Shiva (73 page)

Testing the waters, he flashed his sleeve out from behind the column. A bullet hole ripped through it. Okay, so the Disciples weren
’
t that distracted.

Brandt could not believe he was saying this.
“
Talli
, c
over me.
”

“
Oh
,
no,
”
Vanderwalt said from the other side of the column.
“
Cover
us
.
”

“
Then exactly who is going to cover me?
”
Talli asked.

At least the fake sniper was an equal opportunity coward.

Great. Brandt was stuck with Vanderwalt
,
who had minimal field experience
,
and the ex-sniper
,
whom he had absolutely no faith
in
.

“
Fine,
”
Brandt said
,
firing in the direction of the Disciples.

Rebecca
had
better come up with something quick
ly,
as the enemy
had
regrouped, firing with gusto.

* * *

Vakasa sat next to Rebecca
,
beaming that smile of hers. Clearly
,
the girl expected the
“
words
”
to come tumbling out of Rebecca
’
s mouth
at
any moment. Sure, lots of words had come out of her mouth.

She
’
d tried the
Shemoneh Esreh
, the standing prayer, the first prayer listed in the Siddur. She
’
d tried it in Hebrew, Yiddish, Ancient Greek
,
and English
,
to no avail. Then she tried Psalm 146 and even Exodus, but the door didn
’
t budge. Hell, she
’
d even recited the Christian Lord
’
s
P
rayer
,
with equal luck.

The floor nearly dancing didn
’
t help her concentration any.

Vakasa cocked her head and spoke. At first
,
Rebecca didn
’
t understand even what language she was using. Then it hit her. Coptic. Rebecca translated quickly.
“
What shall I give you?
”

Rebecca
’
s eyes narrowed. Was the girl quoting I Kings 3:5? The question that God asked Solomon?

Vakasa took Rebecca
’
s hand and put it to the door as the tapestry ripped from the ceiling. The sound of gunfire came in a rush as Rebecca spoke the words.

“
Therefore give to Your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people, that I may discern between good and evil
.
”

A rumbling, deep beneath their feet
,
shook the marble underfoot. The shock
wave came up and through the floor, cracking the great gilded door down the exact middle. Parting the open
ing
, sending out a great sigh as if woken from a long sleep.

Suddenly
,
the gunfire waned.

Rebecca knew that was never a good sign. Not when it was the enemy
who had
stopped shooting. From down the long temple
,
she watched a grenade fly through the air.

“
Brandt! In here!
”

CHAPTER 28

═══════════
═══════

Solomon
’
s Temple
,
Shiloh, Israel

10:32
p
.
m
.
(
IST
,
Israeli Standard Time)

Rebecca did not need to tell him twice. Not with two
—
no
,
make that five
—
grenades heading their way. Brandt turned on his heel, firing behind him, making for the door. The grenades bounced on the floor, skipping happily toward the altar.

Brandt heard footsteps behind him as he leapt up the stairs. Someone knocked him to the side, sprinting through the open doors in front of him. Vanderwalt. Son of a bitch. But the Brit was only a few steps ahead of him. Brandt made it through the door into another gilded room. He didn
’
t have time to assess it much more than that as he turned to close the damned doors.

Talli raced toward him
,
with the grenades dancing behind him.
“
I tried the best I could!
”
he yelled as he streaked toward Brandt.

Despite the plea Brandt kept right on closing those doors. Only at the last second did he slow enough to let Talli slip through.

“
Get the bar!
”
Brandt shouted as he pushed the two sides of the door closed. Together
,
Talli and Rebecca shoved the bracing bar down. The damned thing had barely sealed the doors when explosion after explosion rocked the Hol
y
of Holies.

Brandt grabbed his girls and got them into the corner to ride out the worst of it.

Finally
,
the
booms
died and the world stopped shaking. Thank God for thick stone walls. The ancients really knew how to build them.

