CHAPTER 25: "KHAMASAR "


Saturday, February 7th, 2009 – 05:03 a.m.

Abu Maskar (Emirate of Khamasar)

"I think we can end the state of alert now, Colonel," Faisal said. "Make sure that all soldiers return to their barracks and that the two frigates return to the naval base."

Colonel el-Jubeir saluted him and left the Rising Star. Faisal El Banai followed him and while walking down the gangway, observed how the Connor team was directed to a waiting bus that had been converted into a prisoner transport.

He looked at the three cyborg chips in the plastic bag in his hand and smiled. This promised to become a really nice day.

Or at least, that's what he thought.

Because in reality, nothing of that had happened.

In reality, everything Faisal believed to perceive since he entered the deck, was just an illusion, a movie that was playing in his mind.

Meanwhile, the Connor team stared confused at the general who'd suddenly fallen silent, just standing there, unmoving. They looked at each other, asking themselves what was going on, but were afraid to talk or move with those guns still pointed at them.

After standing still in silence for a moment, the general blinked a few times, then wordlessly left the panorama deck with a satisfied grin, holding his right hand in front of him as if he were carrying something only he could see. Colonel el-Jubeir and the armed soldiers stood frozen on the spot as well, staring blankly into space, their weapons still pointed at the Connor team but not in a threatening pose anymore.

"Okay, can someone please tell me what the hell just happened?" Derek finally asked.

John smiled.

"Well, what did you guys see happen?" he asked, seemingly very satisfied by the turn of events.

"The General came aboard," Savannah summarized, "introduced himself, then began rambling about how clever and cool he was… and then he suddenly fell silent."

"He just stood there like a statue for half a minute or so," Lauren added, "mouth open, eyes unblinking."

"Then he stretched out his hand," Jody continued, "and he looked like a mime who was given a present."

"He seemed to grab something invisible," Jason said, "then turned around and left the ship without saying another word, carrying that invisible thing with him like a valuable trophy."

"You're absolutely right," Alison's voice came out of the empty space where General El Banai had stood before, "but that's not what he saw."

With a smile on her face, Alison became visible again.

"In fact," she continued, "he saw something very different in his mind, and to him, it all felt one hundred percent real."

"I knew you two were up to something when you and John stayed behind," Danny said with a grin, "and especially when he entered the deck without you."

"Yeah, we were all wondering what was going on," Allie added, "but we didn't have the time or the opportunity to discuss it."

Alison smiled and turned towards Colonel el-Jubeir.

"The general wants you to make sure that all soldiers return to their barracks," she said, "and he wants you to order the two frigates back to the naval base. Carry out the orders but leave one army truck empty for us to use, then return here and report to John for further instructions."

"Yes, ma'am," the Colonel replied, saluted Alison, and then left the Rising Star, leaving the Connor team alone with the frozen soldiers.

"John, what the hell…?" Derek asked.

-0-

TWO-AND-A-HALF HOURS EARLIER

"So, what do we do, John?" Cameron asked.

John thought for a moment.

"We're left with no choice," he then said, "we're vastly outgunned, and while we're at sea, any action on our part involves the risk of members of our team being injured or killed. That risk is too great."

"So, we surrender?"

"Let's call it a tactical retreat. My guess is they'll be escorting us into the port of Abu Maskar. Not much will happen until then."

"And then what?" Sarah asked. "What happens when we're there?"

"I don't know yet. I'll think of something. We'll reassess the situation and decide on the basis of the then known facts."

"In other words, we'll improvise?"

"Do you have a better idea, mom?"

Sarah looked at her son, then lowered her head.

"No."

John faced the captain who was eagerly awaiting their decision.

"Tell them."

"Yes, Sir."

The captain turned around and reached for the microphone to announce their surrender.

"We have one advantage, though," John said.

"Which one?" Derek asked.

"If our assumption is right and they know who we have on board, their threat only works as long as we're close together as a group, as long as any action could result in injuring or killing team members. Separating us would be too much of a risk. That could be an advantage we can use as a basis for a strategy."

"Assuming they really know we have cyborgs among us but don't know who exactly they are. That's a big leap, John."

"We don't have much of a choice, do we?" John turned towards the captain. "Open the hatch and lower the gangway. We'll assemble everyone on deck one, as requested."

"Yes, Sir," the captain replied.

While the Connor team walked towards the observation deck, John took Alison aside.

"Take off your clothes," he said.

"John, this isn't the right moment for…"

"No, not for that. I want you to become invisible. You'll be the ace up our sleeve."

"I see. What do you want me to do?"

"We can't do anything as long as we're in reach of their navy or air force, which means we have to change the circumstances from the ground up to get out of this scot free. And I think you agree that we better solve this challenge as quickly as possible."

"Yes, I agree with your assessment, John. But how will you achieve that? Even I cannot bring their entire army under my control - at least not in such a short time."

"You don't need to. You only need to control those who control the army. The military is based on the principle of order and obedience. Once you have the top of the chain of command under your control, the rest is a breeze."

Alison's face lit up.

"I begin to understand where you're going."

"While we gather on the panorama deck, I want you to get into your invisible state. Once the soldiers are on board, I want you to bring them under your control without anyone noticing."

"How much do you want me to control them?"

"Just enough to make them docile, passive, and not wanting to shoot at us. They still need to follow orders from their superiors, though. Can you do that?"

"Piece of cake. But they'll probably have a commanding officer with them. What about him?"

"Keep a close eye on him but don't do anything to him at first. Wait for the right moment to bring him under your control as well."

"What is the right moment?"

John smiled.

"You will know. I trust your judgement."

"Why can't I just turn the whole boarding party into my loyal servants?"

"Because we have to assume that we'll be under observation. This is not a spontaneous operation, it's a carefully designed trap. They're prepared, they didn't choose the panorama deck as a gathering point by chance. It will be well lit and in the dark of night, everyone with a binocular can see from half a mile away what's going on in there. Also, they're probably communicating with each other via radio. We can't risk the crews of the warships thinking that something is wrong here. They need to believe that everything is under their control."

"Understood. I'll hold myself back. And then?"

"Then we'll wait until we reach Abu Maskar. If our assumption is right and they know we have cyborgs on board, then my guess is that the one responsible for this operation will show up personally to bask in his triumph - but only if it's safe enough. Therefore, we have to be good, harmless prisoners."

"How do you know that the one responsible will come on board?"

John smiled.

"I don't know it of course. But I bet on human vanity. Whoever planned this, will have a large ego and won't leave it to his subordinates to take the credit."

"Seems a logical conclusion, based on the characters of the enemies we encountered before. Assuming you're right and the mastermind of this operation comes on board, what shall I do with that person then?"

"Is there a way you can control someone without them being aware of it, and without changing their personality and character?"

"That's a tricky one. Normally, those things are mutually exclusive. It won't work with my chemical messengers alone, they inevitably change the person, make them docile and submissive, like they did with Abdul Al Hani."

John shook his head.

"No, that's not what I want. I want the one responsible for this to retain his personality – at least for now."

"But why?"

"Because we need to get out of this country without leaving a trace, and without us getting into the news. If you bring more of Khamasar's leaders under your control and turn them into your loyal puppets, somebody will notice and become suspicious. We don't want that, we don't want anyone to start investigations. We need to stay under the radar, remember?"

"Yes, we need to avoid attention."

"Exactly. We need to leave the port without making a fuss of it. And for that, we need someone in a high position who can tell the armed forces to stay put. Abdul Al Hani comes to mind. But he might need our help, and we have to get off the ship first in order to visit him. That won't work, however, if those who are behind this trap are in our way."

"I understand. And I think I know how to influence someone without actually controlling them."

"You do? How?"

"I think I can combine my nanobots with the chemical messengers to alter a human's perception for a limited amount of time… in essence, faking their memories."

John frowned.

"And what would that achieve?"

"The false memories will seem real to that person. It's like projecting a movie directly into their brain. They'll stand still while it happens. I could for example convince someone that we're all dead. Or disabled."

John rubbed his chin.

"That might actually work. Are you sure you can pull that off?"

"I haven't tried yet… but I think so, yes."

"And could you do that in a way nobody will notice, not even the targeted person?"

"Well, I'd have to touch them and insert the nanobots through the skin, which takes longer. I'd have to touch the person during the whole process."

"Since when can you do that?"

"Since the upgrade Future Alison provided."

"I see. but wouldn't the person notice you touching them?"

"Only for a fraction of a second, and only if the person isn't distracted."

John nodded.

"Then let's do this."

"Yes, John. What kind of false memories shall I implant?"

"Something to convince the person we're overwhelmed, dead, or powerless… something to make them pull away the troops and stop watching us. Be creative."

"I'll try my best. Will you inform the others?"

John thought for a moment.

"No. I don't think there'll be time for that. I don't want the soldiers to think we're plotting something."

"But the team will notice that I'm missing."

"Yes, they will know that something's going on, and they'll suspect I have a plan. But they won't ask and risk that the plan fails."

She kissed him.

"For luck."

He smiled.

"Thanks. I hope we won't need too much of that."

"I love you, John."

"Love you too, Alison."

She took off her clothes and became invisible. Then John followed the others to the panorama deck.

THE PRESENT

"Wait, what?" Sarah asked. "You implanted false memories into General El Banai's brain?"

"Yes," Alison confirmed, "he now thinks that Cam, Emily, and I have powered down at gunpoint, that John has removed our chips, handed them over to him, that our bodies were carried away to the Kaliba research facility, and that you have been taken away for interrogation. These false memories will continue to feel absolutely real to him."

"So… that invisible thing he seemed to carry away in his hand?" Allie asked. "He believed that were your chips?"

"Yes. In a plastic bag."

"Wow…" Savannah said. "What happens when he realizes that neither the cyborg bodies nor the chips are actually for real?"

"I don't know. It's the first time I tried this. He might suffer from delusions or hallucinations for a while."

"In other words, he could become a nutcase," Charley remarked, shaking his head.

Derek shrugged.

"So what?" he asked. "Beats killing him if you ask me. Not that I'd mind if he were dead."

"I wonder why Abdul Al Hani allowed this to happen," Sydney mused. "Isn't he under our control?"

"He is," Alison confirmed, "my guess is he isn't aware of what's going on."

"But isn't he the boss of the police and the secret service, and also the heir to the throne? Isn't he supposed to know such things and protect us from something like this to happen?"

"Yes, in theory," John replied. "But this seems to be a military operation, and Abdul Al Hani is the head of all civilian authorities."

"He can only help us when he knows that we need his help," Alison added.

"You think he was bypassed in the planning of this operation?" Derek asked with a frown.

"Obviously. Otherwise, he'd warned Catherine about it, and she would have warned us in yesterday's video conference."

"Bypassed?" Lauren asked. "Who could bypass someone in his position?"

"Someone like General El Banai for example. He's the army chief. His and Abdul's competencies will not interfere with each other and vital information might not be exchanged."

"Also," Anne added, "the general is Abdul's brother-in-law. There might be a rivalry we don't know about."

"Do you think that people like Faisal El Banai suspect he might be working for us?" Sarah asked.

"Unlikely," Alison said. "But they might have noticed changes in Abdul's behavior they can't explain. We know that my chemical messengers change a person's character, which is noticeable for those who know them well. Those who are close to Abdul Al Hani, might have noticed a personality change ever since he returned from Marrakesh."

"But Abdul can still help us now, can't he?" Allie asked.

"I shall hope so," John replied. "We will need him for getting out of here. Fortunately, we know about his daily routine. He's in his office very early every morning, even before his secretary arrives. I suggest Alison and I pay him a visit."

"We don't have much time to waste," Sarah pointed out. "While you go visit him, we should split up to free our crew and get our weapons back."

John thought for a moment.

"You're right, mom," he then said, "we'll form three teams. Alison and I will be Team One. We'll go downtown and pay Abdul Al Hani a visit in his office. Mom, Cam, and Savannah are Team Two. Your task is to free the crew and bring them back to the ship."

"But we don't know where they brought them," Savannah pointed out.

"Alison and I will try to find out from Abdul Al Hani. He's not only the supreme police chief of the country and in charge of the secret service, he's also the superintendent of all state prisons. So, I'm guessing he can arrange for their release."

"And until you find out where they are, we sit here and wait, or what?" Sarah asked.

"You might also want to organize some means of transport for returning them to the Rising Star. It's almost fifty people, including you three. Think you can do that?"

"I think we can," Cameron stated. "We'll ask Colonel el-Jubeir where to look."

"Good. Derek, Emily, Allie, you're Team Three, your task is to find and bring back our weapons. Take the colonel with you and use one of the army trucks that's parked on the pier. He can be of assistance if there's need for security clearance."

The three nodded.

"Has the ship's computer been reset?" Sarah asked. "I don't want to experience any more unpleasant surprises when we're out at sea again."

"Yes, the malware has been purged from the system," Emily reported. "I set everything back into its original state before we got boarded. But I think we should switch off our GPS tracker from now on."

"Why would we do that?" Louise asked. "Won't that mean nobody can track us anymore in case something happens?"

"Yes," Emily confirmed, "but if we get out of here, it might be an advantage when the internet doesn't show our position. We should have done that weeks ago, then maybe we wouldn't be where we are now."

"I agree with Emily on this," John said. "Having such a tracker is nice when you're a freighter or a passenger ship in case someone needs to find out about your current position. But in our case, it has become counterproductive and plays into the hands of our enemies when everyone can follow our movements online."

"But won't there be questions why it's off?" Charley asked.

"We can always tell the port authorities that it's broken."

Everyone agreed with the decision. Right now, it seemed to be safer if the position of the Rising Star could not be seen by every internet surfer who logged in on one of those sea traffic websites.

