The Caliphate, André Gallo [best books to read ever .TXT] 📗

in here now. We want all of our tribesmen to act together.”

     Steve held Izem back. “Izem, you can’t keep going back and forth like this. Al Khalil is going to notice. We need weapons, fast!”

     “You will have them.”

     As soon as Izem left, Steve went for the back door.

     “Stay here,” he told Kella. “I need to find out what’s down the other side of that back corridor. Shouldn’t take long.”

     “Be careful,” she said.

***

Steve could go faster this time knowing that Hussein’s men had not yet discovered the back corridor. Nevertheless, he assumed that they would find it in time. He made a right turn into the passage, past the back wall of their cell, to another door about thirty feet away.

     In the dark, he felt another doorway and carefully groped for the handle. He turned the knob slowly and pushed the door open. He stepped into another dark space, closed the door behind him, and stood for a couple of seconds trying to sense his surroundings before stepping forward.

     He found a light switch and flicked it up to find himself faced with an emergency generator and on the left side of the door, cases of water, and canned food. The Israelis, he thought, were ready for a siege. But they had been overly reliant on cover and concealment. Why didn’t they have a stronger armed security group to defend their installation?

     He turned the light off and went back to the corridor. He again turned to the right. Another twenty feet or so and he found yet another narrow corridor, to the right. He followed it and reached the corridor that originally had led from the front stairwell to the large computer and map room. He turned left and reached a vault door with a pad for digital identification.

     A vault within a vault. What could behind this barrier?

     Steve turned around and made his way back to the supply room. He was loading a cardboard box when a tremendous explosion suddenly increased the air pressure against his eardrums several fold.

     He was immobilized for a second and then grabbed his box, turned out the light, and turned left into the corridor to get back to his cell. He heard footsteps and voices coming toward him in the dark and saw the beam of a flashlight at the far end of the hall.

     His one chance was to go forward and slip into the room behind the map. He kept moving quickly in the dark toward the sounds. He entered the office in back of the large electronic wall map just as the light reached the bottom of the stairs. He closed the door behind him and found the back door to his cell.

     Kella came up to him and put her arms around him.

     “What was that noise?”

     Steve put the box down under the back desk. “I think they found the door to the back stairs and blew it open. There goes our escape route.”

     “Are you all right? What do you have in the box?”

     She leaned down to look before Steve could reply.

     “Wow! Water! And Spam! Spam?

     “Yes. I found the crisis supply room. There were kosher and non-kosher varieties. You’re not Jewish are you? And a couple of flashlights.”

     Kella pulled out a bottle of water and gave Steve another one.

     “Look, Abdul brought these,” she said, pointing to two AK-47s lying under the desk.

     Steve reached for one of the weapons.

     “Abdul?”

    “Yes, Izem told him. Abdul has switched sides.”

     “Or, he’s playing both sides.”

***

The Shaldag team kept firing at the building’s openings at random to keep the tension high and prevent the terrorists from getting any rest. While Avidan and his men had access to food and could rest on a rotating basis, Hussein’s fighters had to be ready for an attack at any time. They had found fast food and soda machines in the building and were not without sustenance. But they had had not slept the night before. They soon would be fighting their bodies to stay functional, alert, and effective.

     The TIBAM team delivered the classified plans of the building to Avidan, who became furious. Speaking to General Shomron on his cell network, he said, “General, you sent me on a mission with bad information. The plans the TIBAM gave me were false, showing a one-level interior. Now I have the classified blueprints showing me that the terrorists are in a subterranean complex with offices, labs, and our country’s secret weapon.”

    “That’s because your mission has changed,” Shomron answered, “from liberating the hostages and killing the terrorists to disabling the laser.”

     “What’s the difference? I have to go through the terrorists to get at the weapon, right?”

     “No. Look at the TIBEAM information. You’ll see there’s a sliding roof. For the weapon to become operational, the roof has to slide open. When it does, that’s your chance to get into the installation. But, keep in mind that, when they open the roof, it means they are ready to fire. We have to hope that, since it’s their first time, there will be pauses as they try to figure out the next step.”

***

Hussein was busy organizing his few fighters on the ground level and keeping an eye on the Israeli commandos surrounding the building. Not unexpected, they hadn’t assaulted his positions yet. Obviously, the Israeli government put a high price on the value of the American hostages, especially the ambassador’s daughter. But that didn’t totally explain the Israeli forces’ relative lack of activity. He left his post to go speak with al Khalil.

     They met near the top of the stairs. Al Khalil arrived with an AK-47 in his hand.

     “Give me an update.