Sitta got into the taxi that he had booked the previous night that would take him to the National Synagogue, where the Ark of the Covenant was on daily display. Sitta was dressed as any tourist would dress for a late November on a visit to Israel, a well insulated jacket, cord pants and hiking boots. The day was damp and a fine drizzle seemed to hang in the air, the actual temperature was not cold but the damp sent a shiver through Sitta's body, even though the heater in the taxi was on. It was but a short hop to the National Synagogue, an impressive building built in the early nineteen-eighties, with later additions of a museum and exhibition / conference hall completed in two-thousand and twenty-one. It was in this exhibition hall that the Ark had been placed on display, the hall was not purpose built for security, so Sitta hopped that precautions would not be too difficult to over come.
Mansur Zubeidi, Sitta's second in command had done an excellent job surveying the building and its security, he had also done the planning for the raid, Sitta just needed to see if any extra security had been introduced, or if the risk level had been raised. Sitta alighted in the forecourt and saw that there was already a short queue of devotees and tourists to view the artefact. Sitta joined the slow moving queue and as soon as he was under cover took his camera from its case. After about fifteen minutes the queue passed through the security barrier, a side room that had been adapted as a security post, an airport detector had been hurriedly installed in the passageway. The detector was just held down with wood screws, he noticed, a clue to the temporary security arrangements. As Sitta passed the security office he made a point of noting the security level, it was set to 'Special Black' the mid-level status. Along the corridor there were pairs of security guards each armed with the latest Mk 11, home-grown and made, Uzi machine gun, the best, and best-selling, machine gun ever produced. As everyone entered the hall they were patted down and any bags examined, Sitta had only his camera, the guard gave him a cursory look and passed him on.
Inside the hall there was carousel of people skirting a crowd-control barrier, inside the barrier were a ring of security guards, again with Uzi guns, spaced every three meters or so. In the centre was the Ark, and Sitta found a lump of emotion form in his throat, this was very alien to Sitta, who considered himself to be above such emotions. Like almost every other person Sitta started to take photographs with his UHD camera, there were so many camera flashes that the hall seemed as if there was a war going on. The last thing Sitta wanted was to be recognised, so keeping the camera to his eye also doubled as a camouflage. It took twenty minutes to circumvent the Ark and everyone then exited through, what normally served as, an emergency exit. This exit was equipped with little or no security, Mansur had been correct in designating this door as the entry point, and covertly, Sitta took the synth-gum he had been chewing and placed it over the small sensor that guarded against the opening of the door.
Once outside Sitta opened his com-unit and pressed the tab for Mansur, who was still in Tripoli. After a few seconds Mansur's voice answered, “Yes?”
“I think you were correct, you nephew is from Brunswick,” Sitta said.
“Yes,” said Mansur, “I will join him soon, I will give him your regards,” and Sitta closed the connection, the raid was a go, for the day after next, Tuesday would be a great day.