He replied, with a smug smile, “They were out of my size.”
“Here, hand me your cell phone.”
“Are you calling all my friends back in Chicago in order to humiliate me?”
“No, I don’t think a call should be necessary,” she said as she hugged Oliver close to her, snapping a quick selfie of the two of them with the city of Jerusalem as a backdrop, then tossing his phone back to him.
“Max, do I really look that silly,” he asked, rubbing his left arm now sore from Maxine’s hug?
“No comment.”
After lunch, during which Maxine was still clearly amused by Oliver’s appearance, the two were contacted by Robert Swift and asked to come to a conference room on the top floor of their hotel. In an hour they were to meet with the other agents and outline plans for the apprehension of the conspirators.
Oliver and Maxine had time to return to their rooms and freshen up. At last Oliver had a chance to shave off his four-day beard. Meeting in the lobby they rode the elevator to the top floor. Maxine was again amused at Oliver’s appearance, this time for his freshly shaved face. They entered a rather large room with a conference table suitable for the twelve of them, Oliver, Maxine, Agent Swift, and nine agents, three each from intelligence agencies of the United States, Israel, and Jordan. Their places were set with small sweet cakes and cups of coffee. Oliver thought to himself, if we’re the twelve, out to save the world, I just hope this isn’t our last supper here in this upper room.
Robert Swift made the introductions around the table and then asked Oliver to bring everyone up to date. Oliver stood, and presented the facts leading up to this moment and the reasons he thought the Dome of the Rock was the target of this final act of terrorism.
After hearing Oliver’s report, including his careful outlining of the manner in which Benton Spencer had used symbolism from the End of Days accounts found in the scriptures of the three great religions centered in Jerusalem, a member of the Jordanian team asked, “I understand why this Reverend Spencer may have allowed his rejection as a minister, his loss of his church to the U. S. Government, and his hatred of Peter Newbury to drive him to his hateful plans, but how could he have attracted the other two men of entirely different faiths?”
“I believe each of these other two may have had his own disappointing losses,” said Oliver. “Ibrahim Gilani had been one of the top scientists of the Iranian nuclear program. When the centrifuges were sabotaged, he was eventually sacked for not being vigilant enough. He must have been humiliated in front of his colleagues. To add insult to injury, his attempts to join the international scientific community, where he had previously worked at CERN, were rebuffed because of his association with the illegal refining of weapons-grade reactor products. ”
A member of the Israeli team then spoke. “You are right in your assessment of motive, because it also fits the third conspirator. We have identified the third member of this plot as a commander of a Special Haredi combat team. His name is Joshua Cohen. He led one of the most effective special-forces units in the Israeli army, until it was suddenly disbanded.
“Secret documents from a military court martial have revealed that some of his soldiers were involved in illegal tunneling at the Temple Mount and were arrested. His involvement was suspected but never proven, but he was stripped of his rank and command and banished by his own community. Again he must have felt he was unjustly accused as was Gilani. He must have been angry at the loss of his status as a defender of Israel. He has lived in self-imposed seclusion since the trial.”
Oliver asked, “Could Joshua Cohen’s soldiers have opened a tunnel to the Well of Souls?”
“Definitely not. All the local residents fear the consequences of such action. They would report the first evidence of excavated rubble as they had when Colonel Cohen was brought to trial.”
Oliver glanced at Maxine and raised his eyebrows as he read her thoughts, this third conspirator, Joshua Cohen, may well have supervised the opening of a tunnel to the Well of Souls, and hidden the evidence. “Are you certain Colonel Cohen or his followers have not opened a secret tunnel to the Well of Souls?”
“The tunnel that was discovered was poorly executed and only led a few meters. There was no chance these young soldiers could have succeeded.”
As the discussion of the three conspirators came to a conclusion, plans were made for the deployment of the nine agents, along with Swift, in and around the Dome of the Rock immediately after evening prayers and the closing of the Mosque. They would bar entry into the Mosque during the night and hopefully capture one or more of the conspirators as they tried to enter. Max and Oliver would check out the Western Wall and other areas less likely to provide entry to the Dome of the Rock and maintain regular contact with Robert Swift. This time Maxine would use her cell phone and text silent messages to Swift and the Mosque patrol.
At sundown Joshua Cohen worked his way through the darkness near the Wall to the locked entrance near the Struthion Pool access. He used a pair of bolt cutters to remove the padlock and entered the inner passageway to wait for the others. In a few minutes he heard the approaching footsteps, followed by the three knocks signifying either Ibrahim Gilani or Benton Spencer had arrived. Opening the door Cohen met Spencer who was carrying his heavy package and a small duffle filled with overalls for digging through the narrow passageway to the Well of Souls. Within a few minutes they were joined by Ibrahim.
Once within the Struthion Pool, they pulled on the light green coveralls provided by Spencer. They began opening the hidden tunnel at the back wall of the pool. Breaking through the plaster of the carefully disguised entrance to the old, rubble-filled viaduct was easily accomplished using the bolt cutters as a hammer. To their frustration they realized the tunnel was not an open arched passageway, like the one they had just entered from the Wall, but was only a small opening.
