PINNACLE BOOKS Kensington

       Publishing Corp.

       www.kensingtonbooks.com

      “Bravery is the capacity to perform properly even when scared half to death.”

      —General Omar Bradley

      “The enemy say that Americans are good at the long shot, but cannot stand the cold iron. I call upon you instantly to give a lie to the slander. Charge!”

      —General Winfield Scott

      Contents

      PROLOGUE

      BOOK ONE

      CHAPTER 1

      CHAPTER 2

      CHAPTER 3

      CHAPTER 4

      CHAPTER 5

      CHAPTER 6

      CHAPTER 7

      CHAPTER 8

      CHAPTER 9

      CHAPTER 10

      CHAPTER 11

      CHAPTER 12

      CHAPTER 13

      CHAPTER 14

      CHAPTER 15

      CHAPTER 16

      CHAPTER 17

      CHAPTER 18

      CHAPTER 19

      CHAPTER 20

      CHAPTER 21

      CHAPTER 22

      CHAPTER 23

      CHAPTER 24

      CHAPTER 25

      CHAPTER 26

      CHAPTER 27

      CHAPTER 28

      CHAPTER 29

      CHAPTER 30

      CHAPTER 31

      CHAPTER 32

      CHAPTER 33

      CHAPTER 34

      BOOK TWO

      CHAPTER 35

      CHAPTER 36

      CHAPTER 37

      CHAPTER 38

      CHAPTER 39

      CHAPTER 40

      CHAPTER 41

      CHAPTER 42

      CHAPTER 43

      CHAPTER 44

      CHAPTER 45

      CHAPTER 46

      CHAPTER 47

      CHAPTER 48

      CHAPTER 49

      CHAPTER 50

      CHAPTER 51

      CHAPTER 52

      CHAPTER 53

      CHAPTER 54

      CHAPTER 55

      CHAPTER 56

      CHAPTER 57

      CHAPTER 58

      CHAPTER 59

      CHAPTER 60

      EPILOGUE

      Tensions Increase

       in Middle East

      WASHINGTON, D.C., FEB. 14, 01:39 PM US/EASTERN, ASSOCIATED PRESS. In Washington today the mood is tense, as hostile rhetoric continues to fly back and forth between Tel Aviv and Tehran over the Iranian government’s continued refusal to suspend its nuclear program. Israeli officials maintain that Israel will take whatever action is necessary to defend itself in the face of intelligence indicating that Iran intends to launch a nuclear strike at Jerusalem, while the Iranian Foreign Minister accuses the Israelis of paranoia, warmongering, and threatening the stability of the entire Middle East. Iran insists that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes and not intended for military use. French, German, and Russian officials have called for a diplomatic solution to the crisis, urging the United Nations to step in and restrain Israel from taking any aggressive actions that might lead to war.

      At the White House, the President remains in frequent contact with the Israeli Prime Minister and is said to be urging restraint as well. A White House spokesperson has quoted the President as saying, “War is not the answer. It has never been the answer, and it never will be.”

      PROLOGUE

      A village on the Afghanistan/Pakistan border

      Hamed al-Bashar felt his chest swell with pride as the bent, robed, and hooded figure of Sheikh Abu ibn Khahir shuffled along the line of freedom fighters, pausing to speak quiet words of encouragement to each of them. The sheikh had come to this remote hill village all the way from the south of France, where he lived. That alone was enough to tell Hamed how important the mission was that he and his companions were about to undertake.

      The sheikh was the leader of Hizb ut-Tahrir, a shadowy but growing sect within the Islamic fundamentalist movement. The group had ties with other Islamic organizations throughout the world, but most people considered it a minor player in the ongoing war to cleanse the infidels from the face of the earth and restore Islam to its rightful place of dominance over all creation.

      No one would see it that way after Hamed and his comrades concluded their mission, whatever it might be. Then everyone would know the power of Hizb ut-Tahrir and its devotion to the glories of Allah.

      Sheikh ibn Khahir paused in front of Hamed and murmured, “You are willing to die for your faith?”

      “Sheikh, I am eager to die for my faith,” Hamed answered.

      “And what gifts will you bring to the infidels?”

      “A sword, and fire, and death.”

      A faint smile touched the sheikh’s seamed, leathery face as he nodded in approval at the answer.

      Hamed was speaking somewhat metaphorically, of course, and he knew it. A sword would do little good against the hated Americans. There were too many of them. The promise of a sword was only symbolic.

      But fire and death…ah, those were real, as the Americans would someday know all too well. Someday soon, Hamed hoped.

      “Where are you from?”

      The sheikh’s question caught Hamed by surprise. “Paris,” he said. His parents had immigrated to France from Algeria before Hamed was born, and although he had been raised there, he had never felt French. His true nation was Islam, no other.

      “I thought I recognized the accent,” the sheikh said. “I live in France.”

      Hamed didn’t know what to say. The sheikh’s expression was hard to read. Hamed felt the old feelings of inferiority welling up inside him. It had always bothered him that he was not from Saudi Arabia, or Syria, or even Egypt. He was an Arab, not a filthy Frenchman! Even though the Muslim population of France was exploding, as it was throughout all of Europe, Hamed wished that he could have actually grown up somewhere in the Middle East.

      But soon that would no longer matter. The twenty men who had been training with him here in this village for the past two months were from several