by Rene Fomby
Just past Istanbul the Gnats swerved left and Mehmed’s ride took over the lead. He was encased in a safety harness that allowed him to lean out and study the ground below with optically-enhanced goggles. Within minutes he found what he was looking for.
“Right there! One o’clock, about two hundred feet ahead. Where the gravel road hits the foliage line.” With the aqueduct so close to the surface, only smaller plants with shallow root systems could thrive right on top of the tunnel, leaving a barely perceptible line in the foliage pointing the way south toward Istanbul.
“Roger that,” Jack answered. “Alpha Team, follow me. Let’s get down there and secure our breach point.”
As they dropped in closer they could all see it, a small hatchway cut into the top of the aqueduct. One by one they dropped off the Gnats down black nylon ropes, immediately pulling their rifles from the slings across their backs and securing the perimeter.
Jack keyed his mike again. “Alpha down. Area clear.”
That was the signal for Bravo and Charlie Teams to dismount. Within five minutes they had the hatch open and were climbing down into the pitch-black aqueduct, the tunnel glowing bright green in their infrared goggles.
120
New Rome
The general’s message to Constantine was short and to the point. A propane tank had exploded, causing a minor cave-in and numerous injuries throughout the complex. Electricity had been lost for the last several days and had just now been restored. She had determined from the Internet that the assault had been an overwhelming success. Congratulations. What was the current status in New Rome? Where exactly was his HQ? What was his security like, and did she need to take charge of that right away?
He sat down at his desk and typed out a quick reply on the laptop his aide had delivered to his room.
121
Basilica Cistern, Istanbul
Although the commandos had studied pictures of the cistern as part of their mission briefing, they weren’t quite prepared for how truly magnificent it was, in a spooky and otherworldly kind of way. The shallow few feet of water that covered the bottom of the cistern was illuminated eerily in dim red and yellow lights, with hundreds of carp swimming around randomly beneath the wooden walkways and columns, columns which rose up above their heads to a poorly lit, almost brooding arched brick ceiling.
They stopped well short of the lighted area while Alpha Leader donned his rebreather and slipped back into the water, gliding along just above the rough bricks that made up the waterproof floor as schools of carp swam circles around him, wondering about the nature of this strange black intruder. Halfway across the room he rose up beneath a walkway, his eyes just above the water level as he scanned the area for any guards or visitors. But Istanbul tourism had been shut down completely after the attack, and it appeared nobody upstairs had any interest about what might be going on at that very moment right beneath their feet.
Jack watched as Alpha Leader patted the top of his head, signaling that everything was okay, then he led the rest of the team in a slow surface swim out of the mouth of the aqueduct toward the two Medusa heads set just off to their right. Two members of Charlie Team continued toward the entrance to the cistern, setting up cover positions and pulling out stubby little waterproof rifles, just in case anyone decided to come calling after all.
Bravo leader checked out the upside-down Medusa head that seemed to be staring at the western wall of the cistern. He taped a laser pointer next to the left side of the head, angling it slightly up. “That’s our reference point,” he noted in a low voice to Jack as his men started setting up the high-powered water jet they would use to clear out the rubble.
“Got it,” said Charlie Leader, holding up what looked like a miniature rocket propelled grenade launcher. “Ready, boss?”
Jack nodded, and a fat gray projectile shot out of the barrel of the RPG, trailing a long wire and splatting noisily against the solid cistern wall about a foot left and down from where the laser spot glowed bright red in the dim light of the ceiling.
Jack huffed. “Getting a little sloppy there, Carmine.”
“Yeah, sorry. I think I still had some water down in the barrel when I fired. Should have made sure it was cleared out first.”
Jack looked up, squinting his eyes. “No, that’ll do just fine. It’s not like the ancient Romans who built this place had laser pointer levels to line everything up with down to the quarter inch.” He nodded again, and after checking to make sure everyone was in a safe position for the blast, Charlie Leader thumbed the detonator.
