On closer observation Arjmand also had something clutched in his hand with his thumb pressing down on a button. A dead man’s switch.
Arjmand stopped his ranting as Fuller’s voice came across the comms system. “President Arjmand, how are you feeling today?”
The bland, unthreatening line took Arjmand by surprise. His delusional state had prepared him for an all out assault, not a friendly greeting. Taken aback, he blinked, lost for words. Then it started.
“You must address me as “Your Highness” the incarnation of Sal-A-Din, the greatest warrior of Islam, ruler of the world and chosen of Allah!” he screamed, startling Jodie into crying and reaching for her mommy. “Bah!” Arjmand dumped Jodie onto Felicity who could do nothing. He reached out and ripped the duct tape off her mouth without warning.
“I will let your whore here talk to you. She knows what is required by Allah! If you do not comply immediately I will kill this brat first, then I will cut Zardooz to pieces and them to her and then I kill her very slowly. If you still refuse I let this button go and the reactor blows up.” He turned and ripped the tape off Zardooz. “Tell them Zardooz. Tell them that I know exactly what I am doing.”
Zardooz, face raw where the tape had ripped out a day’s growth of beard, gasped in pain. “He knows... he knows, Col. Fuller. I was just going to take control of the fragment for Iran. I brought Arjmand down here also and he somehow got loose and stunned me. I had no idea he was this mad...” Zardooz was cut off by a vicious backhanded blow to his face that rocked his whole body. Stunned, his eyes rolled back in his head, unconscious. Arjmand continued to kick and punch Zardooz, only stopping when he saw that it had no effect on the man who was out cold.
Arjmand slowly looked up and around, his thought processes coming together to realize that Fuller could see him. He stopped and a crafty look came over his face. “Colonel Fuller, I wish to see you immediately on screen, or she gets the same treatment!”
In the control room Fuller did not hesitate and projected himself to the comms screen. He pressed the background omit to keep a slight edge and looked to the Doctor. Fuller had to be constantly on screen so they resorted to writing fast notes. Fuller’s first was “He doesn’t know about the duct?”
The Doctor wrote back, “Clearly not. He would have done something about it by now.”
“Dragged in unconscious or drugged by Zardooz?”
“For certain.”
While all this scribbling was going on, Arjmand was ranting at Fuller’s image, nothing intelligible and in a mix of Farsi and English.
Fuller wrote, “Warn Sheila to be ready to move - risk - but have to stop him.”
“Done. Your call. Nothing anyone can do right now.”
Fuller wrote to Lucas, “Recommendation?”
“Move fast. He is totally unstable.”
“Dead man switch?”
“Confrontation - no kill - Sheila move fast - martial arts - only way.”
“Tell Sheila I will enrage him - distraction - get vent loose and ready to enter - explain non-lethal.”
Lucas instructed Sheila precisely while Fuller waited for the ranting to stop. The longer the better for Sheila to prepare.
After a few minutes Arjmand calmed down, so Fuller started. “Your Higness Sal-A-Din, I would like to discuss this situation with you man to man. Will you allow me to join you?”
“This will do Col. Fuller. I want none of your satanic tricks.”
“Okay Your Highness. But I am concerned that your brilliant plan to honor Allah has been far eclipsed by the exploits of one much greater than Your Highness.”
Arjmand reacted to this by stiffening up and closing with the screen, as if face to face with Fuller. “And who is this greater than myself person?” he screamed.
“There was a great leader of a group called Al-Quaeda at the beginning of this century who claimed to be fighting the war of the prophet for the same sake of Allah...”
Arjmand cut Fuller off shrieking, “You do not compare me with that pig dog Osama Bin Laden! He never set foot near an action and lived like you western decadent dogs. All he did was send others to be killed. I am here doing Allah’s work myself, just like my name sake, Sal-A-Din. If I die now it will be for Allah in glory, not shot down among whores and dumped out of a helicopter into the sea. I will...”
There was a loud crash from off picture as Sheila and her team tumbled into the room in a controlled avalanche of bodies. Sheila was focussed on Arjmand and his hand holding the switch.
She whispered “God help me!” and dived at Arjmand who instinctively kicked out a leg, blocking her move.
Arjmand’s mind went blank and he released the switch.
CHAPTER 77
Time stopped. The Universe stopped.
God spoke to a human being.
