dragged him to the ground and slumped down lifelessly.
After this all hell broke loose. The officers drew their weapons and started to fire at the fugitive. “Capture him alive, we need him alive!“, Carina heard the officer bellow loudly at his men. She sank down on the floor of the aircraft beside the exit – what had just happened?
Down below she saw the Sheikh kneel on the ground, his bodyguard in his arms. Someone yelled: "We need a doctor here, hurry!“
Several red splodges, which grew alarmingly in size, could be seen on the cotton of the man’s shirt. It took Carina a moment to realise that it was blood and he had obviously been hit by several bullets. She could hear the Sheikh murmur in a low voice to him and the victim smiled one last time before becoming motionless.
The German woman could not say how much time had passed – minutes? hours? – when finally an ambulance arrived at the scene.
Behind her, the other passengers were crowding around and from each window of the aircraft one could see faces. Everyone wanted to observe what had happened outside.
The second bodyguard was watching carefully now, his Glock 17 in his hand. He preferred this weapon as it had the important advantage that during a shoot-out you rarely had to re-load due to its 19 bullets; on top of that it was known for its reliability. He was searching the premises with his eyes for possible further attackers. From time to time he looked helplessly down to his colleague at his feet.
When the medics arrived they put the injured bodyguard on a stretcher, but they pronounced him dead at the scene.
At this moment the soldiers came back. They had overwhelmed the assassin and dragged him along in handcuffs.
In the meantime several additional police cars had arrived.
The Sheikh said something that Carina could not understand, but which made the officers bring the captive over to him.
As soon as the man realised this, he struggled with all his might to prevent it, he seemed to panic, almost like a trapped animal that desperately tries to fight its bonds.
Right in front of the Sheikh they brought the perpetrator to a halt. Again Carina could not hear what His Excellency was saying, but when she saw his gaze, her blood ran cold.
A chilling smile lay on his lips and a look into his eyes showed that no sign of friendliness or mercy was on his mind.
These same eyes that had affected Carina so deeply before, when there was wit and light-heartedness in them, had now changed completely. Ice-cold! The dark blue colour had transformed to an almost black. Carina was reminded of the icy dark blue of a glacier, which she had seen during her vacation in Norway.
Whatever remark it had been that the Sheikh had addressed to the assassin, his face had lost all its colour and he slumped into himself. Without resisting, he let himself be put into one of the police cars and as if by a secret command they all drove off at the same time.
The Sheikh got into the limousine and it drove very slowly over to the main building of the airport, following the ambulance.
Feeling like she had taken drugs, Carina slowly returned to her seat. In what felt like an eternity later she took her hand luggage and followed the other passengers out of the plane. They had to wait some time, until the police had secured all traces and evidence of the conflict and gave them clearance to leave.
The flight captain made an announcement over the loudspeaker but Carina did not absorb what he said. She simply could not think clearly right now.
All around her everyone else was discussing the incident, but Carina did not pay attention. She did not reply to any questions and ignored the clandestine gazes that some of the others gave her.
"Excuse me, please! Miss?“ Politely but determined, a flawlessly dressed Arab addressed her in English. Due to his strong accent she was confused for a moment whether he was really talking to her.
"Miss Carina?“ Only when hearing her name she realised that he was indeed talking to her. He bowed profoundly to her. "My name is Mazin. His Excellency, the great Sheikh Suekran al Medina y Nayran has asked me, to pay you his homage. You saved his life. Who knows what would have happened if you had not called out and warned us. We are all indebted to you and give our sincerest thanks to you! My master is never ever going to forget your act. As a sign of his eternal friendship, I have the honour that he has asked me to present to you this necklace. It shows the emblem of the Sheikh. The image of Zarifa. He has a lot of friends and influence within this country but also all over the world. Whenever you are wearing this, doors will open for you. I would advise you to always wear it, especially as long as you stay in Arabia. It will protect you. None of His Excellency’s enemies will dare to touch you and all of his friends will help you wherever they can. May Allah always guide your ways!“
Carina did not know how to react or what to say. She eyed up the man in more detail. He had also been at the scene. It was the guy that had greeted the Sheikh and embraced him right before the bullets were fired. She accepted the necklace, forced herself to thank him and was then just standing there uncertainly. "What is going to happen to the man, who … well, the assassin?“, she eventually asked more from discomfort than real interest.
"The police will take him to the prison of this city.“ His tone while saying this was so strange that she had the feeling it said nothing, but then again everything.
"And is he going to be trialled in court here as well?“ After all she was an author that was about to write a book about the target person of this criminal so she surely could not afford to miss the opportunity to follow up the process in detail.
"Naturally – what do you think?“, was the short reply. But the impression of rage and hatred in the face of the man raised her doubts. Unexpectedly the man added, more to himself than to Carina: "You have to understand, he was not just any bodyguard – he was also a friend.“ At this instant, Carina stopped short, then she realised that he was talking about the man that had been killed.
After that Mazin brought himself to continue: "Well thanks again for everything.”
And with another deep bow he disappeared into the crowd. Full of awe she regarded the necklace more closely which she was still holding in her hand. It was a fine, but obviously solid golden chain, on which an amulet was fixed. The latter was of pure gold, about four centimetres in diameter and showed a blue waterfall with a reddish sun, a silver moon and three stars carved above it. Absolutely wonderful!
She could not estimate the material value, as she did not know which kind of material the coloured image on top of the gold was, yet she sensed that the real value was priceless.
She was certain the Sheikh did not offer this kind of jewellery every day.
She put the amulet around her neck and suddenly felt hope sprout inside of her. Maybe her long journey was not in vain after all. She entered a cab that took her to her hotel.
2014 - Dubai – Hot rage
Rayan was agitated and most of all he was full of rage.
Ibrahim had grown up with him and had saved him from all kinds of trouble in the past.
Back then, after he had run away from home, it was Ibrahim who was there for him. He was also the one who had succeeded in saving Rayan’s life when he had narrowly gotten away from his father’s bloodhounds.
On top of that it had been an honour for him, over all the years, to protect the life of his friend and Sheikh.
Rayan knew that Ibrahim was very religious. As it became clear that his friend was going to die, the Sheikh whispered to him that he had saved his life and, therefore, he was a hero who would be rewarded in paradise.
Rayan resolved that he would personally take care, that everyone in Zarifa would speak Ibrahim’s name with great respect and veneration.
In response Ibrahim had smiled and then died in his arms. What else could he have told him?