Blowback

“Which brings us to the other reason I’m here. Kalachka said the unrest would escalate to such a point that the Saudi Monarchy would have no choice but to come to the table and meet with the Wahhabi leadership. That’s where he plans to have the leadership killed, making it look like the Royal Family was behind it and setting the wheels of a full-on revolution in motion.”

“And with the country’s fall to the Wahhabis, so begins the resurgence of the Muslim caliphate across the Islamic world. More than one billion strong.”

Harvath nodded his head and said, “Listen, Chip, my first priority is to get to the bottom of whatever this illness is and find a way to stop it. If we can screw Kalachka’s plans up in the process, then all the better.”

Reynolds set down his drink. “What do you want me to do?”

“I need to find out where and when that meeting between the Saudi Monarchy and the Wahhabi hierarchy is going to take place. That’s where Kalachka’s people are going to make their move, and if I’m right, Prince Hamal is going to help them do it. He and Kalachka are the only people who can give us the answers we need.”

“Wait a second. You think Hamal and those militants are going to pull the trigger? They’re all Wahhabis. Why would they be party to killing their own religious leaders?”

“Because,” replied Harvath, an adept student of militant Islam, “with Paradise assured for the Wahhabi leadership, if it takes their deaths to bring about a greater good for the rest of the Islamic people, they won’t hesitate to take them out.”

EIGHTY-SEVEN

WESTERN HEJAZI MOUNTAINS

SAUDI ARABIA

With a few well-placed phone calls, Reynolds discovered that just as Kalachka had predicted, the Wahhabi leadership had managed to force the Saudi Royal Family to the table. But because of the rioting, the Royal Family had been afraid to return to Riyadh for the summit. Instead, they had insisted the Wahhabis come to them at their summer capital just north of At’Taif in the Western Hejazi Mountains.

The Royal Family had been relocating to these lush mountains, known as the garden spot of the Saudi Kingdom, for decades in order to avoid the superheated summer temperatures of Riyadh. As a result, all of the most important members of the Royal Family had palaces built in and around At’Taif.

Less than sixty kilometers from the holy city of Mecca, At’Taif was also home to the King Fahad Air Base, which housed both the Royal Saudi Air Force’s 5th Fighter Squadron and the Royal Saudi Air Force’s Western Approach Region Air Defense radar complex, responsible for guarding the kingdom’s airspace against hostile penetration.

With opulent summer palaces lying cheek-by-jowl with modern military complexes, all that was missing from the dysfunctional Saudi dream site was religion, and At’Taif had that too. For almost one hundred years, the area surrounding At’Taif had been the principal stronghold of the ultra-conservative Wahhabi faith. In a sense, for the Wahhabi religious leaders traveling in from Riyadh, it was like coming home.

They arrived by a private jet that had been magnanimously chartered for them, only after they had vociferously complained about the Royal Family’s unwillingness to meet in Riyadh. Everyone knew the relationship between the Monarchy and the Wahhabis was teetering on the edge of disaster and the credibility of both sides hinged on being able to demonstrate that they acted in good faith in everything they did.

Not above subtle power plays, and in fact quite dependant upon them, the Royal Family chose to hold the summit in the most intimidating palace at their disposal, that of Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz, de facto ruler of the Saudi Kingdom. In addition to Prince Abdullah, other family members in attendance were Saudi defense minister, Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz, and Prince Nawaf bin Abdul Aziz, minister of state intelligence. There was a good chance the summit was going to get very heated, and Abdullah wanted as few witnesses to the hostilities as possible. His family had made a big mistake paying what amounted to protection money to build mosques and schools and contributing to the other pet projects of the radical Wahhabis, and he was sick of them running roughshod over his country. They, not the Royal Family, had set loose upon the world the specter of modern Islamist terrorism and as a result had not only blackened both of Saudi Arabia ’s eyes, but those of the Muslim religion at large. For once and for all, the Wahhabis would listen to him and not vice versa.

With all of the different soldiers standing guard, landing at the King Fahad Air Base reminded Harvath of arriving with the president aboard Air Force One at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland.