CHAPTER 7

The small airport was empty except for the Learjet Bombardier, a small jet that sat at the far end of the runway. The dual jet engines, located on either side at the rear of the aircraft, were quiet. The cabin door was open and the small stairway that led into the fuselage was down, ready for boarding. Two pilots were in the cockpit checking their instruments as a porter loaded equipment into a cargo hold. A black SUV was parked nearby.

Lucien and Mr. Hamid walked across the tarmac. Hamid was carrying two suitcases. Lucien gripped a small valise containing the envelope Suzy had given him. Hamid handed the two suitcases to a baggage handler who smiled and accepted the parcels. Lucien jumped when he saw the man try to shove a box of scientific instruments into a crowded section of the hold. He snatched the box from his hands.

“Idiot.” He gave the box to Hamid. “We’ll take it inside.”

They stepped into the cabin, Lucien first. Lucien had to hunch over to enter the short opening. The low headroom caused him to maintain that posture until he worked his way through the aircraft to a seat in the rear. Hamid followed Lucien down the aisle, hunched in the same stance after securing the box of equipment in a forward compartment. The cabin door closed. The jet engines roared to life. Hamid took a seat facing front, next to Lucien.

Lucien pulled out the treatise and began to read. He pulled out a notepad and scratched out a string of formulae. Hamid sat upright, his head turned to the round porthole on his left. He watched as a man in overalls dragged a set of wheel chocks away from the plane.

The jet began its taxi across the runaway. Lucien looked out the window, focused on the passing scenery.

Hamid rechecked his seatbelt, following Lucien’s lead. The engines roared louder as the plane increased its speed down the runway.

“Did you make the arrangements?” said Lucien.

“Yes, Sir,” he said.

“Are these people reliable?”

“Yes, Sir.”

“Do I need to emphasize the importance of their mission?”

“No, Sir.”

The jet braked to a stop and Lucien and Hamid lurched forward, held in place by their seatbelts. The engines revved full throttle. The pilot released the brakes and the jet shot forward, swaying side to side as it screamed down the runway. The forward thrust of the jet engines pushed Lucien and Hamid against their seats.

The small aircraft lifted off the runway and shot upward, rocketing into the atmosphere.

When the plane leveled out, the two passengers relaxed. Lucien gave Hamid a concerned look. “We may both have serious problems if they don’t deliver.”

Hamid knew the reason for Lucien’s concern and nodded. “I understand, Sir. These men are ex-military operatives, very proficient.”

“They’d better be,” said Lucien.

He gazed out the aircraft window at the vanishing landscape and returned to his work.

***

After stopping for fuel in the Azores, the aircraft continued on until it reached its destination, landing at a small airport located in a remote Middle Eastern desert. Lucien and Hamid stood in the aisle while the co-pilot opened the aircraft door. Hot desert air filled the fuselage, lifting Lucien’s thick-sticky comb-over off his head. He quickly pushed it down and patted the hair back in place, the newly formed beads of moisture acting as an adhesive. Hamid was unaccustomed to flying in small jets, and pushed back when the harsh heat rushed into the aircraft.

Lucien and Hamid climbed down the stairway and stretched their legs. A man in military fatigues with an automatic rifle slung over his shoulder gestured for them to follow him. The two men passed a small Customs outpost, bypassing several uniformed officers. One of the officers smiled and nodded respectfully. Hamid returned the gesture. Lucien continued walking and ignored them. A small cadre of men, some carrying AK-47 rifles, stood beside an identical pair of new Land Rovers.

Two men in tattered clothing scurried to remove the cargo. Their brisk movement lifted and flapped their Arab headdresses, the traditional black ogal banding a loose-fitting shumagg, clothing designed to shield them from the harsh desert sun. Concerned with the delicate nature of some of the equipment, Lucien paused to watch them unload. Under the guidance of Lucien and their armed escort, the men slowed their pace and carefully placed the equipment into the first Land Rover. Lucien nodded his approval and walked to the second vehicle, its engine and air conditioner running. A door was held open as Hamid and Lucien climbed into the rear.

The two vehicles left the airport and traveled past a small desert town, surrounded by a sea of barren desert. They continued on for two hours, until they came upon a major city swarming with people. The Land Rovers, a sharp contrast to the flocks of animals and desert people herding through the city, carefully maneuvered their way through the crowds.

They stopped in a center plaza, outside a new commercial high-rise building, the center decorated with a modern sculpture that reminded Lucien of a Picasso. The plaza was surrounded by an extended landscape of one-story, dirt floor adobe buildings shaded by fabric awnings and bursting with long rows of food and merchandise. An armed man in desert dress held the car door open. Lucien stepped out and glanced back at the Land Rover that contained his equipment. He nodded his approval when he saw two armed men remain with the vehicle.

They were escorted away from the commercial buildings into a side passageway that took them through a crowded bazaar. Merchants and shopkeepers eyed the men suspiciously, but humbly smiled and bowed when they spotted Lucien’s armed escorts. A gesture of submission, merchandise and food appeared in outstretched hands.

Lucien was walking behind Hamid when he stopped, drawn to several women in heavy makeup. He was fixated by the sight. The women were laughing and teasing each other as they stood outside the entrance to a dirt-floor adobe hut. The prostitutes noticed Lucien’s interest and gestured for him to come inside. The scientist patted his hair matt into place and looked around to see if anyone was watching. Hunger radiated from his eyes as he focused on a particular woman, the largest of the group. Her stomach lapped several times over the waist of her nylon skirt, and her thighs were a landscape of inverted plateaus and crevasses. Rouge makeup and dark eyeliner accented her face. A spandex top, stretched to the limit, held her more than ample breasts upright. A red wide-brim bandanna secured her long dark hair. She smiled when she noticed the foreigner gawking at her. Perspiration beaded off the scientist’s brow. He returned the large prostitute’s smile.

