Infidels (35 page)

“The
military should never have to be used against its own citizens.”

Reading
nodded. “Agreed. But I don’t think we had much choice this time. At least in
the UK it didn’t turn into what happened in Paris.”

Dawson
shook his head. “I saw the start of the initial counterattack and it looked
pretty brutal. Any word?”

“The
French are keeping a tight lid on it right now but if you believe the Internet,
thousands were killed within the first few minutes. That seemed to break their
backs, then when the word spread of the return, things began to break up. I
think you’re more likely to hear official death tolls at the hands of the
rioters first. They’ll use those numbers to justify their actions.”

Dawson
stepped through the sliding doors, heading for the elevators. “The way I feel
right now, any response was justified after what those people did.”

Reading
held out his arm, holding the elevator door open as Dawson stepped aboard.
“Understandable. I think a lot of people are going to feel that way for a long
time. But unless we figure out a way to all get along, the way of life we’ve
enjoyed for the past century is going to be destroyed.”

“How are
things stateside?”

The
doors opened and they stepped out. “You guys fared pretty well. Some protests,
mild rioting, mostly opportunistic since it turned into looting pretty quickly.
But nothing compared to what happened in Europe. Canada had some problems in
Toronto that they were able to contain. Mostly just isolated incidents outside
of Europe with respect to Western countries. Africa was a bloodbath as is to be
expected, and throughout Asia they killed a lot of Christians but far more of
each other.”

Niner
waved to them, holding vigil in the ICU waiting area.

“Hiya,
Hugh. Glad to see you made it.”

“A
little delayed. Had to go through Heathrow, Gatwick was overrun. But I’m here
now.” He nodded toward Maggie on the other side of the glass. “Any word?”

“Nothing
yet,” replied Niner. He raised his chin, looking over Reading’s shoulder. “Look
who it is!”

They all
turned to see a smiling Laura in a wheelchair, pushed by her husband.

“Laura!”
Reading rushed toward his close friends, leaning over to give Laura a peck on
the cheek and Acton a two-fisted handshake. “Are you okay?”

Laura
nodded. “Perfectly fine. Just needed to get out of that bloody room before I
went barmy.” She nodded toward Maggie. “How’s she doing?”

“No
change,” replied Niner. “But I guess that’s better than it could be.”

Dawson
stepped over to the window, placing one hand on the glass. “All because of a
lie.”

Acton
pushed Laura’s chair up to the window so she could see. “And it ends with a
lie.”

“What do
you mean?”

“The
Saudi king is taking credit for the return of the Black Stone, despite the
footage of Red’s team.”

“Typical.”
Dawson shook his head. “Whatever it takes to end this insanity.”

“It
seems to be working,” said Acton. “According to the news report we just saw,
the Saudi military units not obeying their central command have stood down and
the major population centers are back under control. Religious leaders across
the Muslim world are calling for prayers rather than protest, and a period of
mourning and reflection.”

Dawson
grunted. “Where were they yesterday?”

“Probably
out killing with the rest of them,” muttered Niner. “How much more of this BS
do we have to put up with? I mean, it’s ridiculous. Every. Single. Day. It just
never ends. If they’re not killing us, then they’re trying to kill us, and if
they’re not trying to kill us, then they’re blaming us for killing themselves.
I’m tired of being blamed because I’m American and Christian.”

Laura
reached out and squeezed his hand. “I think we all are.”

Niner
turned to Acton. “How do we fix it, doc?”

Acton
chuckled. “If I had those answers, they’d call
me
a prophet.”

Niner
nodded, his concerned look not going away. “But from history. What does history
tell us?”

Acton
took in a deep breath, looking at Maggie.

“History
tells us that until Islam has its own reformation like Christianity did, things
will never change.”

“Is
there any sign that’s happening?”

Acton
shook his head. “Not that I’ve seen, but maybe, somewhere out there, out of
this chaos, someone will emerge with enough courage to persuade the masses that
they must change in order to progress, otherwise risk stagnating for another
thousand years.”

“They
need a man of courage like Christianity had over five hundred years ago,” said
Laura.

“Yes
they do,” said Acton.

“But
who?” asked Niner.

Acton
shrugged. “That’s the question, isn’t it? Who will be their Martin Luther?”

Dawson
began to tune out the conversation, his eyes glued to Maggie for some reason.

Suddenly
his heart leapt as he realized why.

She was
looking at him, smiling.

THE END

My God this was a violent book, even by my standards. But after
watching footage of the carnage the Danish cartoons resulted in, I realized
just how plausible this scenario was and didn’t feel it should be toned down.
If it were, I felt it simply wouldn’t be believable given the past history of
such things.

Do I
think a scenario like this might happen some day?

I hope
not, but unfortunately I don’t have the confidence to say it wouldn’t, though I
would hope that someday, some brave soul would stand up and demand change, just
as Martin Luther and others did for Christianity half a millennia ago. The
death toll in this conflict with Islamism is already so high, it would be
unthinkably high if it were to broaden into a conflict with Islam itself.

For
there is a difference, though sometimes it seems hard to differentiate them.

This
time I lay the blame for the carnage in this novel squarely at the feet of a
buddy of mine, the real Chris Leroux, who sent me an article on something—what
I can’t remember—that had a single short paragraph at the end of it that
mentioned the original Qarmatians.

Yes,
they are real, and yes, they stole the Black Stone over a thousand years ago.

Many
more people to thank: my father for his usual bang-up research job, Ian Kennedy
and Brent Richards for help on some fight sequences, weapons, tactics and a
whole bunch of other military stuff, Ian Davidson for some motorcycle info, Marc
Quesnel for some French help, Fred Newton for some car engine stuff, and Greg
“Chief” Michael for some Navy technical info and military rank info (if a Gunny
and a Command Sergeant Major are placed in a room together…).

To those
who have not already done so, please visit my website at
www.jrobertkennedy.com
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Thank
you once again for reading.

Oh, and
yes, St. James’s is correct!

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With the Triarii in control of the Roman Catholic Church, an organization founded by Saint Peter himself takes action,
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