03 The Europa Conspiracy Read online

  “Are you saying that Hamas is responsible for the bridge attempt?”

  “We don’t think they were directly responsible. We think that another group based in Europe recruited Hamas terrorists. We think the New York attack had two purposes. One was to strike back at the U.S., and the other was to earn money for their war with Israel. We interrogated some of the terrorists that were caught in New York… and guess what, Michael? They had the upside-down crescent on their necks with the talons on them.”

  Murphy felt an immediate rush of anger. “Levi, our team was attacked in Baghdad. We escaped, but one of the attackers referred to a group of people called the Seven. I wonder if they’re the group based in Europe. If that’s true, then my guess is that Talon works for them.”

  “You may be right, Michael. Is there any way you could fly into Tel Aviv and drive up to Et Taiyiba to assist us? You have quite a bit of information about this Talon fellow.”

  “Yes. Bingman needs to get back to his wife and kids. Jassim needs to get back to Egypt to recover from his broken leg. And Isis—well, Isis is worn down. It’s been a difficult time for her. I’d feel much better if she were back home, safe. I’ll make the arrangements ASAP.”

  Jassim Amram was struggling along on crutches as he entered the airport in Baghdad. He was followed by a porter carrying his luggage. Murphy and Isis were saying goodbye before she joined Amram on the flight out of Iraq.

  “Michael, I’m worried about you in Israel,” Isis said, looking deeply into his eyes. “You seem to have a magnetic attraction for people who are trying to harm you.”

  Murphy could hear her protective tone. He smiled and grabbed her hand. “I’ll be very careful. I have a strong reason for returning.”

  He paused for a moment, then slowly and gently pulled her to him. He wrapped his arms around her and held her close, then lowered his lips to hers.

  SIXTY-TWO

  MURPHY CLOSED his eyes and tried to sleep, but much-needed rest eluded him. He kept thinking about the devastation caused by the earthquake. Bingman’s miraculous escape from the tunnel had been a joyful surprise, but many had suffered—and were still suffering—from the effects of the quake.

  I just don’t understand it all. God, You’ve got to help me through this.

  His thoughts were interrupted by a stewardess passing out Israeli customs entry slips. He filled his form out, then closed his eyes again. This time, new thoughts came into his mind. He could see Isis at the airport standing in front of him with a worried look in her eyes. She’s so strong in character, so filled with energy, and so beautiful. And yet she’s also so vulnerable. He wanted to protect her and keep her safe.

  The drone of the jet engines and the memory of finally kissing Isis began to relax him, and at last Murphy rested.

  ————

  Israeli security forces were everywhere when Murphy exited the plane. He was glad that he only had his carry-on bags and didn’t have to fight the crowds getting their luggage at the carousels. All that he had to do was to get his rental car.

  As he walked through the airport, he could see a number of teams of humanitarian aid personnel wearing bright colored T-shirts. Good-hearted people around the world were rallying in support of those devastated by the earthquake.

  Murphy followed the coastal highway north out of Tel Aviv till it turned east over the Samarian Hills, toward Nazareth. He noticed that there were more wheat fields, barley fields, and olive groves since he had last been there. He began to think about Nazareth and the Lake of Galilee. Most of Jesus’ life and ministry had taken place in the region.

  As he drove through the rolling hills, his mind flashed back to the miracles of Jesus. Cana of Galilee was the site of his first miracle; there Jesus had turned water into wine. In fact, twenty-five of Jesus’ thirty-three great miracles were done in the Galilean area.

  If only this were a pleasure trip, where Isis and I could follow the footsteps of Jesus to Nazareth, Capernaum, Bethsaida, Gennesaret, and Tiberias. I’d love to show her where Jesus preached the Sermon on the Mount

  Murphy used his cell phone to call Abrams when he was about twenty minutes out of Nazareth. “My plan is to get some gas there and then head south toward Et Taiyiba,” Murphy said.

  “Let me make a suggestion,” Abrams replied. “Why don’t we meet in Nazareth for an early dinner. It will only take me about a half an hour to get there. Meeting there will be less conspicuous. Et Taiyiba is a small town with many eyes and ears.

