The War After Armageddon

“And you’ve had a disappointing one. But I’m not tired at all. Surviving an assassination attempt ups a man’s natural caffeine content. But back to Nazareth: What do you want to do, make some sort of grand entrance over a carpet of corpses? Montfort the Conqueror, instead of Mehmet the Conqueror?”

His old acquaintance’s crossed legs interested Harris. Montfort would never have sat that way in public. Now, the narrow, broken X of Montfort’s lower limbs seemed like a defensive obstacle that the MOBIC commander had emplaced between them. Without realizing how much of his discomfort the posture gave away. Montfort had put so much effort into controlling his facial features that he’d failed to discipline the rest of his body.

“All right. Nazareth,” Harris continued. “I’d blame al-Mahdi, not al-Ghazi, for that par tic u lar plan. Al-Ghazi’s a soldier. Al-Mahdi’s an opportunist — oh, a great believer, too. But still, an opportunist underneath it all. Like you, Sim.” Harris couldn’t resist smiling. “I suspect the two of you would get along famously if you ever met. But back to the plan: bussing in thousands of members of the Arab intelligentsia. Including some from beyond the borders of the Emirate of al-Quds and Damaskus. Shove ’em out front, a gift to the Crusaders, a clever blood sacrifice. We’re supposed to slaughter them, Sim. And you know it. You’re a smart man. Al-Mahdi wants them dead. Because his vision of Islam’s future really is a return to the past. The people won’t need doctors or professors. Just their mullahs. And, of course, Suleiman al-Mahdi.” Harris inched forward. Until his rump was almost at the edge of his chair. “I wonder, Sim, if that doesn’t reflect your movement’s view of America.”

“That’s ridiculous. And insulting. It’s absurd.”

“Well, I’m willing to sound absurd, Sim. Because the world’s gotten absurd. Absurd and bloody. So bloody no incense of theirs or ours will ever cover the stench. But stay with me now, Sim: Al-Mahdi wants us to do his dirty work for him, so he can get a two-fer. Surely, you see that. First, those annoying intellectuals are exterminated. No more global community of conscience or anything bothersome like that. Second, he gets to rally his fellow Muslims, in the Arab world and beyond, by blaming us for killing them. It all makes perfect sense, once you crack the code.” Harris looked at the broadshouldered man in the other chair. “But what I don’t get is why a clever man like you would fall in with his plan — when it only strengthens the enemy. After all, those people in Nazareth are the closest thing we’ll ever have to allies in this part of the world.”

“We have no allies here. We never had any. And we never will.”

“But come on, Sim. You’re a genius at using people. Why wouldn’t you want to use all those scientists and surgeons al-Mahdi’s crammed into Nazareth? You could always dispose of them later.”

“Gary, you refuse to understand.”

“What?”

“The sooner we get this over with, the better.”

“Get what over with?”

“Their destruction.”

“Who? Those poor bastards in Nazareth? And their families? Win the war by murdering some dentist’s wife?”

“Not just the ones in Nazareth. All of them. Every Muslim.”

Harris snorted a one-syllable laugh. “Give me a break, Sim. That’s crazy.”

“Why?”

“You can’t kill over a billion people.”

It was Montfort’s turn to smile. “Are you sure?”

“Sim… for God’s sake…”

“Exactly that. For God’s sake. Gary, don’t you see it? I wish you could. I’d love to have you as my ally. As a true ally, a brother in Christ. Don’t you see what this fight’s really about, how final it is? You can mock me… mock us… but this is the great struggle between Christ and the Anti christ. Or, I should say, the climax of that struggle.” Montfort uncrossed his legs and edged forward on his chair, aping Harris’s earlier gesture. “We’ve tried peaceful cooperation, we’ve tried compromise, even indulgence. We made excuses for them, looked the other way when they slaughtered the innocent like sheep for one of their satanic festivals. And what did it bring us? Their rage, their intolerance. The savagery in Europe — you were there, weren’t you? At the end of all that? Then the destruction of Israel. By fire, as foretold. And then the nuclear massacres in Los Angeles and Las Vegas…”

“Sim, I really do wonder… whether the rumors aren’t true. About your boys helping the Jihadis pull that off. Las Vegas, at least. ‘Sin City.’ And, I suppose, Los Angeles had plenty of sins to answer for, too. No more naked breasts on movie screens these days. It’s time for Susannah to show a little respect for those elders. Honestly, if the Reverend Doctor Gui, our beloved vice president, had picked two American cities to sacrifice, which two do you think he would’ve picked? Little Rock and Lynchburg? Or Sodom and Gomorrah?”

“I won’t dignify that with a response.”

“I didn’t expect one. Tell me, though… exactly how do you kill a billion people? Without getting overly sloppy? That’s a big project. Even for you.”