David was a CIA agent operating deep inside Iran in the midst of a cataclysmic war, the worst in modern Middle Eastern history. She didn’t know exactly where in Iran he was, of course, or exactly what he was doing, but did that really matter at this point? Every minute of every hour could bring a death sentence. He was in God’s hands, of course, and that, she believed, was the safest place to be. But who was to say that the Lord wouldn’t allow David to die? She was praying for his safety, but she knew all too well that sometimes God said no.
Knowing the truth about David was a burden that fell heavily upon Marseille’s shoulders. She was grateful that Dr. Shirazi knew too. It created a solidarity between them. But it didn’t change the fact that she might never see David again, and that was a truth she wasn’t certain she could bear.
After so many years, so much distance, so much silence, she had finally reached out to David Shirazi and asked to see him again. To her shock, he’d said yes, and she’d loved every second in his presence. He wasn’t a boy anymore. He had truly grown into a man.
Of course, being with David was impossible. He wasn’t a believer, as far as she knew. She could never join her life with someone who hadn’t given his heart to Christ. Still, there was no denying how she felt. She couldn’t describe how good, how safe she had felt when he’d embraced her after their too-brief visit. She could still feel his warm breath on her cheek, and it made her shiver. She couldn’t say such things to his father, of course. Still, she wanted to tell someone. But whom? Her mother was gone. Her father was gone. Lexi was far away. She didn’t have anyone to confide in, and even if she did, she had given her word not to say anything about David’s real work, which made knowing all the more painful.
17
“You said there was another prophecy about Iran,” Ali noted.
“There is,” Dr. Birjandi said. “Turn in the Old Testament to the book of Ezekiel, chapters 38 and 39.”
Birjandi then proceeded to walk them through a series of prophecies he said was widely known as the War of Gog and Magog. They revealed an apocalyptic showdown against Israel and the Jewish people that would be led by a nation called Magog. “There are quite a few clues that make it clear the nation referred to as Magog is modern-day Russia,” Birjandi said, “including the writings of Flavius Josephus, a Roman historian. But what’s critical for us to understand is Ezekiel 38:5. What is the first country mentioned that will form an alliance against Israel?”
“Persia,” Ibrahim said.
“Exactly,” Birjandi confirmed. “The ancient prophecies speak of a Russian-Iranian alliance sometime in the future. To many scholars, this has seemed very odd, given that for most of the last several thousand years, the Russians and we Iranians have never had such an alliance. Indeed, the leaders of these countries have hated each other. Until 1943, the Russians occupied parts of northern Iran. Under Khomeini, we prayed for Allah to bring judgment upon the heathen, godless, atheist Communists in the Kremlin. But then what happened? We suffered through eight years of the war with Iraq. We had lots of oil money but desperately needed new weapons. The Soviet Union imploded, and the Russians suddenly had lots of weapons but desperately needed money. Sure enough, in the mid nineties, Iran started buying weapons from Moscow. When Vladimir Putin came to power in 2000, we started buying even more weapons. When Hosseini and Darazi rose to power, we hired the Russians to help us build our first nuclear power plant and other nuclear facilities. They sold us nuclear materials and trained our nuclear scientists. Today, as you well know, we’ve developed military, diplomatic, and economic ties between our two countries, just as Ezekiel 38 suggests will happen.”
Birjandi explained that the prophecies indicated that this Russian-Iranian alliance would also draw more nations. Ancient Cush, he said, was modern Sudan. Put was modern Libya and Algeria. Gomer was modern-day Turkey, and Beth-togarmah he described as a group of other countries in the Caucasus and Central Asia, all with Muslim majorities or strong Muslim minorities, that would come together under Russian leadership intending to attack Israel and plunder the Jewish people.
“Now, look at 38:16,” the aging scholar said. “When does God say this war is going to happen?”
Ali read the verse. “‘It shall come about in the last days that I will bring you against My land.’”
“Precisely,” Birjandi said. “So this is clearly an End Times prophecy. It’s future-oriented, not something that has already happened.”
“So who wins this apocalyptic Russian-Iranian war with Israel?” asked Ibrahim.
“Short version?” Birjandi said. “Not us.”
Without preamble, the Israeli Air Force launched a massive new air campaign against Hezbollah positions in southern Lebanon. The first wave of fighter jets targeted Hezbollah command centers, communications facilities, missile pads, rocket launchers, arms depots, and Lebanese military bases. The next wave took out bridges over the Litani River, roads, tunnels, and other transportation infrastructure, all designed to cut off — or at least hobble — resupply efforts from the north.
Hundreds of Merkava Mark IV battle tanks — the most advanced in the IDF arsenal — soon began crossing the border into Lebanon, clearing mines and laying down withering fire against stunned Hezbollah forces, who for days had been told by their commanders that the Zionists were too cowardly to attack them. Racing across the frontier, backed up by artillery units and a massive deployment of Israeli reserve infantrymen, the Israelis gained ground faster than expected, demolishing any home, farm, factory, or mosque where rocket launchers or arms were being used or stored.
Simultaneously, Israeli tanks, armored personnel carriers, and special forces units punched into Gaza as well, initially encountering fierce resistance but responding with overwhelming force that soon crushed the front lines of the Hamas and Islamic Jihad fighters and caused them to scatter and regroup deeper in Gaza City.
Levi Shimon provided the prime minister with fresh updates over a secure e-mail system every fifteen minutes, but Naphtali’s initial questions were not so much about the progress being made in Lebanon and Gaza but about whether there was any sign that Syria was getting into this fight. Thus far, the answer was no. Yet the prime minister and Shimon still couldn’t understand why.
The Syrians had signed pacts with the Iranians and with Hezbollah. They were legally and morally obligated to fight. And Shimon had no illusions about just how lethal the Syrian threat was. Damascus had long ago embarked on an aggressive program to develop and stockpile large amounts of chemical weapons such as sarin gas, VX, and mustard gas. The Mossad had identified at least five facilities in Syria that were producing these deadly chemicals and had solid evidence that the Russians had helped the Syrians become fully capable of launching such weapons against Israel by aircraft, missiles, and artillery shells.
Yet something was holding the Syrians back. Yes, Naphtali and Shimon had sent Mustafa warnings through numerous intermediaries, not just the British ambassador. They had also passed word through the king of Jordan, through the U.N. secretary-general, and through the French foreign minister. Yet the silence was unnatural. Syrian missiles were not being unleashed on Israel thus far. Nor were Syrian tanks or artillery units engaging IDF forces on high alert in the Golan Heights. Something was wrong. Mustafa and the Syrian high command were up to something. Prime Minister Naphtali sensed it. It was why he kept asking questions. But Shimon had no answers, and as he opened his third pack of cigarettes since midnight, his mind raced to figure out the mystery before his country was blindsided by an evil they didn’t see coming.