  “When you stop for gas in Nazareth, ask for directions to the Elmasharef Restaurant. It is a quiet and out-of-the-way place … and the food is great.”

  Murphy had forgotten how narrow and traffic-filled the streets of Nazareth were. It was certainly a clash between ancient pathways and modern asphalt.

  It took him a number of wrong turns before he found Elmasharef. Oh, great! There it is, but where am I going to find a parking space?

  Then he saw a young Arab boy waving his hands excitedly. The boy was pointing to a parking place. Murphy smiled. He wants to make some money. Great! I love to see someone hustle.

  “I will guard your car for you, mister. No one will bother it while I am here.”

  Murphy was surprised at how good the boy’s English was. “That’s a good offer. I’ll take you up on it. I will give you a nice reward when I return.”

  The boy smiled and nodded. “I will do a good job.”

  In the restaurant, Murphy got a table and sat down as he waited for Abrams to arrive. His thoughts turned to the strange events of the past weeks. Why did Methuselah want him to find the Handwriting on the Wall? Why was Dr. Anderson killed? How does everything tie in with the George Washington Bridge near tragedy? Was the group that Stephanie Kovacs said controlled Barrington the same people Levi had discovered in Europe? Could that group be the Seven the Arab in the alley mentioned?

  Murphy pondered these questions, then rose to greet Levi Abrams, who had just arrived.

  It was late in the afternoon as Talon drove the Jeep up the secluded dirt road. The passenger’s side held two cages. Two dogs hung their heads over the side of the Jeep, breathing in all the different smells carried on the wind. Occasionally they barked with excitement.

  Finally, the Jeep stopped near the top of a hill. The dogs jumped down and began to explore. Then Talon got the cages and placed them on the hood of the Jeep.

  He removed a falcon from each cage, then untied the thin leather head covers they wore and gazed into their eyes. It had been some time since Talon had given his hunters the opportunity to polish their skills.

  The falcons looked at Talon and the two dogs, surveying their surroundings. Nothing escaped their sharp eyes.

  “Well, my pretties, are you ready for a little exercise? I want you to keep in practice.” With that, Talon released the falcons. They took off, caught the thermals, and began to rise effortlessly in the sky. Soon they looked like small floating dots high in the air.

  For a few minutes he watched them as they circled. Then he glanced toward the dogs. They were about one hundred and fifty yards away chasing some unknown scent.

  Talon looked far up into the sky. He made a fist with one finger sticking out. He then hit that fist into the palm of his other hand. It was the signal to attack. Almost instantly one of the falcons was diving toward the earth aiming for the lead dog.

  The dog was completely unaware of the danger it was in. The falcon’s talons sunk into the dog’s left eye and face. It screamed in pain and rolled away. It tried to get to its feet, at the same time attempting to wipe away the pain. Then there was a loud fluttering and flapping of wings as the falcon struck again, this time blinding the dog in the right eye. The third strike took the dog down, and the falcon went for the soft tissue of the neck. The dog’s screams lasted only a few seconds.

  The other dog wasn’t sure whether to approach the commotion or to run away. Then Talon made a fist with two fingers pointing out and hit it into the palm of his other hand.
r />   The second falcon took out the other dog in a matter of seconds.

  Talon smiled. His pets hadn’t lost any of their killing abilities. Then he clapped his hands and the birds returned to his leather-covered arms.

  “Well, my pretties, I can tell that you still enjoy the hunt and kill. Very soon I will provide you with a couple of new targets.”

  In the restaurant, Murphy and Abrams were catching up. “It’s been a rough few days,” Murphy said. All the devastation brought to mind Laura’s death and the church bombing, and all the people who died while we were looking for the ark. It’s also discouraging to have the ark covered with an avalanche and an earthquake burying the Handwriting on the Wall and all of the treasures of Belshazzar’s temple.”

  “But, Michael, you are alive, Bingman is alive, and Isis is alive,” Abrams said encouragingly. “The living must go on.”

