Chapter 14: Terrorizing Terrorists

We needed someone to represent the Ark Foundation during the final stage of contract negotiations with an Israeli company in Tel Aviv. Maggie Callahan had offered to be our representative during the negotiations. She could stay with relatives who lived in Tel Aviv and afterwards she could take vacation and spend some time visiting with other friends and relatives who lived near Tel Aviv.

Clara and I were concerned about Maggie traveling in that part of the world for the terrorist groups had been more active than normal over the past six months. Several Palestinian extremist splinter groups had been taking action against Israeli settlements killing three Israeli settlers last month, and the more rabid Israeli settler groups were retaliating.

“Bob, Sharna, Clara and I are concerned about Maggie.

“She will be traveling in the Tel Aviv area of Israel, and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has worsened over the past few months. Is there something that you can do to help protect her while she is away?”

“Yes if you want, we can provide her with a mental link, a protective field, and close supervision by Sharna during her travels.”

I was suspicious of how easily Bob and Sharna agreed to the suggestion, but I understood why when Clara gave me that look that told me Maggie would be my next Bond Mate.

When we added Tara, Asal, and Dorri to our Bond Group, I knew that Sharna and Clara would be adding more. So Sharna and Clara must have decided that Maggie would be number nine in my Bond Group. I had previously made it clear to them that four Bond Mates were more than I needed, but they added Tara, Asal and Dorri anyways, and then they added Julie, Samantha, and my secretary Joan Ivers. Now it was Maggie’s turn or it would be when she returned.

There was something going on between Sharna and Clara that I didn’t understand. Yes, I knew about Bob and Sharna’s need to mate affecting those around them, but this was something more than that influence. Both of them were driven to add more women to our Bond Group, regardless of my personal wishes. The really odd thing was that my other Bond Mates apparently had no objections to more Bond Mates. Joan, Mary, Julie, and Samantha were almost as eager as Clara to find me another woman and they took an active part in recruiting the women Clara selected. Poor Maggie, I wonder if she suspected what was in store for her when she returned. I could picture my eight ladies working on Maggie until she surrendered and agreed to join our Bond Group.

Maggie, Clara, and I met in the Executive Meeting Room the day before Maggie was due to depart to review Maggie’s portion of the effort in Tel Aviv.

“Maggie, Jon and I want to do a final review of the plans for your trip before you leave tomorrow. Why don’t you tell us about the Strawberry Contract and what part you will play on this trip?”

“Okay. I have been working on setting up the contract for the delivery of 900 tons of sliced, freeze-dried strawberries packaged in 5-pound vacuum-sealed bags for the past six months. Last month we selected a vendor and negotiated a price and delivery schedule. Last week we reviewed the preliminary contract and requested a few changes, which were accepted and incorporated.

“When I get to Tel Aviv, I need to confirm that the final contract is signed by the supplier and that it matches the preliminary contract with the requested changes included. I will then FedEx the signed contract to Auburn for Jon to sign. Once Jon signs the contract, he will send a certified copy of the contract to me by FedEx and I will present it to our supplier.”

“Maggie, Clara and I are concerned about your being in Israel and the hostilities that have flared up lately in that area; especially with you traveling around the country to visit with friends and relatives. We discussed our concerns with Bob and Sharna. They have given you a temporary mental link and a protective shield.”

We activated her link and told her how to use the link and how to create her personal mental filters and shields. We then explained her body armor to her and told her how to switch it between its passive and reactive states. We didn’t tell her about Sharna keeping an eye on her. She would not have appreciated our watching over her like a child. The interesting thing was, before Maggie created her filters, I received an impression of her feelings for me. It looks like all Clara will have to do is mention the possibility of her joining our Bond Group and I will have Bond Mate number nine in my bed.

The next day, Clara and I escorted Maggie to the airport for her 12:30 PM flight, and waited for her to get through the TSA checkpoint. It was after midnight when Maggie called on our link to confirm her arrival in Tel Aviv. Her Tel Aviv family had met her at the airport and they would see that she got to her appointment with our strawberry supplier tomorrow.

