Jihad

CHAPTER 122

The noise in the engine room was deafening, but Kenan nodded as the senior engineer showed him and the man who had accompanied him from Mexico City around. The man’s name was Razaq Khan, and he was their leader.

The two engine experts had stayed with the ship when it was left here two weeks before. Kenan could tell from the rush of words leaving the engineer’s mouth that he was starved for company.

“The engines perfect in order,” said the man with his less than perfect English. “They are soldiers of God.”

“Mujahideen,” said Kenan.

The engineer smiled and nodded enthusiastically. Kenan turned and looked at his assistant, a young man no older than he was. The youth had a slightly dazed look on his face, as if he were drugged. Kenan guessed it was the result of the foul air in the engine compartment, which smelled of sea water, fuel, and stale cigarettes.

The ship had been prepared in an Algerian dry dock several months before crossing the Atlantic. The tanks were filled with a liquid explosive derived from rocket fuel, primed to be ignited by a web of plastic explosives surrounding the tanks. The detonator wires ran through the ship to a pair of large control boxes connecting them to a control panel on the bridge. The bomb would be detonated by turning a simple key on the box and moving four levers one by one from neutral to the top position before plunging them together to the bottom. Khan kept the key on a chain around his neck.

“We will join together on the deck for evening prayers,” Khan told the men, using his Punjabi-flavored English. “Come.”

The senior engineer seemed reluctant to leave his engines. He took a rag from his back pocket and wiped his hands, even though they were as clean as Kenan’s. Then he threw down the rag and started for the door.

Besides Kenan, Khan, and the two engineers, two African brothers were aboard. The men had been chosen probably as much for their ability with rifles as their experience as seamen; it had been one of them who had shot the Mexican fishing captain. They understood very little English; Khan used Arabic to speak with them, though it was not his native language.

“We have begun well,” said Khan when they reached the bridge. “We will do even better. It will take two days and nights for us to find our destiny.”

Kenan listened carefully as Razaq Khan laid out the plan. There had been some complications — at least one other brother was supposed to be with them — but they would leave immediately, for the plan required them to follow a strict timetable. This presented some difficulties, but Allah would help them overcome them.

Yes, thought Kenan; surely God would allow them to fulfill His plan. No job was too difficult if Allah willed it.

“We will live a glorious life in Paradise,” said Khan. He pointed to the east. “Mecca is that direction. We should all pray and rededicate ourselves to the glory of the one, true God, the God who brings His enemies to justice.”