But the doctor shot him the same "don't bother threatening something if you would never do it" look that she had given him back in the Ecuadorian jungle when he threatened the women and children.
"We are not under arrest, are we?" the professor asked. "You are supposed to be protecting us, I would guess, not stripping us of our civil liberty to travel freely of our own accord."
Goddamned civilians. Perhaps he could shift the debate.
"Our first priority is to get the hell out of these caves, secure new clothing, and-"
"I'm not going anywhere," the professor said, this time with a deeper tone of authority. "Without your word we will travel next to Istanbul."
Seriously, civilians really needed to learn to take orders better, but clearly the brass wanted Lochum safe. Not for his charming personality, Brandt was sure, but for his single-minded mission of finding Jesus. His team had been first been involved in this fiasco to bring Monroe to help the professor. If he hog-tied Lochum and brought him back to the US, but the Knot found Christ because of it...
Let's just say that his and all of his men's careers would be over.
"Fine." Brandt turned to his men as Lochum snorted in victory, then headed down the tunnel. "Lopez, secure a vehicle to get us to the private airstrip. Davidson and Svengurd, you're on garment appropriation. I want out of this skirt, like now."
As his men headed off, Brandt turned to talk with Rebecca privately, but she trotted to catch up with the professor. "Lochum!"
Not so much wanting to talk with the professor as desperately not wanting Brandt to remind her of how inappropriate she had been earlier, Rebecca trotted next to Lochum.
"We should split the text up so we can each be working on a section."
"Of course, of course," he said, though it was obvious he hadn't heard a word she had said.
"Can I hot-wire a plane?" Lopez snorted as he passed. "I could be blinded and have a hand tied behind my back... No wait, that's Davidson!"
Even Svengurd laughed, but the private grimaced. "Very funny."
The men seemed jovial as they walked onto the street level. Luckily, due to the party at Parliament, no one had yet investigated the damage.
As she crested the lip of the cavern, Rebecca pulled to a halt. Before her glistened Buda. Perched over the Danube, the city twinkled against the night sky. The sparkling Chain Bridge was as beautiful as any monument on the seven continents. The ancient Castle quarter nearly glowed and the much newer Parliament building glittered with a thousand points of lights. The sight was breathtaking.
No one else seemed to notice the jewel across the river as Lochum sat upon the nearest curb to study his cherished relic.
Then someone paused beside her. Even after being doused in a million gallons of water, Rebecca could still recognize Brandt's scent on the fresh night air. They stood silently scanning the bright horizon.
The sergeant's tone sounded pained. "Look, the military's got strict rules about..."
"Really, you don't need to evoke protocol just to protect my feelings." Before he could say anything else, Rebecca walked toward Lochum. He, she understood. He didn't bring blood to her cheeks and other parts south.
What did they always say? Go with the devil you know?
Right?
CHAPTER 18.
Budapest Ferenc Liszt International Airport Lopez was earning his salary today. That was for damned sure. The corporal had stolen a Volvo station wagon, gotten them to the airstrip, and hot-wired a private jet in under a half an hour. If there were bonus pay for efficiency, Lopez would be cleaning up.
"All right, everyone strap in," Brandt ordered.
Lochum gave a thumbs-up, but Rebecca still wouldn't meet his gaze.
Chicks.
They made everything so damned complicated. He was on duty, for Christ's sake. It was bad enough he had gone off-book to track her down in Budapest, but now he was escorting them all the way to Istanbul. What else did she want from him?
"And now if everyone would please place their stewardess in her upright and locked position," their slightly sleep-deprived pilot announced over the intercom.
Davidson openly laughed. Svengurd chuckled under his breath. Lochum even smirked, but Brandt growled, "Lopez."
The corporal leaned out of the cockpit. "Sorry, boss. Control's asking for a flight plan."
"Tell them Athens, Greece. We'll update in-flight."
"You got it," Lopez said as he fired up the engines.
As the corporal taxied them down the runway, Brandt glanced at Rebecca. Her eyes were fixed on James' bone. He got the feeling it wasn't so much in service to her studies but more to avoid him.
The small luxury liner shuddered as Lopez revved the engine. This plane, with its leather seats, thick shag carpeting, and lilac-scented napkins seemed more used to ferrying Budapest's elite around Europe than making a Lopez speed getaway.
Within seconds they received their all-clear for takeoff and were in the air. In typical fashion, the corporal turned on the "seat belt" sign, which Brandt promptly ignored. He motioned for Davidson to unbuckle as well. They met at the cockpit.
"All right, Lopez, time for you get some shut-eye."
The corporal shook his head violently. "This baby's a Learjet 60. I specifically stole this model so I could see what airspeed I could reach."
Brandt put his hand on Lopez's shoulder to let him know how serious he was. "Davidson is cleared for level and steady flight. Just get us up to cruising speed, and then get some rest. We'll get you up when its time to land."
"But-"
He squeezed even tighter. The grip was no longer a friendly gesture, but instead a warning.
Lopez looked at Davidson, who shrugged as he plopped down in the copilot's seat. "Hey, dude, I just do what I'm ordered."
But it was quite clear the kid was itching to get behind the yoke. The corporal sighed and began to transfer the controls to his copilot.
"On my count. Three. Two. One-"
Before he finished, Rebecca called from behind, "Did you feel that?"
Her voice was shrill. Much higher than normal. Brandt glanced at Lopez and Davidson, but they both shook their heads.