Centuries ago this passageway had been completely filled with rubble. The opening of this tunnel was a clandestine operation in which the removal of rubble had to be done in such a way that was completely undetectable. This meant that rubble was stored in any small spaces which could be found at the very tops of the viaducts running off to one side or the other of the passageway being opened. Those who had recently cleared this passageway had to remove only enough stones to provide a small space through which one person at a time could crawl. Therefore the three would have to move forward into this tunnel on their stomachs, carrying the tools they would need to breach the final stone wall that closed the access to the Well of Souls.
Joshua led the way, having seen a hand-drawn map of this illegal excavation project that had been going on for over five years. Each man had to crawl on his stomach, using his elbows and thighs to propel himself forward. Slowly the three made their way over the rubble, pushing their tools ahead of them. The trip was painful and exhausting. The narrow tunnel, with a rough stone bottom, led east into the Temple Mount for some distance before it met a north-south junction.
The branching tunnels were all filled with rubble removed from the new excavation except for the one leading north. This tunnel ran about the same distance as the first until it again came to a junction. Here all the tunnels were filled with fresh rubble except the one that again ran east. It continued until it terminated in a small room that had been cleared in order to allow the three of them to stand. There was a wall on the east side of this space that had been made to appear like natural stone but was in fact carefully crafted masonry.
It took a while for them to catch their breath and overcome their exhaustion from the difficult crawl. By working carefully and quietly, the three removed the stones one at a time until an opening was formed. This opening, located next to the Abraham altar in the Well of Souls, was enlarged enough to allow easy entry.
They listened quietly for any sound coming from the darkened mosque above. Hearing nothing, Spencer whispered, “We now stand in the most holy place in the universe: the place of final judgment against a world
of sin.”
The three then made the difficult trip back down this narrow tunnel, leaving their tools, and retrieving the parts of the nuclear weapon. For a third time the long and painful crawl through the narrow tunnel was negotiated by the three men, this time struggling with the three heavy cases. By eleven o’clock, two-and-a-half hours after they had begun, the three were again in the Well of Souls, silently assembling the components of the terrible device by the faint light of a portable reading lamp.
As this underground activity had been going on, above ground the security teams moved into hidden positions around the outside of the mosque in order to secure all the entrances. Oliver and Maxine made their way to the Western Wall where they began at the north end of the Wall Tunnel, since that was where the main entrance lay. Finding all entrances closed and locked and nothing suspicious, Maxine texted a message to Agent Swift stating they were now moving southward along the wall. Swift answered indicating the remaining ten team members had concealed themselves around the Mosque and had it secured. Maxine and Oliver discovered a few possible entry points at out-buildings, but all were secured and locked and showed no signs of tampering.
When they reached the last entrance, Maxine immediately noticed, in the light of her pocket flashlight, that the padlock on this maintenance door had been removed. “Oliver, over here; someone has cut a lock to gain access into the wall tunnel.”
There were tool marks on the hasp where a pair of bolt cutters had been used. Maxine and Oliver immediately entered the tunnel leading to the Struthion Pool and found the bolt cutters and digging tools lying next to the newly opened passage.
Oliver whispered, “The tunnel that’s been opened is an aqueduct filled almost to the top with rubble. If this is how the three have entered the mosque, we’re going to have to crawl on our stomachs in order to reach them at the Well of Souls.”
As Oliver contemplated the painful crawl through this narrow, rubble-strewn tunnel, Maxine texted Agent Swift of their find and indicated they were going to move into the tunnel. However, their location, a short way under the Temple Mount, prevented her message from reaching the agents in the mosque.
Seeing no reply to her text, she decided to move into the tunnel. It was getting close to midnight, and if Oliver was right, the beginning of Trinity Sunday may well be the planned detonation time. They had no time to wait for instructions.
Knowing Oliver was injured and would have to move more slowly, she decided to let him lead. She placed a diffuser over the lens of her small flashlight so that they would have only enough light to see the surrounding tunnel. She did not want the light to cast a beam forward into the tunnel, possibly alerting someone who might be ahead of them.
The crawl was excruciating for Oliver, but he was determined to move as quickly and quietly as possible. Partway along this difficult trip he was aware of wetness dripping down his left arm, now throbbing from the insult of this elbow crawl, and realized he had re-injured his wound. Oliver had to stop and rest four times during the painful crawl. The pain and bleeding increased as the two made their way slowly through the twists and turns of the narrow excavation. In the faint glow of her flashlight, Maxine saw the trail of blood Oliver was leaving. She was beginning to feel its wetness on the front of her clothes as she followed him.
When they reached the first tunnel junction, Oliver estimated the northward crawl would bring them close to the Well of Souls. Motioning Maxine to crawl forward next to him, he whispered, “We’re about halfway there. I’ve been thinking about how we might go about stopping the three, once we reach the Well of Souls. We’ll not be able to use force, because there’s no way to prevent one of the three from triggering the nuclear device. I’m going to have to turn Ibrahim and Joshua against Spencer by revealing his false prophecy.”
“Oliver, do you even have the strength to get to the end of this tunnel? You’re bleeding from your wound as we crawl.”
