The Omega scroll

CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE

The Hindu Kush

T he wind was light but at high altitude there was no warmth in the late afternoon sun that caught the granite and snow of the north-west frontier and Tirich Mir. Inside the cave complex Dr Hussein Tretyakov had handed over yet another of the deadly suitcase bombs to Abdul Basheer, who was now poring over a travel map of Sydney.

‘There has been a slight change in our plans,’ Basheer said quietly. ‘I have decided to hit the infidel in a way he will least expect. Sydney will be attacked first, followed by Manchester and Chicago. While he is distracted by those attacks, in the ensuing panic we will hit New York and London.

‘Sydney is especially vulnerable. We will deliver the bomb from the air and we have an excellent choice of surrounding airfields that are not subject to checks. The flight plan will be a standard vector into the nearby suburban Bankstown airfield. Our plane will not have to deviate from its flight path until the last minutes before final approach.’

‘That deviation will be picked up by air traffic control?’ Tretyakov ventured.

‘Of course, but by then it will be too late. In a few short minutes our aircraft will be over the central business district. Unlike the Americans, the Australian infidels do not employ fighter aircraft on patrols over their cities so they will not be able to stop us. What will be the effect of an air-burst over that city?’ Abdul Basheer asked.

‘It will be similar to New York and London,’ Hussein replied, ‘although the air-burst will cause greater damage to the buildings and infrastructure. I have calculated that if the bomb is exploded above the city, perhaps two hundred thousand people will be killed by the blast, and hundreds of thousands more will die of burns and radiation. The Sydney Harbour Bridge will be twisted and buckled, and buildings and people around ground zero will be vaporised.’

‘The loss of life is unfortunate,’ Basheer said finally, ‘but it will send a warning to the rest of the world that we will not stand by while our women and children are arrogantly slaughtered in Iraq, Palestine and Kashmir, and countless other countries where the infidel has set up his military machines.’

Hussein nodded, the memory of his wife and daughters still tearing at his heart.

‘The attack on Hiroshima and Nagasaki brought WWII to an end,’ Basheer observed. ‘It is time for us to do the same. God willing, Muhammad, peace be upon him, and Islam will prevail.’