Special Talents (48 page)

"That was a dangerous gambit," said Jeremy. "Biological agents don't discriminate. They kill everyone equally. You risked being infected yourself and then where would you be?"

"Oh, there was never any danger of that. Everyone working for me – with the exception of Agent Conroy – was inoculated with a vaccine that protected us long before we used the disease. We were never in any danger from it."

"Well then I'm glad to say we stopped you. A lot of innocent people could have died. You know, there's something else I'm curious about."

"And what would that be?"

"'O ye who believe'," Jeremy quoted. "'Do not kill yourselves, for truly Allah has been to you most merciful. If any do that in rancour and injustice, soon shall we cast him into the Fire'."

"The Qur'an 4:29-30," said Moser. "I see you've been doing some reading."

"I was just curious what motivated you. But according to that passage, suicide is a sin in the Islamic faith. How do you rationalize it by using suicide bombers?"

"We don't consider them suicide bombers. They're soldiers who have fallen in the righteous war against the unbelievers. Not unlike the soldier who throws himself on a grenade to protect his fellow soldiers."

"It's not the same and you know it."

"I know no such thing. We are in a war, Jeremy. A war for the very soul of humanity. Unfortunately it is a fact that soldiers die in war. I wish it weren't so. But death and destruction are about the only thing your government seems to understand. Hiroshima is a perfect example. They used the first atomic bomb there. And killed hundreds of thousands of innocent Japanese people."

"And it helped end the war and saved an estimated one million American lives alone. Not to mention how many millions of others who might have died if the war had continued. And it wasn't an easy decision for them to make. Many, if not most, regretted having to do it."

"Which still didn't stop them from doing it. You call us criminals and murderers when one of us uses a bomb to kill a few dozen. But you killed hundreds of thousands using a more powerful bomb and justify it as 'war'."

"I won't deny some of us may have done horrible things. But that could be said of any society. Rome, Egypt, Greece; they all had their atrocities. And history has judged them. But that doesn't justify what you're doing. Killing millions of innocent lives in the name of your god. That's an old story. It doesn't make it any more right."

"They are far from innocent. True, it is your leaders that order the killings. But the people stand by and allow it. Every year your people let those same leaders return to Washington to make the same decisions. No, they are not innocent anymore than the man who murders another with a gun is innocent."

"Your prophet, Muhammad, forbade harming innocent bystanders even in time of war. This included women, children, noncombatant bystanders, even trees or crops. He said nothing was to be harmed unless the person or thing was actively engaged in an assault against Muslims. Your so-called 'soldiers' blow themselves up in market places, work places, city streets, anywhere there are people. People who are simply going about their lives and have done no aggression against any Muslims."

"Their complacency is an assault on Islam," said Moser. "While others actively murder the faithful, the rest go about their lives as if nothing is wrong. Would you have me believe that you think a man who stands idly by and watches a young child being brutally murdered when he has the capacity to stop it is innocent of the child's death?"

"No, of course not. But your analogy is flawed. Those people aren't standing idly by watching a young child being murdered. In many instances they're thousands of miles away and have no knowledge of the killings taking place. There's little they can do about it."

"So you tell yourself. And yet the killings continue. As if nothing is wrong."

"Killing is wrong. I'll agree with that. We should be able to work out our differences without resorting to violence. But man is a flawed creature. He makes mistakes. And as much as I abhor killing, sometimes it's necessary to kill. Your hypothetical child. In order to save him or her, it may be necessary to kill their assailant. Police see it every day. Killing one to protect another."

"And that is all we are doing. Killing those who would kill us and our children. To protect the faithful against the assailants they would be unable to protect themselves against. Even your own Bible says it is justified to kill in order to preserve life."

"Under some circumstances, yes. But the Bible also teaches love and brotherhood and forgiveness. Something even the Qur'an teaches. But what of your own people? Many, if not most, of them do little more than the so-called infidels you claim assault Islam by doing nothing. Aren't they as guilty as the rest? And yet you don't kill them.

"I've known quite a few Muslims. I've found that most are peaceful, honest, hard-working, civic-minded people who want nothing more than to live their lives like everyone else. To practice their faith as they see fit. And even many of them condemn what you do. How do you rationalize letting them live when you kill so many others?"

"I thought you didn't want a philosophical debate?"

"There's nothing philosophical about it. Philosophy deals in theoreticals. These are very real people that are dying every day. For no other reason than you don't agree with their ideas. A few people may have persecuted you so you condemn the entire society. Even you have to see the futility in that."

"As I said, it is not a few people. All in society have to shoulder their share of the blame for the persecution and atrocities committed."

"And what of you? What of your sins, Moser? The Qur'an forbids suicide yet you regularly encourage suicide bombers, no matter how you rationalize it. The Qur'an forbids taking the life of the innocent. Yet you would have killed hundreds of people in the Capital Building to get the ones you believe are aggressing against you. The Qur'an forbids retaliating against an entire tribe for the actions of one of that tribe. Yet you are attempting to destroy an entire country for what you perceive as the aggressions of a small handful.