“I am with you Sheila.”
Sheila found herself transported to a place where she was surrounded by all her friends. No one was injured and all looked at peace but a little puzzled.
“Your faith in Me is its own reward Sheila. I have created a new Universe to begin again. I give free will to My creations to choose to seek Me and do good for each other. This is the purpose of My creation. There is no other purpose. Your son Jeffrey and the daughter of Felicity, Jodie, will be renamed Adam and Eve and will be placed in this new universe to populate it and bring glory to My Name. You and all your friends will be brought to a place by My side, to exist in My radiance and to marvel at your children on Earth. Now please, you and Felicity, give your children a final word.”
Neither Sheila nor Felicity felt panic or fear of losing their children. This was their God and Creator, all Truth and Love.
Sheila picked up Jeffrey and hugged him, whispering in his ear, while Felicity did the same to Jodie, finally holding her out and looking deep into her brilliant blue eyes for the understanding. It was there.
Epilog 1
Still drifting through the old universe, the fragment continued its journey, the nuclear blast having been stopped by God, who now spoke to Arjmand and Zardooz in a dream.
They awoke in astonishment that they were still alive.
“I should kill you now Arjmand, for what you did to me!”
“You can’t. Allah just spoke to me and said we are both immortal. There is no one left but us on this fragment. Zardooz! We have finally won the war!”
“Oh Arjmand! You are really nuts!”
“I asked Allah when the seventy virgins would be provided. He said it would be after I died.”
“But we are immortal now!” replied Zardooz. “We will never die!”
“Yes I know.” said Arjmand smoothly, eyeing Zardooz’s ass. “Come to me Zardooz... come!”
“Nooooo!!!!” Zardooz jumped up and ran, pursued by Arjmand, unbuckling his belt as he chased him.
Epilog 2
Jodie, now known as Eve, her mind fresh and unsullied by the past, wandered about the lush garden, full of fruit trees and flowers, food plants and creeks of crystal clear, sweet water. Under the soil of this paradise, small worms tunnelled and fertilized the growth. This was a new world where even the lowest life form communicated in some way.
Two worms bumped into each other.
“Oof! Who is that?”
“Charonelle?”
“Peepers?”
“Where are we?”
Above them, Eve looked at the most glorious tree in the whole garden. She knew that she must not take anything from that tree. It was the one rule God had given to her and Adam, who was resting in some shade across the clearing. Eve gazed at Adam’s beautiful, exciting form and felt a flutter in her belly. Adam lifted a lazy hand and waved to her as he drank in the most enticing beauty of her body, the perfect curves, all designed by the Creator to urge him to join her in the pleasure of procreation. He could sense the life already growing within her from their very first joining.
A tall, thin figure lurked in the shadow of a fig tree, blending in with the dark and light dapplin
g. It did not move and was invisible to the slender woman who was totally absorbed in touching and examining the fragrant fruit of another tree, scant feet away from it. It had bandages on some of its stubby digits and was strapped up around its middle. Another bandage was around its tiny head. The bandages looked almost like natural stripes.
The woman had long tresses of golden hair and was perfectly formed, other than a slight swelling of her belly, that in itself was beauty.
She suddenly balked and tensed, sensing the presence of something unknown, feeling eyes upon her. She looked about, without fear, just curiosity, scanning past the being and then swung back, suddenly fixing her brilliant blue eyed gaze upon it.
“Who are you?” Her voice was pleasant and lilting, her smile innocent and enchanting.
The being cocked its narrow, bandaged head to the side and stared at her silently through tiny black eyes that were ringed by vivid yellow circles.
“I am Snake.” it hissed. “It had tried to say “Nickle” but Snake hissed out instead. The Nickle in the Snake knew that his only hope was to get this woman to break God’s rule, then he would revert to Nickle and live in comfort on this planet. “You are staring at that tree. Why don’t you eat from it?”
Eve moved closer to Snake and replied, “Because God has commanded us not to touch this tree!”
Snake answered, “That is because if you eat from this tree you will have all the knowledge and power of God and be like Him. Believe me...”
Eve didn’t let him finish, her Mom’s parting advice flashing clear and bright through her mind, putting Snake’s lights out with a right cross that would do Smokin’ Joe Frazier proud. She stood over the unconscious form.
“Not this time Buster!”
* * *
The End Beginning.
The World Game Page 34