Maya the Midian Woman: Jack Wellington UN Attaché

By Gerald Goble

In Iraq, a Lt. Colonel Morris is found tortured and killed. Antiquities are found near the body. A Jack Wellington, an Attaché from the UN is called in to recover the items for the Baghdad Museum. In cleaning the item for return to the museum, he finds a camera disk with photos of an ancient Ossuary. Agents from the Mossad, the Vatican, and Riyadh are killing anyone associated information of the box. Jack recovers the box., which contains tablets telling of a woman named Maya cast out of the Exodus and indicates where other tablets telling the woman’s story are hidden. Jack recovers the second box, which gives the story in the voice of Maya on a confrontation with the wife of Eleazar, and Moses which leads to her expulsion from the camp. Soldiers are sent after her in her escape to the east. For three thousand years groups have waited for news of Maya or her descendants and these groups are in pursuit of Jack and the tablets. The sorry culminates in a confrontation in Istanbul. Jack is sent off to Ecuador to help a museum there damaged in an earthquake, but that is the screen play “New Grenada.”

• Language: English
• Publisher: Gerald Goble
• Release date: Jul 24, 2016
• ISBN: 9781370747917

Gerald Goble

Gerald Goble has PhD in Theoretical Physics and has been a research scientist, teacher, federal employee, businessman, manager, and martial arts instructor. He is author of several scientific publications, U.S. Army Publications on Ammunition and Explosives, non fiction books "The Way of Two as One“, "The Bear Slayer – Women’s Self-Defense“; the fiction books, the Bunko Club Murder series, and the Jack Wellington UN Attaché Series, Westerns “Jacob’s Coat”, "Strays" and "Warrior Woman" and Science Fiction, "The Majestic Committee."

Book preview

Chapter 1

It was 18:00 and the patrol was almost over. There were three vehicles in the patrol, an M117 Guardian with a fifty cal and grenade launcher in front, followed by two armored HUMVEEs. The first HUMVEE was a command vehicle, and the second had a fifty cal mounted on top.

Captain Drew was in the Command vehicle. He thought, Patrols these days are almost routine. We had problems a couple of months ago, but nothing lately.

Since they were working with the Awakening Council, the entire town was, for the most part, quiet. Caution kept the routes and times of the patrols always varying, but everyone was still on their toes. Today they were on their way back to CKV on the far west side of Rutbah.

A large explosion shook Drew out of his thoughts. The Guardian rose off the ground and landed on its side across the road. There was a low wall on the left as Drew’s vehicle came to a stop, and there was suddenly small-arms fire from both sides. The fire came from a small house to the left, and the Wadi about twenty yards to the right. The fifty cal on the last vehicle began firing at the house.

Drew saw the blur of something followed by an explosion in the vehicle to the rear. He thought, RPG. This isn’t good. We’re boxed in.

Drew grabbed the radio from Spc4 Elliot next to him. He said, Command, Command. This is Alpha-five. Taking fire at position twenty one, seventeen.

Command answered, This is Command, advise SITREP?

Drew answered, Have foot mobiles two sides in house and Wadi. Have casualties. Need CAS for Wadi. Advise danger close, over.

Command said, Roger Apha-five foot mobiles in house and Wadi and danger close. Rover two-one in bound ETA forty seconds.

Drew answered, Advise Rover two-one foot mobiles in Wadi have RPG, over.

Command said, Rodger, foot mobiles have RPG. Be advised Alpha one-one is out to you. Medevac airborne.

Drew and the crew dismounted and were next to the low wall. The HUMVEE in the rear was burning and there were secondary explosions. Spc4 Elliot ran at a crouch along the wall to the end and opened the rear door to the Guardian, and Corporal Gomez ran back to the burning HUMVEE.

Drew looked up as the Apache fired a thirty cal into the Wadi followed by two missiles from the Hydra. There was a large secondary explosion from the Wadi. A large fireball rose above the Wadi and a large pressure wave went past. Drew clicked on the radio and said, Rover two-one this is Alpha-Five. Foot mobiles on west side of house, over.

Drew looked back at the burning HUMVEE. Gomez had managed to drag two men that were on the ground near the vehicle next to the wall and away from the vehicle. He could see Sergeant Garcia still half in the burning vehicle and Gomez pulling him away.

Rover two-one answered, Rodger Alpha-Five. The Apache moved in position and fired at the left side of the house. Two men started running away from the house. They got twenty yards or so before fire from the Apache caused them to lurch and fall to the ground. The area became quiet except for the secondary explosions from the burning HUMVEE. The Apache began circling the area.

Spc4 Elliot emerged from the Guardian and said, We need a Doc in here.

