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Episode
082 |
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“A host is like a general; it takes a mishap to
reveal his genius.” Horace The elevator doors parted,
revealing Sarah. In her black trench
coat and stone-cutting stare, she walked into the empty office, flowing
amongst the chairs and curved tables towards the meeting room. She stepped inside, a few surprised stares
thrown her way. Eliot glanced up from his central
seat and steaming cup of coffee, looking her up and down in her trench
coat. “I wasn’t aware you were coming
back to active duty so soon.” “I’ve been getting bored,” she
answered, turning around the chair nearest the door. She sat down, hiding her wince as she
leaned back. She turned around to
Eliot, Jason and Isaiah sitting across from each other at the far end of the
table. “How’s the back?” Eliot asked. “Her baby’s got it,” Jason mumbled
with a childish smile. Eliot looked at
him, lost. The door opened again and Assif
came inside, carrying a large file. He
had a strained look on his tired face and moved with the familiar agility
garnered from too-early a morning.
“Good afternoon,” he said to the four in the room already as he walked
to the back wall. He opened a wooden
panel, revealing an array of controls and consoles. He took a flash drive from the folder in
his hands and plugged it in, the screen that composed most of the rear wall
coming to life. As Assif worked, Lisa and Irene
came in next. They both paused when
they saw Sarah, but then pretended not to have noticed anything
abnormal. They sat down, Irene in the
center seat and Lisa between her and Isaiah.
They left a seat between them and Sarah. Til and Jin came in next, both
sitting down without incident. Alex
and Emma finished the group and sat in the remaining seats. “Good afternoon,” Assif said the
moment Alex was seated. “I’m afraid
that our current projects may have to be put on hold for a few days. We have received some disconcerting intelligence
from the He turned to the screen, hitting a
control on the tabletop, causing it to display a security camera’s
vantage. “At 11:09 am “What the hell is it recently with
that country?” Jason exclaimed. “Every
time a Persian or an Arab gets on a plane, they act like the world’s going to
end.” Emma hit him on the arm, glaring
at him to quiet down. “Al-Malik was searched when the
metal detectors went off,” Assif explained, narrating as the footage moved
on, showing the lithe, dark-skinned figure being pulled aside. “His belt buckle proved to be the
culprit. All in all, there didn’t seem
to be anything suspicious about him.” “Obviously, there’s something the “When his luggage was searched,”
Assif went on, switching from the video feed to an array of photographs,
“they found two objects which are now causing concern.” One photograph came to the
forefront, showing a scimitar with a blue ray-skin scabbard. “Given al-Malik’s attire and general
physical presence,” Assif continued, “it is believed that he may be a magic
user.” “Great,” Til grumbled. “A Muslim magician.” Assif tapped his finger on the
tabletop, letting go of the comment. “That,
however, is not the primary cause for concern,” he continued, moving to a new
picture. It showed a small metal box,
a foot long and roughly half as wide and tall. It seemed to have no hinges for
opening. Its only distinctive feature
was a red metal symbol engraved on the top. “What does that say?” Irene asked,
sitting forward as she put her glasses on. “That’s a word?” Lisa asked in
dismay, marveling. “It’s a pre-Semitic symbol that
means…” Emma said, studying the photograph.
She began to look worried. “Subtle
fire.” “That seems to be the consensus,”
Assif nodded. “The symbol is from a
language that is believed to be at least 4500 years old. Its first recorded use was by a culture
known as the Akkadians. The term
‘subtle fire’, a fire that does not give itself away with smoke, is the fairly
literal translation of Jinn from the Islamic traditions.” “Um,” Eliot spoke up, “I have to
confess when I hear the words ‘Islamic’ and ‘fire’ in the same sentence, I
start to get nervous.” Assif said nothing as he stared
down at the console, typing in orders, and then turned back to the
screen. “The term Jinn is generally
synonymous with Genie, though technically the two terms should not be
interchangeable.” “Okay,” Alex said aloud. “I’ve got to ask this now. What’s the big deal? I mean, we’ve got a Muslim wizard flying
from “The reason this is to take such
precedence is due to Khizer himself,” Assif explained. “Khizer is an immigrant to the “The fact that he’s a magician of
some type makes it a wonder he isn’t in “The “Oh, that ain’t good,” Jason
whispered. “That seems like a heck of a leap,”
Alex maintained. “Maybe the box
contains a genie and he’s taking it back home. Why is this such a big deal?” “The harm is the ‘maybe’ in that
sentence,” Sarah said, sitting forward.
“If it’s a bomb, especially a magical one, then it could represent a
monumental threat to wherever he’s headed.” “He’s headed to “Go somewhere else,” Assif answered. |
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