Post by CCACorn26 on Jan 15, 2009 14:05:09 GMT -5
Well, I guess this took long enough, but hopefully, Wally and Kuki's new friend will be no less friendly to the Kids Next Door as a whole.:
“A Time for Truth, No Time for Shame”
Chapter 3: “Puzzles, Truth, and a Motto”
“Some puzzle that turned out to be in the cafeteria, Numbuh Five.”
“You said it, Numbuh Two, and to think the picture might be more puzzlin’ than the pieces themselves.”
Hoagie Gilligan and Abby Lincoln walked reflectively down a corridor leading away from the Kids Next Door Moonbase’s cafeteria, their minds fresh from a puzzle that they’d actually gotten hungry about solving and then placed to the side of their table as they ate their snacks. Hoagie had ordered two hamburgers and a hot dog, while Abby had settled for a soda, which might have been typical choices for them… after a Kids Next Door mission, of which there hadn’t been many in general in the past few months. Thus, Hoagie and Abby found that puzzle a simply excellent way to keep their minds busy, even if they simply found it before heading up to the Moonbase, but when they succeeded in solving it, both of them frowned with puzzlement at the image of a young girl about their age looking up at a gloomily cloudy sky… and the words “fit” and “help” printed in green capital letters next to her. Neither Hoagie nor Abby had too much more time to ponder that image, for about 30 seconds after Hoagie put the final puzzle piece in place, the Moonbase intercom came on with some sort of announcement about a meeting that required the attendance of these two kids, considered a fun and adventurous couple within Sector V, if Wally Beetles and Kuki Sanban were considered lovey-dovey.
“What do you think the Supreme Commander wanted us at the conference room for?” Hoagie wondered aloud, still holding the box containing that mysterious puzzle in front of him with both hands.
“If Numbuh Five had to guess, Numbuh 362 was discussin’ somethin’ with Numbuh One, and whatever they found was really suspicious,” Abby said in return, her arms crossed in front of her smoothly. “Just one question: was it really necessary to take that puzzle with ya?”
“Well, I didn’t see anyone else attempt to mess with it while we were getting our snacks,” Hoagie said in certain defense of himself. “Maybe we’ll have better luck figuring it out once we’re done with whatever Numbuh 362 wants to talk about.”
“Figuring what out?” A male voice from a different direction interrupted Hoagie and Abby’s conversation, curiosity evident.
“Eh, maybe it’s another puzzle, unlike those global communication monitors,” a female voice accompanying that same voice commented matter-of-factly.
Hoagie and Abby turned in the direction of those two voices… and saw Bartie and Virginia approaching from a corridor linking up to theirs. Sector V’s “other” main couple could only smile as they remembered that those Moonbase bridge officers had getting rather close to each other recently, at least particularly whenever Bartie and Virginia happened to be in the cafeteria at the same time they were. If the Kids Next Door Supreme Leader needed to take care of something in her office, then she usually left Bartie in charge of the bridge, which left Virginia to help Bartie as she saw fit… which consequently made Rachel’s intercom request that much more suspicious.
“Oh. Hey, Numbuhs 35 and 23,” Abby’s greeting was as direct and smooth as it usually was. “Have you two been up to anything lately?”
“Not really,” Bartie said almost hesitantly, chuckling nervously as an unpleasant memory surfaced in his mind. “Virginia did show me her newest treat a few days ago…”
“Yep, and it was just for Bartie, too,” Virginia concurred with a grin, rather satisfied with herself. “Just think of it as a gift.”
“A gift?! That chocolate bomb came dangerously close to ruining my model ship!” Bartie yelled.
“Oh, don’t worry about it,” Virginia said dismissively… then maneuvered closer to Bartie as they walked, her voice decreasing. “Besides… we can get some more soda in the cafeteria once we’re done.”
Abby chuckled observantly at the scene. “Numbuh Five thinks you two are gonna get along juuuuust fine.”
“Oooooooohhh… come on, Numbuh 35. You know you like Numbuh 23…” Hoagie said in delight.
The mischievousness in Virginia’s smile became more evident as she looked directly at Bartie. “Something wrong? I thought you liked the idea of getting a soda with me at the cafeteria…”
The nervousness in Bartie’s gulp was perhaps more evident as he started looking around… and saw a key opening, in more ways than one. “Uh, guys… we’re here.”
Hoagie, Abby, and Virginia turned in the direction Bartie was facing and felt their shoulders sink with disappointment. If the first two kids wanted to tease Bartie and Virginia some more about being a couple, then they’d have to wait… for in their sights was the doorway leading directly into the conference room of the Kids Next Door Moonbase. A couple of other corridors branched out from that intersection, no doubt leading to other sections of the Moonbase. The door slid to the right automatically, and Hoagie, Abby, Bartie, and Virginia stepped through doorway one by one, mentally noting their surroundings. At one end of the room, several blank monitors dotted the wall, activated if Global Command wanted to communicate some special information to any sector or operative on Earth that was supposed to help with any especially dangerous mission… or to simply review information about past missions. A long table was prominent at the center, with a dozen chairs distributed evenly about its perimeter. Hoagie and Abby each took one seat, sitting next to each other, with Bartie and Virginia following suit opposite Sector V’s “other” couple. Hoagie placed the box containing the mysterious puzzle underneath his chair, while Abby placed her hands on the table dutifully. Both of them began looking around at various parts of the conference room to pass the time as all four kids waited for the Kids Next Door’s most commanding operative to arrive. Several minutes passed… and the door slid open to reveal none other than the Kids Next Door’s most commanding couple[/b][/u], with Lee and Sonia following closely behind. Nigel’s sunglasses radiated intense determination and thoughtfulness, as did Rachel’s eyes as she felt the folder she was still holding.
“Greetings, all of you. Please continue sitting down,” Rachel instructed Hoagie, Abby, Bartie, and Virginia professionally before any of them could completely move up, then turned to Lee and Sonia. “You two may take a seat for themselves, Numbuhs 83 and 84.” Rachel’s eyes sparkled a bit as she turned to Nigel. “Well, it’s almost time.”
An observant smile crossed Nigel’s face as he turned toward the doorway. “Once Numbuhs 60 and 86 arrive, we’ll start the briefing… and it looks like they’re here.”
Sure enough, the door had slid open again, revealing Rachel’s main Kids Next Door Global Command deputies, Numbuhs 60 and 86, known respectively as Patton Drilovsky and Fanny Fulbright. They seemed to enjoy being strict about the Kids Next Door’s basic purpose, as they did when they conducted that weapons review at the Arctic Training Base a few hours ago before heading back up to the Moonbase to join Rachel at the bridge. As the situation stood, though, if the Kids Next Door’s other main commanding couple was puzzled by that intercom announcement, then neither of them showed it as Patton and Fanny proceeded to take seats opposite Lee and Sonia. That course of action effectively left Nigel and Rachel as the only operatives still standing up, something neither of them minded one bit as they set up any and all necessary items for this briefing.
“Excellent. It looks like we’re all here. Now, let’s get down to business, starting with these documents,” Rachel began, opening the folder. “Two days ago, Numbuh 65.3 dropped them off at my office, apparently thinking I’d be able to figure them out. What Numbuh One and I found proved more interesting than we thought.”
“So, you two worked on decoding these documents?” Hoagie asked.
