Senator Charles Baker had kept a close eye on the news. Nothing. They were already beyond the 12-hour countdown. 6 a.m. EST. He didn’t know what it meant. Had they found the bomb and if not, why was there no news of mass evacuations? Surely they should at least attempt to minimize casualties. He called the number Ben had given him. He answered on the second ring.
“Ben, can you talk?
“Have to be quick but yes?” said Ben sounding out of breath. He shouted to somebody in the background. “Nope that cabinet first, then this one.” He came back. “Sorry.”
“Any news on the American bomb?”
“Nope, nothing at all, they’re still looking.”
“Christ, they haven’t even begun evacuating!” he exclaimed angrily.
“I’ll call you back.”
Ben hung up and called back ten minutes later. “I’ve just spoken to our Ambassador. They’re confident they’ll find it in time.”
“On what grounds?” questioned the Senator.
“Exactly,” agreed Ben. “I’ve instructed our embassy staff to evacuate all major consulates and Israeli offices across the eastern seaboard.”
“You know, Ben, I don’t get it. James Murphy almost had the info to find the boat and he was calling Russia at 4am in the morning.”
“Why Russia?”
“I’ve no idea. I just know that’s where his leads led him!”
The Senator could sense that Ben hadn’t heard him. Banging in the background had been followed by a couple of screams in Hebrew that he could only imagine were expletives.
“I’m sorry Charles, I need to go.”
Ben hung up, not that Charles could blame him. He had a country and four bombs to worry about, not just one city and one bomb. It did, however, mean one thing. He had to track down the same lead that Murphy had and he had about 11 hours to do it in. He spied Sam lying in the sun, drying off from an early morning swim and went to join him. He briefly recounted his chat with Ben. Sam reacted similarly. James Murphy was about to get the name of the ship. How could they not have tracked the same leads as him?
Both hit their phones. The one thing they did know was that Murphy had started his calls in England. After all, the story had been about the British navy.
Sam knew some guys in the SBS, the Special Boat Service, the marine equivalent of the better-known British SAS. Most, if not all, were ex-marines and in the UK, the Royal Marines were part of the Navy — it was the closest he could get to the Navy.
It was proving slow work. Neither Sam nor Charles had the knowledge or list of contacts around the world that James Murphy had. It was going to take some time.
Chapter 87
Ben was the last person left in the Knesset building; most had left at lunchtime to travel with their families. Ben had nobody to travel with. His only family were in America, safe in Texas. He closed his office door behind him and automatically began to lock it. He stopped himself mid turn. There was no point, the office was empty. All his papers had already gone. The building was quiet, something he had never experienced before. It wasn’t a nice silence, the eeriness was unnerving.
He picked up his briefcase and walked towards the exit. One lone guard waited for him. He nodded and shut the door behind Ben. Ben didn’t look back. The image of all that he had achieved in building the State of Israel was captured within that building. He didn’t want to remember it dark and desolate. His memories were of life and vitality. Ben’s car and driver awaited his arrival. The driver had no intention of hanging around and as soon as Ben closed the door, he pulled away. The drive to the airport initially confused Ben until he realized they were going to the new airport, a global hub for a new Jerusalem. That was the plan. Jerusalem was not meant to die. That had never been envisioned. Ararat had planned to place Jerusalem at the center of the world. The buildings that would spark a new life into one of the world’s most important and ancient cities sat empty. Ben could have cried as he sped past. His driver was unaware of Ararat, unaware of the greatness it would bring to Jerusalem. His driver was only aware of the danger that was upon them, the devastation that was scheduled to arrive just three short hours away.
As they neared the airport, Ben willed his cell phone to ring. The more he willed it, the more dead it seemed. He checked the signal, it was fine. Ahmed Hameed had obviously seen the past and not the future. Ben walked through the airport. Airplanes that had never touched Israeli soil queued to ferry his people away from danger. Emirates and Qatari jets joined Singapore and Thai Jets, Qantas, All Nippon and LAN Airways. Almost every country in the world had supplied their fleets, although unknowingly, to Israel. The solar flare was a story used to ground the airlines and free up the world’s jets for hire. How else could they move so many people so quickly? For months, Israeli Air Force pilots had retrained to fly the commercial aircraft of the world, Boeing 747’s, 777’s and every other type of Boeing, Airbuses, A380 to the A320. Every plane of any size that could be found had been leased, resurrected from mothballing and generally put to use. Over 2,000 aircraft had flown non-stop for the last two days from pretty much every strip of land capable of handling a jet.
Another ten jets were filled before the last jet pulled up to the gate. Ben and a few stragglers boarded. Many tears were shed as the plane, an EL AL Boeing 747, lifted off. It was the last plane of the night and Ben’s phone still remained silent.
Chapter 88
“I’ve got it!” screamed Sam.
“The name?” asked Charles hopefully.
“No, the link to Russia!”
“Oh,” the disappointment was loud and clear.
“No, I know who he called, we’re getting there!”
The Senator looked at the clock. There were less than three hours until midnight in Israel, 6pm EST. The time at which the bomb would go off. Even if they got the name of the boat, the chances of finding it now were almost nil.
Sam dialed the number and as he waited for an answer, he updated his brother. “It seems that the Russian Port of ArchangelSK had an RAF maintenance base. The comic book showed a British convoy heading to Russia and it seems that’s where they found some old equipment. The RAF guy reckons if there’s any old kit around, that’s where you’d find it. After the war, things did sour a little with our Russian allies!”
The phone eventually answered. “Da?”
“Hi…?” replied Sam before being interrupted.
“Don’t hang up this time! I got name you ask for,” replied the Russian shipyard owner.
Sam couldn’t believe his luck, the Russian thought he was James Murphy calling back.
“It’s the Sergey Vazlaz. Goodnight!” The Russian hung up, it was almost midnight in ArchangelSK.
Sam turned to his brother. “The Sergey Vazlav.”
“That’s it? Nothing else?”
“Nope, just the name.”
“Can you track ships?” asked the Senator.
“I have no idea but I know a woman who might!” Sam leaned out the window and called Rebecca in, bringing her up to speed.
“The answer is, in theory, yes. As long as they have a transponder, it’s just like aircraft really, they send a signal out and tell others where they are.”
