52 |

Approaching Ethiopian Airspace

 

Command Sergeant Major Burt “Big Dog” Dawson sat near the rear of the plane, staring at the fuselage opposite, as the others caught a few minutes shuteye. He was tired like they all were, their last op a success though trying.

Who knew Iranians didn’t like strangers in their midst?

Normally none of that bothered him, and it didn’t today. It was his new orders. He wasn’t a very religious man, though he did consider himself Christian, and hopefully a good one at that. Beyond watching Raiders of the Lost Ark multiple times, he’d never given the Ark a second thought. Even then, it had never really occurred to him that it was real. It was more a movie prop than something out of the Bible.

And that’s what had him so conflicted. Obviously, those up the chain, including the President, a man he had tremendous respect for, believed in the possibility enough to not only commit resources to its recovery or destruction, but to put lives on the line.

His and his men, as well as those who might get in their way.

What if they had to kill the priests? They wouldn’t if the men didn’t provide armed resistance, but what if they did? What if they had guns and fought back? Killing terrorists and truly bad guys was his business, and he never shed a tear or lost a wink of sleep when he killed one or a dozen of them.

But priests?

Even if armed, what was their crime? Protecting something sacred, something they believed in deeply, from thieves—him and his men—trying to steal that which wasn’t theirs.

If they resisted with lethal force, he’d have to figure out some alternative to killing them.

“What’s up, BD?”

He flinched, so lost in thought, he hadn’t noticed his best friend and second-in-command, Master Sergeant Mike “Red” Belme, approach. He pointed at a nearby seat. “Take a load off.”

Red sat and leaned forward, his elbows on his knees. “You look a bit off.”

“It’s nothing.”

“Bullshit. I know you better than that.”

Dawson grunted. “Okay, let’s put it this way. It’s nothing I can talk about.”

Red frowned. “Opsec?”

“Exactly.”

“Ahh, the burdens of command.”

“You have no idea.”

Red leaned back, stretching out his legs and folding his arms. “Is it the fact the professors have found the Ark of the Covenant?”

Dawson bolted upright. “How the hell do you know that?”

Red’s eyes bulged. “Holy shit, I’m right?”

Dawson cursed, having fallen for the oldest trick in the book, delivered by his best friend and second-in-command. “You tricked me.”

Red shook his head. “No, honestly, I was joking. Niner looked up archaeology conspiracy theories in Ethiopia, and Google came up with the Ark.”

Dawson shook his head, his frown deep. “Remind me next time to shut down Internet access.”

Red grinned. “They’ll riot.”

Dawson grunted. “Probably.”

Red leaned closer, lowering his voice. “So, umm, are we on the Indy side of this? I mean, are we the good guys?”

Dawson sighed. “I hope so, but I have a bad feeling we’re Belloq on this one. The only difference is we’re stealing the Ark for America instead of Nazi Germany.”

“This is insane. Do the brass actually think this thing works?”

Dawson shook his head. “My understanding is they think if there’s even the remotest possibility, it can’t be allowed to fall into the wrong hands.”

“I see their point. If it does work, and the wrong side has it, like the Russians, it could be chaos. They could march across Europe, and there’d be nothing we could do to stop them.” Red’s eyes widened. “It could mean nuclear war.”

Dawson nodded. “That’s not what really worries me. I just can’t see it being real. But what happens if a group of fanatics gets their hands on it, then decide to destroy it publicly? What would the reaction of Christians around the world be? Could it trigger a holy war?” He shook his head. “I think the safest thing is to just grab the damned thing, crate it up, and shove it in Hangar 18, never to be seen again.”

Red’s head slowly bobbed. “Agreed. Let’s just hope that’s what our President has planned for it. What’s that old saying? Curiosity killed the cat?”

Dawson grunted. “There’s something about Pandora’s Box that has me more worried.”