The Last Oracle: A Climate Fiction Thriller (Sam Jardine Crime Thrillers Book 3) by Christopher Hepworth

Author:Christopher Hepworth [Hepworth, Christopher]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: General Fiction
Publisher: Christopher Hepworth
Published: 2017-10-16T23:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 22

The rebel battalion’s survivors gathered around their leader and renewed their pledge to give their lives to the establishment of a new caliphate in southern Egypt. They had enough explosives to demolish half the sandstone edifice that jutted fifty-metres high from the desert floor and extended a kilometre in either direction. Over one hundred well-armed rebels were committed to fight a major battle, and this time they had taken precautions against a surprise attack from the air. A battery of anti-aircraft missiles was dug in behind the battalion and disguised with camouflage netting. Six martyrs had been selected to breach the sandstone fortification, where they assumed an isolated pocket of government troops was hiding. They had donned their suicide vests and were receiving last rites from the battalion’s imam.

And yet there was trepidation among the disciplined and zealous rebel troops. The rock exuded a strange aura of malice, as if death beckoned them from every crevice of the monolith. Their sense of foreboding increased as the sun set and shadows lengthened. Two of the suicide bombers had already removed their explosive packed vests and refused the last rites. The rock seemed so far removed from paradise, they believed martyrdom would be futile if they were to die within its confines.

‘Are you sure there are government troops hiding in the rock, Zahir?’ Tariq asked.

Jack nodded. He alone seemed unaffected by the brooding atmosphere emanating from the rock. He was anxious to commence the assault and was frustrated by his comrades’ reticence.

‘There’s tracks leading to and from a small gap in the rocks on the eastern edge. Inside the gap is a hollow the size of a football field, and at the far side of the hollow is the entrance to a religious building. That’s where the troops are hiding.’ Jack adjusted the bloodied and filthy bandage that was wrapped around his head. He still suffered headaches from the slam-fire accident, but his hazy vision had improved.

‘We go in tonight at midnight,’ said Jamal. ‘We must strike before the dictator’s troops are reinforced. The martyrs will enter the rock first and locate the main body of troops.’ Jamal indicated the four remaining suicide bombers. ‘The signal for the main attack will be the sound of detonating suicide vests. The second wave will enter the building and hunt down any government survivors.’

‘Should we take hostages?’ Tariq asked.

‘Excellent idea,’ replied Jamal. ‘We will take two. The first we will sell for a million-dollar ransom and we will stage a beheading on the other so the world will know to fear our caliphate. When we are done, we will wipe this rock from the face of the earth as a foretaste of what will happen to such heathen monuments when we make Luxor our new capital. This rock has the stench of paganism about it.’

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.