by Mark Donovan
“I can’t wait to take a shower, put on some real clothes and give you a kiss,” said Dave with all the energy he could muster in his tired sounding voice.
“And I can’t wait to get you out of there and put some food in your body,” responded Dana with a laugh. “You look like skin and bones.”
Dave extended and elevated his arms, the hospital smock sliding back down to his shoulders. He looked at his atrophied arms. “I’d have to agree,” said Dave with a slight chuckle as he rotated his arms and wrists marveling at how thin they had become. “I think I’m up for a seventy two ounce steak right about now.”
“Before we leave Dallas, I’ll take you to a Ruth Chris Steak House,” joked Dana.
“Have Ron and Doctor Hayden headed back to McCall?” asked Dave.
“Yes, they flew back yesterday. The water decontamination system was a fantastic success. They were able to install it within a couple of days, and in just a week the water utility station was back on line. Also, Ron and Doctor Hayden orchestrated having a second system constructed back at NSurv while they were in Dallas. It shipped to Eberswalde, Germany four days ago and is now being installed as we speak.”
“Fantastic. Have there been any reports of anyone else coming down with the disease in Dallas?”
“No. The CDC reported again yesterday that no other cases of the disease have been reported in Dallas, or anywhere else in the country.”
“That is great to hear,” said Dave as he sat down on the bed, still feeling tired from the effects of the cholera disease that had coursed through his body for the past two weeks.
“It seems Spencer was essentially operating as a lone wolf,” responded Dana. “Though he had been working for Aref Zarin, according to a conversation I had with John Bates yesterday, Spencer was a very sad and sick man based on the evidence that was collected from his apartment and computers. The death of his wife Aaila appeared to be the turning point in his life. He was devastated by the loss of her. In time, his despair turned to anger, anger that became directed at the United States.”
“Based on data taken from his computers, it appears about a year after her death Spencer began to follow and contact known terrorist organizations in the Middle East. Indirectly, that is how he wound up connecting with Aref Zarin.”
“In the end, both Zarin and Spencer used each other as instruments for acting out their hatred on the United States. Both were bent on attacking the U.S., but their extremist Islamic ideological reasons may not have been the root cause of their animosity towards western civilizations, and in particular the United States. Personal revenge appears to have trumped their religious and political beliefs. Each had lost love ones at the hands of the United States government, Zarin with the death of his entire family when the Iranian airliner they were on was shot down by the USS Vincennes, and Spencer with the loss of his wife caused by a United States military aircraft accidently bombing her family’s home in Turkey.”
With his head hung low and the phone still propped to his ear, Dave slowly shook his head in sadness. “When will it ever stop? Why does so much of mankind continue to think that by killing someone else’s loved ones in an act of revenge, that they will in some way eliminate their own despair?”
“I’m not sure it will ever stop,” responded Dana in a quiet voice. “Man is no different than any other animal on the planet. When the things they value are in some way threatened, taken from them, or destroyed, all animals will defend themselves, and protect their family and property. Sometimes their defensive actions are during the moment of threat or loss. In other instances, it’s afterwards, quite possibly to protect themselves and their remaining possessions from future loss or destruction, rather than for the basic concept of revenge.”
“It’s hard to accept that conclusion,” responded Dave. “There must be a better solution. Personal education, hope, somehow an improved lot in life, something else that survivors can hold out for, other than seeking revenge for their unjustifiable losses.”
“Perhaps,” responded Dana. “However, I think in most cases where immediate revenge is not taken, it is merely due to the lack of resources available at the time, rather than for any other healthier reasons. You can look back on any war as an example of that conclusion. Take for example World War I. Germany was severely punished for its actions during that war, and consequently German people suffered for years as a result of those punishments. It is arguably those harsh penalties on the German people that led to the rise of Adolf Hitler and the horrific actions of Germany during World War II.”
Dana hesitated a moment before continuing. “Also, look no further than Aref Zarin himself as an example of an individual’s reactions towards suffering an unjustifiable loss. He was given incredible educational opportunities here in the United States, that he took full advantage of after the loss of his parents and siblings. However, even with the enlightenment of his schooling, the indefensible loss of his family caused by the United States government still tore at his heart years later. Consequently, acting out on his hatred towards the United States was simply suppressed and deferred, while he obtained the educational and financial resources to pursue his personal revenge.”
Dana paused briefly. “And when he finally did acquire the means and resources, he attempted to unleash his fury on the country, and its people, that stole his family from him.”
Dana suddenly went silent. She realized her words were having a negative affect on Dave’s spirit, something she absolutely did not want to do. As she viewed his emaciated body through the glass window, she could see that he was looking increasingly more defeated while he sat on the edge of his bed listening to her.
With her silence, Dave lifted his head up and looked at Dana through the glass window. “Sadly, you are probably right. However, we can’t stop trying as individuals to make the world a better place. Though a small gesture, there is something that I can do, that I must do, to possibly prevent someone else from acting out on their own personal vendetta and continuing the cycle of related violence.”
