CHAPTER 54
THE KING STARED AT ME for a very long moment. Then he nodded and rose from his seat. He wasn’t much taller than me. “You are all that we have been told and, it seems, much more. It is an honor to meet one so well versed in politics and power.” The king bowed to me.
Nodded my head in return and felt the entire room relax behind us. The king offered his hand and I took and shook it. Heard gasps. Knew enough about Arab culture to know this was an incredible rarity.
“You wish to speak with me on matters of great urgency,” he said after we’d stopped shaking paws. “I would like to offer your retainers refreshment.”
“We would be most grateful for it.”
The king’s mouth quirked. “If your people would be so kind as to humor us again?” He nodded behind me.
Turned to see that every single person in my entourage, including Mona—heck, including Antoinette—had removed their hijab, kufiyah, or robes. Managed to keep a poker face, but only because Chuckie had spent years teaching me how to do it. Wondered if Jeff could feel how much I loved everyone with me right now. Kind of hoped he could.
Made sure I had full control of my voice before I spoke. “The apology has been accepted.”
Mona nodded and put her hijab back on. The rest of the team did likewise. I actively chose not to. No one complained.
Turned back to the king. “I want assurances that the Ambassadress and her family and diplomatic mission will not be . . . reprimanded in any way for her support of my undertaking.”
His lips quirked again. “No, we would not want to bring your anger down upon us.” He waved his hand. “Leave us, all of you. I wish to speak to Queen Katherine privately.”
This was a wrinkle I hadn’t been prepared for. However, I was also really good at rolling with whatever came along, so I didn’t argue or question.
The room emptied slowly. The king had to continually keep on telling people to go away. Guards in particular, both his and mine. But finally we were alone in the gigantic room.
“Now,” he said, “we can speak freely.”
“I could speak freely in front of everyone who came with me.”
“And I could not. Would you care for any refreshment?”
“I won’t say no, but we can’t actually be alone if you’re having servants bring in snacks.”
He chuckled. “And now I hear the real person.”
“Oh, I can go right back to being Queen Katherine if you make me.”
“Good.” He offered his arm. “I have a private study. It will be more comfortable there.” His eyes twinkled. “And the snacks are there already.”
Figured I had no real options and, besides, I honestly felt I could take him, without using super strength or hyperspeed. Took his arm, and we headed off through a door behind his cushy chair.
“What shall I call you when we are in private?” he asked as he ushered me through the door.
“Well, if we’re being relaxed and friendly, Kitty is my preference. What do I call you?”
Realized that no one had told me his actual name, and I hadn’t bothered to look it up. Would have complained about my staff not prepping me correctly, but perhaps they’d anticipated that Mona would tell me his name. Perhaps she’d told them she’d take care of all that—it would make sense, since she was the one with the most knowledge of the king and the situation here.
She hadn’t shared anything, and she’d had time to. Plenty of time, really. So, did that mean Mona had expected this outcome? She wasn’t stupid, and she knew how I rolled. Presumably, she knew how her king rolled, too. Meaning she hadn’t told me his name, or what to do on purpose, so that exactly what had happened would—he’d be a jerk and I’d get pissed and be myself, versus the version of myself Antoinette wanted.
I’d have questioned whether or not Mona had done this by accident or design, and if she’d done it to make me look bad, but she’d removed her hijab, presumably after I’d removed mine. She’d been first for sure, since the others didn’t put their garments back on until Mona did. So she’d led the way in terms of removal for certain.
The risk to her for doing that—of being that disrespectful to her king in her own country—was much higher than any risk I had. Meaning everything she’d done was intentional, and this was the outcome she’d been betting on.
“I’m rarely that casual, but in your case, I sense it will be in my best interests. Please call me Raheem.”
We entered a much smaller room, with even comfier looking chairs and settees. It had tables, and those were loaded with food and drink, and there was also a fully stocked tea cart standing near to these tables. But there was only service for two.
“You always planned to speak with me privately?”
“Oh,” Raheem said, as he helped me to one of the two cushiest chairs in the room, which were the two next to the food and tea cart, “only if you were what I was expecting.”
“What was that?”
“Not the usual political wife.” Bingo. Mona had set this up, the entire thing, betting on him pissing me off and me acting like the person she knew. It was nice to know I chose my friends really well. “Tea?”
“Please. Milk or cream and more sugar than you’d think I should have.” He chuckled again as he poured the tea, added the milk and six sugar cubes, then handed me the cup and saucer. I waited until he’d made his own cup and seated himself before I took a sip. “Delicious. Thank you, it’s perfect.”
It was. I was impressed. Either he’d researched my sweet tooth or he was just lucky. Or he “got” me. It did happen occasionally. Hoped that this was one of those times, because I needed this man’s help.
“I’m pleased you find it so. Sweetmeat?” There was a set of tables between our two chairs. The bigger table was the one with all the food, the smaller table was clearly where we were to put our china.
“Sure.” Put my cup and saucer down onto the little table. He used a very expensive pair of silver tongs to put some cookies and candies and other sweets onto a small, beautiful porcelain plate. It was trimmed with what I figured was real gold and it was so fine that the plate was almost translucent. Really hoped I didn’t drop it, but then again, the thick carpeting would probably ensure it didn’t break. Yeah, there was a lot of wealth in this region. Actively reminded myself that now was not the time to channel Dad and have a Proper Distribution of Wealth discussion. “But I’d like to know—why the unpleasant greeting if you were planning to wine and dine me, so to speak, five minutes later?”