"You don't even follow your own rules. You pick and chose which ones you want to follow and which ones are convenient. If it doesn't fit into your plans well then, just ignore it. It's not important. How will Allah judge you for your transgressions?"

"Allah is forgiving. For the truly repentant he will forgive some minor transgressions to fulfill a greater good. Especially if the transgressions are committed to honor his holy name."

"I once knew a priest who said that true repentance involves more than just being sorry for what you've done. If the sinner is truly repentant, they will change their ways. If they continue to do what they've always done, they aren't truly repentant. Being sorry that you feel you have to kill others to further your goals isn't enough. If you don't stop the killing, you're not really repentant."

"Unless there is no other way. A drug addict may be truly repentant but may be unable to stop taking drugs. That doesn't make them any less repentant. Circumstances can prevent someone from actually making a change. I'm sure you've seen that yourself."

"I'll admit I have."

"So, until the world changes we have no choice but to use whatever means are necessary. We can be sorry for the choices we are forced to make but are unable to stop because necessity dictates it. The unrighteous and wicked must either turn from their ways and embrace the true religion or they must be cleansed from the earth."

"Meaning anyone who doesn't submit to your twisted view of Islam."

"Meaning any who will not accept the word of the true God and forsake all the false doctrines of the world. This is the word of Allah."

"So what now? You use your ability to control people to control me? Force me to accept your view of Islam or maybe become one of your suicide bombers?"

"No, Jeremy, you've been a worthy opponent. And you're mistaken. I don't control people. I never have. I'm simply able to heighten the natural distrust and disenchantment people feel. What they do after that is totally up to them. Oh, sometimes I can make a suggestion and they'll follow it. Like Agent Conroy. He didn't know who I really was so it was easy to heighten his desire to protect the President. And then 'suggest' that Shannon and I could help better protect the President by being added to the security detail. He was quite willing to aid me in whatever I needed.

"But in answer to your question, no, I'm not going to use my ability on you. I use my ability when I need to. Otherwise it's just wasted. Oh, that doesn't mean I won't in the future. If you should prove useful I may well use you to further the glory of Allah. And I probably couldn't make you a 'suicide bomber' anyway. You don't believe that is an acceptable tool even in war. I can't force anyone to perform any specific act."

Jeremy could tell he was telling the truth. He could see Moser's aura. It hadn't changed. And there was no indication of a power. So apparently Moser had no plans to control Jeremy.

"But as a trained psychiatrist, you're aware of what will happen when you heighten their distrust and disenchantment. You have a pretty good idea what actions they might take. That makes you as guilty as the ones who actually commit the actions themselves."

"True, I can sometimes guess what they will do. But sometimes they surprise even me. Osama bin Laden for example. I knew he would retaliate against the United States for what it had done. But not even I imagined the events of September 11, 2001.

"Which makes you as culpable as he was. Almost 3,000 people murdered. Men, women, children. And for what? What did it accomplish? Just as with your suicide bombers. Not one of them has changed a thing. So why continue to do it? Surely you're aware of the futility of continuing an action that never bears any fruit. Why continue to keep having your people blow themselves to kingdom come when it doesn't accomplish anything?"

"I wish I could stay and chat longer, Jeremy," said Moser, looking at his watch. "But I'm afraid my time here is gone. I must ask you to stay here for ten minutes. And please, don't use your cell phone. My friends will watch you until I'm safely away. Then feel free to call your friend, Assistant Director Scarborough and tell him of our meeting. And whatever little morsels you may have garnered from it. I'm sure we'll meet again. I look forward to it."

Moser got up and walked down the street away from the café. Jeremy looked around to see if he could spot the "friends" Moser had mentioned. But no one looked suspicious. He looked at his watch. He would give Moser his ten minutes. He knew how devoted the man was to his cause and had no doubt he would carry through on his threat.

He would eventually call Richard and tell him of the meeting. But he also knew that Moser was smart enough to have planned for his escape. In any event, he would be long gone before Richard could mobilize any resources to try and capture him.

In the back of his mind, Jeremy had harbored the thought that Moser might actually be insane. That he had some psychosis or defect that caused him to be so fanatical about his beliefs and methods. And something that might be treatable.

But after having talked with the man, Jeremy found him sane, rational, and stable. He was a man of deep beliefs and deep convictions. He was also the type that believed that the ends justified the means. That as long as everything came out all right in the end – all right being what he believed to be right – then any "minor" transgressions he might commit were acceptable.

He was also sure of one thing. They would meet again. Moser did not have the type of personality that would allow him to stop until he had accomplished his goals. Jeremy was all too familiar with what Moser's ultimate goal was. And as much as he disliked the thought, he realized there might be only one way to stop Moser.

As he pulled out his cell phone to call Scarborough, another thought occurred to him. Moser claimed he hadn't found the plutonium from the Chernobyl accident. And Jeremy could tell he was telling the truth. Which meant that somewhere out there was approximately 55 pounds of weapons-grade plutonium capable of making up to 4 nuclear devices. And they had absolutely no idea where it was or who had it.

The End