Skeleton 03 - The Constantine Codex Read Online Free PDF

his hands and muttered, “People getting kille d ? For nothing? Nothing? Good grief, it’s Salman Rushdie all over again! How many died in those riots after Ayatollah Khomeini put a fatwa on his head?”
    “Not just Rushdie,” Shannon added. “There were dozens of deaths in the riots that followed the Danish cartoon of Muhammad with bombs in his turban. And the same after the pope’s address in Germany at Regensburg.”
    The phone rang—inconveniently, since the evening news had not yet ended.
    “Just let it ring,” Jon said.
    Shannon paused, then shook her head and lifted the receiver. “Weber residence.” She listened for a moment before handing the phone to Jon.
    “Yes?” he said into the phone, with a questioning look at his wife.
    “Professor Jonathan Weber?”
    “Yes . . .”
    “This is Morton Dillingham, director of the Central Intelligence Agency.”
    “The CIA? Right! And I’m Alex in Wonderland.”
    “No, Professor. This is the CIA, and we have very serious matters to discuss. Are you free to speak?”
    “Yes,” Jon replied, meekly, in case the call was authentic after all.
    “Is your phone line secure?”
    “Yes, I think so.”
    “Is anyone else there?”
    “Yes, my wife.”
    “No one else?”
    “No. And by the way, how did you get this phone number? It’s unlisted.”
    “We convinced your secretary that it was in the national interest and for your own personal safety.”
    “Okay. Sorry about my levity.”
    “Not a problem. Now, Professor Weber, here’s the situation. Our operatives in Tehran have just informed us that the grand ayatollah in Iran, Kazim al-Mahdi—their Supreme Leader—in consultation with his Shiite clergy, has just declared a fatwa on your head because of that Arabic translation business.”
    “Ridiculous!” Jon nearly shouted into the phone. “Don’t they know about the translation error? And it’s in Arabic, not Farsi. In fact, do you even know about the error?”
    “Of course I do—the CIA also watches the evening news! But no, evidently they don’t know about that mistake in Iran. And they decided to exploit the translation error for their own purposes, even if it was in another language.”
    “Do you have any idea why Al Jazeera hasn’t announced the error?” Jon assumed the CIA also knew about the Arab TV network’s silence.
    “We’re working on that one even as we speak.”
    “Good.”
    “But first things first, Dr. Weber, and that’s security for you and your wife. We hope, of course, that the fatwa will be lifted once they finally learn the truth in Iran, but meanwhile your lives are in some danger.”
    “Oh, please; this can’t really be happening, can it?”
    “I am not exaggerating, sir,” the CIA director said in a credibly serious tone. “Now, we have a direct parallel in the case of Salman Rushdie and his Satanic Verses novel that earned him a fatwa some years ago. We’ve already contacted Scotland Yard to learn how the British handled security in his case with such obvious success: although his fatwa has never been lifted, the man lives on! We intend something similar in your case, although—”
    Jon erupted. “Rushdie was in hiding for months after the fatwa was announced, and I just can’t spare that kind of time!”
    “A fatwa?” Shannon whispered. “Jon, what’s happening?”
    He covered the phone with his hand and tried to reassure her. “I’m sure it’s nothing, darling. I’ll explain in a minute.” He spoke into the phone again. “I’m sorry, Mr. . . . ?”
    “Dillingham. And that’s quite all right. But we do need to take every possible precaution to protect your life and that of your wife as well. You see, all we need is for just one fanatic to take the fatwa seriously and act on it. Your death would be his passport to paradise.”
    Jon was stunned into silence. One stupid error was turning his life into a grotesque nightmare. Shannon’s too. Finally he asked, again rather meekly, “What do