“Let’s go, Ahmed. We have an interested party.”
Ahmed eased the Land Cruiser away from the curb and drove northeast on Bab Al-umrah. They turned onto the Second Ring Road, which took them to the Jeddah Old Road. Finally, they hit the Third Ring Road and with a sigh of relief headed back to Jeddah.
Chapter 32
The pilgrim approached the north entrance of the Ka‘abah just as three men hurriedly crossed the street and got into a Toyota Land Cruiser. One of them looked back suspiciously as the SUV quickly pulled away from the curb. They stood out in his mind because they walked stiffly, awkwardly, as if trying to walk slowly while they really wanted to run. However, he had more important things to consider because this was his pilgrimage, the one for which he had saved all his life. He couldn’t sleep. The pilgrimage was holy, and he and the others would come tomorrow to throw rocks at the devil. Approaching the entrance, he caught sight of a large cone-shaped object leaning against the wall. He approached the object and noticed a note in Arabic on the cone along with some English words and Arabic numbers. He didn’t read much English, but he was perfectly proficient in Arabic. He read:
Please call for the authorities.
Do not attempt to move the warhead.
Warhead?! The pilgrim turned around to call for help when he almost ran into a security guard. The guard looked over the pilgrim’s shoulder, then roughly pushed him aside and moved to more closely inspect the conical object.
The pilgrim blurted out, “I saw three suspicious men cross the street from here and drive away in a large automobile — that way!” He pointed northeast on Bab Al-umrah street.
“What type of automobile? And what color?”
“It was the big Toyota with the cargo space in the back. I forget the name.”
Another pilgrim standing nearby added, “I saw it, too. It was a SUV — the really big one.”
“A Land Cruiser?” asked the guard.
“Maybe. It was mostly white, but it had dark areas where the paint had been sanded and perhaps primed.”
“Thank you, pilgrims. Praise Allah you were here to see them!”
The security guard warned everyone to move away and called for help on his radio. He had been in the security forces for two years and this was his second hajj. He had thought security was tight last year, but it was nothing compared to this year. There were thousands more security guards on duty during the day, manning checkpoints and screening the millions of pilgrims making their way to the Ka‘abah. But late at night, with most of the pilgrims in bed, security was more relaxed. Perhaps too relaxed. He keyed his radio and called his supervisor, telling him of the conical object and giving him the description of the Toyota SUV and its direction of travel.
Almost immediately, the Saudi Air Force launched armed helicopters, which had been on alert for hajj security. The Saudi military primarily used U.S.-made equipment, and their military personnel were trained in operations and tactics by U.S. advisors. Equipped with night-vision scopes and air-to-surface rockets, they began a thorough search for the suspect SUV. With so few cars on the roads at this time of night, it should not be difficult to find.
Within half an hour, one of the armed helicopters, Makkah One, spotted a SUV on the highway to Jeddah. White with dark patches, it matched the description given by the pilgrim.
“Do they appear to be aware of your presence?” the ground controller asked the helicopter pilot.
“No. They are driving at a steady speed.”
“Okay. Keep them in sight. Stand by for orders.”
Meanwhile, the Saudi Secret Service arrived at the north entrance of the Ka‘abah, and a weapons expert examined the RV. Satisfied it was an empty shell, they loaded the RV into an unmarked government van and drove away. The sinister cargo was taken to headquarters in Riyadh, where multilingual agents inspected the RV and translated an English-language identification plate. The plate included a serial number and identified the device as U.S. Government Property. Someone had stamped USS Louisiana SSBN 743 on the side of the device so there would be no doubt where it had come from.
“What is it?” one of the agents asked.
“It’s a reentry vehicle,” the weapons expert answered. “It’s the part of an intercontinental ballistic missile that carries the nuclear warhead. But in this instance, the warhead has been removed.”
“Why would they do that?”
“It’s a message,” said the commander as he walked up behind the two men. “The maniacs who have stolen the American submarine are sending us a message. If they had wanted, the device could have still contained the nuclear warhead, and they could have destroyed Islam’s most holy city and shrine. They are telling us that if they can get a warhead to the Ka‘abah during the hajj, they can strike any Muslim target whenever and wherever they want.”
“If they seek to avenge the strike on Washington DC, why did they not destroy us today?”
“I don’t know. Hopefully because they are more compassionate than al-Qaeda.” Turning to his aide, the commander continued, “Call the director’s office. Have them wake him up. I need to speak to him, now!” The commander thought carefully of how to choose his words for this call. He was worried about his own fate, but even more, the fate of his cousin whom he had placed in charge of security at Mecca.
On the road to Jeddah, Ahmed drove in silence as Angel dozed next to him and Juan slept in the backseat. They were three quarters of the way back to Jeddah, and there had not been any sign of increased patrols on the highway. Thankfully, it looked as though they had made it in and out without a hitch. Just ahead was a turnoff to the right for a dirt road.
“Hey you two, wake up!”
“What’s the matter?” Angel groggily asked.
“We’re here at the dirt road where we are meeting Amal with the van. In case we were spotted in Mecca, we’re going to exchange this SUV and drive the rest of the way in the van.”
Ahmed slowed and turned onto the dirt road.
In the trailing helicopter, the pilot reported the SUV’s maneuver to the ground controller.
“Roger. See where they go. They may lead us to accomplices.”
Instead, the SUV pulled up next to a non-descript van. Three occupants got out of the SUV and walked over to the van. The helicopter’s gyrostabilized telescopic night-vision scope enabled the pilot to monitor every move by the suspects while staying well outside of hearing range. With his lights off, he was completely undetectable from their position. He watched and waited.
Ahmed approached the driver’s window and asked, “Amal, did we wake you?”
The driver jumped out and gave Ahmed a big hug. “No, no, little brother. Yuusuf and I were just talking. We note that you are right on time. Things must have gone well in Mecca!”
“Yes, they did. We believe we were entirely successful, but as planned, I want to make sure we were not followed on the road to Jeddah.”
“Of course, of course. Let’s trade vehicles. You take the van and continue on to Jeddah. Yuusuf and I will take the Land Cruiser and drive back toward Mecca. If the authorities stop us, they will only find two cranky old men who happened to have an ironclad alibi. We have just ended our night shift working in the GenCon equipment staging area. We have been seen by at least twenty-five other people during the time period you were in Mecca.”
“Good. Then let’s go!”
Ahmed, Angel, and Juan started to get into the van when Ahmed stopped. “Oh wait,” he said. “Amal, my dirty laundry is piled high in the back of the Land Cruiser. Let’s put it in the van so I can get it washed when I get back to Jeddah.”