Alex Lukeman - The Cup

"It can't be that difficult, can it?"

"It's impossible, without knowing the right sequence or number of times to press. The only way we're going to get this open is to cut into it. But I'm not sure that's a good idea."

"Why not?"

"We don't really know what's in here, do we? If it is the Grail, how would you like to

be the person responsible for damaging or destroying it?"

"We'll let…" Nick stopped..

"We'll let what?"

"I was going to say we'll let Harker worry about it."

"Let's wait until we get home. Hood may have an idea."

"We'll scan it," Nick said. "Take a look inside without opening the box. That way we'll know if it's the Grail or something else."

Selena set the box down.

"I need to get out of these clothes and take a shower and I need some aspirin. You weren't kidding when you said that jump would be hard on the body. I feel like someone tried to pull my arms off."

Nick came over and put his arms around her. "Not many men have done that jump. You're the only woman. You were terrific."

"Once is enough," she said. "I don't think I want to do it again. And I don't want to visit Syria again anytime soon."

"I'm going to call Hood while you're in the shower."

Selena began undressing. Nick punched in Hood's number.

"Nick. I'm glad you got out all right. Did you find anything?"

"Yes, but we're not sure exactly what it is."

Nick explained about the box.

"Do you think it's the Grail?" Hood asked.

"It could be. The box was under an altar, in a sealed crypt under the church. Someone went to a lot of trouble to hide it there. That crypt hadn't been opened for hundreds of years."

"I understand you had some trouble when you were leaving."

"Without your help we wouldn't have made it out of there. There were too many of them and they were closing in. Good news is there's one less priority target we have to worry about."

"Oh?"

"Abdul Haddad was there. I recognized him from his picture. He was the one who found the box. We got there just in time."

"What happened to him?"

"He made a dumb move. He's still in the crypt under the church."

"It's too bad you couldn't take him alive," Hood said. "We could have questioned him about the bomb."

"We went through his pockets but there wasn't much. Come to think of it, there was a piece of paper with something scrawled on it. I'll have Selena take a look at it and get back to you if it's anything important."

Nick paused. "How is Director Harker?"

"She's still in intensive care. There hasn't been much change. She doesn't wake up."

"A coma?"

"They're starting to call it that. She took a serious blow to the head. The side airbag didn't deploy. Now the only thing is to wait and see if she comes out of it."

"She's a tough lady. She'll pull through."

"I spoke with the president and he's good with you being in charge. You and I need to get together for an intensive briefing when you return. It looks like you'll be running the Project for a while and there are things you ought to know. Come back as soon as you can. My plane is still at Incirlik and at your disposal."

After he'd finished with Hood, Nick pulled off the body armor and winced. Under his shirt was a wide black and purple splotch on his side where the vest had stopped a round.

Better black and blue than dead .

He was sore as hell from the jump. His back ached with constant, electric pain. It was stiffening up fast.

Selena was still in the shower. His back made it hard to bend down but he managed to get his boots off. He undressed and sat down in his shorts, waiting for her to finish. He picked up the box and pressed on it, trying random combinations, listening to the clicks. The box stayed closed.

Selena came out of the shower, drying her hair. She looked at the spreading bruise.

"My, that's impressive. You look like something from Picasso's blue period."

"How the water?"

"One thing about a big base like this, you don't run out of hot water."

"Lamont found a scrap of paper with something written on it in Haddad's pockets. Would you get it from him while I take a shower?"

"Sure."

Nick disappeared into the bathroom. Selena dressed in jeans and a loose top, put on a pair of walking shoes and went to find Lamont.

Nick stood in the shower and let hot water pour down on his back, hoping the knotted muscles would relax.

You're getting too old for this stuff. Maybe sitting at a desk wouldn't be a bad change after all.

He looked down at the dark bruising along his left side, then ran his fingers over the washboard ripple of scar tissue on the other side of his chest.

You're pushing your luck, buddy. It can't last forever..

His inner voice was back, nagging at him. He pushed it away and reached for the soap.

What if it really is the Grail in that box? What does it mean? What am I supposed to do with it? Who's supposed to have it? That tile said only a just man. Are you a just man?

It was a question he couldn't answer. One thing was sure, Haddad had not been a just man. Maybe Simon's prophecy wouldn't play out, now that ISIS couldn't get hold of the cup.

He'd finished dressing by the time Selena came back from Lamont with the contents of Haddad's pockets.

"There's only one word written on that paper," she said. "Athena."

"Athena? Like the Greek goddess?"

"Yes."

"That could mean anything."

"It could be a code name for an operation."

"A fanatic like Haddad wouldn't pick an infidel name for an operation. He'd be more likely to name it something like Allah's Vengeance. Something dramatic."

"It has to mean something. He wouldn't write that down unless it was important. Haddad was a smart guy."

"Until he went for that AK."

"Why don't you give it to Stephanie?" Selena said. "Have her do a search?"

"There are millions of references to Athena out there."

"She could eliminate anything that had to do with classical history or works of art, that sort of thing."

"That would narrow it down. Good idea. Let me give her a call."

Steph picked up on the first ring.

"Hi, Nick."

"Hi, Steph. How's Junior?"

"Asleep, thank God. Burps is protecting him. The cat won't leave his side."

"He could do worse, believe me. I need you to do a search for me."

Nick told her what he wanted.

"I can't promise anything useful," she said.

"This guy wasn't thinking about statues on the Acropolis when he wrote this. The more I think about it, the more it feels important. Just do the best you can."

"I'll get on it right away. When are you coming home?"

"As soon as Hood's pilot has the Gulfstream ready."

Rashid Jaffari stood on the bow of the Athena and looked out over the rolling surface of the Atlantic. So far it had been a smooth journey, except for squalls in the gulf as they'd left Turkey. Now the ship was more than halfway to America without running into any serious weather. At the moment it was sunny, but late October on the Atlantic Ocean meant that Rashid wore a heavy jacket and woolen watch cap against the cold and the wind.

The Athena was an old ship and slow, not long for the scrap yard. Streaks of rust ran down her sides. Her ancient engines struggled to push through the heavy swell. A serious storm could sink her. Her captain had been keeping an uneasy eye on the weather reports. It was late in the year, but hurricane season wasn't yet over.

For the first three days of the voyage Jaffari was seasick, unable to keep anything down. Then his equilibrium returned and the sickness left him. His mind was free to imagine what would happen when the bomb went off in the enemy city of Savannah.