The Godless One (44 page)

"I'm speechless," said Ari.

"Shut up."

"I'm agog."

"Double shut up. Can you honestly tell
me you didn't have anything to do with this?"

"I can tell you dishonestly that I
did," said Ari. "Now that you're reassured, can you tell me where
we're going?"

"What's even freakier is that we got a
preemptive call from ISAF—yes, that's an acronym. Get over it. This
guy from ISAF swore they didn't know anything about this Uday
look-alike. Now why would they go to the trouble of doing that,
especially when we didn't even contact them about it? What I want
to say, Ari, is that whatever part you had in all of this, we
didn't know about him or his crew out there in the woods. Not a
clue, I swear it."

"It is the consequence of
affliction."

"You really need to pull yourself
together."

"I will, as soon as I know where I'm
going."

Karen had merged the Civic into the
traffic on I-95. She exchanged glances with Fred.

"No, you go," said Fred. "I'm already
wounded."

"Creep. OK…the Icelandic economy is
about to go belly up."

For a moment, Ari was like a volunteer
from an audience mesmerized by a magical incantation.

"Did you hear me?"

"I'm not sure," Ari said
wanly.

"You won't hear about it on the news,
yet, and if you look on line, they'll tell you the kroner is as
healthy as a horse. But there are rumors. They're divesting
themselves of certain responsibilities. I guess you can call them
austerity measures—"

She stopped when Ari disappeared from
her rearview mirror. She looked at Fred. "What's…"

He glanced back, then quickly turned
front and shook his head.

Ari had covered his face with his
hands. There was a long silence. When the howl came, Karen swerved
and almost missed the ramp to I-64. "Ari…?" she whispered. "Are you
going to be all right?"

The howl came again.

"Should we pull off?" Fred
asked.

"
Where
?"

"The next exit is
Mechanicsville."

Another howl.

"Or we can use the emergency pull-off
lane."

"He's dying!" Karen wailed.

But there were no more hair-raising
howls. After a brutally long silence, Karen said,
"Fred…"

He risked another glance back. "He's
still breathing."

"I'll keep going. RIC's only a couple
of miles ahead."

Another minute passed, and then Ari sat
up. "I deeply apologize to you both."

"I thought you were going to stroke
out, man," said Fred.

Karen took one hand off the wheel and
slugged him in the shoulder. It was Fred's turn to howl as she
caught him on his wound.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" Karen
cried.

"Yeah, right," Fred complained, bracing
against his door.

"Ari, are you okay, now?" Karen asked
pensively, seeing the airport exit ahead. "I have to tell you
something in advance. I called in a favor with a JPATS pilot I
know. He's on his way west to pick up some prisoners. This isn't an
authorized Con Air stop. He's risking his job here, you know? The
passengers he's got now are supposed to go straight to San Diego.
He cooked up some story, but we've only got a few minutes. Do you
understand, Ari? Please say you do. And…and…another thing. He's
doing me this…favor…on the understanding that I don't leave you
alone for one minute. Not one second. He has to be careful. You
understand, Ari? Ari?"

"I understand."

"OK, we're here. Are you going to be
all right? Do you want me to call this off?"

When he did not answer, Fred turned and
looked. "He's shaking his head," he said.

"You know," said Karen as she pulled up
in front of the terminal, "it's funny you should have those flowers
with you. Do you want to take them in with you?"

"What a very pleasant idea, Deputy
Sylvester. Very considerate of you."

Karen gave a small cough and said,
"It's the tribal thing to do." She jumped out quickly and held
Ari's door open for him. When he lifted himself out, flowers in
hand, she was startled by his appearance. His eyes were red, but
otherwise he looked…better. Almost infinitely better. Like a
building that had collapsed and then magically risen out of the
ruins.

"Where do I go?" he asked.

"This way."

Karen and Fred led him through the
bottom level doors. To the left, past the escalators, was a large
sign that said 'USO'.

"They're letting us use one of their
rooms back here. Quick, Ari," Karen said when it seemed he was
drifting. "I'm so sorry, but we have to do this fast."

But it was the strange, dreamy cloud
around him that made him appear slow to her. In fact, he was
already passing her and Fred.

"Oh…hold on!"

