The crisis in global warming might well be reversed, and humanity saved from its own folly.
“Bunny,” Edward began. “You have been infiltrated by Saudi spies. There are three working for you in your Nabataean labs. They have reported back to Riyadh on Abdul’s progress, and that’s why they’re attacking now. They found out when Abdul told you. Then you told them.”
“I did no such thing. You can fool my husband with your lies and deceit but not me. You’re trying to steal our secrets, but you will not get away with it.”
“Even though my relationship with Nabataea began with King Azziz over twenty-five years ago?”
“An exaggeration at best. You were never a friend of our Kingdom. You were always here to serve your interests alone, and perhaps those of the Saudis or the Americans. Not us. Never us.”
“Bunny, your spies were excellent, but nowhere near as effective as you. You were the one who told the Saudi’s, not them. They were there to keep an eye on you, but there was no need for that was there? You sold out years ago, even before your move to America. That was why you agreed to allow your husband to be kidnapped. You intended to kill him before he arrived at your new home. Then you intended to return to Riyadh, and your new life as a wealthy Saudi Princess. But you also never intended to remain in Saudi Arabia; you would take your wealth to the West. San Francisco? LA? London?”
Bunny stepped away from Edward then pulled out a small caliber pistol.
“Very good Dr. St. James. Very good indeed. But neither you, your entourage nor my husband will ever reach home alive. I’m afraid I will have to take care of that. Your bodies and the pilots will be dumped out over the gulf, and I will pilot the plane to Bahrain. Our gulf state oil will be safe, as will the riches of the House of Saud.”
She continued.
“I will be in Greece by morning with a new identity and $500 million in a Swiss bank account. Adam, and all your brave mercenaries will be dead by first light. It’s been fun but its time for you to bid your family adieu.”
Bunny pulled out a small caliber pistol, and aimed it at Edward, then others. She then pulled the trigger, but nothing happened. She pulled the trigger three more times in succession without success. She threw the gun at Edward, but he ducked.
“Have a seat Bunny. And remain very motionless or I will snap your neck.”
“No matter. The Saudi Army and Air Force will destroy your men, and their efforts to save the heretic Nabataeans. They will hunt you down and eliminate you, the rest of your family, and that pathetic excuse masquerading as my husband, all in due course. Count the hours; it’s all they and you have left. Then my real family will live in honor and wealth.”
“Doubtful, Bunny, or whatever your real name is. The Nabataean nation will be out of both Kingdoms within twenty-four hours. No one will be killed, except for your family owing to your failure to succeed at your task. Abdul and the children are asleep but when they wake, you might be somewhere floating in the Gulf. Your spies have been captured and are already on they way to the US base in Qatar. I am confident they will cooperate in order to survive, as will you. Otherwise we will return them with you to Riyadh via the clerics in Mecca. We will extract their confessions, along with the tape of our chat just now. The accidental death of the Queen will be mourned by the King, your children, and your people.”
Edward turned to the burly guard. “Cuff and gag her and keep a close eye that she doesn’t move.”
“FYI, Bunny. The Saudi’s would never have let you live. With that secret? C’mon, you’re smarter than that. The rest of your family were beheaded this morning. My condolences.”
“Now Noki, and ladies, let me explain.”
Chapter 26
Edward began, “I’m sorry to have made you wait all this time, Noki. I know you must be bursting inside even though as the Guru of this thing you call the ‘Way’, you have taught yourself to control your mind and your emotions. Still …”
“Still …,” Noki said, “he is my brother. A brother I never knew existed. Now, Edward, we have known each other a great long while. And I like you. Always have. But please begin in the beginning and leave nothing out. If you try to evade me, I will restrain you myself, and suck the information out of your mind bit by bit. I can do that nicely or not. I doubt even Misti would intervene. Besides she’s the size of a big a Killer Whale right now and would be unable to prevent my having my way with you whether she’d wanted to or not. So, your choice.”