Two days later, we received the signed contract from Maggie. Harry and I reviewed it to confirm it was correct. I signed it and made copies for our personal records. That afternoon we shipped a certified copy of the signed contract to Maggie by FedEx. Three days later, we received a phone call from Maggie informing us that she had provided the signed contract to the supplier and they were happy. Our first foreign business deal was underway. We chatted with Maggie for a while about what she intended to do in the coming days, before we ended our telephone call.

Two and a half weeks later, Samantha delivered her daughter Sara. I had been in the delivery room with Julie when she delivered her son Bren and it had been an amazing experience; so I was there for Samantha also.

With Clara and Mary, I thought that I had plenty of time to get to the hospital. Our two sons were eager to be born and made it into this world before I made it into the delivery room. When Dorri and Asal gave birth, I was involved in another matter and was not informed that they had gone into labor. I learned they had gone into labor, when I got a call telling me I was now the father of two sets of twin girls.

We had finally returned from the hospital and had not been asleep for an hour, when Clara and I were suddenly awakened by a panicky call on our link from Maggie; her tour bus was being attacked. Clara and I ordered Bob and Sharna to go to Maggie’s aid. I think we would both have liked to go back to sleep, but we were too concerned about Maggie’s safety and what was happening in Israel to sleep. It was a long night.

Bob contacted me first, “Don’t worry Jon, Sharna and I are already there and taking care of the problem. Maggie’s body armor protected her and her aunt, but a couple of tourists were wounded; she’s okay, just scared.”

Bob and Sharna had been on the way and almost there before Clara and I realized what was happening and opened our mouths to tell them to go help Maggie. Since Sharna and Bob had no physical bodies, they were able to travel through the center of the Earth at a very high speed, straight to Maggie’s location. Well to be accurate, they didn’t go through the center of the Earth. Their direct route had missed the Earth’s liquid core by several miles. Bob was giving me updates as things were happening.

“Sharna got there first Jon and she erected a shield around the bus in which Maggie was riding, so she and the other passengers are safe now. There are five terrorists firing automatic weapons at the bus, and I am disarming them now.

“Sharna has created a sound proof, containment field around each terrorist. The containment fields are floating about 2,000 feet above ground and she tethered the fields to the bus, so the terrorists will not drift with the wind.

“Sharna removed her shield from around the bus and the passengers are exiting the bus.”

During Bob and Sharna’s activities, Clara and I talked to Maggie via her link to calm her and reassure her that she was now safe for Bob and Sharna were with her and they would protect her. As soon as she was reassured, Maggie turned her attention to the aunt who was traveling with her. Her aunt was all right, just scared. During the attack, Maggie happened to be between the aunt and the terrorists. Since Maggie’s shield had been hit several times, it appeared that she had saved her aunt from being wounded or killed. The two women calmed each other and proceeded to render aid to the other passengers who had been wounded by the terrorists before Sharna’s shield was in place. As they worked, the local officials arrived and took control of the ambush site.

“Jon, the terrorists are trying to figure out how to contact their local commander and alert him to their capture. Their local commander and the remainder of his terrorist cell are hiding in a house about ten miles down the road. What do you want us to do?”

Bob and Sharna wanted to know what we wanted to do with the terrorists. We could turn them over to the Israeli Police or we could dispose of them ourselves. We discussed possible means of disposition amongst ourselves, and decided to let the local police take them into custody. Before we gave them to the police, we would have Bob and Sharna place an irresistible compulsion in the terrorists’ minds to divulge everything they knew about the terrorist cell and its members to include all the information they may have on other cells and their members.

“I think we should put a containment field over the house Bob, so their comrades can’t escape, and while you are doing that, have Sharna put a compulsion in all of the terrorists’ minds that will make them tell the authorities everything they know about the terrorist cell; especially about the location of their commander and comrades.”

