The Cup (25 page)

CHAPTER 61

Rashid Jaffari finished the afternoon prayer in his cabin.

Soon, Lord, soon I will see your face.

He got up and folded his prayer rug. He paused for a moment as he held it, remembering the day his father had given him the rug and taken him to the mosque for the first time. He set the rug down on top of the bomb and went out on deck.

In the distance, the coast of the far enemy was coming near. He could smell the land, even here, almost thirty miles offshore. By the time
Athena
had taken on a pilot and docked, it would be early evening. The night breeze from the ocean would have started, in time to carry the radioactive fallout far inland.

In his pocket he carried a remote detonator to trigger the bomb. He'd told the crewmen who carried it to his cabin that it contained all his personal possessions. They thought he was emigrating to America. It was all the same to them. Most of the crew was Greek. They could care less about one more escapee fleeing from the chaos of the Middle East.

Only the captain and one of his mates spoke any Arabic. Now the captain came down from the bridge and joined Jaffari. Rashid tried not to show his distaste. The man reeked of ouzo and cigars. As far as Rashid could tell, Captain Nikos was usually half drunk by three in the afternoon. It was already well after four.

He won't find any ouzo in hell,
Rashid thought.

A ship appeared on the near horizon, heading toward them with white water curling past her bow. It was still several miles away. Nicos gestured at the approaching vessel.

"U.S. Coast Guard. They will stop us and ask to see our papers."

Jaffari remained calm. "Will they search the ship?"

"No. I have been here many times. They know the ship, they know I do not bring drugs or things that are illegal. They will ask for the manifest, they will make little checkmarks in their boxes and then they will go away."

"Is it usual for them to stop ships like this?"

"Yes, especially someone like us coming from a Muslim country. Since what they call 9/11, their security has increased. It is the way of the Americans. It is understandable, given what happened."

After today, their security will increase again,
Jaffari thought.

Captain Nikos took out a cheap cigar and lit it. The smoke drifted across the deck. The two men leaned on the railing and watched the Coast Guard ship come closer.

When the cutter was within hailing distance, an officer with a bullhorn hailed them.

"This is Lieutenant Commander Michaels of the United States Coast Guard. Heave to and prepare to be boarded for inspection."

Rashid eyed the ship. Something didn't feel right. All her guns were trained on the
Athena,
including the aft deck gun.

The crew of the cutter lowered two Zodiacs into the water, each carrying six men. The men didn't look like sailors and they were armed. They looked hard, as if they had seen and done more than they would've wanted.

Rashid felt the detonator in his pocket. A stiff breeze had sprung up, drawn by the heat of the landmass ahead. If he had to detonate the bomb, the breeze would carry the fallout to land. Perhaps it would be enough. But he would wait until he was certain they were going to search the ship.

In Virginia, Nick and the others were glued to the monitor as the drama unfolded. The cutter and
Athena
were hove to and bobbing up and down in the choppy swell, separated by thirty or forty yards. On the deck of the freighter, crewmen had gathered by the rail to watch. Two Zodiacs went into the water.

"There go the SEALS," Lamont said.

The image from the satellite was clear and crisp. Odin was the latest in satellite surveillance technology, sent up without public fanfare only eight months before. Now it was earning its keep.

Stephanie zoomed in on one of the men on
Athena's
deck, watching the zodiacs approach. He wore a woolen watch cap. He had a full beard. He looked up suddenly, as though he could sense the eye in the sky watching him. Stephanie drew in a breath.

"I recognize him," she said. "His name is Rashid Jaffari. He's a physicist, one of Saddam's scientists. He was working on building a nuclear bomb."

Nick picked up his phone and called Hood.

"Director, you see that guy on the deck of the Athena with the cap and the beard?"

"Yes."

"His name is Jaffari. He's a bomb maker. That nuke has got to be on board. Better give the captain of that cutter a heads up."

"On it," Hood said. Nick left the connection open.

On the monitor screen, the Zodiacs had reached the side of
Athena.
Someone had lowered boarding stairs on the side. The first of the SEALS started up the steps.

"In the name of Allah, the Magnificent…"

Jaffari triggered the detonator in his pocket.

The screen blanked out in a sudden blast of white that overwhelmed the camera.

"Oh my God," Stephanie said.

"Jesus," Lamont said.

The satellite image reappeared on the screen. Streaks and spots distorted the picture but there was no mistaking the mushroom cloud rising from the surface of the ocean. Of the
Athena
, the Coast Guard ship and the Zodiacs, there was no sign. A huge plume of seawater rose into the air and collapsed back onto the surface of the ocean.

A towering, foaming, wave rolled out in a perfect circle from the point of the blast.

