“It appears that you are making remarkable strides, as you did to receive the Nobel Prize honor, too.”
Marcus said nothing, waiting for Levy to tell him what he wanted.
“May I call you Paul?”
“Yes.”
“Please, call me Nathan. I imagine that a man of your intellect could do almost anything he engaged his mind to do. You have certainly proven that. In all my years, if there’s one thing that I’ve found to be a constant is that intellect alone is like a boat on top of the water. The engine, the thing that propels a person is the drive — often the entrepreneurial shrewdness required to lessen the drag that can cling to a vessel. Your code breaking effort in medicine is a colossal example of that drive, that quality.”
A customer entered the small café and ordered from the counter. Levy sipped his coffee. “Why are we here?” Marcus asked.
“An old friend of mine, Andy Jenkins, was once stationed in Tel Aviv by your government for almost two decades. I was hoping he would eventually retire here. However, his last three years were in Saudi Arabia before retiring in Washington. We often sat in this café, at this very table, and talked about the world in which we live. Andy was injured in a car crash near the West Bank. For years after, he still walked with a limp. He understood the emotional state of the Middle East, and he identified with the soul of Israel. Our tiny nation is and always will be a target. For centuries, we were always the moving targets. But not up until now, this very time, have we ever faced possible complete annihilation as a country and potentially as a people.”
“Are you suggesting a feasible nuclear threat?”
“The Iranians are dangerously close to having nuclear bomb capabilities. Once they do, they will continue their output until they have an arsenal large enough to rein terror, not just on Israel, but the world. Because, Paul, they are not alone.”
“Why are you telling me this?”
“You may be the one person who can stop or greatly delay their nuclear efforts.”
“Is this why I was really brought over here, to help Israel fight Iran?”
“It’s not a fight. It is a chessboard with global consequences. Perhaps you will find a needle in the proverbial haystack with the Bible codes and that Newton matter. In the meantime, Iran, Syria, and the Hamas threats aren’t simply going to fade like smoke. What I’m about to tell you is extremely confidential. Only a handful of people know. However, in good faith, we feel that to show you our sincerity, to give you a look at the future, we need to share the past with you. Will you promise me that the information I share with you in this corner spot will go no further than this table? If it does, we will soon know it.”
“I’m not sure I want to hear it, but my answer is yes.”
“Good.” Levy smiled, glanced out the window toward the Western Wall and turned back to Marcus. “You’d questioned Jacob about the killing of the Syrian, Abdul Hannan. He was removed because he was an agent for Iran, and the information he was about to deliver from North Korea’s nuclear operation would have greatly advanced the Iranian nuclear bomb effort.”
“Look, Nathan, I’m not a covert field operative. I’m a scientist, not—”
“You are the best in the world at encryption. Maybe in your decoding of the Bible you came across the story of Esther. The Old Testament story tells the tale of how the Persians developed a plot to destroy the Jews. Queen Esther prevented it. Her birth name was Hadassah, which means myrtle in Hebrew. The myrtle flower is as much a part of Israel as the Sea of Galilee. The ongoing code name for Israel’s defense against a nuclear attack is Myrtus. The worm we are using, Myrtus, is unique to Windows; and we believe it will include the capacity to reprogram the brain, the programmable logic control boards in the computers controlling Iran’s nuclear research. We believe Myrtus can be programmed to disguise, hide and bury the changes so they are not found. However, we could greatly use your help with the encoding. You’d be working with some of the very brightest people in the world. It seems the kind of challenge a scientist of your intellect would love to undertake. You would be very well compensated for the rest of your life. We’ve reached a point, a tipping point, where we need expertise like yours to add features to the worm we know needs to be in place.”
“Look, I appreciate the vote of confidence, but no thanks. That’s not the reason I’m here.”
“Yes it is.”
Marcus was silent for a second. “So it’s all been a deception. You bring me over here under the pretense of decoding Isaac Newton’s papers, and all along you really wanted me to code a cyber-attack against your enemy? To hell with that!”
“Look, Paul, Bible codes and all that Isaac Newton material are like the Dead Sea Scrolls — dead. It’s ancient history. I’m talking about the immediate and the future, the future of Israel and perhaps many more nations. Your time would be better served if—”
“If what! I may have been deceived in the reason I’m here, maybe you forged my name in Newton’s papers…but by default I’ve found something greater than a cyber-attack. By the way, the Book if Esther is the only one not found in the Dead Sea Scrolls. I’m not interested in your proposal.”
Levy wrote a number down on a business card that was blank. “Here, take this. It is a private number. I’m the only one who will answer it. Let me know if you change your mind.”
“I can’t help you.” Marcus stood to leave.
“You know, at one time the Persians developed a plot to destroy the Jews. What plot could destroy Israel or perhaps even America? Esther never revealed she was Jewish. Does that sounds like you, Paul? Perhaps you will do as she did and rise up to stop this threat before its deadly consequences are known.”
FIFTY
Marcus walked north on El Wad HaGai Street through the Old City, heading toward Via Dolorosa. He thought about the conversation he’d had with Nathan Levy. Why was this happening? Why now and in this place? The vibration of the phone in his pocket disrupted his thoughts. He reached for the cell and read the incoming text: We must meet. It is urgent — tonight. Layla.
Marcus stared at the words across the screen, the sounds of a siren in the distance, the faint pop-pop-pop of gunfire like fireworks out of season. How did she get my number? His phone buzzed in his hand. It was Alicia. “Okay, Paul, I have some information. Eisenhower had ordered Patton to return the Spear of Destiny, AKA, the Holy Lance, and the other religious artifacts back to from where Hitler had stolen them.”
“Where was that?”
“Vienna. The Hofburg Museum.”
“When was the spear returned?”
“It says January 7, 1946.”
“When was it taken from Hitler?”
“About eight months prior…right before he committed suicide on April thirtieth, 1945. Our Army took possession of it in the name of the U.S. government on that date, around 2:10 p.m. Eighty minutes later, Hitler shot himself in the head.”
“So, if it was returned to the museum in January 1946, General Patton had possession of the spear for a few months.”
Alicia lowered her voice. “Apparently so…but what’s the significance?”
Marcus paused, watching the changes of color on the Western Wall, the setting sun painting the old stone wall in shades of burgundy. “It means Patton could have become very used to carrying that thing around before he was ordered to return it. In that time, Patton could have had a replica made and replaced the real thing with it.”