Chapter 79

  Gaza City, The Gaze Strip

  Ameen Hussein woke suddenly. He was breathing heavily, and his face was covered in a cold sweat. He had been dreaming. It was the same terrifying dream that had drifted into his subconscious after all the failed missions. The disappearance of Smith and all his men troubled him the most. But tonight, the dream was more terrifying than usual. It seemed so real. He was being chased by men dressed in black from head to toe. They always caught up to him and pulled him to the ground. When he turned to look at them, all he could see were their eyes. Their faces were completely black. He immediately reached under his pillow and felt the reassuring feel of the pearl-handled 9mm that never left his side. Ameen sat up and looked around the room. Everything was as it should be. He looked at the digital clock that glowed next to his bed. It was 2:05 AM. He felt like calling out to his bodyguard just outside his door, but he immediately felt foolish and thought otherwise. In his culture, cowards and sissies were not looked upon kindly. However, after Smith went missing, he doubled his security team. He was taking no chances.

  *****

  Ameen was the great-grandson of Haj Mohammed Effendi Amin el-Hussein, The grand Mufti of Jerusalem, who had collaborated with the Nazis during WW2 to annotate the Jews. Ameen was a true believer, and like his great grandfather, he had a deep hatred for the Jews and Crusaders and longed to see the world dominated by the true religion under a worldwide Caliphate. He knew he would never see this occur in his lifetime, yet he hoped that all his hard work would pay off someday. The world would once again return to the glory days of the Ottoman Empire, and Islam would flourish again. Then, the Jews and infidels would once again be subjugated by the true believers. They would be forced to convert to the true and beautiful religion or be killed, leaving only the righteous to rule the world. Ameen always wept when he envisioned that glorious day and wept at the realities of the present, where the descendants of apes and pigs mistreated his brothers. There was a time when he thought that they could take back the land that the Jews and Crusaders had stolen, but that’s when he was young and foolish. But now, as he grew old, he had to deal with the harsh realities. There would never be enough rockets fired at the Jews to drive them from the land.

  *****

  Throwing back the light sheet that covered his slender body, Ameen sat on the edge of his bed and looked around the small room again. He was alone. He placed the pistol back under his pillow and walked to his bathroom, just a few feet away. After he relieved himself, he washed his hands and was about to splash water on his face when he heard a sound coming from his bedroom. It was ever so slight, but it made him freeze as the water slowly seeped through his fingers and into the sink. He quickly reached for a towel, dried his hands, and stood at the bathroom doorway. For several minutes, he listened intently without moving. Ameen’s bedroom was on the top floor of a three-story building. One of the windows was slightly open, and a sheer curtain lazily fluttered in a cool breeze coming off the Mediterranean. Nothing was out of the ordinary, yet he sensed something was wrong. Then he heard the sound again. It was ever so subtle, but he was sure this time. He didn’t know what it was but was convinced he wasn’t alone. His only hope was to get to his pistol. He looked at the distance to his bed. It was so short, yet he knew he had to cover the ground quickly. Ameen broke from the doorway and dove for his gun. His hand was only inches from his automatic when he was struck from behind and driven into the mattress. Ameen turned to look at his attacker, and all he could see were his eyes glowing like coals in the darkness. His face was completely black. Soon, he was joined by two other men with glowing eyes and black faces. Both of these men grabbed his arms, and he felt a needle prick his upper arm. Ameen felt himself drifting away and yelled out for his bodyguards, but his cries for help fell on deaf ears. All of his men were dead.

