Blowback

THIRTY-EIGHT

Once the secure videoconference link with CIA headquarters in Langley had been established, the president began speaking. “I assume I wasn’t called out of my meetings upstairs because you have good news.”

“Unfortunately no, Mr. President,” responded the director of Central Intelligence, James Vaile. “Two days ago we made a very important electronic intercept related to the village of Asalaam.”

“If you made it two days ago, why am I just hearing about it now?”

“With all due respect, sir, our Arabic translators are seriously overworked and dangerously backlogged.”

“I know. I know,” said Rutledge, “and I’m doing everything I can to get you additional funding to hire more of them, but now’s not the time for this discussion. Why don’t you tell me what you’ve got.”

“We intercepted a posting in an Islamic chat room that commented on the hand of Allah successfully striking down all but his most faithful followers in a remote location referred to as the place of peace.”

“Asalaam?”

“That’s what we think,” replied Vaile. “The fundamentalists like to describe Iraq as the crusaders’ burial ground. The people talking in that chat room signaled that the place of peace was within the land known as the burial ground of the foreign crusaders.”

The president was silent as the DCI continued. “One of Osama bin Laden’s most beloved was also said to have been present to witness the power of Allah firsthand.”

“Khalid Alomari.”

“We think so. There were enough allusions to his past accomplishments for us to be fairly certain it’s him. We’ve been monitoring the room, but the poster hasn’t returned, or at least not under the same handle as before. We’re not holding out much hope of tracking him down. Just like cell phones, these guys will use a chat room once and then never come back to it again. They know it makes it impossible for us to trace them that way.”

Though none of this was exactly good news, Rutledge knew his DCI well enough to know that he was saving the very worst for last. “What else did you find out?”

“One of the people in the chat room claimed that what happened at the place of peace was only a small example of what Allah and his most holy warriors had planned for the enemies of Islam, in particular the United States.”

The president was again silent for several moments as the confirmation of their worst fears began to sink in. Finally, he asked, “Is that it?”

“No sir,” replied Vaile. “There was one other thing.”

“What is it?”

“According to the transcript, the means by which Allah intends to decimate all but the most faithful followers of Islam has already arrived in America. It says that it’s only a matter of days before the bodies of our citizens begin piling up — overflowing our hospitals, morgues, and cemeteries.”