“Stop right there.” A loud voice from the side of the room.
Her feet kept slowing moving. Odd, she didn’t like the harsh lighting. Her contact lenses, awash in tears, gathered the bright light. “Some choices open up a great future, others seal one’s fate forever,” she said, moving toward the President, syringe raised. Just a prick on the skin with the coated needle and death would be irreversible.
“At first we thought Dr. Melikian might be the deep cover assassin after learning of his affiliation with Mohammed al Nagib. But when my secretary said you called earlier about my blood test and that you were coming instead of Dr. Melikian things just sort of fell into place for us. Didn’t they Karl?”
Karl van Ness had come into the Oval Office through the side door. He looked first at Maha, then the President. When the young Marine behind him raised his 9mm Baretta pistol, van Ness stopped him.
“It’s still not too late, Maha,” Pierce said. “Never too late for love and understanding to conquer the bitterness of hate and sorrow.” He looked into her face, but it was slack, blanked out, like some of the POWs in Hanoi. Maha took another faltering step forward, more like a zombie than a purposeful assassin. “If you move any closer the guards will be forced to shoot. You can stop this madness now. We will help you.”
The main door of the Oval Office opened. Noise from outside shattered the silence. Matt, Dr. Melikian and three marine guards stepped in.
“Maha?”
She turned towards Matt’s voice. “Your face. What has happened to you?”
“It’s still me.”
Maha bent over and took out her contact lenses. They fell onto the carpet, landing on the head of the woven eagle. Her green eyes flooded with tears. “I want to see you clearly one last time.” She smiled. Her face was now serene.
“I loved you from that very first moment on the airplane.”
“Matt, I can’t see you behind that face. But I feel it really is you.”
“Everything will be all right. Now put down the syringe, Maha. Just lay it down.”
Her face was again a smooth facade. Empty. She brought the needle to her arm. “It’s time for me to leave, Matthew.” For a brief moment she held his gaze. “May Allah in his infinite wisdom have mercy on my soul.”
“No! Maha!”
The needle slid easily into the back of her left hand, next to the long scar. “My father will be waiting…”
Matt caught her as she fell. A marine quickly grabbed the syringe and stepped back. She looked up at him. “We have seen each other one last time, my darling. I hoped we would.” Her breathing was short and labored.
“What’s on the needle? Tell me,” pleaded Matt. “We’ll get the antidote.”
“I’m sorry I left you so long ago,” she said, ignoring his plea. “But at least I’ll die in your arms.” She coughed. Her face broke out in a cold sweat. “Perhaps something good will come of all this. You must remember all the days of your life, Matthew, that I loved you and only you, with all my heart.”
“It doesn’t have to end, Maha, please tell me. What’s the toxin on the needle?” Her eyes dulled. Matt looked up at the others. “Help. Won’t someone help?”
No one moved. “There is no antidote,” Maha whispered. “That’s the whole point to this game, Matthew. There is no going back. We must start from the here and now. What’s done is done, whether it’s my life or the history of failures in the Middle East. The future of the world will depend on decisions made now. Right now. You must forget the past and move forward.”
“Maha, please.”
She shook her head. “Your arms feel the same. I imagined them around me every day.” She tried to touch his cheek but her hand fell back.
Dr. Melikian checked her pulse. “I’m sorry.”
Matt shook her. “Oh my God. Please… Please.” He held his former love tightly against his chest, feeling the life force slowly draining from her. Suddenly her body sagged, a limp package in his trembling hands. He checked for a pulse. Nothing. Only memories. And an opportunity to start anew.
Someone gently put an arm around his shoulder. “I’m sorry, Matt. I know this is painful.” He found himself staring straight into the eyes of the other woman he thought was dead.
“Nicole?.” He jerked when he saw Elijah standing at the back. “I don’t understand.” His arms remained around Maha.
She pulled her hand away, embarrassed.
A marine brought Matt to his feet. “The President, sir.”
President Pierce waited while Matt gathered his faculties. He tried not to look at Maha. Or Nicole.
“I’m very glad to meet you, Dr. Richards. I’m sorry it’s like this.”
“Yes, sir.”
“We should leave the room now. Let those who know how to handle these things take over. I need you to come with me, Dr. Richards. I want to talk with you about the Middle East. Karl and I need to know what you know and your ideas will also be welcome. Will you stay here at the White House for a few days? In fact Ms. Delacluse and Mr. Tajikian should stay also. You’ll all be my personal guests, of course.”
Matt nodded.
“I’ll stay if you want me to, Matt,” said Nicole.
He stared at Nicole. “Please stay.”
The President was quiet as the marine guards picked up the body of Maha Hammad and carried her out of the Oval Office. “Noubar?” he said to Dr. Melikian. “I’m asking you to stay also. I have a feeling you may wind up playing a pivotal role.”
“I’d stay anywhere I can get some rest, Mr. President.”
“And Matt? Nicole?”
They waited.
“Give it time.” Pierce walked over to his desk and pressed the intercom. “Miriam? Tell the vice President to stand in for me at tonight’s dinner. Tell them I’m not feeling well. Hell, tell them anything. And get Ms. Black, the secretary of state, the directors of the CIA and FBI, and the attorney general into the situation room at once.” The President picked up his treasured tin cup. “Yes, it’s time we made the decisions everyone has been avoiding. And I believe with what we have from Senator Stevens, Ambassador Barak, and William Fisher, we may have found a way to a lasting solution.”
The President of the United States leaned over to the intercom and buzzed his secretary. “One more thing, Miriam. Tell the White House Press Secretary that my address to the nation will take place in five days, from right here in the Oval Office.” He looked up. “Now let’s get out of here.”
Chapter Fifteen
The Oval Office
The speech came five days after Maha Hammad’s death. Since that evening the White House had seen Cabinet members, Senators and Congressmen coming and going at all hours and lines of limousines filled with ambassadors and dignitaries from the world’s nations. Extra phone lines were set up in the Oval Office so President Pierce could move efficiently from one conversation with a foreign leader to another. Time was the enemy now. Ross Pierce couldn’t wait for the normal process of debates and consensus. He pressed hard for immediate decisions and got them. This was the opportunity the world had been waiting for. The opportunit that peace loving people had prayed for. The time the supporters of terrorism feared.
“Is my tie straight?” The President sat behind the massive Resolute desk in the Oval Office. President Pierce understood the power of visual imagery. He had personally placed a model of a Grumman A6 Intruder, the airplane he flew in Vietnam to his right. To his left were carefully arranged photos of his wife, three grown children, and grandchildren. At the edge of the desk stood an illuminated globe, turned so the Middle East could be seen by the cameras. Directly in front was his tin cup.
From behind the camera and cables crowded into the small office someone respectfully whispered, “It’s time, Mr. President.”