“Let’s find out. I’m interested to see his reaction. Have him come back in.”
Kamal was brought back into the tent. His uncle asked,
“Kamal, have you been circumcised?”
“No uncle, I have not.”
The Imam spoke to Kamal, his voice was grave.
“Kamal, boys are often circumcised at about puberty to initiate them into manhood in the Muslim faith. This is done with great fanfare with all the family present. It shows the boys commitment to the faith and that he is now a man. Some families no longer practice this ritual. They say it is not required or necessary.”
“I would like to do this to demonstrate my commitment to my faith,” stated Kamal emphatically.
The Imam looked into his eyes solemnly,
“We are low on supplies and out of local anesthetic. We can do it next week when the new supplies come.”
“I don’t need any anesthetic.”
“It’s quite painful. It’s only until next week.”
The boy’s eyes were determined. “I don’t want to wait a week. Can we do it tonight?”
“This is a significant step into manhood. We usually do it with your family around. Since you only now have your uncle, we are now your family. Shall we do it tonight with all your peers present?”
“Yes, I would like that.”
“You are excused. We will make the preparations for tonight.”
After Kamal left the Imam said to his uncle,
“I want to see his reaction tonight, especially in front of all his peers. I might have special plans for him. Have the doctor come to my tent.”
When the doctor arrived, the Imam told him,
“You are going to circumcise the new boy tonight. I told him we were low on supplies and there would be no anesthetic. He chose to proceed instead of waiting until next week when new supplies arrive.”
“But Imam, we have plenty of local anesthetic. He doesn’t need to go through this without anesthetic. It’s difficult to do safely if he moves around from the pain.”
“I want to see his reaction to the pain with everyone watching. I will have several of the men hold him so he doesn’t move. We will do it tonight in the main hall after dinner with everyone there. Oh and doctor, take your time and do it slow.”
“You are going to do it in front of all his peers? Many of them have not been circumcised. It’s not always done anymore to Muslim boys.”
“We’re doing it to him. I want to know what he’s made of.”
Later that evening after dinner the Imam stood to make an announcement and the room went quiet.
“The new boy, Kamal has decided to show his commitment to Islam and be formally inducted into manhood by being circumcised. We shall do this now. Unfortunately, we are out of local anesthetic, but Kamal has elected to proceed without it. All of you are his new family and are free to observe him taking this great step. Kamal, come, we are ready.”
Kamal proudly walked to the front of the tent while the boys gathered around whispering among themselves. Several men were standing there and the doctor was holding some towels and a scalpel. Kamal calmly removed his clothes and sat down in a chair on a towel as the boys gathered close. The Imam said,
“Kamal, it is important you don’t move while the operation is done. You don’t want the doctor to cut anyplace he shouldn’t. These men will hold you to make sure you don’t move.”
Kamal looked up at the Imam calmly.
“They can hold me if you prefer, but it is not necessary. I will not move.”
The Imam motioned for them to proceed. Two large men got on either side of Kamal and held him tightly as the doctor moved into position.
The Imam said to Kamal,
“Most boys don’t like to watch this. There will be a lot of blood and he is cutting on an important part of your body.”
Kamal looked back up at the Imam.
“I prefer to watch,” he said and looked down at what the doctor was doing.
As the doctor slowly performed the operation, the Imam watched Kamal’s feet and face. He heard a noise and watched several of the boys rush from the tent holding their hands over their mouths and retching. The doctor eventually wrapped a bandage around Kasam’s penis, stood up and said,
“It is finished.”
The men released Kamal, he stood up, calmly put on his clothes and turned to the doctor.
“Thank you doctor.”
He then turned to his uncle and the Imam and respectfully said,
“Thank you for allowing me to do this and sharing this experience with me.”
The Imam nodded to him, looked at his uncle and the other men and retired to his tent. The men all followed the Imam. When they were seated in his tent he asked the two that were holding Kamal,
“Was it necessary to hold him?”
One of them said in amazement.
“I couldn’t believe it. He never flinched. I was holding him tight, but he never moved a muscle, and he watched the entire thing.”
The other man said,
“Maybe he is one of those people that doesn’t feel pain.”
The Imam stated,
“Did you watch his feet and face during the operation?”
They all looked at each other startled and his uncle replied,
“I think we were all watching the actual operation. Why would you look at his feet and face?”
The Imam explained,
“Years ago I had to have an operation on my ear. There is no local anesthetic that will work in an ear. The surgeon had me remove my shoes and he watched my feet as he operated. When my toes started curling, he slowed down. It is an involuntary reaction when your body experiences intense pain.”
Kamal’s uncle asked,
“What did Kamal’s feet do?”