As Bob, Sharna, Clara, and I talked with Maggie, we learned what had happened during those seconds prior to Bob and Sharna’s arrival on the scene. A terrorist driving a farm truck had pulled out in front of the bus and the driver had stopped blocking the bus’s path. The bus stopped, so it would not hit the farm vehicle. The remaining terrorists were hiding about fifty feet from the road. As soon as the bus stopped, the terrorists had stood up and started firing. By dropping the protective shield around the bus on their arrival, Bob and Sharna had ended the threat to the occupants of the bus. Unfortunately, a number of people had been injured before Sharna had been able to put the shield in place.

By the time we had completed our conversation, one group of the local authorities had secured the scene, found the terrorists’ weapons, and were searching for the terrorists. The second group had gone to the aid of the bus’s occupants with medics attending the injured and the police questioning the passengers and witnesses. Their first question was ‘Where are the terrorists?’ One witness pointed straight up at the sky. When the police looked up, they saw the terrorists hovering 2,000 feet above the ground. Dumfounded by the impossibility of the terrorists’ location, the police could only stare.

Maggie suggested to Sharna that she lower our prisoners to the police who were searching for them and release them, one terrorist at a time, so the police would have time to search and secure each prisoner. Sharna shifted and lowered our five prisoners until they hovered 20 feet off the ground and about 25 feet in front of a police bus that was setup to transport prisoners. As the first prisoner was lowered, Sharna removed his containment field, so the police could grasp the prisoner. After the police had searched, shackled, and confined the first prisoner in the bus, Sharna lowered the second prisoner. Once all the prisoners had been released to the police, Sharna returned to helping Bob watch over Maggie.

As a policeman was questioning Maggie and the other passengers, a large group of police jumped into their cars and left the scene in a great hurry. It seems the five prisoners could not wait to tell the police where their comrades were hiding. Bob returned to that location to assist the police in apprehending the remainder of the terrorist cell. When the police arrived, they found three terrorists hovering 25 feet off the ground. Bob turned his prisoners over to the police as Sharna had done one prisoner at a time. Before the transfer was complete, the prisoners were trying to provide the police with information about all of their comrades and other terrorist groups. The police were baffled by this odd behavior on the part of the terrorists, but they were taking advantage of the situation to learn as much as they could about specific terrorist groups.

The tour bus company had sent a replacement bus to the ambush site, so when the police were done taking statements, the uninjured passengers loaded themselves and their luggage onto the new bus and continued their journey. The police turned their prisoners over to the Shin Bet, which is the internal Israeli intelligence group responsible for terrorism committed against Israeli citizens. I later heard that the Shin Bet had drained the prisoners of information and returned them to the police for trial and execution.

I really like it when one of my plans works out exactly as I intended it to. Unfortunately, there was one minor miscalculation.

Bob and Sharna had kept Maggie informed of what was going on so she would know that she was safe. However, Maggie made a serious error during her interview with the police. She used her knowledge to try to explain why the terrorists were hovering 2,000 feet above the ground. She mentioned Bob and Sharna to the policeman who was questioning her, but the policeman did not take her seriously. Maggie left with her aunt and the rest of the tour group when the bus departed the scene of the ambush.

The policeman must have mentioned her comment to a fellow policeman or superior. The police were very baffled by the terrorists floating above the ground, then being lowered and released to them one at a time, and by their willingness to talk about their organization. Maggie’s comment was the only thing that came even close to explaining the event, but no one wanted to admit that they believed what she said. When the story of the hovering terrorists and Maggie’s comments moved up the chain of command, it eventually reached someone who gave orders to locate and interrogate Maggie.

During the afternoon, the police located the tour bus and informed Maggie that she would have to go with them to the local police station to answer some questions regarding the terrorist attack. Her aunt accompanied her to the police station, and on the way to the station, Maggie contacted Clara and I to let us know what was happening to her. Maggie wasn’t in danger, so we advised her to just tell the truth and let us know if she needed our help.

