Sword of God paj-3

by Chris Kuzneski

  "See what?"

  Jones led him next door, where he'd been watching the interview on one of the monitors. "While you were glancing at your notes, I cross-referenced the black stone and the word heaven. And guess what? I got a hit. Something that makes a lot of sense."

  He pointed to the image on his computer screen, an ancient stone building surrounded by a sea of people, all of them dressed in white robes. "What do you know about Islam?"

  Payne shrugged and took a seat in front of the computer.

  Jones said, "That's the interior of the Great Mosque in Mecca. To put it simply, it's the center of the Islamic world. When Muslims pray, that's what they face. Not the mosque itself, but the ancient stone building in the middle. It's called the Kaaba. It's their most sacred shrine."

  Payne stared at the picture, focusing on the massive granite cube that towered above the thousands of people who filled the courtyard. It stood close to fifty feet high and was covered by a black silk cloth, decorated by gold calligraphy embroidered in Arabic.

  "Go on."

  Jones tapped a few keys, zooming in on one of the cornerstones. "According to Islamic tradition, the Kaaba was built by Abraham and his son Ishmael, the same prophets from the Old Testament. While searching for rocks in the hills of Mecca, they came across a pure white stone and immediately recognized its worth. To them, its greatness was so obvious they used it to anchor their building."

  He zoomed in closer, focusing on a black stone that was embedded five feet above the ground in the east corner of the Kaaba. The stone was roughly twelve inches in diameter and framed by a silver band that was fastened to it with silver nails.

  "Remarkably, the stone has turned color through the centuries. What used to be pure white is now pure black. Some true believers attribute it to all the sins it has absorbed over the years. Of course, most scientists have a more pragmatic view."

  "Which is?"

  Jones leaned back in his chair. "It's a meteorite."

  "They worship a meteorite?"

  "They don't actually worship it. But it is sacred to them."

  "An actual meteorite?"

  "That's the theory. Then again, there's no way to know without testing it-something the guardians of the mosque won't allow. Still, it fits all the facts. Over time, a lot of meteorites change from white to black because of oxidation. Plus there's a major impact crater at Wabar, which is close to Mecca. When it hit the desert, it blasted molten sand high into the air, where it cooled, then fell back to the earth as chunks of glass. It was literally raining glass."

  "Glass?"

  "Some scientists think the Black Stone is mat substance, known as impact glass. Meanwhile, others feel it's part of the meteorite itself. Either way, the Black Stone fell from heaven."

  "Just like Schmidt said."

  Jones nodded. "Unfortunately, that's not everything he said. He also mentioned that he wanted to send it to hell. And that's the part I'm worried about."

  "How so?"

  "This stone is in the middle of a massive mosque in the center of a protected city. It's constantly surrounded by armed guards and thousands of devout Muslims who would fight to the death to defend it. No way he's going to get into a gunfight."

  "True."

  "Therefore, in my mind, that leaves Schmidt with only one viable option."

  "Which is?"

  "He's gonna blow it up."

  36

  In Saudi Arabia, where oil is the lifeblood of the economy, tanker trucks are a common sight, rolling throughout the region both day and night, a constant reminder of the nation's wealth and its place in the global market. The trucks are so commonplace that they blend into the scenery like desert wildlife, barely registering when they stream past in large convoys.

  Even when they are driving somewhere they don't belong.

  Trevor Schmidt and his crew had counted on this when they took over the Abraj Al Bait water facility the night before. Their assault had been remarkably easy. One armed guard during the takeover. Another guard during the shift change. No other workers were present due to the hajj celebration and because the facility was not scheduled to open for another six months. Everything about the place was functional-the generators, the reservoirs, the compressors. The only thing missing was the liquid to pump.

  But that would soon be rectified.

  A member of Schmidt's team, the one they called Matthew, had earned an engineering degree from Stanford before he'd entered the military. His background was all the training they needed to complete this task, especially since everything had been planned out weeks in advance. All they had to do was follow simple step-by-step instructions, then get to the tunnel in Mecca, where the final phase would be completed.