"Did you find any traces the hacker left when he installed the malware?" Savannah asked.

"Negative," Emily replied. "I didn't have time for a detailed analysis. I copied the infected files to an isolated portion of the ship computer's hard drive before the reboot. I suggest we worry about that later."

"What about the rest of us?" Anne asked. "Shall we just sit here and wait until you all come back?"

"Yes," John answered. "Retract the gangway and close the hatch."

"We could come along," Jody suggested. "We know how to fight, you know?"

"Yes," Lauren agreed, "isn't that what we were trained for by Savannah and Allie?"

John sighed.

"Don't get me wrong," he said empathetically, "but this could become dangerous, really dangerous. You haven't been in a battle situation yet. The others have war experience and can handle weapons a lot better than you. They know how to communicate with sign language and how to behave under combat conditions. You know nothing of that, it's as simple as that. We're facing a whole army here, a whole country. This is different from beating up a group of pushy young men on the parking lot of a night club."

Lauren and Jody didn't seem convinced and looked disappointed.

"John's right," Jesse said, "I'd like to come along as well, but unfortunately I'm unable to, thanks to my swelling belly. And neither is Sydney, she's never been a soldier, only a medic. We all have to accept that we cannot always do what we want to do."

Finally, Jody and Lauren looked down and nodded.

"You're right, of course," Jody agreed.

"Also, you have to take care of your little sister," Charley pointed out, looking at Lauren.

Lauren looked back at him and then considered the baby she was holding in her arms.

"You're right," she said, "what was I thinking?"

"Lock yourselves in after we left," John added. "Don't do anything that could draw attention. Leave the lights off and don't open the hatch to anyone who doesn't belong to our team. Make no mistake, we might be good for now, but we're far from being out of danger. We're still isolated and moored in an enemy harbor."

"I really hope you know what you're doing, Johnny," Charley said, "because all we can do, is sit here and wait for your return. If someone decides to enter the yacht, we have no means to defend ourselves."

"Don't worry," John replied, "if you play dead, nobody will come and enter the ship. The soldiers went back to their barracks and General El Banai will need at least a couple of hours to realize something's wrong. Hopefully, by then we are in control of the situation."

"From your mouth to God's ears, Johnny."

"I don't know about you," Danny said, "but I could use a strong coffee."

"The crew's gone," Kevin said, "does anyone know how to use the espresso machine?"

"I had one at home before I died," Anne said and rose, "let's see if I can find out how to use that thing without switching the lights on. Anyone wanna join me?"

Olga rose as well.

"I can help," she said.

"Let's start with preparing breakfast then," Louise added. "Come on, guys, let's make ourselves useful."

"What about them?" Charley asked and pointed at the soldiers that had still surrounded them, rifles at the ready, their faces vacant and blank."

"We'll need the uniforms and weapons of six of them for teams Two and Three," John said. "The rest can function as guards. They can create a perimeter to make sure nobody gets too close to the ship. Alison, would you be so kind as to…?"

"Of course, John."

She walked towards the soldiers.

"Won't it be noticeable when women walk around in military uniforms?" Jody asked. "This is an Islamic country, isn't it?"

"A very small Islamic country, and not a very traditional one," Anne answered. "Only five million inhabitants. But they have strong armed forces. Hence, there is a compulsory military service here for women, similar to Israel. When it comes to their own security interests, religious issues about the traditional role of women in a society take second place."

Alison walked towards the soldiers, scanned their clothes sizes, and then whispered something into their ears Immediately, six of them put down their guns and began to take off their camouflage clothes.

"Derek will have a fitting one," she said, "but they will be too large for the women."

"They'll have to do," Sarah stated.

Teams Two and Three changed into the army clothes. While they were doing that, the rest of the soldiers was instructed by Alison position themselves in a half-circle in front of the ship and guard it. Meanwhile, they could see how the troops on the pier were mounting their trucks again to be transported away, and how the two frigates sailed out of the harbor again. Then Colonel el-Jubeir returned to the panorama deck. He walked directly towards John and saluted him.

"Order carried out, Sir," he reported, "the troops are withdrawn, the frigates are already on their way to their berths in the naval base. One army truck left for you to use, as ordered."

"Thank you, Colonel," John sad. "At ease."

The officer relaxed. Sarah looked at Alison.

"So… you turned him into another submissive puppet as well?" she asked.

"Only for the time being. We need him to get our weapons back and he wouldn't have helped us otherwise. Colonel el-Jubeir will no longer take any action against us, and when we're gone, he'll continue his normal life without remembering any of this. Until then, he'll be docile and helpful to us."

Sarah smirked.

"Is that so?"

"Yes."

With a wicked smile, she walked towards the Colonel. He looked at her questioningly, then she punched him hard in the face. He tumbled back, his nose bleeding. Sarah sighed with satisfaction.

"That felt good," she said, "I needed that. Now, Colonel, where did you put our cellphones?"

-0-

Saturday, February 7th, 2009 – 05:35 a.m.

Abu Maskar (Emirate of Khamasar)

Team One

John and Alison walked briskly along the broad boulevards of Abu Maskar. Like most countries on the Arabian Peninsula, Khamasar had invested a large part of its oil wealth in infrastructure and the modernization of the state. Thus Abu Maskar also boasted an impressive number of representative modern buildings, shopping malls, hotels, and vacation resorts. At this early hour, however, everyone was apparently still asleep, allowing the two lovers to wander through empty streets.

"I shouldn't have put on clothes," Alison stated. "There's nobody around, and I could have become invisible when necessary."

"No way I'm going to walk the streets of an Arabian city with a naked woman next to me," John replied, only half amused. "We already have enough trouble as it is. Besides, if everything goes according to plan, you won't need to be invisible."

"I wonder why the streets are so empty, though," she mused. "Even at this time, there should already be a lot of commotion."

"It's not a working day. Today's a national holiday in Khamasar – the fiftieth anniversary of the foundation of the emirate."

"Ah, okay. Thank you for explaining."

John grinned.

"You're welcome."

"But then how do we know that Abdul Al Hani is going to be in his office?"

"Because he was instructed by Catherine to be available from Monday to Saturday from 5 o'clock in the morning until 8 o'clock in the evening. Since his office is the only place where he is alone and can talk freely, he'll be there."

"How far is his office from here?"

"Less than an hour if we walk fast."

"You know, John, I could carry you and run very fast. We'd be there in less than ten minutes."

"Didn't you listen when I said that we don't want any more…"

He stopped talking when he saw the mischievous grin on her face and had to chuckle.

"Fooled you again," she said with a big smile, then suddenly her expression became serious. "There's a car approaching."

John looked around. He didn't hear or see anything.

"There," Alison said and pointed at a street corner two blocks away.

And sure enough, a car was turning into the boulevard. In the dark, John couldn't make out at first what type of car it was.

"It's a patrol car," Alison stated. "The police."

John sighed.

"Oh boy, just what we need."

"Maybe we can hitch a ride, though."

Seconds later, the officers behind the wheel had spotted them, switched on their flashing blue lights, and let their siren wail for a moment. The car turned around and stopped next to John and Alison. The two officers got out of their car and walked towards the couple.

"What are you doing here so early?" the first one asked them in Arabic, looking them up and down while shining his flashlight into their faces. "Are you okay? Do you need assistance?"

"He wants to know if we need help," Alison translated for John.

"Ah, tourists," the second officer said in English. "You shouldn't walk here so early in the morning, it's not safe."

"Thank you for your concern, officer," John said, "but we're fine. We… love to take a stroll in the morning before sunrise."

For some reason, the two officers didn't seem to believe John. They looked at each other.

"Can I see your papers, please?" the first one asked.

"I guess now would be the time," John said to Alison, and she looked back at him, nodding.

"Actually," she said, "there is something you can help us with."

The two officers looked at her for a moment, then suddenly smiled friendly at her.

"Of course, miss," the second one replied, "what can we do for you?"

"We need a ride to the Kaliba Tower, can you drive us there?"

"Of course we can," the first one said, "Hop in."

John smiled at Alison while the two entered the police car.

"Sometimes it's really useful to have you around," he stated.

She smiled back at him.

"Only sometimes?"

"All the time," John corrected.

The two kissed while the police car sped off, still flashing its blue lights.

-0-

Faisal El Banai drove his staff car, a military offroad vehicle, following the truck with the three cyborg bodies. After about forty minutes, they reached the Kaliba research facility that was located thirty kilometers outside of Abu Maskar.

He saw how the gates opened. The truck was waved through, and then the gates closed again behind it. Satisfied, Faisal turned his vehicle around to drive back into the city. It was time to inform Abdul about the successful operation. Surely his brother-in-law would be really thankful for what he'd done – even if he'd done it without authorization. The king would also be grateful for sure.

The guards at the gate of the research facility, however, scratched their heads. Because they merely saw a military off-road vehicle approaching that stopped just before them. They recognized the general and were preparing to open the gate… but then the vehicle turned around again, driving back towards Abu Maskar. They looked at each other questioningly, then shrugged and returned to their duty. Faisal El Banai was completely oblivious to the fact that only he could see the truck on which, as he believed, the lifeless bodies of the three cyborg girls were being transported.

In his mind, Faisal already saw himself being decorated in the royal palace. He already imagined the great ceremony and the celebration that would surely be organized in his honor. In one swift stroke, they had come into possession of the technology of the future, as well as three chips with the advanced processors of living machines. He looked at the plastic bag on the passenger seat – which also only he could see – and was looking forward to seeing how Kaliba engineers would be reverse-engineering this technology, giving his country an edge that nobody would be able to catch up to anytime soon, not even the mighty USA.


Another half hour later, he parked his car in the underground carpark of the Kaliba office tower in which Abdul Al Hani had his office. Just like Dubai, Abu-Dhabi, Qatar or Bahrain, Abu Maskar also boasted an impressive number of skyscrapers, built from oil money. However, the oil wealth wouldn't last forever, and so the emir had founded Kaliba in the 1980s with the wise foresight to make his emirate economically independent of oil.

The company was a unique success story - until last year, when the involvement of the corporate management into the scandal around the hidden Russian nuclear warhead in Los Angeles and their cooperation with the Shadow Council came to light. The U.S. branch of Kaliba had been infiltrated with Skynet agents from the future who had their own agenda. Ahmed Al Hani knew about that – in contrast to most of the rest of the board – and had even cooperated with them. The Americans were not amused, and neither was his father, the emir, who also was uninformed about the shady businesses Ahmed had steered Kaliba into.

Therefore, it was only fitting that Ahmed's company jet seemed to have crashed into the Mojave Desert in a "freak accident" after he'd met with his contacts in Los Angeles. Nobody knew exactly what had happened and how – but they knew that Isaak Sirko and possibly Catherine Weaver were somehow involved in it.

Because of the disgrace that Ahmed had brought upon the royal house, the emir left it at that and never questioned the investigations into the "accident". Ahmed's brother Abdul and he, Faisal, on the other hand, didn't want to be so easily satisfied. Abdul continued his brother's businesses and Faisal helped him as much as he could to find out who was behind Ahmed's death.

It was at this time that Faisal and Abdul met Steven Rogers and learned about the 51 Society, which seemed to know much more about the plane crash. They learned that Ahmed used to be a member of the 51 Society, and it was also Steven who first brought into play the possible involvement of the Los Angeles cyborg girls, whose existence became public knowledge shortly after Ahmed's plane crash. Mahesh Bokhari had contacted Abdul shortly after that, and the two became business partners.

Faisal and Abdul were in this together, they were like brothers. And it was only recently that their relationship had cooled down considerably. Faisal had gone to Madeira and then to Morocco to question Isaak Sirko. He returned a changed man from there – less determined, calmer, almost uncaring about their businesses. Faisal wondered what had happened in Madeira and Morocco that had changed Abdul so much.

With their reputation ruined and the Western markets largely closed off, it hadn't looked good for Kaliba and Khamasar. But with the help of Steven Rogers, Ziegler Industries, and their remaining contacts in the rest of the world, they managed to get their hands on future weapons technology that was supposed to ensure the economic survival of Kaliba and Khamasar… until the factory in Germany had been invaded and the already produced drones sabotaged and destroyed.

Faisal knew that the only chance for the conglomerate to survive was to research the technology of cyborgs and - if possible - to reproduce it. Autonomous weapon systems were the future, and with the three cyborgs and their chips in their possession, Faisal was sure that Khamasar would become a technological superpower. Or at least those were his thoughts when he rode the elevator up toward the floor on which Kaliba's management offices were located.

Abdul's secretary wasn't in yet, of course. It was a Saturday, and also a national holiday. But Faisal knew that ever since Abdul had returned from Morocco, he'd spend every day except Sundays in his office from way before sunrise to way after sunset. Workaholic much?

Faisal didn't knock before entering the office.

"There you are," Abdul said, looking up from some papers he was reading at his desk. "I was wondering when you showed up."

Faisal frowned.

"I beg your pardon?"

"On a scale of one to ten," Abdul continued unfazed, "how stupid do you think I am?"

Faisal seemed confused. This was usually not the tone in which his brother-in-law spoke to him. Abdul seemed calm and confident, yet subliminally angry.

"What do you mean, Abdul?"

"I know about your little stunt. What on earth prompted you to send out our navy to intercept and escort a civilian yacht into our port?"

Faisal smiled.

"Then you know."

"Of course I know. Did you really think I wouldn't learn about it?"

"And do you also know who was on board that yacht?"

"I know it can't have been Isaak Sirko or Catherine Weaver. They're both in California."

Faisal hesitated, then stretched out his hand, showing the plastic bag that only existed in his mind.

"What is that?" Abdul asked, apparently confused because he couldn't see anything.

"These are three cyborg chips."

"Are they now?"