“Correct, Numbuh Two. Apparently, Numbuh 362 remembered something suspicious about those documents when I told her about Numbuhs Three and Four’s new friend, Atifa,” Nigel said unflappably.
“Wait a minute… Atifa? Hey, yeah,” Abby remarked, a slow smile crossing her face. “Numbuh Four was really goin’ crazy over how Numbuh Three and Atifa keep singin’ the Rainbow Monkey theme song.”
Sonia nodded cheerfully. “Mm-hmm, and if that’s not enough, Atifa appears to be taking part in a wedding ceremony with someone named Hish--”
“Wedding ceremony[/b]!?!?!?” yelled everyone except Lee, Sonia, Nigel, and Rachel in total astonishment.
Lee’s nod was as nervous as his chuckle. “Yep. I thought it would be cool to meet Numbuhs Three and Four’s new friend, and the two of us happened to be heading down the corridor to the Supreme Commander’s office, so… we went there.”
Rachel cleared her throat to attempt to steer the focus back toward her. “Anyway, the guest list that was included in those documents indicated to us that this was no ordinary wedding ceremony. The person organizing this wedding is Atifa’s grandfather… one Prince Asadullah bin Hassan Al-Saud.”
Six jaws dropped in even more astonishment before Hoagie spoke up. “So Atifa is a member of royalty, Numbuh 362? Whoo-hoo-hoo!! Now I really wanna meet her…”
Abby rolled her at the tone in that last sentence. “Yeah, ya probably would, but why would somebody like this Asadullah wanna be in charge of plannin’ a wedding, anyway, and involving a girl like Atifa, too?”
Meanwhile, Fanny was more cautious in her comments. “Huh… that name rings a bell somehow… Wait a minute. The Prince Asadullah bin Hassan Al-Saud?”
“Um, you’ve heard of this guy before, Numbuh 86?” Patton asked with certain curiosity.
“Actually, Numbuh 60, my dad’s been talkin’ about this guy for the past month,” Fanny responded, her tone one of exasperation intermixed with quizzicality. “According to him, Asadullah is supposed to be this ultra-rich ‘Sharia investor’ who’s been pouring money into countries as different as Nicaragua, France, Italy, India, and even Taiwan… in order to spread the Law of Submission, or at least try to.”
Nigel and Rachel nodded in sober confirmation of Fanny’s point before Nigel picked up from there. “It is as we learned during our little round of research into Asadullah’s activities. For starters, he has absolutely no investments in either the Rainbow Monkey Corporation or any pork-serving restaurants, and some of the investments he does have appear to be quite sinister.”
“Such as that thankfully thwarted attempt to destroy the Eiffel Tower about 10 years ago,” Rachel continued… to eight simultaneous gasps of outrage. “To state what happened in a couple of sentences, the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation announced the arrest of two men and seven women who were taking photographs of certain sensitive areas around that tourist attraction. Among the documents secured was a memo detailing cash transactions on behalf of those men by… the Kingdom Islamic Bank, of which Asadullah is the founding chairman.”
Already, Sonia was clutching Lee’s arm as tightly as she could, clearly frightened by what Nigel and Rachel were describing. “Oh, Lee… who do you think Asadullah’s gonna target next?”
“I don’t know, Sonia… but everything he’s done so far is extremely not cool,” Lee replied uncertainly yet indignantly, gripping Sonia’s hands reassuringly. “Did those FBI guys say anything about those men they arrested?”
At that question, Nigel and Rachel frowned even more grimly than they used to be, which led their fellow Kids Next Door, from Hoagie to Bartie to Fanny to Sonia, to stare at them with dread. The two KND commanders eyed each other for all of 15 seconds before closing their eyes for a similar length of time and then facing their audience, gravitas emanating from both of them.
“Yes, they did, and what they learned might reveal quite the context for the latest evil scheme of Saudi Prince Asadullah bin Hassan,” the Sector V leader started deliberately, wanting to make certain that no one misunderstood him. “One man and three women were from Egypt, and the other man and the other four women were from Saudi Arabia.”
“Which brings us to that wedding ceremony involving Numbuhs Three and Four’s new friend,” the Kids Next Door Supreme Commander continued just as deliberately, then paused once more. “Hisham Tantawi, Atifa’s supposed groom-to-be, is the grandson of Karim Tantawi, the ‘Grand Imam’ of Al-Azhar University in Cairo, Egypt… the top university of the Islamic Community.”
“With this marriage ceremony, Atifa will have to act like a wife to somebody she might not even know…” began Abby soberly.
“Which makes Asadullah Hassan Al-Saud a royal pain,” finished Hoagie defiantly. “Wait a minute… that puzzle!!!” Hoagie then leaned under his chair, picked up the puzzle box to set it on the table, and opened it. “Take a look at this puzzle picture.”
Everyone else sitting at the conference room table leaned in as far as they could, but Abby spoke up first. “I don’t believe it. Is that the girl Numbuhs Four and Three described?”
“Uh… where did you two get that puzzle?” Nigel and Rachel asked as quizzically as ever… surprised somewhat that both of them had the same question in mind.
“To tell you the truth, we don’t really know,” Hoagie said. “Numbuh Five and I found it somewhere near Gallagher Park yesterday.”
“Yep,” Abby concurred smoothly. “Numbuh Two and I were puzzled” -- Abby mentally cringed at that likely pun -- “by the girl we ended up seein’ in that picture.”
Rachel nodded slowly, then cleared her throat once again. “Right. Well, if Wally and Kuki are right about how Atifa tends to be shy, then I’m beginning to wonder if she anticipated this ceremony.”
“Hold it,” Virginia verbally jumped into this exchange. “How come there’s been nothing about this in the news lately? I would think that His Royal Lowness” -- her sarcasm was obvious in the last three words -- “would be quite happy to let the world know about something this big.”
“Or maybe not,” Nigel countered professionally. “The only major news organization on this planet that’s even been reporting on this wedding ceremony has been devoting wall-to-wall coverage of it. It’s the Arabian Peninsula News Agency… the Saudi version of the British Broadcasting Corporation.”
“Well, maybe he could’ve done this later,” Bartie offered verbally, rubbing his temple thoughtfully. “Why would Asadullah go through with this now? For that matter… why would he do it, period?”
“I happened to check some recent reports by the Israeli Kids Next Door about certain events surrounding this ceremony,” Rachel said, then activated one of the monitors to pull up the relevant information. “Taken together, those reports conclude that the House of Saud believes that it can assume leadership of the Islamic Community in the wake of that joint American-Israeli ‘decapitation strike’ a month ago that took out Iranian Supreme Jurist Mahmoud Kermani, then-President Shahab Qomi, former President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, and Guardians of the Islamic Revolution commanding general Hanif Tabrizi.”
“All of which makes Wally Beetles and Kuki Sanban’s friend a pawn in the fiendish game of Asadullah bin Hassan Al-Saud,” Nigel concluded with all the resolve he could muster. “Well, not if the Kids Next Door have anything to say about this.”
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wally, Kuki, and Atifa walked from the ice cream store with ice cream cones in their hand. While Kuki ordered strawberry, Wally preferred chocolate, and Atifa settled for… raspberry. This time, when Wally gave Kuki her order, she hugged him as affectionately as she kissed his cheek in the park earlier today, earning yet another awestruck stare from Atifa, who then wondered about the ceremony she’d have to go through a few weeks from now. She hadn’t even met this Hisham Tantawi of whom her family seemed to speak with considerable praise, but now, she seemed to feel more doubtful than ever… which began to worry Kuki -- and make Wally suspicious that something didn’t feel quite right with Atifa.
