Chasm Waxing: A Startup, Cyber-Thriller (43 page)

Liberation Square,
Baghdad

With his back facing the
eastern bank of the Tigris River, Muhammad Rahmati took the oath of
office. He became the Prime Minister of Iraq,
the most
powerful man in the
Iraqi government. Rahmati wore a dark blue suit, with a red tie. It
was the first time the world had seen him dressed in anything other
than military garb.

The new Prime Minister stood on an
elevated platform, overlooking a crowd of over two million jubilant
Iraqis. Pictures of Rahmati were everywhere. Revelers waved Iraqi
flags in the morning sun.

“
In the name of God, the
compassionate and
merciful.
Brothers
and sisters, may peace be upon
you. Today, I stand overlooking our monument, created in 1958. We
built it to celebrate the founding of the Republic of Iraq, a
republic that ended the
monarchy
.

“
Since that day, Iraq has
had its share of good days and bad days;
good nights and terrible nights
.
My family and I have shared in this history, just like
you.

“
My grandfather died at
the cruel hands of the dictator, Saddam Hussein. My father spent
more than half his life living in exile. At the age of two, I was
forced to leave Baghdad. I’ve spent a lifetime living in a foreign
land, away from my home. Saddam’s bombs stole the breath from my
mother. No doubt your tragedies are just as real as mine, if
not even more
numerous. Many of you were born orphans or orphaned at an
early age, just like our Prophet Muhammad, Peace Be Upon
Him.

“
But, from this moment on,
a shining crescent moon will illuminate all the dark places in
Iraq. Brothers and sisters, you are the light of the Crescent
Revolution. The crowd erupted in wild cheers.

“
Light is shining on the
dark places of sectarian violence.

“
Light is
shining
to
eradicate the blackness of hate between the Sunni, Shiite, Kurd,
and
innumerable
tribes.

“
Light is shining on
bribery, corruption, and political incompetence.

“
Light is…”—the crowd
began to repeat the mantra with Rahmati—“shining on an education
system that fails to prepare our children.

“
Light is shining on
gender inequalities that make men more valuable than women, and
daughters more highly prized than sons.

“
Light is shining on
inadequate healthcare and infant mortality.

“
Light is
shining
on an
economy that derives 93% of its income from oil.

“
Light is shining on our
poor record of economic development for these last 20
years.

“
And, I say with every
fiber of my being…

“
Light is shining on all
terrorists, tyrants, dictators, and colonial powers.

Rahmati’s bones
shook
from
the thunderous applause of the mass of humanity.

“
Light is shining on the
destroyers that seek to steal, enslave, and murder.

“
Finally,
light
is shining
on Daesh.

“
You will not just be
bombed. We’ll root you out and annihilate you, just like the
Americans did to your predecessor, Al Qaeda in Iraq. Only, we’ll
never let you
be
resurrected
. We’ll wipe your hateful,
bigoted ideology from the face of the earth. You believe it’s your
Islamic duty to kill anyone who practices
shirk
.

“
That’s why you murder and
enslave the Yazidis. You even kill Shia’s, a brother in the House
of Islam. You’re the real Infidels! We all know that the Koran
states in Sura 2:256, ‘There shall be no compulsion in religion.’ I
call upon
Sunni’s
and Baathist’s in northern and western Iraq, to
work with us to destroy Daesh. I’ve come home. Now you come
home
.”

Shirk was Arabic for
idolatry. The most fundamental tenet of Islam was that God was one.
Therefore, idolatry
was
an abomination to the religion. The next highest
precept was that Muhammad was God’s prophet.

“
Just like the Prophet
offered the Quraysh amnesty after his victory over Mecca, I will
process requests for
amnesty
after this speech. Our friends,
the Americans, were a bit short-sighted in their de-Bathification
process. I should
know;
my father is a Baathist.

“
I call upon Iraqis
everywhere, living under Daesh, to
rise
. Turn on Daesh. Provide
information to our security forces. My government—your
government—will protect you. Your services and quality of life
will
be
restored
. No longer will you need to hide
your children’s’ eyes to survive the day.

“
Brothers and sisters,
everyone has a seat at the table in my government. Sunnis, Kurds,
Shias—everyone. We will not discriminate based a person’s religious
confession; or lack thereof.

“
My fellow Iraqi’s, with
your help, we can
fulfill
God’s original intention for Iraq. God breathed
life
into
Adam and Eve in this very land. And now, we can rightly claim
our place in the world. I believe that God will grant a re-birth to
Iraq. I believe that are destined
to once again be a great nation
, an
empire of ideas, inshallah.

“
The children of Ishmael
shall thrive once more. Iraq will be the birthplace of novel
engineering advances. We will invent new ways of technologically
interacting with our brothers and sisters, even those with
differing opinions and religious affiliation.

“
We will once again shine
brightly in the Middle East, and on the world stage. Our economy
will be balanced and prosperous for everyone. Our private sector
will be invigorated and provide the country with wealth and
stability—beyond oil.

“
We will reach out to our
neighbors and
re-establish
our historical trade relations. And, we’ll seek
new
business
partners. I will establish a Middle Eastern Trade Union that
binds our markets together, for the prosperity of its constituent
nations.

