The Project 02 - The Lance

shapeless mass on a heap of rubble and stone. One of the minarets still stood, but not for much longer. A thick cloud of yellow-white dust drifted lazily up from the ruins and across the Mount. The sound of the crowds below spiraled up in a swelling chorus of grief and rage, the cry of a great, wounded beast.
    A n Israeli military helicopter settled hard onto the Mount. Soldiers fanned out around Nick and the President, weapons ready. Nick supported Rice under his arm. He was limping. They were hustled on board in a storm of dust and debris kicked up by the spinning blades. Calloway was nowhere in sight. Angry soldiers took up posts at the doors of the chopper.
    Rice turned to the hard faced captain sitting next to him. He shouted to be heard above the sound of the big rotors as the chopper lifted away toward Mount Scopus and Hadassah Hospital.
    " The Prime Minister?"
    The soldier shook his head. "Dead."
    " The others, the Secretary of State?"
    The soldier shook his head. No one said anything the rest of the way in.
    At Hadassah, a delegation of worried doctors waited on the helipad. Rice turned to Nick before he was whisked into the hospital.
    "Carter . I want you with me when I fly out of here today. We're going back to Washington. Someone has started a war and I'm going to have to try and stop it. Get Harker. Get her on this. Tell her to find out who's behind it. This isn't a Muslim attack. Al-Qaeda and the others wouldn't go after me at the Mount or blow up al-Aqsa."
    " Yes, sir."
    Rice turned to the Israeli Captain. "Captain I want this man protected like you would protect me. Coordinate our return to Air Force One immediately with your superiors. I can't say it's been a pleasure meeting you, but thank you. You must come visit me in America when this has passed."
    It was typical of Rice. Someone had tried to kill him and he was taking time to acknowledge a soldier who had just been doing his duty.
    The Israeli saluted. "Yes, Mr. President. Thank you, sir."
    Nick followed the President inside.

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

    The team watched the explosion in disbelief.
    " Oh, my God!" Selena put her hand to her mouth.
    They watched the stage lift, the people flying into the air . They watched the Mosque collapse in a deep rumble of falling stone. The camera shook and swayed. The sound of the detonation died away. Screams came from the television speakers.
    " Holy shit!" Ronnie said. "The President! And the Mosque! It's gone!"
    Elizabeth put her hand out, gripped Stephanie 's shoulder. "There's Nick!"
    On screen, the camera steadied. They watched Nick scramble to his feet and run to the edge of the pit. He disappeared into the hole. Fragmented, shaky images of the destruction filled the screen as the cameraman ran forward. The picture steadied. The camera looked over the edge of the pit.
    Nick was helping the President sit up. The camera zoomed in on their faces. Rice was bleeding from a wound on his forehead. Nick's sunglasses were gone and his suit was torn and dirty. The camera swung toward a man in the uniform of the Muslim honor guard. He was standing on the edge of the pit and brandishing a pistol.
    He was screaming, distraught. He began firing into the pit. The camera moved again and the team watched Nick cover the President with his body, draw and fire. His face was closed and angry. He kept firing while the shooter rolled down into the hole. The camera followed him down. They watched the slide lock back on Nick's .45.
    " The whole magazine," Ronnie said. "He gave him the whole magazine."
    The camera swung round to a jittery shot of running Israeli soldiers. The screen went black. A few seconds later a studio shot with a famous anchor appeared. The live feed from Jerusalem was down. Ronnie went to the set and turned off the sound.
    They looked at each other. No one knew what to say.
    Stephanie took a deep breath. "What shall we do, Director?"
    " This will start a war. We've got to get evidence to take Dysart down. So far we've got nothing. For all we know Valkyrie and Parsifal are part of a school play for his teen age daughter."
    " Sure they are," said Ronnie. "That bastard is in this all the way. Can he find out where we are?"
    " I don't know. We'll stand watch. Four hour shifts in front of the monitors. Ronnie, you and Selena take the first one. You got a little sleep earlier. Steph and I are beat. We're too tired to do much good. Wake us in four and Steph and I will get back on the computers."
    In her room ,