A group of sailors came bounding out of
the USO, happy and beaming in their white caps and blue
crackerjacks. They flowed around Ari, taking no note of him, nor he
of them. Karen swerved around them and raced to the entrance,
holding the door open.

"Here…here…" She directed him into a
foyer off the main entertainment room.

And there stood Qasim. Ari's middle son
jumped in astonishment.

"He didn't know I was coming?" Ari
said, aggrieved.

"Neither of them knows. We didn't know
if we could pull this off. I'm sorry, Ari."

Father and son had last seen each other
at Baghdad International Airport, while accompanying the stretcher
in which the boy's mother lay. They had flown off to Iceland, while
Ari waited for the next flight to the U.S.A. Qasim was diffident,
confused. When his father embraced him, he remained
stiff.

"They beat you, father!" he said
harshly into Ari's ear.

"I fell down…it's a long story. You
look well, Qasim." He paused. "How is she?"

Qasim looked puzzled, not by the
question, but by any possible answer he might offer. "I…don't know.
That sounds strange. But…sometimes I wonder if she…"

"Yes?"

"She is a mystery." He
gripped his father's arm. "Why do you work for
them
!
How
can you work for them, after
what they did?" He looked at the flowers and seemed to sneer, or
weep.

Karen did not understand what was being
said, but the harsh glare Qasim shot in her direction told her she
wasn't being flattered.

"We don't have time, Qasim. It is all
unfair, it is all uncertain, and one day we will discuss it." He
removed his son's hand. He looked at the door, then at
Karen.

"Yes, in there. And remember, we have
to come with you…"

Ari opened the door and entered, the
agents close behind.

She was sitting quietly, her dark burqa
contrasting somberly with the mauve cheeriness of the couch. Ari
took several steps forward, and stopped.

"Can she see him?" Fred
whispered.

"No. Shut up."

Ari continued to remain in place. Karen
began to fret, looked at her watch. "Cm'on," she said to
herself.

Rana reached out her hand to the couch
arm and slowly raised herself up, facing Ari. The burqa draped
down, covering her entire body, but it was obvious one of the arms
was missing.

"I thought you said she couldn't see,"
said Fred.

"You know what happened. Maybe she felt
the air move."

"I didn't see any reason to read about
his wife, too," Fred pouted.

"Will you shut up?"

Ari moved closer to Rana. He held out
the yellow roses. She reached out and took the bouquet, pressing it
in place against her chest.

"She
can
see!" Fred hissed.

"Fred, she doesn't
have
any
eyes!"

"But…"

Ari slowly, without evident difficulty,
knelt at Rana's feet.

"This is getting spooky," Fred said.
"That sheet over her head is bad enough."

"Fred, your arm is very vulnerable
right now."

"Right. But what about this kneeling? I
didn't think they kneeled like that to women."

Karen, watching in wonder, said, "They
kneel to their god."

Rana stood silently, her burqa barely
shifting in the gentle flow of heated air from the vents overhead.
Although they could hear jet engines outside, the room seemed
unnaturally quiet. Ari raised his hands to Rana's thighs and
grasped the hem of the upper part of the burqa between the thumb
and index finger of both hands.

"Ari, what are you doing?" Karen
murmured.

He began to raise the soft silk as he
brought himself to his feet.

"No, Ari," Karen hissed, biting her
thumbnail. "No Ari, no Ari, no Ari…"

"Stop overreacting," Fred
frowned.

"You don't understand."

Rana lowered her arm and the flowers
fell. She placed her hand gently on Ari's forearm. A calm request
that he stop. Ari whispered something to her and she removed her
hand.

"Oh no, no," said Karen as Ari
continued to raise the veil. She turned away. "We have to
go."

"We can't leave him alone!" Fred
protested. "You told me—"

"Fred, she doesn't have
a
face
. None at
all!"

"Oh shit…"

Still the veil rose. Karen began
tapping her foot, like a little girl who needs to pee. Fred had
turned away, also. "Okay," he said.

They left the room.

Ari finished drawing back the veil. He
stood, looking down, his expression sad, wondering, horrified and
filled with ecstasy. He took her to him.

And Abu Karim Ghaith Ibrahim kissed his
wife.