Edward looked over at Misti, then each of the ladies including Hannah. Their arms were crossed, so Edward surmised that the cavalry wasn’t on the way. Not for him anyway.
“Since you put it that way, of course I’ll begin at the beginning.”
“And?”
“And leave nothing out. No lies, no dissembling no attempts at or actual evasion. I promise.”
“OK then Old Man, spill the beans.”
The ladies listened quietly. Most of this they will have heard for the first time too. Edward keeping secrets was to be expected. Adam, however was a different case. They weren’t pleased by his obfuscation; his explanations and his dodges wouldn’t suffice. Adam was in for it, and in for it big.
For his part, Adam was aware of the negative consequences stacking up over the past few months. He hoped he could pass through their collective anger briskly but that wasn’t what the ladies contemplated. As one of the ladies once told him, he’d be in Dutch. Royal Dutch with a side of Hollandaise. He purged his thoughts of the future and moved on to the tasks at hand.
Edward began his tale.
***
“To understand where we are today, including with Xin Lee, we must begin with my original contact with Abdul’s father, King Azziz. The forces set in motion twenty-five years ago in Nabataea led directly to Noki years later in Thailand, and subsequently to her brother, Xin, in Hong Kong.
“I met King Azziz when I was still a novice archeologist not that long removed from Graduate School. I had just decided to concentrate my time on forensics and widespread desecrations at Nabataean sites were on the rise. When I originally went to Nabataea, I was expecting to see a long-abandoned archeological site populated by a few Arabs claiming Nabataean ancestry. Instead I was greeted by King Azziz, and over two hundred thousand of his subjects.
“We spent weeks discussing the history, culture and current state of political affairs between the Wahhabi clerics and Nabataea. The problem seemed insoluble. It was not.
“We decided that if the Wahhabi clerics wanted Nabataean children to reduce, then eliminate, the Nabataean culture over time, then they should have that. We decided to send out hundreds of Nabataean men, and women across Saudi Arabia in search of abandoned, cast off, and orphaned children. These children, mostly babies, were brought to Nabataea and placed in special homes. They were raised in ‘Wahhabi’ homes, sent to ‘Wahhabi’ schools and became orthodox members of Sunni society. When the clerics arrived, they took these children at the age of five or six and placed then in good homes around Saudi Arabia.
“The clerics were overjoyed. The children had a better life and most likely would’ve been raised Wahhabi anyway. If our solution was offensive in the eyes of God, it would only have been slightly so. Some of those children are now clerics themselves, and the killing of children, Nabataean in particular, ceased almost immediately.
The King and I did what we thought was best, to our way of thinking, and my career was forever launched in non-traditional and forensic archeology. I attended FBI school, and other white-collar crime schools around the world, Interpol, specialized museums, and any other sources of knowledge aiding advancement in forensics. I became well-known.
“Scroll forward a few more years and this wisp of a girl straight out of the Army with no background in archeology showed up at my doorstep at a remote camp in Thailand with a recommendation from a friend at the Pentagon. What she lacked in archeological skills, she made up for where she excelled; tracking the thieves by herself, alone, o
n foot and with an amazing capture rate. Her skills at detention, and recovery were astounding, and I quickly lost any illusion this, this little woman was anything less that a formidable force of nature. She reminded me of my ward back home, minus the crazy and plus the Sunday Mass.
“I hired her, and promoted her and paid her just to stick around. But, as you all know, I do background checks, and Noki was no exception. What should’ve been a quick check of high school, college, the Army and a credit check became anything but. Ms. Nocera Lee wasn’t who she said she was.”
“I wasn’t? I’m not?”
“No sweetie you’re not. Far from it.”
“Then what? Triads? Politburo? Deep plant?”
“Oh no, my dear, heavens no. Quite the opposite.”
The ladies were now all leaning forward, holding hands. “Speak up, Old Man. While we’re young.”