  But that would be the fun part. First they needed to finish their work here.

  Matthew went into the control room and checked the gauges. As he did, the tanker trucks pulled through the front gate and drove to the rear of the facility, where they began pumping their flammable cargo into a system that was designed for water. The chemical itself, contained in cylindrical tanks that held eighty-five hundred gallons each, was a petroleum-based product comparable to jet fuel, although it had been modified in several crucial ways. To curtail the effects of static electricity, they added dinonylnaphthyl-sulfonic acid, hoping to eliminate sparking and premature combustion. Corrosion inhibitors, a common ingredient in military fuel, were introduced in small concentrations to prevent damage to the piping system and possible seepage underground. And antioxidants were added to minimize gumming.

  Using the video monitors in the security office, Schmidt watched truck after truck empty their tanks into the system, double-checking all the numbers on a small sheet of paper. From his aviation experience, he knew that larger commercial jets, such as Boeing 767s, carried approximately twenty-one thousand gallons of fuel on takeoff. That meant five trucks equaled two planes, the amount that brought down the Twin Towers in a giant ball of flames.

  And thanks to one of their contacts, they had more trucks than that.

  Looking through a telephoto lens, the Arab smiled.

  He was paid top dollar to document everything, and so far no one suspected a thing.

  He had followed Fred Nasir to Taif Air Base, snapping dozens of pictures along the way. Candid shots that his boss would love. Nasir talking to the American soldiers. Nasir visiting Al-Gaim. Nasir driving into Mecca. And, finally, entering the tunnel near the mosque.

  His job was so easy it felt like stealing.

  That sentiment continued at the water facility. At first, he wasn't quite sure what to expect, worried that the isolation in the middle of the Meccan desert would pose a problem. But as it turned out, it was easier than expected. He covered himself with a tan blanket, matching the color of the surrounding terrain, and used a special lens that compensated for the darkness.

  He snapped pictures of Schmidt and his crew.

  All the fuel trucks as they rolled through the front gate.

  Everything he needed.

  More importantly, everything his boss required.

  Shari Shasmeen was obedient for one entire day. For her, it was a personal record.

  She knew she had promised Omar Abdul-Khaliq that she would stay away from the tunnel for the rest of the hajj, but the longer she sat in her hotel room, the more antsy she got. In her mind, her seclusion didn't make any sense. Why did it matter that two million people were going to be filling the streets of the old city? Her work was underground, far from prying eyes. If anything, she felt safer being in the tunnel than walking around Mecca, always worried that she was going to do or say something that would reveal her identity as a nonpracticing Muslim.

  On the other hand, she wasn't looking forward to being back in the tunnel with the lead guard. He had creeped her out from the very beginning. Something about the way he looked at her. The way he touched her hand when he tried to take her keys.

  It made her uneasy.

  Of course, she had handled gu
ys like him before. Mostly in bars, right after last call, when dozens of stray men roamed around looking for something to hump. She figured if she could handle them, she could handle him. Just to be safe, she carried a small vial of pepper spray that one of her colleagues had purchased at a Meccan bazaar and given to her in case more violence occurred. The irony was that she was more afraid of the guard than anyone he was supposed to be protecting the site from.

  Her hotel was a few miles from the tunnel, way too far for her to walk by herself, since the mutaween were out in full force, looking for Muslims who were celebrating the hajj in an inappropriate fashion. Thankfully, the same colleague who bought her the pepper spray was willing to drive her to the site and stay with her while she worked. Shari took him up on the former but refused the latter, realizing that his car would be trapped there all day once the pilgrims descended on the mosque. Her decision was made easier when she realized that the new guards, the men she wanted to avoid, were nowhere to be found.

  Normally, Shari would have been pissed. These guards were supposed to be there twenty-four hours a day, making sure everything was safe. Protecting her invaluable site.

