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moonstruck cow."
"A cow?" I had offended her. She got huffy. "You know, I'm not like the other
Darkwings. You, Daphne, were brought up in this world. Rogue's a criminal, and
besides, he used to be in the CIA. Cormac's an actor. Benny& well, she has an aptitude.
I don't think I was cut out to be a spy."
I put my arm around her shoulder and gave her a bracing hug. "You're just having a
crisis of confidence. You're doing great," I said, lying through my teeth.
"No, I'm not. I've been 'compromised.'" Her face crumbled. She was heading for the
waterworks again.
"Compromised? Absolutely not. Technically you haven't um& you know. You're doing
superb. I mean that."
"You do? I figured I had totally messed up."
"No, really, you're acting like a real pro. What did you find out?" I asked.
"He gave me this envelope. It's got instructions or something in it. I didn't look. I'm
supposed to deliver it to the 'right person' in the government." She handed it over;
then she summed up the little she knew.
Shalid's uncle, an adviser to President Musharraf, called him into his office in
Islamabad. The uncle told "Shally" that he needed him to handle a matter of grave
importance and asked Shally to act as a courier to the United States. Since the cricket
star traveled internationally with some frequency, his trip would raise no questions.
Shally swore to Audrey he didn't know anything more. He'd apologized for involving
such a beautiful woman in something potentially dangerous. He'd suggested they leave
the restaurant and go back to his room "to get to know each other better."
Oh, boy, I thought. What I said was, "And what do you want to do?" I already knew the
answer, but I figured she wanted my approval.
"I think I should go with him and try to get more information, don't you?"
"Oh, yeah, sure. Definitely. Benny and I will take the envelope back to J," I said. After
we open it, I thought. "Will you be okay, though?"
"Yes. I have to try, anyway. It's like Rogue said last night about the fighting part of this:
It's time I learned. I need the practice, that's all."
"Good attitude. But remember, you haven't been compromised yet. Don't let it come
to that, okay? Call Benny or me if you feel you can't handle things and need us to get
you out of there." I might as well be spitting in the wind, but, as Darius pointed out, I
lived in a glass house and couldn't throw stones.
Audrey nodded and then she smiled, her beautiful face radiant. "Shally, he's just an
amazing man. Isn't he handsome?"
"Yes," I said. And he's human, he's Muslim, and he's working with terrorists, I thought,
and, girl, you are so screwed. But I didn't voice any of that. She was too far gone. She
wouldn't have listened to me anyway.
We watched Romeo and Juliet leave the restaurant; then Benny and I hurried out. We
descended the wide curved stairway with its gold banisters and went as far as the
Palace's lobby. A comfortable sofa in a relatively empty section of the huge space
provided some privacy. We sat. I breathed openmouthed on the glued flap to try to get
it open. That didn't work. It still stuck tight. I shrugged.
"Just tear it open," Benny encouraged. "We'll tell J we're sorry after we read it." My
sentiments exactly better to beg for forgiveness than to ask permission. I used a nail
file as a letter opener. Printed on a single sheet of typing paper was this:
Praise to Allah, the Almighty, the Merciful, the Magnificent.
You idolatrous infidels, traitorous apostates, and turncoat deviants have violated the
pure way of the Prophet. Now the splendor of the spearhead of jihad is aimed at your
hearts.
We demand the swift and immediate return of our brother, the beloved of the
Prophet, cleric Hassan Omar and the holy relic in his hands.
When that which is sacred is restored to us, that which the Great Satan prizes will be
returned to you.
If the profane violation of the Prophet may Allah bless him and greet him and that
of our brother cleric Omar does not cease, a fatwa issued by the gracious brother Abu
Masab decrees that your death ship, your liberty, and every living thing around it shall
be struck down by the swift lightning of the Almighty.
May God protect Hassan Omar and watch over him; may his religion, his book, and
Sunna the Prophet aid him. We ask the Almighty to bless him, us, and all Muslims.
With his divine aid, may our clear victory and Hassan Omar's release from suffering be
at hand. We ask the Almighty to gather us as he sees fit for the glory of the next world
and the prize of the hereafter.
The Wahhabi Mujahedeen
"Now jist what do you get from that?" Benny asked.
"About as much as you did, I guess. Audrey's theory about kidnappings and exchanges
was dead on. From what I can figure out, the Wahhib Mujahedeen thinks we're
holding the cleric Hassan Omar and some 'holy relic' They want both back in exchange
for the Intrepid. If they don't get them, they're issuing a fatwa, an order, to destroy not
just the ship, but America."
"Do we have this here Omar?" Benny asked, reclining back against the plush cushions
and staring up at a huge chandelier.
"Damned if I know. Maybe he's one of those 'persons of interest' who J said was in
custody."
Benny contemplated the chandelier for a bit longer; then she sat up and took the letter
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