The golden orb of the sun rose silently above the desert horizon, the air shimmering from the radiation. Once again Iqbal was rudely awakened from his slumber, this time by the buzzing of his alarm clock. Sleepily he gathered himself from the bed and sauntered over to the computer terminal, rubbing his eyes as he went. After briefly checking the system status he went to relieve bladder pressure and brew a cup of strong black coffee. Remembering the instructions Jeremy had given him, Iqbal grabbed the receiver near the computer terminal and began dialing.

The line on the other end rang several times before anyone answered. “Hallo?” the voice answered.

“Robert, this is Iqbal. Is it safe to talk?” Iqbal asked nervously.

Robert paused for a moment replying, “Hold on a sec mate…Johnny would you go get me a left handed screw driver please…no, phillips. Right, O.K. its safe now Iqbal, Johnny’s a little slow, he’ll be out lookin fer that all day.”

“There is trouble brewing Robert. I cannot risk discussing it over the phone. Jeremy has ordered a meeting at the warehouse this afternoon at 2:00. Please do not be late this time, o.k., it makes Jeremy very angry!” Iqbal pleaded.

“Don’t you worry mate. I can handle Jeremy easily enuf. I’ll see yer at 2. Bye.” Robert replied with bravado as he hung up the phone.

Robert Fairlane took a deep breath and held it for a few seconds before exhaling. Impromptu syndicate meetings were not good news and usually meant trouble. Robert had a bad habit of being late for everything and his bravado was just a front. The truth was that everyone was wary of Jeremy and no one dared to cross him.

Iqbal quickly dialed another number and patiently waited for an answer. The line rang and rang, finally the answering machine picked up. “Hello, this is the office of Shara Mosley. Currently I am either on the phone or away from my desk. Please leave a message and I will return your call as soon as possible. Beep!”

“Shara, this is Iqbal. Jeremy has called a meeting for this afternoon at the warehouse, 2:00. Please call me when you get this message, it is very important!” He recorded on her answering machine and hung up the phone.

Relaxing on the couch by an open window, Shara Mosley was enjoying a cup of tea when the phone rang. She started for the receiver then decided to screen the call through the answering machine. The urgency she heard in Iqbal’s voice made her glad that this call went to the machine. Shara had no intention of returning Iqbal’s call for she knew it would drive him mad. He would squirm, fidget and worry all morning that she hadn’t gotten the message and that Jeremy would chastise him for failing to contact her. Grinning and sipping her tea she enjoyed the perversity in torturing poor Iqbal.

Wringing his hands, Iqbal was already worried about the message he left for Shara. He frittered about in his hovel, played with the computer terminal a bit and stared at the phone expecting it to ring at any second. As the morning progressed to noon, Iqbal was a wreck. He had called Shara several more times trying to confirm the meeting without success. The only thing he could think about was how mad Jeremy would be if Shara didn’t make the meeting. Iqbal was sure that Jeremy would blame him and the result would be violent. Finally Iqbal realized there was nothing more he could do, so he showered and tried to make himself presentable before the meeting.

Jeremy woke late that morning in a cold sweat. He had the recurrent night terror again that had been haunting him for years. The nightmare always had the same theme: some irresistible force was trying to smother or crush him and he was powerless to fight against it. Jeremy wiped the sweat from his face and stripped the damp garments from his body. He glanced at a wall clock and noticed there was only a couple of hours before he should leave for the meeting. After grabbing a bite to eat Jeremy got himself ready for the main event.

On the outskirts of Laona, a grimy little industrial town near the Libyan border, there sat a decrepit textile warehouse that was owned surreptitiously by Jeremy Brown. As the day progressed into afternoon members of the Q.E.D. syndicate began to arrive for their meeting. Iqbal came early in his beat up Datsun pickup to unlock the doors and check security. As he was scanning the warehouse interior he heard Jeremy’s jeep pull up. When Jeremy entered the warehouse Iqbal was pleasantly surprised with his apparent demeanor. In fact, Jeremy was almost warm and fuzzy, sporting a slight grin as he approached Iqbal.

