"Way too big to be carried internally, sir. It"s four and a half feet in diameter and eleven feet long. The thing weighs fifteen thousand pounds."
"You do not say!"
"Oh, yes, sir. It"s carried on what we call an underbelly centerline station."
"And what is it, Suhail? What are we serving the enemy today?"
"The Americans used to call these Big Blue s. They are concussion bombs. Eighty percent of their weight is made up of a gel consisting of polystyrene, ammonium nitrate, and powdered aluminum."
"Is it as powerful as it is large?"
"Excellency," Suhail said, "nothing but a nuclear weapon would be more so. These are designed to detonate just a few feet off the ground and generate a thousand pounds of pressure per square inch. It should kill everything even the little creatures below the ground in an area as large as two thousand acres. The mushroom cloud alone will rise more than a mile. And we"re dropping two."
"Plus a missile."
"Yes, sir."
"Fire? "
"Oh, Your Highness, that"s the best part. Each concussion bomb creates a fireball six thousand feet in Chang recoiled at a loud hiss, and he imagined a nearly overcome Carpathia inhaling deeply through his nose and exhaling through clenched teeth.
Later, when the pilots let loose their payloads, Nicolae said, "Suhail! How quickly can we get this on television?"
"I"m sure it"s just a matter of a few switches, Excel "
"Do it! Do it now!"
Someone left the room.
The recording was interrupted only with occasional outbursts from Carpathia. "Ahh! Look! Ohh! Perfect! On target! Both of them. The best revenge is success."
"Absolutely."
"And victory."
"Yes, sir."
"Total and complete," Nicolae said.
Several grunted.
A loud sigh ended in a hum. It reminded Chang of a lion he had seen at the zoo in Beijing. It had just gorged itself on several pounds of raw beef, roared, yawned and stretched, settled its wide chin on its paws, and sighed like that, followed by a low rumbling from deep inside.
For several minutes they watched, and occasionally someone congratulated Nicolae. "Finally, Your Lordship." That was Viv Ivins. Carpathia did not respond, making Chang wonder if she was still in his doghouse.
To all the other compliments he merely said, "Thank you. Thank you."
The suggestion from the primary pilot to abort the missile launch was immediately rejected by Suhail.
"Yes," Nicolae said in the background. "Very good, Director Akbar. The final dart."
When the pilot sounded insubordinate, Suhail immediately countered. Then silence, finally broken by Carpathia. "Was I hearing things, or did he dare cross you?"
"He came right to the edge, Excellency." Reprimand him!" Leon squawked.
"I do not believe he meant for me to hear it. He is watching in person what we are seeing on a screen. Of course it sounds like overkill to him."
"But still . . . ," Leon said.
Someone shushed him.
When the missile hit and the pilot began his halting, disbelieving commentary, Chang heard a chair roll back as if someone had stood suddenly.
"What?!" That was Nicolae.
"Impossible!" Fortunato.
"Cut the feed!" Carpathia said, and Akbar repeated it, loud.
Footsteps away from the table and, Chang a.s.sumed, toward the monitor. The door opening. The sounds of people leaving, evidently everyone but Nicolae and Suhail.
"Two of our largest incendiary bombs?" Carpathia whispered. "You said one was more than enough."
"It should have been."
"We saw the flames, watched them burn, for how long
"Long enough."
Several minutes of relative silence, during which Chang believed he heard Carpathia panting. And when the potentate finally spoke, he sounded desperate and short of breath. "Listen to me, Suhail." "Yes, sir. " "Are you listening?" "I am, sir."
"Deal with those pilots. They missed. They failed. Their eyes deceived them. Do not allow this victory to go to the Judah-ites.
Do not." "I hear you, sir." "Then contact the other nine regional potentates, personally, on my behalf. Tell them the Judah-ites have raised arms against us and have dealt a severe blow. We shall retaliate. I told them this only recently." "You did, sir."
"But the time is now; the budget is limitless. I will sanction, condone, support, and reward the death of any Jew anywhere in the world. I want this done as a top priority, by any means. Imprison them. Torture them. Humiliate them. Shame them. Blaspheme their G.o.d. Plunder everything they own. Nothing is more important to the potentate. Do you understand?" "I do "
"Go quickly. Do it now." "Yes, sir." "And Suhail?" "Sir?" "Send Reverend Fortunato in." In seconds, Leon came bustling. "Oh.
Highness, I don"t know what to say. I can"t understand it. What went-" "My dear Most High Reverend Fortunato. Kiss my hand. " "How may I serve you, Potentate? I kneel before you." "Be still and hear me.
Are you still my most trusted devotee "Oh, yes, Supre " "Shh my Reverend Father of Carpathianism?" "I am, sincerely." "Leon, do you love me?" "You know I do." "Do you cherish me?" "with all my- " "Do you worship me?" "Oh, my beloved-" "Stand up, Leon, and hear me. My enemies mock me. They perform miracles. They poison my people, call sores down on them from heaven, turn the seas into blood. And now! And now they survive bombs and fire! But I too have power. You know this. It is available to you, Leon. I have seen you use it. I have seen you call down lightning that slays those who would oppose me. "Leon, I want to fight fire with fire. I want jesuses. Do you hear me?"
"Sir?" "I want messiahs." "Messiahs?" "I want saviors in my name." "Tell me more, Excellency." "Find them thousands of them.
Train. them, raise them up, imbue them with the power with which I have blessed you. I want them healing the sick, turning water to blood and blood to water. I want them performing miracles in my name, drawing the undecided, yea, even the enemy away from his G.o.d and to me."
"I will do it, Excellency."
"Will you.) "
"I will if you will empower me."
"Kneel before me again, Leon."
"Lay your hands on me, risen one. "