Crescent Dawn

The distant light brightened as he jogged through a small, rectangular chamber, then into a straight section of tu

“I see you’re trying to have a blast without me,” he said with a weary grin.

But he didn’t give her the opportunity to reply. Heaving the rock from between her legs, he hoisted her over his shoulder, then grabbed both lanterns with his free hand. Finding renewed strength, he quickly shuffled back down the tu

He carried her more than half the distance to the main cavern before dizziness reappeared in full force. Reaching the small chamber, he gently set her on the ground and removed her gag as he caught his breath.

“You look terrible,” she said. “Are you badly hurt?”

“I’m fine,” he grunted. “You were the one with the worries.”

“What time is it?” she asked hurriedly.

“Five minutes to one,” Dirk replied, gazing at his watch.

“The explosives. The woman said they were set to detonate at one a.m.”

“Let ’em blow. Let’s just get out of here.”

“No.”

Dirk was startled by the tone in her voice. It was less of a request than a demand.

“If the Dome and the mosque are destroyed, it will mean disaster for my country. War will ensue like no other we have seen.”

Dirk looked into Sophie’s dark eyes, seeing determination, hope, love, and despair. With the seconds ticking, he knew he couldn’t hope to win a debate on the matter.

“I think I can disable the detonator,” he said, untying her hands. “But you’ve got to get out of here. Here’s an extra lantern. Untie your feet and head for the exit.”

He turned to run back into the tu

“Be careful,” she said. “I love you.”

His mind in a whirl, Dirk took off ru

As a marine engineer, he had a rudimentary knowledge of explosives, having worked on salvage projects where underwater demolitions had been required. Though he was unfamiliar with the HMX explosives, the detonating technology in front of him was a common configuration. A single electronic timer fuze was wired to a string of detonator caps, which in turn were embedded in the explosives.

He glanced at his watch, seeing it was three minutes to one.

“Don’t blow early,” he muttered under his breath as he held the light to the wall.

He quickly searched the plastic explosives for additional fuzes, not realizing the quantity of HMX in front of him was enough to level a skyscraper. Finding only the one fuze, he grabbed hold of it and yanked it from the wall. The fuze, with its associated detonator caps, slipped freely from the HMX. With the blasting device dangling in his hand, Dirk took off ru

He soon reached the now-dark and empty rectangular chamber, where he was thankful to see by her absence that Sophie had heeded his directions to flee. He stopped for a moment and hurled the fuze assembly against the far wall of the chamber, then dashed into the tu

Squeezing through the entry tu

Then a sick feeling suddenly hit Dirk like a blow to the belly. The mosque. Sophie had said that the Dome and the mosque would be destroyed. There must be a second set of explosives for the mosque, and Sophie was inside trying to deactivate it.

Dirk shot back through the passageway like an arrow. Inside the main cavern, there were three small tu

He’d taken only a few steps when he heard a popping noise in the distance, like a short string of firecrackers exploding. It was the detonators that he had pulled free beneath the Dome, now igniting harmlessly in the rectangle chamber.

Dirk’s heart pounded like a sledgehammer as he realized the second cache would detonate at any second.

“Sophie… get out of there… now!” he shouted between pounding breaths.

Ahead in the tu

The explosion shook the ground like an earthquake, accompanied by an earsplitting boom. Seconds later, the expanding force of exploding gasses burst through the tu

49

Sam had been standing with his back to the hillside, examining the dead Palestinian, when Dirk briefly emerged from the passageway in search of Sophie. Hearing someone else call Sophie’s name, the antiquities agent wheeled around in time to catch a glimpse of Dirk’s lantern disappearing back into the passageway. Sam once more pulled out his phone and tried calling Sophie, then crept slowly up the hill.

He was only a few yards from the quarry entrance when the cache of explosives detonated. From his vantage, it was little more than a muffled bang followed by a slight rumble beneath his feet. Seconds later, a plume of smoke and dust came pouring out of the small passageway.

He approached the entrance and found a discarded lantern in the bushes while waiting for the air to clear. Turning on the lamp, he stepped cautiously through the passageway. He was stu

The air was still thick with smoke and dust, and Sam kept a sleeve to his nose as he surveyed the interior. He poked a head into each of the four tu

Proceeding slowly into the tu

A nervous sweat poured down his face as he coughed away the dust that caked his nasal passages. Making his way past a jagged boulder, he staggered out of the tu