“Hey, Atifa, what’s wrong? Are you okay?” Kuki asked openly.
Atifa stayed silent for a few moments before she turned to face Kuki. “Uh… yeah. I just… I’ve been thinking about something…”
“About what? Ooh, do you have a secret you’d like to tell me? Well, don’t worry about it. I’m sure you’ll be all right,” Kuki replied contently.
“Really? What makes you so certain of that?” a male voice echoed ahead of them almost arrogantly.
Wally, Kuki, and Atifa turned to face the two boys in front of them… and immediately, Atifa froze. Kuki stared between Atifa and the boys in confusion, while Wally suddenly tightened his grip around his ice cream cone.
“You,” Wally growled in slow but steady recollection, pointing at one of the boys. “You’re that kid from the park, aren’t you? Just what the crud were ya doin’ there, anyway?!?!”
The two boys closed their eyes for several moments, gathering their thoughts, and then, they opened their eyes and faced Wally, Kuki, and Atifa preparatorily, taking turns as they began speaking:
“You dare to lead our sister astray?”
“You will very dearly regret this day!”
“To create a void of doom and gloom-a!!!”
“To unite all lands within our Umma!!!”
“To denounce the evils of freedom, truth, and love!!”
“To proclaim Jihad from the minarets above!!”
“Saddam!!”
“Hussein!!”
“Putting Kafirs and Shiites in their place…”
“The House of Saud is in your face.”
This last line both Saddam and Hussein Al-Saud said together, completing their self-introduction to Wally Beetles and Kuki Sanban. “By Allah’s grace!!!!”
END OF CHAPTER 3
===========================================================================
“A Time for Truth, No Time for Shame”
Chapter 4: “Alive with the Sound of War Drums?”
Wally and Kuki stood their ground as they and Atifa eyed Saddam and Hussein with apprehension mixed with determination, their hands grasping their respective ice cream cones much more tightly. As far as Wally was concerned, these two weird boys had an unsettling interest in Kuki that he wanted to clear out of the way once and for all. As for Atifa herself, she felt considerably more nervous as she remembered just what her brothers had been saying in the past month, from honoring the promise of the Sharia to girls like her to increasing dramatically the image of their family among the Islamic Community. According to them, their grandfather had been receiving congratulatory phone calls from various leaders around the world about this occasion, most notably Chinese Prime Minister Li Shangwei, who was eager to reach some sort of trade deal between their countries to possibly take advantage of the shifting currents in the Middle East generated by those surprise strikes that successfully targeted “those Iranian apostates” for their… interference with the Great Enemy’s designs for Iraq and Afghanistan. Praise for this wedding ceremony also came from Egypt, in the person of one Abdul-Salam Ghazi, the global leader of the Muslim Brothers’ Society. Taken together, these details made Atifa’s head spin as Kuki turned to her once again.
“So, Atifa, are these guys your brothers?” Kuki wondered aloud, apparently oblivious to the true nature of their purpose, then turned to Saddam and Hussein. “Hey, guys. Your sister is a really nice girl, I’ll tell ya. We’ve had a lot of fun singing the Rainbow Monkey theme song, smelling flowers, eating ice cream…”
Saddam raised his eyebrow skeptically at the first activity Kuki mentioned. “The Rainbow Monkey theme song? Right. Just hand over our sister to us, and we’ll be on our way.”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, hold it!!!” Wally interrupted this exchange, waving his hands in front of him to emphasize his point. “What kinda dumb name is the ‘House of Saud,’ anyway?”
A small snort escaped Hussein as he removed the binoculars from his pocket, examining its various features for a few seconds, then placed them back into that pocket. “Coming from someone who proved unable to catch me, that is a weak insult to the royal family of Saudi Arabia.”
“What?!?! Did you say ‘royal family’?!” Wally exclaimed, trying to hide his shock at those last five words.
“Wow!!! That’s so amazing, Atifa!!” Kuki said approvingly… then began scratching her head as another thought entered his mind. “But… what exactly did Saddam and Hussein mean by the first part of their introduction?”
Saddam narrowed his eyes with some impatience. “Come on, Atifa, let’s go. The ceremony will begin in a matter of weeks, and we cannot afford any delays.”
“Hey, slow down, Your Rudeness!! I don’t even know what the crud you guys are up to,” Wally countered, annoyed at the impatience now evidently in Saddam’s demeanor. “Okay, Kuki, I guess you get to find out just who Atifa really is.”
Atifa closed her eyes in the meantime, then opened them again, facing Wally and Kuki with all the courage that she could muster, even if she was still somewhat nervous due to what her brothers -- and her family -- wanted her to do. “All right… I’ll tell both of you what you want to know. I am Atifa Al-Saud, and my brothers have been speaking of preparing me for a wedding ceremony back home to someone I don’t even know. His name is Hisham Tantawi, and my grandfather, Prince Asadullah bin Hassan, believes that my marriage to Hisham will unite the entire Community of Islam under the leadership of the House of Saud, but I’ve been having a lot of fun with you two in the past few days, and I really like this town of yours…”
“What?! Hisham can’t really[/b][/u] marry you!! You’re only 10 years old!!!” Kuki exclaimed with resolve -- and annoyance.
Wally face-palmed and groaned as memories of a certain boy who wore a sand bucket as a crown and a beach towel as a cape and wielded a wooden sword as a weapon surfaced in his mind. “I don’t believe this. I thought King Sandy was bad enough… and I suppose you guys wanna get Kuki to marry somebody else, too?!?! Well, not if Wally Beetles can help it!!!”
Kuki’s eyes widened as she thought through those words. “Do you really mean that, Wally?”
Saddam narrowed his eyes with suspicion at Wally and Kuki’s apparent moment. “Yes, yes, I suppose the two of you will be fine, but come with us now, Atifa. Once this marriage is sealed, the House of Saud will claim its rightful place at the head of the Community of the Great Prophet… and then, at long last, the Law of Submission to Allah will be ready to take over the world[/b][/u]!!!”
It was Wally’s turn to snort as he immediately grasped the Al-Saud brothers’ goal. “Great. Another bunch of weirdos wanting world domination. Kuki, take Atifa and get out of the way. I’ll deal with these guys myself.”
“Wait, Wally!!! I can’t just leave you!!” Kuki said in protest.
Wally paused steadfastly, narrowing his eyes at the two brothers in preparation for taking both of them on. “Just do it. I’ll b--”
Before Wally and Kuki could argue any further, a strange beeping ensued… from under Kuki’s left sweater sleeve, and Kuki pulled it back to reveal no more or less than her Kids Next Door wrist communicator, which now had a distinctly familiar male voice with an authoritatively British accent speaking from it… almost as though he were intentionally yet seamlessly avoiding Wally and Kuki’s Kids Next Door identities. “Wally, Kuki, come in. If you can hear this transmission, respond now.”
“Nigel?” Kuki asked with conspicuous relief. “Oh, thank goodness. We were getting worried.”
“Yeah,” Wally said immediately, having noticed the beeping himself. “These two weird kids claiming to be Atifa’s brothers just showed up, and now they’re sayin’ they want us to hand Atifa over to them.”
