The Samson Effect Chapter 21

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THOMAS AND MICHAEL stepped into the hotel's dining area a few minutes before 6:00 a.m. Delia and Hanna were already seated at a small table for two along the wall. Their breakfast plates and drinks covered the entire surface of the small table, leaving no room for the men to join. As they approached, both women looked up at them and smiled, and then returned to their conversation. Thomas and Michael smiled back and slipped into the chairs at the small table behind them.

The waiter appeared and took their order. In a few minutes, they began dining on a continental breakfast. The men ate their breakfast silently until it became apparent the women were not yet interested in forgiving them.

Thomas cleared his throat, determined not to let the women's icy behavior dampen his excitement for the day's excursion. He matched the women's muted tone as he buttered his muffin. "How do you want to go about checking out the rabbi's house?"

"I've been thinking about that. The house is right in the middle of a Palestinian controlled neighborhood. How the Jews have been able to retain control over it for centuries is beyond me. Obviously, Azim doesn't have a clue the sample may be in there, or he'd have found a way inside. To tell the truth, I'm not quite sure how we can manage to search for the altar room without calling attention from both the Jews and the Palestinians."

"You do still think it's worth checking out though, don't you?"

"Absolutely. I figured we'd check out the two caves today while we think of a way to get into the house." Michael lowered his already muted volume. "I think it's wise for us to keep the knowledge of the altar room to ourselves for the time being. Right now, you're the only one I have 100 percent trust in."

"I've been thinking the same thing. In fact, I think we should hold everything we find close to our vests until we know it's safe to share it with anyone." Thomas stole a sly glance over his shoulder. "Be prepared to face your uncle's fury and the women's when they find out we've been hiding something from them."

"What are you two talking about?"

Thomas looked up to see Hanna approaching the table. "Oh, nothing of consequence. You two ready for today?"

Hanna couldn't hold in the smile. "To tell the truth, I've not been this excited for a long time."

"Michael, you done eating?" Thomas asked.

Michael picked up the juice and downed it. He stood, picked up a muffin, and took a bite. "I guess." He looked at his wristwatch. "The colonel should be in the lobby in five or ten minutes. Let's wait for him in there."

They entered the hotel's lobby to find Colonel Yarconi already seated on a couch waiting for them. Standing around him were four soldiers dressed in full combat gear, complete with their assault rifles held against their chests. Thomas felt uneasy seeing military personnel dressed to kill standing idly by in such a public place. He glanced at his friends' faces, but they didn't seem to give it a second's thought. He was beginning to realize just how well he had it back home, at least when he wasn't wanted for murder.

Colonel Yarconi stood and extended a hand to Michael. "I see you're already up and ready to go."

Everyone nodded to each other as the colonel introduced the four-man team that would accompany them to Hebron. "You have until sunset," the colonel continued, "to be back in Jerusalem. These men will watch your backs everywhere you go and reinforcements are just a radio call away. Any questions?"

Having no questions, the group followed the colonel out of the hotel and loaded into a military transport vehicle. A few minutes later, they boarded a large helicopter and were soon heading south.

Thomas studied Michael's crude map. They agreed that after checking out Snake Cave Number Three, they would have the pilot fly around Hebron to see if other parts of the city's landscape had features of a serpent.

Michael leaned forward and tapped the pilot on the shoulders. "I need you to sweep around the south of Hebron so I can get my bearings."

The pilot nodded, and the four of them planned their day in detail in order to take full advantage of their borrowed chopper. Every now and then Thomas asked the soldiers questions; but after endless one-word answers and no interaction on their part, he finally gave up and turned his full attention to his friends.

As they passed by a mountain, Thomas interrupted Michael and pointed out the window. "We're here. There's the mountain we were on when you drew the map."

Michael glanced out the window and then looked at his map. Once he was oriented, he again tapped the pilot on the shoulder and gave him directions to Snake Cave Number Three. The pilot made a slight bank to the right, and Michael returned to his conversation with the women. The four soldiers gathered up their equipment and checked their rifles.

Thomas leaned his head against the window and stared into the desert, wondering if everything they were doing was futile. He wondered if the Samson Effect even existed at all. As he silently debated, something in the receding distance caught his eye and jarred him to a rigid posture. With his hands and face plastered on the window, he felt his breath go shallow.

"Pilot, turn around at once. Head back to the tall mountain."

The pilot kept his course but turned to look at Michael for approval. Michael's conversation with the women halted abruptly as all eyes were riveted on him. Even the soldiers froze in their preparation for landing and looked questioningly at him."

"What is it, my friend?"

"Just turn this thing around, and I'll show you."

Michael nodded to the pilot, who drew his attention back to his controls and initiated a much deeper bank than he had previously. Thomas jumped from his seat and moved to the other side of the chopper, squeezing between two soldiers. Soon all eight sets of eyes were peering out the window.

"Bring us within one hundred yards of the northeast side of that mountain."

The pilot moved them into position while Thomas waited to see if anyone else saw what he saw. He didn't have to wait long.