Hamid’s large hand tugged gently at Lucien’s arm. “Come, Sir, they are waiting.”

“Of course, yes,” said Lucien.

The group traveled through the bazaar maze and entered the tall commercial building through a hidden passageway. They walked down a polished granite hallway lined with posh French oil paintings and stopped, waiting in front of a brass-engraved elevator door, monitored by a security camera. The doors opened and the armed escorts gestured for the scientist and his companion to enter the empty elevator without them.

The elevator climbed quickly and opened on the top floor facing a reception area. Two oversized carved mahogany doors connected to an inner office. A bodyguard opened the doors and the pair entered. Lucien was struck by the panoramic view, a wall of glass that started at the floor and ended at the top of a twelve-foot high ceiling, giving him an unspoiled view of the squalor that they had just passed through.

Several additional bodyguards flanked a large, carved-mahogany, pressed-copper desk that centered the room. To their right, the wall was lined with a matching mahogany wainscot. Several French Impressionist paintings that Lucien recognized hung above the wainscot and were illuminated by thin copper lighting fixtures. Lucien was impressed and pleased that his future boss had spared no expense in decorating the lavish office.

Seated behind the desk was Mohammed Gaza. To his right was Dr. Rashid, a scientist who immediately recognized Lucien and smiled when he entered the room. Mohammed was stiff, bored at the prospect of another meeting.

Rashid left the desk and rushed to Lucien. He bowed and shook Lucien’s hand. “Dr. Gray, how have you been?”

“Fine, Dr. Rashid. Thank you so much for setting up this meeting.”

Hamid stepped to the side and glanced at the bodyguards, who looked him over, eyeing the burly man as a potential adversary.

Mohammed interrupted the pleasantries and gestured at Lucien.

“Dr. Rashid tells me you requested this meeting with some urgency,” said Mohammed.

Lucien was deferential as he spoke, and gave his host a slight bow. “Yes, Sayyid,” said Lucien, using the formal title given to descendants of the prophet Muhammad. “When you hear what I have come to say, you will share my enthusiasm.”

One of the bodyguards approached the desk with a small gold-rimmed cup filled with a steaming black beverage. The guard stood straight as he waited for his instructions. Mohammed nodded and the tray was carefully placed before him.

Lucien politely waited.

“Please, continue,” signaled Dr. Rashid.

“Yes, continue,” said Mohammed, finishing his coffee and placing the empty china on the tray. A hand gingerly slipped in front of him and the tray disappeared.

“In the past,” said Lucien, “your government has come to me seeking advice, and I have provided it. You know my work has been flawless.”

Rashid nodded at Mohammed. “This is true. Dr. Gray’s work with our reactor development has been impeccable.”

“For which you have been handsomely paid,” said Mohammed.

“That is correct,” said Lucien, “but I –”

“And your legal problems in the West have prevented you from offering your services for… how shall we say, more legitimate scientific endeavors.”

Lucien stiffened. “Sir, my legal problems have no bearing on what I have to offer you. Everyone knows I was set up. It –”

“You were going to tell us about your urgent find?” said Mohammed.

“Yes,” said Lucien. “To be blunt, this is a concept that can completely undermine the oil economy of the Middle East. It represents a source of power unknown to mankind. It is something, and I say this respectfully, that could make your nuclear program look childish.”

“Childish?” Mohammed sat up in his chair.

Lucien had gained the powerful sheik’s interest.

“Yes,” said Lucien. He reached inside his valise and handed a typewritten summary of the treatise to Dr. Rashid.

“I have prepared a short summary of this concept, a revolutionary new principle of physics. A source has provided me with a complete copy of the treatise, which I have secured in a safe place.”

“Please, give me a moment,” said Rashid, nodding respectfully at his employer. Mohammed nodded his consent. Rashid walked to a corner of the room and began to read.

After a few moments, he looked at Lucien.

“This is not possible,” said Rashid. “Can you prove –”

“I have the treatise,” said Lucien, “as do others. But it is not quite finished. There are aspects to this work that are extremely dangerous. We need to –”

“The ‘others’ that you speak of. Is this the Committee of scientists that Dr. Rashid tells me you formerly belonged to?” said Mohammed.

“Yes,” said Lucien.

“So, if you have this treatise,” said Mohammed, “what is to stop us from completing this work? Could you produce it, if you had the resources?”

Lucien glowed with the mention of resources but he had to be careful. The man he had finally gotten to meet was extremely dangerous and known for his cruelty to those who failed him.

“Possibly,” said Lucien. “But I think the author is absolutely necessary to implement this program. It would be very difficult without her.”

“Her?” said Mohammed.

Rashid scanned the summary Lucien had given him

“Who wrote the treatise?” said Rashid.

“A young woman,” said Lucien.

Mohammed was amused. “A young woman is going to undermine the Middle East’s oil economy and change the world?”

“Yes,” said Lucien. His voice was firm. “But this is not any young woman. She has a history. We need her to complete this project.”

Lucien signaled for Hamid to come closer. “Here is what Mr. Hamid and I have planned.”

The four men gathered around the desk as Lucien explained their plan.