Paul McKellips - Jericho 3

One truck filled with 5,000 gallons of sublingual tularemia vaccine was parked on the tarmac of the airport. Airport security had cordoned off the area as 40 officers from Interpol and the Lyon Police Department provided security. Leslie Raines and Thierry Gaudin stood under a single black umbrella as a light rain filtered through the headlights of their car.

The landing lights on the El Al chartered flight were in clear view as the jetliner made its final approach for landing.

The air traffic control tower guided the jet as it taxied over to the maintenance wing where one single truck was parked. The engines shut down as the ground crew pushed a portable staircase up to the front cabin door.

The 747-200F was operated by El Al Cargo. The jet had 10 passenger seats up by the cockpit, and the rest of the airplane was hollowed out for cargo.

The cabin door opened, and two men exited the cabin for the walk down the stairs in the light rain. Flashing yellow security lights lit their faces with sweeps of light. The first man was tall with a very long and narrow face. His hair was combed straight back and small, round, frameless spectacles rested on the bridge of his nose. He wore a full length black overcoat with the collar pulled up high. The second man was shorter, much rounder. His hair was full and flopped from side to side with the wind and the rain. A deep black moustache and goatee covered his face.

The two walked over to Leslie Raines and Thierry Gaudin who stood under the black umbrella, silhouetted against the headlights of the truck in the drizzle of the rain.

It was precisely two o’clock in the morning.

“Molly Bloom?” Raines asked as Reuven stepped closer.

“Lieutenant Colonel Leslie Raines I presume.”

Thierry looked over at Raines with a surprised look on his face. He had no idea that she was a high ranking American military officer.

“One truck?” Reuven asked with concern.

“Sir, this is Thierry Gaudin, president and CEO of LyonBio. Without his support and that of his incredible team, not even one truck would be possible tonight.”

Reuven looked at them both. His hands were deep in his overcoat pockets.

“On behalf of a grateful nation… thank you. It’ll take our crew about 15-minutes, a quick refueling, and then we’ll be on our way.”

“Sir, this is only 5,000 gallons. Will it be enough?”

“It will have to be. Someone once took three hundred lamps and some trumpets… God made them look, and sound, like an overpowering army. God will have to multiply the effect of this vaccine, too.”

“It has a name,” Raines said.

“What does, colonel?”

“The vaccine. It was Camp’s idea. He told me a little bit about your, um, picnic. The vaccine is called GideonX.”

Reuven smiled as Yitzhak nodded his head with pleasure. Reuven pulled one hand out of his pocket and reached to the inside pocket of his overcoat and pulled out an envelope and handed it to Thierry.

“What’s this?” Thierry asked.

“It’s 80,000 Euros.”

“Sir, we can’t take money for this. The Americans have already paid for our services.”

Reuven reached out his hand and stopped Thierry from handing the envelope back to him.

“It’s not for you. You’ll find instructions inside. I recently met an incredible man, a Muslim, a colonel in the Iranian army. His courage may have saved two countries from mutual destruction and prevented a hundred more nations from waging war. He was killed for his courage. Make sure his family is taken care of… that his sons go on to university and study history, become writers, poets, philosophers and great men. Their father was a great man.”

Thierry took the envelope and slid it into his pocket as Reuven looked at the skies and the passing storm.

“The storm is moving out of the Mediterranean… for the next three days we are expecting six mile per hour winds out of the north and northwest blowing south and back to the southwest.”

“You like to follow the weather, Mr. Molly Bloom?” Raines said with a smirk on her face.

“Today I do. Thank you, colonel… Mr. Gaudin… good night, and shalom.”

Reuven and Yitzhak turned and walked back up the steps to the El Al Cargo 747-200F in a light rain that had all but stopped.

Charles de Gaulle Airport

Paris, France

Kazi’s flight from Beirut landed at Charles de Gaulle Airport in France just in time for him to see the lift-off on the flat screen TVs in the terminal. Fourteen international television news crews, most of them broadcasting to the Islamic world, fixed their cameras on 50 colorful hot air balloons as the solitary rider on a white horse rode to the starting line and waved the ceremonial Unity Festival flag to start the race. Unity ribbons from each of the carriages waved back in the slight wind as all balloons lifted up for the race to Port Said, Egypt.

Once he cleared customs, Kazi would be on his way for the second leg of his journey.

Tel Aviv Hilton

Tel Aviv, Israel

Reuven and Yitzhak walked down the shore where western camera crews were set up on the beaches by the Mediterranean Sea in front of the Hilton Hotel. The big tents that had served as “Free Flu Vaccination Centers” the previous two days were now filled with producers and on-air talent seeking shade from the sun until the balloon race was within view.

Local universities and high schools had placed hundreds of signs, most of them written in Arabic that simply said “we want unity, too.” Three colorful Israeli hot air balloons were tethered on the beaches as well. The words on the balloons said “Let’s have this race, not an arms race” in both Hebrew and English for western television audiences.

Yitzhak called his contacts at Palmachim. The Israeli Defense Forces at Palmachim Air Force Base down the coast were watching the balloons on radar as they passed over Israeli territorial waters and close to Israeli airspace. Unmanned aerial drones detected all 50 balloons starting to release their equalizing ballast through a water vapor system as each balloon neared Haifa.

TV cameras fired up and international news channels cut into regular programming with breaking news as the first Unity Festival hot air balloons were visible from the beaches of Tel Aviv. Most were two to three miles out above the sea at almost 3,000 feet. They were far too close to Israel’s shoreline, but the authorities let them race. The colorful balloons against a majestic blue sky and the deep blue sea painted an incredible tapestry of color as six mile per hour winds out of the north gently caressed the faces of thousands of Israelis gathered on the sands to witness Unity.

Millions of homes in the Middle East, Southeast Asia, Europe, Russia, China and North America watched and hoped that Unity would truly come to a very troubled area.

Within minutes all 50 balloons had passed by and were out of sight as they raced toward Port Said. Reuven and Yitzhak watched the balloons disappear from sight, then turned for the quick ride back to their command center.

Casablanca, Morocco

The unexpected and unplanned visit by the King of Saudi Arabia to Morocco for more physical therapy provided a welcomed opportunity for the Shoeib. Sending a Shia assassination force in from al-Awamiya, a town in the Qatif region, was fraught with logistical problems. But an Iranian hit squad in Morocco with access to the Saudi King was a gift from God.

The King had undergone recent surgery in the United States for a debilitating back condition, a herniated disc that required precise surgery, and Morocco was his preferred destination for physical therapy. It was to be his third such visit for physical therapy, rest and recovery.