Ronnie's weapon began chattering. Diego, she thought, where's Diego?
A Land Rover wheeled crazily through the debris of the campsite and stopped while someone clambered in. It took off down the valley. Nick emptied his magazine after the fleeing vehicle. It kept going, leaving a billowing trail of dust in the moonlight.
The sounds of the firefight died away. Selena wiped blood away from her eyes.
"You're hit," Nick said.
"No, it was a rock. It's just a scalp wound. I'm all right."
She looked around. Diego sat on the ground, holding his right arm by the elbow. He looked like he was in pain.
Nick gestured. "Ronnie, with me."
The two men walked through what was left of the camp, looking for anyone left alive. Someone raised a rifle toward them. Ronnie shot him. The man fell back against the hard earth.
"Stupid," Ronnie said. "If Al-Bayati was still here I'm sure he'd appreciate the loyal gesture."
"He was in that Land Rover?"
"Yeah, I saw him get in. Rhoades was driving."
"Damn."
"Yeah."
There was no one left alive. They walked back to where Selena knelt next to Diego. She'd cut his sleeve away past the elbow. The forearm was bloody, the flesh ripped open.
"Que pasa, hombre?" Nick said.
"People shooting at me for years and the worst hit I've taken is from a rock. I can't believe it."
"I don't think it's broken," Selena said. "It's a nasty wound just the same. I'll bandage it up, but you need antibiotics and stitches."
"I heal quick. If it's not broken I'm not gonna worry about it."
Nick looked up at the hill. The moon was sinking. There was still enough light to see a jagged stump rising up out of the ground where the column had stood.
"You could have used a little less C4," Nick said.
"I wanted to be sure," Ronnie said.
Nick activated the encrypted satellite comm link.
"Director, you copy?"
"What's your status Nick?" Elizabeth's voice came back with an echoing delay.
"The stone is gone. So is Al-Bayati. Get us out of here."
"Is everyone all right?"
"Diego is injured. Selena got hit with debris. We're at the foot of the hill below the columns. Send the chopper here."
"What debris?"
"The column went down when we blew up the stone. She was cut by a piece of flying rock."
"The Arabs are going to love that," Elizabeth said. "Wait one."
Nick heard her talking in the background. She came back on the satellite link.
"Extraction is on the way. ETA forty minutes. Keep the link open. Out."
Selena finished wrapping Diego's arm. She stood.
"You want morphine?"
"Nah. We're not out of here yet."
Nick squatted down next to him, his MP5 cradled across his chest.
"Now you've been on a mission, what do you think? Exciting enough for you? I wouldn't want you to get bored."
"Well," Diego said, "it's not the Rangers. I guess it will do."
CHAPTER 38
Three days later. Everyone was back in Elizabeth's office in Virginia. Joe Eggleston sat off to the side.
"Did you have to blow up that landmark?" Elizabeth said.
"You told us to destroy the stone. It was the only way." Nick scratched his ear. "You have to admit, it did the job. No one is ever going to know what was there except us."
"The Saudis are going crazy over this."
"They don't know we were there. The only thing they're going to find are dead mercenaries who worked for Al-Bayati. The Saudis will probably think it's some kind of terrorist operation out of Yemen that went wrong."
"Let's hope you're right," Elizabeth said.
"Is Steph coming back anytime soon?" Selena asked. "She could help us find out if that diagram from the stone is a map."
"She went home yesterday. She's not going to be in for a while yet."
"It is a map," Eggleston said. "I looked at the pictures you sent and began a geographical pattern search, comparing the lines of the drawing with satellite photographs. It seemed reasonable to start in the immediate area. I got a hit right away."
Nick gave him an approving look. "Where is it?"
"The lines of the drawing form a distinctive pattern. It's a map of the Red Sea between the horn of Africa, Saudi Arabia and Yemen. Let me show you."
Eggleston tapped a key on his laptop and a satellite shot of the Red Sea and the Middle East appeared on the monitor. He zoomed in. Then he superimposed the drawing from the stone onto the photograph.
"As you can see, it's a pretty good match."
"Someone knew what they were doing when they made that," Diego said.
He was wearing a sling, mostly to keep the bandaged arm from bumping into anything. He was going to have an interesting scar. There'd been no permanent damage.
"Ephram would've been familiar with the Red Sea and the coastline," Selena said.
"Those three lines on the right could be a symbol for the three pillars," Nick said. "They're in about the right place."
"That small star of David. Where is that?" Selena wanted to know.
"Ethiopia," Eggleston said.
"And the dot near it? What do you think that is?"
"I think it's a town or settlement. The only thing in the area is a market town called Adigrat. It was there back when that stone was carved."
"What's the country like?" Ronnie asked.
"The town sits on a high plain at about six thousand feet. West from there it's all mountains and canyons."
"Sounds like a good hiding place," Nick said.
"Canyons have always been good places to hide," Ronnie said.
Selena looked at the photograph and map. "That star could mark the location of the tomb."
"What about the writing?" Elizabeth said. "About the soul of wisdom sheltering with his consort?"
Selena said, "I've been thinking about that and I still think that when Ephram says wisdom he means Solomon. If you read it literally, it says that Solomon shelters with his consort in the queen's land, meaning he's buried with her in her own country."
"But who's the consort?" Diego asked.
"I think it's the Queen of Sheba. I wasn't sure until Joe showed us this. Scholars have always argued about the Queen of Sheba, about who she was or where she came from or if she was even real. A lot of people think she ruled in Yemen. A lot of others…"
Nick interrupted her."… think she came from Ethiopia."
"Yes. It would explain why she's called the Black Queen. In the Gospels, she's Queen of the South. That would be anywhere south of Galilee."
"I wish Lamont was here," Nick said. "His people were Ethiopian, back a ways. He even speaks the language. He could open doors for us over there."
"You think we have to go over there?"
Nick shrugged. "Is there any other option?"
Elizabeth said, "Let's not get into mission planning yet. We need a better location than a vague mark on an old drawing."
"Sure, but you know we have to pursue this. It's the only thing we've got. If Solomon's body or relics from the Temple still exist, chances are they're in those mountains."
"Going to be a bitch to find," Diego said.
"I can narrow it down some," Joe said. "If we assume the map is reasonably accurate we have enough known points of reference. There are those three marks that represent the rock columns. Then there's the dot that's probably Adigrat. Assuming the star represents the location of the tomb, I can get you in the area. After that, you're on your own."
"Work it up, Joe," Elizabeth said. "Nick, what you said about Lamont makes sense. Give him a call. See if you can get him up here for one more mission. It should be straightforward without a lot of complications. His leg shouldn't be a problem on this one."