followed by the diluvial slosh as the toppling tank ruptured when it hit the ground, releasing thousands of gallons of water.
He watched as figures jammed the mess hall's doorway just in time to watch the pyrotechnic display of what Lang guessed had been a fuel storage facility erupting in a greasy orange-and-black firestorm.
Men were outside the mess hall now, some firing Uzis blindly toward the conflagration, believing they were under attack by their Arab neighbors. Others screamed for firefighting equipment, which, Lang guessed, would be quite useless with the loss of the water supply.
The general impression was like kicking over an anthill.
Lang positioned himself beside the door of the building in whose shadows he had been waiting.
Two men carrying Uzis, Alicia's guards, stepped outside. The noise of general pandemonium as well as the roar of the flames devouring the shed made it impossible to hear what was said, but it was obvious they were as surprised as their comrades in the mess hall.
Lang stepped into the doorway behind them so that, should anyone look this way, the two would block sight of him. The SIG Sauer was in his hand. 'This way, gentlemen.'
They whirled, one beginning to raise his weapon until he saw the muzzle of Lang's pistol only inches from his forehead.
This sect might well be fanatics but they weren't suicidal.
Both men slowly raised their hands, and Lang took both Uzis before returning his automatic to the holster in the small of his back.
With one machine gun under his left arm, he pulled the bolt back on the other just far enough to make sure the weapon had a shell in the chamber and was ready to fire.
He gestured inside. 'If you will, gentlemen, please. After you.'
What he saw stopped him cold.
He had entered what he supposed was the main room, off of which there were one or two smaller ones. It was bare except for a rough wooden table and a pair of bentwood chairs. Alicia sat in one. Next to her was a small man with the side curls and beard of the orthodox Jew, like the men Lang had seen at the kibbutz. He held one of those massive Desert Eagles to her head.
'Lang!' She gasped in surprise.
'Ah, Mr. Reilly! I've been waiting for you,' the man with the pistol said in slightly accented English. 'I was beginning to fear you were unable to put all the clues together and were not coming.'
The Uzi relied more on rate of fire than accuracy. Trying to shoot the man with the gun to Alicia's head, he: was just as likely to hit her. Even if not, there was no guarantee the man couldn't pull the trigger before he died.
Lang put both Uzis down on the table. 'Sorry to keep you waiting. You are Mr. Zwelk?'
The man nodded as he gestured to the two guards, who began a none-too-gentle search of Lang's person. 'Quite correct. I must confess a small disappointment you didn't find me sooner.'
Lang held up his arms as he was patted down. One man tugged the SIG Sauer free and placed it on the table. 'Trust me, I came as quickly as I could.'
'Lang,' Alicia began, 'this man-'
Zwelk silenced her with a glare. 'If you want out of this alive, you would be wise to remain quiet.'
'You have no intent of either of us leaving here,' Lang stated.
Zwelk gave a chilly smile, nodding his head toward the flickering shadows caused by the flames outside. 'I certainly have just cause if I choose not to let you live.'
'But why…?' Alicia asked.
'Because Mr. Reilly is in a position to release a secret, one that could do my people great harm.'
'Why don't you let your government decide that?' Lang asked.
Zwelk wrinkled his nose in disgust. 'Government!' he spit. 'The government is nothing but a harlot, prostituting itself for this interest and that. The government of the state of Israel was originally intended to be of the Jewish state. But what has it become? A society of material greed rather than Zionism!'
'I thought all Jews are welcome-the zealot, the conservative, as well as those who are Jewish by birth, if not particularly religious.'
Zwelk curled a lip in disgust. 'Not religious? Israel was to be a nation of religion!'
'Like your friends the Arabs? You would have a clerical rather than secular state?'
Agency training: Keep your opponent talking; delay as long as possible.
Zwelk snorted. 'Like the ever-materialistic, antireligious United States? No, Mr. Reilly, there are those of us who have higher hopes for our nation. A nation, by the way, to which you pose a great danger. The force your institution has found could be the ultimate weapon.'
'I'd guess it already is-was long before I came along. Besides, you're not referring to the powers of the Ark,' Lang said. 'You know that as well as I do.'
Alicia's puzzled voice interrupted. 'Lang, what are you two talking about?'
Zwelk paid her no attention. 'Ignoring the weapon's potential? Really? He stroked his beard, a gesture that Lang guessed was more habit than conscious gesture. 'Then what exactly do you think I'm talking about?'
'The Book of Jereb, those scrolls you took after you had Professor Shaffer murdered in Vienna. It wasn't what was said about the Ark; it was what was said about Moses and the Israelites. That's what you want to remain a secret.'
Alicia had been turning her head as each man spoke. 'What power? What Book of Jereb?'
This time it was Lang who didn't respond to her question for the moment. 'How did you know the copy of Jereb had been found?'
'We knew it was buried somewhere among the medieval manuscripts at Melk. We couldn't just walk in and rummage through them. So, when the abbey decided to sort them out, create a computer index, we simply hired someone to keep a close watch. We never dreamed that man Steinburg would actually reproduce a copy of the book and send it to his cousin. By the time our man at Melk told us what had happened, it was too late.'
'You kidnapped me and are threatening to kill us over some medieval manuscript?' Alicia asked incredulously.
Lang didn't break eye contact with Zwelk. 'Not just any manuscript. This was a copy of a much older one, an alternative to the Book of Exodus.'
'I still don't understand.'
'This book, like Exodus, states that Moses was an Egyptian. It went further, telling of a king deposed because he was monotheistic-put the priests of the various gods out of work, as it were. But it went on. The Israelites were Egyptians, too, Egyptian believers in a single god, not Jews. Mr. Zwelk figured that anyone researching superconductors similar to the Ark might be lead to the Book of Jereb or come across the real story: that Egyptians, not Jews, wandered in the desert and settled in what is now Israel. He couldn't take that risk, so he had everyone connected to that research killed.'
Alicia was clearly perplexed. 'So, what does that have to do with
…?'
'Our friend Zwelk here wants to make sure no word of the Israelites'true origins gets out to the world at large. See, if the Israelites were not Jews, but Egyptians, Arabs-'
Zwelk interrupted. 'The state of Israel cannot afford to have the legitimacy of its claim to Palestine disputed, particularly by the Muslim world. It is the land promised to my people by their God.' 'Not unless your people happen to be Egyptians,' Lang observed.
Zwelk's face screwed into a scowl. 'And that, Mr. Reilly, is why you won't be leaving.'
Alicia gave Lang a frightened look.
'Don't worry,' he said. 'He isn't going to-'
He stopped in midsentence.
The three men in the room had heard it, too: the distinctive thump of helicopters in flight.
'Whoever that is,' Zwelk announced, 'I assure you they are too late to be of help to you.' He reached for Lang's SIG Sauer on the table. 'They will find that you shot your lady friend here in an attempt to kidnap her from the hospitality of our community.'
'Won't work, Zwelk,' Lang said, mentally measuring his chances of successfully lunging across the table.