“Ah,” he said as he filled his own pretty plate. “As I said, this was only if you were what I was expecting.”
We each ate something now, though I waited to start until he’d taken a bite. The food was delicious. Different from what I normally got at the Romanian embassy, similar to what I’d been served at the Bahraini embassy, nothing like what we served normally. None were better or worse, but I could certainly get used to this. Clearly it was good to be the king. Contemplated asking him to have his people send Chef some of these recipes, then decided we hadn’t been friends long enough for me to go there.
“This is wonderful, thank you,” I said as I cleared off the majority of my plate and he poured me another cup of tea, complete with putting in the milk and sugar again.
He smiled. “I’m pleased you are enjoying my humble offering. I have seen you on television. When will Code Name: First Lady be released?”
“Wow, not you, too. I hope never. Time is a factor. I say that even though, frankly, I’m willing to sit here all day snacking on delicacies and drinking really excellent tea. We do have the fate of the world to consider, however.”
“I needed to verify that my intelligence about you was correct. And while we do need to hurry, I would like to hear what is going on, particularly because the religious summit has moved to this region. I would also like to know why you chose Bahrain as your first stop. And please don’t tell me it’s because of your close relationship with the Ambassadress. I am aware of your friendship. However, this is a great honor that you’ve bestowed upon us. The expectation would have been that Israel or possibly Saudi Arabia would have received you first. But you are here, and there is a reason why. And it’s not a reason you’ve told anyone else.”
So he was smarter than the average teddy bear. Good and good to know.
“Oh, I’ve told a few people. But yes, you’re right. I have two missions. The first is to share this news—alien ships are coming to seek asylum on Earth. Six of them, containing various alien races, most of which no one on Earth or from the Alpha Centauri system has ever encountered. We need to accept these people and offer them safe haven, and not just because it’s the right thing to do. But also because the entire galaxy is watching us and waiting to see how Earth will handle her biggest challenge to date.”
He was quiet for a moment. “It was only a matter of time, I suppose. Is this why your people are leading the religious summit?”
“In a way. Call it us being forward-thinking versus prescient.”
“I see. What are these aliens seeking asylum from?”
“That’s the key question. The answer is another alien race, called the Aicirtap. A race that’s been altered into a frightening version of themselves by our world’s biggest enemy, the Z’porrah. This race will destroy Earth unless we can repel them.”
“What of those aliens who want asylum? Will they destroy us?”
“Not intentionally, at least to our knowledge. Interestingly enough, however, that question relates to my second mission. The one only a handful know about.”
“I’m listening.”
“I have reason to believe that Clifford Goodman, who we call the Mastermind, the man who tried to literally kill half the world a few months ago, is hiding out nearby, most likely in Dubai. He has a wealthy benefactor or someone with money who’s helping him. I want to find him.”
“What will you do if you find him?”
Considered all my responses. Decided to go with the truth. “I plan to make him really most sincerely dead.”
The king stared at me for a few long seconds. “You mean that.”
“I do.”
He smiled. “Good. I will be happy to offer you whatever assistance you need.”
My turn to stare. “That was a lot easier than I’d expected.”
“I’ll make it even easier. I know who his benefactor is. And I will gladly share that with you, because I consider his benefactor to be as dangerous as Goodman himself, but said benefactor is someone I cannot touch. At least, someone who cannot know that I work against him. And yes, again, we know of Goodman, of what he did and why. There is no extradition to the United States from our countries. But accidents happen, especially to criminals in our countries illegally.”
“Works for me. We’ve never had these conversations should anyone ask, though I may need to take notes so I don’t forget anything. We also need to move fast. The first alien ship will likely land soon, and near the U.S. One of the ships, however, I’m certain is going to land in the Persian Gulf. When, I’m not sure, but we probably have less than a day or two, max, before it arrives.”
“Why do you worry more about that ship than the others?”
Definitely a smart teddy bear. “Because that ship contains some people who, for us, resemble minotaurs. Our intelligence tells us that they’re normally Ferdinands. However, when roused, they’re considered close to unstoppable. And if given the same alteration that the Z’porrah gave to the Aicirtap, they will become weapons of incredible mass destruction, and that means we’re doomed, because what we’ll have to do to stop them and the Aicirtap both will result in us having to destroy our own planet.”
Raheem cocked his head. “By ‘Ferdinands’ are you referring to the children’s book, The Story of Ferdinand, and/or the Disney cartoon, Ferdinand the Bull?”
“I am, as a matter of fact! And I’m incredibly impressed that you understood that reference.”
“We do read in this country,” he said dryly. “My mother read that book to me when I was a child.”
“No insult intended.”
“None taken. You fear that Goodman will find these gentle bulls first, and do similar to what the Z’porrah intend to do.”
“Yes. It’s his kind of evil plan, he wants to make us all pay for him losing so badly and publicly, and our intelligence also suggests that he’s doing frightening things with cloning.”
Raheem nodded decisively. “Then we will begin immediately. Normally I would urge us both to greater speed, but with the level of intricacy we will need to map out we will have to take more time than we would prefer in order to ensure success and safety.”
“Think the religious summit will give us the time?”
He chuckled. “If not, we will know immediately. While we plot and plan, may I suggest the cucumber sandwiches? They are truly excellent.”
“I sense the beginning of a beautiful friendship.”