Girl in the Sky, and Other Lies

By J. A. Hailey

HOW THEY MAKE SUICIDE BOMBERS

When ISIS orders a new and horrific terror event, Khalil, a simple but deeply religious young boy, is pinpointed by Achmet, coordinator of terror events in France.

Learn the secret, hands-off processes, as they distort religion and use systems left behind by Osama bin Laden.

And follow Khalil, as he is taken helplessly to his journey’s violent end, in a chaotic final battle between good and evil!

MIDWEST BOOK REVIEW
J. A. Hailey does an outstanding job... Genocide is discussed as being the ultimate goal, but Girl in the Sky is as much about the process of conversion and belief as it is about physical terrorism—and therein lies its strength.
Anyone interested in the making of a terrorist and the metamorphosis involved will find Girl in the Sky involving, astute, and hard to put down. It offers no pat answers about terrorism, but reveals processes that will leave readers pondering long after Khalil absorbs his lessons with an unexpected conclusion to the mission that simultaneously changes nothing...and everything.

• Language: English
• Publisher: J. A. Hailey
• Release date: Mar 20, 2020

Book preview

Girl in the Sky

AND OTHER LIES

J. A. Hailey

COPYRIGHT AND MORAL RIGHTS BELONG EXCLUSIVELY TO THE AUTHOR.

This is a work of fiction. The characters and events described herein are imaginary and are not intended to refer to specific places or to real persons, alive or dead. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher except for brief quotations embodied in critical reviews.

© 2019 Indiependent Publishing

1

"Surely, this view of the Eiffel Tower ranks as the best view in the city, with this wooden bench undoubtedly counting as a ringside seat, would you not agree, Achmet, the absent?"

"Mustapha, why have you snuck up on me, sly as a desert snake? As you know, I am often here, except the last few days, when I was out of Paris. But it is you who have been absconding for at least a week now, you sneaky serpent, unless you have the excuse of having been held back in the Caliphate. I would, anyway, have been calling you later today, which you know I consider to be too much contact.

Oh, a bottle of Coke to hold at my mouth, as a guard against lip readers hiding in the flower bushes opposite us? You might have gotten me something colder. Just picked it up from that old man with air gaps in his fridge, wider than the air gaps in his teeth? You lazy bastard; an additional hundred steps would have taken you to the fat woman with the good fridge.

"So, who says you have to drink it, Achmet? Just hold it at your mouth and wet your lips from time to time, pretending to drink. Take your own hundred steps extra when we’re done, and have an ice cold Coke, if you’re going to die without it. I don’t want to be explaining to the Caliph that I murdered you by drowning you in warm Coke."

"Caliph himself? Something serious, then?"

"Indeed. While I was in the war zone, Caliph had been remembering you. Told me to tell you. He’s ordered you to visit him, without delay.

"I tried to cover for you, and told him you were quite desperate to meet him, but that it’s become very difficult, as he knows, to travel via Turkey or Beirut. I explained that the Turks catch anyone heading overland to the border, send back the lucky ones and imprison the unlucky, while Hezbollah operatives instantly execute anyone they think is allied with Islamic State. After all, they know their own people, and anyone else trying to get to the other side just simply has to be one of the other side people; which means no talk, and a bullet to the head."

"Still, I made it to him, via Jordan, as you know, and have kept him cool, but because you haven’t been to see him for a long time, Caliph is getting irritated at your prolonged absence. I think he has some new projects in mind.

"Anyway, there should be no problem, from now on, getting to him. I was told of a new travel arrangement, through a deal done with the son of a king, by which we can now fly into Saudi Arabia, and get driven by the Saudi army to the border.

We still need visas to get on board aircraft at Paris airport."

"Saudi deal includes Saudi Embassies, Achmet; for us, the Saudi Embassy in Paris. We have to say we have come to meet the Ambassador, and if they ask why, we are to answer with these words, I have been invited by the King of your country. The Ambassador has been informed. Must be those exact words, it seems, ha, ha, to get the Ambassador to himself come running, panting like a dog, with visa sticker, rubber stamp and pen to sign, all in hand."

"Exact words?"

"Ha, ha. Not quite, Achmet, but we have to get to meet the Ambassador himself, in whichever country, whether it is in a consulate or an embassy. Obviously, because neither our side nor their side wants it to be known that we are hobnobbing. Ambassadors are establishment, and in major Western countries, they would probably be part of the Saudi ruling family. And that would ensure our identities stay securely hidden."

"I was imagining that, if the wrong words, they might overpower the applicant by sheer force of numbers, Mustapha, and drag him screaming into one of the back rooms to torture and murder him, in a version of their Turkish formula, ha, ha."

You mean, ha, ha, that after slaughtering him, they would strip his corpse naked and send out a body double to wander around in his clothes?

Something like that, Mustapha, ha ha. So, a simple travel process?

"Have to fly by the Saudi airline, and no other, for the maximum streamlined version of entry."

"Different, if not Saudi?"

Yes, they don’t want us passing through the Riyadh terminal, and getting caught on camera. Not the official CCTV, as that footage can be erased by them, but the fear is that we might get our faces on to phone cameras being wielded by hundreds of travelers, with the possibility of being identified, later, as visitors to the kingdom.

