Abdul glared at David. “Why didn‘t you tell us you were leaving?”
“Allah did not command me to.”
“After Quinn saved your neck in Jerusalem, don’t you think you owed him at least a warning?”
“Since the Hajj, I have given myself to Allah completely. It was His wish for me to help Imam Ghazi in Jerusalem, and He, not Mr. Quinn, chose to spare me while Ghazi perished. Allah directed me to go with the woman tonight, but His divine intervention caused Quinn to exchange the flasks, which is why you are here now, Abdul.”
“You knew about the switch?” Abdul said.
Face calm and sure, David said, “The flasks look quite different.”
“And you didn’t say anything?” Abdul sat next to David. “You think everything in life is predestined. That we’re all puppets acting out the master plan of some divine being. What about free will?”
“We have free will. We can choose to live according to Allah’s rules, or not. Abdul, before my Hajj, I was unhappy, anxious, and uncertain — like you. But now, while I follow His teachings, I have no worries. Through the words of the Koran, Allah steers my choices. This is the best path, a path of peace, purpose, and fulfillment. For me, it has been a wonderful awakening.”
“What are you going to do when we see Nazar?” Abdul asked.
“I will do what Allah guides me to do.” A brilliant smile lighted David’s face and transformed his countenance. Abdul didn’t remember seeing the man smile before.
“But what about the innocent people who died in London, and in Seoul, and the soldiers back at the lab? And what about their families, grieving for their lost loved ones?”
“If they lived their lives according to the teachings of the Koran, then I rejoice for them — they are with Allah in heaven. If they were unbelievers, then their lives were worthless anyway.”
Abdul didn’t know how to respond. It could be argued that a religious zealot like David couldn’t be blamed for the murders; as with a psychopath, he was disconnected from reality. Within his distorted frame of reference, he’d done nothing wrong. Worse still, he believed he was doing good, doing God’s will.
Abdul wanted to understand more about the nanobots. The knowledge might prove useful to Quinn when they reached Arizona. “David, how can the virginbots be a weapon for Ghazi and a fuel for Nazar?”
David’s face brightened. For twenty minutes, he presented his technology to Abdul; animated and engaged, he seemed like a different person. Although the concepts were outside of Abdul’s sphere of knowledge, David explained them at a level he could comprehend. By the time David finished and fell silent, Abdul understood the basic tenets of the nanobots and how programming dictated their actions. He also realized that he was in the presence of a brilliant mind.
“Thank you, David. I appreciate you taking the time to share your work.”
David inclined his head a little to the side. “Would you like to pray with me, Abdul?” The question took Abdul by surprise.
David rose and moved to the front of the cabin. He rolled out his mat. Abdul yearned to join him. To relieve the stress and allow his mind to melt into the soft rhythm of prayer. As if on autopilot, Abdul followed and knelt beside David. They prayed for fifteen minutes. When they were finished David beamed at Abdul.
“Allahu Akbar,” he said.
“Allahu Akbar,” Abdul replied. He felt calmer than he had for days, and more conflicted than at any time in his life.
Chapter 37
Nazar’s jet arrived at Phoenix airport late in the morning. Quinn peered out the window as they taxied, checking for any kind of welcoming committee. A Jeep pulled alongside. The driver pushed a set of steps to the side of the fuselage, and climbed to the front of the plane. Quinn cracked open the cabin door and watched Keisha. She’d told him an arrangement had been made with the ground crew to get them through without passport checks. Keisha handed over a thick envelope, which disappeared into the driver’s inside pocket.
Abdul stood behind Quinn with one arm wrapped around Adiba. His free hand held the plastic carrier with the flask. David sat calmly in his seat.
“Welcome back, Miss Keisha.” The man from the Jeep spoke with a soft Southern accent, but when he keyed his two-way radio, the hairs on Quinn’s neck bristled. The driver flirted with Keisha, who had changed into a tiny red skirt and a tight, revealing top. She coyly covered her mouth with one hand and laughed at his patter. A few minutes passed before a second Jeep arrived and collected the driver, leaving them with a vehicle.
Quinn opened the cabin door. “Let’s go.”
Keisha drove them across the concrete apron to the heliport.
Quinn considered his options. He could shoot her, take the Jeep, drive to the terminal, and surrender. But he was public enemy number three. His travelling companions were numbers one and two, and, if Scott had done his job, the authorities would know he had a WMD. He didn’t recall much conversation happening when SEAL Team 6 met Osama bin Laden. No, too many unknowns. He needed to speak to Scott first. Learn the lay of the land. For now, they were safer with Eudon’s people; they didn’t see the flask as a weapon.
They abandoned the Jeep and walked, heads bowed, to a waiting helicopter, rotors already spinning. The pilot was a large black man. Quinn gauged his threat potential. He didn’t seem hostile.
The cockpit was cramped. Quinn sat next to David. Abdul and Adiba took the seat behind. Keisha rode shotgun. She passed a set of cans to Quinn, and he monitored Keisha and the pilot’s small talk.
Quinn needed a plan, but he didn’t know where to start. He trusted Scott, but couldn’t risk calling him on the cell phone and giving away their location. Once they reached the plant, he might get access to a landline. With so many unknowns, he’d have to wing it. Perhaps David was right. Perhaps Allah was managing the show.
As they approached the refinery, Quinn spoke into his mic. “Is that all Nazar’s?”
“Amazing, eh?” the pilot said. “I’m Sam, by the way. I often fly out here, shocks the heck out of me every trip.”
They landed on a concrete pad near a domed building.
Two golf buggies came toward them, each driven by a man in a green-and-gold uniform — security, Quinn assumed. He took the bag containing the flask from Abdul, and they rode the carts to the building. Quinn let Keisha climb out of the cart first and whispered to David.
“Stay close to me. Think of it as Allah’s will.”
David smiled. “You are a good man, Mr. Quinn, but you are an unbeliever. You can never know the will of Allah.”
“But whatever I do is Allah’s will anyway, right?” David frustrated him, but he had no way to influence him. Heck, he hardly knew the man. He followed Keisha and kept a tight grip on David’s arm. When they arrived at the open door to the building, he stalled so Abdul and Adiba could catch up. They walked in together with the two security guards behind them.
Keisha led them down a hallway and through a door into a laboratory. Fifty feet away, at the center of the lab, four men and two women in lab coats stood in front of a couple tables holding computer equipment and a glove box. Nazar Eudon stood to the right of the group. Quinn turned to Adiba and spoke softly, but loud enough so Abdul would hear.
“I understand how you two feel, but don’t do anything about Eudon until I’ve figured a way out of here.” He glanced behind. The two guards stood at the door. Quinn scanned the room for another exit. There wasn’t one. They moved across the lab and stopped in front of the glove box. Keisha stood close to Nazar. He stroked her hair as though she were a favorite pet.