Sword of God(70)

“From that point on,” Sheldon said, “he was an emotional wreck. He hit the bottle. He turned to drugs. He got in several fights. He was on the verge of being kicked out of the military.”

Harrington agreed. “Schmidt had just been arrested for another assault, and the MPs were sick of dealing with his shit. So I contacted Dr. Sheldon. I knew he specialized in behavior modification, and in my mind, that was a much better alternative than prison.”

“Better for whom?” Payne asked.

“Better for Schmidt. You know damn well that he loved the military, and it was pretty obvious to everyone involved that we needed to do something drastic or he was going to piss that all away. I figured this program would give him a fighting chance.”

Payne wasn’t sure if Harrington believed that, but this wasn’t the time or the place to argue with the man. There were more important things to worry about.

Sheldon continued. “As I mentioned, Trevor was filled with anger and guilt, yet was missing a productive outlet for either. The same could be said about the rest of his crew. These men were elite soldiers, trained to do amazing things, but their emotions were getting in the way of their performance. My program, a combination of pharmaceuticals and subliminal suggestions, helped redirect their rage. It gave them a specific focus.”

Payne asked, “Which was?”

“Islamic terrorists.” Sheldon smiled, proud of his work. “Keep in mind, I didn’t plant their hatred. It was already in there, imprinted in their brains from the moment the bomb went off at the hospital. I simply focused it. I gave it direction.”

Harrington chimed in. “And the results were amazing, from the moment they left the program, they were perfect soldiers. I’d give them a mission and they’d get it done. No questions asked. And all that other nonsense—the drinking, fighting, and drugs—stopped immediately.”

Jones cracked, “Maybe that’s because they were brainwashed.”

“Not brainwashed,” Sheldon argued. “They were—”

“Doc,” Payne interrupted, “it’s just semantics. It doesn’t matter what you call it. The point is we have to stop it. As far as I can tell, you’ve created the perfect storm. Men who have elite skills, capable of doing some truly horrific things, yet no conscience to counteract it. I realize that wasn’t your plan in the beginning, but that’s the reality of the situation. Therefore, if you don’t mind, I need to ask you a simple question: is there an off-button?”

“Excuse me?”

“Let me rephrase. If I find Schmidt and talk to him, one on one, is there some way for me to get through to him? Some tactic that you’d recommend?”

“That’s a difficult question.”

“But I need an easy answer. Can I convince him to stop?”

Sheldon frowned, a look of defeat on his face. “Honestly? The odds are pretty slim. If Trevor truly believes that attacking Mecca is the best way to kill terrorists, then that’s what he’s going to do.”

“Even though Americans might be killed?”

“But that’s the thing. He won’t view them as Americans. He’ll view them as Muslims. And in his mind, that’s more important.”



When the videoconference ended, Payne and Jones focused on the task at hand. They didn’t have days or weeks to plan the mission. They had hours. And some of that time had to be spent on the road. Taif was an hour away from Mecca. Throw in the checkpoints and the foot traffic from the hajj, and they had no time to waste. They needed to start their journey immediately.

Thankfully, Harrington was one step ahead of them. His staff had arranged transportation, weapons, intel, and everything else they required, including four soldiers who were willing to risk their lives to stop this tragedy.

The biggest problem, as they saw it, was figuring out how Schmidt and his crew would attack Mecca, since thousands of Saudi security guards were positioned along the hajj route. Not only on the ground, but also in the air. Dozens of armed helicopters monitored the pilgrims’ progress, literally herding them through bottlenecks that occurred in certain stretches along the way. In addition, a unit of elite soldiers was assigned to protect the Great Mosque at all times, a duty that took on added importance after November 20, 1979, when armed Islamic fundamentalists seized control of the site, an incident ending in nearly three hundred deaths and seven hundred injuries.

Eventually, Payne and Jones approached things from a different angle. Instead of planning a counterassault, one where they had to guess where Schmidt was and what he was going to do, they opted to plan an assault of their own, asking themselves how they would attack the mosque if that was their given task. With enough time, they would have set up shop close to the site, giving them somewhere to horde weapons and a chance to survey the immediate area. Jones studied a map of the old city, the district that surrounded the Mosque, and realized most of the homes had recently been demolished, making way for commercial projects that weren’t listed on his map.