Dana looked questioningly at Dave. “What do you mean?”
“When I regain my strength, I need to take one more trip to the Middle East to where this all began.”
Chapter 51 (May 13, Friday 6:00am, Yemen)
Dawn was just beyond the horizon. To the east, spectacular streaks of pink, purple and orange colors were quickly replacing the darker blue and purple twilight colors of the receding night. In minutes, the sun itself would begin to shine again upon the Red Sea skyline, its shimmering light and heat once more scorching the earth in this arid, desolate and harsh region of the world.
Dave was sitting in the passenger seat of a Land Cruiser while CIA agent Ben Harper negotiated the vehicle over the rutty and dusty dirt road, towards the small little village north of Mocha, Yemen. Behind him, in the back seat, was his new friend and translator Murad, along with Ron who was sitting beside him. Towed behind their vehicle was a large enclosed trailer that carried a new NSurv water purification system, along with the necessary tools and equipment for installing it.
After being released from the Dallas hospital Dave had immediately contacted John Bates about the status on the small Yemenis village that had suffered the first bioterrorism attack. Bates had confirmed with CIA Director John Cote that nothing had changed since Dave had last been there, and that the village was still dependent upon spotty truck service to bring in potable water. Consequently, with help from the U.S. State Department and CIA, Dave was able to receive approval from the Yemenis government for a humanitarian mission to allow NSurv to install a new water filtration system in the small village.
John Bates had also reported that Director Cote had found the leak within his organization and that it had been subsequently plugged. A Langley based intelligence analyst with a high access clearance, and not-so-extended family ties to Iran, had been funneling information to a questionable Middle Eastern based humanitarian aid group. Besides providing aide to people in ne
ed, the group was also known for being an Al Qaeda sympathizer.
Dave had also spoken with Ben Harper two days earlier and confirmed via Murad that Hamza, the man who had lost his wife and daughter in the attack, was still living in the Yemen village.
While Dave was in the Dallas hospital recovering from the cholera disease he had thought about Hamza frequently. He had struggled with the fact that he had made somewhat of a promise to Hamza to enable him to help avenge his wife and daughter’s deaths, and that he had failed to deliver on that promise. However, while in the hospital, he had also struggled with the entire notion of avenging the life of a loved one by taking the life of the guilty party. Would it bring personal happiness or peace he had asked himself over and over again. Dave concluded no on both counts, and that instead it would just bring more pain and anguish to the person originally wronged. So in the end, he decided an act of constructive aid to the people of the small Yemenis village and a special something for Hamza were better alternatives.
“So do you think Hamza will be in town today?” asked Dave to Murad.
“He will certainly be in town sometime today,” responded Mura. “It is just a matter of when. Today is the first day of the Yemenis weekend, so theoretically he could be home. However, like most poor Yemenis people, the typical fisherman works six or seven days a week. If he does fish, he will be back shortly before sunset.”
“When we arrive, why don’t you go try to hunt him down while we begin the unpacking of the water filtration system for the community well?” suggested Ron.
Dave glanced back at Murad with a questioning look.
“I will take you Dave,” responded Murad. “It is a short walk from the well.”
Twenty minutes later they arrived in the small village. Ben parked the Land Cruiser next to the village’s community well. The warning sign with the skull and crossbones was still attached to the well’s crank handle. Across the street from the well were a couple of dozen large water jugs lying empty on the ground.
“I guess they recycle here as well,” said Ron.
“I wonder when the last time the water truck was here?” questioned Dave.
“It was here three days ago,” responded Murad with a hint of disgust in his voice.
“Well, after today the people of this village will no longer need to depend upon the truck and recycling those plastic water bottles,” replied Dave.
“And nor will they need to draw their water again from the well with a hand crank,” said Ron with a big smile on his face. “The new well pump we will be installing today will automatically draw the water from the well on demand.”
The four men stepped out of the Land Cruiser and could already feel the oppressive heat and humidity from the early morning sun. As they walked back to the trailer, they saw a couple of dozen men emptying out of the mosque, morning prayers apparently just finishing.
“Any sign of Hamza?” asked Ron as he began to open the back doors of the trailer.
“No, I don’t see him,” said Dave as he quickly scanned the faces of the men departing the mosque. “He may have already left to go fishing for the day.”
“Why don’t we go to his house and see if he is there?” asked Murad.
Dave looked over at Ron and Ben. “Are you sure you can handle unpacking this stuff by yourselves in this heat?”
“Yes, we’ll be fine. Go ahead and see if you can find him,” said Ron.
“Alright, we won’t be long.”
Dave lifted the rear hatch of the Land Cruiser and opened up his knapsack. After fishing around in it for a few seconds he pulled out of it a small package. With the package in hand, Dave and Murad began the short walk to Hamza’s house.
Five minutes later Murad knocked on the door of Hamza’s home. No one came to the door. Murad tried once more and they waited another minute to no avail.
“It would seem that Hamza has gone off fishing for the day,” said Murad.
“I think you’re right,” said Dave looking a little bit discouraged.
