Now
The Island
"Alright, Shaun," said Priest as he walked in a large oval, encircling Shaun and Mona who were standing facing each other, "Go ahead."
"Jude, you're being ridicules!" said Shaun.
"Oh, am I?" asked Priest with a chuckle.
"I...I can't hit Mona! Why can't I try and hit you?"
"Why can't you hit Mona?"
"I just can't, okay? She's a friend!"
"Aww!" said Mona with a smile, "Thanks, Shaun!"
"And I'm not?" asked Priest.
"Of course you are, but you can take it!"
"What," asked Mona, "Because I'm a woman, I can't?"
"That's not what I meant."
"I think that's exactly what you mean." Said Priest, "You have serious issues, man."
"Look, what's the point of this?"
"Before you learn the technique," said Priest as he stopped behind Mona, placing his hands on her shoulders to her slight , "You have to gain the mindset. You have to learn to fight anyone. And if you can find it in you to fight a pretty little girl like Mona, you can find it in you to fight anyone."
"Did you just call me a little girl?" asked Mona.
"Yes, yes I did." said Priest as he stepped back, "And I know you're only pretending to be offended to mask your being embarrassed for me calling you pretty. Now, you either try to knock Mona out or you can forget about us teaching you anything."
Shaun hesitated for a moment, but then lunged at Mona with a punch. Mona ducked and with spinning kick she knocked Shaun off his feet and onto his back.
"Wow. You actually did it!" said Priest as he and Mona stood by the fallen Shaun, "You went and attacked a smaller person, a woman no less, your friend for fuck's sake!"
"I think I landed on a rock..." said Shaun with a grunt as he tried to get up.
"Well, that's lesson number three over and done with. Time for lesson number four."
"What's lesson number four?" asked Mona.
"Shaun is going to loose all fear of physical punishment."
"What does that mean?" asked Shaun as he brushed the sand off his clothes.
"It means we are going to gently, but surely beat you up until it stops bothering you."
"What?" asked Shaun.
"What?!" asked Mona.
"Welcome to the house of pain."
One Day Later
Dubai, U.A.E.
Mernae Watts walked up to the group of four as they arrived in the lobby of Burj al-Arab, Dubai's tallest building and one of the world's most exquisite and expensive hotels.
"Hello, Jack." she said as she hugged Mason, "Um, I mean Mr. Mason."
"Hello, Mernae. And you may call me Jack." said Mason fondly as wrapped his arms around Mernae.
"My friends," said Mason, "This is my right-hand woman, Mernae Hannah Watts."
"Hello." said Mernae with a slight gigle as she shook hands with Jenny, unable to contain her excitement at meeting the people she's only heard about.
"Hi." said Jenny, "Thanks for your help."
"This is Miss Jenny Diver, standing in for Captain Barbossa." said Mason, "She's his partner for eighty years. This is Captain Marko Raimus and Captain Nemo."
Mernae shook hands with the other two who responded warmly and commended her competence.
"Okay, umm, al-Sheikh is waiting." said Mernae as she led the way to the elevator, "I guess we better get going."
Naif al-Sheikh was a man of his fifties, olive skinned, thin and of average height. His hair was black and cropped shortly and had a neatly trimmed goatee. He had an intimidating, mysterious presence, capable of simultaneously inspiring uneasiness and confidence. He seemed to be the kind of person who rarely ever lost his cool, ruled by quiet reflection and could no longer be surprised.
He received them in the hall of his suite in one of the upper floors, where he wore a black galabiya and traditional Arabian head-dress.
"Mister al-Sheikh," said Mernae, "These are the people I told you of. Miss Jenny Diver, who is representing Hector Barbossa, Captain Nemo, Marko Raimus and John Patrick Mason."
"You may call me Jack," said Mason, "And I would like to thank you on behalf of all of us for agreeing to see us."
"If it's the same to you, I think I will call you Mr. Mason for the time being." said al-Sheikh, "And you will find that you should thank your assistant rather than myself, she is a most persuasive woman."
"That she is." said Mason.
Al-Sheikh skope with a slightly accented, yet impecabe and well-annunciated English. His voice was tired weary and tinged with practiced cynicism. His demeanor was undeniably cold and it was evident that he wasn't too thrilled to meet these guests.
"Please," said al-Sheikh as he gestured toward a seating area on the other side of his suite, "Make yourselves comfortable while I order some tea."
The four went and sat, while al-Sheikh picked up the phone and spoke with room-service in Arabic. Once he was done, he went and joined them sitting at the farthest position from any of them. It was a psychological tactic used in negotiations, and as thus it became apparent what extraordinary man al-Sheikh was.
"Now, how may I be able to be of service?" asked al-Sheikh.
"Are you aware of what's transpired recently in the war between the League and us, the opposition?" asked Mason.
"No, I am not."
"We were ambushed, one of our own betrayed us." explained Mason, "Several of us, nearly thirty good men and women were killed or detained."
"I'm sorry for your loss." said al-Sheikh as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a silver cigarette holder, "I hope you don't mind if I smoke. Do any of you feel like one?"
"No."
"No, thank you."
"Well," said al-Sheikh while he opened the case, took out a cigarette and stuck it between his lips, then lit it with a golden lighter, "It is never easy to loose one's own men."
"That's why were here," said Nemo, "Our entire intelligence network is damaged. We could rebuild it, but that would take too long. We need to be operational again as soon as possible."
"Why the hurry?"
"We have been getting some intelligence about a certain project. This project is designed, funded and run by the League. Top-level classified. It is underway as we speak, and we believe that it is of dire proportions, possibly on a continental scale."
