Rabbi Gabrielle Ignites a Tempest by Roger Herst

Author:Roger Herst
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: thriller, israel, catholic church, action adventure, rabbi, jewish fiction, dead sea scrolls, israeli government
Publisher: Diversion Books

CHAPTER SEVEN

Senior officials at the Antiquities Authority rarely bothered to knock before entering the office of a colleague. Shmuel Navid, a fastidious scholar who generally confined himself to the science rather than the politics of Israeli antiquities, was eager to share a discovery with Itamar and barged into the director's office. Itamar was on the phone, so Shmuel was forced to wait for the conversation to end, then announced, "I've followed up on your request, Iti, and compared the University of Pennsylvania's time sheets with their GPS records. You had the right instincts. They don't jive."

Itamar stiffened in his chair. More than anyone, he wanted to figure out how the looters had discovered Cave XII when nobody at the Authority had a clue. But at the same time, he had secretly hoped that the answer to this question would not come through association with the University of Pennsylvania's Qumran expedition. Shmuel brought both good and bad news. He said in a low voice, "This will cost us our jobs, you know. The PM will have our heads for this."

From the moment he learned about Cave XII, Itamar believed he would soon be asked for his resignation. His lack of progress in finding what was looted or arresting Tim Matternly exacerbated the situation. But after meeting with the deputy prime minister, he came to appreciate that secrecy in the Qumran matter was even more important to the powers that be than accountability. Aware that Shmuel had a penchant for take the negative side of issues, Itamar had long since given up trying to counter this pessimism with brighter pictures. But knowing his scientific director wasn't good at thinking politically, he countered by saying, "The ministry can't clean shop without attracting attention. As long as the government wants to keep the cave at Qumran under raps, we're safe. God help us when this leaks to the press. So what did you find?"

"The U of Penn expedition billed us for twenty-seven days of on-site work."

"How can I forget? I had to justify to the Ministry spending $364,000 for discovering absolutely nothing. Nada."

"Not exactly nothing, Iti. I found only twenty-six days of GPS records. They billed us for twenty-seven working days, but provided documentation for only twenty-six."

"So you think they discovered something on a day they didn't report?"

"We were taken for a ride, and a very costly one."

"With all the checks and balances we instigated, how did they get away with it?" Shmuel carried with him oversized records folded into thick wads and secured with oversized rubber bands. He spoke while unfastening the package. "All this is on digital disks, but I've printed hard copies to make it easier. We know now the exact GPS coordinates for Cave XII, so I decided to work back from these bearings and revisit what Penn recorded at this location. I punched in the precise coordinates for the cave to bring up the radar scans the project coordinator left with us."

"Did they show something we didn't see?"

Shmuel unfolded his papers, pointing to a GPS map of Qumran, with a penciled circle marking the cave entrance.

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