Niko led them to a car in which a driver was waiting and directed them to the back seat. They drove out of the congested center of town towards the marina in Piraeus. They entered a small building on Akti Moutsopolou and Niko signaled for Ollie to go up to the second floor while asking Agda to sit down at one of the small tables near the entrance and offering her some Greek coffee. Agda realized that he could not take his eyes off her and was quite flattered by the attention of this handsome dark man. She felt that the energy radiating from him was like that emanating from Ollie but the two men were like negative and positive images on film. On the drive to the marina Ollie had felt the mounting tension between Agda and Niko and saw that it perfectly suited his plan for leaving Agda for a few days in Greece while he continued his journey to Syria. So he was quite glad to leave them alone drinking coffee on the ground floor while he climbed the stairs to the second floor to take care of the business for which he had allegedly come to Athens.
On the second floor Ollie saw an open door leading into a small conference room. A large oak wood table occupied the center of the room and many marine ornaments such as a small anchor, a yacht's steering wheel, a folded sail and many photographs of large fish lined the walls. Two men sat on chairs arranged around the table. The senior man with a full head of white hair and an aristocratic look invited Ollie to sit down. The other man was the person that had attended the meetings in Umea and Corfu as the representative of the Golden Dawn and he made the introductions between Ollie and Guido (no last names given). Ollie gave them a short progress report and told them that the project was short of funds and the Greeks were expected to contribute their share of one million Euros as promised in Corfu. Guido outlined the dire financial situation in Greece, which was nothing new, and offered to help by sending two of their own people to work on the production of the fissile material instead of paying cash. Ollie said that they needed qualified professional people who could keep a secret and safeguard the location even from their own bosses. Guido said that he was well aware of this and the people he had designated complied with these qualifications. Both were engineers with experience in handling radioactive materials as they had worked in the National Radiation Protection laboratory until they were fired three months earlier. Furthermore, Guido said that the Golden Dawn movement and he personally could vouch for them. Ollie said that funds were a priority but that he understood their predicament and was willing to have Professor Modena interview the two candidates, so he asked that they be sent to Milan the next day and he would arrange for the professor to meet with them. Before parting he said that he had to go away on business for a few days and asked if they could provide someone to escort Agda and show her around Athens until he returned. Guido said that Niko was available and if they all agreed he could play host to Agda.
Guido descended the stairs to the ground floor and in Greek briefed Niko on his new assignment while Ollie told Agda that he had to leave Athens for a few days but that if she wished she could stay and be entertained by Niko. A brief look was exchanged between Agda and Niko and they both agreed to the new plan. Ollie said that he had to leave shortly and asked to be driven back to the hotel to collect his clothes, so they all got back into the car and returned to the hotel in the center of Athens. On the way there Niko outlined a program for Agda's visit to Athens that included visits to the main tourist sites and a taste the nightlife in the famous tavernas where Greek food was served and folk shows were performed. They all liked the plan — each for their own reasons.
Before leaving Athens Ollie called the professor and told him to meet the new candidates for an interview in Milan the next day, and that adding them to the small workforce could enable them to work three shifts and increase their output. This could enable them to get back on schedule for production of the fissile material.
Once again Ollie donned local clothes to hide his Scandinavian features and blond hair and as dusk set in he followed his guide down the narrow streets of a village through which ran the unmanned border between the two countries. After crossing the virtual border they avoided the Peshmergah fighters and made their way deeper into the Syrian controlled area, passing through deserted villages and along dusty roads that were now covered with a thin layer of snow that had turned into ice in many places. After marching for five hours the guide told Ollie that he had to continue on his own as they had reached an area controlled by the Islamic State troops. Ollie paid the guide and asked him to meet him again at the same place after 48 hours promising to double his fees if he returned on time.
Ollie found a ruined house, spread his thin blanket on the floor and lay down waiting for the sun to rise as he feared that approaching the ISIS held territory in the dark would be too dangerous. At dawn he rose and for the first time after almost a whole year bowed towards Mecca and prayed. At this stage he was not sure if his dedication to Islam was as strong as it had been while he fought with the ISIS troops but the memory of Fatima and his promise to the dead Supreme Commander kept him going. He exited the ruined building and waving a white rag tied to a stick continued on his way south until he saw the black flag of ISIS flying on a Toyota jeep with a four wheel drive.
Slowly approaching the jeep he took off his kefiya exposing his blond hair and shouted in Arabic that he wanted to speak with their leader. He was answered by a short burst from an AK47 aimed at the ground near his feet. Without flinching he shouted that he was the head of the fabled Ollie's Butchers unit and the firing stopped. He was ordered to come closer with his hands raised. The troops he saw were nothing like those he remembered. Instead of a group of self-confident, fearless warriors, dressed in battle fatigues and armed to their teeth he saw a group of disheveled troops, poorly dressed with lifeless expressions. They all appeared to be red-eyed and under the influence of hashish or some other drugs. Nevertheless, one of the older soldiers recognized his name and volunteered to take him to their local commander.
Ollie followed the soldier to the jeep and they drove a few kilometers back to another village that was only partly destroyed. He was led to the largest house in the village and although the front door was missing the house was occupied by the local ISIS commander and some of his troops. The smell of cooked food reminded Ollie that he had hardly eaten since leaving Athens two days earlier. A tall, haggard looking, bearded man invited him to have some soup, bread and water and to join him in prayer before sitting down to eat. He introduced himself as Abu-Alli, the commander of some 250 ISIS fighters in charge of one of the sectors closest to the border. He told Ollie his troops were holding back the Peshmergah forces but the air attacks by the coalition air forces made this increasingly difficult and added that every day he lost some of his soldiers in battle and others through desertion. The air raids by the Syrian air force, that had recently received support from Iranian and Western forces, were decimating his troops and although they had a few Russian made Strela and US made Stinger shoulder fired anti-aircraft missiles which tried to keep away low flying helicopters and aircraft, the damage from the aerial raids was still severe. Ollie inquired who was now in the position of Supreme Commander and Abu-Alli told him that ISIS had effectively split into two main factions; one was led by Ahmad Nuseirat and the other, smaller and more extreme group, by Ibn Tutta. Nuseirat was willing to cease fighting and reach an agreement with the governments of Syria and Iraq if they promised amnesty and allowed him to remain in control of a small area bordering on both countries. They were inclined to agree if the fighters would lay down their arms. Ibn Tutta, on the other hand, had sworn to continue fighting until the new Caliphate was established and the whole world acknowledged that Islam was the only true religion and accepted it or until the last of his men became a Shahid and earned his place in heaven.