122
Venice
Carlo Rossi was pacing back and forth in front of his desk, a phone pressed hard against his right ear. “Mr. Ambassador, you have got to convince your government to give us a little more time to see if we can come to a peaceful settlement over all this. Violence isn’t the answer, here. Not if we can find another alternative.”
Turkey had sent several flights of F-16s to strafe the Old City, rattling windows and nerves across Istanbul, and now Rossi had learned that the Turkish armies guarding the country’s western border had been ordered to deploy eastward and prepare for an all-out assault on the city. Meanwhile, all of his attempts to reach Samantha Tulley to get an update on the Americans’ plans had failed. Which meant she was almost certainly hunkered down someplace cell phone signals couldn’t reach. And he was well aware of the presence of the USS Carl Vinson sitting in international waters within easy striking distance of Istanbul.
“As my underling told you yesterday, Mr. Prime Minister, we are simply out of time. Iran, Iraq, Indonesia and Saudi Arabia signed a treaty just this morning establishing the new Islamic Caliphate. My country has decided to stay independent for now, but we are assembling many of the other Islamic powers into a military alliance in full cooperation with the Caliphate. Kuwait is really the only holdout for now, largely due to lingering sympathies over the American liberation of their country, but I think even they won’t be able to hold out for more than a few days, a week at most. Then, my friend, we will be at war, whether we want it or not. The winds of our mutual destinies are far too powerful now to ignore.”
Rossi felt sick. He, too, no longer held any illusions about how this situation would all play out in the days ahead. Seen from a distance, the three major religions of the world—Judaism, Christianity and Islam—were almost indistinguishable, and yet they somehow always found a way to emphasize their petty differences. Petty differences that always seemed to end in war, even within each of those religions.
“Abdul, we have known each other for a very long time. Please give me one last chance to fix this somehow. You know I have worked miracles in the past.”
“That you have, Carlo. But I think your luck may have finally run out. The wounds here are now very deep, and I don’t see how they can possibly be ignored any longer. If it were me, I would say we need to continue to try and talk, to find another solution. But my people, the Islamic people around the world, their faith has been insulted by your Christian leaders for the last time. They feel that the honor of our Prophet himself is at stake, and the only way they can redeem themselves in his eyes is to exact vengeance on the blasphemers, the infidels, who serve only the interests of Satan against our most holy Allah. I’m told they already have a name for what is to come. The Great Jihad, a holy war that will not end—cannot end—until Christianity is finally destroyed, and the stain of Israel is finally erased from our lands.”
Carlo Rossi rubbed his face hard with his right hand, knowing what the ambassador was telling him was the honest truth, at least from the perspective of the Muslim world. “Can you convince your generals to hold back just one more day, Abdul? Can you give me that?”
“I will try, my friend, but I wouldn’t hold out much hope. By tomorrow morning our troops will be in place outside the walls of the Old City. After that—the world is a tinderbox, and Istanbul will be the match that sets it all ablaze.”
123
Basilic
a Cistern
The thin concrete wall that had been erected blocking off the westerner-most part of the cistern disintegrated immediately, with large chunks splashing down into the previously mirror-like water below, causing foot-high waves to splash back and forth across the tightly enclosed space.
Bravo Team deployed the water jet while Charlie and Alpha watched and waited. Cutting through the rubble of dirt and rock was like painting with water, the layers peeling back in wet sheets. Within thirty minutes they had punched through to the solid brick original wall, but no doorway was yet to be found.
Jack almost had to shout to be heard over the constant thrum of the pumps and the sounds of rubble sliding down the wall into the water. If anyone was inside the tunnels at this point, there’s no way they could miss the constant noise and then bring someone to investigate. Or at least have guards positioned on the other side of the door ready to pounce on the invaders as they came through. But it was a risk they just had to take. “The professor said there should be a small alcove set high in the wall, with the door set back several feet inside of that. Move the jet down about three feet and off to your right just a little, and keep working that way. If we don’t locate something within an hour, we’ll try the left side. It’s got to be up there.”
