review the contents.
The clock radio alarm goes off and is set to the channel for Islamic prayers; the Middle Eastern music fills the basement. Ahmed is startled and surprised once again that he has forgotten the time and his prayers.
He gets up, removes his shoes, and rushes into the bathroom to wash up again. He grabs his prayer rug and unrolls it. He then falls to his knees as the voice of an imam begins the prayers.
Ahmed forces the tasks ahead out of his mind and immerses himself into prayer, where he finds his greatest comfort and peace.
After prayers he sits in the dark basement and views the content contained on the flash drives. Ahmed is blown away by what he is looking at. A knock at the door interrupts him.
Ahmed shuts off the computer and closes the screen as he gets up and rushes for the door. He turns on the light and unlocks the door to find Kari standing there with a tray of food. She notices his posture and the intense atmosphere Ahmed projects.
"Excuse me for disturbing your studies, Ahmed, but we are closing a little early tonight and are going home now, so I thought I would prepare dinner for you so that you would not have to take time away from your studies." Ahmed, disarmed by her kindness, takes the tray and forces a smile of gratitude.
"Omar asked me to tell you that the alarm will be set."
"Thank you, Kari, I'm sorry I opened the door like that, but I almost forgot prayers tonight and I have so much to do. Please forgive me."
Kari looks at him and sees the tired look in his eyes.
"I understand, you are so busy with everything here at the store and school, so this is my way of trying to help. Ahmed, you make sure that you do not forget to rest, goodnight." Kari turns and retreats up the stairs.
Ahmed feels like an ass. "Good night, Kari, thank you."
Ahmed closes and locks the door and returns to the table with his tray and turns the laptop back on and begins to eat the meal Kari made for him.
The monitor comes back on and the screen reads in large letters the word "Rusul," which translates in English to "the messengers of God or Allah."
He clicks on the phrase as directed, and the screen reveals public transportation systems in the Denver area such as the Metro train, the RTD bus system, and Greyhound buses.
Ahmed continues to click through the images and finds a formula for gas-related fumigant devices made from household cleaning solutions.
He continues to click, and images of horror and mayhem fill the screen. Images of past horrors reveal themselves on his monitor, such as the Nazi camps in Dachau and Auschwitz, the images of the camps and the gas chambers featured like good examples, including photos of the bodies stacked in piles.
Ahmed continues through the gallery of human cruelty and then comes to photos of thousands of Iranians and Iraqi Kurds in his country who were decimated by the chemical attacks lead by the regime of Saddam Hussein.
The message reminds him that western governments backed Saddam during the Iranian conflict when gas was used as a weapon against his own people, especially against the Kurds.
He realizes the magnitude and horror his part will play in this conspiracy. He is repulsed, and he pushes the tray of food off the table as he views the images of the bodies pushed and loaded into mass graves by tractors.
There were images of entire populations of men, women, and children of all ages strewn like garbage throughout their towns and villages on the streets. Some were lying beside livestock in the countryside, their eyes frozen open in pain and anguish.
Ahmed breaks into tears as he views image after image of the bombing victims in his country as his mind races back to the massacre of his family. He slides off the chair and curls up on the floor, unable to escape the images in his mind as he sobs deeply in uncontrolled grief.
Chapter Six
Early the next morning outside of Damascus, Syria, four men are traveling in an SUV just after sunrise. One of the
The clock radio alarm goes off and is set to the channel for Islamic prayers; the Middle Eastern music fills the basement. Ahmed is startled and surprised once again that he has forgotten the time and his prayers.
He gets up, removes his shoes, and rushes into the bathroom to wash up again. He grabs his prayer rug and unrolls it. He then falls to his knees as the voice of an imam begins the prayers.
Ahmed forces the tasks ahead out of his mind and immerses himself into prayer, where he finds his greatest comfort and peace.
After prayers he sits in the dark basement and views the content contained on the flash drives. Ahmed is blown away by what he is looking at. A knock at the door interrupts him.
Ahmed shuts off the computer and closes the screen as he gets up and rushes for the door. He turns on the light and unlocks the door to find Kari standing there with a tray of food. She notices his posture and the intense atmosphere Ahmed projects.
"Excuse me for disturbing your studies, Ahmed, but we are closing a little early tonight and are going home now, so I thought I would prepare dinner for you so that you would not have to take time away from your studies." Ahmed, disarmed by her kindness, takes the tray and forces a smile of gratitude.
"Omar asked me to tell you that the alarm will be set."
"Thank you, Kari, I'm sorry I opened the door like that, but I almost forgot prayers tonight and I have so much to do. Please forgive me."
Kari looks at him and sees the tired look in his eyes.
"I understand, you are so busy with everything here at the store and school, so this is my way of trying to help. Ahmed, you make sure that you do not forget to rest, goodnight." Kari turns and retreats up the stairs.
Ahmed feels like an ass. "Good night, Kari, thank you."
Ahmed closes and locks the door and returns to the table with his tray and turns the laptop back on and begins to eat the meal Kari made for him.
The monitor comes back on and the screen reads in large letters the word "Rusul," which translates in English to "the messengers of God or Allah."
He clicks on the phrase as directed, and the screen reveals public transportation systems in the Denver area such as the Metro train, the RTD bus system, and Greyhound buses.
Ahmed continues to click through the images and finds a formula for gas-related fumigant devices made from household cleaning solutions.
He continues to click, and images of horror and mayhem fill the screen. Images of past horrors reveal themselves on his monitor, such as the Nazi camps in Dachau and Auschwitz, the images of the camps and the gas chambers featured like good examples, including photos of the bodies stacked in piles.
Ahmed continues through the gallery of human cruelty and then comes to photos of thousands of Iranians and Iraqi Kurds in his country who were decimated by the chemical attacks lead by the regime of Saddam Hussein.
The message reminds him that western governments backed Saddam during the Iranian conflict when gas was used as a weapon against his own people, especially against the Kurds.
He realizes the magnitude and horror his part will play in this conspiracy. He is repulsed, and he pushes the tray of food off the table as he views the images of the bodies pushed and loaded into mass graves by tractors.
There were images of entire populations of men, women, and children of all ages strewn like garbage throughout their towns and villages on the streets. Some were lying beside livestock in the countryside, their eyes frozen open in pain and anguish.
Ahmed breaks into tears as he views image after image of the bombing victims in his country as his mind races back to the massacre of his family. He slides off the chair and curls up on the floor, unable to escape the images in his mind as he sobs deeply in uncontrolled grief.
Chapter Six
Early the next morning outside of Damascus, Syria, four men are traveling in an SUV just after sunrise. One of the
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