"Svengurd?"
The tall man frowned. "Maybe."
"Maybe, what?"
Brandt need not have asked, as an explosion to their right nearly knocked them from the sky. Instinctively, Lopez banked steeply left.
"That wasn't a missile, was it?"
Davidson looked out his window. "Hell, yes. Here comes another!"
Brandt stumbled backward as the corporal pulled out of the bank and brought the nose nearly vertical. They ascended at an insane rate.
"You're going to stall her!" Davidson screamed over the roar of the engines.
But Lopez ignored his copilot as another explosion sounded beneath them, shuddering the entire plane. They climbed so steeply that he feared the wings would rip off, yet Lopez wore his trademark shit-eating grin.
"I told you, she's a Learjet 60!"
"Incoming!" Svengurd called from the cabin.
Maybe he should have kept his seat belt on, as he was thrown to the left when Lopez not only banked at ninety degrees but dropped the nose down.
"I'm telling you, you're going to stall! Pull up!" Davidson yelled.
Brandt felt the next explosion in his bones, yet the plane somehow stayed aloft.
"Another!" Svengurd yelled. "From the south! They must be using radar!"
They were trying to triangulate them. Another few missiles and they would be had. Lopez was good, but he couldn't outrun radar.
This time the explosion sounded from above, raining down a shower of red-hot debris. Yet the corporal didn't err in his descent.
"Pull up!" Davidson shouted, and Brandt could see why. The ground was rushing up at them, then the engines cut out. He knew because the metal beneath his feet suddenly stopped shuddering, and it felt like his heart had just been transplanted to his throat.
"I told you, you would stall!" Davidson yelled.
Rebecca tried not to stare out the window, but that was all her eyes wanted to do. They were plummeting back to the earth with no engines, and explosions all around. The sky looked like a fireworks display, only it was not the Fourth of July, and it was no longer fun.
"Damn it, Lopez, pull up!" Davidson yelled, but the pilot seemed wholly unfazed by the brilliant blasts. If anything, he looked like he was having fun.
Next to her, Lochum clutched James' bone to his chest. Was that a prayer upon his lips? Yet she refused to despair. They could not have come so far and through so much to end up pulverized. And as the seconds ticked by, it looked more and more like that was exactly how her life was going to end.
Now she was glad that she had kissed Brandt.
Their freefall was interrupted as the plane complained violently as Lopez tried to bring the nose up.
"Finally!" Davidson screamed.
"Shut up and help!" the corporal answered.
Rebecca strained against her seat belt to look into the cockpit. Both men were pulling with all their might. The veins bulged over their well-muscled arms. Even Brandt tugged up on Lopez's yoke.
It felt as if the plane hiccupped. Then the engines kicked in, throwing her back against her seat. That had to have been a couple of Gs worth of force as they barely leveled out over a suburban housing development. They flew so low that Rebecca could see rooftops blowing off in their wake.
"Wahoo!" Lopez yelled as he kept them barely above ground level.
"Gain altitude!" Davidson shouted, but to deaf ears. Lopez was too busy slaloming between light poles and traffic signs.
"Damn it, Lopez!" Brandt threatened as the sound of the punished engines drowned out nearly everything else.
"Check out the missiles!" the corporal yelled back.
For a moment Rebecca did not know what he was talking about, but Brandt seemed to immediately understand. "Keep us below the radar floor, but not this low."
Rebecca looked at Svengurd, who monitored their progress through the window next to hers. He pointed to an explosion far off to their left. With the general mayhem, she hadn't even heard the continuing explosions. "They can't track us."
With a new regard, Rebecca looked to Lopez who had steadied them off several hundred feet above the passing terrain. He put a hand up for a high five, but Davidson did not take the bait.
"I told you, you were going to stall her!"
Lopez stroked the yoke like a lover. "Only because I asked her to. Only because I asked. Isn't that right, baby?"
"Why would you-" Davidson stopped himself mid-sentence, then finished the high-five slap. "You do rule."
Confused, Rebecca looked at Svengurd. "He purposefully stalled the engines to cool them in case they were using heat-seeking missiles."
Lopez looked at Brandt. "Still want me to turn over the wheel, Sarge?"
The sergeant didn't even bother answering. He just headed back to his seat. He moved too quickly for her to avert her gaze, but Brandt just rolled his eyes at the corporal's enthusiasm, then plopped down into his seat. Within seconds his lids were closed, and he seemed to be fast asleep.
For not the first time in the past forty-eight hours, Rebecca knew she had to get herself one of these men for her research team.
The Path Ahead *
Judea AD 42.
Judas had only gotten halfway up the hill to his family's home when his leg complained so loudly that he had to stop and lean against a neighbor's garden post. He flexed the leg up and down trying to drain the ache from it. All the more reason for him to stay in town. He would not wish to slow Jesus' travels, but his friend's sad countenance refused to leave his mind. Judas reassured himself that with time this sense of guilt would fade.
He pushed off the fence and tested his leg when Mary came rushing up the hill, shawl fluttering at her shoulders, revealing her dark hair. Judas could not remember the last time he had seen her hair. It certainly had to be awhile, for there were gray streaks throughout, revealing her age.
"Judas," she said as she caught up with him. "I thought you were joining us?"
By her tone, he was sure she did not mean just for dinner. "Jesus must have told you my reasons."