contemplative silence before he finally said, ‘My guess is that MacFarlane has used a simple alphanumeric substitution cipher. Since his flash message was intended for mass consumption, I doubt if he would employ too elaborate a code.’
‘The old KISS rule, huh?’ Seeing C?dmon’s quizzical expression, she smiled. ‘As in “Keep it simple, stupid.”’
C?dmon chuckled. ‘Let’s hope we’re right. Employing the KISS rule, I suggest we consecutively number each letter and punctuation mark in MacFarlane’s diatribe.’
Using a pencil, he carefully wrote out the ‘The Warrior’s Diary’ text on a sheet of paper. He then sequentially numbered each letter and punctuation mark.
While C?dmon busied himself with the cipher, Edie glanced nervously around, the ship’s internet computer set up in the very public club room. A few tables away a middle-aged quartet played cards. From the cigarette butts overflowing the table’s only ashtray, she guessed that they had been playing for some time. About twenty feet away, a well-dressed older man and his much younger male companion were huddled together in front of a soft- drink machine. And on the other side of the club room a harried mother openly breastfed her infant.
‘I’ll have you know that this is the same cipher that won you Yanks your independence, the words “revolution” and “patriot” being dead giveaways.’
Her eyes opened wide. ‘You’re kidding, right?’
‘Not in the least. Created by Benjamin Franklin, this particular alphanumeric cipher was used to code messages between the Continental Congress and sympathetic French diplomats. Would you like to do the honours?’ C?dmon offered her the pencil.
Taking the implement, Edie first glanced at the alphanumeric chart that he had created from MacFarlane’s web page.
Then she glanced at the list of numbers from the text message: 105-13-95-39-17-35-90-63-123-51-20-98-34 -27-43- 110-87-71-41-9-54-2-120.
‘Wish me luck.’
C?dmon having done all the work, it only took a few moments for her to write out the deciphered message: ‘
Neither of them said anything, Edie not altogether sure what, if anything, the message meant.
‘The Dome of the Rock is the big gold-leafed Islamic shrine that sits on top of the Temple Mount, right?’
‘The most famous silhouette on the Jerusalem skyline,’ he confirmed, Edie able to detect a husky catch in his voice.
‘MacFarlane’s message means something to you, doesn’t it?’
Still staring at the decoded message, C?dmon nodded slowly. ‘I now know why Stanford Mac-Farlane and all of his men wear the Jerusalem cross ring. As you no doubt recall, the Jerusalem cross was the symbol adopted by the medieval crusaders when they conquered the Holy City in 1099.’ The entire time he spoke, he stared at the decoded message.
‘And why do you think that’s significant?’ she prodded, not altogether certain she wanted to know the answer.
‘Because Jerusalem was theirs for less than a hundred years, the Muslims under Saladin retaking the city in 1187.’ Suddenly resembling a sad-faced crusader from a medieval woodcut, C?dmon turned his head and looked at her. ‘I think MacFarlane has taken up the crusaders’ cause.’
‘What cause?’
‘Like the medieval crusaders, MacFarlane and his men intend to conquer the Holy City, and their first target is the Dome of the Rock.’
Edie’s jaw dropped. ‘When? How?’
‘I have no idea as to how. As to when, it seems they intend to attack on the Islamic holy day of Eid al-Adha. Which this year, unless I’m greatly mistaken, falls on December the eighth.’
‘But that’s only two and a half days away.’
79
‘Giving us very little time.’
As he spoke, C?dmon was acutely, painfully, aware of the play of opposites. Good and evil. Love and hate. Life and death.
‘So are you saying that MacFarlane intends to destroy the Dome of the Rock on December the eighth?’
‘It does fit in with all his apocalyptic posturing. And there’s a certain irony in his selection of the day, Eid al- Adha being the Muslim day of sacrifice, commemorating the day when Abraham intended to sacrifice his beloved son Ishmael to prove his love to Allah. The Dome of the Rock marks the precise location of where the sacrifice was to have taken place. It is also the spot where the Prophet Muhammad ascended to heaven. Making the Dome of the Rock the third-holiest site in all of Islam.’
‘Right behind Mecca and Medina.’
He nodded, staggered by MacFarlane’s dark vision.
‘Maybe we need to pull back a bit. I mean, the encrypted message doesn’t specifically mention anything about
‘But MacFarlane did unequivocally state that he intends to install the Ark of the Covenant in the newly constructed temple,’ he countered. ‘And it’s surely no coincidence that the Dome of the Rock sits on the very spot where Solomon’s Temple once stood.’
‘Solomon’s Temple?’ Edie gave him a long wordless stare, her pupils contracting into microdots. ‘Oh God… I didn’t know,’ she murmured. ‘That changes everything.’
‘The terrible thing about the truth is that sometimes you find it. Since the Temple Mount is a holy site for the three major religions of the world, over the centuries it has been one of the most fought-over pieces of land anywhere.’ The history of the Temple Mount was a fantastical tale almost too violent to be believed.
‘I know that in 1967, during the Six Day War, the Israelis captured the Temple Mount.’
‘That’s right. Although in an attempt to placate the Muslims, the Israelis permitted a
‘So while the Israelis have sovereignty over it, the Muslims retain control.’
‘And, as you undoubtedly know, this arrangement has been a source of contention for several generations.’ A heaviness in his heart inspired him to say, ‘I have often wondered if the world would have been a better place had Solomon’s Temple never been constructed. It’s one of the most volatile spots on the planet.’
Slumping in her chair, Edie stared at the innocuous sheet of lined notepaper in front of her.
C?dmon also gazed at the deciphered message. ‘And now a madman has arrived on the scene, intent on destroying the Dome of the Rock so he can build a third temple. With the Ark in his arsenal and a well-trained force at his disposal, he could easily bring about events that mimic those foretold in the Old Testament. Thus fulfilling Ezekiel’s prophecy.’
‘We can’t let that happen,’ Edie whispered, her body rigid with the strength of her emotion. ‘I don’t know if you’re aware of this, but for some time now there’s been a growing alliance between Jewish and Christian fundamentalists.’
‘Birds of the same dark feather.’
‘They both believe in the Old Testament prophecies, which means that MacFarlane might have allies inside Israel who would be willing to help him destroy the Dome of the Rock.’
C?dmon shook his head, the scenario becoming more and more frightening.
‘Fanatical Christians working with fanatical Jews to attack Muslims. Incite any of the three and you have global instability. Incite all three and you have the makings of the next world war.’
C?dmon turned his head and stared at the churning water visible through the picture window on the other side of the club room.
