Alex Lukeman - The Cup

Most of Darraya had been destroyed and many of its inhabitants slaughtered by Assad. Those who were left were being bombed by the Russians and shelled by Assad’s troops. The city was on the old road to Damascus, famous as the place where the traitorous Jew Saul had received his conversion to Christianity. Haddad prayed the destruction of the city would be complete and all association with the Christian heresy wiped forever from the face of the earth.

But not before he found the cup of Isa.

Just as the Christians believed in the final judgment and an eternity in heaven or hell, Islam believed in the coming of the Mahdi and the yawm al-qiyamah , the Day of Retribution that would follow. On that day the faithful would ascend to paradise. All others would be cast into hell and suffer the torments of the flames for eternity.

The coming of the Mahdi was something Haddad wished for with all his heart, as all true followers of the Prophet did. He would find this cup the Christians wanted so badly. When Jaffari's bomb exploded in the great American city, the final war would begin and the rest of the prophecy would unfold.

The call to prayer echoed through the dusty streets of the city. Haddad spread his rug on the floor and began the ritual ablution.

Adam left Nick in front of his building. Nick watched the limousine pull away and then went up to the loft to change. Selena had already gone to the hospital. He drove out to Virginia and Project headquarters. Now he sat at Harker's desk, staring at the blank monitor on the wall and a row of clocks above it.

He was alone in the building except for Burps. The huge, orange cat strolled over and rubbed against his leg, purring and shedding and drooling on his shoe. Burps was getting old. Nick reached down and scratched him behind one of his tattered ears.

"You're still a pretty kitty," he said. "Don't let anybody tell you different."

He got up and opened a can of cat food and set it down near the desk with a bowl of water. There was something comforting in the sounds as the cat ate. It was noisy, like everything else Burps did.

Nick had wanted a little time to think before the others got there. The unexpected encounter with a man he'd thought dead changed everything.

What was it Adam had said? You're part of a war that's been going on for a long time . He'd meant since Lucifer had been thrown out of heaven. The Templars were a religious order, and Adam was one of them. It made sense he would see it that way, but it wasn't the way Nick was used to looking at things.

He'd never been religious. How could anyone believe in God when they thought about the terrible things happening every day? Things like barrel bombs falling on children or fanatics justifying mass murder in God's name.

Nick had no problem believing in evil, but he didn't believe it needed a supernatural being like Satan to account for it. He thought it was hardwired into the human psyche. Fortunately for humanity, there was also something hardwired in for good. The problem was that it seemed there were more people at the moment who fell into the evil category than the good one.

He felt a headache begin. Thinking about the nature of good and evil was enough to give anyone a headache.

Harker's desk was his for the moment and there was plenty to do. First he had to talk with Hood. Then the team had to plan the mission into Syria. Hood could help there, but it was going to be harder without Stephanie backing them up.

He used Harker's secured desk phone and called Hood at Langley. Half an hour later, the headache was a lot worse. Hood had confirmed what Adam had said.

A nuclear bomb, coming soon to a city near you.

Without explaining the source of the information, Nick told Hood he had learned that the bomb was headed for America. He ducked Hood's questions and after they had arranged a meeting for later in the day he ended the call.

Nick got up and walked to the bathroom out in the hall. He found a bottle of aspirin in the medicine cabinet, scooped water from the tap into his hand and gulped down four of the pills. As he headed back to Elizabeth's office, Stephanie came in. She had her newborn wrapped up and cradled in her arms. Selena was right behind her.

"Steph. What are you doing here?"

"You need my help. Besides, I was bored in the hospital. There's no reason for me to be there. There's nothing wrong with me, Michael is healthy. The worst thing I can do for myself is do nothing."

"I tried to talk her out of it," Selena said.

"I won't pretend I'm not glad to see you," Nick said. "But are you sure you can handle this? Things are going to get intense around here over the next couple of weeks."

"Things are always intense around here. I can handle it, but I'll be taking a lot of breaks."

"Thanks, Steph," Nick said. "You just took a hell of a load off my mind."

"You're welcome. I'm going downstairs to fire everything up."

"I'm going to hold a briefing in an hour. There's something you can do for me before that. I need a current satellite photo of a suburb of Damascus called Darraya. Something detailed that shows the streets and the surrounding area. Can you find one for me?"

"It shouldn't be a problem. We have satellites and drones monitoring Syria. I'll get right on it."

She headed for the spiral staircase to the lower level.

"Where are Ronnie and Lamont?" Selena asked.

"They'll be here soon."

"Are you all right? You look like you've seen a ghost."

"I have. Adam is back."

"What? But he was killed. Wasn't he?"

"He wasn't in the car. The driver was killed but Adam was somewhere else, talking to me on a link."

"What did he want?"

"He told me where the Grail is hidden. It's in Syria, in a suburb of Damascus."

Selena pursed her lips. "So that's why you want the satellite picture. How come he doesn't go get it? Why us?"

"I asked him that. He said he wasn't permitted to tell me why."

"I'm glad that's cleared up."

"He gave me a map."

Nick took the folded map from his pocket and opened it up. It showed the city of Damascus and the suburb of Darraya. The location of the hidden library was circled in red.

"Darraya is a rebel stronghold. It's surrounded by Assad's army and under siege, with daily shelling. People have created a secret library in the midst of all the destruction, under the ruins of a Syriac church. The Grail is in a crypt there. The monk in Turkey misled us. They handed off the Grail to the Hospitallers but it got handed back to them and moved to Damascus."

"Maybe he didn't know about it. Either that, or he sent us on a wild goose chase," Selena said.

"Yeah."

"It's a good thing we didn't end up going to Malta."

Nick looked at the map and thought about a city in ruins, under attack and surrounded by hostile forces. Once they got inside the city, everyone was an enemy.

"We might wish we were going to Malta. This one is going to be a bitch."

"How are we going to go in?"

"I want to wait until Ronnie and Lamont get here so we can talk it over. I haven't figured that out yet."

"Speak of the devil," Selena said, "here they are."

"Let's not," Nick said.

"Let's not what?"

"Speak of the devil."

Ronnie came into the room with Lamont close behind.

"Feels like we might get some snow later," Ronnie said.

"That's what I like about you," Lamont said. "Always the optimist."

"Let me get Steph up here," Nick said.

Ronnie looked surprised. "Steph? I thought she was in the hospital."

"She showed up earlier."

Nick spoke into Harker's intercom. "Steph, can you hear me?"

"Loud and clear, Nick. I've got the photos you wanted. "

"Come on up and we'll start."