Sarah walked over as he put away his cell. “Our body doubles…they were followed from the mall. Their car was tracked all the way into Arizona. Why?”

“To convince us we had outsmarted him. The Old One needed us then to find any loose ends he might have missed. Like the medallion.”

“He thought we were more useful than dangerous. That’s why he didn’t kill us.” Sarah scratched behind her ear. Caught herself, disgusted. “He knows better now, doesn’t he?”

“He knows about the medallion, but not about the confession download. That’s our great advantage.”

The doors to the inner area of the villa hissed open. Unequal air pressure prevented biological or gas attacks. Redbeard stood waiting inside, his expression grim. He was dressed more stylishly than usual in an unbelted white tunic and trousers, embroidered slippers on his bare feet. Rakkim would have been happier to see Angelina, but she was probably preparing a feast. No cooking smells though. Sarah, Rakkim, and Katherine walked inside. Stevens started to follow, but with a subtle hand gesture Redbeard ordered him to stay. The doors slid shut behind them again. “Thank you for bringing Sarah back,” Redbeard said to Rakkim. “Perhaps next time you could simply leave a trail of bread crumbs for the Old One.”

“I see you’ve put Stevens in charge of security,” gritted Rakkim. “Has he gotten his own room at the villa yet?”

“I’m sorry, Uncle,” interrupted Sarah. “I know I’ve disappointed you, but I had to-”

Redbeard embraced her. “You’re safe, that’s all that matters.” He looked at Katherine as he clung to her. “Who is this devout woman you’ve brought into our home?” He froze as Katherine pulled off her head covering, but there was no surprise in his eyes. Rakkim saw something else. “Welcome…welcome home.”

“It’s good to see you, Thomas.” Katherine inclined her head. “I made some mistakes.”

“So did I,” said Redbeard.

Sarah looked at Rakkim. He raised an eyebrow.

“We need your help,” said Katherine.

“We can talk in my office.” Redbeard led the way, glancing at Sarah. “Did you find what you were looking for?”

“I’m not sure,” said Sarah. “That’s not why we’re here. Katherine is the one with the real treasure. She took a very great risk coming here, but you know that.”

“I never gave up looking for you,” Redbeard said to Katherine, the two of them side by side now. “If you only knew how much I-”

“I should have contacted you after I realized…” Katherine hesitated.

“After you realized I didn’t murder my brother,” finished Redbeard.

Katherine nodded.

“I don’t blame you,” said Redbeard. “James told me he had come into possession of something very dangerous. A danger to him and a danger to the country. James loved me, but he wouldn’t tell me what he had. Not yet, that’s what he said. Soon, Thomas.” His eyes shimmered. “Ten minutes later, he was dying in my arms. No, you did what James would have wanted you to do. Keep the secret safe. Trust no one.”

“It wasn’t just that,” said Katherine. “I didn’t…trust myself.”

Rakkim stared. He had never seen Redbeard blush.

Redbeard opened the door to his office, ushered them inside.

“Where’s Angelina?” said Sarah. “I keep waiting for her to appear, pretending to be angry, telling me what a disobedient child I’ve been.”

“I’m looking forward to seeing her too, Thomas,” said Katherine. “She knows how grateful I am to her, but I want to tell her in person.”

“Is she still at mosque?” said Sarah. “She should be back…What’s wrong, Uncle?”

The screen flickered and went blank as the flashload finished. They had watched the eighty-three-second rehearsal three times. No one had said a word. The only sound was Sarah curled on the couch, sniffling about Angelina while Katherine patted her back. Rakkim tried to focus on Redbeard, tried to gauge his reactions as he watched the wall screen.

Rakkim could still feel Sarah’s sobs reverberating in his chest. He had held her after Redbeard had given them the news, held her and let her do the weeping for the both of them. He had been nine years old when Redbeard had brought him home. Angelina had raised him, or come as close as anyone could to accomplishing that. He missed her already. Missed the clean smell of her, the imported soap that was her one extravagance. Someday he would go to mosque and pray for her. She who needed no prayers to guide her into Paradise. He would pray for her anyway. In hope that she would someday intercede on his behalf. Could even Allah himself refuse her?

“It’s real, Thomas,” said Katherine, breaking the silence.

“I never believed that Macmillan slipped in the shower and broke his neck. ‘The hero who broke the Zionist ring,’ that’s what they called him. The nation was in mourning for a week. James and I were part of the honor guard at his funeral.” Redbeard stared at the blank wall. “I’m glad you’re here…but, I wish you had not brought this with you.”

“We need to get this out.” Sarah swiped at her eyes. “We need your help to flashload it everywhere, before it can be discredited. People have to see it with their own eyes, hear it with their own ears, before the media twist it.”

Redbeard removed the flashload, tossed it to Rakkim. “I’m not going to help you destroy the country. I took an oath to protect it. So did you.”

“The country was built on a lie,” said Rakkim.

“What country wasn’t?” Redbeard’s eyes were icy. “Tell him, Sarah. You’re the historian. Tell him about the former regime.”

“I know they didn’t burn fornicators and witches,” said Sarah. “They didn’t stone girls to death for running away from husbands. They didn’t cut off the hands of thieves-”

Redbeard snatched Rakkim’s hand. “He kept his hand.” Rakkim took his hand back. “The law is hard, but there is room for mercy. Don’t tell me about the old days, girl, I lived through them. Drugs sold on street corners. Guns everywhere. God driven out of the schools and courthouses. Births without marriage, rich and poor, so many bastards you wouldn’t believe me. A country without shame. Alcohol sold in supermarkets. Babies killed in the womb, tens of millions of them. I was a Catholic then. There were politicians who voted to allow this and took Holy Communion afterwards. Do you know what Communion is? These politicians knelt for Communion and there was no shortage of priests eager to place the host upon their tongues.” Redbeard shook his head. “We are not perfect, not by any measure, but I would not go back to those days for anything.”

“They weren’t afraid,” said Sarah. “Look at the old videos, the movies…they weren’t afraid. Look around you, Uncle, go out on the streets-people are scared. Afraid they’re going to do the wrong thing, say the wrong thing, think the wrong thing. Yes, the Americans were drunk on freedom. Yes, they lacked shame, but they did glorious things too with that freedom. Breakthroughs in science and medicine. Inquiries into the mysteries of the universe. Wonderful things. Noble-”

“You both are missing the point,” said Rakkim.

Katherine stared at the ground-zero photographs of New York, Washington, D.C., and Mecca that dominated the office.

“James must have felt the same way I do,” Redbeard said to Katherine. “He had the flashload, but he gave it to you for safekeeping. He didn’t even trust the president with it. Not until he was sure they had a common strategy. James would have wanted to use the flashload to rein in the fundamentalists, but he would never have put it out for the world to see. He wanted to save the Muslim nature of the state. Just as I do.”

Rakkim put his hand on Redbeard. “It’s not about what system is better. It’s too late for that. The flashload is all we have now. I met the Old One. I talked with him. You can’t stop him anymore, and he knows it. The president is in failing health. Once he’s gone, the Old One will make his move. He has men in waiting to replace the president. Politicians, judges…he told me so. Men close enough in line that it wouldn’t even take a coup. A legitimate transfer of power…legitimate enough. That’s if the Old One doesn’t get tired of waiting and it’s the president this time who slips in the shower and breaks his neck.”