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The last time Hail had visited Courtney Island, there had been an empty chair adjacent to him under the umbrella. Chair number two had been added for no one in particular. Why put down one beach chair if you can set down two? During that last visit, Hail had glanced at the empty chair beside him every few minutes and imagined Kara’s presence.
This time the crew from the Hail Proton, anchored offshore, had put down two chairs, and Kara was sitting next to him. The children she had kidnapped were building sandcastles a few feet away from Kara and Hail. The Gulfstream had flown from Peshawar and landed on the northern tip of Hail’s island, taxiing on a brand-new runway. The runway was the only modern convenience on the little island. Everything else, all the little trails connecting the living quarters to the beach, to the jungle, and to the zoo were composed of crushed shells. Hail had insisted the islands provide not only a place for R & R but also a living lab for his young crew to learn to do things for themselves. Since the waterwheel generator hadn’t been completed, there was no electricity. It was a work in progress, as was the extended treehouse spanning hundreds of yards up among the tangled canopy of sturdy banyan trees.
“What are you doing?” Jawhara asked her brother.
Kahn was digging a trench around the castle.
“I’m making a moat,” he said, taking another stab into the sand using a plastic shovel.
“I’ll make a wall,” she said. She began to squeeze a mound of sand together with her little hands.
Hail approved of Kara’s choice of apparel—a black two-piece bikini. It took all his willpower to tear his eyes off the beautiful redheaded CIA agent who had eluded him for so long. Or was she now ex-CIA? He thought it was time they discuss her position on that matter.
“Are you going back?” Hail asked unexpectedly.
“Back to Peshawar?” Kara questioned.
“No, I meant back to work for the CIA,” Hail clarified.
Kara issued a small laugh and said, “Do you really think Pepper would take me back?”
“I don’t know,” Hail said, in a matter-of-fact tone. “Even though you went on an unsanctioned mission, you did remove a Top Ten Terrorist from the FBI’s list. That’s got to count for something.”
“That’s not the way it works, Marshall. You must be a good little robot in the CIA. You don’t get points or accolades for running rogue code even when it yields a positive result.”
Hail asked, “So what kind of code are you running now?”
“Right now, this robot has her CPU at full idle. For a change, I’m just enjoying being alive and living each day to its fullest.”
Hail didn’t know how far to press the idle robot but he thought some discussions needed to be addressed in a timely fashion. He wanted to maintain forward momentum with his missions. He really needed to know Kara’s position within the intelligence infrastructure. Plus, the subject would arise when he called Washington, D.C., to provide an update. If he ever wanted to receive intel in the future, he needed to call with an update. The subject of Kara, Pepper’s missing and recently found agent, would surely arise in the conversation. He hoped regardless of whether Kara returned, he could still obtain intelligence from the CIA.
“What’s your plan with the kids?” Hail asked. He enjoyed watching them fill the newly constructed moat with water they had brought by the bucketful from the ocean’s edge.
“I am considering adopting Jawhara and Kahn,” Kara said. “Does that sound crazy?” At his raised eyebrow, she continued, “My sources tell me their mother relinquished all legal responsibility for them some time ago.”
Hail thought it over and said, “You’re talking to a guy who has become a legal guardian to dozens of kids, so I might not be the right guy to answer that question. Do you think you’re ready to be a mom?”
Now it was Kara’s turn to deliberate.
“I’m not sure if I would make a good mother,” she said. There was a trace of doubt in her voice and she appeared reserved.
“That’s what a lot of mothers think. And usually, they’re the moms who try the hardest.”
The day was picture perfect, with a brilliant blue sky and sun warm enough to massage sore muscles. Hail was just a billionaire sitting on his private beach soaking up the sun’s rays, a dazzling woman sitting next to him, while accompanied by the son and daughter they had kidnapped from a terrorist.
Hail wondered aloud, “Does it bother you that you uprooted them from the only home they’ve ever known and taken them away from those closest to them?”
Kara flipped onto her belly. She lowered her glasses and gave Hail a somewhat befuddled expression.
“Not at all,” she said flatly. “I rescued them from a family intent on raising them in an environment charged with generations of hate—endless hate. That’s all they would have grown to know. Chances are high they would have, knowingly or unknowingly, perpetuated the legacy and would have hurt countless innocent people. I had the opportunity to overhear one of their lessons. They were taught nothing but propaganda. ‘Sunnis are good. Shias and Westerners are infidels.’ They were being brainwashed. I want most for them to have opportunities to grow and become individuals with their own opinions.
“Even if I turn out to be a crappy mother, I will have done everything I could to ensure they are happy. I will raise them to be independent and to make wise choices. I will make damn sure the cycle of hate and intolerance ends with them.” She paused pensively, “It’s almost like removing a defective cancer gene. They will be taught to love and respect their fellow man and thus so will their children. If that is all I can do, I have succeeded. I have decided this will be my new mission in life.”
“That’s a good speech and all. I guess my real question is knowing how hairy it got in Peshawar: would you do it again?”
“Absolutely, Marshall. And I know when the time arrives when you find the men who killed your family, you will face your demons and you will do what I did.”
Hail knew she was right.
They had covered a lot of ground. During the lull in the conversation Hail watched the kids play.
“It’s not over, you know.” Kara said. “Zain’s brother, Naveed, is still out there, and I will go after him. He will meet his Maker in the same manner as did Zain.”
Hail shook his head regretfully, knowing the futility of opposing her. “I was afraid you might say that.”