  *****

  Ameen awoke and found himself tied to a wooden chair. He couldn’t move his arms or legs, and when he tried to move the chair, it didn’t budge. It was bolted to the concrete floor. A dark hood had been placed over his head. He was naked, hungry, and thirsty. He also had a killer headache. Even with the hood covering his head, he knew that the room was dark because no light came through the cloth hood. He knew that they would be listening. What he didn’t know was that an infrared camera was also watching him. Just when he thought that it couldn’t get worse, it did. He heard the sound of machinery running, and a blast of cold air flowed over his body. He cursed the unseen men and called them every degrading name that he could think of. After a half hour, he gave up and shivered uncontrollably. He knew what these men wanted, but he would not give in. He would die first. The cause was too great. The Israelis had never broken him before, and they would not do it this time. Unfortunately for Ameen, he was wrong.

  *****

  The meeting consisted of just two men. Jesse sat quietly in a comfortable leather chair while Director Clayson stood at his window and looked out at nothing in particular. He had just concluded a meeting with key government officials to discuss the information that was obtained from Ameen Hussein. They now had a delicate situation to deal with in Saudi Arabia. Not everyone agreed with the proper course of action, but they eventually reached the same consensus. Clayson finally turned slowly and looked at Jesse.

  “Major, I felt it was my obligation to keep you in the loop since you’re so deeply involved in this from the beginning, and quite frankly, we wouldn’t have the information we have today if it wasn’t for your insight.”

  Clayson paused and waited for a response but received just a nod from Jesse, who waited for him to continue.

  “There have been many wars waged throughout history, and most have changed the course of the world. But in my viewpoint, the greatest one is a little-known battle waged over the city of Vienna in 1683. It was fought between the Holy Roman Empire and the Ottoman Turks. The Turks were defeated, and it marked the historic end of their expansion into Europe. It was a major turning point for the Ottoman Empire and a major blow to the expansion of Islam. Now, just over three hundred years later, Europe is no longer fighting with Islam; it is welcoming it with open arms through immigration. I’m afraid to admit that I didn’t know much about Islam before 911. But after the attack, I read volumes. I remember reading a report a few months ago that contained a speech given by Muammar Gaddafi on Al Jazeera radio. Many people in this government thought it to be the rambling of a madman, but I paid a great deal of attention to it. Clayson picked up a sheet of paper off his desk and started to read, “Islam will take over Europe without violent force within a few decades. We have 50 million Muslims in Europe. There are signs that Allah will grant Islam a great victory in Europe without swords, without guns, without conquests. The 50 million Muslims of Europe will turn it into a Muslim continent within a few decades.”

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  The Director slowly placed the paper back down on his desk.

  “Major, the world is changing very rapidly, and I’m sad to say that his predictions are coming true. Through immigration and conversion, Islam is expanding in every European country at an alarming rate. In most of these countries, the birth rates for Muslins are more than triple that of their host countries. In the United Kingdom alone, Islam has grown ten times faster than the non-Muslim population. It isn’t hard to see the handwriting on the wall. Europe will cease to exist as we know it in thirty to fifty years. You and I will probably be long dead, but our grandchildren will live in a completely different world.”

  Jesse listened patiently without saying a word because he knew that everything he said was true, and he didn’t even mention the changes that were taking place in the U.S. Now; he wondered where all of this was leading.

  “Thanks for bearing with me. Now, I’ll get to the point. The people behind all these attacks are Muslim extremists.”

  Jesse sat up a little straighter when he heard this. He had no idea it had anything to do with radical Islam.

  Clayson continued,

  “But they are not your average suicide bombers that inflict temporary pain on their enemies or not the fanatics that threaten global annihilation by means of nuclear war. These people have a vision, a vision of worldwide dominance under an Islamic caliphate, but not the same vision as ISIS, which wants to kill every nonbeliever and even the believers who don’t interpret the Koran as they do. To do this, they not only have to take over a country by numbers but also need influence and power, which takes money. Money derived from oil. The main person behind this didn’t want any interruption, interference, or even shared revenues from any other source. He planned to place key people in government worldwide as the means to his end. Because of President Roberts’s alternative energy policies, this man viewed him as a genuine threat to his ultimate goal. Because of this, he had to be eliminated.”

