The Inca Prophecy by Adrian D'Hagé

the intercontinental missile capability, sir, but a mini nuclear capability?’
    ‘Ultimately – Insha’allah – our missiles will be able to target any city in the United States or Europe, but that will take time, Rostami, so for the moment, our missile program is concentrated on defence. We’re determined that the Americans will never be able to attack us in the way they attacked Iraq, but I’ll come to that directly. The new battleground is Lebanon, and with the help of Hezbollah, Lebanon will become the next Shia Islamic Republic.’
    ‘You want to equip Hezbollah with mini nukes, sir?’ As dedicated as Rostami was to the defence of Shia Islam, arming suicide bombers with nuclear suitcases was not something even he had considered.
    ‘Not for the battle in Lebanon – Hezbollah are already winning the hearts and minds, and we’re making progress towards Lebanon coming under Sharia law. But when it comes to the Sunni Arabs and the United States and the rest of the West …’ The general’s dark eyes were fired with a deep-seated hatred for the infidel.
    ‘Think about it, Rostami. Lebanon can be taken by stealth, as can Tunisia, Egypt, Bahrain, Libya, Yemen and even Saudi Arabia, but if we attack Israel or the United States with a nuclear missile, they will retaliate on a massive scale. Every one of our major cities would be destroyed. So we wait. And in any case, once we are equipped with nuclear warheads, the US and Israel will think twice about launching a pre-emptive strike. While we wait, we recruitdedicated young men to join a special elite suicide squad, Yawm al-Qiyamah Jihad.’ It translated as the day of reckoning or judgement. ‘Then … if our scientists can overcome the technical difficulties, this squad can be equipped with nuclear suitcase bombs. As soon as the Pakistanis have left, I’m putting Major Golzar in charge of the recruitment and training, and he will report directly to you.’
    The ingenuity of General Shakiba’s plan slowly crystallised in Rostami’s mind. ‘And the infidel will not only have to deal with the massive devastation, but he won’t know where to strike back.’
    ‘Exactly. The infidel has had trouble working out how to wage a war on terror ever since Bush and his cronies declared it. On the world stage, Iran will be at arm’s length from the bombings, and our politicians can genuinely claim to have no knowledge of the attacks. But the plutonium suitcases will be produced here in Arak, and the design we’re working on is extremely powerful. The infidel might think his banking systems and stockmarkets are in trouble now, but when one Western city after another is reduced to radioactive rubble, the entire capitalist system will collapse. At that point Yawm al-Qiyamah Jihad will go public and release its requirements for peace, included in which will be a demand that Western governments rewrite their constitutions and institute Sharia law.’
    ‘And if they don’t?’ Rostami asked, eyes wide at the enormity of the general’s plan.
    ‘We keep striking until they do. We have an inexhaustible supply of martyrs who are prepared to die for Islam, and where Hitler failed, we will succeed, Rostami. Fear is contagious. As city after city is destroyed, the people will force their governments to comply with our demands. Ultimately, the world will be subject to the onetrue religion of Islam, as Allah intended.’
    ‘But General … the technical difficulties,’ Rostami interjected. ‘A uranium bomb is difficult enough, but plutonium …’
    That’s where the Pakistanis come in. We’ll discuss it over dinner tonight. If the morally bankrupt and corrupt Americans can perfect a plutonium bomb, we can too, Rostami, eh? Allahu Akbar … God is great!’

Chapter 10
    O’Connor rubbed his eyes as Lufthansa’s flight LH 600 taxied towards Tehran’s Imam Khomeini International Airport, built on the fringe of the desert to the south of the capital. No American airline flew