“What? You don’t say, Wally,” said this time a distinctly familiar female voice with a simply authoritative aura… almost as though she were planning something. “In that case, you and Kuki might want to look up and across the street for about seven minutes… and then duck.”
Sure enough, Wally and Kuki did just that, as did Atifa, if out of curiosity. Saddam and Hussein tilted their heads in obvious confusion, then followed those three kids with their previous level of impatience. Perhaps they might have wanted less patience for themselves, because precisely seven minutes later, a volley of gumballs and lasers started engulfing the two Al-Saud brothers, forcing both of them to stumble back and run for any cover either of them could think of… until they ended up crashing into each other as that volley intensified. Fortunately for Wally and Kuki, as soon as they recognized that volley, both kids performed that female voice’s last order, with Atifa not far behind, if still reluctantly. Unfortunately for Saddam and Hussein, while that volley was still active, an open net with weights at its many corners was now dropping right out of the sky on them. They tried to tumble back, but it was no use; the net had encircled both of them automatically. The worst feature of that specialized net would reveal itself… quite shockingly to both boys, and Saddam emitted one last slow moan of pain -- and disappointment -- before lapsing into unconsciousness, with Hussein as thoroughly electrified as Saddam was. Even though this fight was unquestionably one-sided, Atifa would be in for a still bigger surprise… as the Kids Next Door Supreme Commander’s personal ROADSTAR zoomed into view, escorted by two SCAMPERs fresh from the launch bays of the Kids Next Door Moonbase. Then, the ROADSTAR steadily glided down to the empty street as though the street were a runway, coming to a stop in front of where Wally, Kuki, and Atifa stood on the sidewalk, while the SCAMPERs hovered over certain areas away from the ROADSTAR and simply touched down. Wally and Kuki’s smiles of victory and relief were as self-evident as the Kids Next Door’s most prominently commanding couple’s smiles of confidence and warmth as Nigel and Rachel opened the doors on their respective sides and stepped out of the vehicle.
“Nigel and Rachel? I didn’t think you guys would get here this quickly,” Wally said with very pleasant astonishment.
“YAAAAY!!!!! You guys are here. Now we can all be friends with Atifa. Right?” Kuki declared quite cheerfully, turning to Atifa at that last word.
Rachel nodded with approval as she eyed the two unconscious Al-Saud brothers. “Excellent result. I’ll let Patton and Fanny interrogate those two for what they know about Asadullah.”
“Um, Kuki, Wally… are these two your friends?” Atifa asked, still somewhat startled at everything that was happening.
“Yep,” Kuki nodded, pointing to Rachel and Nigel respectively as she went along. “She’s Rachel, and he’s Nigel, our leaders.”
Atifa took several tentative steps toward Nigel and Rachel as they turned their heads toward Wally and Kuki’s new friend. When she was within handshake distance of them, she stood still for a few moments… before offering her hand to each Kids Next Door commander, both as strict yet warm as they each were in their handshakes.
“So, you are the Atifa that Wally and Kuki have talked about recently,” Nigel said. “It would seem that I was right in describing to Rachel and the others what I remember from those two.”
“I agree… which is why Nigel and I were quite alarmed to learn of your coercive marriage,” Rachel added more soberly now.
Atifa was silent for several moments more, then sighed in preparation about herself. “Yes. My parents and I arrived here, in this town, because they wanted simple, normal lives away from the trappings of my family back in Saudi Arabia. I didn’t quite know what to think, but ever since I started meeting Kuki and Wally, I’ve been more and more eager simply to be a regular girl…”
A voice immediately recognizable as Lee’s broke the initial line of thought as he and Sonia walked around the ROADSTAR to accompany Nigel and Rachel. “Wow. That’s quite a story.”
Sonia’s voice would have a hint of mournfulness to it. “Yeah, but don’t worry, Atifa. We’ll be your friends, just as Wally and Kuki were, right?”
Nigel and Rachel stood strictly yet warmly as Lee and Sonia looked up at Atifa as innocently as they did. Atifa herself was feeling slightly overwhelmed with joy that she was now surrounded by genuine friends, friends who liked and admired her not because of her family heritage or her riches… but simply because of herself. Wally and Kuki’s romantic friendship had proven even more striking to her, given their typical interactions. As for Nigel Uno and Rachel McKenzie themselves, they were perfectly content to watch over Atifa Al-Saud and whatever family she had with her to ensure that her grandfather would ultimately fail in whatever attempt at revenge he would initiate for this permanent disruption in the wedding ceremony. Nigel and Rachel turned their heads toward each other and then a certain point on the horizon beyond the street, expressions of deep thought as visible as they were on the bridge of the Kids Next Door Moonbase… but also expressions of general self-confidence, confidence in their loyalty to the truth about kids’ basic ability to have fun being kids, excluding coercive marriage.
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^^^One week later^^^
The man stood silently in front of the window overlooking the bustling streets below from his office, itself as ominously silent as he was as he remembered the humiliation implicit in the phone call he’d received three days ago. Apparently, his grandsons had failed in retrieving his granddaughter in time for the wedding ceremony that was supposed to take place TWO WEEKS[/b][/u] from today, and now, she’d simply disappeared into the United States. Three years and millions of dollars he’d spent preparing for that ceremony, three years and millions of dollars now wasted, thanks to some “snot-nosed brats,” to use an American term. Due to certain forms of pressure from those accursed American dogs, especially involving those carrier strike groups still patrolling around the Persian Gulf, the man was forced to inform his guests, from the Prime Minister of China to the global leader of the Muslim Brothers’ Society to the chairman of the Arabian Peninsula News Agency to the President of Nicaragua, that the wedding was cancelled, an unconscionable embarrassment for Saudi Arabia. As Saudi Prince Asadullah bin Hassan Al-Saud stared icily into the night, the sound of an opening double door interrupted his mind… only for a moment.
“So, has the rest of the Community of Islam returned to what it was before?” Asadullah asked with a slightly obvious snarl.
“Indeed, sir,” Asadullah’s butler answered. “They’re in their usual uproar about American President Steven Morris’ little project in Iraq, Afghanistan, and now Iran.”
“Of course. I suppose Mr. Morris is now a hero inside Iran for having those carrier strike groups of his kill those four apostates,” Asadullah stated quietly. “So where do you think that leaves me?”
“You, sir?” the butler asked curiously… then replied almost arrogantly, a dark smile on his face, “Dead as a doornail, if that’s the right American term.”
At that answer, Asadullah swirled around to face his supposedly loyal butler. “What do you mean by that?”
The butler said absolutely nothing, simply pointing almost directly behind the founding chairman of the Kingdom Islamic Bank, of which this bottle-opener-shaped building, the Kingdom Tower, was its headquarters. The Saudi royal turned in the same direction… and narrowed his eyes with final anger at the object streaking toward the office. This was supposed to be the House of Saud’s moment in the eyes of the Community of Islam, a decisive affirmation of its ability to gather the necessary resources to demonstrate its glory before not only the Middle East, but the entire world… despite the infiltrative opposition of such groups as the Peninsula Mujahidin for their challenge to the Saudi royal family. As Saudi Prince Asadullah bin Hassan Al-Saud and the Peninsula Mujahid in a butler’s outfit stood quietly for those final moments before the missile hit, Asadullah’s thoughts were focused one last time… on Atifa’s betrayal, as diametric as his intentions were to hers, which happened to be aligned as they were with the Kids Next Door.