"Good heavens," Michael said with a touch of awe. "The belly of the devil."

By the gasps from the women, Thomas knew they saw it too. As they hovered next to the mountain, Thomas could clearly see the image of a snake embedded in the cave. The shadows of the overhanging rocks cast a dark, triangular shape of a snake's head against a smooth side of the cave. Right where the eyes should be, Thomas found two small indentations into the mountain. But it was the jaw of the rock serpent that made the sight surreal. A cave opened into the mountain with a stalactite dropping down like a menacing fang. What was apparently another fang had broken off, leaving a thick stump behind.

As the chopper hovered, the sun continued its path across the morning sky. The shadows that gave the snake's head its form slowly receded down the mountain until the surface no longer resembled a serpent. After a few more moments of surreal silence, the group burst out in unison with all kinds of questions. "How could someone see from this vantage point three thousand years ago?" "What are the odds we'd randomly choose the exact moment needed to see the serpent?" "How could the surface not have changed through erosion?"

Thomas silently listened to the chaotic chorus around him, but it was not enough to drown out his own thoughts. He sat back in his seat and marveled at their luck. It was about time he had some luck. He didn't know, nor at the moment did he care, how this discovery could have happened. A deep satisfaction drifted through him because it had happened. He heard Michael giving the pilot anxious instructions to land. When they touched down, a maverick thought came out of nowhere, something the elder Pastor Willingham said. If God wanted him to find it, he would. Thomas shuddered at the thought, yet still not bringing himself to believe in a deity. He tried to summon back the feelings of satisfaction; but the maverick thought lingered, cutting into his joy like a two-edged sword.

* * * *

At 7:00 a.m., the first members of the Council began filing into Detective Ari Hazan's home. Hazan confided to Judas that this would be the first time since he had joined the Council that he would actually get to meet the chairman, who had always been out of town when the Council convened. In fact, since no one talked of Council matters, he did not even know the name of the chairman. Judas couldn't tell if Hazan was more excited to meet him or the chairman.

As the Council members started arriving, Judas remained alone in the kitchen and immersed himself in prayer while the other three men removed furniture from the living room and arranged the chairs into a circle. As more people entered, Judas finished his prayer and moved to a place in the kitchen where he could see the front door. Two well-dressed men in their fifties walked in and made brief greetings to Hazan before being seated.

Hazan's housekeeper brought a tray of refreshments to the men, who took a cup of espresso and then returned to their whispered conversation. Judas noticed that the men ignored Tobin and Aaron, only giving them cursory glances and shaking their heads. Over the next half-hour more men joined the group, until all ten were present. When the tenth man entered, Judas noticed that the expression on Hazan's face changed markedly. It was as if he had seen a ghost.

Once all the men were seated, the chairman of the Council cleared his throat, immediately ending the gentle murmurs in the room. "Before we begin, I must insist that you and you leave this house at once." The chairman pointed to Tobin and Aaron, who looked to Judas for guidance. After a brief pause, Judas nodded, and Hazan escorted them through the room and out a sliding door in the kitchen, where he seated them at a table next to the swimming pool. Judas smiled and nodded to them through the window and then turned his attention back to the chairman.

When Hazan returned to his seat, the chairman continued. "On behalf of the Council, let me tell you how honored we are to finally meet you, Rabbi." Nods and verbal agreement broke out in the room. When silence returned, the chairman said, "Please accept the heartfelt condolences on the death of your rabbi. I assure you it was as painful for us as it was for you."

Judas noted the sincerity in the chairman's eyes. The room was deathly silent until Judas's quiet response thundered through the room. "Thank you. I'm sure it was hard on you."

"Of course, these are not the circumstances in which we wanted our first meeting with you. Apparently, the rabbi made no mention to you of the Council or of our purpose."

Judas shook his head.

"Very well. For thousands of years this Council has existed for one purpose: to provide for the needs of the Protector of the Lord's Strength. I believe you know Detective Hazan; let me introduce each member to you."

The chairman went around the circle introducing each man. Some, Judas had heard of, but most he had not. In the group was a bank president, an import/export entrepreneur, an army general, two mayors of prominent Israeli cities, a high-level official in Israel's Foreign Ministry, a multibillionaire who had his hands into everything, and a member of Parliament.

"And finally, that leaves me. My name is Benjamin Ben Hur, Israel's ambassador to the United States."

Suddenly Judas felt a wave of inferiority sweep over him. In his presence were some of the most powerful men in Israel. Even his great strength couldn't suppress the trembling that overtook his hands. Had he wanted to say something, he knew he wouldn't be able to. His mouth felt like someone had stuffed wads of cotton into it.

He glanced around the room. The eyes of these powerful men locked upon him only exacerbated the problem. Then his eyes met Detective Hazan's eyes. The familiar face was instantly soothing. Hazan was the only man in the room who he was not intimidated by. In fact, the more he considered Hazan, the more out of place the detective seemed in the presence of these men.

"Forgive me, but may I ask how a police detective became part of this Council? His station in life hardly seems to fit."

