reach someone, anyone who might give him a lead.

  When Daryush Rashidi’s line picked up, David’s pulse quickened, but almost immediately his call was transferred to voice mail. He left a message, using his Iranian alias.

  “Mr. Rashidi, hi again; it’s Reza Tabrizi,” he began. “Just trying again to reach you and make sure you’re okay. Please call me as soon as you get this. I’m guessing you heard about Abdol’s parents. We did everything we could. I’m so sor
ry. But look, I’d really love to help in any way I can. I don’t know what I can do, but I’ll do anything I can to help build the Holy One’s kingdom on earth. I offered to go with Abdol, but he said he had all the help he needed. Is there something I can do for you? Anything? Thanks. Talk to you soon.”

  Frustrated but determined not to give up, David called the leader of the Munich Digital Systems technical team to see how they were doing. He knew the team was holed up in the basement of the German Embassy in Tehran, but again he got voice mail.

  “Dietrich, hey, it’s Reza again,” he began. “Are you guys okay? I can’t seem to reach anybody. Please call me back.”

  David continued working his way through his list of Iranian contacts. He was still not connecting with anyone, and his growing anger was palpable. When he came across Dr. Birjandi’s name again, however, he hesitated. Few people had been more helpful to him personally or professionally. But was he pushing his luck? Maybe the old man wasn’t answering for a reason. Maybe there was a problem. Maybe Birjandi was compromised or in danger. Was it a mistake to call him again?

  Still, it was Rashidi and Esfahani—men close to the Iranian high command and the Twelfth Imam—who had introduced him to Birjandi in the first place. It was they who had encouraged him to meet the aging scholar. Indeed, it was Esfahani who had personally given David Birjandi’s home phone number and address. Esfahani had urged the two to meet, and why? To encourage David’s professed interest in the Mahdi. To deepen David’s interest in building the Caliphate. To recruit David to join the Twelfth Imam’s army. David’s cover, therefore, was solid. On the face of it, he didn’t have anything to fear from calling or visiting or meeting with Dr. Birjandi. And the old man himself could not have been more warm or encouraging every time the two had spoken. Why then was he not answering David’s calls?