Download the Book - Islam and Science Fiction
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would carry apparatus <strong>and</strong> reagents to manufacture assorted gasses<br />
<strong>and</strong> explosives from innocent onboard materials.<br />
The carefully detailed plans we were given spelled out our goals.<br />
We were to gain control, coerce a minimum contingent of <strong>the</strong> crew to<br />
run <strong>the</strong> ship, <strong>and</strong> eliminate <strong>the</strong> rest. We should be prepared for a long<br />
stay in space, far enough out to make us impossible to detect, but<br />
close enough to receive timely microwave instructions. A position<br />
well out in <strong>the</strong> Oort cloud was specified.<br />
Less than a week later, <strong>the</strong> Mahdi broadcast one of his cryptic<br />
parables that most of <strong>the</strong> world ignores. Even if you heard it<br />
translated, no doubt you would have missed its meaning. Its meaning<br />
was clear to his followers, though. He said <strong>the</strong> Day of Reckoning was<br />
close at h<strong>and</strong>, <strong>and</strong> that <strong>the</strong> Earth would soon be consumed in fire, as<br />
God had promised Noah. He called on his small core of faithful<br />
followers to ga<strong>the</strong>r reminders from <strong>the</strong> holy shrines, assemble <strong>the</strong>ir<br />
belongings, <strong>and</strong> ga<strong>the</strong>r aboard three massive fusion freighters bought<br />
with what little wealth <strong>the</strong> Shah had not stolen from us when he<br />
regained <strong>the</strong> throne. In space, <strong>the</strong>y would await <strong>the</strong> availability of a<br />
new world, which would be revealed to us.<br />
Just which world he had in mind was a mystery. Of <strong>the</strong> few new<br />
worlds accessible by Gate, none would pass for Eden, although a<br />
couple might have passed as an upper level of Hell. The best of those<br />
was, ironically, probably Mazra'ih, <strong>the</strong> planet first settled by Baha'is<br />
we had driven from Iran.<br />
The following day <strong>the</strong>re came an announcement that stunned <strong>the</strong><br />
world of <strong>Islam</strong>. The Holy Ka'ba in Mecca had been attacked by a<br />
suicide squad. For most of <strong>the</strong> day <strong>the</strong>y held <strong>the</strong> Saudi security forces<br />
at bay while <strong>the</strong>y accomplished <strong>the</strong>ir mission. With a tiny charge that<br />
rent <strong>the</strong> Muslim world <strong>and</strong> which will reverberate for all time to<br />
come, <strong>the</strong>y blasted <strong>the</strong> Black Stone, <strong>the</strong> sacred rock set by Abraham,<br />
designated by Muhammad as <strong>the</strong> focus of our prayers, <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> object<br />
of pilgrimage for every able-bodied believer. Before <strong>the</strong>y died in <strong>the</strong><br />
final assault, <strong>the</strong> attackers launched a fragment of <strong>the</strong> holy relic out of<br />
<strong>the</strong> shrine by a small guided rocket. It disappeared into <strong>the</strong> desert,<br />
<strong>and</strong> could not be traced.<br />
I was stunned at <strong>the</strong> atrocity. Which of our enemies could have<br />
done such a thing? The Zionists? The Baha'is? The western powers?<br />
The Saudis <strong>the</strong>mselves? The act reinforced my willingness to strike<br />
for our cause.<br />
I sought Zeid's company, needing his faith. I found him in<br />
prayer, <strong>and</strong> in tears. I thought I understood. I did not. He stood up<br />
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