James BeauSeigneur - In His Image James

"The Shroud of Turin!" Decker concluded.

"And that's why you think the Ark is in France?" Tom asked.

"Yes," Joshua answered. "It's my belief that the Shroud, the Ark, and the other Temple treasures were taken from Israel and hidden in southern France by the Knights Templar. If so, many of the treasures and the Ark may still be there, hidden away. In fact, there is a secret society in France called the Prieure de Sion, which traces its origins to the Knights Templar. The head of the society has been quoted as saying that he knows where the Temple treasures are and that they will be returned to Jerusalem 'when the time is right.'"

"Are there really tunnels and hidden passageways under the Temple where the Ark could have been hidden before the Knights Templar found it?" Decker asked. "Oh, absolutely. In fact, not just tunnels, but large vaulted rooms. Most haven't been excavated, but they have been identified by radar soundings." Rosen pointed to a pair of low arches to the left and perpendicular to the wall. "Over there beyond those arches is the opening of one of the tunnels that has been excavated. It runs south along the inside of the wall, and north for over a hundred yards along what was the western boundary of the Temple. A great deal of fighting broke out when the tunnel was opened to the public in 1996. There's a side tunnel which leads eastward in the direction of what today is the Dome of the Rock, but two thousand years ago would have been the Holy of Holies, where the Ark resided. Some rabbis were excavating that tunnel but the government stopped them and sealed it off."

"Why?" Tom asked, obviously disappointed with such an uneventful end to the tale.

"When Israel captured Jerusalem in the Six Day War in 1967, we made a pledge to allow the Muslims to continue to control the area of the Dome of the Rock. When the Muslims found out about the digging, they immediately protested and the tunnel was sealed. Some people believe that the Ark may still be buried under the Dome of the Rock and that the Muslims know it's there but don't want the Jews to have it. A more likely reason for refusing permission, though, is that the Muslims fear that Jewish zealots might get into the tunnel and blow up the Mosque in order to bring about the rebuilding of the Jewish Temple. It would not be the first time that Israelis have tried to blow up the Dome. A group of zealots, mostly followers of Meir Kahane, tried it back in 1969. Kahane was assassinated while visiting New York in the early '90s but Moshe Greenberg, one of his followers, is now the Israeli Minister of Religious Affairs."

The Tears of Dogs

That night Decker and Tom stayed at the Rosens' home. They were invited to stay during their entire six week stint in Israel, but both men felt that would be an imposition. Besides, NewsWorld had already made arrangements for them and they said it was best not to let the company get out of the habit of paying the bill.

Decker had trouble sleeping that night. During the day he had catnapped at every opportunity, so sleep now seemed to lose its priority. He thought of home. It was nearly midnight in Israel. He wasn't sure what time it was in Washington, but decided that late or early, Elizabeth would appreciate the call. Walking quietly toward the kitchen to use the phone, he stopped dead in his tracks when he heard hushed voices and saw a light. At first he thought he might be imagining it, and then he became concerned that intruders might be in the house. As he stood motionless it became clear that one of the voices was Joshua Rosen and another was Liana, but there were others: two or three men. By the time Decker realized that there was no danger, his reporter's instincts had taken over. Later the guilt of spying on his hosts would eat at his conscience, but for right now he let curiosity rule.

"Don't you understand?" said one of the men. "We must not let cost stop us. God will provide what we cannot."

"Of course," responded Joshua Rosen, "but we must not foolishly rush into this unprepared. If this is the task God has set before us, we must begin it, but not haphazardly. When God told Noah to build the Ark, He provided adequate time for its completion. If we are faithful, God will not allow the need to arise before the answer is provided."

"Yes!" responded the first man with undiminished zeal. "But Petra must be protected!"

"Yes, yes," said Rosen, "Liana and I agree, Petra must be protected. All we are saying is that cost must be considered – not as an issue in whether to proceed, but rather to allow us to know how to proceed, as well as how much we must raise. We are not a large group, you know."

"How well I know it!" the man responded.

"How are things progressing in getting the permits to obtain the equipment from America?" asked Rosen.

This time another man answered. "I'm having a little trouble from some of my fellow Knesset members. Most trust me implicitly in these matters, but a few of the opposition members are constantly watching over my shoulder and have caused some delays."

"But you will be able to do it?" asked the first man.

"Yes," the other responded. "I think so."

"Good. Then, if there is no other new information," said another man with an unusually rich and measured voice, "let us plan to meet again after the Shabbat two weeks hence." Clearly this was the voice of the group's leader. "In the meantime, Joshua, continue your design work; James, continue to arrange for the permits; and Elias, please work with Joshua to determine the costs. I will continue to speak to those of our number from around the world who believe as we do that Petra must be protected, so that we can raise the necessary funding."

"Yes, of course, Rabbi," answered at least two of the participants, respectfully.

As the meeting broke up Decker quietly crept back to his room. He would call Elizabeth later.

Jerusalem

The next morning Decker and Tom went to the Jerusalem Ramada Renaissance Hotel, which was serving as the temporary Middle East headquarters of NewsWorld Magazine. The office was nothing more than a hotel room with a southern view of the old city of Jerusalem and an adjoining room for the correspondents to sleep in. The room stank of stale cigarettes which lay in a half-dozen overfull ashtrays around the room. It had apparently been some time since the trash had been taken out. A laptop computer and a small printer sat on a table, along with several crumpled sheets of paper, and a day-old cup of coffee.

"Nice place you've got here," Decker said dryly as he surveyed the condition of the room. "What's the matter, no room service?"

"Better get used to it," responded lead reporter Hank Asher.

"Why, what's going on?"

"Most of Israel's service workers are Palestinians," answered Bill Dean, the other News World reporter. "When the protests started four months ago they all refused to go to work. This is the result."

"It was the same back in the late eighties and early nineties during the last major episode of this never-ending battle," continued Asher, as he took another drag from his cigarette.

At that moment the phone rang and Asher answered it. "When?" he asked the caller after a moment. "Are you sure?" Hank Asher hung up the phone and grabbed his camera bag while the other three men moved instinctively toward the door. "I hope you guys ate your Wheaties this morning," Asher said. "This looks like a big one."

The four men crammed into a small car and sped off. "Where are we going?" asked Decker.

"Jabaliva, on the outskirts of Gaza City," answered Asher. "There's a major riot in progress. If my source is correct, there may be as many as several thousand Palestinians involved. Israeli security has been using rubber bullets so far, but with that many people throwing rocks and fire bombs, there's no telling what will happen."