The Crimson Dagger - Vatican Knights Series 23 (2020), Rick Jones [free ebooks for android txt] 📗

taken away the enemy’s ability to stall for time. The building burns, like a candle, limiting their time to act.” He turned to examine those faces around him—at Zamir, Talib, Qusay and Abd-al-Mumin—all who appeared doubtful. Ghazi remained topside by the helipad, though Mustafa could picture him wearing the same incredulous look. “Trust me,” Ali Mustafa added calmly. “I have merely separated our enemy from all their advantages. Now . . . all their advantages belong to me.”

Ali Mustafa looked at the Holy Lance and traced his fingers lovingly over the relic. “The power of Allah is strong,” he stated evenly. “Do you not feel it? Do you continue to question His might?”

No one answered.

Mustafa then picked up the cellphone, hit the number 9 on the pad, and put the phone to his ear. “In a moment,” he said to everyone in general, “you’ll understand everything.”

The phone rang once, twice, three times before someone on the other end answered.

* * *

After the Vatican Knights began their operation by entering the Kristallpalast, Müller’s cellphone rang. Zeller, whose face betrayed no emotion even though his partner, the man with the olive complexion, had become blanched over the hours, had merely stood by as a silent equal.

Müller looked at the number on the screen and recognized it. He placed the phone by his ear after tapping the receive button. “What the hell did you do, Mustafa?”

“Simple,” he told him. “I have stolen away your advantages and placed these opportunities within my grasp.”

Müller looked up at the flames, which were climbing alongside the building. “There are people still inside the building,” he told Mustafa.

“That’s right. Those from the fiftieth floor up. Your priority now, Müller, is to save their lives. But in order to do that, then you must comply with the demands that I’m about to summarize to you in detail.” There was a beat. And then: “Are you ready?” When Müller did not respond, Ali Mustafa went ahead with his strategy. “One: the stairwells are gone, meaning that there’s no way up or down from the fiftieth floor, which neutralizes your unit. Two: the building will burn which limits your time to respond, meaning that I have taken away your ability to stall. If you want to save the people trapped inside, then you of all people know that time is not a luxury. Follow my demands precisely, then you will have enough time to manage a rescue to evacuate those remaining few who are trapped inside. Do you understand me so far, Müller?”

“I hear you.”

“Excellent. Now, I want you to send a chopper to the helipad. One large enough to hold my team and the hostages. If something happens that shouldn’t, if you plan something that would play out militarily on your part, then the hostages will die. And so that you understand me, Müller, the Vatican’s Cardinal Secretary of State and the associate judge from the United States Supreme Court have both been fitted with suicide vests. Are we still on the same page?”

“We are.”

“I prefer an 18 AW169M helicopter, one that seats ten and flies at one hundred seventy-five miles per hour, according to its online specifications. You can locate one at the military base in Salzburg, which is one hundred fifty miles west of our position. Given the vehicle’s rate of speed and flight time, the aircraft should be here within the hour. I will allow time to gather a flight crew and fueling, say ninety minutes from now. Not one second after or the hostages and the guests trapped below will burn. Do you understand?”

“A chopper from Salzburg military base, an 18 AW169M, in ninety minutes.”

“Excellent. Now, and listen carefully, stage two of the operation is that the chopper will take my team and the hostages to Vienna International Airport. There, I want a plane fueled up and ready to go to a destination that I will hold secret. One pilot and co-pilot. So, I repeat: if you plan something that would play out militarily on your part, then the hostages will die as will the pilots. Is this clear?”

“It is.”

“Repeat what I just told you.”

“You are to be transported via chopper to Vienna International Airport. There, a plane will be fueled up and ready to go to a destination that you hold secret, with just a pilot and co-pilot. If Austrian military or law enforcement intervenes, then the hostages and the pilots will die.”

“Excellent. Once the plane takes off, there will be no military escort, since I’m assuming that you’ll be following us on radar anyway. If I see any military aircraft, just one, I will assume it to be a threat and kill the hostages. Even in flight.” A beat: “Do you understand?”

“I do. But now I have questions.”

“The longer you stall, Müller, the more the building burns. The more the building burns, the quicker people will die.”

“How do I know you will release the hostages when you get to your destination point?”

“You don’t. But you don’t have either a choice or the advantage, do you?”

Müller nibbled on his lower lip. Then: “Can you guarantee me that you’ll release them once you reach your destination?”

“Ninety minutes from this point, Müller. Not one second more. If you’re late, not only will the hostages die when you could have prevented it, but those trapped on the upper levels as well. How many people do you think we’re talking about here, Müller? Twenty-five? Fifty? More? You now have eighty-nine minutes.”

There was a click, the connection cut on the part of Mustafa.

Müller stared at the phone and wanted to dash it against the pavement. He was angry because he had been shoved into a corner with no way out. Mustafa had taken away every possible advantage, including time. The building was now a melting candle, the wick burning. It would take three, maybe four hours for the flames to reach the upper most level of the seventy-fifth floor. Mustafa wanted the chopper there in ninety minutes, leaving the Austrian