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out, once and for all.
He stopped suddenly and held up his right hand, bringing those be-hind him to
a complete stop as well. He whispered into his headset for the second team to
stop and let the tunnel quiet down. A moment later, all was quiet, save the
steady trickle of running water at their feet. Mariano closed his eyes and
strained to pick up every sound. Finally he heard what he wanted. The picks
were still chipping away.
"
Go!" he barked into his headset. He and his men began to move again, faster
now.
Their speed increased along with the headroom in the tunnel as they approached
the center. Mariano was almost sprinting as he came around the last turn, his
pistol ready to fire. But when the gunmen finally con-verged upon each other,
they were stunned.
No one was there.
It was as if Jon and Erin had entered a parallel universe.
On the other side of the wall was another tunnel, narrow but dry, running
alongside
Hezekiah's and back toward the Gihon Spring. It was level for about fifty
meters but then began to decline sharply, down steps hewn from the limestone.
All three of them moved fast and sure.
222
At the last moment, they'd heard their killers coming. They'd had to assume
Arik and
Roni were dead. They'd slipped away from the main passageway just in time. But
they still had no idea how many were behind them or what lay ahead. Their only
goal now was to open up as much distance as possible between them and their
pursuers until they could figure out what to do next.
They descended fifty or sixty steps, then once again hit level ground. The
tunnel broke sharply to the left, moving perpendicular to Hezekiah's. It also
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began to narrow further, and zigzag wildly. Bennett quickly lost his sense of
direction. He still had no idea where they were headed, except that it se e m
e d t h e y w e r e n o w i n s o m e s o r t o f subterranean complex of
ancient cisterns and pipelines, winding their way underneath the
City of David, under Mount Zion, and perhaps even under the Old City itself.
223
65
TUESDAY, JANUARY 20 - 4:15 P.M. - THE JERUSALEM TUNNELS
Bennett stopped just in time.
As he rounded another corner, the tunnel came to a dead end inside a small
cavern. At its center lay several dozen large rocks, arranged in a circle,
with a hole in the center.
With Natasha peering over his shoulder, Bennett shined his flashlight into the
hole, revealing a shaft too deep for the light to penetrate beyond the first
twenty or thirty meters. He picked up a stone and threw it down. No splash, no
thud, no sound at all.
"What's down there?" asked Erin, watching their backs.
"I can't really tell," he said. "It's too dark."
"But we can't stay here," said Natasha. "If we do, we'll be trapped."
"
We may be trapped either way, said Erin.
"
Bennett didn't hesitate. "Then we keep moving. Let's see where this thing
takes us."
He ordered Erin and Natasha to go down first while he stood to hold off their
pursuers. They quickly set down their backpacks; pulled out ropes, carabiners,
and the rest of their gear; and prepared for the descent. Bennett donned a
harness and gloves, then positioned himself on his stomach at the opening of
the cavern, turned off his flashlight, and aimed his Uzi at the tunnel behind
them.
He remembered the satellite phone. The last thing he needed was for it to
start ringing in the darkness. Then again, this could be his last chance to
get word to Costello. With one hand on the trigger, he used his other to reach
down and pull the phone from his pocket. It glowed an eerie green in the
shadows. But it was useless. No coverage.
Hed waited too long.
'
Whoever was hunting them was coming on fast.
Natasha could hear footsteps and whispers echoing through the labyrinth. She
quickly tied their ropes around several of the heavier boulders and cut her
lights. Then she rappelled down first, lugging not only her backpack but
Bennett's as well so he'd be able to move quickly if a gun battle erupted.
When her feet hit the ground, it wasn't limestone beneath her. It was sand.
She pushed the packs aside, unclipped herself and tugged the rope several
times to let Erin know she was free. Then she got down on her hands and knees
in the darkness
224
and felt around.
Sand?
Everywhere she touched, there was soft dry sand loads of it. It certainly [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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