They stared in silence as the wave moved toward land.

Nick gripped the phone in his hand. His knuckles had turned white.

"Director, are you still there?"

Hood's voice was grim. "Yes, I'm here."

"That wave is headed toward Savannah," Nick said. "We have to warn them."

"I'll take care of it." Hood disconnected.

"He was almost to Savannah," Selena said. "If he'd gotten into port…"

She left the rest unspoken.

CHAPTER 62

The man-made tsunami from Jaffari's bomb had been forty feet high when it reached shore. The port of Savannah was heavily damaged, most of the city's facilities destroyed. Thousands were homeless, hundreds were dead, thousands more were injured.

Then came what many were calling the Miracle of the Wind. The cloud of radioactive fallout was blown out to sea by a storm front that suddenly appeared out of nowhere and moved in from the west. No one knew what the long-term effects on the ocean would be.

Savannah was deeply injured, but she would survive.

The days after the bomb were filled with half-truths, rumors and rage. Everyone wanted an explanation. With few facts to work with, the media turned to speculation and accusation.

Blame was assigned to any convenient enemy. Russia and Iran topped the list. The White House fended off questions with standard responses that did nothing to ease the tension. If Rice admitted it had been an ISIS plot, the country would be forced into all out war against the Islamic State. That was guaranteed to lead to a broader conflict.

The story was put out that the explosion was an accident, caused by a failed attempt to defuse a nuclear mine that had drifted from its mooring. Where the mine had come from or who it belonged to was never quite clear. The media turned its attention to questions about why there were nuclear mines in the first place. Protesters appeared on Pennsylvania Avenue by the thousands.

Two days after the bomb Nick and the others were in a lab at Langley with Clarence Hood. The lab had a scanner and a CIA technician named Edwards to run it. Nick gave the box to the tech to put in the device. Everyone wanted to know what was inside. No one had been able to open it.

"All set, Director," the tech said

"Turn it on."

Edwards turned on the machine. The interior of the box appeared in blacks and grays and shadows on a wall monitor. The shape inside the box was distinctive, darker than the rest of the image, about nine or ten inches long.

"It's a cup," Selena said, "like a big egg cup. I really didn't believe it until now."

"You can see the locking mechanism for the box," Nick said, "all those sliding pieces and gears.  I was hoping we'd be able to figure it out when we saw how it worked, but that looks hopeless."

"We could cut into it with a laser," the tech said. "I can set one up if you like."

"I don't think that's a good idea," Nick said.

"Why not?" Hood asked.

"I can't explain it, but I have a strong feeling that's the wrong thing to do. We should wait before we do anything else."

"You think it's booby-trapped? Rice wants to know if it's the Grail."

"He's waited this long, he can wait a little longer. Tell him it's a cup. Tell him we're  concerned it might be destroyed if we force the box open."

"I don't see anything that looks like a trap," Edwards said.

Hood held up his hand. "Actually, you haven't seen anything. Not the box, not anything that might be in it. Remember the papers you signed when you began working here?"

"Yes, sir."

"Understood?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good." He turned to Nick. "What do you want to do?"

"I want to take it with me and think about it."

"I can stall Rice for another day or two, but after that he's going to want that box on his desk, not yours."

"I understand. Just give me a little time. There's something about this, I can feel it."

"Intuition? Elizabeth has always relied on her intuition and it usually works out. I suppose I can cut you the same leeway."

"If I can't come up with something in the next two days, I'll hand it over to you and you can take it from there."

"Fair enough."

Outside Langley, the team stood together in the parking lot. Nick took a deep breath. It was the first day of November. His birthday was coming soon. He wasn't looking forward to being another year older.

"There aren't any fires to put out at the moment," he said. "We all need a break. It's Thursday today. Come in Monday and we'll talk about how things will work with Harker out of the picture."

"Sure thing, Kemo Sabe," Ronnie said.

"How about we get together for pizza on Saturday night?" Lamont said.

Ronnie shook his head and sighed.

"Do you ever think about anything except food?"

"Man's got to eat," Lamont said.

CHAPTER 63

Nick drove back with Selena to their loft. A black Cadillac limousine idled on the street in front of the building.

"That figures," Nick said.

Selena looked at the car waiting there. "Is that who I think it is?"

"Yup. Looks like it."

"Do I get to meet him?"

"Nobody meets him. I haven't met him. He's a voice behind a piece of black glass."

Nick drove into the underground parking garage. They got out.

"I'm going with you," Selena said.

Nick picked up the box with the cup. They walked up to the first floor and out the main entrance to where Adam's car waited. The chauffeur stood by the rear door.