“And why’s that, Marshall? You are pursuing the men who killed your family. Besides, nothing for me has changed. The man who killed my parents is still at large.”
“So are you going to return to the States?” Hail asked.
Kara was quiet for a moment before saying, “I’m not sure. If I’m not working for the CIA, what is my function here? What’s my function back in the States?”
Hail tried to lighten the mood by saying, “Well, being a mother is a full-time job.”
Surprisingly, once Hail spelled that out, the gravity of what Kara had taken on finally hit her. She was the only person these children had as a constant in their lives. Well, ever since she had kidnapped them and subsequently protected them during the firefight. How could she possibly go back to work for the CIA? It was a dangerous job that required her to drop everything and jet off to God knows where for God only knows how long. As a child, she had been left with a nanny and a housekeeper during much of her childhood. There was no way she wanted that type of life for Kahn and Jawhara.
“Then there is always the concern about Kornev,” Hail reminded her. “He’s still out there and a real wild card.”
Kara huffed and said, “More like the joker. Kornev is the CIA’s problem and since I might not be returning to the CIA, he certainly isn’t my problem.”
Kara was quiet for a moment. Hail was lost in thought as well. There were so many moving parts to consider right now that it gave him a headache.
Kara broke the silence by asking, “Do you think it would be OK if the children and I stayed with you until I sort out my life? I have yet to absorb all that has happened and what my future holds, if you know what I mean.”
“Sure,” Hail told her. “You are welcome to stay...” and he almost said with me but changed it to, “with us for the duration you choose. You are part of the crew just like anyone else.”
Kara looked at Hail and shared a knowing smile, and asked, “Just part of the crew, that’s all?”
Hail smiled back and replied, “Do you want to be more than just a crewmember?”
Kara flipped onto her back, propped up her head and watched the kids play. The kids’ moat was now filled with water, and they were constructing a bridge over the top of it. She didn’t answer his pointed question. Instead, she asked, “What are your plans, Marshall?”
“I know this might sound crazy,” Hail began, “but we’re rebuilding an abandoned railroad that used to go through the heart of Togo.”
“Because?” Kara prompted.
“Because we are installing a reactor in the middle of Togo, and fixing the old railroad was the most efficient way to move parts and machines and such.”
“Why would I think that’s crazy?” Kara asked.
“Because I want to help construct it. You know, be on the tracks with a sledgehammer, driving in spikes and helping carry and place rails.”
Kara thought it over a moment, “I can see that. It’s good exercise, it’s a good cause, and there has to be a feeling of accomplishment in hard work.”
“I’m also thinking of taking along a sleeper car and inviting some of the kids from my ships to help out. It’s not every day that you get to build a railroad. The closest any of these youngsters have come to building a railroad is playing with a Thomas the Train set.”
“Is it safe for them? I mean Togo isn’t involved in any type of civil war, are they?”
Hail said, “No, they aren’t, but I will still have a lot of security around the build. I’m more concerned about the kids getting hurt while doing the work than I am about external threats.”
“I think it’s a good idea,” Kara decided.
“Will you go with me?” Hail asked.
“Today is too beautiful to make any type of decision.”
“If today was rainy, what would be your answer?” Hail asked.
Kara laughed.
Off in the distance, Hail and Kara heard the helicopter. Kara lifted her head to look. She saw the chopper flying toward them, having just left the deck of the Hail Proton. Under the helicopter hung a large metal box—maybe a small shipping container.
“What’s up with that?” Kara asked.
Hail said, “Ah, we are getting a delivery from the Hail Proton. This should be interesting.”
Kara said, “Why is it when you say the word interesting, I get nervous?”
The chopper flew up to the beach and hovered. Three hundred feet away from them the chopper lowered the box to the sand. As soon as the pilot released the box, the front door of the container flopped open.
“What in the world?” Kara said, not believing what she was seeing.
The ground in front of the delivered crate was moving. There was a mass of black against the white sand, undulating outward.
Hail smiled and commented, “There are a lot of them, that’s for sure.”
Kara didn’t smile. She looked horrified.
She asked, “Why did the chopper drop off a container of what I think they are?”
Hail chuckled and said, “Well, if you think they are a few thousand snakes, you would be correct.”
“Why?” Kara asked, stunned.
“You probably hadn’t time to notice yet, but this island has a rodent problem. For some reason, there aren’t enough predators to keep their numbers in check. Over the last few hundred years the population of the vermin has exploded.”
“Really?” Kara asked. By this time, most of the snakes had left the confines of the container. The beach was alive with slithering rivulets of black snakes. Most, but not all, swarmed inland toward the dense jungle.
“Really,” Hail said, “and coincidentally the name of the snake is Rat Snake or Zamenis longissimus as Mercier would insist on calling them. They are nonvenomous and should, after they breed, balance out the rodent problem.”
“You’ll never cease to amaze me, Mr. Hail,” Kara said, watching as the first of many snakes passed under her beach chair.
The kids screamed, Jawhara gasped, “The dirt is moving!” and both jumped into Kara’s lap and tightly clung to her as she laughed and reassured them of their safety.
Hail looked at the trio and thought of his own daughters. There was still a bolt of depression that accompanied the thought, but as Hail watched Kara and her new son and daughter as they became fascinated with the snakes slithering under the chairs, he imagined there was light at the end of the proverbial tunnel. The problem was he had no way to calculate the length of that tunnel.