  But on this night, she took their absence as a blessing.

  It meant she got to work alone.

  She said good-bye to her friend, then descended to the bottom of the tunnel, boards creaking as she walked. Her shadow danced on the floor every time she passed one of the bulbs that hung from above. They stayed lit around the clock, so she didn't have to flip any switches or turn on any generators. In fact, the site looked the same both night and day. Same lights. Same temperature. Same everything. That was one of the advantages of working underground. A constant she took comfort in. Outside, she always worried about the wind and the weather, which threatened her discoveries and wreaked havoc on her schedule.

  But inside, the environment was controlled. Perfect for (he precision of her work.

  Unfortunately, all of that was about to disappear.

  In a few hours, she would be surrounded by chaos.

  37

  Taif Air Base

  Taif, Saudi Arabia

  The flight was a long one, crossing China, India, and several other countries before touching down at Taif Air Base, only forty-one miles east of Mecca. Time zones worked in their favor, so they arrived in Saudi Arabia only a few hours on the clock after they left South Korea.

  It was still January 1. It was still before noon.

  In their minds, they still had time to make a difference.

  While in the air, Payne and Jones called Colonel Harrington and briefed him on Trevor Schmidt, the bloody cave, and a possible terrorist attack at the Great Mosque. They had kept him out of the loop long enough and realized Harrington's involvement was necessary if they had any chance of stopping Schmidt.

  At first, Harrington was skeptical. His top people had assured him that Schmidt was dead, proven by DNA results and the large amount of blood, but as he listened to the details of Yong-Su's testimony, he realized he was wrong. That Schmidt had deceived them all.

  Everyone except Payne and Jones.

  The revelation changed Harrington's perspective on their involvement. Until then, he had given them minimal information, forcing them to figure things out on their own, his way of testing them under fire while protecting the integrity of his original black op. He had given them access to the cave but refused to reveal its true purpose or whom Schmidt had taken there to torture. He allowed Payne and Jones to talk to Dr. Sheldon but had instructed him to keep his mouth shut about his real agenda. In Harrington's mind, he wanted to force Payne and Jones to use their own contacts, their own unique style, to uncover a nugget or two about Schmidt. Maybe color in some of the gray areas of Schmidt's operation that had bothered Harrington from the very beginning. But he never expected them to contribute like this.

  A jeep met the plane on the runway, picking up Payne, Jones, and Kia. They were taken to the same meeting room that Trevor Schmidt was sitting in when a bomb ripped through Al-Hada Hospital and killed most of his men. It was the incident that set things in motion, the event that had fueled his rage. Now they were there to stop him.

  Wearing desert camouflage and a stern expression, Colonel Harrington greeted them at the door and showed them to a conference table that was filled with other personnel from Taif. He offered no words of apology-colonels don't apologize to subordinates-but his gratitude told Payne everything he needed to know. They had earned the colonel's respect.

  "Gentlemen," said Harrington as he started the meeting, "we're currently waiting on word from Washington, but time is of the essence, so we need to begin."

  As he spoke, he glanced around the room, making eye contact with each person, letting them know the gravity of the situation and how vital their role was in stopping it. "In the past, we've received hundreds of reports of possible terrorist attacks, but to my recollection we've never received one like this. According to our sources, a team of American soldiers is planning an assault on Meccan soil. These men are highly trained and highly motivated to carry out such a mission. As of now, we don't have a definitive time frame. However, if their goal is maximum devastation, our best guess is it's going to be carried out today."

  That was news to Payne. "Based on what?"

  Harrington pointed to an older man, who wore a civilian shirt and tie, not a military uniform, like the other Taif personnel in the room. The man had white hair and dark skin, possibly indicative of Middle Eastern descent, although he spoke with no accent except when he used Arabic terms that rolled off his tongue with the fluidity of a native speaker.

