The Temple Mount Code (8 page)

The server returned, carrying a large plate filled with steak, shrimp, and sautéed vegetables. He placed it before Von Volker with a flourish, then refilled his wine glass. Taking a piece of silverware in each hand, the Austrian surveyed his gastronomical battlefield with the practiced eye of an invading general.

‘Your master told me there was something you required my help with, Colonel. I suppose this has something to do with the fiasco in the Gaza.’

Davari throttled his anger and kept his voice calm. ‘Yes.’

‘As I understand it, your friend on the ground there was looking for someone.’

‘A university professor named Lev Strauss.’ Davari took a snapshot of Strauss from his pocket and slid it facedown across the tabletop.

Von Volker lifted the picture and took a quick glance. Then he left the picture lying facedown. ‘He isn’t known to me.’

‘There is no reason he should be. The professor has had an interesting history.’ Davari recited Strauss’s background from memory. ‘He was recruited by the Mossad while he was at Harvard in the United States. He continued working missions for them while he was at Oxford, then a plane he was on was booby-trapped over thirteen years ago. It blew up and went down in the Dead Sea region. Strauss lost his left leg below the knee in the crash.’

‘No more missions.’

‘He remains on active duty, but these days he spends his time in dusty libraries as a true scholar.’

Von Volker lifted his eyebrows and smiled. ‘Except – something changed.’

‘Yes.’

‘What?’

‘At this point, that information is restricted. On a need-to-know basis.’ Davari knew that the Westerners liked their little spy games. The truth was that the Ayatollah did not want anyone told the nature of the prize they sought.

The Austrian sliced off a chunk of bloody meat. ‘I would be better able to help if I knew what was going on.’ He popped the piece into his mouth.

‘Right now, we need Strauss found. That is all you need to concern yourself with at the moment.’

‘He’s not in the Gaza anymore?’

‘No.’

‘Where did he run?’

‘According to the two guards my friend spoke with, the professor has returned to Jerusalem.’

‘You have people there.’

‘We
had
people.’ Davari had read the reports on the executions of those Quds agents only hours ago. ‘They tried to capture the professor.’

‘And got themselves killed?’

‘Yes.’

Von Volker smiled. ‘So the prey has already been spooked in the Gaza and in his homeland.’

‘He is still there.’

‘Sitting quietly in some sequestered hideaway while the Mossad watch over him, waiting for the rats to come to the cheese?’ Von Volker shook his head. ‘I don’t think so.’

Davari remained silent.

‘You’re not painting a very appetizing picture, my friend.’

The colonel had run out of patience. ‘I’m not painting anything. I’m offering you a job to perform, one my master believes you are in a position to accomplish. If you don’t want to risk it, simply say so, and I will go to the next man on my list.’

Von Volker chuckled. He pointed his fork at Davari. ‘
You’re
the next man on your list, aren’t you?’

Davari glared at the man, but stayed silent.

‘Yes, you are. You can’t fool me.’ The Austrian blotted his lips on his napkin. ‘Well, let me tell you, my friend, you’re not good enough to get into Jerusalem and get back out again. All you’ll end up doing is getting yourself killed. Then your master is going to have to go to the next man on
his
list. Work with me, and we can both get what we want.’

Davari refrained from commenting with a supreme effort. What the Austrian said was true, and it angered him that the man knew.

‘I can get to Lev Strauss.’ Von Volker returned his attentions to his plate.

‘Why are you so sure?’

‘Because, just as you have a secret, so do I.’ Von Volker smiled confidently. ‘I will hand the professor over to you in a matter of days. And then we will talk about my bonus.’

10

Scholar’s Rock Temple

Himalaya Mountains

People’s Republic of China

July 26, 2011

‘Look! There it is!’ Gloria Chen walked slightly behind Lourds as he trudged through the snow, letting him do most of the work breaking through the frozen crust. The excitement in her voice drew his attention at once.

He’d been woolgathering, as he usually did when faced with physical drudgery and uninspiring surroundings, and a long walk up a mountain with more mountains around combined both those things.

The previous night, Gelu had persuaded them to rest and recuperate. The Sherpa guide had a good eye for people, and he’d told Lourds that several of the climbers, including Professor Hu, were all but worn-out. Gelu had promised they would comfortably reach their goal by the next evening, even after sleeping in.

