O-Negative: Extinction (28 page)

“Probably Annette but putting it bluntly 100 working girls and a couple of hundred other women might make all the difference.  With regards to the Au Pairs I assure you that no one will be forced to do something they don’t want to but in time maybe they’ll find themselves boyfriends from within my men – and please let me make it absolutely clear this is a chance of survival for them.  If they aren’t in a base like mine they might not survive at all and even if they do the world as we know it isn’t going to be the same as it is today.”  He paused to take some of his now cooling tea.

Looking back up at her he noted “I understand that you might know of other people who could for a better word of it ‘source’ women of a particular type and age?”

“I don’t know Colonel maybe my associate Alek but he’s an Eastern European fixer I’m not sure how cooperative he’d be?”

The Colonel nodded to the Major who took out his phone and dialled a number.  “Sergeant could you send Mr Kornovich up”.

She was surprised.  “You’ve already picked Alek up?”

“As I said Annette we don’t have a great deal of time here.  Mr Kornovich was picked up earlier today in readiness for this conversation.  I’d appreciate it if you could assist us with obtaining Mr Kornovich’s services in this regard – by the way he didn’t come that quietly so my men had to ‘persuade’ him a bit”

“I bet.  I’d like to have been a fly on that wall when he was tackled by men in uniform!”

At that point the doorbell rang and the Major got up to answer the door.  A few moments later he came in with Alek who was nursing a bloody nose and what looked like a rapidly blackening eye.

“Hello Annie.  I see you’ve also had the pleasure of meeting your fellow Americans.  I have to say you look better than I do.  Don’t say anything Annie, I’ve already requested they contact my lawyer and he should be here anytime soon to clear up this ‘misunderstanding’.”

“Mr Kornovich, pleased to meet you my name is Lieutenant Colonel Draper”  The Colonel offered his hand which Alek declined to shake.

“Ahh Colonel Draper I assume you’re in charge of the men that kidnapped me?  If this is the case I’d like to make a formal complaint about the manner of my detention.  I’d also be grateful if you could provide me with the phone call I’m entitled to under the law.”

“Alek, may I call you that?  I’m afraid you won’t be getting access to your lawyer, for a start you aren’t under arrest.  You’re simply here to assist with a problem that I have.  A problem that I believe you can assist me with”.

“No you may not call me Alek and no I do not feel inclined to assist you in any way shape or form.  Either charge me or very politely ‘Fuck off’ “.

“Ahh Alek I think we might have got off on the wrong foot.  Maybe it would be better if I leave you here with Annie for a few minutes and she can summarise what I’ve already told her.”  “Annette I’m sorry to do this to you but if you are able to assist in obtaining Alek’s cooperation your country would be most grateful”.  At that he stood and retreated out of the living room, presumably to the kitchen leaving Alek alone with her.

“Alek you look dreadful.  Listen it’s not what you think.  It’s much much worse.  You’re going to need to sit down for this.”

At that she sat Alek down and haltingly explained everything the Colonel had just told her.

He brought his head up for the last time as he finished the Fajr prayer.  Around him his men also began finishing turning their heads to the right and then to the left to give the traditional greeting ‘Salam al aikum’ to their fellow Muslim brothers.  In their outdoor setting far from the nearest Mosque the sun was just beginning to creep over the horizon.  The temperature of the air around them visibly warming.  At this time of the day it was possible to watch threads of air rising from the sand causing the desert behind their prayer positions to shimmer like water – a water that was of course an illusion.  As disingenuous an effect as the teachings of those who for their sins failed to believe in a monolithic God.  Much as he hated the religious Jews and Christians at least they kept to their faith and it was true that the Prophet Mohammed (praise be upon him) had found it in his heart to embrace their teachings and accept these prophets as brothers.  Abdul Aziz himself was less forgiving and each morning he prayed fervently that a holy Jihad such as those seen in the 11
th
and 12
th
Centuries would be granted to Muslims like himself to wipe out not only the unbelievers but also the Jews and Christians from the Arabian Peninsula.  This morning he had made an additional pledge to Almighty God that he would gladly pay any price to be part of such a Jihad and begged Allah to grant him his heart’s desire.

Rising from his prayer mat he and his men made a simple breakfast of flat bread and dates.  The last few days had been tough on all of them.  The exercise primarily consisted of long marches across the featureless desert on foot seeking the ancient Oases that were key to their daily survival.  Though the Saudi Arabian army now had all the modern equipment they could hope for it was still an accepted policy that like Mohammed (praise be upon him) all modern army units be exposed to the privations of the open desert.  Without such exercises how could a soldier truly appreciate what Mohammed (praise be upon him) had experienced when he swept down from his city of exile Medina to conquer the idolaters of Mecca?