After thirty minutes of questioning, Maggie activated her link and told us what she had told the police and that the police did not believe her story. Privately, Clara and I wished that Maggie had not tried to resolve the curiosity of the policeman who originally questioned her. Since the police were now aware of us, even though they didn’t believe what they had been told, we would have to resolve the problem in order to get Maggie released. Bob and Sharna suggested that we go to Israel to convince the police that she was being truthful.

We told Maggie to have the police telephone us at our home and we would handle everything; if necessary have them call collect. Five minutes later the phone rang and it was the Israeli police. Even though we confirmed Maggie’s story, the police did not believe us. I told them that we would fly to their location and be there in about twenty minutes and hung up the phone. A couple of minutes later, Bob had returned to fly Clara and me to Israel.

Bob homed in on Sharna and Maggie’s current location and he set Clara and me down outside the police station fifteen minutes later. This was the first time Clara had traveled in this manner and found it to be exhilarating. I understood how she felt for I had experienced a similar feeling when Bob flew me to Iran to rescue the BCers.

We went inside and asked to speak to the police lieutenant that I had spoken with on the phone. When I introduced myself to him, he had the oddest look pass over his face. It was as if he now knew Maggie’s story was true, but he absolutely did not want to accept the truth of what we had told him. It was a reality that was beyond his belief, but he was struggling to accept that which he refused to believe. Just twenty minutes ago, he had spoken to us and we were in the United States. Now we were standing in front of him. It was impossible, but true. I suggested that we join Maggie in the interview room and discuss where we would go from here.

When we walked into the interview room, Maggie saw us and charged into our arms. After giving Clara a long hug, she ended up in my arms holding me to her body. As she clung to me, I could sense my body responding to Maggie. It was becoming difficult to determine where I ended and she began.

“Clara, if you are planning to add Maggie to our Bond Group, tonight would probably be a good time to discuss it with her.”

“Yeah, I can tell that you are ready for a new lady, regardless of what you keep telling me about four Bond Mates.”

Once we were seated, we talked with Police Lieutenant Asher Carni. He had a very hard time accepting that Bob and Sharna were real. After being flown around the interview room and another thirty minutes of discussion, the lieutenant finally came to accept the reality of Bob and Sharna’s existence and the truth of Maggie’s statement.

The lieutenant told us about the problems that he and his comrades had been having with the local terrorists. Periodically a terrorist group would appear deep in Israel, commit acts of violence, and then disappear until they reappeared in Palestine. No matter how closely the security forces watched the border, they could not detect the terrorists crossing the border. Clara asked the lieutenant about the group that attacked the bus on which Maggie was riding. He said that the terrorist group was known as The Brotherhood’s Sword. All three of us were angry with this group, but Clara was exceptional angry for the terrorists had attacked a woman she had selected to become my Bond Mate. Clara explained her reasoning to me and I sort of understood why she was so angry. While I may not have fully understood her rationale, I was very much in favor of her solution to the problem.

“Lieutenant Carni, as the head of my extended family, I cannot overlook this attack on Maggie.

“My family’s position is that the Palestinians and Israelis can engage in whatever military acts that they wish to engage in. Involving a member of my family in the conflict by making a military attack on a non-military target is an unacceptable act as far as I am concerned.

“My family’s business will be sending representatives into this part of the world on occasion. This episode has shown me that the risk to our representatives is too great to allow the situation to continue. We cannot stop the conflict in this part of the world, but we can send a message to all combatants. The message I plan to send is, if you attack our representative, we will consider your actions to be a declaration of war against our family, and we will respond accordingly.”

The lieutenant said, “Mr. Reppa, I can understand your concern over the safety of your people, but I don’t think you know what you are getting into by retaliating against The Brotherhood’s Sword. The members of The Brotherhood’s Sword are fanatics. If you attack them, they will just add your family to their list of targets.”