The hour was almost up when suddenly a sharp edge appeared on the wall, revealing a cavernous hole that quickly opened up under the relentless force of the water jet. The commandos not working the pumps and water jets immediately started readying their weapons for the coming assault.
124
USS Carl Vinson
“Ms. Tulley, call for you. The Italian prime minister. He says it’s urgent.”
The Navy seaman handed her a small portable phone, and seeing her fumble with it, he showed her how to answer.
“Carlo! How in the world did you find me here?”
“Just an educated guess, Samantha. You’ve become rather predictable, in an unpredictable kind of way.” There was a slight, awkward pause on the other line. “Listen, can we talk? Privately?”
Sam stepped away from the group that had gathered to monitor the snatch-and-grab, shielding the mouthpiece of the phone with her right hand. “I’m not really all that sure how private this call is, given that it’s official government equipment, so let’s keep our conversation—sensitive to the environmental conditions, if you get my drift?”
“Yes, well, I think we can skip the formalities here. Since you’re sitting right now on a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier within spitting distance of Istanbul, I can pretty much guess what you’re involved in. And the thing is, I’m up to my ass handling all the collateral damage the new emperor has caused. The whole damn world’s on the brink of an all-out war, and if we don’t find a way to shut down William Tulley before tomorrow morning, I don’t think there’s going to be any way to stop it. Please tell me there’s still a reason to hope otherwise.”
Sam eyed the group huddled tightly around the flat screen monitor, anxiously waiting for any tidbit of encouraging news about the mission.
“I think, at the moment, hope is still a stretch. But I do think we can say there’s a chance. Good, bad, uncertain, who knows? But there is definitely a chance.”
“Thank you, Samantha. I haven’t slept in three days, worrying about how everything is melting down before our very eyes. That the fates have already cast our lots in the sands of Istanbul and the Middle East. So, whatever you’re up to out there, you have to know that you’re our very last chance of averting all this—madness. It’s like the entire human race has devolved into lemmings, and we’re all shoving each other aside to see who can be the first to jump off the cliff, into the abyss.” He laughed, nervously. “No pressure, really. But it’s all in your hands, now. I’ve managed to buy us maybe until tomorrow morning, but after that—”
Sam swallowed hard. “It’s really gotten that bad, that fast? I’ve been sorta out of the loop …”
“It has, which is why I’m a little surprised to hear that you’re where you are right now, on an American aircraft carrier. From everything I’ve seen, the American government seems to be backing Tulley’s invasion of Istanbul, and his plans to turn all of Southern Europe into a dictatorship.”
“Carlo, I don’t know about any of that, but I can tell you that’s not what it looks like from here. We are most assuredly not on William Tulley’s side right now. Nor will we ever be. Hold on a sec.”
With a quick glance to the group clustered in front of the monitor, she stepped out into the passageway outside. It was unoccupied, at least for now.
“Look, Carlo, I’m probably about to break all kinds of laws here, maybe spend the rest of my life in federal prison, but there’s something you need to know.” She quickly filled him in on what Sanders’ analysts had discovered about the Vatican airliner.
“Oh my God, Samantha! That’s huge!”
“Yeah, but I think Sanders is right—it only helps us if Tulley is neutralized. And I mean like tonight. Lock him away in solitaire, give Istanbul back to the Turks, then turn all of the evidence over to an international commission, so nobody can claim it’s all fake.”
“There will still be kooks out there that will continue to crow about that, just like they say you Americans never landed on the moon, but we can deal with all the crazies later. So, do you really think you have a chance tonight? Do you think you can get your hands on William Tulley before he sets off the bomb?”
“That’s kinda out of my control right now, Carlo, but yeah, we’ve got the same guys on this job that pulled Mehmed out of the Vatican prison. The same guys that got us all the evidence from their underground city in Göreme. If anyone can pull this off, it would be them.”