"Yes. Removed from the skulls of those Los Angeles cyborg girls. It's them who were on that yacht, together with their friends. Forget about Sirko and Weaver, these cyborg girls were our real enemies."

Abdul leaned back and put the tips of his fingers together. His face was unreadable. Whether he considered Faisal crazy or not, couldn't be read from his expression.

"Is that so? And what have you done with those cyborgs' bodies?"

"Sent them to the Kaliba research facilities in the desert outside the city."

Abdul said nothing but only looked at Faisal with a frown.

"Can't you see the possibilities this opens up for us?" Faisal continued in an urging tone. "We now have our hands on probably the most important and advanced technology this planet has ever seen. This could potentially save Kaliba, save our country, and grant us a glorious future."

"And what do you think will happen when the Americans find out about this?"

"They won't find out. The tracking system of the yacht is switched off, it doesn't appear on anyone's radar or GPS system at the moment. We'll steer the yacht out at sea again, send out a distress call and sink it there. The Alula-Fartak Trench is 2,500 meters deep and 140 nautical miles from their last known position, nobody will ever find the wreck. I had the mooring area widely cordoned off to prevent anyone from entering the area. But we have to act quickly, Abdul, before the sun rises and someone sees the yacht in our harbor. It's freaking huge."

Abdul seemed to think for a moment about how to respond to that.

"What have you done with the crew and the passengers?" he then asked.

"I had the crew transferred to Al-Hazni prison, just in case. The warden is a friend of mine I can trust. The passengers were brought to the headquarters of the secret police for interrogation. The plan is to execute them all for weapons smuggling and then sink them along with their ship."

Again, Abdul seemed to think for a moment, his face unreadable.

"You should tell my father about that," he then said.

"The emir? But…"

"I talked to him already before you arrived and arranged for a meeting. I suggest you go to the royal palace right away."

Faisal seemed to be insecure for a moment.

"The palace? This early?"

"My father's an early riser, just like me. And don't forget to show him those cyborg chips, I'm sure he'd love to see them."

Again, Faisal looked at the plastic bag in his hand that only existed in his imagination.

"I will. Thank you, Abdul."

With a frown on his face, Faisal turned around and left the office, closing the door behind him.

"Well done, Abdul," John said. "I knew we could rely on you."

"You and Mistress Alison can always rely on my cooperation."

"Stop calling me that, people might get the wrong idea if they overhear it. Just call me Alison."

"As you wish, Alison. Your arrival and your description of the facts came not a second too soon. Faisal cheated me coldly. He will pay for this. But why didn't he react to your presence? Didn't he saw you two standing right next to me?"

"No," Alison replied, "He only saw what I wanted him to see, I manipulated his mind accordingly."


While Faisal walked to his car, he thought about what had just happened. Abdul clearly wasn't himself at the moment. He looked too calm and content for what had been said. Again, Faisal contemplated about how his brother-in-law had changed after his trip to Madeira and Morocco.

Then he stopped dead in his tracks.

Could it be Abdul was one of… them? Had he been replaced by a cyborg? Now that he thought of it, it began to make sense. No one was that calm and unconcerned when being confronted with so many bad news in such a short time. And then the way he had reacted when he'd shown him the three cyborg chips – he seemed totally unimpressed. But if he were one of them, could that mean he was working together with the Connor team? Could he even attempt to help them escape?

Not on his watch. Faisal pulled out his phone and dialed a number.

"Al-Hazni prison? General El Banai here. Put me through to the warden … Then wake him up, goddammit!"


"Have you done what I asked of you?" John asked, looking at Alison.

"Yes. The air in the office was saturated with chemical messengers, individually designed for Faisal. From now on, his actions will be determined solely by his fears, worries, and the perceptions associated with them. He will quickly become paranoid, then succumb to his delusions, fall into insanity, and feel himself forced to do things that from his perspective seem necessary. John… wouldn't it be easier to just kill him?"

"Easier, yes. But less effective. If you want to get rid of an enemy like Faisal, you need to make him look like a loony. It's smarter to let him live but destroy his reputation and accountability. It'll rob him of his power and influence and make him a pawn of his inner demons. Believe me, it works. The Shadow Council and Kaliba did the same thing to my mother by sending her to Pescadero. Even I began to doubt her after that."

"What do we do about Steven Rogers? Obviously, he and Faisal are partners in this conspiracy."

"Nothing. Catherine will take care of him. We'll continue our world trip after we've dealt with things here. Ugh, I'm so sick and tired of Kaliba, their henchmen and the everlasting threat they pose."

"Then let me do something about that," Alison said.

He looked at her.

"What do you mean?"

"We didn't choose to be here, they forced us into their country. Now that we're here, though, we shouldn't leave again without making a clean sweep. I don't like leaving things unfinished, especially not when those things pose a lingering threat. And with Abdul's help, we can finish it once and for all, here and now."

John frowned.

"Could you be a little more specific? What exactly are you suggesting?"

"I want to convene an emergency meeting of the Kaliba Executive Board and the Supervisory Board."

"On a national holiday? That'll be difficult."

"Not if the heir to the throne and CEO of Kaliba personally calls for it. Please, John, let me have a plan for a change. Nobody will die, I promise."

"All right," he said with a sigh, "let's have it your way. I'll inform mom and the others."

Alison beamed at him. John pulled out his cellphone and dialed his mother's number.

"Mom? … They're in the Al-Hazni prison. Think you can find that? … Yes, our friend Abdul here will arrange for their release ... What? … No, don't worry about the General, he's been taken care of. And mom, as soon as you have the crew back on board, I want you to leave the harbor and the territorial waters of Khamasar … Yes, I know, but Alison and I need to stay here for a while longer ... She has a plan to rid us from Kaliba once and for all … No, I'm quite sure it won't involve genocide … I know, but I want the Rising Star to be out of sight and you and everyone else safe before sunrise … Why? Because I don't want witnesses, or that anything about our presence here leaks to the media … Yes, you got it. Don't worry, we'll join you again soon, I'm sure that Abdul can provide a transport … Love you too … Bye."

He ended the call, then looked at Abdul Al Hani.

"Now would be the right time to arrange for the prisoners to be released."

"Of course, John."

Abdul picked up the phone on his desk and entered a speed dial.

"Al-Hazni prison? … Abdul Al Hani here. Put me through to the warden..."

-0-

Team Two

The bus depot was located in an industrial area at the other end of the harbor. Colonel el-Jubeir had informed them that Abu Maskar's public transport services brought their buses there when they needed to be inspected or when repairs were due. Under cover of darkness, Sarah, Cameron, and Savannah approached the compound on foot. It was surrounded by a wire mesh fence with barbed wire on top. A single gate with a single guard in his guardhouse provided the only access. The area was monitored by cameras. Somewhere inside the compound, two dogs barked.

"Guard dogs," Savannah said. "I guess they already noticed Cam's presence."

"Dogs won't be a problem," Cameron stated.

"And what about the guard?" Sarah asked.

"We need to take him out," Cameron replied. "I could break through the fence, but it is most certainly connected to the alarm system."

"Then how do we get inside?" Savannah asked.

"I think we should be very careful," Sarah replied, "we don't want to cause any…"

While she was talking, Cameron stepped out of cover and walked determinedly toward the guardhouse.

"What the…?" Sarah uttered unbelieving.

Savannah shrugged.

"Cyborgs," she said. "They don't like to elaborate plans very much when the traditional front door approach might work."

They both watched as Cameron reached the guardhouse and knocked on the door. The guard opened, they exchanged a few words, then Cameron grabbed him by the throat and lifted him up. Seconds later, the guard's body went limp.

"Let's go," Sarah said and the two sprinted towards the gate.

They saw how Cameron was already switching off the alarm system and the cameras when they reached the guardhouse. Sarah took a quick look at the lifeless body of the guard. The dog barking became louder.

"Did you kill him?"

"Mom," Cameron replied and rolled her eyes, "you should know me better by now."

"Just asking. I don't like it when you fall back into those old Terminator patterns."

"I didn't see the necessity for an elaborate plan. The good old front door approach worked perfectly fine. And I didn't kill him, right? Also, remember we're wearing camouflage. He took me for a soldier. People trust uniforms, even if these are too large in size for us."

Sarah gave her a sour smile. She still didn't like to be lectured by her cyborg stepdaughter.

"Let's go," Cameron then said and entered the compound, walking towards the bus depot, which was in fact a large warehouse.

They hadn't even walked ten meters when two Dobermans came running around the corner and stormed towards them, barking wildly. Savannah and Sarah pointed their army rifles at them, but Cameron indicated that they shouldn't shoot. Instead, she let her eyes glow in a deep red and gave a loud roar, so threatening and bloodcurdling that Sarah and Savannah were shocked and took a step to the side in utter bewilderment.

The two dogs stopped dead in their tracks, yelped in panic and ran away even faster in the opposite direction.

"What the hell?" Sarah asked.

"What was that?" Savannah added.

Both looked slightly shaken. Cameron looked at them and shrugged.

"A combination of sounds that triggers an escape reflex in every mammal, even in the fiercest predators. It's better than killing them, isn't it?"

"You nearly gave us a heart attack!" Savannah complained.

"Yeah, we're mammals too, remember?" Sarah added, her heart thumping wildly.

"Sorry," Cameron replied a little sheepishly.

They reached the entrance to the warehouse. It was a large sliding gate with a massive handle on it.

"It's electrical, and probably locked from the inside and can only opened from there," Cameron stated.

Sarah looked at her.

"Well, it has a handle. Do your thing then."

Cameron reached for the handle of the gate, pulled… and the handle snapped right off with a metallic clang.

"Oops," she uttered, looking at the handle in her hand.

"What do you mean, 'oops'?"

"It seems that the load capacity of the handle was lower than that of the bolts that lock the gate."

"Yes, we can see that, Miss Obvious," Savannah commented. "But how are we going to open it now? It's a smooth surface without any grip or hold."

"Maybe we can open it from the inside."

"Great idea," Sarah said. "But we're still outside."

"Maybe there's a backdoor somewhere."

They began circling the building, and sure enough, they found a small metal door on an annex that was directly connected to the back of the warehouse.

"This time push, not pull," Savannah recommended.

Cameron gave her a slightly annoyed look, then smashed her fist into the door. With a loud bang, it flew out of its hinges. The three entered the building.

"We should have brought flashlights," Sarah remarked. "Where are we?"

"Administrative section," Cameron replied, being able to see in the dark. "Offices, locker rooms, a break room, washrooms, and toilets. Everything's pretty dirty. Typical for workshops with mostly male employees."

"Thank God I don't have to use a toilet right now," Savannah remarked.

They walked through a corridor, passing several locked rooms until they reached an unlocked steel door that led to the big hall inside the warehouse. They stopped dead in their tracks when they saw more than two dozen buses standing in there, some of them in a state of repair, some seemingly untouched.

"How are we gonna find out which ones work?" Sarah asked.

"They probably have a computer in their office," Cameron replied, turning around, "I'm gonna hack into it and see if I can find out which one's are functional."

They followed her back into an office where an old CRT monitor stood on a desk, which was covered with loose papers and wrappings of snacks, as well as all kinds of office utensils, a dirty coffee cup, and plenty of leftover crust in an open pizza box. There was also a porn magazine on the desk. Cameron pushed away the desk chair and switched on the computer which looked at least as ancient as the monitor. Sarah decided to sit down on the desk chair.

"You better not do that," Cameron stated as Sarah was about to take place. "You might catch a disease."

Quickly, Sarah straightened herself up again and rubbed her hands at her side.

"Do we need a shower after leaving this place?" she asked.

"Maybe a decontamination," Savannah commented as she took a look into the waste bin where she saw moldy, empty yogurt cups.

The PC booted, and it showed the welcome screen of Windows 95.

"Seriously?" Savannah asked. "All the oil wealth and they don't have the money to invest in some proper software?"

"I doubt that any current software would run on this ancient PC," Cameron replied. "The good news is that I'm already in. They didn't bother with a login or password."

Sarah and Savannah looked over Cameron's shoulder and saw that everything was in Arabic writing.

"Can you read that gibberish?" Sarah asked.

"Of course, mom," Cameron replied a little piqued, "do you think I can only speak the language and not read it?"

Sarah preferred not to answer that and simply looked at how Cameron scrolled through something that looked like an early Excel file.

"Hard to imagine that this used to be state of the art at some point, eh?" Savannah remarked.

"I wouldn't know the difference," Sarah remarked. "Computers all look the same to me."

Savannah gave her a weird look.

"That's like saying a car from the 1950s looks the same as a car from the 2000s."

"Your point being?"

"You know, forget it. What did you find out, Cam?"

"Buses 3789-2 and 3775-2 are about to be reintegrated into active use on Monday," the cyborg girl answered. "All pending repairs have been carried out."

"Great, and what do these number mean?" Savannah asked. "Were can we find them?"

"Serial numbers, painted on the front under the driver's window."

"We split up," Sarah said, "the first one who finds one of the two buses, calls the others."

The three walked across the vast hall in different directions. Savannah was the first one to call out.

"I FOUND IT! THIS IS NUMBER 3775-2!"

The other two ran towards her and stopped in front of an old Mercedes Citaro city bus that could have used a new coat of paint.

"The other one's right next to it," Cameron observed.

"Yeah," Sarah agreed, "problem is, they're blocked by two other buses. We can't simply drive them out."

Again, Cameron went into action without a word. She lifted the other two buses up at each end and swung them to the side, thus moving them out of the way. Now the number 3775-2 hat a clear path towards the gate.

"Can now," the cyborg girl simply commented as she returned and took place on the driver's seat.

"Show-off," Sarah commented but smiled, turning towards Savannah. "You get on the bus, I'll open the gate."

