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recognize—Aristotle. And legend has it that Aristotle designed many of the weapons Alexander used in his battles. This ‘hand scythe’ was one of them.”
    “How was it used?” the general asked.
    “We can only guess.”
    Fala unhesitantly added her opinion. “Alexander developed the phalanx, a box formation of soldiers—a formidable military innovation at the time. The men in front carried heavy eighteen-foot spears. When they held them vertically, the wall of spears hid what was happening in the rear of the formation. When they held them forward, enemy soldiers could be killed well before they reached the body of the formation. But the spears were too heavy for the frontline soldiers to hold any other weapon. If the spear broke or was dropped, well, those soldiers were defenseless.”
    “Except for this,” Krantz added, tapping on the photograph. “They could still fight with this hand weapon, slashing it with great effect into the bodies of their enemies.”
    The general sighed. He had some answers, but he had a lot more questions.
    “I need to know more about this weapon, about how it was and can be used. Will you take the job?”
    Krantz was still unsure he wanted to be in bed with Aman. He turned to Fala to tip his scales.
    “It’s not the Dead Sea Scrolls,” she volunteered her opinion. “But, for a military historian and archaeologist, the battle scythe of Iskander comes close.”
    “I’ll take the job,” Krantz announced abruptly, and quickly got down to business. “Is the site secured? Because I would want to get right to this dig.”
    The general was now the quiet one.
    “Is it in Israeli territory?” Krantz asked.
    Still no answer.
    “Occupied territories?” Fala asked.
    Danny Echod bristled a bit. Palestinians and Arabs referred to any territory that Jews had settled as “occupied territories.” He wondered what her meaning was. But he had already had this woman thoroughly screened. Of course she was an Arab and a Muslim but so were many loyal Israeli citizens. But, most importantly, he knew she was not a zealot and that satisfied him.
    Almost as soon as she said it—“occupied territories”—Fala knew she had misspoke. Especially here. Surprisingly, the general patted the top of her hand reassuringly. Both she and Krantz noticed then, for the first time, that General Echod was missing two fingers on each hand. While it was just surprising to Fala, it jogged Krantz’s memory.
    Danny Echod—this was the man who had been captured by Hezbollah, tortured and mutilated. He was famous, not for that fact, but because he had escaped. Although the Israelis always balked at making prisoner exchanges with Arab terrorist organizations, they’d made several such trades. It was always an uneven one—hundreds of living Arab prisoners for one or two dead Israeli soldiers. The enemy had never returned an Israeli soldier alive. In fact, the only one who had ever returned alive from Hezbollah captivity was Danny Echod, and only because of a miraculous escape.
    General Echod then passed several other photographs to his archaeologists. These were photos of a bloody massacre with dozens of men lying sprawled about what appeared to be a poor village. Their clothing looked Indian or Pakistani. Scattered on the ground were Kalishnakov rifles and curved swords. In the background there was a target range, with dummies dressed as American soldiers, some draped with images of the American president. This was clearly a terrorist camp.
    “This weapon and the dead were all found in Peshawar Province, northwestern Pakistan,” the general explained. “It appears to be a modern weapon.”
    “No, it’s not.” Krantz shook his head. “That’s absurd.”
    “Do you have it?” Fala asked.
    “The Pakistanis have it.”
    “It’s ridiculous. Who would remake an antique weapon?” Krantz argued. “People fight with automatic weapons nowadays for godssake.”
    “No one here was killed by a gun. The wounds,