“They were curled up like knots and his forehead was sweating. He felt the pain. He just chose not to react to it. I need to think now. We will talk in the morning.”
The following morning Kamal and his uncle were sitting across from the Imam in his tent. The Imam asked Kamal,
“How are you feeling? Are you in pain?”
“It is nothing,” said Kamal. “I am ready to resume my training.”
The Imam looked at Kamal for a couple minutes without saying anything. Then he said,
“Kamal, I am sending you to America.”
Kamal’s face lit up,
“Not all the boys get to go to America. Some of them set off their bombs in lesser countries. It is a great honor to be sent to America when I am older,” he said.
“You don’t understand. I am sending you to America now. You are not going to be a bomber.”
“What! I want to avenge my family. I want to strike a blow at America. They supplied the rockets that the Israelis used to kill my family.”
“Kamal, we have a more valuable place for you. We have hundreds of boys that want to be suicide bombers. We need people that will fit in America. We want you to grow up in America and be one of those people. You have light skin and brown hair. We are giving you a new identity from someone who was born in America. From now on you will be known as Joseph. You need to learn to think and act like they do, but hold true to your beliefs. We want you to be above suspicion. Then when the time is right, you can be extremely valuable to our cause.”
Kamal bowed his head, “I will do whatever you ask, Imam. I will not fail.”
The Imam thought, yes, I think you will be one of the few that make it.
After Kamal left, his uncle asked the Imam,
“Do you think he can make it? Our success rate with boys that young is not very good. Once they are exposed to life in America, they lose sight of our cause. It is difficult to be immersed in a sea of bad influences as a teenager and not succumb.”
“I know of a good family that will take him. If anyone can make it, he will.”
C
hapter 3
Stepnagorsk Institute for Microbiology 1990
Stepnagorsk was one of the premier biological weapons sites in the former Soviet Union. They spent billions of rubles over many years on research and development. When this site was eventually inspected after the Cold War, many of the secrets they spent years developing had disappeared along with the scientists who had discovered them.
In 1990, several of the scientists were sitting around the conference table, drinking vodka and discussing the decline of the Soviet Union. As the night wore on, the drinking got heavy and they started getting bold in what they were willing to say.
“I don’t see it lasting another year.”
“And then we will be out in the cold. Biological weapons will be the last priority once the Soviet Union folds.”
“We haven’t been paid for over year as it is. When we leave here, no one can know what we did or where we came from. We need to blend in with all the other scientists.”
“I wish we could leave with something for all our years of work. We have developed some amazing weapons. Especially the one we didn’t tell the Kremlin about.”
“Did you ever think what might have happened if we had? Would anything have changed?”
“Everything would have changed. We wouldn’t have lost the Cold War. However, I think the world would have been a much worse place if they had that power.”
“I have thought about what could happen with that weapon in the wrong hands. I think we should destroy all the records. We have already destroyed all of the chemicals. No one should have that kind of power. It’s the greatest weapon ever conceived.”
“Let’s do it before we change our minds. Let’s do it right now.”
“I’m in. What about the rest of you? Let’s do it right now, before
we change our minds.”
All the scientists looked at each other and raised their glasses in a toast. They set their drinks on the table and staggered over to their desks. Each of them grabbed several notebooks and carried them outside. One of the scientists grabbed a bottle of vodka and poured it over the pile of books and lit it. They all stood in a circle around the burning pile and watched years of work go up in flames. Boris thought, I’m glad I kept that copy of my notes. I don’t know when I will ever use them, but I can’t live with seeing years of my research wasted.
Chapter 4
San Diego California 1993
Joseph ran into his house shouting to his parents that they have just won their soccer tournament and he scored the winning goal. As he rushed into the living room he stopped short when he saw a man he hadn’t laid eyes upon for years sitting on the couch talking to his adopted father. His father looked up at Joseph and said,
“Joseph, do you remember Rushdi? He is an old acquaintance of mine.”
Rushdi held out his hand to Joseph. As Joseph shook his hand he said to Rushdi,
“I am sorry for running in here shouting, it was very rude of me.”
“Oh, no. That is just what we want you to be. A 15 year old rude American.”
Joseph finally remembered who Rushdi was, gasped and blurted out,
“I’m sorry, you are one of the Imam’s,” as he knelt down in front of him.
His father said to Joseph,
“You will be going with Rushdi for a couple of days for more training.”
Rushdi looked down at Joseph kneeling in front of him and said,
“Get up. You need to act like an American at all times, even in my presence.”
“But you are an Imam,” blurted out Joseph, “I have to show you respect.”
“You show respect by doing what I ask of you. Now get ready to go. We will be gone for a couple days.”
When Rushdi and Joseph arrived at one of the safe houses in Riverside, California, they found several dirty, rough looking men sitting around a table in the living room talking. Lying on the floor was another man, tied up and gagged. Rushdi introduced Joseph to the men.