And if we fly in by the Saudi airline?

We’ll be tracked by their system all the way, and be met at the aircraft, from where we will be sent through, bypassing the terminal building.

No one plays the fool with the Caliph, eh, Mustapha?

Only a damn fool would play the fool with a man who has well over one hundred thousand suicide bombers lying low throughout Arabia.

Absolutely. I guess I’d better get my visa, and get on board an aircraft immediately. Caliph does not have border restrictions; can kill anyone, anywhere.

"The Saudi Embassy is walking distance from here. Let’s do this trip together; tomorrow bring your passport. I need to meet Caliph again, hoping an opportunity presents itself to remind him to change my job description. I want to do your type of work, as it’s much, much more money. It should be possible to slip my request in, when you are around, especially, as seems likely, if a new project is being ordered and funds are being discussed; will obviously need special funding. How are you doing for cash?"

"I have a little, still, to carry on with my personal, private life, as is. But, of course, I will need money for any new job. How much, depends on the size of the project. The word on the street, by which I mean press reports, is that the Caliphate is short of funds, because they are not able to sell oil."

Don’t worry about money. When you are in the Caliphate, you will learn how money is generated. We are allowed to have the information, because we are not common Jihadis, Achmet; but more like ministers and governors of the Caliphate; or maybe even ambassadors.

"Living outside, thank God. But ambassador would be stretching it a bit, think you not, Mustapha, as nobody at all wants us in their countries, in any role whatsoever?"

"Anyway, as we’ve sometimes discussed, I am stuck with these people, the same as you. We just have to figure a way out of their clutches, but we need to make a lot of money out of them first."

I am slightly unclear about the necessity of your role. It seems, by and large, to be rather useless. I mean, how do you keep track of what I am up to?

"It is one hundred percent useless, Achmet, and is mainly to do with the fact that the Caliph gets on very well with me, and counts my working for him, because of my extremely haughty family background, to be some form of personal social advancement; status.

What I am supposed to provide, is as system of evaluation on whether people in your role have been compromised, and if they are no longer able to efficiently carry out tasks.

"But have you thought it through, Mustapha, beyond the idea of getting your hands on more money? It’s probably correct, and you could end up with a lot more money than you make in your present role, which I am happy to remain unclear about, because I don’t ask for that sort of detail, though I do know that your hands are clean.

If and whenever busted, you probably face nothing more than a limited jail term, with parole clauses.

I am dripping in blood from head to toe. If you take on a role similar to mine, the only sentence you could get would be the death penalty.

2

"Cover your face completely, Achmet, and keep it covered at all times. You must, and you now can, as he no longer gets mad about that. Too many of his people have been caught, after their photographs have been posted on the Internet. Everyone has a camera phone, and, even if not in enmity, photographs have consistently leaked out. Take your full-face cover off within his tent, but elsewhere, even in his company, you can keep it on.

I have never seen so many of our people gathered together in one place, and despite the fact that I know this is an army, it is still a Jihadi Army. I am surprised that no one seems to be worried about being suddenly bombed by the Americans. Everyone here is a sitting duck for a big bomb.

Let us enter the Caliph’s tent, Achmet, as he has been informed of our arrival. You know how impatient he is by nature, and how readily he sentences people to torture and death. Why risk? Especially as that open tent is currently being filled up with those wailing captive girls. We could be accused of keeping him waiting, because we were eyeing the girls.

"So young, Mustapha. That screaming one, being dragged into the tent by her hair, is really young. All Yazidis, Christians and Kurds?"

"Lots of regular Muslim Arab girls too. These so-called warriors, in the name of religion, are actually desperate and perverted sex maniac pedophiles, who take girls from anyone defeated, and are thereafter unable to defend themselves from the forces of the Caliphate. It is why there are no automatic allies in conquered territories; just automatic enemies."

My lord, Caliph, I have come as commanded, and instantly too, the few days of delay being only the time taken to get the right paperwork, and to travel to your presence.

Highness Caliph, I have personally accompanied him all the way from Paris.

"Come in, come in, Mustapha, instead of peeping at the flap, like an ill-mannered woman. And Achmet, why no interest in being here?

Highness Caliph, the tightening up of routes and systems have contributed to my absence, otherwise I would have been here more often than anywhere else.

Achmet, Paris, and all the major European cities have been very quiet for a long time now. In fact, just a couple of lorries driven into crowds, and a couple of knife incidents can never ever be counted as enough to make them tremble as they should. Utterly insufficient. Our rank and file around the world will fall victim to western propaganda, and believe we are being defeated.

I wait for your command, Caliph.

It has to be something big, very big, but I will discuss details later. Let us step out now. Yes, yes, don’t hesitate. You can put covering onto your faces. It is auction time, everyone with cameras, and I am also in the mood to execute a couple of spies, with the usual video recording for the West.

Mohammed, bring me the spies you have caught.

All ten together, Lord, or is it your desire to interrogate them separately?

"Mercy and justice dictate that I hear them out before ending their treacherous lives. Bring them together, as they are to die together. One of our people has come up with something new, which he says is guaranteed to entertain and lift the mood, after our exit from Raqqa. Make sure he is nearby, and ready to conduct the executions; can’t remember his name.

"There they are, in