Balance of Power Shifted (53 page)

Matt drove up to our little base house and had to jockey for a parking space since there were already a number of cars around.  Mike asked him to come in for a while and Matt agreed to come in and say h
ello.  As Mike walked into the house, it felt like he was hit by a linebacker as Fiona jumped him, wrapped her arms around him, and squeezed harder than he ever thought she could.  Finally, she kissed him once and put her feet back on the ground.  Then everyone else got in to hug him and just celebrate the fact that he was alive and well.  Agent Morgan left after a few minutes and I shook his hand goodbye while Fiona hugged him and thanked him before letting him leave.  After Agent Morgan left, I turned my attention to all my old and new friends in the room who were now my blood brothers who had worked through numerous trials and tribulations yet were still here supporting our cause.  I was exhausted by the time everyone left and just collapsed on to the bed holding Fiona close.

March 6
th
was a milestone day for Efficio.  Mike, Fiona, Jeremy and Ty were sitting in Mike’s office at 9:30 AM.   Mike was relaying to them what Matt had told him he could say regarding the raids that were kicking off in Chantilly, Virginia and Houston, Texas.  Since everyone in the room was in the loop regarding the intelligence coup with China, Mike explained how his release happened before subjected to any interrogation.  He also mentioned the current risk regarding the terrorist group and mentioned that he hoped it would be resolved soon.  Matt had said he would call them as soon as the raids were completed which was why they were all in Mike’s office eating donuts, sipping coffee and in Mike’s case, downing his second energy drink of the morning. 

As they were chatting back and forth regarding business expansion and ongoing security concerns, Mike’s phone rang.  “Hello this is Mike
,” he answered the phone knowing it was Agent Morgan’s cell phone number.  “Mike, can you hear me?” Matt asked.  “There is a lot of background noise, but I can hear you fine” Mike replied.  “It’s a done deal Mike.  Everyone we wanted is now in custody.  It was a close one with Maurice Armstrong though.  He must have sensed we were closing in and we caught him on the way out of the office with a load of important papers and his car packed with luggage.” 

Matt continued by saying, “
It will take us months to take them all to trial, which will give us the time needed to sort through all the documents we confiscated.  I am hoping we can get bail denied, but you never know when so much money is around.  As you can imagine it is a madhouse and I have to go and get started sorting this out, so feel free to spread the word because it will certainly be in the news tonight.  “I appreciate it Agent Morgan.  Bill, me and everyone else here appreciate the dedication from you and your team.  God bless.”  With a clap of his hands, Mile relayed the details to everyone in the room and the all-important high-fives followed suit.

Bill and Charlene were sitting on pins-and-needles waiting for Mike’s call.  The recent developments had been a breath of fresh air to everyone to know who had been behind much
of the nefarious business that they had been dealing with.  Bill was fully aware that danger still existed, especially to him, based on what Matt had told Mike regarding the
Crossed Swords
connection.  Bill jumped when his phone rang causing Charlene to do the same.  “Dude, how is everything,” Bill answered the phone with?  “Billy my man, the FBI had just completed a clean sweep of the bad guys over here.  They got everyone they wanted and many important documents.”  “Excellent Mikey, how about getting them to take care of the bad guys over here so Charlene and I can really take in the sights of Rome?”  “Soon, Bill, I hope very soon.” Mike replied feeling that life would straighten itself out in short order.  Fiona ended up taking over the conversation with Charlene discussing Italian fashion and shoes, which went on for 20 minutes.

Fahd and Adeeb were back in Dubai for another ‘unofficial’ meeting of OPEC officers.  There was real panic within OPEC and great dissention.  It appeared that OPEC would break up an
d each member would go their own way and try to make economic decisions based on each country’s needs.  During a break in the meeting, they headed to their secluded observation deck to break out their cigarettes and review the status of their current activities.  Fahd was not as concerned as Adeeb that their activities led back to them.  The news of the arrests in the United States shocked them, but they still thought they could meet their objectives by taking out William Bates.  The hit squad was going into action tomorrow morning and would take out an entire square block of buildings to kill their target if they had to.  They knew this was their last shot.  If the attack failed, it was over for them and much of what they stood for was finished.  Staring over the railing at the sprawling city they both were violently jerked forward by the force of unseen assailants.  Throwing them to the ground, the attackers dragged their arms behind them and bound their wrists.