He spat out a mouthful of water darkening the sand upon which it landed, he spat not in disgust but to remind himself and his men that they lived on the earth only by the grace of Allah the Almighty.  Without water, without the blessing of Allah each day they faced the risk of dying as his sun beat down upon them.  As the sun rose higher into the sky he picked up his back pack and slung it onto his broad shoulders.  Though as a senior officer he had done this exercise many times before he never exempted himself from the activity, in fact he could barely look some of his senior colleagues in the eye who did just this.  Had they no shame?  How did they expect their men to respect them if they did not endure what they did?  He was not like these others, the sons of rich families.  Families who had forgotten what it was like to survive out in the desert, families who instead spent all their time in vast air conditioned compounds moving only to get into their air-conditioned cars to visit the plethora of air conditioned shopping malls where they now congregated and spent their newly discovered wealth.  Had they not read the Koran?  Did they not hear the words of warning threaded through the stories of Noah and Lut?  For himself it was like a shout through the nether world – ‘beware the nafsu beware the delights of material comfort - they are as transparent and insubstantial as the air itself’.  Only in a life led in service to Allah would the true believers be rewarded in paradise.  In his heart he feared for his fellow country men and women, he feared they had forgotten Sodom and Gomorrah and the myriad of historical accounts detailing the destruction of Cities populated by those that turned their backs on Allah the Almighty.

Knowing that he and his men were on the last day of their desert training he set a swift pace.  Leading from the front as always.  His men, all 5,000 of them, picked up their belongings and set off after him.  Each and every one of them was as committed to his beliefs and ideals as he was.  He accepted no other.  He had spent the last 15 years shaping them into the best division in the Kingdom.  They had won the King Saud award for excellence three years in a row, beating the supposedly elite western trained units stationed around Riyadh and Dhahran by some margin.  He knew that it was not just their training and their devotion to spiritual practice that set his division apart – it was also his leadership.  A leadership that gave no quarter, offered no respite and led in the name of Allah whether it was on the training ground or in the Yemeni border hills.  Before coming here to the Northern Deserts he and his men had spent 12 months fighting Yemenis insurgents on the porous southern border.  Though they were committed fighters and believers they had allowed lower forces to cloud their reason and now twisted the words of the Prophet (praise be upon his name) to allow them to attack fellow Muslims.  Though he was a committed Salafist the Koran was clear about the respect and equality that should be given to fellow followers of Islam and that if based on the Sharia Muslims should obey the laws of the land in which one lives – all of which had been clearly set out in the prophet’s teachings.  Any deviations from the word of the prophet needed to be dealt with swiftly to prevent another breakaway and undoubtedly lesser form of Islam taking shape such as happened when the Shiites split from the Sunnis in the 7
th
Century.

It was shortly after he had made the decision to stop his men and allow them to make their Dhuhr prayers that he felt a vibration beneath his feet.  He was overcome with a sensation of inner calm and as a result watched almost expressionlessly as a sand dune 20 metres away from where they were suddenly began to move rapidly and within seconds had collapsed into a rolling mass of sand and dried vegetation - cascading tonnes of material over and over down the steep slope.  The earth jolted and though he retained his feet many of his men fell and cried out in alarm – though none were injured.  His friend and second in command on the trek Captain Ibrahim pointed at the now flattened dune in front of them.

“Praise be to Allah you stopped us when you did Sir.  If we had rested any closer to the dune many of us would have been swallowed by the shifting sands.”

He turned and looked at his friend with deep brown eyes “Ibrahim if we had have been caught in it this would have been the will of Allah – Inshallah my friend Inshallah”.

He knew that whatever he said this incident would be seized upon by his men of additional proof that he was touched by God.  He knew that this reputation as a man blessed by the angels inspired his own men and disheartened his enemies.  It served his purposes for the time being to allow them to uplift him like this but he made a point of humbling himself before Allah every evening to remind himself that he was but a man -  a man whose very existence was determined by the will of the Almighty.

Following the earthquake an ill-omened wind from the South took up and he knew from experience that such a wind would be followed by a storm.  Despite this he did not make camp, he had a sudden and real desire to continue on to their desert base where they would finish their trek.  His desire to do so came not from a wish to partake of the small luxuries he and his men would find there at base but because he was suddenly struck by a strong feeling of the Almighty.  A feeling that boded bad news, bad news both for himself personally and for his men.  This feeling remained with him after he and his men had completed their prayers and supped on their water canteens.  When Ibrahim suggested it might be best to make camp in preparation for the coming storm, he overruled him – something he was wont to do but this feeling that ran through every limb and sinew would not be denied.

“Ibrahim.  You are right we should make camp but I have a feeling something isn’t right.  I believe we need to continue onwards to our base today.  Gather the men we should move swiftly.”