Savannah entered the bus the moment Cameron short-circuited the starter.

"Hey, I brought the keys!" she declared and held them up. "They're all hanging on a board by the door in the office."

Cameron shrugged.

"Old habits," she replied and then drove the bus towards the sliding gate.

Sarah was pushing the opening button and slowly but steadily, the gate slid to the side, creating a gap big enough for the bus to drive through. Cameron drove forward and then stopped to let Sarah get in. They then drove towards the exit of the compound. Sarah got out to have the barrier raised from inside the guardhouse. When she entered the small cabin, the guard was groaning, apparently about to regain consciousness. With a short blow over the head with the butt of her rifle, however, she immediately put him out of action again.

"Sorry," she said and pushed the button that raised the barrier, "it's nothing personal."

She re-entered the bus and they drove away into the darkness.

-0-

Team Three

The army truck drove alone through the empty streets of Abu Maskar before dawn, heading towards the outskirts of the city, where the army depot was located at which, according to Colonel el-Jubeir, the weapons of the Connor team had been transported. The other truck had maybe half an hour's lead and everyone hoped that they would arrive in time before their stuff was unloaded and stowed away somewhere inside the storage facility.

The Colonel drove, Derek and Emily sat in the front of the cab, while Allie, due to lack of space, sat on a bench on the cargo bed.

"What are they going to do with our weapons?" Derek asked.

"The orders weren't specific," Colonel el-Jubeir replied rather blankly, staring ahead on the road. "My guess is they'll be sorted and then stored separately somewhere. It's a big warehouse."

"Then let's hope we arrive in time to prevent that from happening," Emily said. "The less time we need to gather our stuff, the better. We have to leave the port before sunrise."

"Do you have any idea what exactly John and Alison are up to?"

Emily looked at Derek.

"No, not in detail," she replied, "but I think we can assume that our involuntary stay here will now lead us to draw a final line under everything that has to do with Kaliba."

He sighed.

"Then let's hope that whatever John's coming up with, will work."

"Everything's gonna be fine," Emily stated with a reassuring smile. "We'll be out of here in no time and everyone's gonna be okay – including Jesse and the baby. Have faith in the future."

"Yeah, right. Everyone always tells me we'll be okay in the future, but they never go into the details. Nobody ever tells us how painful it will be until finally everything's okay."

Emily chose not to respond to that. She knew from experience that once Derek had decided to bask in his gloominess, it was useless to argue against it. They spent the rest of the drive in silence.


The army depot on the edge of the city was larger than expected. There were at least six large warehouses and, in addition, a number of underground ammunition bunkers. When Colonel el-Jubeir stopped the truck at the main gate, the guards recognized him. After exchanging a few words in Arabic, the guard saluted, and the colonel drove into the compound.

"Didn't he want to see any papers or documents?" Derek wondered.

"I am a colonel of the royal guard and a member of one of the noble families. That soldier was smart enough not to demand to see anything like that. It's how things work here in Khamasar."

"Neat. What did he say about the truck with our stuff?"

"The truck hasn't been unloaded yet," Emily said who'd overheard the conversation at the guardhouse.

"It has been directed to warehouse C," Colonel el-Jubeir added. "Unloading it has no priority. There are ongoing preparations for the national holiday. It's gonna be big fireworks in the evening which the army is organizing. Therefore it is relatively empty here today."

"I like good timing," Derek stated.

They reached warehouse C in the middle of the compound. It was surrounded by a separate wire mesh fence with barbed wire on top, and a small guardhouse with a single guard soldier stood next to the open entrance gate. Again, the guard only needed to see Colonel el-Jubeir to hastily wave him through. They drove the truck inside the seemingly deserted warehouse.

"What's with the extra security?" Derek asked.

"This building is restricted," Colonel el-Jubeir explained. "Only authorized personnel, and they're mostly at home today. Only the security service is on site."

"Wow, would you look at that," Derek said, leaning forward to see better out of the front window. "This looks like the freaking warehouse at the end of 'Raiders of the lost Ark'."

"In here, we store everything that our agents and employees all over the world find and consider worth investigating," the colonel explained. "We categorize it, catalog it in a data base, then store it in crates."

"You're freaking hoarders," Derek stated.

"Not everything here is Kaliba property, though. We also act as a service provider for others who want to store something securely – for a certain fee, of course. One of our clients was your Shadow Council."

"Wait, what?" Derek asked, looking at him. "Are you saying that you're storing things here which belonged to the Shadow Council?"

"Yes. Since 1991, to be precise, when our partnership with them began. They were looking for a safe place outside the USA to store their more… sensitive documents."

"And did you catalog that as well?"

"Of course. Everything that arrives here, is first catalogued, and then stored in crates, as you can see. However, we have been lagging behind for years in examining it all. We lack the personnel to handle the flood of incoming goods."

Emily and Derek looked at each other.

"Do you think what I am thinking?" he asked.

"We should further investigate this warehouse before we leave," she agreed, then looked at the colonel. "I need access to the computer where everything is catalogued."

Colonel el-Jubeir nodded.

"I'll lead you to it," he said as they reached an open area in the middle of the warehouse.

"Excellent."

"Ah, and here's the truck with your weapons."

It appeared that only the driver had remained with the vehicle. He leaned with his back against the driver's cabin and smoked a cigarette, apparently waiting for someone to unload his freight. The colonel stopped behind the other truck, then got out to talk to the driver. Derek banged his fist against the separating wall between the driver's cabin and the cargo bed. Seconds later, Allie appeared at the passenger door. They explained the situation to her.

"You think that future technology might be stored here?"

"Nah, I don't think so," Derek replied. "I doubt that they'd have moved such important things out of the country, where they could have fallen into the wrong hands.. But hopefully, we'll known soon enough."

"I'm going to plug myself into the computer while you wait here for me," Emily explained. "We'll leave this truck here and use the other one to drive back. Saves us from having to reload the crates with our weapons."

"And what if you find something in their computer?"

"Then we'll load it onto the truck together with our stuff, bring it back to the Rising Star, and inform Catherine that we have some cargo to pick up."

The driver of the other truck left on foot in the direction of the exit. The colonel returned.

"I sent him home," he reported, "told him to enjoy the day with his family. We should be the only ones in the warehouse at the moment."

"Excellent," Emily said. "Now, show me to the room with your computer."

"Yes, ma'am."

The two walked away.

"Right," Derek said, "we just… wait here."

"… and hope nobody starts talking to us or ask what we do here," Allie added.

-0-

Team Two

The bus with Sarah, Cameron, and Savannah on board approached the Al-Hazni prison. It was located at the sea shore, about ten kilometers away from the harbor, and the structure was brightly lit. From a distance they could see that the prison consisted of an old building complex that looked like a fortress, surrounded by high walls with barbed wire on top of them.

"Apparently, they lock up their political prisoners here," Savannah said, looking at her smartphone, "used to be a fort that the British had built at the end of the 19th century. It is said that the prison warden is kind of a sadist and a favorite of General El Banai, although he is actually subordinate to Abdul al Hani."

"Sounds like a real charmer," Sarah remarked, "the internet is telling you all that?"

"No, Danny is texting me that. He, Kevin, and Jason have been doing some research about Khamasar to support us. I guess they're getting a little bored right now with nothing else to do except waiting."

"I see. What else do they say about this prison?"

"It's actually rather low-level security. No felons in there. However, there are rumors that prisoners are interrogated and tortured by the secret police. Although that's subject to debate because the secret police has their own facilities for interrogations in the center of town."

"Lovely..." Sarah commented sarcastically. "Anything else about this 'model state'?"

"Yes, a lot. Like many countries in this part of the world, visitors from all over the world are very welcome because they bring money. And the authorities treat visitors and tourists very well. But as a resident or - even worse - a foreign employee of one of the residents, you have less to laugh about. There are rumors that Khamasar is involved in human trafficking. Freedom of expression doesn't exist, the laws are extremely restrictive - for example, the death penalty can be imposed even for minor offenses."

"Yeah, like weapons smuggling," Cameron remarked. "Colonel el-Jubeir said so."

"The regime is very strict, criticism or contradiction is not tolerated, the media are forced into line and serve as a mouthpiece for the government. But if you're a tourist and enjoy the amenities of the country, you probably won't get in touch with such things."

Sarah scoffed.

"Of course not."

"The leadership elite consists of members from nine noble families, dating back to the nine sheikdoms that once made up Khamasar before it was united by the first emir, Abdallah Al Hani, fifty years ago. These nine noble families share the benefices among themselves. As a member, you are automatically privileged. As a non-member, like over ninety-five percent of the population, you're a second-class citizen."

Sarah sighed.

"I really hope nothing has happened to our crew yet."

"I doubt it," Savannah replied, "They probably hardly had time to unload and lock them up."

"The whole complex doesn't look very inviting," Cameron commented. "A stark contrast to the otherwise modern city."

She stopped the bus at the gate. One of the guards came walking towards the window on the driver's side. He saluted and Cameron saluted back.

"We've come to pick up the prisoners who've recently been brought in," she said in Arabic to the man. "I believe Abdul Al Hani has already informed the prison warden about our impending arrival."

The man frowned as he looked inside the empty bus.

"I wasn't informed of an outgoing prisoner transport in a civilian bus," he said, "I have to talk to my superior."

And with that, he disappeared in his guardhouse again.

"I can only hope that Abdul Al Hani has made everything clear," Sarah said. "Alison's not with us. If something goes wrong, all we have is harsh language and army rifles."

"And a badass cyborg," Cameron added with a smile.

"Right."

"Don't worry, mom, everything's gonna be fine."

Sarah rolled her eyes and looked at the cyborg girl.

"Why are you always so obtrusively optimistic? Is it because you know that nothing can happen to you?"

"No, it's because I have faith in John, in my team, and in my abilities."

"I thought you once told me that faith wasn't part of your programming."

"That was long ago, in a darker time. I've learned a lot since then."

"I wish I could say the same."

"You can. You've changed a lot since then, mom."

"Oh yeah? In which way?"

"For starters, you're no longer a stuck-up bitch who hates machines."

Sarah gasped.

"I was never…"

"Yes, you were. And I had to wait a long time before I could tell you this without you shooting at me immediately."

"As if that would do you any harm. Who knows? Maybe I'll still shoot at you, for target practice only."

"Be my guest. Just tell me when you need to blow off some steam."

"Could you two stop bickering?" Savannah asked, rolling her eyes. "This is still a risky operation, and we're in danger."

The guard returned to them.

"Everything seems to be in order," he said and at the same moment, the large steel gate began to slide to the side.

When it was fully opened, Cameron and the guard saluted to each other once more, then she drove the bus into the yard of the prison complex. Behind them, the gate closed again.

Suddenly, they were bathed in light. Strong spotlights and floodlights were turned on all around the yard, dazzling them temporarily. When their eyes had become accustomed to the sudden brightness, they realized that they were surrounded by heavily armed guards who were targeting them with rifles. From a loudspeaker somewhere outside, a commanding voice resounded in English to them.

"PUT DOWN YOUR WEAPONS AND EXIT THE BUS WITH YOUR HANDS IN THE AIR! WE KNOW WHO YOU ARE!"

Sarah sighed.

"Any suggestions?" she asked.

"Do as he says," Cameron replied. "You're not bulletproof."

"Thanks for reminding us."

"And on my command, take cover under the bus."

"What? I don't think we…"

But Cameron was already stepping out of the bus, holding her hands in the air. With a little bit of hesitation, Sarah and Savannah followed her. They looked around and saw that about two dozen armed guards were pointing their rifles at them. In their midst stood an overweight man in a suit who seemed to be in charge. He had a beard, but his head was bald, and he seemed to be in his early fifties.

"What's the meaning of this?" Cameron asked in Arabic. "Abdul Al Hani has announced our arrival, hasn't he? Are you the warden?"

"Yes, I'm the warden," the man in the suit replied, but in English, "And yes, I had a phone call with someone who sounded like Abdul Al Hani. But I also spoke to General El Banai before that. He explicitly warned me not to trust any voices over the phone, especially Abdul Al Hani's – and he also told me that a group of American spies might try to free the prisoners. At first, I doubted him, but since Al Hani had actually called me shortly afterwards and had ordered me to do some strange things, I decided to take my chances and believe the general. And it looks like I've been right. Three women, wearing uniforms that apparently are too large for them, one of them a redhead, arriving in a bus operated by Abu Maskar's public transport company that was reported stolen ten minutes ago? Yeah, right. Don't even try to pretend you're Khamasar soldiers. I'm not that gullible."

"What now?" Sarah whispered, trying not to move her lips.

"It's clear that the general warned him about us," Savannah replied in an equally low whisper. "he obviously believes that Al Hani's voice on the phone was imitated by someone."

"Of all the times for being paranoid…"

"SILENCE!" the warden shouted. "Step over here, and kneel on the ground, with your hands behind your heads!"

Cameron sighed.

"You better take cover now," she stated and quickly walked towards the man, causing all rifles being pointed at her.

Trained for such a surprising turn of events, Savannah and Sarah quickly let themselves fall to the ground, then rolled underneath the bus.

In the same moment, the guards began to fire.

-0-

Team Three

While Emily and Colonel el-Jubeir were gone, Derek and Allie changed trucks. They were now sitting in the one with their weapons in it, waiting for the cyborg girl's return. Derek had turned the vehicle around so that they could drive forward out of the warehouse again.

"This is too easy," Derek stated grimly. "And this huge hall gives me the creeps. All those crates, stacked ten meters high… you can't see anyone coming from any direction. If this is a trap…"

"It's just a warehouse," Allie replied. "If there was something going on, we'd know it by now."

"This reminds me of the situation in Corbin Canyon. You know… in the war."

