Living Darkly IV

The Jihad requires Muslims to "struggle in the way of God" or "to struggle to improve one's self and/or society. And one's self was dictated by a very strict interpretation of 7^th century Islamic law. The beginnings of Jihad are traced back to the words and actions of Muhammad and the Qu'ran. It was, therefore, the duty of all Muslims to strive against those who did not believe in Allah and took offensive action against Muslims. The Qu'ran, however, never uses the term Jihad for fighting and combat in the name of Allah; qital is used to mean "fighting." The struggle for Jihad in the Qu'ran was originally intended for the nearby neighbors of the Muslims, but as time passed and more enemies arose, the Qu'ranic statements supporting Jihad were updated for the new adversaries.

After the end of World War I and the remains of the Ottoman Empire were carved up by the victors the Turks in retaliation committed the first genocide. By slaughtering over a million Armenians who the Turks blamed them at least in part for their loss of the war, and exemplified the "Western Evil" that Islam must overthrow also known as the Armenian Holocaust, the Armenian Massacres and, by Armenians, as the Great Calamity it was during this time that ABD-AL-HAMID father was born, his name meant "servant of the praised".

ABD-AL-HAMID had grown up in a world in which from birth he had been told that the Jihad was a holy calling and he would surely be blessed by Allah for his struggle against the western corruption of Islam. His father had taken an active role in the massacres and had lived and breathed the Qu'ran. After his father was killed in a failed attempt to assassinate the Egyptian President it fell him to continue to the struggle. But his death would be a glorious martyrdom and his name would be spoken in fear and reverence by all of Islam, of this he was sure.

The fusion-boosted fission weapon was an improvement on the implosion design. The high temperature and pressure environment at the center of an exploding fission weapon compresses and heats a mixture of tritium and deuterium gas (heavy isotopes of hydrogen). The hydrogen fuses to form helium and free neutrons. The energy release from fusion reactions is relatively negligible, but each neutron starts a new fission chain reaction, greatly reducing the amount of fissile material that would otherwise be wasted. Boosting in this manner can more than double the weapon's fission energy release. This was the weapon that his group had managed to purchase and enhance from a group of disaffected Russians as the former Soviet Union fell.

It was now in process of being delivered to its target in West Palm Beach in South Florida. Disassembled into component pieces it was being shipped via 20 different routes to an empty warehouse off Federal Highway. At this location it would be reassembled and taken to the target for detonation. The expected yield was in the 5-7 megaton range with expected death toll was 300,000 to 500,000 more if wind conditions took the fallout over the coastal cities to the south.

The physics package was being handled by ABD-AL-HAMID himself and he was taking no chances, they had sailed from the Persian Gulf aboard the Star of Iman a private 102 foot ketch built for one of the Royal family who provided most of the financing for this attack. They were less than 40 miles from there final destination after nearly four weeks at sea. Sailing south around the horn of Africa and then across the Atlantic and thru the Caribbean into the Bahamas. Once they were within 5 miles of the Florida Keys he and two trusted warriors would take a RIB the last part of the journey to be met at a private dock. A small truck would then take them to their destination 4 hours away.

The Breakers was holding its first major event of the season and its guest list included a who's who of business and political figures. This was the event ABD-AL-HAMID was targeting and it promised to make 911 look small in comparison.

The seas were flat and calm and the offloading of the physics package went without incident, within minutes the three men were making there way toward a private dock in the Florida Keys and the sailboat faded in the distance. It was late afternoon and they had almost 2 hours of sunlight left. As they pulled the small boat into the dock they were met by the others of their cell.

With thirty minutes they were on A1A heading toward Miami then West Palm Beach, it was so easy ABD-AL-HAMID couldn't believe how soft America was in its border security. He would make them regret that softness.