CHAPTER 41
Onyx was one of the jewels in the Pentagon's bag of tricks. The server where it lived was surrounded by elaborate firewalls and alarms designed to protect the program and alert security if someone tried to break into the system. In the brave new world of computers, satellites and universal surveillance, cyber security had become one of the first lines of defense against America's enemies.
All systems of computer security depended on elaborate compilations of sophisticated code. Like all systems, they were vulnerable to human intervention or error. The systems protecting Onyx were only as perfect as the programmers who had created them.
The humans responsible for monitoring Onyx were guilty of complacency. In a way, you couldn't blame them. They were convinced that the firewall they'd constructed was completely impenetrable. They believed in their safeguards. In this case, it was a matter of belief creating reality, a reality that existed only in their minds.
In Tel Aviv, Colonel David Cohen looked at the latest intercept of Onyx transmissions. Hacking into Onyx had been a Mossad intelligence coup. The Americans routinely shared information from the older Lacrosse GPR system. They just as routinely withheld data from the more developed Onyx platform. They were afraid hidden Iranian installations revealed by Onyx's powerful scans would become targets for Israeli retaliation.
They were right to be concerned, but it wasn't Iran that held Cohen's attention this morning. The report didn't make sense. The satellite system was targeted on an area of northern Ethiopia with no real military or strategic importance. As far as that went, most of Ethiopia fell into that category.
Why are the Americans interested in Ethiopia?
Cohen studied the scan. Onyx transmissions were routinely forwarded to his desk because of his role at the tip of the Israeli spear. They didn't look like photographs and it took specialized training to read them properly. Cohen didn't have that training. Each scan came with a report from someone who did. The technician who had analyzed this particular transmission pointed out that the uneven lines making up the recording indicated a large underground chamber with multiple levels. It was located on a remote mesa at the head of a winding canyon in the Tigray Region. The GPS coordinates were marked down. The analyst speculated that the underground structure was possibly an abandoned religious monastery. The region was dotted with forgotten retreats from the height of the Coptic monastic movement.
Very few had access to Onyx. The report identified the agency using the system. Cohen knew who they were, a secretive black ops unit that answered to the U.S. president.
The President's Official Joint Exercise for Counter Terrorism. Why is the Project involved?
Cohen had reached his command position with a combination of courage, intelligence and a gift for sensing what the enemy was thinking. He leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes and let his mind drift. Something danced on the edge of his awareness. He opened his eyes and his glance fell on the report about the American stealth helicopter that had entered Saudi Arabia.
Satellite surveillance had revealed the remains of a firefight at the foot of the hill with the three columns where Al-Bayati had been spotted. The same shot showed that one of the columns had been destroyed by a violent explosion. Cohen thought about the wreckage of two Toyotas with machine guns, and how difficult it would be to take on Al-Bayati when he had that kind of firepower. It would take a team of people highly skilled and well armed, someone like the Project or an elite special forces unit like the Seals or his own people.
The Americans had been looking for Solomon's tomb, of that he was certain. Cohen thought about the report, the destroyed vehicles and the shattered column. He thought about the Americans using Onyx to look at Ethiopia.
They think the tomb is in Ethiopia.
The thought rippled through him as if he'd touched an electric current.
They blew up the column. There's no reason to do that unless they found something and wanted to make sure no one else would see it. Now they're looking at Ethiopia. They may have found the location of the tomb. If I were them and I thought I knew where it was, I'd go see if it was there.
Cohen picked up his phone.
CHAPTER 42
The flight to Ethiopia was uneventful. They landed at Bole International Airport in Addis Ababa early in the morning and rented a blue, four-wheel-drive Toyota Highlander, big enough for the five of them. After a stop at the embassy to pick up a trunk holding weapons and back packs they headed north out of Ethiopia's capital on Highway 1.
Nick had decided against full combat gear and everything that went with it. He hedged his bets a little with lightweight body armor. No one except Elizabeth knew they were going to Ethiopia. There was no reason to expect serious trouble. Like Harker had said, they weren't going into a war zone.
They'd take pistols and casual civilian clothes that fit with hiking in the backcountry. Pistols were less of a problem than automatic rifles if they were stopped and easier to conceal. Not to mention that it was hard to blend in when you were wearing full combat armor.
The road was a two-lane blacktop in good condition. They settled in for the ride. Lamont drove the first shift, careful to keep to the speed limit. They stopped to eat and gas up about halfway to their destination. A roadside stand offered food and something to drink.
Diego took a deep breath. "Smells good.".
"Probably give us a good case of the trots," Nick said.
Lamont laughed. "Hey, you only live once. Ethiopian cooking is really good. My grandma used to make meals that would blow your mind."
Ragged children swarmed the vehicle as they got out. Lamont spoke to them and gave them money to watch the car while they ate.
They let Lamont order for them. The man behind the counter stared at them wide-eyed. He grinned when Lamont began talking to him. Lamont bought bottles of soda for everyone. They sat down at a rickety picnic table in the shade of a large tree while they waited for the food to be ready.
The food came. Wicker baskets with plates that had a flat piece of bread on them and a large bowl of steaming stew.
Lamont said, "The bread's a kind of sourdough called injera. The stew is gonna be spicy. Could be any kind of meat in it. It's called wat."
He ladled out stew.
"I need a fork," Selena said.
"Nobody uses forks here. You scoop it up with the bread. Use your right hand. If you eat with the left people will be shocked."
"Why?"
"The left hand is for wiping your ass."
"What happens if you only have one hand?" Diego asked.
"Then you have a problem."
"This is pretty good," Nick said. He scooped up another bite of stew.
They reached Adigrat twelve hours after they'd left the embassy, just as the sun disappeared behind a high escarpment dotted with stunted trees. The ridge marked the beginning of the mountainous area where they were headed.
Selena watched her GPS. "I checked out hotels before we left. There's one in the center of town that should be all right. Take a right up there."
They turned off the main highway and found the hotel, a rectangular, two story building of yellow and red brick. Lamont parked and went inside while the others waited with the truck. He came out a few minutes later.
"All set. We've got four rooms. The place looks clean and they've got a café. It's a family operation, run by a father and son. The son seems like a nice guy. He told me we should hire somebody to watch the truck at night."