Drew looked over the top of the vehicle and saw the first squad and Major Steiner arriving. He also saw the Medevac Team helicopter arrive. The first squad deployed and began taking the house. The team quickly brought out three women and two children out of the house and sat them down on the ground next to the side of the house. Three men set up a secure LZ for the Evac Team.

Major Steiner said, Damn, Eddy what’d you get yourself into? Drew went over the events and Steiner took the radio. Major Steiner said, Command this is Alpha-six we need an Intel team here.

Command said, Rodger Alpha-six Intel team deployed your location.

Steiner turned to Drew and said, This wasn’t some insurgent using an IED. This attack shows planning. They waited until one of the regular patrols passed this spot. They blocked you in front and back. When we see evidence of military training and execution of an attack, the Intel people want to know who was directing it. He paused for a moment then said, This looks like the IED was set off a little too soon. It just flipped the Guardian over, it could have been much worse.

Steiner again took the radio and said, Command, this is Alpha-six. Deploy a wrecker and flatbed, over.

Command answered, This is Command, wrecker and flatbed deployed your location.

Captain Drew looked back and forth at the activity. The fire in the HUMVEE was almost out, and his men were loaded on the Medevac helicopter.

Spc4 Elliot came to Captain Drew and said, The Guardian isn’t damaged and once it’s upright, we should be able to drive it. But the crew was slammed around, Johnson has a broken arm and Dickerson has a concussion.

Major Steiner said, Good, maybe we can drive it off. I don’t want these vehicles out here all night. Drew we need to get a dozer out here and rip down this wall, then we need to go over all of the routes and see if there are any other places they could use the terrain against us.

The Medevac chopper left with three walking wounded and two on stretchers. The one soldier that was dead, Sergeant Garcia was loaded in Captain Drew’s vehicle. As they watched the body being, loaded Major Steiner looked at Captain Drew. There were tears in his eyes. Steiner said, Eddy, do you want me to do this? You can wait for the Intel guys to get through.

Captain Drew shook his head, swallowed to firm up his voice, and said, No sir. This is my job. His voice trembled as he said. At home he had a brand new baby. He climbed into the vehicle and it joined two others on their way back to the Forward Operations Base.

As Captain Drew left the area in his command vehicle, the Intel team was arriving. The Intel team consisted of a Captain Joseph, a translator, and two soldiers assigned to them on a rotating basis.

The wrecker and flat bed were coming down the road behind the Intel team. Major Steiner looked around and said, Elliot you’re the only one around. You work with the wrecker and get that Guardian upright and the HUMVEE on the flatbed, while I talk to Captain Joseph.

Captain Joseph first went to each of the locations and gave the two soldiers he had this week instructions. Then he went to the house.

The burning vehicle was out and Major Steiner, secured weapons and ammunition from both units as Captain Joseph was just finished interviewing the people from the house. The women were all crying in a wailing fashion. The two children sat wide-eyed not knowing what was happening.

Joseph said, The group came in and held the family inside hostage for about two hours before the attack. They killed an old man that lived here. He was the father of one and the grandfather of the others. There were five in the insurgent group and the one in charge planted the IED in the road and carried the RPG. He paused then continued, My men have recovered the two out in the field and their weapons and are now recovering the ones down in the Wadi. There are two bodies down there and the remains of the third. Spc4 Elliot said there was a large secondary explosion when Rover-two-one fired on the group in the Wadi. I guess the one that was carrying the RPG also had explosives with him for a second IED. He probably was going to set a second IED for the recovery team after they completely killed Captain Drew’s unit. In any case, the secondary explosion blew him up. We will run ID kits on all of them, but I doubt the leader is identifiable. Too bad, he is the one with the military training. I would like to know where he came from.

Major Steiner said, OK thanks for the SITREP, but it’s almost dark and I want to get out of here and back to the camp. So hurry your team along.

Captain Joseph went over to the edge of the Wadi and yelled down to the two men there, Will you two hurry up.

The younger of the two soldiers said in a high-pitched voice that cracked, Sir we’ve bagged the first two but the third one is all over the place.

Joseph said, Well get anything identifiable, head or hands and leave the rest it’s almost dark.

The older soldier grumbled, All we’ve found is a couple of fingers. We’ve looked all over and there ain’t no head.

Joseph said, Well give it one last look and scramble back up here. What’s that down there? Joseph pointed behind one of the soldiers.

The younger soldier said, A piece of paper written in Iraqi.

Joseph said, Well pick it up and bring it along and anything else that doesn’t look like it belongs there.

The younger soldier began going over the area with a flashlight. He turned it up on the side of the Wadi and a reflection caught his eye. He took a couple of steps in that direction and looked. The older soldier asked, What’s that?

