Contract With God (17 page)

‘There you go, Snow White.’

Andrea had to drop the clipboard in order to catch the packages. Waaka fought back a snigger while Jackson, ignoring the surprised reporter, stuck her hand into the space left and pulled hard. The layer of packages shifted to reveal a much less prosaic cargo.

Rifles, machine guns, and small firearms rested on layer after layer of trays. While Jackson and Waaka removed the trays - six in total - and placed them carefully on top of the other boxes, Dekker’s remaining soldiers as well as the South African himself came over and began to arm themselves.

‘Excellent, gentlemen’ said Dekker. ‘As a wise man once said, great men are like eagles . . . they build their nests on lonely heights. The first watch belongs to Jackson and the Gottliebs. Find cover positions there, there and there.’ He pointed to three places at the top of the canyon walls, the second of which wasn’t too far from the spot where Andrea thought she had seen the mysterious figure a few hours before. ‘Only break radio silence to report in every ten minutes. That goes for you, too, Torres. If you trade cooking recipes with Maloney like you did in Laos, you’ll have me to deal with. March.’

The Gottlieb twins and Marla Jackson took off in three separate directions, looking for accessible climbs to the sentry positions from which Dekker’s soldiers would continuously guard the expedition during its time at the site. Once they had determined their posts, they secured rope and aluminium ladders to the rock every ten feet to make the vertical ascent easier.

 

Andrea, in the meantime, was marvelling at the ingenuity of modern technology. Not even in her wildest dreams had she imagined that her body would find itself in the vicinity of a shower over the next week. But to her surprise, among the last items to be lowered from the Kamaz trucks were two pre-fabricated showers and two portable toilets, made from plastic and fibreglass.

‘What’s the matter, beautiful? Aren’t you happy you won’t have to crap in the sand?’ said Robert Frick.

The bony young man was all elbows and knees, and he moved about nervously. Andrea took in his vulgar remark with a loud burst of laughter and began to help him secure the toilets.

‘That’s for sure, Robert. And from what I can see, we’ll even have His and Hers bathrooms . . .’

‘That’s a little unfair, seeing as there’s only four of you and twenty of us. Well, at least you’ll have to dig out your own latrine,’ Frick said.

Andrea went pale. Tired as she was, even the thought of lifting a shovel made her hands feel blistered. Frick was creasing up.

‘I don’t see what’s so funny.’

‘You’ve gone whiter than my Aunt Bonnie’s butt. That’s what’s so funny.’

‘Don’t pay any attention to him, honey,’ Tommy broke in. ‘We’ll use the mini-excavator. It’ll take us ten minutes.’

‘You always spoil the fun, Tommy. You should have let her sweat a little more.’ Frick shook his head as he went off to find someone else to bother.

He was fourteen when he began to learn.

Of course he first had a great deal to forget.

To start with, everything he had learned at school, from his friends, in his home. Nothing was real. Everything was a lie invented by the enemy, the oppressors of Islam. They had a plan, the imam had told him, whispering it in his ear. ‘They start by giving women their freedom. They place them on the same level as men to weaken us. They know that we’re stronger, more capable. They know that we are more serious in our commitment to God. Then they brainwash us, they take over the minds of holy imams. They try to cloud our judgement with impure images of lust and corruption. They promote homosexuality. They lie, lie, lie. They even lie about the dates. They say it’s the twenty-second of May. But you know what day it is today.’

‘The sixteenth day of
shawwal
, master.’

‘They talk about integration, about getting along with others. But you know what God wants.’

‘No, I don’t know, master,’ said the frightened boy. How could he be inside God’s mind?

‘God wants to avenge the Crusades; the crusades that took place a thousand years ago and those of today. God wants us to re-establish the Caliphate, which they destroyed in 1924. From that day on, the Muslim community has been broken up into parcels of territory that are controlled by our enemies. You only have to read a newspaper to see how our Muslim brothers live in a state of oppression, humiliation and genocide. And the greatest affront is the stake driven into the heart of Dar al-Islam: Israel.’