“
Bloody hell,
”
Vanderwalt cursed behind them. Brandt turned to get a look at the Hol
y
of Holies. To be honest, beyond the gilded walls and jewel
-
encrusted etchings, it wasn
’
t much to look at. There were two smaller doors on the other side of the room

“
Where is the ark?
”
The MI-5 agent asked.

Rebecca helped Vakasa get up.
“
Most likely? Ethiopia.
”

“
Then what are we doing here?
”
Vanderwalt demanded.

Brandt sighed.
“
Welcome to my world.
”

The Brit didn
’
t seem to appreciate the joke
,
however
,
as he raised his gun. Brandt did him one better. He raised two. One pointed at Vanderwalt
,
the other at Talli.

“
Yes, Walt, I know you could kill Rebecca or Vakasa before I could kill the both of you
.
H
owever
,
let
’
s face it, neither of you have the stomach for playing chicken.
”

Proof positive of his statement, Talli handed his gun over to Rebecca.
“
I just want out. I didn
’
t even want to get on the plane in Madrid.
”

Vanderwalt
’
s eyes flicke
d
between Brandt and Talli and the gun in Rebecca
’
s hand.

“
Just go, Walt
,
”
Brandt said
,
indicating to the doors.
“
We take one door. You take the other.
”
Still
,
the Brit wavered
,
so Brandt pressed. Vanderwalt was a douche spy, but he had proved he wasn
’
t an idiot.
“
It isn
’
t
g
oing to take the Disciples long to get through that door. I would prefer to be as far away as humanly possible when that happens.
”

“
Which door are you taking?
”
Vanderwalt asked, his voice cracking.

Rebecca nodded to the left door.
“
That one should represent
“
good,
”
she said
,
then indicated to the right door.
“
That one evil.
”

“
Funny,
”
Vanderwalt sp
a
t out.
“
I will take the left
,
then.
”
Keeping his gun pointed at Vakasa
,
he backed his way to the door. With a light push
,
it swung open. That old grin appeared as if the last twenty-four hours hadn
’
t just happened.
“
I
’
m still looking forward to that warm beer, mate.
”

“
Just go,
”
Brandt urged
,
then turned to Talli.
“
What are you doing?
”

“
I
’
m going with you,
”
Talli said.

“
Oh
,
no, you aren
’
t,
”
Brandt countered, cocking the gun pointed at his old sniper.
“
You picked your bed.
”

Talli reluctantly followed Vanderwalt through the left door. Brandt waited a few heartbeats, then went to the door
,
cracked it open
,
and made sure the men followed the path rather than doubling back again.

He turned to Rebecca.
“
You did tell them the wrong door?
”

“
Duh.
”

* * *

Rebecca pointed to the rightmost door.
“
This one faces east. The direction of Jerusalem.
”

Brandt nodded. She knew that he was fluent enough in Jewish religion to know that Jerusalem was considered sacred, even by Solomon, at least before he took a gander at the Ten Commandment
s
tablets and all the secrets they held.

“
Good enough for me,
”
Brandt said, checking the other door quickly before doing a sweep of the eastern door. Rebecca took Vakasa
’
s hand and followed Brandt down the new hallway. It was adorned in the same manner as the main temple.

She wished she had time to translate the myriad of inscriptions that lined the walls. The insight into ancient times they held
…W
ell
,
it was priceless. At the least
,
she would
have
love
d
to take photos, but Brandt set such a pace that
,
even if Rebecca had
had
a camera
,
it would be nothing more than a blur.

They reached another set of doors, side
-
by
-
side.

“
Do we go east?
”
Brandt asked
,
going to open the rightmost door.

“
I think it
’
s more complicated than that.
”

“
Great
.
”
Brandt sighed.
“
Another maze or labyrinth or whatever the ancients called a screwed
-
up mess?
”

Rebecca studied the figures on each door.
“
No. I think these doors represent a series of choices we
must
make.
”

“
And the difference?
”
Brandt asked
,
clearly not in spirit of debate.

“
I think we have to prove that we are the
M
essiah
,
or at least with the
M
essiah.
”

“
So?
”