“You aren’t the only one who doesn’t know exactly what’s going on,” said Church. “We know some things and Lilith and her people know some things. We have to hope that if we all put our puzzle pieces on the table it will add up to one clear picture.”

“Thanks for giving me a heads up, Church,” I complained. He ignored me.

Church looked at his watch. “What’s the status of your team?”

“At the risk of sounding like a male stereotype,” I said, “Echo Team is cocked, locked, and ready to rock.”

“Good. I have transport on the way. We roll in one hour. And, yes, Captain, that means all teams are on active standby. On the president’s order we will hit all five of the sites in one coordinated strike.”

“What about the other two devices?”

Church paused and I could feel the eyes of everyone in the place burning into us. “We don’t know where they are. We’re going to have to run the play with what we have. If we’re very lucky we may secure one or more of the people involved in this and see if we can encourage them to unburden their souls.” It was said offhand, but the intent beneath the words was lethal.

“God help anyone who gets in our way, then,” I said.

Church gave me a bleak stare. “I believe they will discover that God has abandoned them.”

He turned toward Lilith.

“Now,” he said.

Chapter Eighty-eight

Chapter Eighty-Eight

Arklight Camp

Outskirts of Tehran

June 16, 2:10 a.m.

“It all started eight hundred years ago with Sir Guy LaRoque, emissary for Philip II of France,” began Lilith. “He was a senior member of the Knights Hospitaller, which is a noble order dedicated to good works. However, Sir Guy created within the Hospitallers a second and very much more secret group which became known as the Ordo Ruber, the Red Order. The group was illegally sanctioned by Father Nicodemus, the senior Hospitaller priest in the Holy Land during the Third Crusade.”

“Nicodemus,” I echoed, and a chill raced up my spine.

“Sir Guy brought his plan to his counterpart,” continued Lilith, “a man named Ibrahim al-Asiri, who was emissary for Saladin. These two men were much of a mind, and between them they shared the observation that it was remarkable that, during times of the severest strife between Christendom and Islam, people flocked to church in greater numbers and showed much greater fealty to God.”

“No atheists in foxholes,” I said, but caught a reproving look from Church. I mimed zipping my mouth shut.