“Noki’s real parents …”
Noki said, “What real parents …?”
Edward continued over Noki’s interruption, “Noki’s real parents were from a Province, and village far to the north, and west of Beijing. Showing promise as children, the local Party sent them to Beijing for study, and re-education. They met there, joined the pro-democracy movement, fell in love and had a child. A boy named Xin. They asked to be returned to their home in Chang-Ki Province to ‘provide an example to the illiterate, and ignorant peasants’. Their request was granted, and they returned home. Months later, in secret, they had a second child. A girl. The girl was most certainly a violation of China’s ‘one child’ policy; her fate was tenuous at best. Death wasn’t out of the question in rural China.
“The authorities were catching up to Noki’s biological parents for political reasons, so a plan was devised to send Xin to Hong Kong to distant relatives, and to smuggle Noki out of the country to America. Documents were falsified and the children departed. Three days later, Noki’s parents were lined up against a mud wall in their home town and shot to death.
“Noki’s true identity was discovered in the background check because in her home Province there were no birth certificates, just entries in a book. Like medieval Europe. A man was sent to her home town and, beside the names of her mother and father, were two names, Nocera Lee and Xin Lee. We knew Noki’s whereabouts, but not the location or fate of her older brother. The elders of the village, convinced it was not a Communist trick, explained where Xin was. I had him followed there.
“Not long after that, Xin came to work for me. He’s an educated anthropologist and linguist with some special skills taught to him by his deceased grandfather. He has now been working for Rod and Cindy since coming to America in secret five years ago. He’s now an American citizen with a rather nice condo on Mercer Island in Seattle. He wanted to meet you, Noki, but before I would allow it, he had to see and understand the family business of which he’s now a part of and to agree to voluntarily participate in our little project. Then, he had to understand just who and what his little sister had become, how amazing she is, and to pledge his life to yours.”
“But how could you do this to me, to us. It’s monstrous to have kept us apart, to keep us from even knowing we have other family; that we’re not alone in the world as I did. You have no idea the suffering you have caused me Edward, the isolation, and loneliness you have allowed to envelope me. And Adam is just as responsible. He has also kept this from me and the entire coven. This is disgraceful.”
Noki began to cry, to weep for the years lost, never to be regained.
Misti and Alana spoke up, almost in unison. “She’s right, Old Man. This was reprehensible. I hope whatever Power rules your being will show you forgiveness.”
Edward turned to the ladies, Noki included. His tone was far from friendly or kind. His cold emotions shone through.
“Neither Adam nor I beg your forgiveness or that of any other higher power. What was done, was done out of necessity. If you feel differently, you should all take up with Adam when next you meet. As for me, your opinions simply don’t matter and for that, and only that, I am truly sorry. Console yourselves, but leave me be, and keep a wide berth. I have little sympathy for any of you right now.”
With those words, he walked away and sat across from Bunny and her guard. “Now you, little one, have much to tell me, and we shall begin right away. Wave after wave of intense pain await you if you dissemble or lie to me. And understand me well: I have no qualms about what I will do to you. Your screams cannot be heard at forty thousand feet. I would allow Abdul this pleasure, as this is the fate that befell his cousin Rahim. I understand you were present and took part in his torture. Now, it’s your turn to talk.”
“Never,” said Bunny defiantly. “My family will be honored.”
“Your family is dead, Bunny. You will soon join them in Paradise.”
Edward was met with silence.
Edward asked, “When will they attack, in what numbers and with what armaments?”
Bunny refused to cooperate, so Edward took Bunny to a compartment in the rear of the plane; screams pierced the fuselage, bouncing off every conceivable nook and cranny.
Edward gave not a care for Bunny nor for the coven hearing her shrieks of agony. Abdul and the children were sedated, so they slept through the commotion. Edward would gain information or not, but ceasing his task wasn’t in the cards.