The younger soldier said, It looks like some kind of sign

The older soldier asked, What’s it say?

The younger soldier said, How would I know it’s in Iraqi. He paused and grinned, It probably says don’t swim in the river without a life guard.

The older soldier kicked the sand in the bottom of the Wadi and said, Yeah right.

Chapter 2

It was a relatively cool morning for Baghdad, but cool was a relative term. There was a slight breeze from the southeast. The breeze brought humid air and with it clouds. The clouds would be a good thing later as the day got hot. Lieutenant Colonel Michael Morris climbed into the large SUV and said to the driver, OK, Let’s go. As the car lurched forward, he buckled his seat belt and fastened his helmet strap. He dropped his briefcase between his legs on the floor and adjusted the air conditioning vent to blow cool air on his face.

Michael Morris was fifty and approaching the end of his career. He was six foot with brown hair, well built and hansom. He was intelligent, well spoken, and came from a family of career soldiers. He had taken every course needed, done every command assignment necessary for promotion, but remained at O5. His four star father had helped him reach this far but could not or would not help him reach Colonel. His record was spotty, accused of selling government equipment as a Lieutenant, accused of leaking sensitive information to a contractor in a biding process as Captain, and accused of inappropriate behavior with a female subordinate as Major. Each time he had somehow managed to come out from the accusations without any official charges or marks on his record. His personality was appealing, allowing him to mislead all but those that knew him and steeled themselves against the deception.

Morris reached down, unbuckled the briefcase, and removed a bound document. The front read, Compilation of Antiquities Looted from the Baghdad Museum – 2003, Jack Wellington Attaché United Nations Mission Baghdad, Done under the ‘Convention on Maintenance of Cultural Entities during Disaster Relief and Mitigation’. He thought, I wonder who this Wellington is, an investigator type, a professor, or just some nameless bureaucrat. In any case, his little memo is very useful.

The street in the Ghadeer Section of Baghdad was busy and the SUV could not move in the traffic. Morris could see Faruk in the distance. He thought back to the time he first met Faruk. It was by happenstance at the market a couple of months ago.

A soldier was behind a car talking to a man in a suit. At the time, Morris was in civilian clothes just walking down to the market to see what was for sale. He had no particular goal or thing to do. It was a nice day. Morris was on the other side of the small street and there were people walking back and forth between Morris and the two men. He watched, as the soldier looked around nervously and opened a box in the trunk of the car. Morris moved to see what was in the box, and he recognized the top of two armored vests. He thought, The soldier is selling contraband equipment.

Morris stood there for a moment appraising the situation then started walking in their direction. The soldier at that point noticed Morris coming in his direction. He pushed the man back against the wall, slammed the trunk, got in the car, and sped off. Morris walked up to the man the soldier shoved. He was brushing dirt off the shoulder of his suit jacket. As Morris walked up the man asked, Are you military police?

Morris said, No, I saw what the soldier wanted to sell. Do you often try to buy contraband equipment?

The man said, No, the soldier just approached me when I came into the market. The two men looked at each other in the eyes. There was something not said but the two men seemed to know each other well.

Morris said, That’s very risky for both of you. Suppose you got the two vests, do you have a market for them?

The man smiled and said, My name is Faruk Rashid. I have places. I can place almost anything.

Morris said, Risking prison for just one or two items seems not to be a good thing. And doing it with someone you don’t know seems to be even more risky. Do you often take on such risk?

Faruk said, No I would rather deal with someone with access to more goods and a way to obtain them without attracting too much attention.

Morris said, I’m Mike Morris, how would you like a cup of coffee or tea? As they walked down the street to a coffee shop that Morris knew was near by he said, Dealing in US Government equipment is not a good thing. They are traceable to the soldier that sold them, but items not paid for by the government are not as traceable, say five hundred bottles of hand soap donated for the use by soldiers.

Faruk looked at him, smiled, and said, I see what you mean. Perhaps this chance meeting can be profitable for both of us.

As they walked Morris asked, Have you ever considered getting into the reconstruction business?

Faruk said, No, I’m just a merchant, you know import, export.

Morris grinned and said, Right now all it takes is a business card, say Reconstruction Materials, Import and Export’ and you can be in business."

Morris was jolted out of his thoughts as the vehicle pulled to a stop at a corner and Morris signaled to Faruk standing at the entrance to a coffee shop. Faruk was dressed in a blue suit coat, tan slacks, and a white shirt unbuttoned to the second button. He was wearing brown shoes, with the heels pushed down so they were effectively slippers. He was in his mid forties, slightly balding, and with a thin black moustache.