“Thank you Lieutenant Carni, I appreciate your concern and attempt to stop me from opening up my family to a danger that I don’t understand. However, I am well aware of what to expect from fanatics and I know how to deal with them.

“I joined the US Army and was sent to India. My platoon engaged the Al Qaeda terrorists that had gained control of Pakistan. For almost three years, my platoon engaged the terrorists, and during that time, I learned many important lessons about dealing with fanatics. These lessons have been seared into my mind and soul by my experiences in India and Pakistan. I learned that:

1. You cannot reason with a fanatic.

2. Fanatics do not compromise. They use truces and negotiations as an opportunity to resupply and reposition their forces, so they will be in a better position to attain their objective at the end of the truce. Assuming of course that they don’t attack during the truce.

3. A war with terrorists is never over until the terrorist is destroyed and all of its members killed.

“As far as I am concerned Lieutenant, The Brotherhood’s Sword wanted to kill Israelis and they did not care about the innocent tourists who were also on that tour bus. To them, the tourists they kill and injure are nothing more than unavoidable collateral damage.

“To me, the phrase ‘unavoidable collateral damage’ is nonsense spouted by people who do not want to accept responsibility for the consequences of their actions. Use of the phrase in this instance is doubly ludicrous. The tour bus was no threat to The Brotherhood’s Sword. They therefore were not required to attack it. The attack was an avoidable action, which means they chose to attack the bus as a statement in support of their political agenda. Collateral damage is what happens to innocent bystanders when a military unit attacks a military target. The tour bus was not a military target. An intentional military attack on a civilian target for the purpose of killing civilians is premeditated murder.

“As far as I am concerned, Maggie, her aunt, and the other tourists were not collateral damage. They were the targets of an attempted mass murder plot. Furthermore, as I said earlier, when The Brotherhood’s Sword attacked Maggie, they declared war on my family.

“I do not like war Lieutenant. I believe war is a waste of people and resources, but I will only go so far to avoid violence. When I am pushed beyond my limit, I will respond with everything at my command to permanently end the threat to my family and me.”

“Yes sir, I understand you feelings Mr. Reppa, but I don’t think you fully appreciate what war with The Brotherhood’s Sword will mean to your family. Your family will be subjected to attacks by The Brotherhood’s Sword for forever; as you said, fanatics do not forget or forgive.”

“I realize that Lieutenant Carni. When I learned what had happened, I discussed the matter with my family and associates. We reached a decision. We decided that my associates would prepare a list of The Brotherhood’s Sword members, and we would include those people who contributed major sums of money to finance this terrorist group.

“My associates are close to completing that list. We may not identify everyone who is a member, but we will identify most of the active participants. Right now, that list contains over 600 names. When we feel that the list is essentially complete, we will kill every person on that list.”

“If you do that Mr. Reppa you will incite every Palestinian group into retaliating against your family. You will cause war to erupt in this area.”

“I realize that is a very real possibility Lieutenant. That is why I want to speak with the leaders of the Palestinian groups that your government is negotiating with as soon as I can.

“I hope to make it clear to them that The Brotherhood’s Sword declared war on my family, and that we are only making war on the members of The Brotherhood’s Sword, which is the group that attacked us. We are not attacking the other Islamic groups and have no intention to do so. I also hope to make it clear that if one or more of those groups choose to engage my family in hostilities, they will meet the same fate as that which my associates and I will inflict on The Brotherhood’s Sword.”

“Exactly what is it that you intend to do to The Brotherhood’s Sword Mr. Reppa?”

“As I said Lieutenant, we will locate and kill everyone on our list, regardless of whether they are in Palestine, Europe, or some other country, and we will complete these executions in less than 24 hours. We believe the scope of our action and completing the action in less than 24 hours will stun the Palestinians to the point that they will realize that they should avoid further hostilities with my family.”

“I see. I will inform my superiors about your plans Mr. Reppa. I don’t know what they will do, but if you can eliminate The Brotherhood’s Sword the way you say you can, then I will be happy to be rid of them.