  "Right now, we are in the middle of Dhul al-Hijjah, the most sacred month of the Islamic calendar. Translated into English it means Lord of the Pilgrimage. It is the time when Muslims converge on Mecca to complete the hajj, one of the five pillars of Islamic faith. It is a journey that all Muslims are expected to make during their lifetime."

  He tapped a few keys on the laptop in front of him, and a graphic listing the Islamic months was transmitted to a large video screen on the far wall. Everyone turned to get a better view.

  "Unlike the Gregorian calendar, the one we use in America, the Islamic calendar is lunar. It is roughly eleven days shorter than our calendar, meaning Islamic holidays are celebrated eleven days earlier than the previous year-at least according to our calendar. This year Dhul al-Hijjah started on December 23."

  Payne instantly recognized the date. It was the day that Schmidt faked his own death.

  It corresponded with the beginning of the hajj season.

  "You might be wondering, why is this date important?

  The answer is quite simple. The hajj is very structured. Pilgrims must perform specific tasks on specific days, or else they do not meet their sacred obligation. That means on any given day, at any given time, we know exactly where the majority of pilgrims would be."

  "How many are we talking about?" Jones asked.

  "According to the Ministry of Hajj, which just released official data, there are nearly two point four million pilgrims in Mecca this year, nearly one point seven million from countries other than Saudi Arabia."

  Click. A new graphic explained the pilgrimage, day by day.

  "The hajj itself doesn't begin until the eighth day of the month, when all pilgrims walk from Mecca to the village of Mina, a journey of five kilometers, where they spend the night in forty-four thousand fire-resistant tents that the Saudi government assembled. All of the tents are white, but signs are color-coded by nationality so pilgrims can stay with their own. For prayer and safety."

  "Define safety," Payne said.

  "The Saudis would love you to believe that the hajj is a safe journey, but that's misinformation. The truth is, several people die in Tent City every hajj. In the past, the biggest concern was always fire. Blazes swept through every year until they put up fire-resistant tents. Now the biggest issue is disease. All those people coming from all those countries and assembling in one spot? The numb
ers are mind-boggling. On average, there are more than fifty people sleeping in each tent."

  Click. A picture of Tent City filled the screen. White tents in straight rows stretched as far as the eye could see. Like snow-covered peaks in the desert sand.

  "From here, the hajj continues forward. But pilgrims will return to Tent City on their return trip to Mecca."

  Click. The next photo showed a massive plain that surrounded a granite hill.

  "Day two begins before dawn. They journey to the Plain of Arafat, where they ask Allah for forgiveness for all their sins. In the background you can see Mount Arafat. It is where Muhammad delivered his farewell sermon in 632 ad. Muslims also believe that Adam and Eve were reunited on this hill two hundred years after their separation, punishment for their disobedience."

  "You mean the Adam and Eve?" Payne asked.

  "One and the same. Most people find this surprising, but Muslims and Christians have many of the same core beliefs-including the same god. The confusing part is each group calls their figures a different name. Christians say God. Muslims say Allah. But it's the same deity. In fact, if you go through the Old Testament, you'll see several of the same names, albeit with different spellings, in the Qur'an. Adam, Eve, Abraham, Ishmael, Hagar, and so on."

  Harrington cleared his throat. "Professor, please get back on point."

  "Yes, sir." He clicked on the next photo. It showed a long stone wall that was surrounded by pilgrims, all of them dressed in white. "Today is the third day of the hajj. Pilgrims will perform ramy al-jamarat, or the stoning of the devil, after the noontime prayer. They are required to throw pebbles, which they collected last night at Muzdalifah, at three stone walls that represent the temptations of Satan. Until recently, they threw pebbles at large pillars called jamarat, but the crowds have grown so large in recent years that they decided to build long walls to spread the people out instead of having them crowd around pillars. In the past, hundreds have been trampled and killed."

  Next photo. It showed a slaughterhouse in Mina, filled with lambs, cows, camels, and goats.