Joel Rosenberg [Jihad 04] The Copper Scroll

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Yossi is the chief archeologist at the Israel Museum. He's also the head of
the
62
Archeology Department at Hebrew University and the world's leading expert on
the
Copper Scroll."
"The what?" asked Bennett.
"The Copper Scroll," Doron repeated. "Eli never told you about it?" "No, why?
What is it?"
The prime minister pulled out a pen and a small piece of paper, wrote down
Barak's name and private phone numbers, and handed it to Bennett. "Call him.
Tell him you need to see him immediately and that I said it's urgent. He'll
know who you are and why you're coming. I'll have a car meet you downstairs."
Bennett wasn't sure how to respond. He was still in shock over his mentor's
death. He had a grieving wife to care for, and he was supposed to be on his
honeymoon. The last thing he needed to be doing was tracking down a serial
killer. But Mordechai's dying request was that they find whoever was
responsible and stop him before something far worse happened, and something
told him he'd better move quickly.
63
18
TUESDAY, JANUARY 13 - 7:32 P.M. - BABYLON, IRAQ
Khalid Tariq poked his head into the darkened office.
He expected to find President Al-Hassani reviewing his stack of briefing books
for the upcoming visit of European Union foreign minister Salvador Lucente.
The trip was shaping up to be a critical one. Lucentes aides were hinting that
their boss was bringing a
'
new proposal to discuss but had no other details, and given that Al-Hassani's
own plans were likely to cause a great deal of anxiety in Brussels, they had
to be ready.
But Al-Hassani was no longer sitting at his desk. Rather, he had settled into
a rocking chair by a crackling fireplace, surrounded by his be-loved books.
Among them were
Churchill's
The Gathering Storm, Gibbon's
The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Tuchmans
'
The Guns of August, and
The United States of Europe: The New Superpower and the End of American
Supremacy by former
Washington Post reporter T.R. Reid, which Al-Hassani had become fond of
quoting of late. Each was dog-eared and on the verge of falling apart, having
not just been read but thoroughly devoured by a man desperate to make up for
the years Saddam Hussein and his thugs had stolen.
Tonight Al-Hassani's head was buried in yet another thousand-page tome of some
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kind, and while Tariq from his vantage point could not see the title, he could
see the ubiquitous yellow highlighter in Al-Hassani's left hand and the
steaming cup of cardamom tea in his right. It was an all-too-rare moment of
literary solace for a onetime professor so long deprived in prison of the
reading materials that had once been his life and who was now once again
increasingly deprived of the time with which to enjoy them.
Tariq cleared his throat. Forgive me, Your Excellency."
"
Al-Hassani motioned for his aide to enter, though he remained fixated on the
book in his lap. "Khalid, how much do you know of the British monarchs?"
"Not much, I'm afraid."
"Then you must read this when I am finished. Did you know, for ex-ample, that
at the funeral of England's King Edward VII in 1910, nine of the kings and
queens in attendance were actually related to him?"
"I did not."
"Its true, said Al-Hassani, with a long-dormant passion rising in his voice.
"His son, '
"
George V, was the new king of England. One of his daughters was the queen of
Norway.
His nephew Wilhelm II was the kaiser of the rising German empire. His nephew
Nicholas
II was the czar of Russia. One of his nieces was the czarina of Russia.
Another niece was the queen of Spain, and yet another niece would soon become
the queen of Romania."
64
Al-Hassani looked up from his book and removed his reading glasses. "The
secret of success is successors, Khalid. It is not enough merely to rule an
empire. You must raise up future emperors who will expand and enlarge your
borders long after you have rested with your fathers."
"I concur, Your Excellency, but was it not shortly after King Edwards death
that the
'
sun began to set on the British Empire and on the whole of Europe?"
"It was, Khalid," said Al-Hassani. "Mistakes we shall not revisit. To
paraphrase
Santayana, we must learn from history, particularly the history of Europe,
lest we be doomed to repeat it."
"
Forgive me, Your Excellency, but I have Viggo Mariano on the line. I passed on [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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