“
Today, I also announce a
massive new infrastructure project that will provide needed jobs
and improvements
for
Iraq. And, based initially upon funds coming from
our neighbors, I announce
that
ground will be broken to build a new
Babylon.

“
This new Babylon will
be
constructed
near the site of ancient Babylon. Over time, I will move the
capital of Iraq from Baghdad to Babylon. Our metropolis will
surround
our
ancient ancestor’s city.

“
Iraq needs a symbol, a
new beacon of hope. A place built by Iraqis, for Iraqis. We
need
a symbol
that
says, ‘This
time,
is different.’ Babylon will be
everyone’s city. A city that all Iraqi’s—indeed all Muslims—can
call their own. We will fashion Babylon into a
world
-class capital, with
buildings that disappear into the heavens.

“
Brothers and sisters,
there are those who advocate breaking up Iraq. They say we are
fools. They say we’ll never live
peaceably. They say
we’ll never grow
beyond our petty tribalism and sectarian rivalries.

“
I say to them…just watch.
We don’t need a Sunnistan. We don’t need a Shiastan. We
don’t
need a
Kurdistan. We need one Iraq, for one united
people.

“
The crescent moon’s bright
light will shine on sectarian and confessional division. Light
overcomes darkness.
As
it has in days past, Iraq will be the crown
jewel
of
an Islamic empire that discovers, innovates, and prospers.
The Iraqi crowd noise surpassed anything ever heard in the 72
years
of
the Republic of Iraq.

What Rahmati did not tell the masses
was that Iran, Russia, and China had committed substantial funds to
rebuilding Babylon.

China was leading the way.
They were to lay a next-generation, fiber optic
backbone,
and communications
infrastructure
to securely connect
Tehran and Babylon
. In time, new fiber
could be
positioned
across all of
Iraq
, to enable the country to have
high-speed Internet access. While Rahmati’s rhetoric about Babylon
was
real
,
there were more practical reasons for the rebuilding
of
the ancient
city.

After destroying much of
Baghdad, the Americans rebuilt the city, especially hardening the
infrastructure of the Green Zone. But every government
building
was
bugged
. Every phone and data line
was tapped
.
Also, Rahmati knew that the Caliphate had on numerous occasions,
stopped
on
the outskirts of Baghdad. They came close to capturing the
city. He had no illusions about tackling the Caliphate. The battles
would be hard fought.

Babylon would
be built
on the
Euphrates River, a river described in the book of Genesis as
existing in the Garden of Eden. Babylon was 50 miles south of
Baghdad. The reconstituted city would be closer to the heart of the
Shia population, and easier for Iran to reinforce. Saddam Hussein
tried to rebuild Babylon next to the ruins of the ancient city. But
the project stopped when the Americans invaded in 2003.

*

Prime Minister Muhammad
Rahmati’s speech was carried live
to
people all over the world, not just
the Middle East. For the first time in 14 days, Iranian
demonstrators were not in the streets. They
were parked in front of
their TVs. Time Magazine announced that Rahmati would
be
the
‘Time Person of the Year,’ for 2020.

Rahmati’s speech to Iran, earlier in
the week, did little to dampen the protestor’s enthusiasm. He
deftly walked the tightrope of sounding pro-status quo in Iran,
while still giving the demonstrators hope. Most importantly, the
Republican Guards ordered none of the Iranian security forces to
disperse the crowds.

Immediately after
Rahmati’s Iraq speech, an even larger group of protestors took to
the streets of Iran. They filled gathering places all over the
country, including its five
biggest
cities of Tehran, Mashhad,
Isfahan, Karaj, and Tabriz.

Protestors took to the
streets wearing black
armbands
and
headbands
emblazoned with the
Crescent Moon. Others wore Immortals’ bandanas covering the lower
portion of their faces. Even more ominously for the Iranian clerics
were the chants of, “Death to tyrants, death to
mullahs.”

*

Jared Adler rushed into the server
room of Adler Capital yelling, “I got it. I got it!”

“
That’s terrific, Dad,”
replied Josh. “Which one is it?”

“
It’s the
three-story
house, about 300 yards from the geo-marker. The
occupants
have
already vacated. We can close in 10 days.”

“
That’s
fantastic
news,
Mr. Adler. It fits perfectly within our
timeline,
” said Becca.

Jared continued, “The
Mexicans say that they dig through the clay soils of the Mexico-US
border at a rate of 300
feet-per-month,
if there are no
surprises. Now, it will be slower digging through the limestone
bedrock of Jerusalem by hand, but we’re using robots with specially
designed cutting heads. Let’s just say that 300
feet-per-month
is
our metric.”

Josh followed his dad’s
train of thought. “If the Ark is
precisely
where the AI predicts, and we
tunneled right to it, it would take about three months. I’d imagine
that’s with optimum conditions. So
basically,
we should plan on the
excavation running anywhere from three to six months.”

“
Ugh! I don’t think I can
stay underground for even a week!” gasped Becca.

Josh laughed. “Becca,
you’re welcome to stay home. I’ve told you
many
times that I wish you
would.”

Becca made a face. “Nice
try. But I’m going. Maybe I should bury myself in your
garden,
Mr.
Adler. I can test how long I can stand it.”

“
I’m sure General Shields’
satellites would do a little dance if they saw you buried in
the
ground,
” Josh said.