"What is this Project?" asked al-Sheikh as he puffed a cloud of smoke.
"It's called Phoenix. Have you ever heard of it?"
"Oh, I have my connections, but all I hear is whispers. And of what I hear it is indeed on a massive scale. So, tell me, what do you know about it?""
"So far we've learned it involves a new designer drug and possibly a war in East Asia."
"And you have no other leads?"
"Our only two was one of our men who went rogue and tried to pursue the matter independently, once we got to him we found him to be profoundly mad." said Raimus, "All he could manage to tell us is that the world would end in five years."
"Four, actually." said Mason, "That was last year. Our other lead was Gideon MacGuffin, a man who is rumored to have designed the first draft before difference with James Bond, who as you know runs the league, forced him to flee and fake his death.
"We eventually tracked down a man we believed to be MacGuffin, but it wasn't really him."
"I understand." said al-Sheikh as he took a drag of smoke, "And you want me to rebuild your network. Correct?"
"We would like you to run it," said Mason, "Or at least oversee it."
"I am deeply flattered," said al-Sheikh with a smile that was more cynical than warm, "But no."
The four delegates of the opposition were surprised to hear al-Sheikh refuse so fast.
"You all look shocked, dearest guests." said al-Sheikh, "Were you counting on me to join your cause?"
"Um.. Mister al-Sheikh, Colonel..."
"My reputation precedes me," said al-Sheikh as he put out his cigarette in a crystal extinguisher, "I assume that you wagered that merely because I have so far refused working for the League, that I am automatically willing to work with you lot. If that is so, then you've wagered wrong.
"The fact is, there's a third camp, with those who wish to remain out of this conflict going on between your guilds. I find myself pleased to be of this third camp and do not wish to change that anytime soon.."
"Al-Sheikh," Nemo said with a raised voice, "Surely you must agree that the League have been doing great atrocities over the years."
"Yes, yes they have. And sadly, the world is likely cease to exist without them."
"What," asked Jenny, "And you're willing to take it because you can't take the risk?"
"It is quite risk, Madam."
"The world will eventually die out because of them!"
"All you have to prove that is the ramblings of a mad-man. The league may be a chimera, but it is a chimera we can survive, one day at a time, and in any event, you are not the Bellerophon."
"So you're saying that as long as the world keeps spinning, you don't care how many people are killed..."
"Jenny, calm down." said Mason, but Jenny ignored him as she went on.
"...how many people get killed, because the League sees it fit? Have you no regard for human life?"
"Do not take the moral high ground with me, woman." said al-Sheikh, his voice rising, his brown eyes widening with contained anger. Al-Sheikh got up and took out another cigarette, then walked to the window and looked out at the blue waters of the Arabian gulf.
"Do any of you know the full extent of my reasons for no working for the League? It isn't just because I am aware of the sheer immorality of their methods, of their mere being. It isn't just that."
Al-Sheikh lit his cigarette and flicked the lighter shut, setting it on the window's ledge.
"I was married once, you know. Her name was Miriam." said al-Sheikh, the tone of his voice changing somewhat to reflect a less cold demeanor as he seemed to be in the process of recollecting some fond memories.
"She was a Lebanese student of international law in London, back then I was getting my masters from Cambridge. She was a feminist, a social activist; by all means a truly troublesome woman... and I loved her.
"She was killed three years into our marriage, she was pregnant with our first child." said al-Sheikh, the tone of his voice changing to its former coldness, "She was killed by a superhuman Agent of the League, a man called Wolfwood. Do not, I repeat, do not accuse me for one second of callousness or disregard for human life, I care, I care deeply."
Al-Sheikh walked away from the window.
"But the fact of the matter is, when one is in our line of work, one must learn to see the big picture. And the big picture is, despite all the League's villainies, I cannot aid you in defeating the single largest intelligence agency in the world and expect a survivable tomorrow at the same time, and I wouldn't do it in the least for the sake of some ambiguous conspiracy theory."
There was a knock on the door, and someone announcing that room service had arrived.
"Finally." said al-Sheikh with one of his, "I hope you will allow me the honor of sharing a cup of tea before you will be on your way."
The door opened and a waiter entered, pushing a cart with a tea-set of exquisite china. However, there was someone else that followed.
"Hello." said the visitor. The waiter turned around to see the man, and appeared to be just a surprised as everyone else.
"Friend of yours?" asked al-Sheikh as he gestured at the man.
"Not exactly." said Nemo as he got a good look at the visitor, "Tallbot?"
Talbot had changed, the once frail and frightened man stood before them in confidence. He wore an expensive three-piece black suit and a silk tie. His scraggily beard was trimmed neatly and his long hair had been cut to shoulder length and tied neatly into a ponytail. He seemed like an entirely different person, and not only because of his improved appearance, bout for the manner in which he behaved, so full of pride, confidence and dignity. They even couldn't help but notice that he was much taller than they had initially perceived.
"But how?"
"I stowed away on your submarine, once you had docked, I slipped out and got around to making some calls and visit a barber."
Even the way he talked had changed. He was eloquent and spoke with an almost mesmerizing voice, he still talked with a Scottish accent, but it was not the same brogue from before.
"Who are you, then?" asked al-Sheikh as he took a drag of his cigarette.
"Isn't it obvious?" asked Talbot,
"I'm Sir Gideon Jacob MacGuffin, at your service."
R&R. So, how do you like al-Sheikh?
Next Chapter: Bold New World. School is gets tougher for Shaun, but more importantly, the man who thought up Project Phoenix is about to explain what it is. This is the mother load, people, if you've read everything so far then stopping now will make no sense. NO SENSE!