“I know. But I’ve no choice; I have to get to them and stop this madness. Once we reach the entrance to the Well of Souls, I’ll crawl through and stand in front of the entrance. When I begin speaking, shine your diffused flashlight on my back to indicate my presence. Keep your pistol ready if I fail.”
They continued on down the northward tunnel. The going was more and more difficult. Oliver had begun to feel faint from the pain in his left arm and the loss of blood when he noticed a faint light in the tunnel ahead and reached back to alert Maxine. Without speaking, she immediately extinguished her flashlight. Then they moved forward slowly and silently.
When they reached the small opening near the altar to Abraham, they were able to see the three figures intent on their work, quietly assembling the nuclear device. Oliver silently reached back and touched her hand that held the flashlight and indicated she should shine it on his back when he stood and entered the Well of Souls.
During the painful journey through the narrow tunnels, Oliver had been thinking how he might confront these three men. He thought of the powerful delivery that had distinguished Benton Spencer at Harvard Divinity School and had energized the fervor of his followers. He contrasted this approach to that of Father Pat in his homily a week ago. The soft, steady voice now seemed to be the most powerful in this place. Oliver also realized that in his weakened state, he would be unable to sustain a bombastic speech. He hoped he could finish this one before fainting. He moved silently through the opening and stood, gesturing to Maxine to turn on the flashlight.
As he began to speak, the effect of his voice in this enclosed cavern surprised even him. Each soft word he spoke seemed to be accompanied by a thousand other voices echoing in whispers through the Well of Souls. The effect made the hair stand up on the back of Maxine’s neck. The effect was the same on the three conspirators. They each slowly stood, transfixed on Oliver’s form, outlined in pale white light as Maxine’s diffused flashlight shone through the thin white fabric of his clothes. He looked as if he were standing in front of a sunrise, but in the western end of the Well of Souls.
In the Mosque above, Robert Swift had moved inside and was quietly watching the entrances to the main floor under the dome. Suddenly he heard the ghost-like whispering of a voice coming from the entrance to the Well of Souls. Someone or something was there under the Foundation Stone at the end of the twelve Templar steps. He stood, transfixed with his pistol in his hand, at the top of the steps, listening to the words. He realized then that Oliver and Maxine had found the hidden way in and were now confronting the three as they held an armed nuclear weapon. There was nothing he could do but wait and hope Oliver could distract or delay the conspirators long enough for Maxine to somehow disarm them.
Oliver’s words impacted each transfixed man standing over the nuclear device, now armed. “Benton Spencer, out of personal vengeance you have placed the mark of the beast on innocent victims as they were murdered. You have thus turned your followers into the beast. Rather than false prophets, you have persecuted the faithful. Like the pagan Romans in the first century, your young followers have martyred three saints: Peter, Steven, and Paul. Now you defile this holy place by falsely prophesying the End of Days.
“You have convinced Ibrahim there have been collapses of the earth in the East, the West and on the Arabian Peninsula, when none have occurred. Gog and Magog have not gathered forces of evil against you from all corners of the earth, and you will not be spared from the fiery furnace like the three: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. The four horses have not been called forth by God and a New Jerusalem will not descend out of a rising mushroom cloud, just radioactive dust.
“Finally, by opening this second passage into the Well of Souls, you have repeated the desecration of the mosque by the Knights Templar. This holy place is here not to accommodate the force of mass destruction you hold in your hands, but to disseminate a force of mass redemption that only God holds in his hands. None of us belong here. We each defile this holy ground by our presence.”
As these whispery words were filling
the small cavern, Joshua and Ibrahim began to turn toward Spencer with looks of bitter betrayal. At the end of Oliver’s speech, Spencer suddenly let out a deafening wail and lunged forward toward the nuclear bomb. His two companions immediately restrained him as Maxine rushed in from the passageway, pistol in hand and Swift rushed down the Templar steps from the inner mosque. In the rush Maxine had knocked Oliver into the corner. As he was slowly trying to rise from the floor, the three conspirators, clothed in their light green jump suits, were being restrained and led up the Templar steps into the mosque. Unable to rise, Oliver slumped down to the floor, leaning next to the altar to Abraham.
Once the three green-clad men were secured at the top of the Templar steps, Maxine turned and asked, “Where is Oliver?” She immediately realized he had not walked up the steps behind her. Rushing back down into the Well of Souls, she found him still slumped near the tunnel entrance. “Oliver, are you all right; can you stand?” He mumbled something as she got her arms under him so as not to further injure his bleeding left arm and helped him to his feet.
A few lights had been turned on so all could see clearly. As Maxine led Oliver up the steps and out into the floor of the Dome of the Rock, she was aware of his loss of blood and his unsteadiness, and held him against her body in case he fainted. With Oliver’s blood staining their clothes, they slowly made their way up the stairs together. Oliver, weak and numb from the ordeal, felt the warmth of Maxine’s body against his as he struggled to maintain his balance.
Nevertheless, he stopped in front of Spencer and said, “Dr. Spencer, let me remind you that the proper liturgical color for Trinity Sunday is white, not pale green.”
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