“Mr. Reppa, I don’t understand how you and your associates can kill that many people over that large of an area in such a short period of time, but I hope things work out the way you are hoping. Unfortunately, some of these fanatics are very stupid and egotistical. They may decide to retaliate against your family and you. If you do this, then you will need to be extra cautious while traveling in this part of the world.”

“I want to thank you for the warning Lieutenant. I am aware of how the Palestinians will most likely respond. We will take extra precautions as long as the hostilities in this part of the world continue.

“I think it would be best that you do not make a public announcement of what my family will do Lieutenant. All I need from you is an introduction to Israel and Palestine’s head negotiators.”

With our meeting over, Clara, Maggie, and I made a reservation in a local hotel. Over dinner, Maggie said yes to Clara’s offer to join our Bond Group. I was worn out the next morning by a very passionate night with two amorous ladies.

Two days later, Lieutenant Carni telephoned the hotel where Carla, Maggi, and I were staying to extend an invitation for me to dine with a Mr. Eli and the two leaders of the Palestinian groups. The Lieutenant apologized for the Palestinians’ belief that women are not appropriate participants in the affairs of men. I accepted the invitation and then had to calm Clara; Maggie didn’t like it, but she was accustomed to dealing with that attitude. Clara was ready to start our war and to hell with what the Palestinians thought of our actions.

The Israeli government was negotiating with the two main Palestinian groups to establish a treaty. The Israeli government wanted a treaty that was binding on all of the Palestinian terror groups. Unfortunately, there were numerous splinter groups similar to The Brotherhood’s Sword that did not want to halt their attacks and the Palestinian groups the government was negotiating with had little to no control over the splinter groups.

Lieutenant Carni met me at the hotel and escorted me to the restaurant where Mr. Eli was hosting the dinner. After introducing me, Lieutenant Carni let me know the car and driver would remain at the restaurant for my use after dinner, but he would be leaving at this time.

The three negotiators spoke with me off the record.

Before we joined the Palestinian negotiators, Israel’s head negotiator said, “Mr. Reppa, I have been briefed on what you plan to do. I don’t know how your actions will affect this treaty or how the average Palestinian will respond. I do hope that you will be able to convince the Palestinian negotiators that it will be in their best interests to define your actions as between your family and The Brotherhood’s Sword.

“The main thing you need to take into account is that the Palestinians cannot control the splinter groups and my government has trouble controlling the more radical elements of our people.”

Over dinner, I talked with the Palestinian negotiators. During our discussion, I received the impression that all three negotiators wanted to settle the hostilities by agreeing to a treaty. Due to the political dynamics of the situation, the Israeli and Palestinian negotiators had to publicly oppose any efforts my family might take in retaliation for the attack on the tour bus. Off the record, I was told that if my family eliminated the splinter group that attacked the tour bus, then the negotiators would have a better chance of negotiating a treaty. They hoped the rest of the splinter groups would be less likely to initiate random attacks.

Palestine’s head negotiator said, “Mr. Reppa, The Brotherhood’s Sword is one of the splinter groups that we are unable to control. We provide them with no funding or support. They make their own plans and execute them without consulting our groups. They create many problems between the Palestinian Government and the Israeli Government. My associate and I must balance many variables in negotiating with the Israelis. It would make our task simpler, if they and the other splinter groups were not variables that we had to deal with in negotiating this treaty. Furthermore, if they were no longer a variable, it would make dealing with the other splinter groups easier.”

“Gentlemen, I can appreciate the difficulties you face. I don’t want to make your task more difficult. However, this organization attacked the tour bus on which a member of my family was riding. During the coming years, my family will be doing a great deal of business in this part of the world. We are currently talking with one Palestinian company about a contract for figs and dates, and we will be contracting other Palestinian companies for the supplies we need. I will not tolerate my family members being subjected to random attacks because Palestine and Israel are engaging in random guerrilla attacks on each other.