Finally, what appeared to be leaders of the various groups were getting together. More talking, more gesturing. Finally, several from the group of leaders began filtering up toward the speaker's seat.
This didn't look good at all. Al-Khan turned. His angry gaze caught the attention of the Speaker of the People's Assembly, Representative Jamal Gazali, a member of the National Democratic Party coalition but also the leader of the Society of God, a smaller party representing the religious conservatives in Egypt. Gazali motioned al-Khan quickly to the podium. "What is happening here, Gazali?"
"It is of no consequence, Ulama," Gazali replied. "The matter will be dealt with, and all will be taken care of."
"I asked you what is happening, Gazali."
Gazali looked nervous. "There apparently is a statute still in the law that allows the wife of a legislator or other public official to take her husband's office if he dies while in office," Gazali said. "The law was put into effect after the War of Retribution so the government could continue functioning even if lawmakers serving in the armed forces were killed in battle-"
"Are you saying that Salaam may still become a presidential candidate even though she is not even Egyptian!" al-Khan thundered.
"It is of no consequence, Minister," Gazali said quickly. "Salaam may have been the wife of a public official, but in peacetime the statute is symbolic, nothing more." Gazali made some pretense of being needed on the other side of the podium and scurried away after giving the eleric another nervous bow.
— But al-Khan could quickly see for himself that this was much more than symbolism-it was about to happen. A few moments later Gazali stood to address the Assembly:
"The Assembly will come to order," the speaker ordered. When the chamber assumed some semblance of quiet, the speaker continued, "A motion has been brought before us by the honorable senior delegate from Alexandria that any wife of a public official who dies while in office may assume her husband's office for the remainder of his term. There is considerable debate by the members on whether or not this applies to the high office of president."
Gazali paused, then glanced at al-Khan. The deadly warning stare he received in return decided his course for him-Khalid al-Khan was too powerful a force in Egypt to be crossed.
"We note with pride and affection the love many in our country have for Madame Salaam," Gazali went on. "We note that Madame Salaam served Egypt well as an officer in the American air force, advising and supplying our armed forces with vital information, advice, and counsel during the conflict between Iraq and Kuwait. She has been a faithful and loving wife to our beloved president and a friend to us all. We also recognize her countless contributions to the betterment of Egyptian society, especially her patronage and support for universal education, the restoration of our ancient libraries in Alexandria, and the rescue and rehabilitation of orphaned and outcast children in our cities.
"However, we question the efficacy of this award as it applies to peacetime Egypt," Gazali said, slowly and deliberately. "The law was put in place to be sure our legislatures and bureaucracies continued their work even if its members were killed in battle. Although this honor has been recently applied many times, we see this as merely symbolic, an honorific, which is used as a convenience and token of honor until new elections are held. Further, this custom has never been applied to the office of president, and well it should not, for fear of eroding the importance of that high office. Another consideration, of course, is the fact that Madame Salaam was not born in Egypt, and has not yet qualified to become a naturalized citizen. Therefore, we do not consider Madame Salaam as meeting the strict standards of the law, and therefore-"
The Assembly chamber erupted into sheer bedlam. It seemed every representative was screaming and shaking their fists at Gazali. Several lawmakers even got out of their seats and attempted to rush the podium, but were turned away by uniformed security officers that appeared as if out of nowhere. No one had ever seen such an uprising in the Assembly chambers before-and certainly, Khan had never seen such a loud outpouring of emotion.
Through this chaos, Ulama al-Khan made his way off the dais and to a side hallway toward the back exits. He knew he had lost. The memory of Kamal Ismail Salaam was too powerful and Susan Salaam was almost as popular in Egypt as her husband-perhaps even more so, because of her bewitching beauty.
Several Assembly members siding with Kalir shook their fists, shouted, and even tried to grab at al-Khan as he made his way off the dais. Supreme Judiciary security officers, led by the chief of security of the Supreme Judiciary Council, Major Amr Abu Gheit, who was assigned as alKhan's personal bodyguard, roughly pushed the protesters out of the way, even clubbing one across the head with a pistol butt.
What fools, al-Khan thought. They would actually consider physical intimidation to try to turn him aside? Several more assemblymen rushed to their colleagues' aide, but Gheit and the rest of al-Khan's bodyguards had no trouble subduing them as the presidential candidate made his way out of the chamber.
As he emerged from the chamber into the back hallway, he turned to Gheit: "Take down the name and political party of any representative who even dared look angrily in my direction," he ordered.
"Why? So you can have your henchmen kill them as well?"
Khan turned. There, standing before him, w s Susan Salaam. Her husband's aide and national security adviser, Ahmad Baris, was standing with her. A few Assembly aides and staffers were milling about, fascinated by a confrontation between these two political rivals.
"Madame, it is good to see you alive," Khan said evenly. Aware of the growing crowd gathering to watch them, he stepped forward to Susan as if reaching out to shake her hand, lowered his voice, and said, "But you should not have returned to Cairo. Your life here in Egypt is finished. Go back to the United States and start a new life."
"General Baris warned me not to return to the capital, to go into hiding until just before the funeral and to go back into hiding immediately afterward," Salaam said, her voice loud enough for all to hear. "But all I could think about was what happened to us at the celebration, and I knew I had to confront you directly, to see your face as I accused you directly-"
"Accuse me? Of what?"
"I have been able to piece together what happened that morning at the mosque. You substituted your own handpicked Judiciary guardsmen for the presidential guards that normally would have been on duty during the procession, and you gave them strict orders to always face the procession, not scan the crowd for any sign of danger. By the time the assassins were in place, it was too late for them to react to save my husband."
"Are you suggesting that I had something to do with that terrible attack, Madame?" al-Khan said. "That is purely ridiculous! Why, I was no more than five steps behind you and your husband-I could have been blown to bits as well! Why would I put myself in such harm? I even helped pull you clear of danger once I realized what was happening! You seemed prepared to throw your body in front of that bomb in a vain attempt to save your husband from his destiny. I gave you the chance to live."
"Maybe the rumors that you wore a Kevlar bulletproof shroud under your robes are true-because bystanders farther away than you were severely injured, while you and that rat-snake Zuwayy walked away unscathed-"