him in the vain hope that her beloved Conrad Yeats would come to the rescue. Midas doubted that. But just in case, he would keep her close.
'I see what Gellar thinks he's going to get out of this, Midas,' she said as they began to ascend the narrow stairwell. 'And I see what the Alignment is sure it will get out of this. But I don't see what you get out of blowing up the Dome of the Rock.'
'That's not what I'm blowing up, Sister Serghetti. I'm blowing up what is at the other end of the Gihon River, buried deep beneath us. The very Gate to Eden. The primordial waters of life itself. If you can live forever, you don't need heaven. You don't need God. Because you are a god.'
'You know, Lucifer had that problem. He confused himself with the Creator.'
Midas laughed, but then the steps started to shake from an explosion high above. He felt an elbow in his gut as Serena tried to push him down the steps. He recovered swiftly and gave her a blow across the face with his gun. She cried out in pain.
'I'm in control,' he hissed in her ear. 'Soon the world will know it.'
She said nothing in the dark, but he could hear her breathing.
He was pushing her forward when he heard a gunshot back at the Gihon. Then the voice of Conrad Yeats rang out.
'Vadim bit the big vitamin, Midas. I've got a deal for you: the Flammenschwert for Serena.'
53
Conrad stood dripping wet by the banks of the underground river. The Flammenschwert warhead he had retrieved from the water was on the stone platform next to Vadim's body. The timer was down to three minutes and counting.
How the hell am I going to deactivate this thing? he wondered as he began to unscrew the casing of the sphere with the blade of his knife. Then he thought better of it and stopped. Maybe all I have to do is keep this out of the water when it explodes.
He folded his knife, picked up his gun, and stood up as Midas emerged with Serena from a tunnel. Midas had one hand wrapped around Serena's throat and the other pointing a gun at her chest, using her like a shield.
'Drop the gun,' Midas said. 'Or I kill her.'
'Don't do it, Conrad. Shoot me and Midas both. Save the Temple Mount.'
Conrad saw the strength in her eyes. She was ready to die. But he wasn't ready for her to die. 'I can't lose you again.'
Midas smiled. 'Then you'll drop it.'
Conrad put his gun on the ground, reminding himself that all he had to do was keep Serena alive and the Flammenschwert out of the water.
'Kick the gun into the water,' Midas ordered.
Conrad gave it a swipe with his foot and it skidded to the edge of the river and stopped.
That was good enough for Midas, who said, 'Take the Flammenschwert and set it back into the water where it belongs. Hurry.'
'No, Conrad!' Serena shouted. 'If you do what Midas wants, you can kiss any hope of peace in the Middle East goodbye. Me, too. Let me go and save the world-for me.'
Conrad hesitated. Something had changed in her eyes.
'I understand, Conrad,' Serena said calmly as she put her hand on top of Midas's gun. 'Let me help you.'
She forced Midas's hand, and the gun exploded. She collapsed, exposing a stunned Midas as he staggered back a step and raised his gun to shoot Conrad.
'No!' Conrad shouted, diving for his gun and shooting Midas between the eyes. The bullet blew Midas's skull against the stone wall, killing him instantly.
Conrad ran to Serena. Her shirt was soaked in blood. It was pumping out of her chest.
'Oh, God, no.' He ripped the shirt open to see the bullet hole above her left breast. Right above her heart. 'No!'
He put his hands on the wound to try and stop the bleeding. Then he felt her hand on his and looked into her eyes. The light in them was fading.
'Take Uriel's sword, Conrad. Back to the King's Chamber. It can't explode in the water.'
'There's water seeping through the stones all over this place, Serena. Every chamber is like an empty oil drum. You can't tell me that it still won't ignite this river.'
'No, but the impact might not be so bad if it's not immersed.'
'I can't leave you.'
She shook her head. 'No time…'
'Serena,' he said, trying to lift her, but even more blood came out. 'I can't.'
'What's the clock say?'
He looked at the readout. 'Ninety seconds.'
'You know the Book of Revelation?' she said.
'I know,' he said. 'You read the ending. The Church wins.'
'No,' she said. 'God wins. There is no Church in the New Jerusalem. No temples or mosques, either. Just God and his people.'
'That's great,' said Conrad. 'But what do I do in the meantime without you?'
She didn't answer. Her body was limp.
'Serena!' he said, shaking her. 'Serena!'
He looked at the timer on the Flammenschwert: 57 seconds…56 seconds…
He wiped his hands, lifted the device, and then took off with it for the shaft. At the bottom of the steps, he looked back and saw Serena's lifeless body on the floor of the river cave.
Four granite slab doors inside the King's Chamber were already beginning to drop by the time Conrad reached the armillary globe and placed the Flammenschwert inside. He barely slipped under the falling slab into the Gihon shaft before it shut. Then he ran back down the steps to Uriel's Gate. The timer started to beep at the thirty-second count…29 seconds…28 seconds…
He burst past the pillars into the cave. Serena's body lay on the banks where he'd left her. He collapsed next to her, pulling her into his arms.
'I stopped him,' he told her, though he knew she couldn't hear him. He looked at the hole above her blood- soaked breast and wept. 'Oh, God, no. Please, no.'
He lifted her into his arms and carried her to the torrent, the beeping of the timer counting down audibly to zero. A terrific quake shook the entire Temple Mount as the Flammenschwert exploded in the upper chamber. Chunks of rock began to fall around him, making huge splashes in the river.
Holding Serena in his arms, he jumped into the rushing waters as flames burst out of the Gihon shaft. Sheets of fire flickered like waves in the air above the river, illuminating Serena's face as if she were an angel beneath the surface.
As the current carried them both away, Conrad kissed her goodbye with his last breath. The river sucked them down a dark tunnel. He tried to hold on to her, but her hand slipped away. He shouted out to her in the water, but then his head hit a rock and everything went black.
54