THE END
“A Time for Truth, No Time for Shame”
Chapter 3: “Puzzles, Truth, and a Motto”
“Some puzzle that turned out to be in the cafeteria, Numbuh Five.”
“You said it, Numbuh Two, and to think the picture might be more puzzlin’ than the pieces themselves.”
Hoagie Gilligan and Abby Lincoln walked reflectively down a corridor leading away from the Kids Next Door Moonbase’s cafeteria, their minds fresh from a puzzle that they’d actually gotten hungry about solving and then placed to the side of their table as they ate their snacks. Hoagie had ordered two hamburgers and a hot dog, while Abby had settled for a soda, which might have been typical choices for them… after a Kids Next Door mission, of which there hadn’t been many in general in the past few months. Thus, Hoagie and Abby found that puzzle a simply excellent way to keep their minds busy, even if they simply found it before heading up to the Moonbase, but when they succeeded in solving it, both of them frowned with puzzlement at the image of a young girl about their age looking up at a gloomily cloudy sky… and the words “fit” and “help” printed in green capital letters next to her. Neither Hoagie nor Abby had too much more time to ponder that image, for about 30 seconds after Hoagie put the final puzzle piece in place, the Moonbase intercom came on with some sort of announcement about a meeting that required the attendance of these two kids, considered a fun and adventurous couple within Sector V, if Wally Beetles and Kuki Sanban were considered lovey-dovey.
“What do you think the Supreme Commander wanted us at the conference room for?” Hoagie wondered aloud, still holding the box containing that mysterious puzzle in front of him with both hands.
“If Numbuh Five had to guess, Numbuh 362 was discussin’ somethin’ with Numbuh One, and whatever they found was really suspicious,” Abby said in return, her arms crossed in front of her smoothly. “Just one question: was it really necessary to take that puzzle with ya?”
“Well, I didn’t see anyone else attempt to mess with it while we were getting our snacks,” Hoagie said in certain defense of himself. “Maybe we’ll have better luck figuring it out once we’re done with whatever Numbuh 362 wants to talk about.”
“Figuring what out?” A male voice from a different direction interrupted Hoagie and Abby’s conversation, curiosity evident.
“Eh, maybe it’s another puzzle, unlike those global communication monitors,” a female voice accompanying that same voice commented matter-of-factly.
Hoagie and Abby turned in the direction of those two voices… and saw Bartie and Virginia approaching from a corridor linking up to theirs. Sector V’s “other” main couple could only smile as they remembered that those Moonbase bridge officers had getting rather close to each other recently, at least particularly whenever Bartie and Virginia happened to be in the cafeteria at the same time they were. If the Kids Next Door Supreme Leader needed to take care of something in her office, then she usually left Bartie in charge of the bridge, which left Virginia to help Bartie as she saw fit… which consequently made Rachel’s intercom request that much more suspicious.
“Oh. Hey, Numbuhs 35 and 23,” Abby’s greeting was as direct and smooth as it usually was. “Have you two been up to anything lately?”
“Not really,” Bartie said almost hesitantly, chuckling nervously as an unpleasant memory surfaced in his mind. “Virginia did show me her newest treat a few days ago…”
“Yep, and it was just for Bartie, too,” Virginia concurred with a grin, rather satisfied with herself. “Just think of it as a gift.”
“A gift?! That chocolate bomb came dangerously close to ruining my model ship!” Bartie yelled.
“Oh, don’t worry about it,” Virginia said dismissively… then maneuvered closer to Bartie as they walked, her voice decreasing. “Besides… we can get some more soda in the cafeteria once we’re done.”
Abby chuckled observantly at the scene. “Numbuh Five thinks you two are gonna get along juuuuust fine.”
“Oooooooohhh… come on, Numbuh 35. You know you like Numbuh 23…” Hoagie said in delight.
The mischievousness in Virginia’s smile became more evident as she looked directly at Bartie. “Something wrong? I thought you liked the idea of getting a soda with me at the cafeteria…”
The nervousness in Bartie’s gulp was perhaps more evident as he started looking around… and saw a key opening, in more ways than one. “Uh, guys… we’re here.”
Hoagie, Abby, and Virginia turned in the direction Bartie was facing and felt their shoulders sink with disappointment. If the first two kids wanted to tease Bartie and Virginia some more about being a couple, then they’d have to wait… for in their sights was the doorway leading directly into the conference room of the Kids Next Door Moonbase. A couple of other corridors branched out from that intersection, no doubt leading to other sections of the Moonbase. The door slid to the right automatically, and Hoagie, Abby, Bartie, and Virginia stepped through doorway one by one, mentally noting their surroundings. At one end of the room, several blank monitors dotted the wall, activated if Global Command wanted to communicate some special information to any sector or operative on Earth that was supposed to help with any especially dangerous mission… or to simply review information about past missions. A long table was prominent at the center, with a dozen chairs distributed evenly about its perimeter. Hoagie and Abby each took one seat, sitting next to each other, with Bartie and Virginia following suit opposite Sector V’s “other” couple. Hoagie placed the box containing the mysterious puzzle underneath his chair, while Abby placed her hands on the table dutifully. Both of them began looking around at various parts of the conference room to pass the time as all four kids waited for the Kids Next Door’s most commanding operative to arrive. Several minutes passed… and the door slid open to reveal none other than the Kids Next Door’s most commanding couple[/b][/u], with Lee and Sonia following closely behind. Nigel’s sunglasses radiated intense determination and thoughtfulness, as did Rachel’s eyes as she felt the folder she was still holding.
“Greetings, all of you. Please continue sitting down,” Rachel instructed Hoagie, Abby, Bartie, and Virginia professionally before any of them could completely move up, then turned to Lee and Sonia. “You two may take a seat for themselves, Numbuhs 83 and 84.” Rachel’s eyes sparkled a bit as she turned to Nigel. “Well, it’s almost time.”
An observant smile crossed Nigel’s face as he turned toward the doorway. “Once Numbuhs 60 and 86 arrive, we’ll start the briefing… and it looks like they’re here.”
Sure enough, the door had slid open again, revealing Rachel’s main Kids Next Door Global Command deputies, Numbuhs 60 and 86, known respectively as Patton Drilovsky and Fanny Fulbright. They seemed to enjoy being strict about the Kids Next Door’s basic purpose, as they did when they conducted that weapons review at the Arctic Training Base a few hours ago before heading back up to the Moonbase to join Rachel at the bridge. As the situation stood, though, if the Kids Next Door’s other main commanding couple was puzzled by that intercom announcement, then neither of them showed it as Patton and Fanny proceeded to take seats opposite Lee and Sonia. That course of action effectively left Nigel and Rachel as the only operatives still standing up, something neither of them minded one bit as they set up any and all necessary items for this briefing.
“Excellent. It looks like we’re all here. Now, let’s get down to business, starting with these documents,” Rachel began, opening the folder. “Two days ago, Numbuh 65.3 dropped them off at my office, apparently thinking I’d be able to figure them out. What Numbuh One and I found proved more interesting than we thought.”
“So, you two worked on decoding these documents?” Hoagie asked.
“Correct, Numbuh Two. Apparently, Numbuh 362 remembered something suspicious about those documents when I told her about Numbuhs Three and Four’s new friend, Atifa,” Nigel said unflappably.
