"Nephilim - 03 - The Revealing" - читать интересную книгу автора (Marzulli L A)

Fitzpatrick shook his head. "Nothing that comes to mind."
"It seems to have been centralized over the country of Yemen."
Fitzpatrick nodded. "Mideast update? Anything affected?"
"Syria moved some troops around to their border with Lebanon. The Iranians are doing military exercises in the Persian Gulf. Other than that, status quo," Zach stated.
There was a knock on the door and a military attache entered carrying a sealed packet. "Mr. Fitzpatrick," he said, as he placed the packet in Fitzpatrick's hands.
Fitzpatrick signed the release form and the man left the office.
All eyes were on him as he opened the packet and unfolded the copy of an ancient scroll. "This is why the Hag interrupted my weekend," Fitzpatrick said, as he got his first look at the strange writing.
"You recognize it?" Joyce asked.
"No, I don't ... very interesting though ... It's not Chaldean ...," Fitzpatrick mumbled as he made his way to his desk, so absorbed in the new find that he forgot his colleagues.
5
Art MacKenzie and Elisha BenHassen arrived in front of Mossad headquarters, having been informed that a top-secret communique awaited Mr. MacKenzie. They were going to see Elisha's grandson Uri and the Major, an old friend of Elisha's who had helped found the Israeli Mossad, the Israeli version of the CIA.
Mac saw several armed guards in front of the building. The street was fairly crowded, and people bustled about their business in the early morning hour.
"Tight security," he said, motioning to the armed guards as they headed toward the entrance.
"We cannot let our guard down for a moment, MacKenzie," Elisha said, pushing his trifocals up on the bridge of his nose.
Mac glanced up the street at a handful of people waiting for a bus fifty yards away.
"Shalom," Elisha said to one of the guards as he produced his credentials.
A woman yelled from the bus stop up the street. Suddenly one of the guards shoved Elisha down onto the pavement. Both guards then bolted toward the commotion.
"Get down, MacKenzie!" Elisha shouted.
Mac had one knee on the pavement when he heard another scream. He stood up to get a better look. He saw people diving into shops, while others ducked behind any shelter they could find, leaving a young woman with a veil struggling with an older woman who was tearing at her clothes and yelling. Mac saw the crowded bus come to a stop beside them.
What are they fighting over? he wondered.
"MacKenzie, get down!" Elisha yelled, and Mac felt the man's hand tug at his pant leg.
Then he heard a piercing cry of "Allah Akbar," from the veiled woman, followed by a blinding flash and a violent explosion. Mac was thrown off his feet as the shock wave from the blast threw him to the pavement.
There was a moment of eerie silence and a thick cloud of dark smoke enveloped him. Then the shrieks of the wounded erupted. Mac wiped his eyes and then to his horror, noticed the severed lower part of an arm next to him. It looked surreal to him, as if it were part of a mannequin or a doll, and not the warm flesh and blood that, moments ago, had been part of a human being. He stared at the wedding band on the blackened finger.
Fighting the urge to vomit he turned the other way as another wave of black smoke washed over him. "MacKenzie?"
"I'm okay," he called to Elisha, then slowly got to his knees and tried to get his bearings. He looked down at his clothes and saw that his pants had been torn and his shirt ripped.
"Over here, MacKenzie," Elisha called out through the smoke.
A siren blared in the distance.
Mac stumbled toward Elisha. Then his ears began to ring. He worked his jaw up and down trying to clear his ears, but he couldn't shake the ringing. Dizzy, his eyes burned from the black smoke, he staggered like a drunken man.
The wind switched directions, revealing the spot where the suicide bomber had destroyed herself. He saw the littered remains of dead and wounded people scattered over the street and sidewalk. Shop windows had been shattered and the bus that had pulled up to the stop was on fire, its side ripped open like it was no more than a soda can.
An ambulance streaked by followed by several police cars, but Mac could barely hear the sirens. He put his fingers in his ears, trying to clear them.
Elisha hurried over, waving to him and talking. Mac shook his head and pointed to his ears, then yelled, "I can't hear you!"
Elisha reached him and helped him get to the interior of Mossad headquarters. Mac collapsed on a bench, and his body began to shake. He looked at Elisha and saw him mouth the words, "suicide bomber."
Mac nodded and felt the room spin around him for a moment. Elisha reached out and steadied him. "Will you be all right?" he mouthed.
Mac nodded, made a gesture for something to drink. Elisha hurried away down the hall.
Mac let his head fall back so that it rested on the wall behind the bench. A flurry of men and women hurried in all directions, bringing wounded people into the building and setting them near him.
Elisha returned with a paper cup full of water. Mac sipped the water, grateful that the acrid taste in his mouth was washed away. He swallowed and felt his ears unplug, but the ringing continued.
"My ears are ringing," he mumbled to Elisha.
"It will go away in a while," Elisha offered. "But your hearing is fine?"
"I think so," Mac said, putting a finger inside his ear and moving it around. "I saw her ... she looked right at me just before she blew herself up," Mac said. "She was young ... in her twenties ... and pretty. What a waste of life."
Elisha nodded. "Are you able to get to the Major's office?" Elisha asked. "It's just down the hall."
Mac nodded and Elisha helped him to his feet.
"Elisha, MacKenzie, are you all right?"
Mac saw the Major running down the hall toward them. "He was stunned by the blast," Elisha said as the Major reached them.
"You see," the Major said, "this is what we live with. They don't want peace. They want every Jew dead."
"Easy, old friend," Elisha counseled. "Not every Arab hates us. There are many who want peace, and some even recognize that we have a right to the land."
The Major shook his head, then turned to Mac. "Are you sure you're all right? Should I call for a doctor just to make sure?"
Mac shook his head. "I'm okay, Major, thank you." He worked his jaw again to see if it would stop the ringing. "How soon can we see the communique?"
"As soon as we get to my office." The Major led them through a reception area to his private office and motioned for Elisha and MacKenzie to take a seat. "Here it is, MacKenzie," the Major said, as he handed him a sealed envelope.
Mac opened it and blinked his eyes a few times before beginning to read. "He wants me to come to Rome." He handed the letter to Elisha.
"Frankly, I wish he had summoned me instead," Elisha said.