Dead Water

7

Ryyaki Ali was standing in a dimly lit warehouse on the edge of the industrial park just outside Portland's main shipping district. The early September weather was damp and chilly. He snugged his jacket closer to his neck, glad he'd worn a hat. He was meeting with a man whose nationality was unknown. He simply went by Smith. He was Caucasian, mid-forties, and everything about him radiated cold: his look, his appearance, his manner, everything. He had hair so blond at first glance it could have been mistaken for white. Ice-blue eyes combined with blond eyebrows and a skin tone suggested he was Scandinavian. He was fluent in several languages. He was undoubtedly one of the world's leading biochemists. He had gone off the grid ten years earlier. He'd spent that time developing a new synthetic toxin. Through a series of representatives, he had been introduced to Ryyaki Ali. Smith was in the act of peddling his wares.

"Your agent worked as you stated!" exclaimed Ali.

"Of course it worked."

"I would like to finalize our negotiations," Ali said.

"So would I," agreed Smith.

"I need to know the final amount of money you are requesting," Ali replied.

"That depends on how you want the agent to work. As I previously stated, I can modify the time element on how fast the agent reacts to water. The sample you received reacted in one hour. I can modify that up to fourteen days. The longer the delay, the more expensive it is. The time that the agent is active remains the same. In ten hours, it is virtually gone."

"Can that be modified, as well?"

"No. Once the activation process begins, it cannot be altered."

"I would like the agent to activate quickly."

The blond-haired man remained silent, thinking. "In that case, for the amount you requested, the cost would be one hundred million dollars."

"That is considerably more than I was expecting," scoffed Ali.

"It is what it is. No one is forcing you to purchase my product. You are welcome to look elsewhere. You will not find its equal."

"I will pay fifty million," Ryyaki Ali said.

"Then you will pay nothing, and this meeting is over." Smith stood to leave.

Ryyaki Ali threatened, "What makes you think you may just walk out of here?"

Ryyaki Ali had four of his guards with him, all with handguns drawn.

Smith turned and stared at him with a look that would freeze hell. "And what makes you think that the next drink of water you have will not kill you? Do you think I am so foolish as to not take my own precautions? You have insulted me. The price is now two hundred million dollars. You have thirty seconds to decide," Smith declared.

Ryyaki Ali was raging inside. He was sure he would be able to negotiate the price down, but his plan had backfired badly. He was also sure he could not take a chance that this man had not tampered with his own water supply. At that moment, he didn't trust this man that if he simply refused the product that he would just let it go. He was between a rock and a hard place, and he knew it. And this man Smith knew it. Ali also realized further attempt to negotiate a price reduction would be fruitless.

"Agreed, per my instructions on the timetable," Ali stated, not hiding his fury.

"Agreed. I will be in touch for the financial transaction and instructions on how the product will be delivered to you. You will wire half the money and you will receive the product, and then you will wire the remainder. Agreed?"

"Agreed."

The blond-haired man walked over to Ali and offered to shake his hand. Ali hesitated and then accepted the invitation.

"One other very important item," Smith added. "If you try to skip the second payment, you know what will happen."

"I will abide by our agreement. I have no wish to make an enemy of you. America is my enemy."

"Then I foresee no problems. I will be in touch with the delivery arrangements." With that, he turned and walked out of the dank warehouse.

Rijah Ellhad called Ryyaki Ali. He had heard the entire conversation by cell phone held by one of the guards. "I have people in place to follow him. Should we?"

"No. This is a very dangerous man. We will not give him any reason to suspect anything out of the ordinary. We will receive the weapon and then decide just how to proceed."

"He is asking for a very large sum of money."

"Yes, but for the pain we can cause the Americans, to me, it is worth it. I also don't want the concern of him attacking us. He fights by methods we are unfamiliar with. I believe that it would be in our best interest to just pay the amount and proceed. I was not prepared to spend that amount of money, but I believe it is the right path to follow. We may want to do business with him again in the future should our actions succeed."

"As you wish," Ellhad replied.