‘If by “the rest” you mean weapons, I would rather not know,’ Seretse said with another sigh.
‘I appreciate it, Oswald,’ Nina told him. ‘I don’t know if we’ll be able to find the place, though. There’s still an awful lot of ground to cover.’
‘I might be able to narrow it down,’ said Rothschild, looking up from the Bible.
Nina went to her. ‘What have you found?’
‘The line describing the Woman of the Apocalypse as being “clothed by the sun”. I just had an idea about what that might mean.’
‘What is it?’ Eddie asked.
‘Dophkah — Timna, as it’s now known — has been a source of copper for millennia. In some places, the copper veins were so rich, they were even visible on the surface.’
‘Like the old silver mines we saw in Egypt on the way to the Pyramid of Osiris,’ Nina said to Eddie, remembering a similar find.
‘Accessibility is also an issue with mining, though,’ Rothschild went on. ‘There are places high up where the copper can be seen in the rock but it would be almost impossible to mine, so it’s still there. I’ve seen examples myself, and they’re quite spectacular in the right lighting. Such as at sunrise,’ she concluded, with meaning. ‘The copper seams reflect the dawn light, and the rock seems to glow like the sun itself.’
‘“Clothed with the sun”,’ Nina said quietly. ‘You think that could be what Revelation means?’
‘I personally wouldn’t want to commit an expedition merely on a possibility, but,’ she gave Nina a look of grudging admiration, ‘your career has been built on wild, crazy gambles, and I have to admit that it’s more than paid off for you.’
‘Why thank you, Maureen,’ replied Nina thinly. ‘But if you were to take a wild, crazy gamble, would you suggest looking for sites facing either due east or due west to catch the sun?’
‘Due east is more likely,’ said Rothschild. ‘The dawn has far more symbolic importance to ancient religions than sunset. But I’m sure you knew that already.’
‘Yes. I did.’
The two archaeologists exchanged frosty smiles, then Rothschild nodded. ‘But… good luck anyway, Nina.’
‘Thanks,’ she replied, before giving the older woman a quizzical look. ‘Can I ask you something, Maureen?’
‘What?’
‘You still don’t like me. So why did you agree to help Eddie find me?’
Rothschild seemed reluctant to answer, so Eddie stepped in. ‘For the baby,’ he told Nina. ‘A baby shouldn’t suffer because of its parents. That’s what you said, right, Maureen? Especially an unborn one.’
His wife was taken by surprise. ‘That’s… Maureen, thank you so much,’ she said, this time with genuine gratitude.
Rothschild hesitated again before speaking. ‘There was a little more to it, actually,’ she admitted. ‘You’re having a child. It’s a great gift, maybe the greatest. I, ah…’ Her voice lowered. ‘I was going to have one, once. But… he never came to term.’
‘My God,’ said Nina. ‘I’m sorry. I had no idea.’
‘It was a long time ago. But I still think about what might have been…’ A moment of sad reflection, then she looked back at the couple. ‘I wish you all the best with the baby — and with what you’re about to do. I hope you find the last angel.’
‘So do I,’ said Nina. ‘Because I’ve seen what’ll happen if we don’t.’
24
‘Colonel Brik,’ said Cross with a smile, shaking hands with the Israeli officer. ‘Meshulam, my old friend.’
‘Ezekiel,’ Brik replied. ‘It is good to see you again.’ He looked up as a second passenger emerged from the jet — another man he recognised, though in this case not from any personal encounters. ‘Wait, that is—’
‘President Dalton is not officially here,’ the former CIA operative told him. ‘This visit is… off the record.’
The Israeli nodded. ‘Our mutual friend in Tel Aviv said you were travelling with someone important. But this I did not expect!’
Dalton stepped down on to the concrete, already looking uncomfortable. The temperature at Ovda airport — a small civilian terminal that shared runways with the sprawling military base to the east — was not excessively hot at this time of year, but the morning air was extremely dry and dusty, stinging his eyes.
‘Mr President, this is Colonel Meshulam Brik,’ Cross told him. ‘Colonel, it’s my honour to introduce President Victor Dalton.’
Brik offered his hand. ‘Pleasure to meet you, Colonel,’ said Dalton, giving him a firm but brief shake. He surveyed his surroundings. The airbase was located on a long plain, crumpled mountains rising to the east and west. ‘Kind of an isolated facility you have here.’
‘We do not mind,’ Brik replied. ‘When your country has enemies on all sides, it is best to keep your defences far from their eyes.’
‘I guess so,’ said Dalton, nodding politely. ‘Although Egypt,’ he waved to the west, ‘and Jordan,’ another flick of the hand in the opposite direction, ‘aren’t your enemies right now.’
The Israeli gave him a somewhat patronising smile. ‘Mr President, Israel has only one true friend in the world — the United States. Everyone else either is or could be our enemy. We are prepared for all possibilities.’
‘Well, we’re glad to be Israel’s friend. And I promise you I’ll do everything in my power to make our relationship even stronger.’
‘Thank you, Mr President,’ said Brik. He glanced at the plane as more people emerged, Simeon and Anna leading the group. Cross had already sent a team to Antigua’s airport before evacuating the Mission; the expedition now numbered ten in total. ‘There is a helicopter ready for you, as requested. The facilities of my base are at your disposal — if you need food or sleep, we can give you whatever you need.’
Dalton looked about to take him up on the offer of sleep, but Cross spoke first. ‘Thanks, but we’re ready to go. We’ve got a lot of ground to cover.’
‘Of course.’ Brik nodded. ‘Still dedicated to duty and secrets, Ezekiel? You have not changed.’ He raised his voice to be heard over the roar of a helicopter gunship taking off from the base. ‘You will have free access to Israeli airspace in this region, along with complete discretion from myself and all my men. You also have my personal assurance that you will receive whatever help you need.’
‘That’s much appreciated, Colonel,’ said Dalton.
Cross shook Brik’s hand again. ‘Thanks for this, Meshulam.’
Brik shrugged. ‘I owe you a favour, my friend. All I ask is that one day, you tell me what all this is about.’
The American smiled. ‘Don’t worry. I guarantee you’ll know soon.’
A few hours later, and some twenty miles to the south, another business jet landed in Israel, this one at the commercial airport of Eilat at the northernmost tip of the Gulf of Aqaba. Its occupants were as tired following the lengthy transatlantic flight as Dalton had been, but their journey had been more productive.
‘So we know where to look,’ Nina said with a yawn as the flight attendant opened the hatch and lowered the stairs. ‘We’ve got four possible locations for the Place in the Wilderness.’ She had used the IHA’s extensive databases en route to search for places where the terrain matched her theory: an area of high, inaccessible land featuring both a narrow passage and a sinkhole, with current or exhausted copper deposits. Even with the assistance of a computer program, it had been a tiring task.
‘Assuming you and Rothschild were right,’ Eddie said, donning his battered black leather jacket.