"Corbin Canyon? You mean the cold storage facility where the food for the Grays was stored?"

"Yes. Connor sent us with five trucks to raid the place. Was supposed to be low security. But it was a trap. We lost five men and three trucks. Barely got out alive."

"Hmmm… I remember it too, but in my timeline, the raid was a success."

Derek looked at her.

"Yeah... not the only difference."

"I guess we got lucky there... But in the end we lost the war."

"You lost a battle, not the war. The war was won before it even started. Here, in this reality."

"You're right. Doesn't change anything about my memories, though. Doesn't change that I remember my loved ones dying."

"Hold on to those memories, though. Nobody except us has them. When we die someday, all those memories will be lost forever."

"Someone should write a book about it… 'The war that never happened' or something like that."

Derek looked at her and smiled.

"Sounds like a bestseller."

Allie smiled back.

"We could all write our different versions: Me, you, Jesse, Cameron, Tess, maybe even Khufu to add a different perspective... always the same story and yet… different for all of us."

"Are you suggesting that we all write our memoirs?"

"Uh-huh."

"Six versions of the same events in different timelines? I guess nobody's ever tried that before."

"It'd be a first."

The two chuckled.

"Yeah," Derek stated, looking straight ahead, "maybe someday."

The two fell into silence again and waited patiently for Emily's return. Suddenly, two armed soldiers turned a corner and entered the wide corridor where they had parked. They stopped dead in their tracks and looked back and forth between the two trucks, noticing that one of them was deserted. Then they obviously decided to check out Derek and Allie's truck.

"Great," he said, "you do the talking."

"Very funny. I don't speak a word Arabic."

"Neither do I. I only speak two languages: English and bad English."

"These are just guards on their round. They have no idea what's going on."

"Does that change anything about the situation?"

"Nope."

"Thought so."

"But we can try to surprise them."

"The broken nose maneuver?"

"Yup."

"Swell."

The two guards approached the truck, one on the driver's side, the other on the passenger side. There was a knock on the driver's door. Derek rolled down the window and the guard spoke to him in Arabic. Smiling, Derek answered him.

"Salam alaykum," he said in broken Arabic, "um... Allahu akbar. Sorry, that's all I know."

The guard frowned, pointed his rifle at him and shouted something. Derek raised his hands.

"All right, all right, I'll get out."

Before the guard could react, Derek smashed the door open, hitting the man in the face with it. Allie did the same on the passenger side. Both quickly jumped out and walked over to the dazed guards who lay on the floor with bleeding noses and knocked them out.

"I'm still amazed how this works all the time," Derek stated.

"I knew someone who once tried it with Terminators."

"And?"

"Gave him enough time to make a run for it."

"Did he get away?"

"Nope."

"Tough luck."

"These two will be missed, we don't have much time."

"I know. Let's tie them up and gag them. Then we'll load them onto the cargo bed of the other truck."

After another two minutes, Emily and Colonel el-Jubeir finally returned. They explained to them what had happened.

"Colonel," Emily said, "What do you know about the rhythm of the patrols here? How often do they have to report to the watch commander?"

"I don't know. But the army standard for patrols is one round every hour. Radio silence is a standing order, except in emergency situations. We could have fifteen or thirty minutes, maybe more, maybe less – but only if they follow the standard procedures and don't have their own rhythm. After all, this is a high security area. And even if we make it out of the warehouse, we still have to get out of the compound."

"Great, no pressure," Derek stated. "What have you found out?"

"We need to find twelve boxes that the Shadow Council has stored here," Emily replied. "They are labeled 'Matryoshka Dolls'."

"Cute," Allie stated. "What's in those boxes?"

"Certainly, no Russian dolls. But the inventory list was very vague. There's only references to documents and data carriers."

"Doesn't sound very spectacular," said Derek.

"You never know. We know that the FBI and the DHS are having difficulties finding hard evidence of the Shadow Council's hidden activities. There are plenty of witnesses, yes, but the data situation is very poor. The Senate hearings have therefore become bogged down. Perhaps the boxes stored here can change that?"

"All right," Derek said, "where are they?"

"Section fourteen, shelf twenty-three. That way."

-0-

Team One

John paced up and down in Abdul Al Hani's office. Alison watched him stoically while Al Hani sat behind his desk, busy preparing papers and documents for the upcoming meeting of Kaliba's Executive Board.

"It's been almost two hours," John said, "they should be back on board by now."

"If something came up, we would know about it," Alison replied. "Everything comes together here in this office. The police, the secret service, Abdul is the supreme head of all security forces in the country."

"I know but…"

Abdul Al Hani's phone rang. He looked up at John who nodded.

"Put it on speaker."

"Yes, Mr. O'Connell."

The moment Al Hani took the call, they could hear gun shots at the other end of the line, accompanied by shouting and screaming.

"Mr. Al Hani?" a panicking voice asked in Arabic and in the following conversation, Alison translated for John what was spoken.

"Yes, Abdul Al Hani speaking. What's going on?"

"We're under attack! We need reinforcements!"

"Who is there? Say your name!"

"I'm sorry. My name is Omar Alaba, I'm the head of security for Al-Hazni prison."

"What's with the shooting? Where's the warden?"

"The warden is dead. The situation is out of control. There's a woman who goes around, killing people. We're shooting at her but… she won't go down. My men are dying! We need backup!"

Al Hani looked at John.

"Tell them to stop shooting," he said. "Cameron's only killing them because they pose a threat to my mom and Savannah. She will stop when they stop firing their weapons and surrender. If they keep firing, they will all die."

"Alaba, do you hear me?"

"Yes, Sir?"

"Cease fire and surrender!"

"What? But…"

"She will only kill as long as you keep firing, you idiot! Cease fire and surrender, dammit! Otherwise you'll all be killed!"

"I… Yes, Sir."

The line when silent for a moment, then the shooting stopped. So did the screaming and the shouting. Then they heard a gargling noise, and the line went dead.

"Alaba?" Abdul asked. "Hello?"

"We have to go there!" John stated.

"The board meeting will take place in half an hour," Abdul replied. "Going there will take more than forty minutes."

John cursed under his breath.

"I gotta call mom," he said and pulled out his phone, dialing her number.

-0-

Team Two

Sarah and Savannah barely fit under the bus. The clearance between the underbody and the concrete of the prison yard was less than thirty centimeters. Except for the boots of the people around them, the two couldn't see a thing, but they did notice when the bullets started flying around them. Some of them audibly hit the body of the bus above them. Glass shattered.

"What the hell is she doing?" Sarah asked over the shooting noise.

"Protecting us," Savannah replied. "She's drawing the fire on herself so that nobody shoots at us. Seems to work."

They heard men screaming, then one after the other sank dead to the ground. Cameron grabbed a rifle from one of the dead and fired back. One came to lie directly next to the bus, and Sarah suddenly found herself staring into the lifeless eyes of a man who had a bullet hole in his forehead.

"She's killing them!" she stated.

"What did you expect?" Savannah asked. "She's a Terminator and they leave her no option. It's either them or us."

"Yeah… yeah, I know but…"

"We've all gotten used to them being nice, funny, and loveable, Sarah. But we must never forget what they are, what they were made for."

"You're right, I'm sorry… for a moment…"

"I know. We've become so used to their Dr. Jekyll side that we almost forgot they can become Mrs. Hyde from one moment to the next."

"I guess I'll never get used to that."

The gunfire suddenly stopped, and so did the shouting and screaming.

"What now?" Sarah asked.

"They either are all dead, or they surrendered."

Before Sarah could reply to that, her cellphone rang. She had trouble pulling it out in such a confined space but finally managed to do that.

"Yes?"

"Mom?"

"John!"

"Are you okay, mom?"

"Yes, Savannah and I are okay. We're under the bus. Cameron drew all the fire on her. What's going on?"

"Al Hani has ordered the prison guards to surrender. Please check if it's okay for you to come out."

Sarah held the phone away from her.

"CAM?" she called out.

"YES, MOM?"

"JOHN SAYS THAT AL HANI TOLD THEM TO SURRENDER. CAN YOU CONFIRM?"

"YES. IT SHOULD BE SAFE FOR YOU TO COME OUT NOW."

"I'll talk to you later, John. We probably can go on from here without further help."

"All right, mom, see you on board."

She put away her phone. The two crawled from underneath the bus and stood up, beating the dust off their clothes. The five surviving guards had put down their guns and raised their arms, looking absolutely terrified. Cameron stood in the middle of the yard and kept pointing a rifle at them with one hand while holding Omar Alaba, the head of security, by his throat on her outstretched arm with her other hand. His broken cellphone was lying at her feet. The dead body of the warden lay next to them, his head turned in a 180-degree angle. Cameron's camouflage clothes were riddled with bullet holes, but they couldn't see a single wound on her anymore – it was all healed already.

"John told us that Al Hani ordered their surrender," Savannah said, looking at the dead bodies around them. "I think you can let him down now."

"A wise choice," Cameron replied and let her eyes glow red before letting go of the man.

Omar Alaba screamed out in pain as he hit the ground, spraining his ankle. Sarah flinched.

"Oops, sorry," Cameron commented dryly, "but still better than being dead, right?"

She turned towards the other two women.

"You okay?"

"Yeah," Savannah replied, "what about you?"

"Fine. I'm only glad these aren't my clothes."

Cameron kept staring at the surviving guards with her red-glowing eyes. They seemed to be scared shitless, visibly trembling, and looked at their dead comrades all around, probably just being glad to have survived. Sarah knelt next to Omar Alaba who was lying on the ground, groaning, and rubbing his ankle.

"Would you mind giving us back our crew now?" she asked politely.

The head of security looked at her, and she saw that he realized how close he had been to death.

"Yes," he croaked. "But please, tell her not to kill us."

"Did you hear that?" Sarah asked and looked at Cameron. "Don't kill them – unless they try something stupid."

"I try to pull myself together, mom."

"Sorry that it had to come to this," Sarah said to the man in a soothing tone. "Your boss could have avoided this if he'd just listened to his superior."

"But he said that General El Banai…"

"… El Banai is not your superior, you should know that! He's military, you're not! The warden received a direct order from Abdul Al Hani and yes, that was him on the phone, not a pretender. The warden decided to ignore a direct order and attack us instead. We had to defend ourselves, now look what has happened because of the stupidity of your boss."

The man gulped. Sarah rose again.

"You have ten minutes to get our crew. And pray that the bus still works."

-0-

Team Three

"Shelf twenty-three", Derek stated and looked up. "This is it. You said the boxes are labeled 'Matryoshka Dolls'?"

"Yes," Emily replied, "should be twelve boxes."

"Can't make anything out," Allie said. "Can your cyborg sensors detect anything?"

"No. We might need to move some boxes out of the way."

And with that, Emily began to climb up the shelf. Colonel el-Jubeir was just standing next to them in silence, staring blankly ahead.

"Careful," Derek said while looking up, "these shelves look fragile. If you tip one over, you'll create a chain reaction. Haven't you seen 'The Mummy'?"

"They're anchored in the ground. Don't worry, they'll carry my weight."

"I hope you're right."

Derek looked around nervously as Emily was climbing higher and higher. She systematically checked the shelves, pushed boxes aside or briefly lifted some of them. Finally, after what felt like an eternity:

"I FOUND THEM!"

"Could you speak a little louder?" Derek asked sarcastically. "I'm sure they haven't heard you in the far corner across the hall."

"They all seem to be stacked in a second row," Emily replied, ignoring his remark. "We need a forklift."

"Can't you just, like, hand them down?" Allie asked

"Sure," Emily replied, "can you catch?"

"Very funny. We're not that strong, you know that."

"Then we need a forklift."

"I saw one near the entrance," Derek said. "Can you drive one of those?"

"No," Allie answered, "can you?"

"No. But how hard can it be?"

With a loud thud, Emily landed next to them on her feet.

"I can drive it," she said. "You wait here."

"Who made you the team leader?" Derek asked.

"You did. By your lack of driving skills."

And with that, she was gone.

"And I thought we rid the world of machine domination," Derek remarked grumbling.


Three minutes later, Emily came around the corner with the forklift. She had already loaded a wooden pallet on it which they could use to stack the boxes on and then drive them to the truck.

"How many did you have to kill to get that thing?" Derek asked.

"Three," Emily replied.

"What?"

"Just kidding. Nobody was paying attention to it, the warehouse is empty. And if someone noticed something, we still have the colonel. Right, Colonel?"

"I will do whatever you say," the soldier said flatly.

"Are you sure he's gonna be his old self again after this?" Derek asked. "It seems he's not running on all cylinders at the moment."

Emily shrugged.

"Alison said he will be. We have to believe Alison."

"Are you talking about the Alison who never misjudged the impact of her special abilities before?"

She smiled at him.

"Yes. She said that he'll reset himself in a couple of hours. Same goes for the other soldiers at the harbor, they will be reset as well. No need for your sarcasm, her chemical messengers never went wrong so far."

"'Reset'," Derek stated and shook his head, "they're humans - not some electronic devices you can reset to their factory settings with a push of a button."

"That's a matter of perspective, Derek," Emily argued. "Obviously, Alison can do that. And aren't humans just biological machines?"

"Why, you…"

"Stop arguing!" Allie said resolutely "Let's start getting those crates down here already. We're running out of time."


Fifteen minutes later, they finished loading the wooden pallet with the twelve crates on it onto their truck. Again, the Colonel took place behind the wheel, with Derek and Emily by his side while Allie climbed into the back again. Emily called John and informed him about the state of their operation.

"I'll tell Abdul here to cancel any alarms that should be raised within the city. Once you get out of there, you should be okay."

"Copy that. See you on board, John. Love you."

"Love you too, Emily."