‘I hate the Jews, master.’

‘No. You only think you do. Listen carefully to my words. This hatred you believe you feel now, in a few years’ time it will seem to have been no more than a tiny spark compared to the conflagration of an entire forest. Only true believers are capable of such a transformation. And you will be one of them. You are special. I have only to look into your eyes to see you have the power to change the world. To unify the Muslim community. To bring
sharia
to Amman, Cairo, Beirut. And then to Berlin. To Madrid. To Washington.’

‘How will we do it, master? How can we bring Islamic Law to the entire world?’

‘You’re not ready for the answer.’

‘Yes, I am, master.’

‘Do you want to learn, with all your heart and soul and mind?’

‘There is nothing I want more than to carry out the word of God.’

‘No, not yet. But soon . . .’

AL MUDAWWARA DESERT, JORDAN

 

 

The tents were finally up, the toilets and showers had been installed, the pipes were connected to the water tank and the expedition’s civilian personnel was resting inside the small square created by the surrounding tents. Andrea, seated on the ground with a bottle of Gatorade in her hand, had given up trying to find Father Fowler. Neither he nor Dr Harel seemed to be around, so she devoted herself to contemplating the cloth and aluminium structures, which were unlike anything she had ever seen. Each tent comprised an elongated cube with a door and plastic windows. There was a wooden platform that sat about a foot and a half above the ground on a dozen concrete blocks to insulate the inhabitants against the burning heat of the sand. The roof was made of a large curve of cloth that was fastened to the ground on one side in order to improve the refraction of the sun’s rays. Each tent had its own electric cable that led to a central generator next to the fuel truck.

Of the six tents, three were slightly different. One was the infirmary, which had a rougher design but was hermetically sealed. Another formed the combined kitchen and mess tent. It had air-conditioning so that expedition members could relax there during the hottest hours of the day. The last tent was Kayn’s and was slightly removed from the rest. It had no visible windows and was roped off - a silent warning that the billionaire did not wish to be disturbed. Kayn had stayed inside his H3, driven by Dekker, until they had finished putting up his tent and he had yet to reappear.

I doubt he’ll emerge for the rest of the expedition. I wonder if his tent has a built-in toilet
, thought Andrea, taking an absentminded sip from her bottle.
Here comes someone who might know the answer.

‘Hello, Mr Russell.’

‘How are you?’ said the assistant, smiling politely.

‘Very well, thank you. Listen, about this interview with Mr Kayn—’

‘I’m afraid that’s not possible yet,’ Russell cut in.

‘I hope you haven’t brought me out here just to sightsee. I want you to know that—’

‘Welcome, ladies and gentlemen,’ the disagreeable voice of Professor Forrester interrupted the reporter’s complaints. ‘Against our predictions, you’ve managed to install all of the tents on time. Congratulations. Give yourself a big hand.’

His tone was as insincere as the faint applause that followed. The professor always left his listeners feeling slightly uncomfortable, if not humiliated, but the members of the expedition managed to remain seated around him as the sun began to set behind the cliffs.

‘Before we get on with supper and the assignment of tents, I want to finish the story,’ the archaeologist went on. ‘Remember that I told you a chosen few had taken the treasure out of the city of Jerusalem? Well, this group of brave—’

‘One question keeps running through my head,’ Andrea cut in, ignoring the old man’s piercing look. ‘You said that YirmƏyáhu was the author of the Second Scroll. That he wrote it before the Romans razed Solomon’s temple. Am I mistaken?’

‘No, you’re not wrong.’

‘Did he leave any other writings?’

‘No, he did not.’

‘Did the men who took the Ark out of Jerusalem leave any?’

‘No.’

‘Then how do you know what happened? Those men carried a very heavy object covered in gold for, what, almost two hundred miles? All I did was climb that dune carrying my camera and a water bottle, and it was—’

The old man had grown redder with each of Andrea’s words until the contrast between his bald head and beard made his face look like a cherry resting on a wad of cotton.

