Chapter 54: The Holy is Greater!

Time: August 11, 8244 9 AM

The geneticists' ramjet landed at Bandar Arenas in the early pre-dawn light at 7:07 AM, a half hour before sunrise. As per our agreement, they would be led to a secure conference that was part of my inner quarters complex. They had insisted that our first meeting be both face-to-face and secluded, attended only by myself and totally unrecorded. After considering the benefits to stopping the carnage at Giza and also that these were the top three Glorious Mufeto of the Health faction, I agreed to their demands.

Both my Guard and my security teams were deeply troubled about these arrangements, but I overruled their objections. The Guard spent a full hour making a meticulous inspection of everything the men carried before they were allowed to enter the palace. It was the best they could do, but I still saw deep frowns on their faces as they escorted my guests through the palace.

At 9 AM sharp the three Mufeto saw me enter the conference room with them. With a brief nod of my head, I sealed the door behind me and took a seat at my end of the table. Three pairs of cold eyes glared at me from the other side.

They were a formidable sight, decked out in the full glory of their ceremonial robes. CL-27 Majd was their leader, attended by CL-26 Butrus and Dirar. Their vestments were lavish, magnificent gold cloth with rich trimming of shining red stones. It made me rethink my own choice of clothes, a simple white shirt and dark pants. My only colors were my arm and breast insignias, showing the five-color pentagon of my office.

But then again, when viewed in a certain light, the opulence of the three made them look more than a bit pompous. I decided I had made the right choice for my outfit. I took a deep breath, but before I could offer an opening Prayer of welcome, Majd began to speak.

"Our agreement was that this meeting would be totally unobserved."

I nodded. "That is true."

"We insist on verifying the isolation of this room!"

I shrugged and waved my hand at him. "You may proceed."

CL-26 Dirar pulled out a sophisticated recorder scanner and placed in on the table. He fumbled with the controls for a moment, trembling and appearing very nervous. When he finally activated the device, he shouted "The Holy is Greater!" so loud that the room and my ears rang with the echo.

"The Holy is Greater!" shouted Majd and Butrus as they stood to reply, again with full volume. Again Dirar screamed, "The Holy is Greater!" and again Majd and Butrus thundered an echoing response.

"Glorious Mufeto, please," I responded. "The Holy is greater than all our deeds, I concede the point. Can we now get on with our meeting?"

After their explosive affirmations, all three of the Mufeto looked highly agitated. They stared at me and nodded and sat back down, smug smiles of satisfaction upon their faces. And there was something else there too. I studied their expressions and thought for a moment. Fatalism?

Now that the room was quiet, I noticed a faint hiss coming from Dirar's scanner. It was an uncharacteristic noise for such a device to make, and for a moment I wondered about the inspections that my security teams had done. Had they missed something? After a few more seconds the hissing stopped.

My guests and I stared at each other for a long, awkward moment. "Well," I said finally, "are you satisfied the room is secure?"

"It appears to be so," Dirar mumbled as he worked the controls on his device. After a moment he looked up to his cohorts. "Yes, the room is unobserved."

I wasn't surprised by his finding. The technology behind our polarized holo-scanning was based on physics totally unknown outside of Australia. This meeting was being observed and recorded in meticulous detail there. Our scanners here at the palace were completely undetectable by Dirar's device.

"I'm very glad to hear it," smiled Majd at Dirar. Majd then turned to me. "Abdul Hadi, Servant of the Guide and 85th Cunif Califar, your humble servants are before you!" Was that a sneer on his face and a hint of mockery in his voice? The expressions were not overt, but still...

"Humble?" I replied with a chuckle. "I must say I hadn't noticed."

"Oh, we are indeed humble before the Holy," replied Butrus with a nervous laugh.

I frowned. "Glorious Mufeto, please. Why are we talking like this? Did you truly come here to negotiate a hudna, or just to play word games with me?"

"No, not to play word games Abdul Hadi," replied Majd. "And what is truth? A matter of perspective, don't you think?"

"Majd?" I replied, as I shook my head in confusion. "No, not at all. Is not the truth the truth? We can recognize the truth by its endurance, and its ability to interlock with itself. And if one Prays to the Holy with honestly and humility, the Holy's truth is not that difficult to find."

"You are a dreamer Abdul Hadi!" shouted Majd. "A dreamer with only a few moments to awake and realize his truth is gone!"

I leaned back in my chair and sighed. "You didn't come here to negotiate at all, did you?"

"Ah," chortled Butrus. "The dreamer awakens!"

I gave the CL-26 a grim smile. "It's a skill I was taught as a boy, to sleep with my eyes half open. And I was not unaware of the hissing of your device."

"An elegant weapon, don't you think?" said Butrus, continuing with his smile. "The agent will decompose into harmless compounds in minutes, leaving no trace of its power."

"And you didn't try to flee Abdul Hadi?" asked Dirar. "That was foolish! Not that it would have made a difference. The agent needs only a few seconds to disperse." He coughed. "Completely unknown in modern times, very ancient." He coughed again. "By the end of our affirmations to The Holy, you were already a dead man." Another hacking cough. "We all were."

I shook my head sadly. "I'm not going to die Dirar, at least not today I Pray." I looked at my guests. In addition to his coughing, Dirar was beginning to look very sick, and the other two were sweating profusely in the cool room. I sighed. "I'm surprised you didn't immunize yourselves beforehand."

Majd shook his head. "There is no cure, no antidote. This is a martyrdom operation."

"Indeed?" I replied. "Pity."

"Oh? You don't wish our company in death?"

I shook my head. "No, not that. It's just a pity that I suspect you'll be dead before I can have you meet my inquisition councils. Tell me Glorious Mufeto, how long will you live?"

Majd shrugged. "A few moments more... Already I feel my heartbeat racing, becoming erratic. Feeling sick yet Abdul Hadi, how's your own heart? Don't you fear death?"

"Me? Oh, I'm fine. And I was taught as a boy not to fear death."

Majd looked profoundly puzzled for a second and then shook his head. "A bluff! I don't detect nose filters, and they would be of no help if you had them."

I nodded and continued. "Tell me Majd, before you expire, what would it take for me to end the war with the Health faction? You control the only source of the world's anti-aging drugs. I freely admit we have to find a compromise." I looked at my opponents closely. Their skin was very flush, and all three now looked as if they were having critical difficulty catching their breaths. I realized they had only moments to live.

"There will be no compromise!" Majd hissed. He glanced at the clock. "This very hour Babylon and Tobruk will burn in our righteous fire! And with you dead, the world will have no choice but to accept us again as their masters!"