They drove out of the warehouse again and towards the entrance of the compound with the guard post. However, as they approached the closed barrier, an alarm suddenly blared all over the place. Immediately, the complex was abuzz with armed soldiers running to their posts, searchlights brightened up the darkness.

"Uh-oh," Emily said, "looks like they found the two tied-up guards on the other truck."

"What shall I do?" Colonel el-Jubeir asked.

"Step on it!" Derek commanded. "That barrier won't hold us."

The truck accelerated. The guards tried to signal them to stop but had to jump aside in order not to be overrun. With a lout crack, the barrier broke and they were out of the compound. However, they were immediately hit by shots from submachine guns, which struck the body of the truck.

"They're mounting jeeps to follow us," the Colonel reported, looking into the side mirror. "We can't outrun them with this, they'll catch up in no time."

"Leave that to me," Emily stated. "You keep driving as fast as possible, I see to it that they won't follow us for very long."

"What do you have in mind?" Derek asked.

But instead of answering, Emily simply climbed over him, opened the passenger door, and began to shimmy along the outside of the truck while it was going at full speed. She finally reached the cargo area where she was met by a stunned Allie.

"Hi," Emily said. "Would you mind getting up? You're sitting on the crate with our ATGs."

Wordlessly, Allie did as she was told and took cover behind the other crates as shots from the approaching jeeps once again came flying at them. Emily ripped open the crate with their weapons and took out an ATG. She loaded it, then walked to the back of the cargo bed, aimed, and fired.

The engine of the first jeep literally exploded as the uranium-coltan bullet hit it. Quickly, the vehicle fell back and stopped at the side of the road, smoking. Several bullets hit Emily as she took aim again and targeted the second jeep. Again, the engine exploded in a small fireball. But this time she seemed to have hit the gearbox. The wheels stopped turning abruptly, the driver lost control and the jeep crashed into a wall by the side of the road.

Now only the third and last jeep remained. The driver let himself fall back, probably in the hope that Emily couldn't aim as precisely at a greater distance. Again, she was hit by several shots from their pursuers. She took aim once again and fired. But in the same moment, the truck was driving over a pothole, causing it to jump. Hence, she missed.

Emily was thrown into the air and out of the truck. She landed on the road face down, rolled over several times but got up again immediately. Just in that moment, she was hit by the following jeep which hadn't been able to avoid the collision. She landed on the hood and smashed through the windshield. For a moment, the occupants of the vehicle and Emily looked each other in the face, and she had a sudden feeling of déjà-vu. The soldiers in the jeep could clearly see how the flesh and the hair on the entire right side of her head had been abraded from contact with the asphalt and how the naked, black Terminator skull with its red-glowing eye was looking back at them.

"Please remain calm," she stated before grabbing the steering wheel and yanking it around.

The jeep overturned several times, ejecting its occupants. Emily was also thrown away and crashed into a sharp-edged high voltage pylon by the side of the road. Her left arm got stuck and was separated from her shoulder by the impact at high speed when her body, due to inertia, flew on and landed in the ditch.

Further ahead, the truck's brake lights lit up when Colonel el-Jubeir brought it to a halt. He put the vehicle in reverse and backed up. Emily rose again and scanned the road. All the occupants of the jeep were dead. She found her severed arm, grabbed it, and walked stoically in the direction of the truck that was rolling towards her. Wordlessly she got back into the driver's cab and sat down next to Derek, who slid a bit further to the left. The colonel stepped on the gas pedal again and the truck accelerated.

"Whole arm gone, eh?" Derek asked.

"Yeeees…" Emily replied calmly.

"How's it feel?"

"Stings a bit."

Emily folded down her sun visor and looked at herself in the make-up mirror. The flesh on her skull had already begun to regenerate. By the time they'd reach the harbor, she'd be fully healed again. Derek kept staring at her.

"Seriously, though, your arm's off! Look!"

"Just a flesh wound. I've had worse."

She then held the severed arm to her shoulder again. Immediately, there were a number of electric discharges, then tiny tentacles that looked like black tar crawled out of her shoulder and pulled the arm back into its place again, fusing both her endoskeleton and her flesh together once more.

"I bet the fight would have ended differently for King Arthur if the Black Knight would have been a Terminator like me, with nanobots for repairs."

Derek just rolled his eyes.


While the sky became lighter in the east, they reached the harbor again and began loading the crates aboard the Rising Star. When they were about to finish, the bus with Team Two and the freed ship's crew arrived. Derek, Allie, and Emily immediately noticed the bullet holes in it and also that Cameron's clothes were tattered and torn.

"Had some trouble?" Derek asked.

"Some," Savannah replied.

"How many dead?"

"Eighteen," Cameron said, looking at Emily's torn and bullet-ridden clothes. "What about you?"

"Seven, and three injured," Emily answered.

"Ha! I beat you. What happened?"

"Been chased by soldiers. What about you? Wasn't Abdul Al Hani supposed to order the prison warden to cooperate?"

"He had ordered it… but the warden was an idiot. General El Banai had previously told him that someone could be imitating Abdul's voice. He thought that the voice on the phone wasn't Al Hani and decided to lay a trap for us… bad idea. Would he have just followed his orders, he'd still be alive."

"Oh the irony… fearing that a cyborg could have tricked him, only to discover that a cyborg would be his executioner."

"What are these crates?" Sarah asked and frowned, reading the labeling, "Matryoshka Dolls'?"

"There's no dolls in them," Derek replied. "The Shadow Council had them stored here. We suspect that they contain documents and files that the investigating committee might need."

"Good catch," Savannah agreed.

"Heard anything from John and Alison?"

"They'll catch up with us later. We'll leave as quickly as we can." She turned towards the captain. "Prepare for departure. The sooner we're away from here the better."

"Yes, ma'am."

"What about the bus?" Savannah asked.

"I'll drive it to the other side of the harbor and park it out of sight," Cameron replied.

Sarah nodded.

"I'll feel much better when we're at least a hundred miles away from here."

"All right," Derek said, "let's get moving then."

-0-

Team One

One by one, the members of the Kaliba Board of Directors and the Supervisory Board arrived in the conference room next to Abdul Al Hani's office. Quite a few of them were annoyed that they had been summoned on such short notice on a holiday. The room was filled with outraged and angry men talking in disarray. Through a crack in the door, John watched the scene.

"Room is filling, and they seem to be pissed," he said and turned towards his wife "What exactly is your plan?"

"Remember when we dealt with Cheryl Dawson?"

John frowned.

"You mean that Daily News reporter you brought under your control? The one you ordered to kill two FBI agents who were members of the Shadow Council before taking her own life as well?"

"She was a threat. And you told me to take control of her."

"I know. I didn't mean it as an accusation."

"Back then, we agreed that we need to understand how my body works, that its capabilities need to be explored. And that for testing them, we need test subjects."

"Yeah, so?"

"Kaliba's influence is spread all over the world, they have branches everywhere, and their connections here in Khamasar reach up to the highest government levels. The company is fully interwoven with the state. We do have Abdul Al Hani under our control, but he's just one man and can't do much on his own, as we learned last night. And even if we control the board, it doesn't mean our control will last forever. Members of the board change. If we want to change something fundamentally, we need a more radical solution."

"I hope that radical solution doesn't involve killing anyone."

"That would only be a temporary fix. Kill someone, another one takes their place, and you're back to the starting point. No, what we need, is a permanent answer to the Kaliba threat. And for that, we need to test an aspect of my abilities that we have avoided so far – for good reason. But under these circumstances, it might actually be the only solution."

"Why do I have the feeling that I won't like that solution?"

"Because in general it would be right if you didn't like it. But in this case I think it is necessary."

"What exactly are you talking about?"

"A virus."

"A what?"

"Not a regular virus, mind you. A genetically coded one."

"You want to give them a disease?"

"No, it's gonna be a virus that changes a person's brain chemistry. It's gonna change their behavior, similar to what I did with my chemical messengers to single persons before. But since I won't be able to treat everyone individually, it has to spread by itself, jumping from person to person. And the only way to achieve that, is using an airborne virus as a carrier. Everyone who gets within three feet of an infected person, will be infected as well and undergo the same changes in their brain chemistry."

"Alison, you surely are aware that a virus can't be limited to a certain area, right? It will eventually spread out of the country, infecting the whole world in a matter of months."

"No, it won't."

"Why not?"

"Because as I said, it'll be a genetically coded virus, limited to the DNA of the nine noble families of Khamasar. All members of the Kaliba Board of Directors and the Supervisory Board come from those families. For centuries, members of these nine families have been married exclusively to each other. It's like a closed circle, hard on the verge of inbreeding, which makes it easy to reliably code the virus. It's highly unlikely that in this country anyone outside of those nine families will ever get to a position of power."

John seemed to think for a moment.

"That sounds awfully risky," he finally stated, "considering the problems we had with your abilities before…"

"I agree that using my nanobots has had some unwanted side-effects…"

"Some? That's an understatement."

"… but my nanobots will have nothing to do with this. I'm using an existing, harmless virus and make it a carrier of my chemical messengers - and you have to admit that those have never failed us before."

"Granted, but…"

"All I'm doing, John, is changing the way they're being administered by using an airborne carrier. I'll transfer the virus directly through the skin of those men inside that conference room. They will become spreaders and infect every family member they come in contact with. And to prevent the virus from mutating, it will die immediately after inserting the chemical messengers into their brains."

"And what exactly will those chemical messengers do?"

"Reduce aggression, curb the hunger for power, minimize negative feelings such as hatred, anger, vindictiveness or jealousy. Instead, they will feel the desire to do good, to become philanthropists and benefactors. They will no longer use the wealth of their country to gain influence in the world, but to care for their people. They will transform Khamasar into a welfare state. Kaliba as a company will change its business model from illegal and exploitative to fair and honest, becoming a reliable and highly regarded business partner. Of course, all that won't happen overnight, but give it a few months... maybe a year…"

"So, basically you're planning on brainwashing the ruling class of the whole country?"

"Yes. A few thousand people."

John thought for a moment.

"I don't know… it sounds like crossing a line we swore to never cross."

"We crossed lines before, John. And in most cases, it worked out fine. Besides, we both agreed that I'm a weapon and that we need to be clear about what this body can do. This is an opportunity to find out. Consider it a field test."

"I don't like it. It will also effect innocent ones, children for instance."

"No, it will only affect men and women who went through puberty. And it will only infect one generation. The virus will disappear after that without leaving a trace. By then, the emirate of Khamasar and Kaliba will have changed, hopefully for good."

John rubbed his chin.

"I need you to be one hundred percent sure that this will work," he then said.

"I am one hundred percent sure. I know that a genetically coded virus will work."

He looked surprised.

"You do? How so?"

"I cannot tell you."

John frowned.

"Does that have something to do with what you and Catherine did in Crete?"

"Yes."

"You created such a virus before?"

"You ordered me to never tell you, so I won't."

John was visibly torn, and Alison sensed his uncertainty. She put her hand on his shoulder.

"Do you trust me?" she asked softly.

He looked at her.

"Of course I trust you, what question is that?"

"Then trust me when I say it will work and the effect of the virus will be limited to only grown-up members of those nine ruling families."

John closed his eyes and sighed.

"Very well. Do it."

She kissed him.

"I love you, John."

"I love you too."

Together with Abdul Al Hani, they entered the conference room.

-0-

Saturday, February 7th, 2009 – 08:21 a.m.

Abu Maskar (Emirate of Khamasar)

General Faisal El Banai was determined to convince the emir. He had put on his best uniform before going to the royal palace in order to meet his father-in-law. The emir had to learn the truth, even if it was a bitter one. And the truth was, as he realized after leaving Abdul's office, that they were already everywhere. They had already infiltrated Khamasar without anyone noticing.

That is why he had also warned the prison warden. He, Faisal, had already neutralized three of them on that yacht - but there were more, many, many more. And Abdul was probably one of them. He looked at the plastic bag with the cyborg chips in his hand - the chips that only existed in his imagination. He had to show them to the emir, then he would believe him. He had to.

While he was waiting to be let in, his cellphone rang. It was the number of Steven Rogers. He took the call.

"Steven."

"Faisal. How did it go? I've been waiting for you to call me for hours."

"The operation was a success, my friend. The Connor team was arrested and will be executed. Then their bodies will be brought onto their yacht, which will be taken out to sea and sunk."

"Wow… that's good news then.

"But I'm afraid the situation is much more dire than we thought."

"What do you mean?"

"Abdul Al Hani is one of them."

There was a moment of silence in the line.

"What? One of them? What do you mean?"

"They are everywhere, Steven, even in the ministry and in the general staff. They steal our bodies, they steal our identities!"

"Whoa, calm down a bit. What are you talking about? Were you able to obtain the chips and the three cyborg bodies?"

"Yes, yes… the bodies are at a safe location. And I'm holding the chips in a bag in my hand. I'm going to show them to the emir any moment."

"Wait, what? The emir? That's not the plan, Faisal. We didn't want to involve the emir."

"I know but I have no choice. I have to warn him. Don't you understand? They're everywhere!"

"Are you drunk, Faisal? You don't sound like yourself."

"Who knows? Maybe I'm not myself anymore. In these times, who can know?"

A man approached General El Banai.

"The emir will see you now, Sir."

"Yes, thank you... I have to go now, Steven. Don't come here, stay where you are, if you value your life. It's not safe for you here."

"Faisal! Wait…"

He ended the call and switched off his phone.

General Faisal El Banai followed the man towards the office of the emir. He entered and saluted the head of state who sat behind his desk, opening letters with a letter opener. The door behind him was closed, leaving him alone with the emir and two of his bodyguards who stood left and right of the door.

"Faisal, so early in the morning? Abdul told me you wanted to see me. What is it?"