“Good afternoon Iqbal. Have any trouble with your truck on the way over?” Jeremy said with interest.

Iqbal was caught completely off guard by Jeremy’s pleasant mood, but answered, “No, no trouble today, thank Allah! How are you today Jeremy?”

“I’m great Iqbal, just great! Did you get the message to the others as I requested?” Jeremy asked.

“Well, yes, I got hold of Robert and he promised not to be late this time.” Iqbal fibbed. “I tried to reach Shara, but I had to leave a message on her answering machine. I sure hope she got the message in time!”

“Iqbal, when are you going to realize that Shara will never give you the time of day and Robert will be late to his own funeral?” Jeremy replied with a smile.

“But, what do you mean Jeremy?” Iqbal feigned ignorance.

“Shara will never accept your advances Iqbal. She snubs you at every turn and avoids you at all costs. She is not interested in you Iqbal. I’m sorry.” Jeremy stated.

“I know.” Iqbal confessed. “I just cannot help myself. I keep hoping that one day she will come around.”

As Iqbal was wallowing in self pity Shara Mosley walked through the open warehouse door. Shara was adorned seductively in a traditional style African dress with a striking floral print. The dress covered her full breasts, hugged a narrow waist and showed a just a bit of leg to one side. Her gaze landed directly on Jeremy as she avoided acknowledging Iqbal entirely.

“Hello Jeremy, you look fantastic today! Have you done something to your hair?” Shara flirted with Jeremy.

“No…” Jeremy smiled as he gazed upon her beauty. “Today I am only blessed with mental clarity and purpose.”

“Well it suits you Jeremy.” Shara answered with a slight smile. She finally managed to look at Iqbal since he had been ignored long enough. She gave him a cold and slight “Hi.”

Iqbal did not reply, he just stared speechlessly at Shara much like a starving dog would in front of a butcher shop.

“Looks as though our friend Mr. Fairlane is late, what a surprise!” Shara remarked sarcastically as she directed her attention back to Jeremy.

“Yes, we were just discussing that when you walked in. “ Jeremy retorted. “I’m sure he will be along any minute now.” Looking at his watch Jeremy noted that it was five minutes after two. Another five minutes or so and Robert would burst in with some excuse about flat tires or engine trouble. If Robert weren’t such an absolute technical wizard his tardiness would have ended his membership with this syndicate long ago. Jeremy was an absolute stickler for details. That made him a perfect fit as the syndicate leader.

Sure enough, Robert made his grand entrance just over ten minutes past two. His disheveled clothing and mussed hair meant he had been working hard on some pet project lately.

“Sorry I’m lave guv, you see there was this pack of camels blocking the road and…” Robert began and was cut short by Jeremy.

“O.K. Robert, that’s all right. We are all here now so let’s get started, shall we?” Jeremy said taking control of the meeting. “First, Iqbal will you please lock the door for us. Second, lets all move into the office so no one can eavesdrop on our conversation.”

They all entered a small office located at the opposite end of the warehouse shutting the door behind them. The office was dingy, cramped and dimly lit but at least there was somewhere to sit it provided reasonable privacy. Jeremy began, “Most of you are unaware of the incident that took place last night. Apparently one of the infected airline pilots has been recovered and the cyberphages were somehow activated briefly. We traced the activation signal to a location just outside of San Diego, California. Obviously the U.S. Government is poking about in our business. Probably it is the FBI, CIA, NSA, some other governmental office or all the above handling this case.” Jeremy stated.

“Do you think our operation has been compromised?” Shara asked.

“Not necessarily…Iqbal terminated the phages within minutes of activation so they could not have obtained much information about them. If they’d had more time to monkey around with the cyberphages while they were active we might have been in a spotlight. This is also assuming they knew what the hell they were doing in the first place.” said Jeremy with surety.

“What should we do now Jeremy? How does this affect our plans?” Robert asked while his finger twirled a curly lock of hair.

“I am so glad you asked that question Robert…” Jeremy said with a wry grin and unblinking eyes of blue steel. “This incident calls for an escalation of the stakes and acceleration of our schedule. We strike fast and hard. Our next target is Washington DC.”

End Part 13