'The Assembly will come to order,' the speaker ordered. When the chamber assumed some semblance of quiet, the speaker continued, 'A motion has been brought before us by the honorable senior delegate from Alexandria that any wife of a public official who dies while in office may assume her husband's office for the remainder of his term. There is considerable debate by the members on whether or not this applies to the high office of president.'
Gazali paused, then glanced at al-Khan. The deadly warning stare he received in return decided his course for him-Khalid al-Khan was too powerful a force in Egypt to be crossed.
'We note with pride and affection the love many in our country have for Madame Salaam,' Gazali went on. 'We note that Madame Salaam served Egypt well as an officer in the American air force, advising and supplying our armed forces with vital information, advice, and counsel during the conflict between Iraq and Kuwait. She has been a faithful and loving wife to our beloved president and a friend to us all. We also recognize her countless contributions to the betterment of Egyptian society, especially her patronage and support for universal education, the restoration of our ancient libraries in Alexandria, and the rescue and rehabilitation of orphaned and outcast children in our cities.
'However, we question the efficacy of this award as it applies to peacetime Egypt,' Gazali said, slowly and deliberately. 'The law was put in place to be sure our legislatures and bureaucracies continued their work even if its members were killed in battle. Although this honor has been recently applied many times, we see this as merely symbolic, an honorific, which is used as a convenience and token of honor until new elections are held. Further, this custom has never been applied to the office of president, and well it should not, for fear of eroding the importance of that high office. Another consideration, of course, is the fact that Madame Salaam was not born in Egypt, and has not yet qualified to become a naturalized citizen. Therefore, we do not consider Madame Salaam as meeting the strict standards of the law, and therefore-'
The Assembly chamber erupted into sheer bedlam. It seemed every representative was screaming and shaking their fists at Gazali. Several lawmakers even got out of their seats and attempted to rush the podium, but were turned away by uniformed security officers that appeared as if out of nowhere. No one had ever seen such an uprising in the Assembly chambers before-and certainly, Khan had never seen such a loud outpouring of emotion.
Through this chaos, Ulama al-Khan made his way off the dais and to a side hallway toward the back exits. He knew he had lost. The memory of Kamal Ismail Salaam was too powerful and Susan Salaam was almost as popular in Egypt as her husband-perhaps even more so, because of her bewitching beauty.
Several Assembly members siding with Kalir shook their fists, shouted, and even tried to grab at al-Khan as he made his way off the dais. Supreme Judiciary security officers, led by the chief of security of the Supreme Judiciary Council, Major Amr Abu Gheit, who was assigned as alKhan's personal bodyguard, roughly pushed the protesters out of the way, even clubbing one across the head with a pistol butt.
What fools, al-Khan thought. They would actually consider physical intimidation to try to turn him aside? Several more assemblymen rushed to their colleagues' aide, but Gheit and the rest of al-Khan's bodyguards had no trouble subduing them as the presidential candidate made his way out of the chamber.
As he emerged from the chamber into the back hallway, he turned to Gheit: 'Take down the name and political party of any representative who even dared look angrily in my direction,' he ordered.
'Why? So you can have your henchmen kill them as well?'
Khan turned. There, standing before him, w s Susan Salaam. Her husband's aide and national security adviser, Ahmad Baris, was standing with her. A few Assembly aides and staffers were milling about, fascinated by a confrontation between these two political rivals.
'Madame, it is good to see you alive,' Khan said evenly. Aware of the growing crowd gathering to watch them, he stepped forward to Susan as if reaching out to shake her hand, lowered his voice, and said, 'But you should not have returned to Cairo. Your life here in Egypt is finished. Go back to the United States and start a new life.'
'General Baris warned me not to return to the capital, to go into hiding until just before the funeral and to go back into hiding immediately afterward,' Salaam said, her voice loud enough for all to hear. 'But all I could think about was what happened to us at the celebration, and I knew I had to confront you directly, to see your face as I accused you directly-'
'Accuse me? Of what?'
'I have been able to piece together what happened that morning at the mosque. You substituted your own handpicked Judiciary guardsmen for the presidential guards that normally would have been on duty during the procession, and you gave them strict orders to always face the procession, not scan the crowd for any sign of danger. By the time the assassins were in place, it was too late for them to react to save my husband.'
'Are you suggesting that I had something to do with that terrible attack, Madame?' al-Khan said. 'That is purely ridiculous! Why, I was no more than five steps behind you and your husband-I could have been blown to bits as well! Why would I put myself in such harm? I even helped pull you clear of danger once I realized what was happening! You seemed prepared to throw your body in front of that bomb in a vain attempt to save your husband from his destiny. I gave you the chance to live.'
'Maybe the rumors that you wore a Kevlar bulletproof shroud under your robes are true-because bystanders farther away than you were severely injured, while you and that rat-snake Zuwayy walked away unscathed-'
'Unscathed? They told me one of my lungs had to be re-
inflated, and His Highness King Idris the Second of Libya suffered flashblindness and loss of hearing that still lingers! We were lucky to escape with our lives! You actually think we would have engineered such a sloppy and dangerous assassination attempt in such close quarters?'
'I think you put yourself in just enough harm so no attention would be drawn to you directly,' Salaam argued.
'You are delusional,' al-Khan said, dismissing her with an angry wave of his hand. 'I am glad to see you are alive, Madame, and I pray for you and your late husband. But I warn you, do not spread false rumors or try to discredit my good name. There are laws against such activities.'
'There are laws against subversion, conspiracy, and treason too, Khan,' Salaam said bitterly. 'But since when have you ever been concerned with the law, except when it most benefits you? You hide behind your robes and the holy Quran like a desert scorpion, hopping out into the sunlight just long enough to strike, then hide in the shadows once again and wait for your victim to die before devouring him.'
'Take great care, woman,' al-Khan warned. 'You try my patience.'
But Susan hobbled over to block his path. 'I will get you for what you did, Khan,' she hissed. 'If it takes my very last breath, I will avenge my husband's killer-you and your puppet master, Zuwayy.'
'Get out of my way, woman,' Khan ordered. His bodyguards were ready the instant he made eye contact. They had been staying back, visible but not intrusive, threatening but not imminently so, but when al-Khan motioned for them, they moved like coiled snakes. One of them grabbed for Salaam's cane, the other for her right arm.
But as fast as they moved, Susan was faster. She let the man grabbing her cane pull her toward him, then merely redirected her momentum slightly, driving the crook of the cane up into his throat. The hall echoed with the crack of his larynx, and he collapsed to the floor, clutching his shattered windpipe. Then she immediately swung the cane with her left hand and cracked it hard against her second attacker's right kneecap. Even though she heard more bone crack, the big, burly bodyguard did not go down, but twisted Susan's right wrist around and down, trying to force her to the floor.
Susan didn't resist, but simply twisted faster. The bodyguard lost his grip with a howl of pain when he tried to put weight on his right leg, sinking down to his left knee, and Susan was free. She watched and waited. The second bodyguard did exactly as she thought he would: He reached inside his jacket and pulled out his side arm, a fearsome-looking Spanish-made Star Z-84 mini-submachine gun. Susan simply swung the cane as if she were making a two-wood tee shot, aiming not for the gun but the bodyguard's head. The snap! they heard was the left side of his jaw, and he went down hard.
A stunned Khalid al-Khan stared in amazement at the writhing men at his feet. The entire fight had lasted only seconds, but both highly trained bodyguards looked as if they might be in critical condition. 'Obviously you have done a lot more than just be the supportive wife of a president, Madame.'
Susan hefted the cane. It was just an oaken cane, but now al-Khan could see that the crook was larger, its
