Hassan held up the sword in both hands. "The cleansing is at hand. Here is the sign of the return of the Mahdi, praise upon him. He will lead the way. He will come with fire in one hand and mercy in the other. We must follow and prostrate ourselves before His glory."
Sabbah lifted the sword high. It glittered in the light from the camera. He drew the razor edge down his left arm. Blood stained the blade and dripped onto the floor.
"The blood of martyrs is a trail to Paradise. There is still time to pray, my brothers. Do not be afraid, for God is merciful. He knows the false from the true. He knows who is faithful and who is not. Go to the mosques. Purify yourselves with prayer. Wait for that which will come. As you believe, so shall you be received into Paradise or cast forever into the flames."
The light on the camera went out. Hassan rose and placed the sword through a sash around his robe.
"Transmit the tape, Jamal."
"Yes, Teacher."
Sabbah went over to the bomb. A flat, olive drab metal case lay on the floor under the window. He unlatched the lid and opened it. The bomb looked like a fat silver cylinder with a round, steel ball at one end. There was a control panel with a digital counter. Wires ran from one end of the panel to a battery and then out of sight into the container. A second battery was hidden below the first. The counter was active. A row of green digital zeros looked back at him.
Waiting.
The bomb was simple to arm. It had been designed for covert ops or a battlefield situation. The operator wasn't expected to know complex programming. Jamal had studied nuclear physics in Islamabad and knew his way around atomic devices and their electronics. It had been a simple matter to bypass the safety lockouts. The counter would tick off minutes and seconds and tenths of a second until detonation. All that was required was to set the desired time and start the timer. Jamal had linked the timer to the Atomic Clock in Colorado. It would count down to the exact instant of the eclipse with perfect accuracy.
Hassan-i-Sabbah entered the time the eclipse would begin: 3:42:08 P.M. He activated the timer. The readout went from green to red. The numbers blinked and began their descent toward zero.
Sabbah closed the lid.
"Are you afraid, Jamal?"
"Yes, Teacher. A little."
"You have been a good servant, Jamal. You are truthful. Allah is pleased with you. We will enter Paradise together."
Sabbah looked out the window at the towering city across the way.
"Paradise awaits us," he said.
CHAPTER SIXTY-NINE
The video went viral minutes after Al-Jazeera posted it. Elizabeth Harker watched with Stephanie. She watched Sabbah cut his arm, listened to his words, watched his eyes. Dead eyes. She looked at her watch. The time was 3:20 P.M. Twenty-two minutes and seconds to the solar eclipse. In her gut Elizabeth was sure Hassan would push the button at that exact moment.
"Freeze, Steph." Stephanie halted the video playback. The Manhattan skyline was clearly visible through the window.
"He's high up. He's got to be in an apartment near the team. Give me an angle across the river to the UN."
Stephanie manipulated her computer. A red line of sight appeared to the UN Plaza, interposed as if the wall and window behind Hassan did not exist. She entered commands, her fingers a blur on the keyboard. Green readouts appeared in a column on the left of the screen. A set of GPS coordinates blinked in red.
"Twelfth floor. He's on the twelfth floor, facing the river."
Elizabeth activated the radio link.
"Nick. We know where he is. Twelfth floor, one of those apartment complexes."
"Roger that. Which building?"
"The one on the left as you face east. I'll send NYPD for backup, I don't know how many. Don't get shot by mistake. You have less than twenty minutes to find him."
Nick looked up at the rows of windows.
"We're on it. Keep the link open."
"Roger. Good luck, Nick."
Elizabeth picked up her phone and dialed a number few people had. She prayed the man on the other end would answer.
"Yes."
"Mister President, this is Director Harker."
"Harker? I thought you were still in Bethesda."
"Yes, sir, I was. Now I'm back.” She glanced at her watch. "Sir, there is a nuclear device set to detonate in nineteen minutes, located near the UN on the other side of the river. You must evacuate immediately to the west. You must be at least three miles away for safety, farther if possible."
"A confirmed threat? Director, I am about to address the General Assembly."
"Mister President. That is not an option." Her voice left no room for argument. "This is a confirmed threat. My team is on the site as we speak."
Stephanie watched Elizabeth. She'd just told the President of the United States what to do.
"Very well. Keep me informed." Rice broke the connection.
"I wonder if he'll let the others know?"
"I don't know, Steph. He has to, I think."
"What if Sabbah finds out? Can he set it off then?"
"I don't know. Let's hope we don't find out."
CHAPTER SEVENTY
Carter spoke into his headset. "Twelfth floor, that building." He pointed. The team was spread out along the boardwalk. They ran. They reached the complex and Nick held up his hand, short of the entrance.
"How should we do this? Sabbah has to have people protecting him."
Monroe looked up. Rows of windows looked back.
Carter glanced at his watch.
Nineteen minutes.
"We have to go in quiet." Monroe gestured at the building.
Nick nodded. "Ronnie, elevator or stairs? I'd have people on both."
"The elevator is faster but it's exposed. Big ding when it reaches the floor. An open hallway. They'll have the floors covered and pick us off as soon as we step out. If they're there."
"They're there, count on it. We'll go with the stairs. I'll take point, Ronnie you next, then Selena. Lucas, guard our backs. Safeties off."
They pushed open the doors and ran into the lobby. Nick held up his ID with the gold badge as they came in. Behind the lobby desk a startled security guard stared open-mouthed at the guns. He got to his feet. He was around fifty. His belly protruded over his gun belt. Ex-cop, Nick figured. Could be good or bad. Nick watched his hand and hoped he didn't try for his gun. There wasn't time to argue.
"Federal agents," Nick told him. "There's a situation on the twelfth floor. In a few minutes this place will be full of cops. Tell them what we look like and send them up to twelve. Tell them there are armed hostiles. They may hear gunfire. Shut down the elevators now and tell them to use the stairs. And tell them not to shoot us."
"What…?"
"You got what I said? Just do it. Where are the stairs?"
"There." The guard pointed.
They sprinted across the lobby and opened the door to the stairwell. It should have been brightly lit. It wasn't.
The stairwell was open all the way to the roof. The stairs rose a half floor to a landing, then back and up to the next floor. The lights were out. The emergency lighting was out except for exit signs on each floor casting a soft red glow. There was just enough light to see by. There were dark patches of shadow. Anything could be in those shadows. Anything probably was.
Seventeen minutes.
They climbed, quick steps. Their footfalls echoed in the space. They passed the next floor. A large white number two was painted on the cement. There were closed entry doors on either side of the landing. They climbed past the next floor, numbered three.