The
Chapter 8 b
“The Seminoles aren’t the
only free people,” said Ivan. “Do you
know what Turkish for ‘free people’ is?”
“Not the slightest idea.”
“It’s ‘Cossack.’”
“Well, yes. That would be right. The Cossack’s never
surrendered to anybody. So they
were outside the system, too. They were
wiped out under orders of the communist Trotsky, the man assassinated in, well I guess he was murdered in
“We weren’t quite wiped
out.”
“I beg your pardon.”
“Trotsky ordered all the
Cossack leaders to be arrested and executed.
A lot of common people died under him as well. But a few leaders escaped, very few.”
“I take it you are part
Cossack, then.”
“There are actually three
Cossack nationalities. But yes, I could
claim to be Cossack.”
Jon stirred uncomfortably, “I
have some Jewish ancestors, Russian Jewish.
We don’t like Cossacks. They
persecuted our people for centuries.”
“We were contract
killers. We’d do anything for money. Just because we gave everything to stay free
doesn’t mean we were unwilling to oppress others. We didn’t make the fine moral distinctions
that the Seminoles did. But this was
central
“Of course it’s no
excuse. So if you will accept my
apology, maybe we can still be friends.”
“Still, Russian Jews have a
problem with Cossacks.”
“Trotsky had Jewish
parents. I sometimes wonder if that’s
why he did what he did to us.”
“Wiped out just like that,”
said Hapgood.
“No centuries of oppression, just one mass slaughter.”
“I wish you’d stop talking as
if we were a thing of the past. I mean it’s ok, but nowadays the Cossacks are supplying a larger
and larger proportion of the businessmen and administrators in
“We make good
administrators. We are used to dealing
with people who don’t like us. The
Seminoles were hated, too, you know. Not
by the white man particularly, but the name means ‘runaway’ or ‘outcast.’ It’s a Creek Indian word. The Seminoles were part of the Creek nation,
but the Creeks kicked us out for being too mean. They sent us to
“So you are from outside
Charlemagne’s power on both sides of the family. Wow,” said Hapgood.
“All right,” said Jon. “Let’s bury the hatchet. Why don’t you tell us something about the old
days, if your mother told you. But leave out any beating up on Jews, if you
don’t mind.”
So Ivan told them. He told them of the wild battles, hot and
daring. He told them of pranks played on
the enemy at risk of life and limb. He
told of panic stricken retreats with nowhere to hide, of ambuscades and double
crosses from the ones they were fighting for.
He told them of the wild
feasts, where vodka flowed like water and caviar vanished by the hundred
pounds. He told them of the fierce sword
dances, doing things that would have ruined the knees of most mortals. He told them of the relieved homecomings,
when it seemed that life would go on after all, and that they would always be
free to roam the unsheltered plains of the vastness of
And he told them of the
horses, tireless in travel, ferocious in battle. He told them of the mad love of the men for
their horses, how they cared for them as for an infant one moment and launched
them heedlessly into battle the next.
“They were totally different
from Seminole horses, Cracker horses if you must. A
While the party was going up
the interstate, a conversation was going on in Mecca, thousands of miles to the
east and hundreds of miles father south.
Two men sat on camel leather cushions at a low table. It was far past midnight, but they were
sustaining themselves on tiny cups of potent coffee and occasionally puffing on
a water pipe. A dish of dates, mostly already
gone, lay on the table. The room was
respectable, decorated with tasteful carpets and metal lamps. The house was old but in a solid
neighborhood. The host was Ali Kamali. His guest
was a holy man, highly regarded in local circles.
"Why are we doing
it?" asked Ali. "Our youth,
our bravest and best blow themselves up killing innocent people. The rest look forward to a life of despair
with their natural leaders taken from them."
"It is a war," said
the holy man. "Sacrifices must be
made."
"But it is a war we
cannot win. Only today there were bombs
in Jerusalem and in Baghdad. The enemy
is not discouraged. It only stiffens his
resolve."
"But we will win,"
said the holy man. "Allah has
ordained it and given us signs."
"What signs?"
"In the West they cannot
make babies. Their women run like wild
animals, like feral animals, once tamed and now beyond all control. They make no babies. And if in their sin they become pregnant,
they destroy it."
"Surely that is between
Allah and them, not between us and the West."
"But it is why we shall
win. Already the West does not even keep
enough babies to survive. They are
doomed. It is only for us to keep up the
struggle. In the end they will fall, and
we shall have won."
"But even assuming that
what you say is true, that their acts have sealed their own doom, what honor,
what holiness is there in striking them?
Suppose you find your enemy dying of scorpion bites. Is it honor to lift a stone and dash out his
brains? Do you offer the act as a worthy
sacrifice to Allah? I should think Allah
would be pleased if you comforted his last hour."
"You speak as one who
has seen too many godless American Western movies. 'Pick up your gun, Black Ned, and we shall
renew the duel.' That is folly."
"And now you speak as if
the victory is not assured after all. Is
the foe doomed or not?"
"Suppose your enemy
seeks to strike you from behind. He
picks up a stone, and the scorpion beneath the stone stings his hand. Now do you comfort him?"
"And what is the
stone?"
"The stone is the state
of Israel, thrust into the holy land of Islam.
There they grasped the stone, and there they were stung. And Allah has shown us that of this poison
they must die."
"Israel. Stolen land. Everyone agrees it was stolen. They say it was stolen from the Jews. We say it was stolen by the Jews. But it was not the Arab who destroyed the
Jews and drove them from the land, it was the West. It was Romans. We took it by right of conquest. Now they claim it back by right of
conquest."
"But in the end we shall
win."
"But war is ever with
us. There is hardly an Arab land, hardly
a land in all of Islam, which has not had its borders set by Western
powers. They have mixed the Shiite with
the Sunni. They have mixed the Kurd with
the Arab with the Persian. They have
done all in their power to be sure that we never have civil peace. Why choose this small place to make a stand?"
"It is symbolic. We take a stand because it is a holy place
for us as well as for them. And the tide
of Islam must never be reversed."
"It has been reversed in
the past. They drove us from France and
Spain. Crusaders," he paused and
spat, "The infidel once even claimed Jerusalem for his own. He made his home on the precinct of the
temple mount. He remembered only the
temple of Solomon. Some of his knights,
the Knights Templar, although they claimed to be ministers to the sick, took
the name of 'temple.'"
"And they, these Knights Templar, perished terribly at the hands of
their own friends. Do you see not the
hand of Allah in this? Thus He destroyed
the mightiest power that was ever aligned against us until now. But now it is the Americans and their Western
allies. And Allah acts again, turning
their own women against them, denying them the babies they would need to carry
on. It were
sacrilege not to accept such a sign."
"You speak of the
women. But our own women are killing
themselves in this. Surely we must
stop."
"We shall stop. Of that you may be confident. I swear to you we will stop. And it will be the day the infidel has fallen
on his own sword."
"Perhaps you are
right."
"But it grows very late,
my friend. Even were I not old, my
driver has a life to lead. He awaits. And the women
will fear that mischief has befallen me if I stay longer."
"Blessings
of Allah, my friend."
"Peace and blessings
upon thee."
The older man rose and made
his way to the door. For half an hour
Ali sat by the light of the braziers and stared straight ahead. His heart was sorely troubled. Nothing his friend had said was new. It made sense. But he felt weighted down beyond his years at
the enormity of the things they had been discussing.
At last he arose and called
for a servant.
"Make the car
ready. Pass the word to the women. We are going for a drive. A very long drive."
There have been 2,022
visitors so far.