“This is Joseph. We have been training him for three years now and he is ready for another step.”
One of the men studied Joseph and laughed.
“He is still just a boy. Don’t send a boy to do a man’s job.”
Joseph stared at the man on the floor as he asked Rushdi,
“What did he do?”
Rashid pointed at the incapacitated man and replied,
“He was caught trying to pass information about our cell to the United States. What do you think we should do to him?”
“Kill him,” Joseph said without hesitation.
The men all laughed at his comment. The first one said,
“Send the little boy home. We will do the dirty work you need a man for,” as he laid a knife on the table.
Joseph peered at Rushdi and asked,
“May I?”
Rushdi nodded at Joseph and watched him walk over to the table and pick up the knife as the men laughed. Joseph quickly knelt on the man lying on the floor, grabbed him by the hair and pulled back hard exposing his neck. Without hesitation he drew the knife across the man’s exposed throat, cutting deep and sending blood spurting over the pants and shoes of the men at the table. They yelled and jumped back to escape the gory onslaught. Joseph stood up, calmly looked at them and said,
“Thanks for the knife” and then stuck it into the table they were sitting at as he stared them down.
The men at the table stared back at Joseph and started muttering to themselves. The first one said,
“You fool. You got blood all over my clothes.”
“Sorry for being so careless. I guess that‘s what happens when a boy has to do a man’s work,” Joseph said sarcastically as he stared fearlessly into the man’s eyes until the man finally broke and looked away.
Rushdi smiled, looked at Joseph and said, “Come on into the other room. We have things to discuss.” He turned to the men and said,
“Clean up this mess and get rid of the body.”
“Why don’t you make him clean it up?” demanded the first man.
Rushdi stared at him and said,
“Because I told you to do it. Is there a problem?”
The man looked back with his eyes down and said,
“No, there is no problem.”
In the other room Rushdi sat down to talk with Joseph.
“We have plans for you, Joseph. You have several more years left before you can go to college. You must keep up your grades to be able to get into a good school. We will pay all the costs. Graduating from a good school will gain you acceptance in the United States. We are still looking at several options on where we want you to go. You have proven tonight you will not hesitate to carry out your assignments. Be patient. I know you want to do more now, but the more you are the typical American teenager at this time, the more valuable you will be in the future. We have big plans for you. Assignments you can’t even envision.”
Chapter 5
Mexico 2010
All the lieutenants were sitting around the conference table at their weekly staff meeting, reporting in. Manuel said,
“Last item on the agenda, are we still having problems with any of our dealers?”
Juan replied,
“The Russian. I have given him every opportunity and he keeps failing. I think he is using more of the drugs than he is selling. He owes us over $100,000 now and I don’t see an end.”
“We have to make an example of him and cut our losses. Eliminate him and make sure all our other dealers know why. At least we can use him for a bad example to keep the others in line.”
“I’ll contact a crew and have them take care of it this week.”
Two days later in San Bernardino, California the hit crew had the grandparents tied up and were waiting for their grandson, the drug dealer, to come home. The grandfather was pleading with t
he hit crew.
“You don’t have to do this. If you let him keep dealing, he can eventually pay your boss back. If you kill him, you will have nothing.”
“He’s had his chances. Your grandson’s a drug addict. He is supposed to make others addicts, not become one himself. He’s no use to us if he keeps using drugs. He has had every chance to quit. We’ve given up on him. It’s time to use him for a bad example for others.”
The grandparents looked at each other and the grandmother said to her husband, Boris,
“Do what you have to. I can’t bear them killing him. He’s all we have left”
The grandfather turned to the head of the hit team and said,
“I have something to trade for his life.”
The head of the hit team laughed and replied,
“What could you possibly have that my boss would want?”
“I used to work in the old Soviet Union with biological weapons. I brought out some work we did that everyone, including the United States, thought was destroyed. I’ll trade it for my grandson’s life.”
He looked at him in disbelief.
“You have some biological weapons here?”
“Of course not! But I can make them. We discovered the most lethal weapon ever conceived. But what makes it unique is we made an antidote. Once you take the antidote and are immune, you are immune forever. It is the perfect weapon and no one has it. I know how to make it and the antidote. I’ll trade this for my grandson’s life. Your boss can control the ultimate weapon of mass destruction.”
The team leader thought. I’m probably an idiot for even thinking this, but if one of my team members ever says anything to the boss and I didn’t report this, it would be hard to explain. I guess it won’t hurt to check this out.
“Let me see what you have.”
“Untie me and I will get it. Remember though, you need me to understand this. I spent years working on this as a top scientist for the Soviet Union.”