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Everyone began talking at once. The room went sour with vehemence as they argued back and forth.
Only Ammar remained detached. They're idiots, he thought, goddamned idiots. He tuned out of the debate and stared at the photo of the cruise ship. The wheels inside his head began to shift through the gears.
"We are not only Egyptians," argued Bashir, "we are Arabs. The other Arab nations will Turn against us if we murder our officials and any of theirs who get in the way. They won't see it as a gift from Allah, but rather as a political terrorist plot."
Moheidin gestured toward Fawzy. "Khaled made a point. Better to kill Hasan on home territory than launch a bloodbath on board a ship holding the leader of Mexico and his delegation as well."
"We cannot condone an act of mass terrorism," said alHakim. "The negative consequences for our new government would be disastrous."
"You are all worms who belong in Hasan's camp," Fawzy spat. "I say attack the ship and show the world our power."
Nobody paid any attention to the militant fanatic who was viciously anti-Jew and anti-Christian.
"Don't you see, Akhmad," pleaded Bashir, "security in Punta del Este will be impossible to penetrate? Uruguayan patrol boats will be thick as locusts. Every ship housing sumnut leaders will be heavily guarded.
You're talking a suicide assault by an army of commandos. It simply can't be done."
"We will have help from a source that must remain confidential," said Yazid. He turned and studied Ammar. "You, Suleiman-You're our expert on undercover operations. If a team of our best fighters can be smuggled on board the Lady Flamborough without detection, can the ship be taken and held until we can form a republic in the name of Islam?"
"Yes," replied Ammar, without taking his eyes off the cruise ship's photo. The voice was quiet, but it carried total conviction. "Six days is cutting it slim, but the ship can be carried with ten experienced fighting men and five experienced seamen, with no bloodshed providing we have the element of suprise."
Yazid's eyes gleamed. "Ah, I knew I could count on you."
"Impossible," Bashir roared. "You could never smuggle that many men into Uniguay without arousing suspicion. And even if through some miracyou captured the ship and subdued the crew, every special assault team in the West would be swarming over your hide inside of twenty-four hours. Threats to kill the hostages won't stop them. You'd "
"I can take and hold the Lady Flamborough for two weeks."
Bashir shook his head. "You're lost in a dream world."
"How is that possible?" asked Moheidin. "I'm interested in learning how you expect to outwit an army of highly trained international security forces without a pitched battle."
"I don't intend to fight."
"This is nonsense!" Yazid said, shocked.
"Not really," said Ammar. "It's all in knowing the trick."
"Trick?"
"Precisely." Ammar smiled benignly. "You see, I plan on making the Lady Flamborough, her crew and passengers, an crew disappear.
"My visit is strictly unofficial," Julius Schiller advised Hala Kamil as they stepped into the log-beamed sitting room of Senator Pitts ski lodge. "My aides are covering for me, saying I'm fishing in Key West."
"I understand," said Hala. "I'm grateful for the chance to talk to someone other than the cook and Secret Service guards."
She greeted him dressed fashionably in an Icelandic brown wool sweater-jacket with matching pants, looking even younger than Schiller remembered.
He looked out of place at a ski resort in a business suit, polished wing-tip shoes, and carrying an attached case. "Is there anything I can arrange to make your safety more bearable?"
"No, thank you. Nothing can relieve the frustration of inactivity when there is so much I must do."
"A few more days and it will b
e over," Schiller said consolingly.
"I hardly expected to see you here, Julius."
"Something has come up that concerns Egypt. Our President thought it prudent you be consulted on a recent event."
