“She’s dead, Countess. I had two sisters. They were killed when an Arab terrorist blew up a student bus in Jerusalem.”

She was shocked and it showed. “I’m very sorry, David, truly sorry,” and she reached for one of his hands.

His reaction was electric and most disturbing, particularly the realization of the effect this wonderful woman had on him. He pulled away hastily.

“It’s all right. Five years ago. I’ve learned to cope. It’s my mother I’m sorry for. She never got over it. She’s in a psychiatric unit.” He managed a ghastly smile. “I’ll see you later.”

He went out and Marie de Brissac sat there, wondering, and not for the first time, whether God had had an off-day when he’d decided to create the world.

This time when Dillon surfaced he was in a room very similar to Marie de Brissac’s, paneled walls, four-poster bed, a vaulted ceiling. He felt surprisingly clear-headed and checked his watch, which indicated a time lapse of some twelve hours since leaving Sicily.

He got up and went to the barred window, saw very much the same view Marie had – the cliffs, the beach, the jetty – the only difference being that the motor launch was now tied up on the other side from the speedboat. He visited the bathroom, and it was on the return that the door opened and Aaron entered.

“Ah, up and about.”

He stood to one side and Judas entered in the black hood and jump suit. He was smoking a cigar and his teeth gleamed as he smiled. “So, Sean Dillon. They tell me you were the best the IRA had. Why did you change?”

“Well, as a great man once said, as the times change, all men change with them.”

“A point, but a man like you would need a better reason than that.”

“Let’s say it seemed like a good idea at the time.”

“Afterwards, you worked everyone. ETA in Spain, the PLO, then the Israelis. You blew up Palestinian gunboats in Beirut harbor.”

“Ah, yes,” Dillon agreed, “but for that I was very well paid.”

“You certainly don’t take sides.”

Dillon shrugged. “Now that really doesn’t pay.”

“Well, this time you’re going to take my side, old buddy.”

“Go stuff yourself,” Dillon told him. “Let’s face it, I don’t even know you.”

“Just call me Judas.”

“Jesus, son, and now you must be joking.”

Aaron said in Hebrew, “Why waste time?”

Judas replied in the same language. “We need him, and don’t worry, I know how to handle him.” He turned to Dillon and said in Hebrew, “And I really do know how to handle you, don’t I?”

Although Dillon’s Hebrew was far from perfect, he understood but decided not to advertise the fact.

“Look, I don’t understand a word.”

Judas laughed. “Of course not, just trying you out. I’ve seen your record in Mossad files, and they’re thorough. That account of the job you did for them in Beirut. Fair Arabic, but no Hebrew.”

“I know what shalom means.”

“Well, shalom to you, and now you can follow me.”

“Just one more thing,” Dillon said. “Excuse my insatiable curiosity, but are you a Yank?”

Judas laughed. “I’m really getting tired of being asked that. Why do you all assume that an Israeli can’t be an Israeli if he speaks good American English?”

He turned and went out, and Aaron gestured with one hand. “This way, Mr. Dillon.”

The study was huge and spacious, with an enormous stone fireplace and tapestries on the walls. Leaded windows stood open, the scent of flowers from some gardens beyond. Judas sat down behind a large cluttered desk and gestured to a chair opposite.

“Sit down. You’ll find cigarettes in the silver box.”

Aaron leaned against the wall beside the door. Dillon took a cigarette and lit it from a desk lighter. “When the boy here spoke Hebrew to his chums on the boat, I at least recognized the language.”

“Yes, I noticed that on your Mossad file. A talent for languages. Everything from Irish to Russian.”

“It’s a kink in my brain, languages,” Dillon told him, “like some people can calculate quicker than a computer.”

“Then why not Hebrew?”

“I don’t speak Japanese, either. I only worked for Mossad the once, as you know, and if you know as much as you say, you’ll be aware that the Beirut operation was an in-and-out job. Three days and I was away with the check on a Swiss bank clutched in one greedy hand. Anyway, who in the hell are you and what’s this all about?”

“Well, you know we’re Israelis, but we’re patriotic Israelis willing to go to any lengths to preserve the integrity of our country.”

“Like shoot Prime Minister Rabin?”

“That was none of our affair. Frankly, we have more important things to do.”

“So what are you, some sort of latter-day Zealots?”

“Not really, old buddy,” Judas said cheerfully. “They wanted the Romans out and were strong patriots, but we go back to an earlier tradition. My country under Syrian domination, the Temple defiled, our religion, our whole way of life threatened.”

“Just like today, is that what you think?”

“We are constantly under threat. I’ve lost relatives to Hamas bombs, Aaron there had a brother, a pilot, shot down over Iran. He was tortured to death. Another of my men lost two sisters in the bombing of a student bus. We all have our stories.” He relit his cigar, which had gone out.

“So what’s this earlier tradition you mentioned?”

“The Syrians were defeated by Judas called Maccabeus, which means the Hammer.”

“Ah, light dawns.”

“His followers were known as Maccabees, ardent nationalists who wished for national independence for our country. Under the leadership of Judas, they fought a guerrilla war with such success that they defeated Syrian armies much larger than their own, took Jerusalem, cleansed and reconsecrated the Temple.”

“I know the story,” Dillon said.

“From the redoubtable Chief Inspector Hannah Bernstein?”

“Now she does speak Hebrew,” Dillon said. “Anyway, she told me once what Chanukah was about.”

“Celebrated every year in memory of what the Maccabees achieved. A small country became independent again.”

“Until the Romans came.”

“True, but we will not allow that to happen this time around.”

Dillon nodded. “So you see yourself as Judas Maccabeus, and your followers, the fellas who knocked me off, for example, are twentieth-century Maccabees?”

“Why not? In your game, codenames are a necessity, so Judas Maccabeus does very well.”

“Leading an army of Maccabees.”

“I don’t need an army, just a small group of dedicated followers.” Judas raised a hand. “No, believers, and a few hundred scattered around the world, Jews like myself who believe above everything else that the State of Israel must survive and are prepared to go to any lengths to ensure it.”

“I’d have thought Israel has done a pretty good job of that. When the U.N. withdrew in nineteen forty-eight, you defeated six Arab countries. In the Six-Day War in nineteen sixty-seven, you defeated Egypt, Syria, and Jordan.”

“True, but before my time. Yom Kippur was my war, in seventy-three, and we’d have lost it if the Americans hadn’t poured in fighter planes and weaponry for us. Since then, nothing but trouble. We live on the edge. Our settlers in the north never know when they’re going to come under attack, Hamas constantly wages bombing campaigns. Scud missiles in the Gulf War showed our vulnerability. It can’t go on.”

Almost reluctantly, Dillon said, “I can see that.”

“Even in Britain there are Muslims who call for the annihilation of Jews. Syria, Iran, and Iraq will never be happy until we are crushed. Saddam Hussein proceeds with the further development of chemical weapons, the mullahs in Iran call for war against America, the Great Satan. The bombing attack on the U.S. barracks in Dharan was only the start. It is a known fact that Iran is working on the production of a nuclear bomb. They have numerous training camps for terrorists. There are also nuclear research establishments in Syria.”