‘I assume you’ve heard about the deaths in Saudi?’ Eckart asked.
Webster’s gaze flicked to the plasma television hanging from the limo’s ceiling. WNN News had been covering the story since early that morning. The footage of the flaming building in King Abdullah Economic City had been taken by a ship out in the harbour. Black smoke hung above the city.
Currently, it was evening in Saudi Arabia. Arranging the trip had taken hours.
‘I have,’ Webster replied. ‘I’ve been expecting your call.’
‘Things here have become a little crazy,’ Eckart said. ‘After the attack, the whole city was blacked out – all ordinary communications are down. I didn’t want to use the sat-phone till after the media people had descended into the metro area en masse. Otherwise the Saudis might have tracked our signal.’
‘Understood. I take it you and your men survived?’
‘Yes, sir. We got lucky on this one. Both targets ended up at the same twenty. They were at the king’s grandson’s birthday party.’
‘I’d heard they might be negotiating oil disbursements with the Indian government.’
‘Those people were at the party as well. The hardest part was managing to take out the two primary targets without killing Khalid, the younger prince.’
‘That was done?’
‘Absolutely.’
‘So how is our young prince?’
‘Khalid was wounded, but sustained no permanent damage.’
‘I take it the prince – now king – is talking of retribution.’
‘From what I’ve heard, he’s positively foaming at the mouth, sir.’
Webster smiled. ‘Khalid was always hot-headed and looking for a fight.’
‘He’s going to turn that country into a hornet’s nest.’
‘As we’d planned.’
‘If our enemies destroy each other, sir, it saves a lot of our soldiers.’
Webster knew the coming military conflagration would do more than that. He was counting on it.
‘There was some collateral damage,’ Eckart went on. ‘Some of the king’s servants and personal bodyguards and a few of the wives and children were also killed, but no one we’re going to lose any sleep over.’
‘That’s all perfectly acceptable, Colonel. You and your men did a good job.’
‘Thank you, sir. I’ll mention it to them.’
‘There’s been a change in plans,’ Webster said. ‘I want you and your team in Istanbul as soon as you can get there.’
Eckart transitioned smoothly. He always did. ‘It’ll be a few hours before we’re able to move from here without alerting suspicion.’
‘That’s fine. For the moment I’ve got someone sitting on your target.’
‘May I ask who the target is, sir?’
‘A Harvard professor named Thomas Lourds. You’ve probably heard of him. He’s the man who was involved in the hunt for lost Atlantis.’
‘I have, sir. That story was all over the news.’
‘I don’t want Lourds terminated at present,’ Webster said. ‘I just want to talk to him.’
‘Yes, sir. I’ll let you know when we’re en route.’
‘Very good. I expect to see you soon, Colonel. Until then, best of luck.’ Webster broke the connection and pocketed the cellphone. Then he unmuted the television to listen to the news anchor.
‘The Saudi Arabian government hasn’t confirmed who died in last night’s fiery attack in King Abdullah Economic City,’ the anchor said with sterling confidence. ‘But it’s clear several injured and several dead were removed from the rubble of the building that was struck by a missile weapon.’
The television cut away from the anchor to the night scene of the attack. For a few seconds, the three-storey building stood overlooking the harbour, then in the next moment an explosion blossomed in the centre of the building. At first, the building held and smoke poured from some of the windows near the blast site. Several people in the street had run for cover, but some of them started trickling back towards the stricken structure. They were caught flatfooted when the building shivered a final time and collapsed in a way that made Webster sit back in the limo’s plush seats.
‘We have unconfirmed reports that King Yousef and Crown Prince Muhammed were among those injured and possibly killed in the attack.’
Images of the king and crown prince formed on the screen, overlying the destruction.
‘If those two men are casualties,’ the anchor continued, ‘many political analysts fear the changes that may take place in the Middle East. Here, for a special look at the situation, is Jane Keller.’
Webster listened to the special report with zeal, for it agreed exactly with his assessment of what would happen.
Georgetown University Professor Clarence Doolan looked grim and foreboding in the television studio. In his seventies, tan and withered, Doolan looked like a hanging judge about to pass sentence. Jane Keller, the young television reporter, looked as though she’d stepped straight from a Victoria’s Secret commercial.
‘Khalid isn’t like his father or brother,’ Doolan said to the perky young reporter. ‘If he takes the throne, that whole region may be in jeopardy.’
That was precisely the reason Webster hadn’t had him killed.
‘What makes you say that, Professor?’ the reporter asked.
‘Saudi Arabia occupies a singular niche within the Middle East,’ the professor explained. ‘It’s a powerful country, and its impact on oil production is immense. However, the United States has depended on Saudi Arabia to maintain a non-aggression presence within that community. Sometimes the US has had to be heavily persuasive to manage that feat.’
‘Why is that non-aggression presence so necessary?’ the reporter asked.
‘You have to understand the fundamental differences in the Muslim world. There are two distinct religions within Islam: the Sunni and the Shia. They have differing interpretations of the line of succession regarding the prophet Muhammad, and they’re willing to kill each other over those differences when they come into conflict. Saudi Arabia has sometimes prevailed to cool the fires of war in the Middle East, but I’m afraid that Prince – now possibly King – Khalid doesn’t have a stable temperament.’
‘Why?’
‘From the beginning, Khalid has chosen a much less generous path than his father and brother. His mother, one of King Yousef’s many wives, was killed during an alleged Shia attack when he was only seven. She died in his arms.’
Webster remembered seeing the video footage of that attack twelve years ago. It had been most compelling and had, briefly, captured the attention of the world.
‘If this attack on his father and brother also turns out to be Shia initiated,’ Doolan said, ‘the young prince may choose to retaliate.’
‘Against the people who killed his father and brother?’
‘No. He won’t settle for a handful when he’s got a whole people to punish. He’s been very vocal about wanting the Shia driven from Saudi Arabia. That attitude has already fomented political and economic repercussions for the country and the royal family. He’s also not been a big supporter of the United States policies in those areas.’
‘Are we talking about the country possibly being torn in half as a result of Khalid’s ascendancy? If that is indeed the case?’
‘Not Saudi Arabia, no. That country is primarily Sunni. However, you have to remember that country is bracketed by Iran, Azerbaijan, Bahrain and Iraq, all of which are primarily Shia. Lebanon and Kuwait are almost equally divided between the two Islams. But there are many Shia in Afghanistan, India and Pakistan.’