Fahd had thought he could handle pain to a high degree, but his whole body
now contorted has his interrogator used very fine tools on his fingers and groin area.  Their assailants had dragged them under an overhang out of site from everyone except people on the same deck, which would not happen since there was now a sign placed on the doorway to the deck, which said ‘Closed for Maintenance.’  Adeeb was about 20 feet away and handled in a similar fashion.  Fahd’s nemesis kept asking the same question over-and-over.  “Where and when is the attack going to happen?” asked his persistent adversary.  Fahd did not know if he could hold out much longer since the pain was excruciating and nearly fainted when his torturer broke out a mini butane torch.  The heat of the torch had just started to sear the skin around his eye when the other interrogator came over and said I have what we need. 

Fahd’s heart sank
as he considered his predicament, wondering what it meant for him while he listened to Adeeb’s pitiful sobbing.  Each of the assailants grabbed the legs of Fahd and Adeeb and dragged them over to the railing that they had been smoking at just a short time earlier.  With horror, Fahd watched as Adeeb, picked up as if a baby was sent soaring over the balcony screaming as he plunged the 50 floors to the ground.  Sobbing himself at this point, Fahd felt himself lifted off the ground and hurled out into the open sky.

Ibrahim looked out over the dingy
Rome warehouse floor where his dedicated soldiers were strung out cleaning their guns and organizing their gear.  In just 15 minutes, this team would go forth and take out their primary target, an American named William Bates.  Each person carried a photograph of the target and had instructions to fan out in their assigned areas to kill him.  They only knew the general area where the target operated in.  If they could not locate him, the driver of the Renault box van parked behind him would detonate the 50 pounds of C4 in the van as well as 200 gallons of fuel and 200 pounds of metal nails.  The massive explosion and lethal projectiles may find Mr. Bates if their ground troops could not. 

Feeling proud to
be selected to lead this operation, he felt compelled to give a short speech promoting how lucky and blessed they were as the chosen ones to carry this action out.  Raising his voice so that all could hear, he asked everyone to gather in front of him.  “My fellow soldiers in faith.  It is my privilege…”  The shock of a figure appearing in an upper window at the farthest end of the warehouse stopped Ibrahim’s speech in its tracks.  The others, seeing his distraction, looked in the same direction he faced.  Every one of them saw the silhouetted figure raise the RPG to his shoulder and fire in the direction of the loaded van.  In the moment before their lives ended, Ibrahim wondered if an afterlife really awaited him.  With a blinding flash, the warehouse ceased to exist and damage extended to every building in a 100-yard radius of the blast.  If it were not for the fact that this area of the city had a number of abandoned buildings, and it was a Saturday, there would have been grievous loss of life.  As it was, the RPG shooter and three other Mossad operatives perished in the explosion having underestimated what the enemy had placed in the van seeking only to create a diversion for the rest of the team to take them out.  As sirens began blaring in the district around the now smoking hole in the ground, the commander of the operation reported into command that operation ‘Guardian Angel’ had been successfully executed albeit with the loss of four.

A few days later Mike met Agent Morgan and Carl in his office.  Carl took charge of the meeting and said to Mike
, “Mr. Carter, with the help of some of our friends across the ocean we believe the threat to you and Mr. Bates as well as to Efficio has been eliminated.  The details behind what I am telling you are classified and are ‘need to know’ at this time.  Based on monitored transmissions and chatter between known organizations hostile to the US, we have not heard of any covert action planned against Efficio.  This does not mean it can’t pop up at any time, but for now it looks like the targeted actions against your company have been neutralized.” 

