"So the Chinese have no way of knowing we have the papers?"
"That's what we think right now. The SEAL team leader reported they secured the radio before anyone could call out."
"Good." Then Taft said slowly, "You saved my life, Larry. Thanks."
"You were bleeding pretty bad. I just kept my hand over the wound until we could chopper you out. No big deal."
"It is to me," Taft said. "I owe you one."
"Not a problem," Martinez said. "That's what partners are for." The nurse returned with a plastic cup of ice water and handed it to Taft who downed the entire contents in one gulp. He smiled at the nurse and held out the empty cup.
"When can I eat?"
"Let me check with the doctor, Mr. Taft," she said as she took back the cup. "I'll bring you some more water in a couple minutes," she said and left again.
"Is it the drugs," Taft asked, "or is that nurse gorgeous?"
"I can see you're feeling better," Martinez chuckled. "And it's not the drugs. You're thinking clearly, she's a beauty."
"So we recovered the Einstein papers. I guess this ends our involvement with this."
"Looks like it," Martinez agreed.
"When can I get out of here?"
"The doctor wasn't sure, a couple of days probably. Do you want to stay with Marie and me while you recuperate?"
"Probably not. It would be nice to just relax at home for a change. It seems like months since I've been home."
"Hard to believe you brought Choi out of China less than two weeks ago," Martinez agreed. "You probably need to rest. Do you want me to bring you anything next time I visit?"
Taft thought for a moment. "See if you can find me a biography of Albert Einstein at the bookstore. I think I'd find that interesting."
"I'll be back in a couple of hours to check on you — I'll bring it then," Martinez said as he started to leave.
"Hey, Larry," Taft said as Martinez began to walk away. Martinez turned and looked at Taft.
"Thanks again," Taft said, grinning.
Martinez smiled, then, shaking his head, he walked from the room.
CHAPTER 44
The summer palace of King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia was on top of a small hill overlooking the town of Taif. A stone and brick structure with over 40,000 square feet of space inside, the palace was completely surrounded by a high stone wall. Although the palace was located less than fifty miles from the Red Sea, the area around Taif was dry and desert-like.
The grounds of the palace made sharp contrast with the surrounding terrain. Tons of topsoil had been brought in when the palace was being constructed and the grounds had the appearance of an English garden. Tall trees formed a small forest and a series of hedges forming a maze sat to one side of the grounds. Water pumped from a well on the property kept the immaculately trimmed grounds green. Behind the palace, to the left, was a cricket field, and a swimming pool and tennis courts were hidden from view behind the grove of trees.
The guests arriving at the palace passed through a series of security checks, starting with the gate leading into the compound. At the gate, the identities of the drivers and their passengers were checked. Then the limousines themselves were checked with a sophisticated sniffer that could detect any trace of a bomb. Once the guests arrived at the front door, they walked through a scanner similar to an X-ray machine. Only then were they allowed to proceed any farther.
The conference room located on the ground floor of the palace was 8,000 square feet
— eighty feet wide by one hundred feet long. The floors of the conference room were finished in white Italian marble. Clustered along the walls were rows of couches. The walls were covered in a rich red brocade fabric with intricate designs of gold and silver woven into the cloth. At the end of the room was a slightly elevated couch reserved for King Abdullah.
Behind the king's couch was the door through which he entered the room. In front of the couches were low, hand-carved mahogany tables. On the tables were crystal ashtrays, silver pots containing dark Arabian coffee, along with plates of delicate pastries, figs, and dates. Rivulets of condensation rolled down the silver pitchers filled with ice water.
Once the last of the guests had arrived, the doors were shut and guards were posted outside. After a wait of several minutes the door behind King Abdullah's couch was opened by an attendant and the king entered the room. After he made his way to his couch and sat, two bulky guards took positions just behind and to each side of the couch. The guards stood with folded arms, watching the guests.
" Inshallah," the king began. "Thank you all for coming here today." He paused and motioned for coffee which an attendant quickly poured and handed to him. "Most of you are unaware of the crisis that has befallen the kingdom. In the last few days a biological weapon was introduced into our oil fields, which, had we not acted in time might have wiped out our oil reserves permanently. A radical Israeli faction has claimed credit for the attack." The king sipped from his coffee, then motioned to one of his brothers sitting to the side. "You look like you have a question, Amin."
Crown Prince Amin sat upright. "As you know, I have been in Switzerland and only just returned when I was telephoned to attend this meeting. Because of that, I know little about what has transpired. My question is, how do we know the radical Israelis are actually behind the poisoning of our oil fields?"
"A letter was received at the palace in Riyadh. The letter claims the poisoning was the work of a group calling itself the Jewish Front for Recognition." The head of intelligence for the Saudi Arabian National Guard glanced at the king and nodded.
"You wish to add something, Yousef?' the king asked.
"Yes, King Abdullah. My organization has conducted a detailed search for information about a group called the Jewish Front for Recognition but we have turned up nothing."
Crown Prince Mashoud turned to Yousef. "How many Israeli groups does your agency follow?"
"At any one time as many as two hundred," Yousef admitted.
"And new groups are constantly being formed as other groups disband, is that not true?" Mashoud said.
"That is true, Crown Prince, but it is the other research we have done that is more distressing," Yousef said.
"What might that be, Yousef?" the king asked.
"The letter bore a postmark from Egypt," Yousef noted. Crown Prince Mashoud leaned forward, motioning with his hands. "That is easily explained. The Israelis know we search every letter or package coming from their country for messages that might incite our citizens."
"But," Yousef continued, "we tested the paper the threat was written on and found it unusual."
"What was unusual?" the king asked.
"The paper they used is unavailable in the Middle East."
"Where does the paper come from?" the king inquired.
"It took us a great deal of work but we feel we now know the answer to that question," Yousef said. "After careful analysis we found traces of rice husks in the paper. Assuming that meant the paper was from somewhere in Asia, we requested samples of paper used in conjunction with the kingdom s oil contracts."
"Did you find a match?" the king asked.
"We did," Yousef said. "The paper was a direct match to a preliminary contract that was sent to us by the Chinese government"
In the office of the Israeli prime minister, the head of the Mossad, the Israeli intelligence arm, was placing a disarmed detonator cap on the desk.
"It's definitely of Chinese manufacture, sir."
The prime minister reached for the blasting cap and turned it over in his hand. "You took this off a bomb that was disarmed before exploding?"