Sacred Stone (Oregon Files 2)

“Remember the yacht that transported the meteorite to the Faeroe Islands and was boarded by our navy guided-missile frigate?”

“Sure,” Cabrillo said.

“I sent a specialist on board from the Agency,” Overholt said. “He finally got their ringleader to talk.”

“And?”

“A couple of weeks ago, Hickman sent a separate team to Israel to wire the Dome of the Rock with video cameras and explosives. If he is able to recover the stone of Abraham, it looks like he plans to take it to Jerusalem and destroy it in the explosion, then display the video worldwide.”

“What about the operations in Saudi Arabia?” Cabrillo asked. “Did he disclose anything about that?”

“Apparently he knew nothing. Hickman must have compartmentalized that and used a different group.”

“I need you to do me a favor,” Cabrillo said.

“What is it?”

“Pull up the service records of all the United States military personnel in Qatar.”

“What for?”

“I need every Muslim we have,” Cabrillo said.

“Who will lead them in Mecca?”

“Don’t worry,” Cabrillo said, “I have just the man.”

THE OREGON WAS just entering the Strait of Gibraltar when Hanley hung up the telephone after talking to Cabrillo. He reached for the intercom button and pressed it down.

“Kasim and Adams to the control room, immediately,” he said. “Kasim and Adams to the control room, immediately.”

As he waited for the men to arrive, he turned to Stone. “Change the course to Israel, the nearest spot offshore of Jerusalem you can find.”

Stone pulled a map up on the monitor. The port of Ashdod was nearest. He entered the commands and the ship control program reset itself. Just then Adams walked into the control room.

“Yes, sir,” he said.

“I need you to prepare the helicopter to drop off Kasim in Tangier, Morocco.”

“Then where do you want me to go?” Adams asked.

“Refuel and fly back out to the Oregon.”

“I’ll get on it right now,” Adams said and walked out.

A few minutes later Kasim walked into the room.

“Are you up for leading an operation?” Hanley asked.

“Yes, sir,” Kasim said, smiling.

“Only Cabrillo has access to the personnel files,” Hanley said, “but he told me you’re a Muslim. Is that correct?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Good,” Hanley said. “We have the Challenger on the way from Qatar to Morocco. We need you to lead a team into Mecca.”

“What’s the purpose, sir?” Kasim asked.