The 13th Tablet

‘You know the computer in my room, is it connected to the internet? I need to check my emails.’

‘Yes. Just click on the web browser.’

‘Thank you.’

‘I’ll be next door if you need anything,’ he said.

‘Thank you so much.’

Mina logged onto her webmail quickly and found dozens of new messages. She skimmed through the unimportant ones, as well as Almeini’s, and was left with two emails, one from Shobai, the Jewish scholar she’d contacted a few days before and the other from her former department at Columbia. She opened the latter first. It was from Nigel’s secretary.

Dear Mina,

I have tried reaching you since yesterday at your department in Mosul, but I couldn’t, so I’ve emailed you with all the details. I have some excellent news. An academic foundation, The Foundation for Academic Excellence, has offered to pay your research grant in full and any extra funding you may need during your stay in Israel. They only require you to meet them for a formal interview in Tel Aviv in four days time. You’ll find all their details in the attached word document.

Kind Regards,

Alma Fitzhenry

Mina was overjoyed. What wonderful news. It was like a gift from heaven; she could escape from this twisted situation with Jack and from the thugs who were after her tablet. Also, she could take a break from Mosul and pursue her line of enquiry on Benjamin of Tudela with proper funding. She looked up the foundation online and found out that it belonged to a conglomerate, which was composed of a number of multi-milliondollar corporations, dealing with anything, from cosmetics to the fuselage of airplanes. They were at the technological forefront in each of their fields and had vested interests in related businesses all over the world. She wondered why they had decided to pay for her grant, but thought better than to look that gifthorse in the mouth.

As with all huge corporations, they probably had dozens of people working around the clock to find ways of obtaining tax-relief for their companies, and funding academic projects was an excellent means to do so. She knew that some scouted universities and even took on failed applications which they deemed interesting, just like hers. She checked the date of the email. It was a day old, which meant she had three days to get to the interview on 8th December. She would have to leave right away.

She quickly checked Shobai’s email. It was an automated out-of-office reply. Hopefully he would get back to her soon. She needed information and quickly. She wrote back to him immediately saying that she would be travelling in Israel for her research and that she would love to meet if he was free at any time over the next few weeks. As she finished writing the email to Shobai, she began to wonder what she should do about the tablet. Obviously, she couldn’t leave it in Mosul, but nor could she travel with it to Israel. She’d never clear customs with an ancient artefact in her luggage. The answer to her dilemma came in a flash of inspiration. She smiled to herself, it was a mischievous yet elegant plan.

Before leaving the base, she knocked on the door of the doctor’s office and asked if she could send something by special military courier on behalf of Major Hillcliff. He assured her that once it had been x-rayed and passed security, it would not be a problem. He could do it for her if she was in a hurry. She suddenly wondered if she should trust him. He sensed her hesitation, and hurriedly added that he would be honoured to take care of Major Hillcliff’s mail. He was dead serious. She thanked him, gave him the small package, and walked away.

A young officer appeared at the door and saluted Jack. ‘Sir. Miss Osman left the base, sir.’

‘Thanks. Good job. That’ll be all,’ said Jack.

‘Yes, sir.’

Jack rushed back into Mina’s room, turned on the computer and, using special software, retrieved the log file of every keystroke Mina had made during her visit. He read her emails, and then found the hotel in Safed where she had made an online reservation for two weeks. What was going on? Was Mina really going to Tel Aviv to attend an interview and then on to Safed for research? Or was all this just a cover?