“Sir of course.  Such strong feelings are not to be ignored.  You have led us truly these last few years and I and the men would be fools not to trust in your judgement.  If we must go on we shall.”

“Thank you my friend.  Your belief in me humbles me far more than you can imagine.  Come let us run this last part -  Allah will give us the strength to do so”.  At this he set off at pace with his men exclaiming at his energy following the long hard trek – “he is pulled by the Angels”, “God’s breath is upon him” At this his men also broke into a run and competed with one another to be the first to catch their God touched leader.

In the end whether through divine providence or sheer good luck the storm only hit as the last of the men entered the old walled fort that served as their base of operations.  Major Gadiz the old officer he had left behind with a skeleton unit rushed from the mud walled building where their command centre and communications equipment was based.

“General we didn’t expect to see you this evening.  It is a blessing from the Almighty that you have not been caught in the storm which looks to be a bad one.”

“It is the will of God Gadiz”

Again he heard a murmur of Allah u Akbar running through those men within hearing distance of these words.  He wondered absently whether after a seemingly God blessed run like they had just undertaken it would be possible to dispel the aura of mythicalism that was now beginning to form around him.

“Gadiz you look worried is there more to say.  Are your men all well?  No sickness or issues?”

“No sir the men are well and glad to see your safe return.  But yes I am worried.  As you are aware we are required to report daily to Command to let them know of our activities and to convey any requests for supplies or incidents that require attention.  I have been trying for the last two hours but cannot raise them on any of the normal channels.  A few years ago I would have put this down to the storm but now with these new radios and satellite communication systems they are normally unaffected by such things.  The lack of contact is unusual.”

He laughed.  “Gadiz you are like an old woman worrying at every grain of sand that blows into her tent.  You put too much stock on this new technology.  It is not infallible.  Only the word of God and the Prophet (praise be upon him) is infallible.  Come leave your play things for the moment.  It is time for the Asr prayer, join me – it will be the first time I can do so for many days without the sand blowing into my face.”

Gadiz smiled and fell into step beside him as they walked towards the largest building in the compound.  Though it was not as impressive as many of the mosques now built in the main cities its clean simple lines and a single minaret appealed to his wish to worship Allah in the type of mosque that the Prophet himself would have prayed in.

Once he had removed his boots and completed the required ablutions he put his head to the prayer mat as the imam at the front of the mosque called out the familiar cadences of the Koranic prayers.  His wish to truly submit to the will of Almighty God was however not forthcoming.  The feeling of unease he had experienced after the earthquake in the desert came upon him once again.  This feeling of wrongness increased to the point where he worried for his own sanity; he pressed his head once more to the prayer mat and tried to quieten himself but it was no good.  He would get no sleep tonight he realised until he had resolved whatever it was that was currently troubling him.

After prayers and seated around a small charcoal burner to keep away the nightly desert chill he ate his repast, lamb kebabs cooked over an open fire by the base cook.  Despite the luxury of spiced meat and a warm fire the contentment he should be feeling escaped him. 

He waved Major Gadiz, who was standing talking to some of his returned men, over.

“Major have you been able to raise Command yet?”

“I’m afraid not sir.  I’ve asked the signals team to see if they can raise anyone at all in our general vicinity and they should report shortly…ah I see Lieutenant Karim coming from the office, may I call him over to update us?”

“Yes of course bid him come”.

The Major left the confines of the loose tented structure where he was reclining.  Returning the Major brought the Lieutenant with him.

“Lieutenant good to see you.  Any news from Command?”

The Lieutenant stood to attention and saluted him “Sir, no Sir”.  He then glanced at the Major as if requiring further permission to speak.

He frowned slightly “Continue Lieutenant out with it have you been able to raise anyone?”

“Sir yes Sir.  After some effort we have been able to make contact with one of our sister units who have been training with the Jordanians across the border.  They seem to have received mixed reports sir.”

“Mixed reports? Reports about what, has something happened?”

“Sir it may be that I got confused in what they were telling me but they appeared to say that there has been an attack of some sort and that Command itself may have been affected”.

He stood at this news “An attack, a terrorist attack?  On the main Riyadh base? Are there casualties?”

“Sir the operator I spoke to said it wasn’t specifically aimed at the military base.  He kept repeating that contact had been lost with all the major cities – Riyadh, Jeddah, Dhahran, Medina and Mecca.  At that point he had to cut contact as his commanding officer was demanding he stop talking on an unsecured transmission”.

“Lost contact with all cities and bases? This doesn’t make sense no organisation we know of has the sort of capability to do this – the Islamist groups can barely fire AK47’s never mind jam communications across the whole country.”