Chapter 1

The door to the soundproof study room on level C of the library opened and two students entered, a young man and a young woman.

-You're late Stephen.

He said this without turning around, nor did he stop writing on the board until several seconds later when he turned towards the group of seven students to explain his work.

-Thus you can see that the two sums are the opposite of each other and we are left only with the intermediate term which is what we wanted to show.

-Moose, hey, sorry about being late.

-Very well, but you would do better not to interrupt me.

-Hi, I'm Lisa by the way. Stephen said it would be okay if -

-Tell her to sit down and be silent; I am in the middle of an explanation.

-Hey! What the -

The blond girl started to protest but Stephen pulled her down into a chair. Her hair fell over her face in an endearing manner and her body, although toned from regular gym time, rippled with her agitated motions in the pleasant way to which female flesh is predisposed. Despite the fact that the other two men in the room were quite interested in the new arrival Moussa just looked at the girl with disdain.

-Just chill Lise; Stephen said in a whisper; it's just his way. He does not know you and this was supposed to be a closed session. He won't talk straight to you until I introduce you to him.

-That's idiotic.

-Its his way, and he's a good guy. Besides, he is also your only hope to get the material before finals so sit down and take a look at homework 6; he is doing that bitch of a problem - number 2 - right now.

-Fine. And she sat down in a grouse, unhappy to be treated like a child by some arrogant stranger. As the evening wore on, however, she came to see why others put up with him: he knew his stuff. He was as good as a graduate student instructor, but he was a classmate. Everyone there knew he would set the curve, probably too high for some people's preference, and it showed. He answered questions with patience, although not without condescension. Eventually something came up that Lisa wanted to know, but she asked Stephen first, hoping she would not have to endure Moussa's glare; the question seemed a trival one.

-Stephen.

-Yeah.

-Why does the solution to La Place's take that form?

-I, I'm not quite sure. I think its superposition but you should ask Moose.

They were interrupted, however.

- You have a question Stephen; stated Moussa.

-Ah, yea; what's up with LP for the cap setup? Why is it in that form?

-For god's sake man I know you were in lecture when the old fart went over this - you were sitting right in front of me! Anyway, its just separation of vars, with the form following from the boundary conditions. It looks ugly but when you crunch through the math things clean up nicely. Watch, I'll work out the first two terms.

Without shifting his eyes from the front of the room Stephen leaned over and whispered to Lisa as Moussa continued at the blackboard.

-Great now he's going to keep reminding me to pay attention in class.

-He seems okay with the other people, why will he harass you.

-He won't really harass me, its just that he thinks I am smart so he wants me to pay attention.

-I guess. Has he been you friend for long?

-Well, I met him in the beginning of last year. John up there at the front is actually his best friend. They have known each other since high school, and I've known John since freshman year.

-And the others.

-Well, Lena and Mary you know from quantum. Geri is a British exchange student, that is why she seems new to you. I think Pat, who you know, brought her along because he is trying to make time with her.

-That's Pat alright. He'll screw anything that moves.

-And some things that don't.

-Now that was more than I needed to know.

-Yea - over-share. Anyway, its not going to do him any good. Watch the way she tosses her hair and cocks her head to one side whenever she asks Moose a question.

So they watched and sure enough, when Geri, in her semi-posh accent, asked Moussa a question she tossed her hair, cocked her head, and threw her torso out a bit to one side.

-See Lis; now I'll give you one guess who she is after.

Lisa looked at Moussa more closely now. He was not tall, about 5' 9", and while it was obvious he was fit, he was no Adonis. Something about him, however, arrested Lisa's attention. It was in the way he held himself and the way he spoke. Somehow he made Pat, a large man who looked like a hero out of Norse mythology, seem like a mere boy, while he, with his average stature, dominated the room. Beyond that there were the eyes - dark, shadowed, black, and deep set, with eyebrows that pointed up at the ends - that held ones gaze in paralysis.