Despite his anticipation and the urging of the BBC crew to keep moving, Lourds had agreed. They’d pitched camp there in the lee of the rocks, and the Sherpas had prepared the evening meal over a low fire. It wasn’t as relaxing as a ski resort, but it had been surprisingly comforting to be cared for. Lourds had slept like a baby in his tent.

The stone building sheltered under an overhang of rock shelf, and Lourds wasn’t surprised that no one had really known about the temple. At first he didn’t know what had caused Gloria to become so enthusiastic, then a gust of wind blew a cloud of snow over the rock shelf. The setting sun caught the flying ice particles, and their prismatic qualities cast a field of rainbows over the temple.

‘Rory?’ Lourds raised his voice above the wind screaming through the canyon.

‘Yeah, mate?’

‘Tell me you’re getting this with the camera.’

‘You better believe it. If this works out, I think we’re looking at our opening.’

Lourds’s heart sped up as he watched the beautiful swirl with a huge grin.

‘Wouldn’t it be shorter to walk across the valley?’ Lourds pointed his climbing staff at the circular depression between where they’d come up and the temple.

‘Walk across not good.’ Gelu shook his shaggy head. ‘Much danger. Much frozen that.’ He walked toward the depression, stood at the edge, and kicked away snowdrifts to reveal ice. He waved at the valley. ‘All ice. Not good.’

‘Come on, mate.’ Rory pointed across the long walk they had around the bowl. ‘If we walk across, it’s a lot shorter. Any ice up here is going to stay frozen.’

Gelu shook his head again. ‘Much frozen. Not all frozen. Holes there. Deep. Sometimes fall through and no come back.’

‘Ice is some of the most treacherous terrain up in these mountains.’ Lourds adjusted his protective goggles. ‘The snow blows, maybe melts a little on warmer days from the direct sunlight, and forms a thin crust over cracks and holes.’

‘Yes.’ Gelu nodded. ‘Much deadly, you see.’

‘With all the blowing snow shifting around, you might not see a crevasse until you went through it. You could fall a few hundred feet, and maybe your body would be found in a few hundred years.’ Lourds turned to the reporter. ‘Still feel like walking across now?’

Even with the cold turning Rory’s face pale, his features turned even whiter. ‘Nope. I can walk around just fine.’

Gelu assumed the lead once more, and they resumed their march.

‘You said the monks don’t get many visitors.’ Lourds matched his stride to the Sherpa’s.

‘No. No many. Only men seeking to know what monks know come here.’

‘What do the monks know?’

‘I not know. I know Sherpa ways. I know trade. I know guide.’ Gelu smiled. ‘I know how to feed myself, not need others to feed me.’

‘Have you ever gone to the monks to learn anything?’

‘Father taught me all I need to know. Work hard. Live careful. Raise strong sons and obedient daughters. What more is there?’

‘I suppose.’ As he walked, though, Lourds couldn’t help watching the gusting rainbows and wondering what lay inside the temple.

Professor Hu pulled at Lourds’s elbow. ‘You realize, of course, Thomas, that whatever made that temple special thousands of years ago could be long gone.’

‘I do.’

‘If it is, at least the BBC will have a lot of pretty footage of mountains and rainbows.’

‘I reconcile myself with one thought.’

‘What’s that?’

‘Even if a package is empty, many times you can learn a lot about what was there from the package itself.’

At Professor Hu’s side, Gloria Chen shot Lourds an exasperated glance. ‘Great thinking, but what if someone found a Big Mac wrapper? Do you really think that person could reconstruct how those two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun really went together?’ She shook her head. ‘I think we’d be better off if we found an artifact or two. So excuse me if I hope we find more than a wrapper up here.’

‘Gloria!’ Professor Hu studied her with a furrowed brow.

‘I’m sorry, Professor Hu. I think I’m just tired.’ Gloria didn’t look apologetic. She turned and headed back into the climbing party, Lourds watching her go with a puzzled expression on his face.

‘Good evening.’ Dressed in thick winter clothing, the young monk stood in the stone doorway and looked over the expedition with a beatific smile. ‘This is the Temple of the Scholar’s Rock. I am Ang. I bid you welcome.’

Gelu talked to the young man in Mandarin, explaining that the group was from Peking University and had come out all that way to see the temple.

