What was it the Americans said in those movies? The cavalry was coming?
The general nodded to himself. Yes. The cavalry had come. Al-Hamdu Lillah.
17
“Play the tape,” General Khalid ordered.
All television channels in the country switched to an image of a plain green flag flying against a blue sky. A martial song played in the background. Above the music, a voice said, “And now to speak to the nation, Abdullah bin Rashid, Chairman of the national Shura.”
Abdullah, dressed in formal robes, stood against a green background. The camera zoomed in on his face. “Although you have not selected me, it is my task now to lead this nation until you choose one who will lead us. We who are members of the Shura have been chosen only by those who fought to unseat the usurpers who stole the wealth of our nation for their one family.
“But the day will come this year when you will choose those who will lead us. Let no one stop you, brothers and sisters, from making that choice.
“When you choose, think about the future. Think about how we Arabs can restore our greatness, how we can contribute to the world’s progress. We must contribute more than just the energy from fossils millions of years old. Once again, we must turn the power of our minds to math and science, to medicine and engineering, to learn to unlock the secrets of what Allah has given to us. It will take tapping the skills of all our people, men and women.
“If this republic can survive, we can look forward to a day when the peace of Allah may prosper in this world. When weapons of mass destruction will themselves be destroyed. When we unlock Allah’s other gifts, to replace the ancient fossil fuels that Allah provided to the world. Allah placed them in our land, providing humanity with the fuel for the phase of emergence, which is now passing.
“To hasten those days, we will take leadership. Today we destroy the long-range missiles in our nation, missiles that one day might have carried weapons of mass destruction. We have brought the diplomatic representatives of many nations to our deserts to see this destruction. We invite international inspection, anywhere, anytime. And we call upon Iran, Israel, and other nations to follow our example.
“Today we invest two billion euros, the first of a much greater amount, to create the Future Energies Institute here in Riyadh, an international center to develop and deploy new methods of electrical and other power beyond the fossil era. Here, too, we invite the international community to join us in funding and participating in open discovery. Until we help the world emerge from the fossil era, we shall share our oil on the world’s market, open to all to buy, at the rate of one percent of our known reserves every year. No more, no less. Ten percent of our revenues will go to the Future Energies Institute. If anyone uses force to seek more of our assets, all of our oil facilities will self-destruct. Thus, there is no point in invading our lands.
“And we must recognize that just as Allah has placed this special reserve in our land, we hold a special responsibility to Allah to preserve and protect the Two Holy Mosques he has also placed within our borders. These places are sacred to almost two billion Muslims. Muslims of all communities, Sunni and Shi’a, for there is no one right community of Islam. And our government must protect them all and support no single view.
“You, in turn, must protect our government and our nation. Especially now, in this time of transition. There are those who may be tempted to invade our territory, to drain our sands of the fuels below. You can scare these scorpions away. You can demonstrate your support of the revolution. March to the Red Sea, line it with thousands of patriots and believers. Show that you are ready to sacrifice to preserve our nation. Members of the Shura are organizing transportation in every city. After this broadcast, join me. March for Islamyah.” The camera zoomed out and now showed dozens of men and women on either side of Abdullah.
“You will not march alone. Let me introduce you to the new Shura Council. Here is my brother, Ahmed, a man of medicine, who now is my right hand seeking to heal this nation and who has developed this plan. Here is General Khalid, who leads the Protectors. Here Fatima Khaldan, a scientist, who has returned to her native land from…”
When the introductions ended, the screen dissolved to an image of General Khalid and Ahmed sitting side by side. Khalid spoke. “After he taped that speech for broadcast today, Abdullah was killed by enemies of the revolution. Now potential enemies lurk off our coasts. Our forces are scaring off Persians in the east. As Abdullah asked, you must be our forces in the west, on the Red Sea. Join with Dr. Rashid as he carries the body of his martyred brother to the sea.”
“Sir, we have to make a decision. Do we make the landing on the east coast or west coast in the morning, in Egypt or Islamyah?” General Moore, the commander of U.S. Central Command, asked the Secretary.
“Have the Iranians achieved a beachhead?” Secretary Conrad asked General Moore.
“A limited one near Jubail, but the aircraft from the Reagan, the Emirates, Qatar, and Kuwait are pounding it pretty hard. And it looks like their invasion of Bahrain has been repulsed altogether,” the general said.
“They weren’t invading Bahrain, General,” Secretary Conrad insisted. “That was just a feint, probably.”
“Fucking Adams! I knew it,” Kashigian said to the Secretary. “But we can still claim the need to go in to protect the oil from a secondwave Iranian attack… and from the chaos in Islamyah. There is definitely chaos there. They’re changing leaders by the day.”
Conrad exhaled, loudly. “Maybe. What about the Chinese troops and the nukes?”
“Well, the two Chink carriers are definitely heading home. The Ro-Ros have docked in Karachi, where they seem to be delivering military vehicles to Pakistan, along with a bunch of military advisers and technicians,” General Moore read from his message traffic.
“So no Chinese threat,” Conrad muttered at Kashigian.
“Mr. Secretary, ever since that speech this morning by the Shura fella, we have been getting reports of movement toward the beaches, the landing areas we planned. Lemme show you the feed we’re getting from Global Hawk of what we call Nebraska Beach, or landing area Alpha Two.”
The image that appeared on the large screen showed a coastal area, then zoomed in to show a beach, then in farther to show people massing in groups.
“I don’t see any tanks, artillery. What are they armed with? Zoom in more,” Conrad blustered at the general.
“Mr. Secretary, that’s just it. They’re not armed. They’re civilians. And they’re, like, holding hands and praying. Every so many yards there’s some imam with them.”
The secretary had walked up to the screen, trying to peer down onto the beach. He turned back to Kashigian. “Ron, what do you
make of…Ron, stop reading the goddamn news clips. I have to make a decision.”
Kashigian walked over to the Secretary, carrying the newly arrived news summary. “This just came in. Front page on the New York Journal. A story written by that Delmarco reporter. It says although her laptop was missing from her car when she was found, it had automatically backed up her draft onto their server.” He handed the Secretary the paper. Conrad’s eyes widened as he read. He seemed to pale. “This is scandalous, it’s libelous, it’s untrue lies.”
“Sir?” the general asked, confused by the exchange between the civilians.