Chapter 46: End of an Era, Take Two

Two hours later...

Time: May 2, 8243 1:27 PM

I had purchased a dozen tickets, Bandar Arenas nonstop to Qataban for me, my five wives, two pilots, and four guards. We were standing in a public line waiting to board, and personally I couldn't wait to leave the capital. My thoughts drifted to the other councilmen. They had all left before 11 AM and were probably all on the ground at Az Zarqa by now.

All except Jibran. I looked at the time and calculated. Jibran's ramjet had left a little after 11 AM and was headed for Aleppo, along the ancient coast of Massachusetts. I thought he was probably already two-thirds of the way there. Jibran was the only other councilman not invited to the party at Az Zarqa, even though he had been wearing a gold pentagon this morning. I guessed it was Abdul Muhsi's way of showing his displeasure that Jibran had not secured my vote. I shook my head slightly in disgust.

I stared out the terminal windows to the west, away from the tarmac and the planes. The scenery was quite beautiful, gentle rolling river valleys running east-west, and the sunlight was golden. I tried to come up with a pleasant thought. It seemed wrong to despair, with so much of the Holy's beauty just outside the windows. "Come on Ilias," I thought to myself. "A pleasant thought. There must be something..."

Well, at least the commoners in the line didn't seem to be enjoying my downfall. I had been getting many slight nods of sympathy from the crowd around me. I began looking at the people around me and acknowledging their kindness with my eyes.

There seemed to be a loud commotion in the terminal behind us, and as the sounds got louder I saw a very large contingent of Royal Guard approaching us, wearing full battle dress. Their devil-dogs were still in their holsters, but I knew how lightning fast these troops were. "My Holy," I thought, "what was our new ruler up to?"

Aleser approached me and stiffly saluted. I saluted back. "Sir!" he shouted, for all the concourse to hear, "I hereby formally announce that you are relieved of the title of Grand Mufeto!"

"Indeed?" I said quietly back. I thought I would refrain from asking on whose authority. Abdul Muhsi would have held the council vote in midair. I idly wondered if Jibran had stuck with me. I hoped not. My friend deserved his life. My wives! What would become of them?!

But then I took a closer look at Aleser. The Holy! Was the man grinning?!

Aleser continued, "Sir! Your new title is that of Senior Elector!" No question now, his eyes were alive with laughter. He raised his arms and offered me a new shirt. The white pentagon complete with interior black lines was clearly visible

I was having a difficult time understanding what he was saying. The crowds around us stood in shocked silence for a moment, and then some of the men started to sing a very old Prayer, the Hymn of Deliverance. Others quickly joined in.

"We need a private place to talk," I muttered to Aleser above the chorus, and I led us out of the public areas and the growing thunder of the song.

Before we entered a secure conference area I turned to Aleser and gestured to my wives. "I want these females back in their holding pens at the palace Aleser, and I want them extremely well cared for!"

"Of course Senior Elector!" he shouted above the noise, and then barked some terse orders to the guards. My wives were led off with a small contingent of guard around them.

The two of us then entered a small, plush room. As I activated the shields, I also blocked out the outside noise as well. The effect was quite dramatic.

"The Holy Aleser!" I said with a grin. "Is the whole airport singing?"

"Bellowing might be a better choice for the word, Senior Elector," he grinned back. There was more than laughter in his eyes though. As I looked closely, I thought I could also see something akin to adoration.

And I still had no idea what was going on. "Report Aleser," I said simply, "from the beginning, and just Ilias will be fine."

"Yes Ilias!" He took a deep breath. "Abdul Muhsi's ramjet, uh, your ramjet Ilias, was the last of the Az Zarqa party to leave. Liftoff was at 10:49 AM. The Cunif Califar wanted the others already on the ground to cheer him when he arrived at Az Zarqa."

"Not surprising."

"No. At 12:22 PM, the ramjet was at 17,000 meters, traveling 4,067 kph and 800 km from Az Zarqa. That's when it was scheduled to begin to decelerate and descend."

"Uh huh."

"It was also the time ground control would transfer from Bandar Arenas to Az Zarqa. The ramjet was shielded. Portal tunnel link was successfully disconnected from Bandar Arenas at 12:22:05 PM. But Az Zarqa control could not re-establish the link through the open portal."

"Ah..." I said. I was starting to have a dim idea of what had happened. Ah, the miracles of modern science and space-age technology. My heart was filled with joy, with just a touch of guilt that so much death could generate such pleasure.

"The pilots should have unshielded immediately and held position while allowing open communications. Instead, the jet continued on its normal landing approach fully shielded. It then started a slight deviation from its assigned flight path, drifting slightly to the east. It was a small fraction of a degree, but at those speeds, over the next twenty minutes, the drift accumulated into a number of kilometers. It wasn't until 12:37 PM when the controllers at Az Zarqa realized the jet's flight path would take it directly over an active volcano."