Dying of the Light Page #5

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a body on university campus.

Let's pack up, go to a

hotel near the airport,

stay in the room until

the flight leaves.

Just before the flight,

text Banir from Aasim's phone,

Aasim says he's been

detained by security.

What about Michelle?

Are you gonna tell Michelle?

What did she ask?

Did she say anything about me?

- No.

- Don't tell her how the story ends.

Flight 418 now boarding at gate seven.

Flight 418 now boarding at gate seven.

I am Dr. Cornel.

- Dr. Cornel.

- Yes.

- Julian Cornel?

- Yes.

I am Mbui. So glad you could come.

I'll take you to Dr. Wangari's office.

Where is Aasim?

He is coming.

Flight 273 now arriving.

When did Mr. Ali Hariri

have his last transfusion?

Three days ago.

- When is he scheduled for another?

- Three days.

Here at the clinic?

Saeed Ali Hariri is being

treated at his own residence.

- I will see him here.

- Dr. Cornel,

you were given letter

with all explained.

- We wrote this.

- I am just double checking.

Al-Hariri is not able

to leave his residence.

You requested additional

payment in the light of this.

Of course. Let me go through everything

tonight. These are for me, correct?

Then tomorrow I will visit

Mr. Ali Hariri at his residence.

- Will you be coming, doctor?

- Dr. Wangari will not be able to join us.

I'll pick you up at

the hotel, 4:
00 p.m.

All right, I'll give you

750 for the Jericho,

- 900 for the glock.

- No, no, no, no, no, no.

- 1150 for the glock.

- 1150?

- Yeah.

- Okay, just stop.

Here's what we do. 900...

900 for the Jericho...

- No, no, no, no, no.

- ...950 for the glock.

All right? No, that's fair.

No, no, no, no,

it's not fair, it's not fair.

Mbui.

Come, come. Come, come.

Closer, closer, closer.

Aasim is missing.

Abdi is dead. If there is a traitor

among us, I will find him.

Is it you? Is it you?

- 800, 900.

- No.

No? All right, look, this is 2,000 Euros

right here. 2,000 Euros right here, okay?

Don't underestimate me.

I have survived much more than this.

I went shopping at the market.

A Jericho 941...

and a glock.

How much?

2,000 Euros.

You got took.

Well, we've got Euros to spare.

Do you smell something?

Mombasa.

The other night when we were in the park

in Bucharest, I touched your jacket.

You were wearing this...

this blue, like canvas jacket,

but when I touched it,

it... it felt just like dog fur.

Isn't it strange when you can't

even trust your own fingers?

And don't ask me how I feel.

I wouldn't think of it.

Crock.

Evan.

Crock is... gun.

No way I'll be able to bring

a gun with me tomorrow.

Mbui frisked me today.

He'll frisk me again tomorrow.

Well, how do you plan to do it?

It's been so long, thought about

it so long, I'm not sure.

Maybe I'll just let the

moment guide me.

I've got a syringe and medication.

One's quick and painless,

the other's a strychnine derivative...

excruciating, takes over an hour.

Or maybe I'll just

get up close to him,

slice him and let his

blood wash all over me.

I don't feel comfortable

letting you go in there alone.

- I'll be all right.

- Look, I... I picked this up at the market.

They're wireless crazy over here.

Jumped straight from tom-toms to cellphones.

Just tuck that in somewhere, I'll be able

to hear you and I'll get G.P.S. as well.

I brought a belt blade. I'll be able to

get that through, but that's about it.

- So that's that then?

- Yeah.

Milt... Thanks for coming along.

No problem, old sport.

If I'm not out in an hour,

do whatever you want.

Please.

- Did you sleep well?

- All right.

Sometimes the heat is a problem.

Come, doctor.

Open the briefcase.

Dr. Cornel.

Salaam Alaikum.

Salaam Alaikum, Saeed Ali Hariri.

Dr. Cornel, thank you.

Thank you for coming.

Forgive me for not...

standing.

Mbui, some tea.

- And those... those dates.

- Mind if I sit?

Oh, please.

Dr. Wangari has provided me

your records, your treatment history.

Last night I was in contact with

several of my colleagues. Thank you.

I noticed you were scheduled three

months ago for a bone marrow transplant,

but I found no record of the procedure.

Was there a problem with the donor?

- It was too dangerous.

- No sibling donor was possible,

no compatible cousins.

It is risky, but an unrelated

donor can be found

based on H.L.B. and D.R.

histocompatibility.

The university hospital can assist in finding

such a donor. We have a large database.

Should have been done before.

It is more...

dangerous now, but we have no choice.

At present, transplantation is the

only possible curative therapy.

And... It can be done here?

Yes.

Excuse me, I am not such a young man.

Where is the toilet?

Back and to the left.

- So sorry.

- Oh, please. Please.

There is a problem with the toilet.

Mbui.

It won't flush.

- You pulled the chain?

- I pulled the chain.

There is something stuck... in there.

I have to be honest.

Your condition is far

worse than I imagined.

Your long-term chances

for survival are not good.

Neither are your short-term chances.

In fact, they are quite hopeless.

It's because I'm not a doctor.

My name isn't Julian Cornel...

and your name isn't Ali Hariri.

Your name... is Muhammad Banir.

Mr. Ruchowski.

Evan Lake.

- Mbui?

- He'll be all right.

Where is your backup?

Your elite commandos.

Oh. You came alone.

How did you find me?

Through the request for experimental

thalassemia medication, decitabine.

- Your family medical history.

- It was you.

You who sent me into hiding.

Even so for years and years

I live in rooms like this one.

I would have gladly given

both my ears for my freedom.

So my health...

- Is it really hopeless?

- Yes.

You would've died of anemia

just like your father.

He was an intellectual scholar.

I... I've read quite a bit myself.

Yeah.

So...

How are...

How are you going to kill me?

I-I... I don't know.

Good.

So...

We have some time.

Perhaps we can have that...

conversation that I wanted

to have that time years a-ago.

You... you only kept giving

me your fake name. Why?

- I was making a point.

- What point?

What is it that you do now?

This company?

Intelligence analyst, yes?

Perhaps you've read

some of my writings?

I didn't know you were still active.

Oh, I-I-I... I contribute.

A number of web sites

not under my name.

Of course, you are

religious man, Mr. Lake?

No, I'm not religious.

I think you are. America, yeah?

You see yourself as

a religion... America.

I've written about this,

the American way of life.

Have you been to Greeley, Colorado?

- You know what I'm talking about?

- Sayyid Qutb...

Who went from Cairo to Colorado

state college in 1948.

He said Greeley was

like paradise on earth.

What Qutb saw was Jahiliyyah?

Decadence, promiscuity, pop music.

"Baby, it's cold outside."

Qutb was repulsed.

The-the... the flirting and

the mixing of men and women,

the disrespect... so no, he left.

Went back to Egypt and

the movement was born.

The Muslim brotherhood.

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