Judging by the detective's reaction, it seemed as though Judas had just stripped him naked in the midst of a jeering crowd of strangers. The detective averted his eyes from everyone as deep crimson colored his dark face. Instantly Judas regretted asking the question. He hadn't meant to humiliate Hazan.

The ambassador humanely broke the oppressive silence. "Each member of the Council chooses his own successor in much the same way as the Protector chooses his. Once every member approves the choice, we use what influence we may have to elevate, in your words, his station in life. Detective Hazan's predecessor died of a sudden heart attack before we had a chance to groom him for the position." The warmth of the ambassador's smile as he turned his attention to Hazan seemed to hearten the detective and take the sharp edge from Judas's question. "No need to worry. In short order he will be sitting among us as an equal in every sense of the word." The ambassador then turned back to Judas and in a nonaccusatory manner asked, "Does that alleviate any worries you have, Rabbi?"

Judas's embarrassment blossomed, and he let the issue die with a simple nod

of his head.

"Good. Now before we administer the oaths and take up the issue that has brought us together today, we must have a confirmation that you have, indeed, received the sacred knowledge you claim to have."

"Of course," Judas said. "Tell me how you wish me to prove it."

"I believe a demonstration of your strength will suffice." For the first time since the meeting had started, the ambassador's eyes squinted and his voice became gravelly. "You are still under the effect of the Lord's Strength, aren't you?"

Judas gulped and silently nodded. Without taking his eyes from Judas, the ambassador said, "General …"

The general rose from the chair and marched through the circle in an even cadence until he stood next to Judas. Judas looked up at him, wondering what demonstration the Council had in mind. It quickly became evident as the general reached for his holstered gun and pressed the barrel to Judas's temple. Judas's heart raced, and his eyes flew open. His brain sent messages to his muscles to flee, but the shot came too quickly.

Instinctively, Judas yanked the gun from the general's grip and smashed it in his hand as though it were a plastic toy. Shouts of "Rabbi" filled the house as Tobin and Aaron burst through the back door to their rabbi's aid.

"I said out!"

Tobin and Aaron stopped at the ambassador's shout. Their helpless eyes were glued to the rabbi as they waited for him to fall.

But he didn't.

The general bent down and picked up the pieces of his gun. The curious expression of every council member instantly changed to that of deep, almost godlike, reverence. Murmurs of "Rabbi" again filled the room.

Hazan, the newest member of the Council, ran up to Judas and pressed his fingers to Judas's temple. His expression betrayed his complete bewilderment. "But how? This is not possible. By Solomon's Temple, he's only flesh and blood!"

The ambassador's laughter filled the room. "How, you ask. It is of the Lord. The stories of Samson and the Judges, of King David's amazing feats, none are myths. You see the seriousness of our duty, don't you Ari?"

Hazan nodded feebly. "I've seen what gunshot wounds do to the human body, especially from point-blank range. The skin isn't even broken." He whipped his head toward Judas. "Do you feel any pain?"

Having not yet recovered from the shock of being shot in the head, Judas slowly shook his head while reaching his fingertips to his temple.

The ambassador's tone came soothingly and full of reassurance. "Ari, Ari, please my friend, if not for faith then accept what your own eyes have seen." The ambassador looked at the faces of the men in the circle. "It's a rare thing for our faith to be strengthened like this. The time will come when our work and sacrifice will be rewarded abundantly. The Messiah will come, and when he does, he'll restore Israel to its full glory. By this gift, the Army of God will once again be invincible."

The ambassador walked over to Judas and dropped to his knees. Following the custom of their spiritual father, Abraham, he slid his hand under Judas's thigh and administered his oath. "I swear on all I have and upon my very life to provide for you your every need, freeing you to answer the Lord's call. My riches, my possessions, my life are yours until the Lord breaks this bond by death."

Every member of the Council lined up behind the ambassador and administered the same oath, word for word, with adoration and sincerity. The last to pledge himself was Hazan. His voice trembled as he spoke his words. Rather than adoration and sincerity, Judas perceived fear in Hazan's voice.

When they finished and were seated, the ambassador moved to the issue at hand. "Now, about the secret which the rabbi protects being compromised; put your fears to ease. My nephew and his friends have the rabbi's notebook. I assure you it will be returned safely to him."

"But you know as well as we all do there can be no knowledge of the secret outside the Council," the general said.

"I know, and the time will come when those who know must be silenced."

"Even your nephew?" asked the bank president.

"If he does not accept the gift of succeeding me on the Council, yes." Judas perceived no doubt, no remorse in the ambassador's words. "However, we've never been so close in finding the source of the Lord's Strength. Give them time. The Lord may be answering our prayers through them."

Each Council member considered the request and agreed. The ambassador adjourned the meeting with a warning that caused each member to leave with a distressed spirit. "Azim Ebadi's sister has bewitched my nephew and searches for the secret with him. If they do find it, she'll be his Delilah and betray him to her brother. We all know what he'll do with the gift." Fear enveloped each member, and none attempted to mask it. "We must commit all resources to silence her when and if the secret is found... even if it means my nephew's death."



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