Chapter 1

It should have been a historic moment marked by broad smiles, congratulatory slaps on the backs and endless toasts with flutes of champagne. For the first time in history the heads of the seven most powerful nations on earth had put aside their differences and come to complete agreement on an issue. There were no dissenters. There was no celebration either. The meeting was so secret the leaders didn’t meet in person. Instead, they used the marvels of modern technology which allowed them to hold the historic event via video conference.

“You’re sure this site is totally secure and there is no way anybody could hack it and listen in on this meeting?” United States President Alice Baxter asked.

“No way, we have this site so secure it’s impossible for even the most brilliant hacker to penetrate. They’d have to know our secret codes to do it,” Tom Wysnosky, head of the US government’s computer security department assured her.

“Any more communication with the terrorists?

The president was asking about the armed men who boarded a ship several days earlier. And it wasn’t just an ordinary ship which would have been bad enough. But this was a luxury vessel on which the wives and children of government officials from various countries had been enjoying a cruise. The terrorists managed to overcome stiff resistance from the security detail assigned to protect the ship’s passengers, cut off all communication with the mainland and then abduct nearly 50 females. Despite a world-wide alert they then vanished into thin air. The only communication from them so far had been a video of a speech from a man who called himself Eli.

An extensive world-wide search for any and all information about the thin, slightly build man yielded nothing. The only proper photo they had was of him making a speech after the kidnapping. Spittle flew from his mouth and a pair of fanatical looking eyes gleamed brightly through a thick beard as his black robe swirled around his legs as he paced the floor, making his demands. Even facial recognition programs failed to identify him.

Communication specialist Shelby Ann Moyers shook her head. “No ma’am, all we have is just the video we received last night. We went through it several times trying to figure out who this Eli guy is and where his speech may have been filmed but so far we have nothing. The only thing that stuck out was the walls. We all agreed they were made of rock or cement and definitely not wood which could indicate the hostages are most likely being held underground or in a cave.”

President Baxter nodded at the men and women who sat on either side of her. There were six in total and she sat in the middle of them. An aide handled the remote and moments later the television flickered to life. The screen was so big it covered most of one wall and the picture was so clear it made the faces that began to appear almost as big as life.

The imposing features of Russian President Demetri Kolokov were first on the screen. Like the US president, he sat amongst a group of sombre looking aides. Next was the Chinese leader De Long Sit. He was followed by Richard Wong of Japan, Thomas Selby of England, Pierre Longe of France, and Gertrude Sydor of Germany.

“Welcome everybody.” President Baxter gave the greeting as host because it was she who called the meeting. “You all know why we’re here.”

“Yes,” interrupted Kolokov. “Those damn terrorists have gone too far this time. We can put up with an occasional bombing accompanied by the usual blustered threats, but this is outrageous. Russia had nearly a dozen women and girls on board that ship. And as far as the terrorist’s demands go, they are ridiculous.” He pounded his fist on the table so hard his coffee cup bounced and rattled in its saucer. “We will never give into such demands.”

“Agreed,” stated President Baxter. “As you well know, we make it a policy to never give in to a hostage taker’s demands.”

“Us too,” said De long Sit, the taciturn Chinese leader added. “But on the other hand, they can’t do that my people. We must do something immediately.”

President Baxter nodded her head in sympathy as each head of state took their turn expressing their anger. When all them had a chance to voice their frustrations, she took charge again and got down to serious business.

“Okay, now that we all agree something must be done. The big question is what. This gang is so well organized it was able to abduct women and children from right under our noses, and we still know absolutely nothing about them, or where they are holding our citizens. We’ve found nothing on our computers about a terrorist who calls himself Eli and neither he or his group have even been on our radar until now so we’ve got a lot of catching up to do.”