"Your Highness, thank you for receiving me this early, it is good to see you. I assume you have already been informed of the night's events?"

"Not in detail. All I know is that an American yacht has been seized that had illegally entered our territorial waters."

"It wasn't a normal yacht, Your Highness. They were on board."

The emir frowned.

"They?"

"The Los Angeles Cyborg girls. I was able to disable them. Here, look."

He held out his hand. Again, the emir frowned.

"You want to show me your hand?"

"No. It's what I'm holding in my hand. The plastic bag with the three cyborg chips."

The emir looked at the hand in which Faisal was holding… nothing, then back at Faisal's face. Obviously, this had to be some kind of joke.

"I didn't know you were into pranks like this, Faisal. Have you begun to celebrate our state anniversary early?"

"What? Don't you see these chips? Here, let me put them on the desk for you."

First with amusement, then with growing concern, the emir watched as his son-in-law took the imaginary cyborg chips out of the imaginary plastic bag and placed them on the table. Then he looked up.

"Are you feeling all right, Faisal?"

"Never felt better. Aren't they beautiful? We'll become the world-leading country in artificial intelligence."

"I think you're overdoing the joke now."

"Joke? What are you talking about? These chips are no joke, they are the real thing!"

"Faisal! There are no chips! There, I said it, was that what you wanted to hear?"

Faisal frowned.

"What do you mean? Don't you see them? They're right in front of you!"

"No, Faisal! The desk is empty!"

The emir was getting a bit irritated now.

Faisal looked back and forth between the emir and the chips that only he could see. Sweat broke out on his forehead and he turned pale. Could it be that… the emir was one of them as well? Then, when he looked him in the face, the emir's eyes suddenly began to glow red. Faisal shrieked and pulled out his gun.

Immediately, the two bodyguards stormed forward and grabbed his arms.

"LEAVE ME!" Faisal shouted. "HE'S ONE OF THEM! CAN'T YOU SEE? LOOK AT HIS EYES!"

Perplexed, the two bodyguards looked at the emir's eyes, but they were perfectly normal, if opened wide in shock. Faisal developed powers that he would never have believed himself capable of when he struggled with the bodyguards who tried to wrest the gun from him. A shot went off - it hit the emir in the shoulder. Then the two bodyguards overpowered him, threw him to the ground, and handcuffed him. The door flew open and several armed guards rushed in.

"Your Highness, is everything okay?" one of them asked. "We heard a gunshot."

They looked at the struggling general on the floor and the two bodyguards who were still fighting to keep him under their control. Then they saw how a stain of blood formed on the emir's white shirt.

"I'm hit," he replied and held his shoulder. "Call an ambulance. And take Faisal away. He's obviously lost his mind."

The two bodyguards lifted the struggling general up and pulled him out of the room. His face had turned crimson red and he was still fighting against his arrest.

"HE'S ONE OF THEM!" he shouted hysterically. "LOOK AT HIS EYES! THEY REPLACED HIM WITH A CYBORG! HE'S ONE OF THEM! CAN'T YOU SEE? ONE OF THEM, DON'T YOU HEAR? HIS EYES!"

His frantic screaming could still be heard minutes after they had carried him away.

-0-

The Rising Star left the port without a problem. No one stopped her from leaving. Nevertheless there was nervous tension on board, not least because John and Alison hadn't come back yet. Everyone had gathered outside on the sun deck and watched the skyline of Abu Maskar slowly disappear in the distance while the sun rose over the horizon in the east. After what felt like an eternity, they were finally outside the three-mile zone and breathed a sigh of relief.

"So far, so good," Sarah said. "Now waiting for John and Alison to catch up with us."

Cameron and Emily joined them.

"Did you put all the weapons back into storage?" Derek asked.

"Yup," Emily replied, "everything's back in its place, including our ATGs. And everything's accounted for. The only thing missing are the rounds I fired on the jeeps."

Sarah nodded.

"Looks like we got off with a black eye this time. It was a close call. Too close for comfort if you ask me. Is there any damage to the yacht?"

"The crew found a few bullet holes above the waterline and a cracked window on the bridge. They were provisionally patched up. The Captain believes that we won't need any repairs until we get home."

"Have they been treated well while being in captivity?" Jesse asked.

"There wasn't enough time to treat them badly until we freed them."

"Won't there be questions?" Olga asked. "I mean, because so many people were killed…"

"Sure," Savannah replied, "there will be questions, but there will be no one to answer them. Don't forget, we have Abdul Al Hani in our bag, he's the head of the police and the secret service. He'll cover it up. Don't forget, they don't have a free press in Khamasar or independent media. Nobody will investigate."

"Also, they wouldn't expect a cyborg attack in this part of the world," Anne stated.

"Nobody expects the attack of a cyborg," Emily and Cameron said in unison in a high-pitched male voice. "Our chief weapon is surprise. Surprise and fear, our two weapons are fear and surprise, and ruthless efficiency, our three weapons. Fear, surprise, ruthless efficiency, and…"

"STOP IT!" Sarah interrupted them. "What the hell are you on about?"

Lauren, Danny, Olga, Louise, Jody, Morris, Kevin, and Jason were belly-laughing while everyone else looked at the two cyborg girls in puzzlement.

"They've been watching Monty Python," Olga explained. "Jason and Kevin recommended it. The Spanish Inquisition is one of their most famous sketches."

Sarah sighed.

"I'm not sure that watching all that stuff in the onboard cinema is actually good for you - or John."

"Hey," Danny protested, "Monty Python is a part of popular culture. It's not his fault that you preferred to spend your time with melee training and firearms instead of letting John watch TV. He's just making up for lost time and we're keeping him company."

Before Sarah could reply to that, Cameron pointed towards Abu Maskar.

"There's a chopper coming," she announced.

"What?"

"A military helicopter," Emily added.

"Even they can't be that crazy," Derek stated.

"Who knows?" Allie asked. "They might be desperate."

"You better get your ATGs. A frigate might not be vulnerable by them, but a freaking helicopter can be brought down."

"The ATGs won't help much if they fire missiles from a distance," Savannah pointed out. "And I doubt those can be shot down."

"Then we're sitting ducks," Sarah remarked. "I don't like that."

"Relax," Anne said, "we are in international waters and these are being monitored by NATO ships. They won't be stupid enough provoke an international incident… I hope."

The muffled thunder of the helicopter quickly became louder as it approached them and turned into a deafening clatter as it began to circle over the Rising Star. From the open hatch of it John waved to them. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Then the chopper set down to land on the helipad on the fore ship. The aircraft touched down and John and Alison got out. Seconds later, the helicopter lifted off again and disappeared in the direction of Abu Maskar.

"Abdul Al Hani organized the transport for us," John said with a wide grin. "Cool, huh?"

"You scared the hell out of us!" Sarah said reproachfully. "Derek was ready to shoot you down."

"I'm sorry, mom, but I didn't have a signal on my phone, so I couldn't announce our arrival."

They all welcomed the two back with hugs and kisses. Then they gathered in the big salon where the three teams informed everyone about what happened on their respective missions.

"Looks like you had all the fun," Alison commented, receiving a sour look from Charley. "I didn't get to kill anybody."

"Where are those crates now?" John asked with a frown. "Have you taken a look at the contents yet?"

"No," Derek replied, "we only stored them and then got the hell out of Dodge."

"It looks like a lot of stuff," Allie added, " the analysis will keep us busy for a while."

"Thankfully," Savannah stated, "we have three cyborgs who can scan and skim through stuff very quickly."

Then John and Alison told the others about the virus. Afterwards, there was a moment of silence.

"And you're absolutely, one hundred percent certain that this virus cannot spread?" Sarah finally asked.

"Yes, mom," Alison said. "It is genetically bound to those ruling families and will disappear within one generation."

"But even if it did spread," John added, "it would only bring peace and harmony over those who get infected. It's designed to basically kill off negative emotions almost completely."

"Humanity needs conflict to thrive and progress, though," Anne argued. "A world full of peace and harmony will be a world at a standstill, without any progress."

"What an absurd idea that the world could become a better place," Lauren remarked sarcastically. "I wouldn't mind if people would get along better with each other – even at the cost of progress."

"We've got company," Alison stated before Anne could reply to that.

Everyone looked outside, following Alison's gaze. They saw a warship that was on a parallel course.

"It's American," Jesse stated with relief. "Oliver Hazard Perry-class. I know because a few of them survived Judgement Day because they were at sea."

In that moment, the first officer entered the salon.

"It's the USS Ingraham," he reported. "Obviously, Miss Weaver has used her contacts in Washington and made sure that the ship will escort us in the next days, just in case."

"That's… excellent," John said, sounding a little surprised. "Tell them we really appreciate that."

"I will, Sir."

The first officer left the room.

"That's terrible," Allie stated.

"What?" Derek asked. "How can it be bad to have an escort?"

"You don't understand what that means, right?" Savannah asked.

"No, what does it mean?"

"It means that we must wear clothing as long as they're in visible range."

-0-

Abdul Al Hani entered the office of his father. Paramedics were still attending to the Emir's shoulder.

"I heard what happened," Abdul said, "I came as quickly as I could. How are you, father?"

"No big deal. A smooth through and through. I won't be able to use my right arm as usual for a few weeks, though. Thank God I'm left-handed."

"Is it true what they say? Faisal did this?"

"It's true. Heaven knows what's gotten into him. He was admitted to a mental hospital. Preliminary diagnosis: delusions and schizophrenia."

"Yes, he was in my office earlier, babbling something about cyborgs he had allegedly overpowered. On his own authority, he had a civilian yacht with Americans on board intercepted by our navy at night and escorted into port. The crew was arrested and taken to Al-Hazni, the passengers were detained on board."

"Goodness gracious, he's gone completely crazy. Or is there something to his story?"

"No, nothing. The only thing he managed to do was to stir up the guards at an army depot and at Al-Hazni prison and make them so upset and paranoid that they began to saw cyborgs everywhere. They started shooting at each other. There were casualties."

"Oh, for God's sake. How many?"

"Eighteen at Al-Hazni, including the warden. The survivors are in complete shock. Seven dead and three wounded on a road that leads from the army depot. Apparently, they crashed their cars when they thought they were following intruders. There will be extensive investigations in both cases, I promise you that as head of the police and secret service."

The emir nodded.

"I trust in your abilities, Abdul. I admit, when your older brother Ahmed died, I was devastated. I didn't think you could follow in his footsteps, but obviously you have more in you than everyone thought. Well done, my son."

"Thank you, father. There's something else I need to inform you about."

"Oh? What is it?"

"This morning, before sunrise, a joint emergency meeting of the Board of Directors and Supervisory Board of Kaliba took place. I decided to realign the company, to put it on a more progressive, less aggressive course. At the moment, the world respects us less than ever before. Our reputation is in shambles, even among our friends, thanks to the disaster with the drones. If we want to regain a reputation and save our country on the long run, we have to make fundamental changes. I hope to have your support in this matter, Father."

The emir squinted his eyes.

"You will present your plans to me, I presume?"

"Of course, father. First thing on Monday. But if proof was still needed that we got lost and need to change something fundamental, Faisal proved it today. His... madness was only the last link in a chain of misjudgments for which he and Ahmed - God have mercy on him - are responsible; starting with their cooperation with the Shadow Council and ending with the Soviet nuclear warhead which they had smuggled into Los Angeles. It is time that we begin to correct the mistakes of the past. Both the Management Board and the Supervisory Board agree with me on this."

"They do?"

"Unanimously. Well, except for Faisal, he wasn't there, of course."

The emir looked down and shook his head.

"Poor Faisal, I hope he gets the help he needs. We will of course support his wife and his children."

"Of course, it has already been arranged."

"Good, good."

"You should rest for the day, father. The festivities…"

"Nonsense... they'll give me an injection for the pain, then I can give my speech as planned and hold the reception. This is our national holiday, Khamasar's fiftieth anniversary, so a trifle like this won't keep me from attending. Besides, it is the perfect opportunity to inform the public of your plans, my son."

Abdul smiled.

"What do we tell the media? Rumors have already started to spread about your injury."

"No word about Faisal and his condition. We say it was an accident… a weapon malfunction."

"As you wish. But the international media will probably make up their own story."

"Then let them make up their own story, we'll stick to ours."

"Yes, father. And just so you know, I already arranged for the yacht with the Americans to leave our port again. I took the liberty of apologizing to them on your behalf. Colonel el-Jubeir has seen to that."

"Thank you, son. I appreciate that. Good man, that Colonel el-Jubeir. Perhaps he's destined for greater things now that a post at the top of the military has become vacant. Now, if you'll excuse me, the paramedics seem to be finished. I will lie down for a while before the celebrations begin."

"Of course father. See you at the reception."

"Yes, see you then."

Abdul Al Hani left the emir's office with a smile on his face.

-0-

Saturday, February 7th, 2009 – 12:07 p.m.

The Arabian Sea

The Connor team treated themselves with a hearty breakfast, and not even four hours after they'd left Abu Maskar again, it all seemed like a bad dream. Now it was almost time for lunch and John decided to call Catherine and inform her about all that had happened during the night. He told her about the virus and the twelve boxes the Shadow Council had stored in Khamasar.

"Henry Walden will be thrilled," she said. "I talked to him just yesterday and some of the most important cases against leading members of the Shadow Council are at a dead end because of a lack of proof."

"Maybe that'll change soon," John replied, "we'll check the crates and make an inventory on our way to Dubai."

"So, you'll stick to your original travel route?"

"Sure, why not? We only lost a few hours after all. But if those crates contain what we think they contain, then somebody should pick them up and fly them to America."

"I'll see if I can arrange something. We'll stay in touch."

"Of course. You're not coming yourself, I presume?"