Sensing Dave’s disheartenment Murad said, “Don’t be concerned. We will see Hamza before sunset. I spoke to people from the village just a few days ago. He still lives here and he fishes nearly every day.”
Dave nodded his head in acceptance of Murad’s words of encouragement. “Alright then, let’s head back to the community well,” said Dave in a quiet resignation.
Ron and Ben had almost emptied out all of the contents of the trailer by the time they had returned. A few villagers had also begun to congregate in the street to watch the men unload the equipment.
“That was fast. No luck finding Hamza?” asked Ben.
Dave and Murad shook their heads in unison. “No, it appears he has already left to go fishing for the day,” said Dave.
“Well, we will be the better part of the day here installing all of this equipment anyways,” responded Ron.
Dave stepped into the trailer and helped remove more of its contents while Murad walked over to the villagers and explained what they were doing. No sooner had he finished explaining their plans when all of the assembled villagers started talking excitedly. As Dave stepped back out of the trailer he could see that the villagers were thrilled with their plans. A few were already running away from the group to go tell others in the village of the good news.
“So what does all this equipment do?” asked Ben.
Ron, taking immense pride in what they were about to install, stopped unwrapping a piece of equipment to explain.
“We are installing an advanced on-demand water supply and filtration system. At the push of a button, the system will automatically draw water up from this community well, filter it for any pathogens or bacteria, including the bioengineered cholera toxin, and dispense the clean water out of several spigots. It will have the capacity to simultaneously fill up to five nineteen liter jugs in less than two minutes.”
“Impressive,” said Ben as he admired all of the equipment laid out before him in the street.
“No longer will the women villagers have to spend much of their mornings standing in line waiting their turn to draw water from the well with a hand crank,” said Ron, as he looked over at the solar panel that would power the system.
“And nor will they have to worry about becoming sick from the water,” added Dave as he began to assemble the flexible five centimeter wide tubing to the well pump.
For the rest of the day, under the brutal heat of the sun, Ron and Dave led the effort installing and assembling the well pump, the water filtration system, and the five port water spigot station. Ben and Murad helped them out, fetching tools and providing muscle when needed for heavy lifting. It was late in the day by the time they had the entire system up and running, and nearly everyone in the small village had assembled around them to watch. It took all of Murad’s charm and political skills throughout the day to keep the villagers from staying back far enough to allow the men to work freely.
“Alright, I think we are ready for a system check and a taste test,” said Ron with pride as he stood back and looked at their day’s work.
“I’ll grab a couple of water testing kits while you draw a jug of water from one of the spigots,” responded Dave as he walked back to the Land Cruiser.
A few minutes later Dave and Ron knelt on the ground beside the new filtration system, with Ben and Murad by their side and the villagers crowding in around them. Ron poured a sample of the well water from the jug into the two water sample containers that Dave had placed on the ground. Dave then poured into the containers their respective vials of dextran coated iron-oxide nanoparticles and closed the lids on the containers. Ron and Dave each took a container and shook them for a few seconds while their audience looked on in silence. Dave then opened up his container, drew a small sample of the water solution from the container with an eye dropper, and squeezed a few droplets of it into the electronic water testing instrument sitting next to him. Ron mirrored Dave’s tasks with the second sample of water. A few seco
nds later big smiles formed on their faces simultaneously as they observed the read out displays on their respective instruments. The water drawn from the community well was as pure as if it came from a mountain spring. Although the local villagers could not understand English, they did understand that the smiles that had formed on Dave and Ron’s faces after reading the water testing results was good news.
Ron stood up with the jug of water in his hands so that all of the local villagers could see him. In a voice of strength and pride he told the crowd of villagers that their community well water was now safe to drink. Murad interpreted for him.
As a final act of conveying his message to the villagers Ron took a long pull from the jug of water quenching his own thirst. The villagers erupted in cheer as they watched him drink from the jug. Some of them who had empty water containers already in their hands began to approach the gang of water spigots to begin drawing their own water.
As the villagers began to wait their turn for water, and Ron and Ben showed them how to activate the water spigots, Dave turned to Murad and said, “Any sign of Hamza yet?”
Murad looked to the south, towards the dirt road and smiled. “I think he comes now,” said Murad.
Dave turned his head and looked down the road. Off in the distance a shadow of a man, stooped and walking with a tired gait, could be seen approaching the village in the late afternoon sun. Dave watched and waited for a minute as he confirmed to himself that it was indeed Hamza.
“It’s Hamza,” said Dave excitedly as he walked over to the Land Cruiser and opened the front passenger door. He picked up from the vehicle’s passenger seat the small package that he had left there in the morning when they had returned from Hamza’s house.
“Murad, let’s go greet Hamza,” said Dave as he began to walk down the road.
Murad quickly caught up with Dave and the two walked towards the edge of the village just as Hamza was entering it. As the three men approached each other Hamza suddenly stopped in his tracks, recognizing the two men approaching him. A warm but weary smile broke out on his face as Dave and Murad walked up to him and greeted him enthusiastically.