-Yes, I can see what Geri sees in him. But he is such a prick, or at least he is to me. I wish Stephen would just introduce us so that I can have a normal conversation with the guy. But what the hell is that anyway; I mean who the hell does he think he is? All these science types think he is hot shit but out in the real world they would tell him to fuck off. Oh, damn; he looked right at me. I swear to god its like he heard me. Am I thinking out loud? A pause while she looked around. No. Somebody would have taken notice of the phrase fuck off - right? Damn, if I had known there would be so many head cases in this major I would have done biology. Oh well.

Consumed by her observations and her thought Lisa missed the last half hour of the study group and was startled when people started to get up. She too got her things together.

-Where are you guys going? She asked.

Now that studying was over the others were also in a talkative mood.

-Mattingly's, Blanes, or Triple Point. Replied John. - Why don't you come along?

Mary then came over to greet her new friend.

-Hey, I am glad you made it out. You should come with us; food and beer.

-As Moose always says: who needs bread when you have beer!? Quipped John.

-Uh, huh. A pint of Guinness would hit the spot. Said Lena - a petite Asian girl who was John's girlfriend.

-Whoa there, babe, you only weigh one twenty, not to mention only recently having turned twenty-one.

-Yeah but if I get drunk all the better for you. Lena teased back.

-Thanks guys; broke in Mary, with a laugh; but we do not need to hear any more about that! Just then Geri also came over to find out what the plan was and she along with John was formally introduced to Lisa. Pat and Moussa who were finishing up some work at the board then headed out and the rest followed.

Leaving the study room they cam to the huge spiral staircase that ran down the center of the underground library. Being a recent transfer Lisa was still impressed by it whenever she saw and this time was no different. She idle for a second looking up at the skylight several stories above.

-Even after two years it still is cool. This was Pat, who had come up to see where she had stopped as the rest of the group had started up.

-It is best during the day. I like the way mirrors in the rotunda reflect the light everywhere.

- Hey, do you see that one? Pat pointed a little left of straight from where they were looking.

-Yeah, it has a long crack in it.

-Moussa and John did that.

-What?!?

-Yep. Hey c'mon, I'll tell you while we walk, we are falling behind. So they too started up the stairwell.

-How in god's name did they pull that off?

-It was Moussa's damn pride; Pat said chuckling; at a party he said it would be cool if there was a fireman's pole down the stairwell that people could use to get down it. Someone called him on it and said that if it were there he probably would be too frightened to go down it. Moussa got angry, so the other person told him to prove it. In one of the stupidest decision of his life Moussa said fine. A friend of ours got him and John into the library after 2 am. Wait up...

Pat stopped for a moment to check out a book. As they stepped out of the library into the cool fall evening he continued the story.

-So they go in there with a bunch of rappelling gear and are planning to attach it to the safety railing on level A. But then John notices that in the gear is one of those shootable grappling hooks that will imbed itself into concrete. So he takes it out and is messing with it when it goes off.

-Bullshit!

-I kid you not. If Moose had been standing it would have impaled him, but thankfully, he was kneeling to get everything setup because the thing went straight over him and into that mirror. John says that Moose was so angry that he threatened to throw John down the middle of stairwell, and I think he would have too, if it had been anybody else. Mm- well, I won't say his name, but the guy who helped them get in also freaked but since he was their cameraman, they told him to suck it up and mad him stay. Anyway, so then they spliced rope to the shorter rope that was attached to the hook. John was first on the rope since he was likeliest to fall and then Moose. They made it about half way down when the spike started to quake. To hurry up they free fell to about 10 feet above the floor and then jerked to a stop. The problem was that the jerk caused the spike to fall out of the concrete and they fell the rest of the way. If that was not bad enough a second later they had the spike come clang down in between them. Thankfully they had fallen apart otherwise the spike would have skewered them both.

-I don't believe it.

-I am not BSing you.

-I just can't believe they would be crazy enough to do it.

-Fine, but ask John or Moose show you the tape some time. They both have a copy.

-What about the other guy, didn't he get caught? I mean when they noticed the crack and all.

-Well I don't think they noticed it for a few days. Even if they had noticed it right away he would have been fine because he had a key and took them though the maintenance halls. Since that summer, however, everything is card key access.

-Ha! I have to see that tape.

Just then Pat looked up and exclaimed.

