Chapter 15

"Effendi, Effendi! Wake up! We have big problem!"

"What is it?" asked Aziz groggily.

"The money ... They called ... Not there ... Very angry..."

Aziz, now more awake, tried to calm his servant.

"Paki! Paki! You are making no sense, man. Stop and take a breath, then tell me what the matter is."

With great difficulty, Paki regained control of himself, and started over.

"Effendi! The money we transferred for the purchase of the next shipment has disappeared! Our people are there to pick up the goods, but when the sellers accessed the account, it was empty!"

Aziz, now wide awake but confused, asked, "Did you not give them the correct transfer codes?"

"Yes. We double-checked. The account is empty, and the sellers are ready to shoot our people!"

"What could have happened?" asked a very worried Aziz.

In fact he was so worried that he didn't even get upset with his servant, as was his usual manner.

"Use the Swiss account, and transfer the required amount immediately. Oh, Paki, add ten percent. Let us hope that it will be enough to quiet the anger of our suppliers."

Paki nodded, and scuttled from the room in haste.

"How could this have happened? I must contact the bank immediately, and see what is going on," thought Aziz getting more worried as time passed.

"First that accursed girl survives the crash, then those two foul infidels run out on me, and now this. Why has Allah cursed me?" muttered the man that was the cause of all of the present grief.

Strangely enough, Aziz was the cause of his own grief, too, though he didn't realize that fact. Yet!

Aziz rose and quickly dressed. As he exited his room, he stopped to remove his address/code book from the hidden wall safe.

"Gotcha again, you bastard," muttered George as the codes for the second account traveled through the ether.

No sooner had Aziz's servant transmitted the information than George raided the account, emptying it of what was left. Once out of the account the money was sent through no less than fifteen banks around the world, by EFT (Electronic Funds Transfers.)

"What are you so happy about, old man?" asked Raven as she entered the Com center.

"Oh, I just gave that Arab bastard another big headache," said George with a huge smile.

"Oh? How?"

"I broke his encryption codes. So whenever he does any banking I get the account numbers and passwords. Once I have that information I raid the account. I almost spoiled an arms deal but he managed to get other funds from a Swiss bank and saved the deal and his men."

"I LOVE YOU, you old fart," said Raven as she rushed over to give her friend a huge hug.

"Wait! Isn't he going to be able to trace your moves back to us?" asked Raven with a look of concern.

"Nope!" said the old man smugly.

"I called in a few favors and made the money bounce all over the globe. Then, after fifteen or so EFT's, the cash is taken out and re-deposited in another institution by some of my friends. Of course they are getting a chunk of the money, but who cares? It isn't coming out of our pockets."

"I'm surrounded by Special Forces and Spies!" yelled Raven as she threw her hands up in mock horror, and then broke down into gales of laughter.

"What is so funny?" asked Jack as he came into the room.

Raven explained what George was doing. This information brought a big smile to Jack's face. Then in a more serious vein he asked, "How much?"

"Twenty million so far, but I think we will be getting more very soon," said George.

Jack just whistled softly.

"How did you manage to crack the encryption?"

"I may be old but I still keep my fingers agile. Can't let my skills get rusty, don't ya know!" said George with a chuckle and a smile.

"Man this is a great break! This will keep the bastard off balance while we make plans. Whoooeeee!"

"I will take that as a thank you," said the old black man, laughing heartily.

"That you can, my friend! That you can!"

Jack then became all business again and asked, "Were you able to figure out the buyers identity?"

"Not exactly, but all of the markers are of one of the Muslim terrorist groups. If I were asked to guess, I would have to exclude Al Qaeda. The markers don't really fit. But I think that Hezbollah fits quite nicely. That is only a guess, you understand, but an educated one," said George in a more somber tone.

"Boy, this jumps our chances for success, way higher up the charts."

The good news spread quickly through the ranks, and a renewed spirit of enthusiasm filled everyone's hearts.

The daily briefing turned into a strategy meeting that fleshed out the attack plans.

"Sir?"

"Yes Karl?"

"Those of us from E/S just wanted to thank you for giving us a chance to be more than security guards. Your trust in us is greatly appreciated. We have been watching what you are doing, and we think we have an idea that will really mess with the enemy's head."

"Go on," said Jack curiously.

"Well, Sir, as you know some of our people have colored blood and could pass for Arabs. That fact started to stir the pot, Sir. I mean to say, that it gave us an idea that could fool the enemy into looking elsewhere for his targets," said Karl with an expectant look.

"I don't quite follow you, Karl," said Jack.

"Look! If we attack them with only the people that can pass for Arabs, and we only speak in Arabic, the enemy will think that one of his customers is unhappy. They won't realize that Miss Raven and you are looking to get them. Do you see what I mean?"

Jack sat, stunned, for several moments.

Then he said, "Karl that is just short of brilliant!"

Jack clapped the man on the back with gusto.

"How many people can you field for the mission?"

"We have fifteen men that fit the visual image. Twelve can speak Arabic and Farsi, and the three others can speak Farsi. Of course they all speak Africans and English, too."