"No. I still have a bone to pick with Steven Rogers. The general assembly of the 51 Society will take place in Iceland in two days. I won't miss it."

"Oh boy, I wish I could be there when he realizes who and what you really are."

Catherine chuckled.

"Yeah, maybe I'll make a recording for you."

John chuckled as well.

"Looks like we are on the verge of killing two birds with one stone."

"Yes, we're getting rid of two of our greatest adversaries – Kaliba and the 51 Society – all in one go…"

"Indeed. Good times. Any news about Khufu?"

"Not really. But we found teachers for Iset – Caitlin and Jasper Quinn."

"What? Louise's parents?"

"Seemed like a logical solution. Both are teachers without a job, both are bored, and now they have an occupation."

"Do they know already who exactly they're supposed to teach?"

"Caitlin does, Jasper will learn tomorrow."

"I wish I could watch his face."

Catherine chuckled again.

"I bet."

"You know, I thought a lot about Khufu and his situation. And I think we should reconsider wiping his memories."

"Oh?"

"This is about reappraisal, isn't it? And penance. But how can you repent for something, how can you find forgiveness or redemption if you don't remember what you did? Is being a clone of Skynet not part of what Khufu is? Wouldn't we delete an essential part of his personality and identity? I think we'd do nobody a favor by erasing his memories of being Skynet."

There was a moment of silence at the other end of the line.

"I agree with you, John, and I'm glad you see it that way. Not everyone does, though. Sonya and the President insist on getting his memories of being Skynet deleted."

"Since when has that ever bothered you? We could keep it a secret between you, me, Khufu, and Iset."

"I'm not sure if I'd feel comfortable lying to my friends and allies, though. Would you?"

"Okay, how about this: don't create any facts before we returned home. I think we should gather the whole team, including Zoe, Tess, and also Sonya before making a final decision. Let's not rush things, the matter is too important for that. What do you say?"

"Have I ever told you that you're very wise for your age, John?"

"Yes, just now."

The two laughed.

"All right," John then said, "I have to go back to the others now, they'll serve lunch here soon."

"And I have to continue with preparing for the following days. Have a safe trip."

"Thank you, I guess we'll have that now."

-0-

Sunday, February 8th, 2009 – 03:52 a.m.

Houston, Texas

Steven Rogers came home from a party that had lasted until the early morning hours. Before he went to bed, he poured himself a drink and switched on the TV. While he kicked off his shoes, loosened his tie and opened the top buttons of his shirt, he zapped through the channels until he suddenly stopped at CNN International and frowned.

"… still unclear," the newsreader said above a headline that read "Attempted coup in Khamasar?". "All that is certain at this time is that Emir Ben Kalish Al Hani wore his arm in a sling today when he accepted the military parade in his honor on this national holiday of his country. The official sources speak of a weapon malfunction but according to sources from inside the palace, the Emir almost fell victim to an assassination. According to rumors, the Emir's son-in-law, and army chief of Khamasar, Faisal El Banai, was arrested early in the morning and taken to a mental hospital. According to unconfirmed reports, the general is said to have had a nervous breakdown and is suffering from delusions."

"Fuck!" Steven Rogers exclaimed and pulled out his cellphone.

He toned down the TV, then dialed Faisal's number. After three beep tones, there was an automatic announcement:

"The dialed number is currently unavailable. Please try again later."

"Fuck," he said again.

Hastily, Steven dialed another number.

"Yes?" a male voice answered.

"Ismail? Have you watched the news?"

"Steven... No, what news?"

"General El Banai was arrested."

"What? Why?"

"I have no idea. But he called me earlier today, and he sounded completely paranoid. I have the nasty feeling that something has gone thoroughly wrong with our plan."

"Not the part I was involved in, my friend. I have the video footage to prove it."

"Can you send me a copy?"

"I'm not sure that would be wise. If you're right with your assumption that they monitor the internet, e-mailing or filesharing it wouldn't be safe."

"A courier then. Can you make a copy on a DVD?"

"Sure, if you insist. But be warned, it contains some really crazy stuff, and I have to tell you that the transmission ended shortly after they'd reached the port of Abu Maskar."

"Have you watched it all?"

"No, I left immediately after my part of the operation was over, but I left the laptop on and kept recording as long as possible. Took almost five hours before the connection broke. Somebody probably found out about your malware. I hope your man was clever enough to make it impossible to trace back to him."

"I'm sure he was. All right, send me a copy as soon as possible."

"Consider it done. And since I already have you on the phone, what about the second half of my payment? I have successfully completed my part of the plan. The yacht was stopped and taken to Abu Maskar as you intended. What happened after that, is no longer my responsibility."

"I will transfer the money next thing in the morning. But not from home, from my office. It's safer, and the computer there is encrypted. Not even a cyborg could hack into it. Is that satisfactory for you?"

"Of course. I trust your word as an old friend. And Steven... it is already morning where you are."

Steven chuckled.

"Right. Be safe, Ismail."

"You too, Steven."

The call ended. Steven Rogers took a deep breath and rubbed his eyes. Cold sweat broke out on his forehead. He quickly booted his computer and locked into the website where all ship traffic on the globe could be monitored. The Rising Star's tracker was offline. It's last known position was in the port of Abu Maskar. Did that mean the ship had already been sunk? It had to mean that.

Faisal had confirmed that the three cyborgs had been brought down, their chips removed, and their bodies transported to the Kaliba research facility. So, that part of the plan seemed to have worked and all seemed to be well. Good. And the Connor team would have probably been executed by now – which was good as well. He took a deep breath. No need to panic. Two more days. His visit in Khamasar was off the table now, of course. Faisal had warned him to come there.

Did he warn him of coming there because he knew he was about to be arrested, declared insane? Frankly, he'd sounded quite insane on the phone. Or was it panic? Fear? What could have happened to him? Didn't matter, the royal family of Khaman had always been a snake pit, a hoard of intrigue and conspiracy, of plotting against and denouncing each other. Now Faisal had obviously fallen victim to it … bad for Faisal El Banai, but actually not too bad for Steven Rogers.

It seemed like everything had been taken care of. All he had to do now, was to attend the full assembly of the 51 Society. There, he could report about having gotten rid of the Los Angeles cyborg girls. Thanks to him, Catherine Weaver was now on her own. Alone. The members would highly appreciate that. They would interpret Bokhari's hesitation as weakness. Chances were good that Steven would replace him as number one in a crucial vote. If he thought about it, things couldn't have gone better.

All was well. Smiling, he drank up his whisky.

-0-

Saturday, February 7th, 2009 – 03:52 p.m.

The Arabian Sea

"... the emir also presented an initiative to restore the internationally damaged reputation of his country. The campaign should not only enhance the situation of the normal population of Khamasar and introduce reforms of the judicial system and social services, but also improve the reputation of the notorious state-owned Kaliba corporation, which had suffered enormously from the crises and affairs of last year. Under the impression of the scandal surrounding the Shadow Council and the Russian nuclear warhead that was secretly brought to Los Angeles, the stock market price of Kaliba had at times plummeted into the abyss. The company now has only one-tenth of its former market value and trading in its shares remains suspended on international markets.

As a consequence, the Emir announced that Kaliba intends to pursue a less aggressive business policy in the future under the leadership of his second son, the new CEO Abdul Al Hani. Khamasar and Kaliba would in future focus on a more sustainable strategy and no longer ruthlessly exploit resources in Third World countries. To what extent these words of the Emir on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the Emirate of Khamasar will be followed by deeds, remains to be seen."

John switched off the TV.

"So far, so good," he said.

"Do you really think that's gonna work out, John?" Derek asked. "Turning Kaliba into a model company that cares about the environment, workers' rights, and the future of the planet?"

John shrugged.

"We can only hope it will. At least we laid the foundation for it. As the anchorwoman said, it remains to be seen. The important part is that we finally got Kaliba off our backs. They'll no longer pose a threat to us."

"And nobody will suspect a manipulation," Alison added. "To the world, it seems as if the Emir has made these decisions because of the failed attempt on his life and because of the milestone anniversary. Who knows, maybe he'll go down in history as the Gorbachev of the Middle East?"

"The crucial point is that none of this can be associated with us," John pointed out and looked at Alison, "or with a virus that changes the brain's chemistry.

Sarah sighed. Everyone could see she still had doubts.

"I guess we'll just have to wait and see," she said.

-0-

Sunday, February 8th, 2009 – 10:02 p.m.

Laguna Beach

Catherine Weaver's Mercedes stopped in the driveway of the luxurious estate that was once home to one of the leading Grays. The wrought-iron gate opened electrically, and the luxury sedan drove into the courtyard. Caitlin and Jasper Quinn were already waiting at the open front door.

Catherine, James, and Iset got out of the car. The young woman looked around curiously. The first thing the two Quinns noticed was the striking beauty of the slender but petite Iset. She had cut off her long hair and had braided it on the left and right side of her head into a row of small braids, which were held in shape at their ends by gold-colored rings. On her forehead, the hair hung straight down to her eyebrows in bangs.

The bronze-skinned Egyptian beauty wore a belly top and a denim skirt. Iset had brought sneakers but apparently preferred to walk barefoot: she held the footwear at its laces in her right hand. The coarse gravel of the courtyard didn't seem to bother her at all.

Finally, after taking a good look around, Iset seemingly noticed Caitlin and Jasper for the first time. She looked around at Catherine and James, and the two nodded. The young Egyptian woman then walked towards the open front door.

"Will you be my teachers?" she asked bluntly.

"Uh… yes, my name is Caitlin, and this is my husband, Jasper."

Caitlin stretched out her hand. Iset looked at it in confusion.

"It's how we say hello," Catherine explained. "Shaking hands is considered a friendly greeting."

Hesitantly, Iset took Caitlin's hand without really grasping it.

"It was forbidden for commoners to touch me physically," she explained. "I suppose this is one of the things that are no longer valid, along with the fact that I no longer carry my royal title."

"That is true," Catherine confirmed, "always remember that in this society everyone is equal. The rules and laws apply to everyone, without distinction. There are no classes or castes. Caitlin and Jasper are your teachers, which means you must listen to them and follow their advice."

Iset sighed.

"I apologize," she said, put her palms together and bowed slightly, "this is still all new for me."

"Honey, what are they talking about?" Jasper Quinn asked his wife after shaking Iset's hand as well, "Royal title, servants, classes, castes? What's going on? Who did you say she was again?"

"Um…"

"You haven't told him yet," James stated.

"No, not everything," Caitlin admitted, "I was afraid he wouldn't believe me or take it as a joke. Darling, Iset is originally from... Memphis, right?"

"Yes," Iset confirmed. "Memphis. My husband and I lived there."

"Memphis, huh?" Jasper asked. "I was in Memphis with my family about ten years ago. We went to Graceland. An absolute must for all Elvis fans."

Iset frowned and looked confused, turning to James and Catherine seeking help. An uncomfortable silence lay over the yard.

"Actually…" James corrected, "not Memphis in Tennessee. Memphis in Egypt. The, uh, original Memphis."

"The capital of the Old Kingdom 4,600 years ago," Catherine added.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Jasper said a little embarrassed, "so, you're an Egyptian then?"

"I am," Iset confirmed. "I am Hemet-Nisut. Unfortunately, my husband cannot join us."

"Oh, is that your family name, Hemet-Nisut?"

Iset looked a little irritated.

"It is… was my title," she explained. "The Pharaoh's wife."

"The what now?" Jasper asked, becoming more confused every second.

Caitlin Quinn laughed but it wasn't an honest laugh, more like something to cover up the awkward situation.

"What about that professor you mentioned?" she asked, not looking at her husband.

"He will join us later," Catherine replied, "his flight has been delayed. One of my drivers will pick him up and bring him here."

"What professor?" Jasper Quinn asked. "Honey, what the hell is this all about?"

"Uh, Dr. Hugo… Atkins, right?" Caitlin answered and Catherine nodded. "He's an archeologist. He will assist us in teaching Iset since we don't have the necessary background knowledge."

"Background knowledge? Archeologist!?" Jasper asked, now becoming agitated. "Will somebody explain to me already what this is about?"

"I think we should go inside," James suggested, "this will need some time to explain."

Catherine and James stepped inside, then Iset followed. She stopped while passing Caitlin and Jasper, apparently looking for the right thing to say.

"Nice house," she finally stated in an attempt to be polite and make conversation, "of course, our palace was a lot bigger, but this has a great view. How many servants do you have?"

-0-0-0-

Author's notes:

- You see? The cliffhanger wasn't so bad ;-) I made hints, though. For instance, I wrote the final part of the last chapter strictly subjective from General El Banai's perspective. And he counted twelve women instead of thirteen because Alison was invisible ;-) Funny that nobody noticed that…

- This chapter ends the Kaliba storyline once and for all. And in the next chapter, the 51 Society will be dealt with.

- The early readers may have noticed that I changed the country's name from Khaman to Khamasar after learning that Khaman is actually the name of an Indian snack. My mistake ;-)

- Three quotes from Monty Python in this chapter – did you detect them all? :-)


Additional remark:

Now that the cliffhanger has been solved, it might take a while for me to come up with the next chapter. The reason for that is simple: The alternate TSCC universe I created has become so large and populated with so many different characters by now that even I run the risk of losing track.

And what do authors do when their stories become so complex that the author himself is starting to get confused? He creates a dictionary with descriptions and short summaries for all the characters, organizationsm entities and locations, or - as they say nowadays - a "Wiki".

I'm working on creating a MacGuffin65 TSCC Universe Wiki for each of my three stories right now. I decided to give this priority over writing chapter 26 for "Salty Breezes" and I hope you understand why I'm putting the story on hold for this for the moment.

Of course, comments, suggestions, and opinions are always welcome :-)