Ang looked bemused as he turned to Lourds. ‘Usually climbers find us by mistake on their way up the mountain. Or we sometimes discover them when they are lost or while we are walking. You are the first to come looking for the temple in a long time.’

‘I hope our arrival and our curiosity won’t be an imposition. We’ve brought food, enough to leave with you and your brothers when we leave, and we have our own tents.’

Ang smiled. ‘Food is always welcome in the temple, and I’m certain we can find space for all of you. The temple is much bigger on the inside than it looks at first glance.’ He moved to one side of the door and waved them in. ‘Please. Enter. Our home is your home for as long as you wish.’

‘When he said it was bigger on the inside than it looked, I thought he meant it was only a little bigger.’ Rory stared in openmouthed wonder at the cavernous vault around them.

Lourds kept his own jaw in place with effort. The Scholar’s Rock Temple was huge and ran back deep into the mountain. His explorer’s instincts flared, and his hopes rose.

The walls looked natural in most places. The original builders had taken advantage of the existing cave system. Some of the other rooms contained scars from tools when they had been widened and deepened. Oil lanterns filled the rooms with a golden glow.

‘I am Brother Shamar. Please sit.’ A wizened old man waved at the small rugs adorning the smooth stone floor around him. He wore an orange saffron robe and sat cross-legged with an easy grace. Age had wrinkled his face so much that it looked like a raisin. Still, his dark eyes looked full of life and mischief.

Lourds and Hu introduced themselves. The audience was semiprivate. Rory and the BBC crew filmed from the doorway and used only the natural light coming from the oil lanterns hanging on the wall and the fireplace behind the old monk.

‘Why have you come to our temple?’ Shamar’s excellent English had a British accent.

‘Seeking knowledge.’ Lourds sat cross-legged and felt the heat from the fireplace melting into his body. The cold that had leached into his bones seemed like it was finally leaving.

‘You’re not here to investigate our faith, Professor Lourds. Your soul is too restless to travel quietly through this life.’

‘No, we’re not here about your faith. We came hoping to get information about this temple.’

‘What do you wish to know?’

‘First, let me give you some information.’ Lourds brought out the picture of the tortoiseshell map and explained how he’d found it and how they’d located the temple.

‘An impressive story.’ Shamar seemed genuinely interested. ‘I had no idea of the temple’s history. It was already here when the first monks arrived. Our histories record no origin of this place.’

‘It was like this?’

‘Much as you see it now. Few changes have been made. Ours is a simple faith. We live within the world as it is and don’t seek to change it to fit our desires. Monks come here to strip away the cares and concerns of the outside world so that we might become better teachers when we reenter that world. Our time here is spent in study and mastering our spirits.’

‘Why is it called the Temple of the Scholar’s Rock?’

‘The temple was named so in honor of the many scholar’s rocks found here.’

‘Uh, Professor Lourds.’

Lourds peered over his shoulder at Rory.

‘Maybe you could explain what a scholar’s rock is. You know, for the audience back home?’

‘Young man.’ Shamar lifted his voice.

‘Yes, sir?’

The monk smiled beatifically. ‘Would you care to join us?’

‘Uh, no. I’m good right here. Thanks.’

‘If you would learn something, you must go to the feet of one who knows and talk, not bellow from the shadows.’

Rory scratched his head, then came forward reluctantly and sat cross-legged on one of the rugs.

Lourds answered the question. ‘A scholar’s rock is also known as a viewing stone. They’ve been around for a long time, but they were brought to prominence in the Song Dynasty. The Tang Dynasty defined the four main visual qualities of a scholar’s stone: thinness, openness, perforations, and wrinkling. I’ll give you the Cantonese words for those things later.’

‘What do you do with a scholar’s stone?’

Shamar laughed.

Lourds smiled. ‘Well, you
appreciate
it.’

Rory’s brow furrowed. ‘Appreciate it? A rock? This isn’t like a pet rock, is it? You aren’t after having me on, are you?’

‘No, not at all. Generally a scholar’s rock is used for decoration in a garden. They have interesting shapes, holes, and perforations. The texture of the rocks is smooth. The smoother the better. The preferred method of getting them is simply finding them, but sometimes artisans
helped
nature along by cutting stones into interesting shapes and immersing them in running water or a lake so the sharp edges would wear away.’