  “I understand, Levi. I’m just disappointed. If you could have been there when we walked on the ark, even you might believe what the Bible says. These discoveries just help to verify what I know and believe in my heart is true.”

  “I wish I could be a man of faith like you. I’m just not there yet.”

  “Well, keep an open mind, Levi. If you seek to find truth, it will end up finding you. God has a way of pursuing like a hound dog. He’s even been called the Hound of Heaven. I think He may be on your trail.”

  “I hope so, Michael. I hope so.”

  “Speaking of trails, Levi, fill me in on what you’ve discovered so far.”

  “As I mentioned, we caught several of the terrorists involved with the George Washington Bridge incident. One gave us a lead about a group of people who are heading up some kind of operation out of Europe. We also confiscated a laptop computer that gave us information about the terrorist cell in Et Taiyiba. And, as I said, all of the terrorists we captured had the upside-down crescent on their necks. We believe that Talon is using these terrorists to do some of his dirty work. We think Talon may be in the area as we speak.”

  “What gives you that idea?”

  “Yusef and Alona, two undercover Mossad operatives. We sent them to Et Taiyiba as soon as we got the information off the laptop. They’ve been monitoring the activities of the cell made up of men tattooed with the upside-down crescents. They noticed a light-skinned man with dark hair talking with members of the cell. He had a neatly trimmed mustache and always wore gloves … even when it was hot.”

  “That sounds like Talon.”

  “Our plan is to take them the next time they get together.”

  “I’d like to be part of that operation.”

  “That’s our idea. We want you to take a look at the man we think is Talon. You’ve seen him face to face and can make the ID.”

  “I’ll be looking forward to that,” Murphy said grimly. “We have a score to settle. He’s the one who killed Laura and tried to kill Isis and many others.”

  “We also have another undercover operative named Gabrielle who’s been in the Jordan Valley working with the emergency aid teams. She ran across a man named Dr. Brian Lehman from the United States.”

  “Boy, that name sure sounds familiar.”

  “You may have run across him, Michael. He’s a geophysicist.”

  “That’s right. He is one of the leading experts on earthquakes. What’s he doing here?” Murphy asked.

  “That’s what Gabrielle wanted to know too. She got into a conversation with him about the earthquake damage. It seems that he came over from the United States to check out our earthquake sensing station in Eilat. It’s part of the Geophysical Institute of Israel. She got the impression that he had discovered something highly unusual.”

  “What’s that got to do with Talon?”

  “While talking with Dr. Lehman, she noticed a man with a mustache watching them. He stood out because he was with two Arab-looking gentlemen. She thought he might be an American but wasn’t sure. She became very suspicious.”

  “I wonder what Talon wants with Dr. Lehman.”

  “We don’t know either, but we plan to find out. We can’t overlook any leads or details at this point. There’s too much at stake. We’ve set up a meeting with Dr. Lehman tomorrow. He’ll be out in the field doing some drilling. Are you up for it?”

  “That’s why I’m here.”

  SIXTY-THREE

  IT WAS MIDMORNING when Abrams and Murphy turned onto the dirt road in their battered pickup truck. They had chosen that vehicle so as not to attract attention to their visit.

  Soon the road started to zigzag up a small mountain. As they topped the ridge, they could see a well-drilling rig in the valley below. One man was on the rig, and two others were standing by a white pickup truck. In another ten minutes they were at the site.

  Abrams was the first to speak, introducing himself and Murphy. Dr. Lehman greeted them, then introduced Kasib Tahir, who was in charge of the well drilling, and Zahid Yaman, on the well-drilling truck.

  Dr. Lehman looked at Murphy “I’ve heard your name before. Aren’t you an archaeologist?”

  “Yes, sir. And I’ve also read some of your work on geology.”

  Soon the men got down to business.

  “A friend of ours mentioned that you may have made an unusual geological discovery of some kind,” Abrams said.

