The Nostradamus File by Alex Lukeman Read Free Book Online

animals," she said. "The zebra and lion and the others."
    He turned back to face her. "African animals. Maybe Nostradamus means that the Ark is in Africa."
    "Ethiopia," she said. "The city of Axum. There's a chapel that's supposed to hold the Ark."
    "I've heard of that," Nick said. "If it's there, it isn't lost, is it?" Nick pulled up a chair next to her and sat down. "We don't know anything. We can't run around Africa looking for this. Let's make some assumptions."
    "Feel free."
    "The first assumption is that the quatrain is a genuine clue to the location of the Ark, right?"
    "I f it isn't, we've wasted a lot of time."
    "Tell me a little more about Nostradamus."
    "Like what?"
    "You said he always hid the real meaning of his quatrains because he was afraid of persecution."
    "Yes. That's why it's so hard to interpret them."
    "Did he mention specific places like Mount Nebo in the prophecies?"
    "Often."
    "Were those places symbolic?"
    "Sometimes. What are you getting at?"
    "What is it that's important about Mount Nebo?" Nick said.
    "It's where Moses was shown the Promised Land by God, and where he's buried. I don't see where you're going with this."
    "What if the clue isn't about the trees, but about Moses as the shepherd of his people?"
    "You think the shepherd in the mosaic is Moses?"
    "No. I think Nostradamus wanted to make the association with Moses."
    "How does that help?"
    "What's the first thing you think of when you think of Moses?"
    "That's easy," Selena said. "The Ten Commandments."
    "Right. He gets the Commandments from God and then eventually he gets to Mount Nebo. The clue is about Moses. That's assumption number two."
    Selena  looked at him. "You could have been a preacher," she said. "All this biblical thinking. But I still don't get it."
    "Assumption number three is that the clue is really about the Ten Commandments. Where Moses received them."
    " He got them on Mount Sinai. You're saying that you think the Ark is on Mount Sinai?"
    " If not the Ark, then a clue to where it is."
    "Nick, that's a real stretch. Besides, even if you're right there's a complication."
    "There's always a complication. What is it?"
    "No one is sure exactly which mountain is the one where Moses got the Commandments. Assuming the whole story isn't just a story."
    "It's not in Egypt, on the Sinai Peninsula?"
    "A lot of biblical archeologists don't think so. I don't see how the Ark could be there anyway. That's one of the most picked over mountains in the world."
    "Then where else would it be?" Nick said.
    "When you read Exodus it says there was thunder and lightning and a cloud of smoke on the mountain."
    "That sounds like someone writing in a little dramatic effect."
    "But what if it wasn't for effect? What kind of mountain has smoke and thunder?"
    "A volcano. Are there any volcanoes in Egypt?"
    "No. But there are in Saudi Arabia," Selena said.
     

 
    CHAPTER TWELVE
     
     
    Nick had Harker on the satellite phone. He told her what they'd figured out.
    "Come home," she said. "Something like this needs planning."
    "Then you're going to send us after it?" Nick asked.
    "I'll think about it. Come home." She ended the call.
    "Pack your bag," Nick said to Selena.
    "She wants us back in the States? What about the Ark?"
    "We need a mission plan. I'll call the desk and tell them we're leaving."
    Ten minutes later they walked out of the entrance to the hotel. A taxi pulled up. They got into the back seat.
    "The American Embassy," Nick said, "then the airport." They needed to leave their weapons behind before they got on a plane.
    The cab pulled away. Nick and Selena were quiet in the back seat. Nick watched the streets of Amman roll by. After a few minutes he said, "This isn't the way to the Embassy."
    "Are you sure? We don't know the city."
    "I'm sure. Driver," Nick said. "Where are you going?"
    The driver was middle eastern looking, which was no surprise. He wore a skullcap. He had black hair and dark brown, liquid eyes and a beard. He looked at