Chapter 27
They met at a remote canyon site somewhere they all reckoned had to be in East Africa. One hundred twenty-nine thousand Nabataeans along with the King, what was left of the Queen, the coven, Edward, Adam, Kendra and five hundred mercenaries, including Octavio, Rod and Cindy, were present.
They landed on forty or so landing strips, which disappeared quickly into large drums or canisters as soon as the last flights arrived. Maria, Edmund, Agustin and Adam had been putting in long hours perfecting new uses for the nanotech technology developed in Barrows Bay.
One single tarmac would reappear when it was time for the non-Nabataeans to leave, but between arrival and departure, there was still much to do. The tech didn’t operate itself, though many options were already built in to create useful items, such as structures, homes and furniture. Even cooking utensils had been created, powered by the electrical charges derived from the atmosphere. The machines designed to make this tech works were the creation of Abdul’s mind, while the engineering was Maria’s and the software Adam’s.
The Nabataeans landing in East Africa thought they had landed in Paradise; greenery in abundance, fertile and tillable land, and water that flowed from a small river, and in gentle waterfalls off soaring cliffs of red rock. Each Nabataean had a number and each number corresponded to a dwelling. There was a hospital and Nabataean medical techs to man the facility. Abdul’s brother and wife from New York, both Nabataeans, were in attendance to start the hospital off right. They would eventually go home, but the latest in technology assured the new Kingdom of Nabataea that medical care would be excellent.
Consults were available and medical treatises online. The worst emergencies would be flown out to the nearest hospital facility hundreds of miles away until more doctors were resident in the larger compound. There was one helicopter and two jeeps. Otherwise the Nabataeans rode horses or in horse drawn wagons. Their carbon footprint was small, but their joy immense.
But, the time had come for the coven to interrogate Adam and Edward, then Adam alone. Neither was happy about the third degree and not disposed to be very apologetic; what had to be done, had been done.
They entered the room together to find the ladies waiting on two couches, with Kendra, apparently ostracised, off to the side sitting in a chair by herself.
Noki began, “I have been with Xin since he arrived here, and he has explained much. I appreciate all you have done for him and for me. I have a fuller understanding of the blessing you have both been to me and my family. You have my gratitude.”
Neither Adam or Edward were fooled by this opening gambit. They distinctly heard a “but” in her voice
and it came quickly. It presaged the full attack later by the rest of the coven. Kendra too wouldn’t escape their ire. She was, to some degree, a traitor and not to be trusted. Kendra would be saddened by this turn of events, but she wouldn’t regret her actions, decisions or choices.
Choices. The bane of the human condition. That small deviation in the road that can alter the outcome of a life. When one considers turning right or left, sleeping in, or getting up early, what opportunities do we forego? What tragedies do we avoid? What might’ve been? Chance? Kismet? God?
Free will or predestination? Answer that and the bane of choice is resolved or left wide open.
Adam said, “You have something else to say, Noki. I assume you all do. Let’s get to it but please bear in mind my patience for your anger is limited. Dad, well I’m sure he’ll enjoy the attention, negative or not. But though I love you each deeply, what happened in Nabataea, and the run up to it had to be as was done. If you cannot accept my judgment in this and future matters, then please contact Abdul immediately and you may sever our marriage vows.”
The coven sat impassively, though Adam thought Misti would bolt. Within minutes, she did.
Adam turned to Noki.
“Now that that’s settled, what’s on your mind?”
“We need to know how you did what you did in Nabataea, how Adam hid his plans from us and why. We all want to know the same things, so your explanation along with Edward’s will suffice. Be brief; we have no need for details.”
“And Misti? I suppose she needs a separate explanation?”
“No. She’s leaving for the London as we speak. Whether she will still be there when we get home, I cannot say.”
Edward and the coven expected Adam to chase after her, convince her to come home. He did not.
“Her choice as it is for all of you. You have no bond with me save the bond you choose willingly. I hold none of you here to remain or be bound to me in any way.”
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