Faruk Rashid was well educated with a degree in business. He had been in the Egyptian Army and left it to take over his fathers import export business. With a war, there is always a chance for profit. Faruk came to Iraq in search of that profit. Faruk got into the back seat and slid across behind the driver where he could see and talk to Morris. He said, Good Morning Colonel Morris. How are you?

Morris ignored the greeting and asked, Faruk, can you tell the driver where we are going?

Faruk spoke to the driver in Farsi and there was a resulting discussion back and forth. The driver turned to Morris and said, Mr. Rashid wants to go to a bad section of town. US don’t go there with out escort.

Morris said, It will be OK. We won’t be there long. The driver shrugged and the vehicle sped off down the street. Morris turned to Faruk, handed him the UN Memo, and said, Look through this report. Any items that you know of that are in this book have to be handled differently than we talked about on the phone. He paused momentarily, glanced at the driver, and back to Faruk and said, Look in the back. There are procedures for return of any antiquities. The Ports, Airport, and borders have copies of the report and will be on the look out for any of these items.

Faruk lit up a cigarette and began studying the pages of the document as they rode along.

Morris said, For Gods sake Faruk do you have to smoke Turkish cigarettes. There are some of us that like to breath.

Faruk smiled and said, They taste so good. But he tamped it out against the door handle and tossed it out of the window.

Morris said, It’s beyond me how something that smells like a dead rat tastes good.

Faruk grinned, pulled a folded paper out of his inside suit pocket, and handed it to Morris. The paper was in Farsi and was on official stationary of the New Iraq High School. Faruk said, This is the statement from the director of the school rejecting the Relief as a decoration for the school.

Morris retrieved three papers from his briefcase and handed them back to Faruk. Morris said, This is a copy of the list of items from the Reconstruction Authority being sold for recovery for ‘Best Offer’. The Relief is listed near the bottom. The second paper is from the reconstruction authority transferring ownership to you for $100. There is also a copy of the paperwork with the price blacked out. It never hurts to have your business covered with legal paperwork.

Faruk looked over the papers and said, These are good. If there is any question later it is all legal.

Morris said, I also have a copy of the paper that is in the Reconstruction Authority files where they authorize the workmen to remove the Relief from the old palace ruins for use in the building of the New Iraq High School. Just incase the one in their files gets lost.

The trip took forty minutes with stops at two checkpoints. As they were almost at their destination in the Sha’ab Section of Baghdad there was a large explosion. The SUV swerved as the blast wave passed. The driver stopped and looked back at the smoke rising above the buildings. It was along the route they had just taken. The driver looked around and then at Lieutenant Colonel Morris. It was clear he did not like being alone with no escort. Morris said, Well don’t just sit here, Keep on driving.

Faruk said something in Farsi pushing his hands palm down in a gesture to calm the driver.

Morris said, Not for us. Just keep driving. The SUV sped off down the street.

Faruk raised the UN Memo and said, I have access to several of these items and I know someone who can get more of them. He was in the Republican Guard and we have to be careful of him.

Morris asked, Is he dangerous? Does he have ties to Al Qaida?

Faruk said, No, not dangerous that way. He’s what — you call a ‘Good Shoe’.

Morris looked at him, closed one eye then said, You mean a ‘Goody Two Shoes’. Well we can handle that. In the back of the pamphlet, there are procedures for claiming the reward for return of the items from this guy Wellington. It would be clean money, we wouldn’t have to hide. Right now we have to finish our business with the buyer in Dubai.

The SUV rounded a corner into a warehouse section and down a narrow street to the last warehouse in the row. The old warehouse had paint peeling from the walls, painted over windows, and a prominent lock on the door. There was an old dented, gray Yugo parked next to the door, a man standing next to it and a driver sitting in the front seat. The man standing next to the car was thin, wearing a light brown suit, white shirt, and tie. His beard, moustache, and hair were well trimmed. He had the look of someone with money.

Faruk said, Abdul Hakim is here ahead of us. Morris and Faruk got out of the car and Faruk greeted the man in Arabic. For a minute or two, the three men talked of the weather and Abduls flight into Baghdad. Morris said, OK, Let’s go inside and go over the transaction.

Faruk told the two drivers to wait outside the warehouse while they conducted their business, and if they saw anyone approaching the building to come inside and tell him. After the door was unlocked, the three men went inside. Faruk tried the lights to the building and was surprised when they came on. He said to Abdul, We are lucky, the electricity is on today. One cannot tell these days, when it will be on.

Abdul said, "As you know, I am here to verify the item for the buyer in Dubai, assure the shipping arrangements will get it there without