David Morrell - The Spy Who Came for Christmas

His mouth dry from stress and dehydration, Kagan listened to Meredith pouring water into a coffee-maker in the kitchen.

“ To call them astrologers makes sense because they claimed to be following a star. But I prefer to call them Magi. Does that word sound familiar to you, Cole?”

“ Not exactly.”

“ The words ‘magic’ and ‘magician’ are related to it.”

As Kagan heard Cole breathe with the beginning of interest, he leaned forward, concentrating on something that seemed to shift in the haze beyond the fence, but he decided it was only his imagination. Or hoped it was.

“ The gospel says they came from the east. If you look at a map and consider what was happening at that time, the country they likely came from was Persia. These days, it’s called Iran. Have you heard of Iran, Cole?”

“ Sometimes. When Mom and Dad watch the news on television.”

“ It’s a country that’s had a lot of influence on history. Today, there’s plenty of tension and violence associated with it. Two thousand years ago, the situation wasn’t much different.

“ Basically, Persia wanted to control the area around it, and that included Israel, the country where Jesus would soon be born. The reason the Persians didn’t invade Israel was that the Roman Empire claimed Israel as one of its territories. To attack Israel was the same as attacking Rome, and that was a bad idea. The Persians sometimes crossed the border and raided villages, trying to make Roman soldiers chase them- to lure them into an ambush. But the Persians didn’t have the resources for an all-out assault, so they tried another tactic, the oldest and most reliable, much more effective than a battle: they sent in spies.”

“ Spies?” Cole asked.

Again, Kagan frowned toward what seemed to be a shadow moving within the snowfall, but the moment he focused on that area beyond the fence, the shadow dissolved like a mirage.

“ The Magi were priests with tremendous political influence. The modern Iranian word for Magi would probably be ‘ayatollahs.’ That’s a name you hear a lot in the news, although in ancient times the Magi were supposed to have secret, powerful knowledge that amounted to magic.

“ Matthew’s gospel doesn’t mention a specific number of Magi who crossed into Israel. Traditionally, there are three because in the gospel they bring three gifts to the baby Jesus. Under the circumstances, it would have been foolish for more than three to go on this journey. The smaller the number, the better. They didn’t dare attract attention.”

Kagan smelled the coffee brewing in the kitchen. The aroma brought moisture to his mouth.

“ Apart from the manger scene, Cole, what image comes to you when you think of the Magi?”

“ Well, on TV or in drawings I’ve seen, they’re on camels, and they’re heading toward a big, bright star in the distance.”

“ Right. Some people theorize that it was actually a comet, or perhaps planets in a cluster, which happens sometimes, causing a brighter light than normal. Or perhaps it was an actual star, one that was exploding. Whatever it might have been, do you see any problem with trying to follow it?”

Cole considered the question. “The stars move.”

“ You’re very observant.”

“ I never noticed when we lived in LA. There were so many streetlights that I couldn’t see the sky. But here the sky’s so clear, I can see all kinds of stars. My favorite constellation’s Orion, the one with stars lined up like a sword. But at different times, he’s in different places.”

“ Correct. Except for a few so-called fixed stars, one of which is the North Star, heavenly bodies shift across the horizon. In fact, the Magi probably used the North Star to guide their way across the desert. But they couldn’t depend on a comet or a cluster of planets or an exploding star to show them the way because the bright light wouldn’t have stayed in the same place all through the night. It would have drifted. At various times, it might have been overhead or even in the opposite direction from where they wanted to go. They’d have wandered in the desert until they died. Only a miracle could have kept the light in the same place and showed them the way. I’m not saying there couldn’t have been a miracle, but that’s not what this story’s about. So the question is, Cole: the Magi must have had a different reason for crossing the desert at night. What do you think it was?”

“ To avoid the heat of the day.”

“ Good answer.”

“ But in school, we’ve been studying weather patterns, ice ages and stuff like that, to learn if climate change is real or not. Our teacher says that back then, some deserts might not have been as hot as they are now.”

“ I read the same thing.” Kagan concentrated on the snow falling beyond the window. “So let’s suppose traveling across the desert in daylight wouldn’t have been as dangerous as it is now. What’s another reason the Magi would have wanted to travel at night? On camels. For at least a month. It would have been difficult to keep the camels from stumbling in the dark and breaking their legs. That definitely would have been dangerous. So what’s the advantage of the night?”

Cole didn’t have an answer.

“ Suppose this is a war story,” Kagan suggested.

“ Maybe they were trying to keep the Roman soldiers from seeing them?”

“ Cole, you should think twice about not wanting to be a spy. You’re right. The Magi traveled in the dark because they were on a secret mission and they didn’t want the soldiers to see them.”

“ The microphone has a pin on the back,” Andrei said. “I attached it under your coat collar. It’s set so you’re broadcasting all the time. I’ll hear everything you say and most of what’s said around you. On occasion, I’ll give you instructions through this earbud.”

Andrei placed the device in Brody’s left ear.

“ But won’t the gunman see it?” Brody’s voice was unsteady, from more than just the cold.

“ Keep your hat on and your earflaps down as long as possible. Eventually, you’ll need to take the hat off, but the earbud’s small and flesh-colored: hard to see, even in the daytime. He’s got the lights off. I guarantee he won’t turn t hem on.”

“ Even the Christmas tree lights and the television are off now,” Mikhail said, watching the house from the cover of the fir tree.

“ The microphone and the earbud have tiny batteries,” Andrei told Brody. “They’re boosted by this transmitter/receiver you’d normally wear on your belt. But if the suspect searches you-which I assume he will-he’s bound to find it, even in the dark, so we need to hide it on you. The best place is in one of your gloves. Take them off as you approach the house. Set them someplace as soon as you’re inside.

“ I dialed your equipment to its own channel. That way, you won’t be distracted when I talk to headquarters. Now, let’s find out if everything works. Detective Grant, walk down the lane and say something into your microphone.”

As Yakov left them, Andrei heard a voice through his own earbud, but it didn’t belong to Yakov.

The Pakhan’s voice was sharp. “Our clients believe I took their money without any intention of delivering the package! They insist I’m lying! They claim I’m planning to sell the baby to someone else!”

In the background, something crashed. A man with an Arab accent shouted, “Would you like me to cut off your thumbs? Your ears?”

“ Your balls!” another accented voice threatened. “We’ll make you eat them! That’s what we do to people who cheat us!”

Andrei looked at Brody but gave no sign of what he was hearing. “I have a call coming through. Excuse me.”

Because Brody knew about the microphones, it wasn’t necessary to go through the charade of pretending to talk to a cell phone, as Andrei had done earlier among the crowd on Canyon Road. But now he had a different reason for pretending to use his cell phone.