“Wait a minute… Atifa? Hey, yeah,” Abby remarked, a slow smile crossing her face. “Numbuh Four was really goin’ crazy over how Numbuh Three and Atifa keep singin’ the Rainbow Monkey theme song.”
Sonia nodded cheerfully. “Mm-hmm, and if that’s not enough, Atifa appears to be taking part in a wedding ceremony with someone named Hish--”
“Wedding ceremony[/b]!?!?!?” yelled everyone except Lee, Sonia, Nigel, and Rachel in total astonishment.
Lee’s nod was as nervous as his chuckle. “Yep. I thought it would be cool to meet Numbuhs Three and Four’s new friend, and the two of us happened to be heading down the corridor to the Supreme Commander’s office, so… we went there.”
Rachel cleared her throat to attempt to steer the focus back toward her. “Anyway, the guest list that was included in those documents indicated to us that this was no ordinary wedding ceremony. The person organizing this wedding is Atifa’s grandfather… one Prince Asadullah bin Hassan Al-Saud.”
Six jaws dropped in even more astonishment before Hoagie spoke up. “So Atifa is a member of royalty, Numbuh 362? Whoo-hoo-hoo!! Now I really wanna meet her…”
Abby rolled her at the tone in that last sentence. “Yeah, ya probably would, but why would somebody like this Asadullah wanna be in charge of plannin’ a wedding, anyway, and involving a girl like Atifa, too?”
Meanwhile, Fanny was more cautious in her comments. “Huh… that name rings a bell somehow… Wait a minute. The Prince Asadullah bin Hassan Al-Saud?”
“Um, you’ve heard of this guy before, Numbuh 86?” Patton asked with certain curiosity.
“Actually, Numbuh 60, my dad’s been talkin’ about this guy for the past month,” Fanny responded, her tone one of exasperation intermixed with quizzicality. “According to him, Asadullah is supposed to be this ultra-rich ‘Sharia investor’ who’s been pouring money into countries as different as Nicaragua, France, Italy, India, and even Taiwan… in order to spread the Law of Submission, or at least try to.”
Nigel and Rachel nodded in sober confirmation of Fanny’s point before Nigel picked up from there. “It is as we learned during our little round of research into Asadullah’s activities. For starters, he has absolutely no investments in either the Rainbow Monkey Corporation or any pork-serving restaurants, and some of the investments he does have appear to be quite sinister.”
“Such as that thankfully thwarted attempt to destroy the Eiffel Tower about 10 years ago,” Rachel continued… to eight simultaneous gasps of outrage. “To state what happened in a couple of sentences, the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation announced the arrest of two men and seven women who were taking photographs of certain sensitive areas around that tourist attraction. Among the documents secured was a memo detailing cash transactions on behalf of those men by… the Kingdom Islamic Bank, of which Asadullah is the founding chairman.”
Already, Sonia was clutching Lee’s arm as tightly as she could, clearly frightened by what Nigel and Rachel were describing. “Oh, Lee… who do you think Asadullah’s gonna target next?”
“I don’t know, Sonia… but everything he’s done so far is extremely not cool,” Lee replied uncertainly yet indignantly, gripping Sonia’s hands reassuringly. “Did those FBI guys say anything about those men they arrested?”
At that question, Nigel and Rachel frowned even more grimly than they used to be, which led their fellow Kids Next Door, from Hoagie to Bartie to Fanny to Sonia, to stare at them with dread. The two KND commanders eyed each other for all of 15 seconds before closing their eyes for a similar length of time and then facing their audience, gravitas emanating from both of them.
“Yes, they did, and what they learned might reveal quite the context for the latest evil scheme of Saudi Prince Asadullah bin Hassan,” the Sector V leader started deliberately, wanting to make certain that no one misunderstood him. “One man and three women were from Egypt, and the other man and the other four women were from Saudi Arabia.”
“Which brings us to that wedding ceremony involving Numbuhs Three and Four’s new friend,” the Kids Next Door Supreme Commander continued just as deliberately, then paused once more. “Hisham Tantawi, Atifa’s supposed groom-to-be, is the grandson of Karim Tantawi, the ‘Grand Imam’ of Al-Azhar University in Cairo, Egypt… the top university of the Islamic Community.”
“With this marriage ceremony, Atifa will have to act like a wife to somebody she might not even know…” began Abby soberly.
“Which makes Asadullah Hassan Al-Saud a royal pain,” finished Hoagie defiantly. “Wait a minute… that puzzle!!!” Hoagie then leaned under his chair, picked up the puzzle box to set it on the table, and opened it. “Take a look at this puzzle picture.”
Everyone else sitting at the conference room table leaned in as far as they could, but Abby spoke up first. “I don’t believe it. Is that the girl Numbuhs Four and Three described?”
“Uh… where did you two get that puzzle?” Nigel and Rachel asked as quizzically as ever… surprised somewhat that both of them had the same question in mind.
“To tell you the truth, we don’t really know,” Hoagie said. “Numbuh Five and I found it somewhere near Gallagher Park yesterday.”
“Yep,” Abby concurred smoothly. “Numbuh Two and I were puzzled” -- Abby mentally cringed at that likely pun -- “by the girl we ended up seein’ in that picture.”
Rachel nodded slowly, then cleared her throat once again. “Right. Well, if Wally and Kuki are right about how Atifa tends to be shy, then I’m beginning to wonder if she anticipated this ceremony.”
“Hold it,” Virginia verbally jumped into this exchange. “How come there’s been nothing about this in the news lately? I would think that His Royal Lowness” -- her sarcasm was obvious in the last three words -- “would be quite happy to let the world know about something this big.”
“Or maybe not,” Nigel countered professionally. “The only major news organization on this planet that’s even been reporting on this wedding ceremony has been devoting wall-to-wall coverage of it. It’s the Arabian Peninsula News Agency… the Saudi version of the British Broadcasting Corporation.”
“Well, maybe he could’ve done this later,” Bartie offered verbally, rubbing his temple thoughtfully. “Why would Asadullah go through with this now? For that matter… why would he do it, period?”
“I happened to check some recent reports by the Israeli Kids Next Door about certain events surrounding this ceremony,” Rachel said, then activated one of the monitors to pull up the relevant information. “Taken together, those reports conclude that the House of Saud believes that it can assume leadership of the Islamic Community in the wake of that joint American-Israeli ‘decapitation strike’ a month ago that took out Iranian Supreme Jurist Mahmoud Kermani, then-President Shahab Qomi, former President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, and Guardians of the Islamic Revolution commanding general Hanif Tabrizi.”
“All of which makes Wally Beetles and Kuki Sanban’s friend a pawn in the fiendish game of Asadullah bin Hassan Al-Saud,” Nigel concluded with all the resolve he could muster. “Well, not if the Kids Next Door have anything to say about this.”
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wally, Kuki, and Atifa walked from the ice cream store with ice cream cones in their hand. While Kuki ordered strawberry, Wally preferred chocolate, and Atifa settled for… raspberry. This time, when Wally gave Kuki her order, she hugged him as affectionately as she kissed his cheek in the park earlier today, earning yet another awestruck stare from Atifa, who then wondered about the ceremony she’d have to go through a few weeks from now. She hadn’t even met this Hisham Tantawi of whom her family seemed to speak with considerable praise, but now, she seemed to feel more doubtful than ever… which began to worry Kuki -- and make Wally suspicious that something didn’t feel quite right with Atifa.