  “That may explain a few things, but I find it hard to believe that Sydney would be a willing participant in this. And I’m damn sure that she hasn’t converted to Islam or is even a Muslim sympathizer.” Jesse answered.

  Clayson had a slight smile after that remark, but that quickly vanished when he said;

  “The Palestinian the Mossad captured and interrogated knew nothing about her involvement in the plot to assassinate Preside Roberts. His orders were to hire a team to prevent an encrypted document from reaching certain hands and to eliminate any person who knew of this document. This man also hired Ivan Rakov for muscle and another man who was a computer expert to spy on Dr. Chakinski and steal his research in Prague. This man also hired other men to do the same thing in many other countries around the globe. All of it related to alternative energy research.”

  Clayson stopped and took a sip of water.

  “Did this Palestinian give them a name?” Jesse asked.

  “Yes, he did….he is a high-ranking Saudi National.” Clayson paused to let it sink in.

  Jesse raised his eyebrows, leaned forward, and said softly, “The Saudis are involved in this?”

  “No, as far as we know, only one man is involved. But he’s untouchable…at least for now.”

  “So what you’re telling me is that you don’t have proof of Sydney’s involvement in any of this. And the only man that can implicate her is untouchable. Is that about it?”

  “Yes, that’s about it,” Clayson answered.

  “Ok, who is this man?”

  Clayson shook his head. “You know I can’t answer that.”

  “Well, it was worth a shot.”

  After a moment of silence, Clayson said, “There’s another reason I asked you here today.”

  “And what is that, sir?”

  “General Bennett discreetly told me about your past relationship with President Williams. That has not gone beyond this room, and it never will. What I am proposing is something that you’ll need to think about. You’re on a very short list of people who know anything about her involvement in this matter, and I want to keep it that way. The country is still recovering from the assassination of President Roberts, and I don’t believe I have to tell you about the ramifications to this country if any of this was to get out. President Williams left this morning on a nine-day economic trade summit to Southeast Asia that President Roberts had set up months ago. After that, she’ll travel to the Middle East to visit Saudi Arabia, The United Arab Emirates, and finally, Israel. I would like you to travel to Singapore and catch up with her before she leaves for the Middle East. Because of your history together, she might listen to you.”

  "And just what would you like me to say to her?" Jesse said quietly.

  Clayson leaned forward and handed him a flash drive.

  "I would like you to give her this. It's Jensen's letter and the photos that you found in Minnesota. It's uncopiable, encrypted, password protected, and will self-destruct 10 minutes after opening."

  "And then what? Any errand boy can deliver this."

  "I don't want any more people involved in this than what is absolutely necessary."

  "And what about her involvement with this Saudi…is that on the flash drive?"

  "No…but I'll get to that in a minute. After she views the drive's contents, I would like you to ask her to resign. She can use any reason that suits her. But I want her resignation within the next week, and I want her to confirm this before you leave your meeting with her."

  "And if she tells me to go and fornicate with myself?"

  Director Clayson seemed unamused by his choice of words.

  “Then I want you to tell her that we have evidence that she’s involved in a conspiracy against the United States, nothing more. She’ll know it’s a veiled threat, and we don’t have the proof, but the threat to her will be real.”

  “You know she will ask me who’s leading this.”

  “I suspect that she will.”

  “And?”

  “Tell her nothing.”

  “Okay…and if she still refuses to resign?”

  “Then we’ll deal with her in another way. But either way, she will not stay in office.”

  *****

  When the meeting ended and Jesse left the room, Clayson returned to his desk and removed a clean cell phone from his briefcase. He punched in the number and waited for the man on the other end to answer. He did on the second ring and said nothing. He was waiting for Clayson to speak.

  “I may need some assets in Singapore for a very delicate job.”

  The man on the other end waited for the voice recognition equipment to verify Clayson’s voice.

  When it was confirmed, the man said calmly, “How soon do you need them?”