do know where you made your mistake don’t you, Mr. Saldine, if that is your name?”
“Excuse me?” the man said, trying to keep his features neutral.
“The ancient word Jericho is thought to derive from the Canaanite word Reaẖ, which you obviously should know already. I mean, since you are an authority and all and obviously a Palestinian.” Alice smiled again. “This little Virginia farm girl learned at an early age in Bible school taught by her uncle, that Reaẖ in Arabic, or Jericho if you will, is pronounced totally different. It’s spelled with a Y, not a J, which was clearly enunciated when you said the word very crisply.” Alice smiled as she made a show of looking around the room. The man shifted from one foot to the other. Lee rolled his good eye, knowing Alice was hanging them both out to dry.
“What is your point, madam?” the man with the headdress asked, looking over at Lee, who just grimaced, waiting for the other shoe to fall.
“Mr. Saldine, you are no more Palestinian than Garrison Lee here. You are Israeli intelligence, maybe just a policeman, but definitely no Palestinian. When you pose as another nationality, at least make sure you stick with their language, not your own.” Alice dipped her head and moved away.
“Who in the bloody hell is that?” the man caught in the lie asked.
“She’s a royal,” Lee said as he started to go after Alice.
“A royal?” the Israeli asked.
“A royal pain in my ass—Hamilton, wait a minute.”
Alice stopped on her way to the salon staircase. She turned to face her employer.
“When are you going to stop this unrelenting testing of my knowledge? It took me all of a minute to figure out who your buddy was. Trust, Garrison, that’s what’s missing in your soul, trust.” She started to turn away but Lee grabbed her arm.
“Look, his name is Ally Ben-Nevin. He just took over the Gaza region for state security. He’s here to keep the Palestinian people and his own from having their shared history vanish into rich American, European, and Chinese mansions.”
“And you’re telling me he knows who you are?” she asked, skeptical at the very least.
“Of course not, President Truman would have me hung from the Washington Monument if that little secret got out. No, Hamilton, he thinks we work for the State Department.”
“I’m shocked that you’re competent enough to pull that little deception off without getting caught.”
“Okay, that’s about enough of—”
The tremendous explosion rocked the Golden Child from bow to stern.
Alice was thrown forward and Lee wasn’t far behind. As the ship listed sharply to the starboard side, Garrison pulled Alice aside as the giant block from Jericho tilted crazily on its steel pedestal. Alice was able to get her legs free at the last second as Garrison pulled on her for all he was worth. The stone block hit the carpeted deck and then after a moment’s hesitation the massive weight of the block smashed through the teak wood and then crashed into the bowels of the ship. Lee was stunned as a giant geyser of water shot through the opening and slammed into the ornate chandelier. Water and glass cascaded onto the men and women trying to pick themselves up off the deck.
“I believe our host may have angered someone. I do think this bloody ship is sinking,” Ben-Nevin said as he helped both Lee and Alice to their feet.
With water already lapping at Lee’s ankles he reached into his jacket and pulled an old Colt .45 automatic from his hidden place beneath his bright red cummerbund. He turned and looked at Alice and just winked with his good eye.
“Now you know why the giant red cummerbund, Hamilton.” Lee nodded his head at Israeli intelligence agent Ben-Nevin and then gestured toward the large staircase where people were making their way out of the salon. “May I suggest we see if there’s another mode of transportation back to Hong Kong?”
Around them horns and sirens were blaring and men
“Excuse me?” the man said, trying to keep his features neutral.
“The ancient word Jericho is thought to derive from the Canaanite word Reaẖ, which you obviously should know already. I mean, since you are an authority and all and obviously a Palestinian.” Alice smiled again. “This little Virginia farm girl learned at an early age in Bible school taught by her uncle, that Reaẖ in Arabic, or Jericho if you will, is pronounced totally different. It’s spelled with a Y, not a J, which was clearly enunciated when you said the word very crisply.” Alice smiled as she made a show of looking around the room. The man shifted from one foot to the other. Lee rolled his good eye, knowing Alice was hanging them both out to dry.
“What is your point, madam?” the man with the headdress asked, looking over at Lee, who just grimaced, waiting for the other shoe to fall.
“Mr. Saldine, you are no more Palestinian than Garrison Lee here. You are Israeli intelligence, maybe just a policeman, but definitely no Palestinian. When you pose as another nationality, at least make sure you stick with their language, not your own.” Alice dipped her head and moved away.
“Who in the bloody hell is that?” the man caught in the lie asked.
“She’s a royal,” Lee said as he started to go after Alice.
“A royal?” the Israeli asked.
“A royal pain in my ass—Hamilton, wait a minute.”
Alice stopped on her way to the salon staircase. She turned to face her employer.
“When are you going to stop this unrelenting testing of my knowledge? It took me all of a minute to figure out who your buddy was. Trust, Garrison, that’s what’s missing in your soul, trust.” She started to turn away but Lee grabbed her arm.
“Look, his name is Ally Ben-Nevin. He just took over the Gaza region for state security. He’s here to keep the Palestinian people and his own from having their shared history vanish into rich American, European, and Chinese mansions.”
“And you’re telling me he knows who you are?” she asked, skeptical at the very least.
“Of course not, President Truman would have me hung from the Washington Monument if that little secret got out. No, Hamilton, he thinks we work for the State Department.”
“I’m shocked that you’re competent enough to pull that little deception off without getting caught.”
“Okay, that’s about enough of—”
The tremendous explosion rocked the Golden Child from bow to stern.
Alice was thrown forward and Lee wasn’t far behind. As the ship listed sharply to the starboard side, Garrison pulled Alice aside as the giant block from Jericho tilted crazily on its steel pedestal. Alice was able to get her legs free at the last second as Garrison pulled on her for all he was worth. The stone block hit the carpeted deck and then after a moment’s hesitation the massive weight of the block smashed through the teak wood and then crashed into the bowels of the ship. Lee was stunned as a giant geyser of water shot through the opening and slammed into the ornate chandelier. Water and glass cascaded onto the men and women trying to pick themselves up off the deck.
“I believe our host may have angered someone. I do think this bloody ship is sinking,” Ben-Nevin said as he helped both Lee and Alice to their feet.
With water already lapping at Lee’s ankles he reached into his jacket and pulled an old Colt .45 automatic from his hidden place beneath his bright red cummerbund. He turned and looked at Alice and just winked with his good eye.
“Now you know why the giant red cummerbund, Hamilton.” Lee nodded his head at Israeli intelligence agent Ben-Nevin and then gestured toward the large staircase where people were making their way out of the salon. “May I suggest we see if there’s another mode of transportation back to Hong Kong?”
Around them horns and sirens were blaring and men
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