Cedars of Lebanon

After an all-out war in the Mideast renders that portion of the world uninhabitable and threatens to destroy the rest of Earth with its repercussions, three women are sent back in time to ancient Phoenicia and the Levant (circa 600 BC ) to collect seeds, plant cuttings, and seedlings from the now devastated area in an effort to bring them home and propagate them and restore the area before it is too late to salvage our planet.
But the girls don't return as scheduled, prompting those in charge to send a rescue mission in an effort to find them and bring them home. Will the rescue mission not find the girls, or find them dead, destroying any remaining chances to save planet Earth? Or have they been captured by King Nebuchadnezzar and his armies and tortured and marched off to Babylon with thousands of other captives to help build the city he envisions will one day rule the world?