Matt jumped into the conversation and said “Mike, you still need to make sure Clavis is on top of their game.  Efficio is arguably the most talked about company in the world and lots of money funnel
s through your company and your charity.  Mark my words, there will be others that will try and exploit Efficio for some gain.”  When they left his office, Mike sat there and thanked the Lord for protecting them.  Thinking about his future, he saw great things and front and center to it was Fiona.

Father Zults had agreed to perform a sunrise ceremony on the beach in front of their home on Long Beach Island on a clear July morning.  Seventy-five of their closest friends agreed to sacrifice their sleep to share that moment on the beach with them.  Fiona walked down the dune from the house with her father, with light amber rays of the sunrise bathing her face in a beautiful light.  An additional 50 or so onlookers stopped their jogging or dog walking to watch the ceremony.  Gwen had hired the photographers and videographers to record their special time, but somehow word did get out to the press about the event and a handful of reporters had enough time to scramble crews to cover the story, although town ordinances and sand gave them limited access. 

I felt a wave of gratitude looking over the smiling faces of my grooms and Fiona’s bridesmaids especially Bill who once again was standing beside me.
When Father Zults said those final words, “I now pronounce you man and wife and you may kiss the bride,” I felt my life had come full circle and the gap created by the loss of my family had finally been healed by that first kiss we shared as man and wife.

As we
headed the procession off the beach to a catered breakfast at the house, Fiona leaned towards me and whispered, “What are we going to do for an encore?”  Squeezing her hand tight, I whispered back “I heard from a college buddy of mine who is working on a new discovery in the amazon jungle and I was thinking…”

D
eep in the Sahara Desert Zayed plodded along an ancient path travelled by previous generations of his family.  The Bedouin tribes have lived in this harsh environment for as long as records exist.  As tough as this desert was on both man and animals living here, Zayed and others like him would never leave.  The sand and heat were part of their essence and he and the rest of the Howeitat tribe were actually thriving and owned lucrative trade routes.  Pulling three camels behind him, Zayed estimated that he was only 2 hours from his modest home, wife Noora and his 12-year-old son Abduallah.

Cresting a dune, Zayed came in sight
of his home at the same time Abduallah saw his father and sprinted towards him.  “Father,” he cried as he ran up.  Zayad stopped to pat him on the head and handed him the rope to the lead camel.  Abdul, take them to the shed and I will be there to unload them after I talk to your mother.  Noora, a pretty woman by Bedouin standards, had come out of the house and was waiting for her husband with a broad smile on her face.  Not only was she glad to see her husband, but on trips like this Zayed brought back needed supplies and usually a couple of trinkets for her and her son.  Even more exciting, Zayed was bringing back something that would change their lives and allow them to be part of the larger world from their humble desert home.

Noora walked up to Zayed and gave him an energetic but quick hug, asking at the same time if he had a good and successful trip.  With a wide
grin, Zayed turned and started to walk to the shed where the camels were patiently standing.  Noora, following excitedly, trailed her husband.  Walking up to the lead camel, Zayed started to untie the ropes that fastened the cargo.  With Abdul’s help they gently unloaded each camel and carried the packages to the thick walled adobe house.  Noora quickly collected the normal supplies for the house and placed them in their regular storage spaces. 

When Noora finished there were still a number of boxes with some of them being large. 
The writing the packages said Efficio and below that was stenciled, ‘
6000 watt Self Contained Power Grid
‘and in parenthesis ‘Warm Climate.’ Each box had a different number and Zayed zeroed in on the one labeled ’Box 1 of 6‘and quickly opened it.  Grabbing a plastic bag, Zayed pulled out a number of documents and grabbed the one labeled, 'Installation'.  The installation guide was in a few different languages none of them he was particularly versed in, however he did know English better than the others, and selected that version of the manual.  Luckily, the diagrams were self-explanatory and after scanning through the instructions one time, he, Noora and Abdul unpacked all the containers while carefully laying out each item on the ground.