“Navy Seals?” Rossi ventured.
Sam chuckled. “Actually, I’m told there’s no such thing as Navy Seals, anymore. At least in Pentagon jargon. But I’d say that’s a good guess on your part. And I think I’ve said way too much already. I really don’t look all that good in orange.”
“Thanks, Samantha. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. I’ve been worried sick about all this. I haven’t been able to sleep for three days, partly from the nerves, partly because of all the panicked phone calls from around the world. So maybe now I can manage to shut my eyes for an hour or so, regroup a little, knowing there’s at least some hope. No matter how meager it is. You’ll—call me, when you have a better feel for what the world is going to wake up to tomorrow morning? Which is, I assume, what is going down right now?”
“I’ll let you know what I know, when I know it, Carlo. And—yeah, get some sleep, for God’s sake. We need calm heads right now, and three days without sleep—”
“Will do. And—Sam—thanks for taking my call.”
“What choice did I have? You’re the ding dang prime minister of my daughter’s adopted country, after all.”
“And, if I have anything to say about it, the prime minister of your adopted country as well. Good night, Samantha. Call me when you hear something.”
“Will do, Carlo. And, God willing, hopefully it will be good news. Hopefully it will be good news for a whole hell of a lot of people.”
125
Basilica Cistern - Tuesday
The alcove melted away very quickly, being almost completely filled with dirt and devoid of any large rocks. Within minutes Team Charlie erected a bare-bones metal ladder that they braced against the upside-down Medusa head, resting the other end against the lip of the alcove that was cut into the nearly fifteen-hundred-year-old brick wall of the cistern. One by one they climbed the rickety ladder, until finally the entire team stood poised in front of the door into the underground tunnel that would finally gain them access to the Topkapı Palace—and William Tulley.
126
Basilica Cistern
Jack squatted down in front of his eleven-man assault team, holding up an eight inch combat-hardened tablet in front of him. “Okay, men, listen up. Our infrared drones have been tracking people movement insid
e the palace all night long, and Sanders’ prop heads have put together a nice little map showing where the main activity has been centered all evening. Actually, I think they really just downloaded a tourist map of the palace off the Internet.” That bought him a light chuckle all around. He tapped a red dot on the left-hand side of the map, an area marked ‘Harem.’ “This is almost certainly Tulley’s bedroom, and he hasn’t moved from that spot for well over an hour. To get there, we’ll enter here, the area they call the Third Courtyard—” He tapped another spot, almost in the center of the palace. “That’s through this door and off to our left, where the professor says he entered the underground tunnel from the palace. Supposedly, the door to the palace is hinged from the tunnel side, so we’ll just pop the pins and pull it open, even if they’ve secured the other side with a padlock. From there, it’s across this open area to the left-hand corner—that’s the entrance into the Harem—then straight back—here, here and here—and then we’re in like Flint. I would expect some kind of guard presence there, holding station just outside of Tulley’s room, so Alpha, you guys need to take them out with minimal fuss. Got that?”
“Like a cat with a mouse,” Alpha Leader acknowledged.
“Good. I’m assuming they haven’t had time to install any kind of alarm equipment, at least on the inside, but be alert all the same. Any questions?” He looked from face to face, and nobody spoke up. “In that case, get ready to rock and roll. Charlie, you got this door.”
Charlie Leader nodded. “I picked it while you were jabbering on all that time. We’re ready to go, boss.”
Jack smiled at him. “Thank you, Roxanne. And here I thought I was saying something really important.” He stood up and looked around one last time. “All right then. This is what we get paid for, so let’s do it. And remember, millions of lives are riding on Tulley not pressing the trigger on his nasty little bomb. If he does, all of you will be so radioactive, they’ll have to bury you in effigy and your names will live in infamy forever. So, no pressure here, right? Let’s get it done.”