"I'm very sorry, Doctor. Only Nick, please."

"She gets in with me or we're going upstairs."

"It's all right, Nick. Don't worry about it. It's just the way it is. I'll be upstairs"

The chauffeur touched his ear. Then he opened the door.

Nick climbed in and the door closed. A minute later, the car began to move. Adam's electronically distorted voice came over the speaker.

"Good morning, Nick. I see you have brought the Grail with you."

"Then it is the Grail," Nick said. "The real deal."

"Oh yes, as you say, the real deal. Within that box is the cup held by Joseph of Arimathea at the crucifixion of Jesus."

"We haven't been able to open it."

"Are you sure you want to see what's in the box? Things change when one is permitted to view the Grail."

"Of course I want to see it. Lots of people got killed looking for it. There's a lot of blood on this box."

"That is the nature of life. Some things require sacrifice."

"Spare me the backseat philosophy," Nick said. "Good men died for this. I don't think they intended to be a sacrifice."

"Not consciously, perhaps. Sometimes there is a deeper purpose at work that goes beyond what we recognize at an outer level. It motivates us at unexpected moments to do unexpected things."

"Are you saying we're not in control of our lives?"

"Do you honestly think you're in control?"

"Within a reasonable limit, sure. Maybe I can't control things like natural disasters and crazy political leaders who start a war, but in the actions of my life, yes. I have responsibility for what happens to me."

"Responsibility and control are not the same thing," Adam said. "You are a very responsible man, Nick, otherwise you would not have been chosen for the tasks that have been set to you."

"Set by who? What do you mean?"

Nick felt the wooden box in his lap move. With a series of clicks the top lifted up and the sides fell away. Nick looked down. The Grail lay inside, on a bed of pure, red silk.

The limousine vanished.

He was standing in a large crowd, all of them looking at something. Some in the crowd seemed angry, others were crying. He was dressed in a course woolen robe that reached almost to his feet. He looked down in confusion. Instead of shoes, he wore leather sandals.

What the hell?

He looked up and saw where he was.

Not possible. This isn't possible.

He was on the Hill of Golgotha. Three crosses rose against an ominous, darkening sky.

Not possible,
he thought again.
This can't be happening.

His eyes moved to the central figure, slumped in agony, head dropped forward onto his chest. A group had gathered at the foot of the cross. A man dressed in fine clothes held up a cup to catch the blood dripping down.

Sudden warmth exploded in Nick's chest, like a sun bursting open. He looked at the man dying on the cross and a great wave of sadness swept over him. Unbidden tears ran down his cheeks.

His life started to unfold before his eyes. He watched himself being born, watched the boy he had been growing up, the anguish with his father, the fear and sadness of his mother. He saw all the people he'd ever loved or hated, remembered thoughtless decisions he'd made that had caused people pain, moments of kindness he'd managed to scrape together. He couldn't control it. It was as though someone had pulled a plug and he was draining away through it.

The world as he knew it crumbled away as he watched. What he thought he believed in. Who he thought he was. Why he was doing the things he was doing.

It felt as though he'd fallen off a cliff.

When it stopped, he didn't know how long he'd been sitting there in the back of that car. He felt exposed, shaken to the core. The box on his lap was closed. The Grail was no longer visible. He took a deep breath and exhaled. His face was wet.

"Do you understand now?"

Adam's voice was gentle.

"No. Yes. I'm not sure."

"You don't need to analyze it," Adam said. "In time, it will work its way into your life."

"I'm not religious," Nick said.

"You don't have to be religious to experience what just happened. The intensity will fade, but you will never forget. That is what is important."

"I feel different," Nick said.

"I told you things would change if you saw the Grail."

The drawer in the compartment divider slid open.

"Please," Adam said.

Nick put the box in the drawer. It slid closed and in a moment opened again. The box was still there.

"You don't want to take it?" Nick asked.

"That is not the same box," Adam said. "It appears to be identical and if it is scanned, it will look the same. But if someone attempts to open it by force it will break into pieces, along with the cup inside it. Give it back to Director Hood. There's no need to tell him it's not the one you brought back from Syria."

Nick held it up. "It looks exactly the same."

"Yes it does, doesn't it? With that you will avoid a lot of unanswerable questions and satisfy the needs of your president to know that the Grail has been recovered."

Nick thought for a moment. "I don't know what to tell Selena."

"You'll know what to say when the time comes."

The car came to a halt. In a moment the passenger door opened.

"Goodbye, Nick."

He was back in front of his building. Everything seemed bathed in light, brighter, clearer to him. He got out of the car. The chauffeur closed the door and got back in.

Nick stood on the sidewalk and watched the Cadillac disappear in the distance.