  “Yes, I think I have,” Lehman replied. “When the earthquake occurred, I happened to be in Tel Aviv. I immediately drove to Eilat, where the Geophysical Institute of Israel has an earthquake station drilled into Mount Amram, north of the city. It is drilled into Precambrian granite porphyry and rhyolitic quartz porphyry. The sensor is installed in a special casing in a locked vault. The readings were most interesting. I then hired a well-drilling rig to take core samples of the earth movement along the fault line.”

  Lehman turned and pointed. “You can see that we’ve already drilled three other core samples in the valley.”

  “But it looks like you’ve discovered oil,” Murphy observed.

  “That’s just it. We have. And there shouldn’t be oil in this area.”

  “How can that be? Is that a result of the earthquake?” Murphy asked.

  “I believe it is, Dr. Murphy. Let me try to explain. Surrounding the entire Arabian Peninsula is the Arabian tectonic plate. This includes the countries of Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, Yemen, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, the United Arab Emirates, and Israel. Actually, it splits Israel in half right here in the Jordan Valley.”

  “Yes, I’m aware of that. It’s part of the Great Rift Valley geological fault system that joins the African tectonic plate. It follows the Jordan River, which flows southward through the Sea of Galilee to the Dead Sea.”

  “That’s correct,” Lehman said. “To the northeast it splits Iran from Iraq along the base of the Lugros Mountains in Iran. That is where the Eurasian plate joins. Directly north is the Alpide belt, one of three major seismic belts of earth. It stretches from its western terminus in the Atlantic Ocean, through the Iberian Peninsula and the northern Mediterranean Sea. It crosses over through Turkey, Armenia, northern Iran, the Himalayas, and finally down through Burma to the East Indies. It is estimated that eighteen percent of all earthquakes occur along the Alpide belt.”

  “Excuse me, Doctors,” Abrams broke in. “I would appreciate it if you could explain in lay terms. I am not a geologist. What’s all of this talk about?”

  Murphy spoke up. “Levi, imagine an oval line drawn around the Arabian Peninsula. Sort of like an egg with the large part down and the small part up. Now imagine a jagged fracture line moving east and west from one side of the oval to the other. Or a horizontal crack in the top part of the egg. The recent quake in the Syrian desert caused a fracture from the Jordan Valley where we are … all the way over to the Persian Gulf.”

  “That’s a good illustration,” Lehman said. “The Syrian desert earthquake was not just a surface quake. It was a deep quake. By that I mean it created a crack in the earth’s surface at least twenty-five mil
es deep. And the energy and power created by the quake would be equal to all the explosives used during World War II combined—including the atomic bombs.”

  “I’m impressed,” Abrams said.

  Lehman continued. “To the best of my knowledge, the crack runs a moderately jagged line between the thirty-second and thirty-third parallels. That is from below the Sea of Galilee, across the Syrian desert toward Babylon, and then dropping down toward the gulf. I believe that oil from Iraq and the Persian Gulf region is seeping into this crack. That’s why we’re discovering oil in an area where there should be no oil.”

  “What are you smiling at, Levi?” Murphy asked.

  “Michael, I find the thought of Israel being able to tap into Iraqi oil fields a little ironic.”

  Talon crawled forward and carefully lifted his head between two rocks. He focused his binoculars on the valley below. Slowly he scanned the valley from the three capped wells to the well-drilling rig.

  One on the rig and four by the white truck. Dr. Murphy, I’ve had just about enough of you and your friend Abrams. It is time to end this game.

  Abrams’s smiled disappeared. He became quite serious as he asked, “Dr. Lehman, how many people have you talked with about your theory?”

  “Let me see.” Lehman looked thoughtful. “I talked with a young lady named Gabrielle, both of you, and of course the well drillers. No one else as yet. We’ve been too busy drilling and taking core samples.”

  “That’s great,” Abrams said, relieved. “I think that this information needs to be handled very carefully. If the news media got ahold of it… it could forment an absolute uproar in the Arab world. It could lay the groundwork for war.”

  “Oh, excuse me,” Lehman continued. “There was one other person. It was later in the afternoon after I talked with Gabrielle. He was a man in his mid-forties, with a mustache and a slight English accent. However, I don’t think he was from Great Britain or Australia.”