‘How did the Egyptians manage to build the Pyramids? How did the natives of Easter Island erect their ten-thousand-ton statues? How did the Nabateans carve the city of Petra out of these same rocks?’

He spat each word out at Andrea, leaning over her as he talked until his face was next to hers. The reporter turned away to avoid his rancid breath.

‘With faith. You need faith to cover one hundred and eighty-five miles under a scorching sun and on rough terrain. You need faith to believe you can do it.’

‘So other than the Second Scroll, you don’t have any proof,’ Andrea said, unable to stop herself.

‘No, I do not. But I have a theory, and let’s hope I’m right, Ms Otero, or we’re going home empty-handed.’

The reporter was about to reply, but felt a slight elbowing in her ribs. She turned to see Father Fowler staring at her in warning.

‘Where have you been, Father?’ she whispered. ‘I’ve been looking everywhere. We have to talk.’

Fowler silenced her with a gesture.

‘The eight men who left Jerusalem with the Ark reached Jericho the following morning.’ Forrester had backed away and was now addressing the fourteen people who listened with growing interest. ‘We’re now entering the realm of speculation, but it happens to be the speculation of a man who has spent decades pondering this very question. In Jericho they would have picked up supplies and water. They crossed the Jordan River near Bethany and reached the King’s Highway near Mount Nebo. The highway is the oldest uninterrupted communications link in history, the path that led Abraham from Chaldea to Canaan. Those eight Jews walked south on that route until they reached Petra, where they left the highway and headed in the direction of a mythical place that would have seemed like the end of the world to the Jerusalemites. This place.’

‘Professor, do you have any idea which part of the canyon we should be looking in? Because this is place is huge,’ said Dr Harel.

‘That’s where all of you come in, starting from tomorrow. David, Gordon . . . show them the equipment.’

The two assistants appeared, each wearing a strange contraption. They had a harness across their chest, to which a metallic device the shape of a small backpack was attached. The harness had four straps from which hung a square metal structure that framed the body at thigh level. At the front corners of this structure were two lamp-like objects resembling the headlights of a car, which were pointed towards the ground.

‘These, good people, will be your summer outfits for the next few days. The device is called a proton precession magnetometer.

There were whistles of admiration.

‘Flashy name, isn’t it?’ said David Pappas.

‘Be quiet, David. We’re working on the theory that the men chosen by Yirm əyáhu hid the Ark somewhere in this canyon. The magnetometer will let us know the exact location.’

‘How does it work?’ Andrea asked.

‘The instrument sends out a signal that registers the magnetic field of the Earth. Once it is attuned to that, it will pick up any anomaly in the magnetic field, such as the presence of metal. You don’t need to understand exactly how it works, because the equipment transmits a wireless signal directly to my computer. If you find something, I’ll know before you do.’

‘Is it difficult to operate?’ asked Andrea.

‘Not if you know how to walk. Each of you will be assigned a series of quadrants in the canyon about fifty feet apart. All you have to do is press the start button on the harness and take a step every five seconds. Like this.’

Gordon took a step forward and stopped. Five seconds later, the instrument gave off a low whistle. Gordon took another step and the whistle stopped. Five seconds later the whistle went off again.

‘You’ll do this for ten hours a day in shifts of an hour and a half, with fifteen-minute rest periods,’ Forrester said.

Everyone began to complain.

‘What about people who have other duties?’

‘Take care of them when you’re not working in the canyon, Mr Frick.’

‘You expect us to walk ten hours a day in this sun?’

‘I suggest you drink plenty of water - at least a litre every hour. With a temperature of 111 degrees, the body dehydrates quickly.’

‘What if we haven’t completed our ten hours by the end of the day?’ another voice piped up.

‘Then you’ll finish them at night, Mr Hanley.’

‘Isn’t democracy fucking great,’ Andrea muttered.

Evidently not quietly enough, because Forrester heard her.

‘Does our plan seem unfair to you, Ms Otero?’ the archaeologist said in a silken voice.

‘Now that you mention it, yes,’ replied Andrea defiantly. She leaned aside, fearing another blow from Fowler’s elbow, but it didn’t come.