“Hey, Atifa, what’s wrong? Are you okay?” Kuki asked openly.
Atifa stayed silent for a few moments before she turned to face Kuki. “Uh… yeah. I just… I’ve been thinking about something…”
“About what? Ooh, do you have a secret you’d like to tell me? Well, don’t worry about it. I’m sure you’ll be all right,” Kuki replied contently.
“Really? What makes you so certain of that?” a male voice echoed ahead of them almost arrogantly.
Wally, Kuki, and Atifa turned to face the two boys in front of them… and immediately, Atifa froze. Kuki stared between Atifa and the boys in confusion, while Wally suddenly tightened his grip around his ice cream cone.
“You,” Wally growled in slow but steady recollection, pointing at one of the boys. “You’re that kid from the park, aren’t you? Just what the crud were ya doin’ there, anyway?!?!”
The two boys closed their eyes for several moments, gathering their thoughts, and then, they opened their eyes and faced Wally, Kuki, and Atifa preparatorily, taking turns as they began speaking:
“You dare to lead our sister astray?”
“You will very dearly regret this day!”
“To create a void of doom and gloom-a!!!”
“To unite all lands within our Umma!!!”
“To denounce the evils of freedom, truth, and love!!”
“To proclaim Jihad from the minarets above!!”
“Saddam!!”
“Hussein!!”
“Putting Kafirs and Shiites in their place…”
“The House of Saud is in your face.”
This last line both Saddam and Hussein Al-Saud said together, completing their self-introduction to Wally Beetles and Kuki Sanban. “By Allah’s grace!!!!”
END OF CHAPTER 3
===========================================================================
“A Time for Truth, No Time for Shame”
Chapter 4: “Alive with the Sound of War Drums?”
Wally and Kuki stood their ground as they and Atifa eyed Saddam and Hussein with apprehension mixed with determination, their hands grasping their respective ice cream cones much more tightly. As far as Wally was concerned, these two weird boys had an unsettling interest in Kuki that he wanted to clear out of the way once and for all. As for Atifa herself, she felt considerably more nervous as she remembered just what her brothers had been saying in the past month, from honoring the promise of the Sharia to girls like her to increasing dramatically the image of their family among the Islamic Community. According to them, their grandfather had been receiving congratulatory phone calls from various leaders around the world about this occasion, most notably Chinese Prime Minister Li Shangwei, who was eager to reach some sort of trade deal between their countries to possibly take advantage of the shifting currents in the Middle East generated by those surprise strikes that successfully targeted “those Iranian apostates” for their… interference with the Great Enemy’s designs for Iraq and Afghanistan. Praise for this wedding ceremony also came from Egypt, in the person of one Abdul-Salam Ghazi, the global leader of the Muslim Brothers’ Society. Taken together, these details made Atifa’s head spin as Kuki turned to her once again.
“So, Atifa, are these guys your brothers?” Kuki wondered aloud, apparently oblivious to the true nature of their purpose, then turned to Saddam and Hussein. “Hey, guys. Your sister is a really nice girl, I’ll tell ya. We’ve had a lot of fun singing the Rainbow Monkey theme song, smelling flowers, eating ice cream…”
Saddam raised his eyebrow skeptically at the first activity Kuki mentioned. “The Rainbow Monkey theme song? Right. Just hand over our sister to us, and we’ll be on our way.”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, hold it!!!” Wally interrupted this exchange, waving his hands in front of him to emphasize his point. “What kinda dumb name is the ‘House of Saud,’ anyway?”
A small snort escaped Hussein as he removed the binoculars from his pocket, examining its various features for a few seconds, then placed them back into that pocket. “Coming from someone who proved unable to catch me, that is a weak insult to the royal family of Saudi Arabia.”
“What?!?! Did you say ‘royal family’?!” Wally exclaimed, trying to hide his shock at those last five words.
“Wow!!! That’s so amazing, Atifa!!” Kuki said approvingly… then began scratching her head as another thought entered his mind. “But… what exactly did Saddam and Hussein mean by the first part of their introduction?”
Saddam narrowed his eyes with some impatience. “Come on, Atifa, let’s go. The ceremony will begin in a matter of weeks, and we cannot afford any delays.”
“Hey, slow down, Your Rudeness!! I don’t even know what the crud you guys are up to,” Wally countered, annoyed at the impatience now evidently in Saddam’s demeanor. “Okay, Kuki, I guess you get to find out just who Atifa really is.”
Atifa closed her eyes in the meantime, then opened them again, facing Wally and Kuki with all the courage that she could muster, even if she was still somewhat nervous due to what her brothers -- and her family -- wanted her to do. “All right… I’ll tell both of you what you want to know. I am Atifa Al-Saud, and my brothers have been speaking of preparing me for a wedding ceremony back home to someone I don’t even know. His name is Hisham Tantawi, and my grandfather, Prince Asadullah bin Hassan, believes that my marriage to Hisham will unite the entire Community of Islam under the leadership of the House of Saud, but I’ve been having a lot of fun with you two in the past few days, and I really like this town of yours…”
“What?! Hisham can’t really[/b][/u] marry you!! You’re only 10 years old!!!” Kuki exclaimed with resolve -- and annoyance.
Wally face-palmed and groaned as memories of a certain boy who wore a sand bucket as a crown and a beach towel as a cape and wielded a wooden sword as a weapon surfaced in his mind. “I don’t believe this. I thought King Sandy was bad enough… and I suppose you guys wanna get Kuki to marry somebody else, too?!?! Well, not if Wally Beetles can help it!!!”
Kuki’s eyes widened as she thought through those words. “Do you really mean that, Wally?”
Saddam narrowed his eyes with suspicion at Wally and Kuki’s apparent moment. “Yes, yes, I suppose the two of you will be fine, but come with us now, Atifa. Once this marriage is sealed, the House of Saud will claim its rightful place at the head of the Community of the Great Prophet… and then, at long last, the Law of Submission to Allah will be ready to take over the world[/b][/u]!!!”
It was Wally’s turn to snort as he immediately grasped the Al-Saud brothers’ goal. “Great. Another bunch of weirdos wanting world domination. Kuki, take Atifa and get out of the way. I’ll deal with these guys myself.”
“Wait, Wally!!! I can’t just leave you!!” Kuki said in protest.
Wally paused steadfastly, narrowing his eyes at the two brothers in preparation for taking both of them on. “Just do it. I’ll b--”
Before Wally and Kuki could argue any further, a strange beeping ensued… from under Kuki’s left sweater sleeve, and Kuki pulled it back to reveal no more or less than her Kids Next Door wrist communicator, which now had a distinctly familiar male voice with an authoritatively British accent speaking from it… almost as though he were intentionally yet seamlessly avoiding Wally and Kuki’s Kids Next Door identities. “Wally, Kuki, come in. If you can hear this transmission, respond now.”
“Nigel?” Kuki asked with conspicuous relief. “Oh, thank goodness. We were getting worried.”
“Yeah,” Wally said immediately, having noticed the beeping himself. “These two weird kids claiming to be Atifa’s brothers just showed up, and now they’re sayin’ they want us to hand Atifa over to them.”
