The Finished Mystery II

The Marshalls could hear the soldiers on the other side of the door and prepared themselves for the invasion, not sure if they were happy or sad about a rescue attempt on their behalf in view of the circumstances. The al Qaeda men wanted to shower the door with bullets and kill the soldiers on the other side, but the door was lined with a thick steel plate, so it would have been a waste of good ammunition and would have probably been worse for them because of the ricochet, so they just waited. They remained behind the Marshalls with rifles at their heads who were standing like tin soldiers directly across from the door. The security forces knocked loudly on the door and demanded that it be opened. There was silence. They knocked again and called out even louder and with more urgency, but again no sound was heard. After the third time, it was decided to shoot the lock and force their way in, but not before shouting to those inside that they were coming in peacefully and would not harm anyone. At this point, Dave felt a gun nudge him in the back, forcing him to move closer and stand alone directly in front of the door with the box clearly visible so he would be the first one to be seen by the forces once they entered the room. If they stormed in like troopers and a gunfight ensued, then Dave was first in the line of fire. Would they hold back from shooting once they saw what he was holding? A shot was fired at the door and the lock shattered, then the bolt was released and slowly the door creaked opened, but no-one entered right away. A voice calmly informed them that they were coming in and that no-one need to be afraid, then the door was opened wide enough for Dave to see a line of soldiers leaning hard against the walls on either side of the corridor with rifles aimed ready to shoot. His heart was beating out of his chest and sweat was pouring from his face as the first man appeared through the door covered from head to toe in bullet-proof armour. He was ready should he become showered by a stream of bullets. Dave just stood there and looked at him with fear and terror while trying hard to remain calm as well, then he held up his package to the soldier with an expression that said please don‘t fire! The armoured man looked at the package and quickly analysed the situation. He knew it could be a hoax bomb, but his professional training told him that it was unwise to assume anything. Al Qaeda did not usually play games, so chances were good that it was the real thing. He lowered his rifle. Then he saw the other three members of the family standing behind Dave with their hands tied behind their backs and the two al Qaeda soldiers standing behind them with rifles pointed at their heads who had put masks on their faces so as not to be recognised. The one holding the detonator held it up to the soldier at the door and waved it at him menacingly with one hand while the rifle in the other hand and was trained on Julian. The security soldiers had a serious situation on their hands, and time was slipping away fast if they were to end this mission before the al Qaeda force arrived. Their mission was to ensure the safety of the hostages at all costs. The security soldier had no choice but to motion his comrades who were behind him to lower their rifles as well and not to do anything sudden. Slowly they entered the room and stood near him silently. Breaking the silence the security soldier asked the two men what they were intending to do. With the coldness of an ice cube, the man who was holding the detonator ordered the security men to slowly back out of the room and go back into the Mosque otherwise they and everyone for quite a distance will be blown to bits. There is enough power in this bomb to destroy several Mosques, he warned. Knowing he was possibly right the security forces did exactly what they were told and slowly backed away, while Dave and the Marshalls were prodded at gunpoint to follow behind them down the corridor like sheep who were being taken to the slaughter. Once they emerged through the outer door and the other soldiers who were watching over the Imam saw what Dave was holding, they too joined the march outside the Mosque after having been given the same warning. The Imam and those with him were relieved to see the bravery of their comrades and after being let go they took shelter in an interior room. After stopping just short of the main door, all the security soldiers were ordered to step outside and regroup with the other soldiers who by now were taking cover behind their armoured vehicles a safe distance from the Mosque entrance. The security force began to converse with each other to decide on a new tactic while waiting to see what happened, afraid to force their way into the Mosque some other way in case the bomb was real. The two masked men stayed inside the Mosque with the Marshalls and latched the main door, keeping their rifles trained on them and making sure that Dave did not let go of his package while they waited for their comrades to arrive. Only then could the next stage of their plan could be initiated. The Marshalls remained visible to the security forces through the glass doors as a reminder to them that they were human shields for the masked men behind them. They were on their radio to Muqrin constantly and getting him up to speed with the situation as it was; while telling him to hurry! After what seemed like an eternity, Muqrin and his convoy of over 100 men finally arrived at the Mosque, unable to enter right away because of the barricade created by the Government forces. He sent in two of his men for “negotiations.” They were instructed to make it known that the security forces were on holy ground and unless all the infidel soldiers retreat from the Mosque right away and let the al Qaeda force through, the bomb would be detonated and they would all would die. Wanting to play it safe and avoid risking the lives of the hostages, they complied and all the men who were surrounding the Mosque were recalled and told to join the rest of them behind the line of armoured vehicles. These vehicles would afford them some protection should there be a gunfight or a blast. Sam and Mohammed, who had been following all the drama on the two way radio and watching it unfold as best they could from their vantage point, were waiting to hear the command from Muqrin before they would follow the convoy in. Once the way was open for Muqrin and his horde to enter the Mosque grounds unhindered, they drove in with Nazi like precision with rifles clearly visible from the ports of the two vans and pointed directly towards the security forces, and also from the windows of every other vehicle that followed them. The two vans came to a halt outside the steps of the Mosque, one behind the other, while several other vehicles parked in front and behind, and others had been advised ahead of time to surround the Mosque at designated intervals. Mohammed and Sam joined the convoy into the grounds and stationed themselves a few vehicles ahead of the vans. The stage was now set either for a confrontation with the security forces if that was what they wanted, or else they could allow al Qaeda to make a peaceful exit from the Mosque with their hostages. It was up to the security forces which way things were to go, and Muqrin shouted out those options to the security soldiers as soon as they had organised themselves sufficiently.