-Hey what the hell guys! Why are we at Ali Baba's?

-We decided to get falafel and shwerma before getting drinks; a couple people replied.

-If you weren't so busy telling stories you might have noticed where we were headed; Moose said with a smile and mischief in his eye.

-Ah, well, lets go.

-Is this place good? Lisa inquired having frequented mostly the known commodities of chain restaurants. There were grunts and words of praise for the restaurant in response.

-Moussa! Sallaam! The proprietor, Yusef Khan, greeted Moussa and his friends.

-W'aleykum as'sallaam! How are you Khan Saab; Moussa asked; did you hear the news?

-What?

-The FBI is quietly interviewing Muslim youth for DHS, it's a bloody witch hunt.

-Eh, is that so? Hold on. Amir! Hey Amir, you should hear this; Khan called to his son who worked evening there.

The others got a table and started their own conversation but Moussa stayed at the counter.

-Hey Amir. Give us the works - enough for eight people, and I'll tell you and your father about the latest government BS. The feds are conducting what they call interviews of young Muslims. Really what they are doing is questioning people informally. Mostly they work on young people to get information about older people. You know, people our parents age, people who are not as fully integrated as we are and who have more of a connection to the homelands. You should warn everyone you know not to cooperate and to keep their mouths shut; the wrong phrase could land someone's parents or relatives in a questioning room. You better believe that they will interpret anything said to their advantage.

-'Tis ludicrous. How can they do this! Khan was agitated: these are the type of government antics we left the Middle East to escape; he exclaimed.

-Well, ever since the Bolshevik revolution Americans have been increasingly willing to trade civil liberties for a false sense of security. The funny thing is that the people who are supposedly anti-government, the gun lobby and people like them are the ones who put this government in power.

-Are they just stupid; asked Amir.

-I don't think so; replied Moussa; my friend David for instance is definitely not stupid. He thinks that by getting looser gun laws he protects himself from the government - as if his grandfathers Winchester will do anything if the government wants to get rid of him. I think most of those people are just mentally lazy.

-Yes, Amir, Moussa is right. It is easy to control people once you convince them that they need not think. I saw it done in my own homeland. You at least are safe though Moussa.

-Aye, they already have checked me out thoroughly, but I am not so foolish as to think that I am above suspicion. Especially with all the trips I take to visit family - the last time I went they made me sit through ten hours of training on how to identify foreign agents and how to repel them.

-Ha! Father and son laughed

-I know. If I got any hint of someone like that around me I would go straight to the embassy in Delhi and demand an escort - the buggers would give it to me to once they checked my credentials.

They continued to chat while Amir and Khan worked. Soon the smells filled Moussa's nose.

-Foods almost ready Moose; said Amir.

-My god you are quick.

-Its easy when you have the stuff roasting constantly.

-I guess. Well let me help you take it over...

Dinner for the Party was good. They were comfortable, in a homely place, and conversation flowed easily. Lisa was getting to know everyone except Moussa; his initial high spirits at the greeting from Khan had been quieted by the discussion of American domestic policy, but his friends paid no mind to it. He was often melancholy after prolonged activity or boisterous conversation and his friends were philosophic about it, knowing it was just a matter of time before he was cheery again. Lisa, however, did not know this and began to form an opinion of him that included the ideas of arrogance, conceit, and unpleasantness. And, not forgetting his treatment of her in the study room she also questioned, in her own mind, the legitimacy of his birth, but all this she kept to herself. The food was good and the others were a lot of fun, and Stephen was being very attentive.

Eventually they adjourned and proceeded to a bar. Mattingly's was an Irish expatriate pub modeled on traditional pubs in the Ireland. It was a place with dark woods, deep leather booths, round tables, and many quiet corners where friends, co-conspirators, or lovers could drink in peace and privacy. It was a far cry from most bars in the college town, or most other places in the country for that matter, save perhaps the old metropolises along the east coast and San Francisco. They found a booth deep inside, close to the back fireplace, and away from the door near which live jazz was being played. The first round was Samuel Adams and the beers continued to get darker and maltier with each successive round. Finally after the fifth round - a very mellow local porter - Stephen called for a decision.