Free Exodus by J.F. Penn Page A

pray in freedom within our own city.”  
    Israeli police tried to pull the Jewish protestors back in order to prevent them from being injured but they also had to fight Palestinians who threw stones at the group. Crowds on both sides were drawn to the scene and other splinter groups from the Jewish side tried to storm the mosque. Israeli military used stun grenades and tear gas canisters to dispel the crowds. Tensions have been running high recently since rumors surfaced about far-right Israeli activists planning to enter the shrine in a mass demonstration. Officials have called for calm.  
    Security has been tightened in advance of the latest Peace Summit, chaired by the US President, due to arrive in Tel Aviv on Sunday. He released a statement today indicating that skirmishes and rumors would not stop him from pursuing this most important of objectives, a settlement between the Israelis and Palestinians.  

Serabit el Khadem, Sinai, Egypt. 3.48pm

    Morgan’s phone buzzed. It was a text message from ARKANE Director Marietti.  
    “Violence has already begun to escalate in Israel,” she said to Khal as she scanned the news from Al-Jazeera. Her frown deepened as she realized the location of the clashes, the most symbolic site in the Holy City, and she could see just how close the city was to all-out conflict.  
    Despite the long drive from Cairo, Morgan was feeling alert as they drove further into the wilderness of the Sinai desert. After the shootout at the Museum, Julius had taken responsibility for sorting out the mess and encouraged Khal to join Morgan. They were now following the trail east into the Sinai, even as they knew Natasha would be heading south into Ethiopia. ARKANE couldn’t bring in another agent in the short time frame and Khal accepted the risks of getting involved. Besides, the two of them could stay below the radar this way, pretending to be just another holiday couple on the Egyptian tourist route.
      She glanced over at Khal. He was focused on the badly pitted road that stretched ahead of them but with his careful handling, the car zipped over the kilometers. He had gone home to collect a few things and she had grabbed a few hours sleep, but they had left Cairo at 4am, the quietest and coolest part of the day. It was a crazy city and Morgan was glad to escape it.  
    “Not long now,” Khal said, a bump in the road causing him to swerve slightly. “I’ve only been to this place once before, a long time ago as part of my first degree. It’s stunning.”  
    “So, what’s its significance?” Morgan asked.  
    “It was one of the locations of the extensive mining activities in the Sinai. The Pharaohs and ancient Egyptians used turquoise and copper for jewelry, and pigments for painting and decoration, so mining was important. There’s a vast temple complex here that dates back to 2600BC, although the Brits stole everything valuable, as usual.”  
    There was a smile in his voice but equally Morgan knew it was true. The early archaeologists had an attitude of removal, not plundering as such, but attempting to save relics from what they considered a threat to the artifacts. Nowadays, of course, things were different politically, but that didn’t mean that anything would be returned. Khal continued.  
    “In 1904, the Petrie expedition, sponsored by the Egypt Exploration Fund, was sent to survey the region and they found this temple. Petrie postulated that this was the place where Moses received the Ten Commandments and built the Ark of the Covenant. But the official word was that the site was at St Catherine’s Monastery and Jebel Musa to the east, even though it doesn’t correspond with the Bible’s geographical references. So the records of the expedition were suppressed and only a few copies remained extant.”  
    Morgan could see Khal’s excitement.  
    “So …” she prompted.  
    “So Abasi found a copy of the suppressed manuscript and that’s what the last four pages of