Alex Lukeman - The Cup

"You have to go over his head."

"I will. Just as soon as I have definite proof."

"Let me see what Stephanie can pick up. She's been working on developing a new program for analyzing voice patterns and phrases and combined it with a translation program. ISIS is savvy when it comes to phone conversations, but someone might make a mistake."

"I like the idea," Hood said. "It fits right in with looking for our spymaster in the caliphate. But even if we find him, we might run into a problem."

"You mean we might not get the go-ahead to take him out?"

"I've never understood why the White House hasn't taken on ISIS in any meaningful way. During the last few months Rice has become more and more unfocused. I think something is physically wrong with him. Perhaps some aftermath of the assassination attempts."

"You think he's losing it?"

"I wouldn't go that far, but I see a power vacuum forming. Part of it's because of the election. He's distracted and the people around him aren't willing to make unpopular decisions. Nobody wants to rock the boat. They're all worried about their political future."

Elizabeth looked at her empty coffee cup. "After this election, you and I may be out of a job."

"The thought had occurred to me," Hood said. "It depends on who wins."

"If ISIS succeeds in building a nuclear bomb it won't matter who wins," Elizabeth said.

Two days had passed since Nick and the others had returned to the base at Incirlik. Elizabeth and Hood had narrowed the list of ISIS leaders who could be searching for the Grail to three possibilities. At the same time, Stephanie had been searching through thousands of records from the sixteenth century, looking for anything to indicate where the Grail had been taken by the Knights Hospitallers.

She'd found nothing. She came into Elizabeth's office to tell her.

"I give up," she said.

"You give up what?"

"On finding anything about where the Grail went after Rhodes, assuming it was ever on Rhodes in the first place. There isn't much hard information about the Hospitallers during that time period. They moved all over Europe for years before the king of Sicily gave them Malta. As far as Malta goes, I looked through everything I could find. There's nothing at all about the Grail or anything like it."

"You're certain."

"I admit, it's frustrating. But I can't find something that isn't there."

"I was afraid it would come to this, sooner or later. It's amazing we managed to trace it as far as Rhodes."

"Even that isn't certain," Stephanie said. "What if that monk was lying?"

"We'll never know, will we?"

"Are you going to bring the team home?"

"Yes. There's no point in sending them to Malta now."

"They'll be glad to… oh!"

Stephanie doubled over, clutching her bulging abdomen with both arms. Elizabeth got up and went to her. She put her hand on Stephanie's shoulder.

"Steph, what's the matter? Are you all right?"

"I don't know."

A sudden rush of liquid ran down Stephanie's legs.

"Your water broke. The baby's coming. "

"But it's not time yet!"

"I'm afraid it is. I'll drive you to the hospital. It's quicker than calling an ambulance."

They went out to the parking lot and got into Elizabeth's Audi. Elizabeth called ahead to the gate for her escort. She was met by two black GMC suburbans at the entrance to the compound, each manned by four men from her security detail. One of the vehicles went ahead, one behind. They sped toward Alexandria and the hospital.

They were moving fast, doing more than seventy, weaving in and out of heavy traffic with strobe lights flashing. Stephanie was talking to Lucas on her cell phone when the lead vehicle blew a front tire. The suburban veered right, then hard left. It tipped onto its side and rolled, bouncing into the air. The truck struck a gray compact and sent it spinning across three lanes of traffic.

A massive chain collision began, cars smashing into each other in every direction. Elizabeth swerved to avoid the suburban and struck a delivery van in the outer lane. Her fender crumpled into the tire and shredded it. The Audi went down on the rim, sending a stream of sparks by her window.

She fought the wheel for control.

The car back ended a motorcycle caught in the middle of the chaos. The rider was hurled onto the pavement. Elizabeth wrenched the wheel over to avoid running over him and slammed sideways into the back of a pickup truck. The car crumpled in a shrieking chorus of tearing metal and breaking glass.

As she lost consciousness, Elizabeth heard Stephanie scream.

Nick and Selena were quartered in housing reserved for visiting officers. It was functional and well used, decorated with the same government furnishings and boring colors Nick had seen a thousand times in his career. Interior decor was not a military specialty.

His phone rang. The display showed an unfamiliar number. Only Elizabeth Harker and Stephanie had his number, and it wasn't either one of them.

The phone rang again.

"Yes."

"Nick, this is DCI Hood. There's been an accident. Director Harker is badly hurt."

Selena was nearby and saw the look on his face.

"What's the matter?"

"It's Hood. What happened, Director?"

"She was on her way to the hospital with Stephanie. The lead car in her convoy blew a tire and flipped over. They were in the middle of heavy traffic. It caused an eighteen car collision and Elizabeth's car was caught in the middle of it. She was in surgery for more than six hours. Now she's in intensive care."

"Shit."

"Yes."

"What about Steph? Is she alright?"

"Shaken up and badly bruised from the airbag, but yes, she's all right."

Selena had been listening to Nick's end of the conversation.

"What about the baby? Ask him about the baby."

"I heard that," Hood said. "The baby is fine. He had quite an entrance, just as they were bringing the two of them into the emergency ward."

"The baby is okay," Nick said to Selena. "But Harker is in intensive care."

"You need to come back, Nick."

"Right."

"I've sent my Gulfstream to pick you up. It should arrive about 1900 your time today."

"Thank you, Director."

"Elizabeth is in serious condition and the prognosis is guarded. She's going to be out of commission for some time. I don't think Stephanie is the best choice to take over at the moment. She has a new baby and she's had a bad shock. She needs time off. Can you run things for a while, until Elizabeth recovers?"

"Of course, Director."

"All the resources of Langley are at your disposal. Analysis, surveillance, whatever you need."

"Thank you."

"You may not thank me when you find out what you're dealing with. But we'll talk about that when you get here."

"Copy that."

"I'll see you when you get back."

Hood broke the connection.

"Well?" Selena asked. "What did he say?"

"Harker is in intensive care and the doctors are hedging their bets. He's asked me to take over for her."

"What about Steph? She's Elizabeth's Deputy."

"Hood thinks she needs time off. He's right, but I'm not looking forward to doing Elizabeth's job. The last time she was out of action, I had Steph to help me hold down the fort. She handled all the political stuff and the day-to-day and I pretty much kept doing what I'd been doing before. It was a real stretch until Elizabeth came back."

"They're both fine? Stephanie and the baby?"

"That's what he said."

"We have to go back."

"We are. Hood is sending his plane to pick us up. We're leaving tonight."

"I wonder if Steph found out anything about the Grail?" Selena said.

"If she did, Hood didn't mention it. We'll ask her when we get there." Nick looked at his watch. "I'd better go tell Ronnie and Lamont what's happened."