“What? You don’t say, Wally,” said this time a distinctly familiar female voice with a simply authoritative aura… almost as though she were planning something. “In that case, you and Kuki might want to look up and across the street for about seven minutes… and then duck.”
Sure enough, Wally and Kuki did just that, as did Atifa, if out of curiosity. Saddam and Hussein tilted their heads in obvious confusion, then followed those three kids with their previous level of impatience. Perhaps they might have wanted less patience for themselves, because precisely seven minutes later, a volley of gumballs and lasers started engulfing the two Al-Saud brothers, forcing both of them to stumble back and run for any cover either of them could think of… until they ended up crashing into each other as that volley intensified. Fortunately for Wally and Kuki, as soon as they recognized that volley, both kids performed that female voice’s last order, with Atifa not far behind, if still reluctantly. Unfortunately for Saddam and Hussein, while that volley was still active, an open net with weights at its many corners was now dropping right out of the sky on them. They tried to tumble back, but it was no use; the net had encircled both of them automatically. The worst feature of that specialized net would reveal itself… quite shockingly to both boys, and Saddam emitted one last slow moan of pain -- and disappointment -- before lapsing into unconsciousness, with Hussein as thoroughly electrified as Saddam was. Even though this fight was unquestionably one-sided, Atifa would be in for a still bigger surprise… as the Kids Next Door Supreme Commander’s personal ROADSTAR zoomed into view, escorted by two SCAMPERs fresh from the launch bays of the Kids Next Door Moonbase. Then, the ROADSTAR steadily glided down to the empty street as though the street were a runway, coming to a stop in front of where Wally, Kuki, and Atifa stood on the sidewalk, while the SCAMPERs hovered over certain areas away from the ROADSTAR and simply touched down. Wally and Kuki’s smiles of victory and relief were as self-evident as the Kids Next Door’s most prominently commanding couple’s smiles of confidence and warmth as Nigel and Rachel opened the doors on their respective sides and stepped out of the vehicle.
“Nigel and Rachel? I didn’t think you guys would get here this quickly,” Wally said with very pleasant astonishment.
“YAAAAY!!!!! You guys are here. Now we can all be friends with Atifa. Right?” Kuki declared quite cheerfully, turning to Atifa at that last word.
Rachel nodded with approval as she eyed the two unconscious Al-Saud brothers. “Excellent result. I’ll let Patton and Fanny interrogate those two for what they know about Asadullah.”
“Um, Kuki, Wally… are these two your friends?” Atifa asked, still somewhat startled at everything that was happening.
“Yep,” Kuki nodded, pointing to Rachel and Nigel respectively as she went along. “She’s Rachel, and he’s Nigel, our leaders.”
Atifa took several tentative steps toward Nigel and Rachel as they turned their heads toward Wally and Kuki’s new friend. When she was within handshake distance of them, she stood still for a few moments… before offering her hand to each Kids Next Door commander, both as strict yet warm as they each were in their handshakes.
“So, you are the Atifa that Wally and Kuki have talked about recently,” Nigel said. “It would seem that I was right in describing to Rachel and the others what I remember from those two.”
“I agree… which is why Nigel and I were quite alarmed to learn of your coercive marriage,” Rachel added more soberly now.
Atifa was silent for several moments more, then sighed in preparation about herself. “Yes. My parents and I arrived here, in this town, because they wanted simple, normal lives away from the trappings of my family back in Saudi Arabia. I didn’t quite know what to think, but ever since I started meeting Kuki and Wally, I’ve been more and more eager simply to be a regular girl…”
A voice immediately recognizable as Lee’s broke the initial line of thought as he and Sonia walked around the ROADSTAR to accompany Nigel and Rachel. “Wow. That’s quite a story.”
Sonia’s voice would have a hint of mournfulness to it. “Yeah, but don’t worry, Atifa. We’ll be your friends, just as Wally and Kuki were, right?”
Nigel and Rachel stood strictly yet warmly as Lee and Sonia looked up at Atifa as innocently as they did. Atifa herself was feeling slightly overwhelmed with joy that she was now surrounded by genuine friends, friends who liked and admired her not because of her family heritage or her riches… but simply because of herself. Wally and Kuki’s romantic friendship had proven even more striking to her, given their typical interactions. As for Nigel Uno and Rachel McKenzie themselves, they were perfectly content to watch over Atifa Al-Saud and whatever family she had with her to ensure that her grandfather would ultimately fail in whatever attempt at revenge he would initiate for this permanent disruption in the wedding ceremony. Nigel and Rachel turned their heads toward each other and then a certain point on the horizon beyond the street, expressions of deep thought as visible as they were on the bridge of the Kids Next Door Moonbase… but also expressions of general self-confidence, confidence in their loyalty to the truth about kids’ basic ability to have fun being kids, excluding coercive marriage.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
^^^One week later^^^
The man stood silently in front of the window overlooking the bustling streets below from his office, itself as ominously silent as he was as he remembered the humiliation implicit in the phone call he’d received three days ago. Apparently, his grandsons had failed in retrieving his granddaughter in time for the wedding ceremony that was supposed to take place TWO WEEKS[/b][/u] from today, and now, she’d simply disappeared into the United States. Three years and millions of dollars he’d spent preparing for that ceremony, three years and millions of dollars now wasted, thanks to some “snot-nosed brats,” to use an American term. Due to certain forms of pressure from those accursed American dogs, especially involving those carrier strike groups still patrolling around the Persian Gulf, the man was forced to inform his guests, from the Prime Minister of China to the global leader of the Muslim Brothers’ Society to the chairman of the Arabian Peninsula News Agency to the President of Nicaragua, that the wedding was cancelled, an unconscionable embarrassment for Saudi Arabia. As Saudi Prince Asadullah bin Hassan Al-Saud stared icily into the night, the sound of an opening double door interrupted his mind… only for a moment.
“So, has the rest of the Community of Islam returned to what it was before?” Asadullah asked with a slightly obvious snarl.
“Indeed, sir,” Asadullah’s butler answered. “They’re in their usual uproar about American President Steven Morris’ little project in Iraq, Afghanistan, and now Iran.”
“Of course. I suppose Mr. Morris is now a hero inside Iran for having those carrier strike groups of his kill those four apostates,” Asadullah stated quietly. “So where do you think that leaves me?”
“You, sir?” the butler asked curiously… then replied almost arrogantly, a dark smile on his face, “Dead as a doornail, if that’s the right American term.”
At that answer, Asadullah swirled around to face his supposedly loyal butler. “What do you mean by that?”
The butler said absolutely nothing, simply pointing almost directly behind the founding chairman of the Kingdom Islamic Bank, of which this bottle-opener-shaped building, the Kingdom Tower, was its headquarters. The Saudi royal turned in the same direction… and narrowed his eyes with final anger at the object streaking toward the office. This was supposed to be the House of Saud’s moment in the eyes of the Community of Islam, a decisive affirmation of its ability to gather the necessary resources to demonstrate its glory before not only the Middle East, but the entire world… despite the infiltrative opposition of such groups as the Peninsula Mujahidin for their challenge to the Saudi royal family. As Saudi Prince Asadullah bin Hassan Al-Saud and the Peninsula Mujahid in a butler’s outfit stood quietly for those final moments before the missile hit, Asadullah’s thoughts were focused one last time… on Atifa’s betrayal, as diametric as his intentions were to hers, which happened to be aligned as they were with the Kids Next Door.
THE END
