A
terrible silence had descended upon Ehsan and his comrades of the Iranian
strike force as they trudged on through the tunnels. Ehsan began to think they
were being punished by God, that they would never see their families and
friends again. For the fifth time, they
passed the same point in the caves, and some of the soldiers gasped audibly in
grief and despair. The sergeant gruffly urged them onward.
Just
when they had about given up hope, the soldiers found a way out of the tunnels.
The loop was broken, and Ehsan and the others suddenly entered a short stretch
of cavern that miraculously glowed a phosphorescent green, as if smeared with
the abdominal tincture of fireflies. Inside that cavern, they felt a rush of
vertigo, as if riding an elevator or a bullet train. Then all was still, and
some of the men put their hands against the cavern walls, to steady themselves.
One
of the soldiers saw a light up ahead. They rushed toward it. It was an opening
– daylight! The sergeant urged caution, but the soldiers ignored him, and soon
they were tumbling out of the cavern and into the bright sunlight. They were on
a white sand beach. The sky was a lush blue, with cottony clouds. The sea was
aquamarine and very still. Ehsan turned around and looked for the cave opening
from which they’d just exited. But it was gone.
“Where
in God’s name are we?” asked one soldier, kneeling in the sand.
The
answer seemed to be coming toward them. A young boy, dark-skinned, about seven
years old, was hiking up the beach. He wore shabby khaki shorts and a threadbare
Nike T-shirt, and his bare feet splashed along the water’s edge. He was
carrying a bucket of rank bait. When he reached the soldiers, he looked them up
and down, but didn’t seem surprised.
“Buenos dias,” he said.
Ehsan,
who knew a bit of Spanish, said, “Buenos
dias. Donde estamos?”
The
boy smiled. This time he spoke in English: “Welcome to Cuba.”
“Cuba??”
“Si.
Guantanamo, Cuba. Have a nice day.”
The
boy continued walking along the beach. From the direction he’d come, the
soldiers could see several vehicles racing toward them – military vehicles –
Hummers, in fact. From inland, they heard the sound of helicopters.
Ehsan
turned and looked for the boy. He had vanished. It wasn’t long before the
Iranian strike force was surrounded by American troops, bristling with weapons.
The Iranians threw down their guns, raised their hands above their heads and
surrendered.
After
they were taken into custody, and were assigned to cells in the high-security prison,
the soldiers encountered other Iranian prisoners. From them they heard the bizarre
rumors about a Saudi who’d been brought in with his hand trapped inside a large
black stone.
Bill
Semple stood on a balcony looking out over the jinn city. Frank Devereaux stood
beside him, contemplating what would happen over the next 24 hours.
“You
know,” said Semple, “I never thought the whole UFO thing would turn out this
way. I genuinely thought that space aliens were visiting us. Who could have
imagined that they’d turn out to be an Earth species – beings that we have
shared this planet with for millennia?”
Devereaux
smiled. “Well, it seems to be operating in the opposite direction from what we
once expected. The jinn are heading into space. The ‘aliens’ are leaving.”
“Why
do you think they posed as beings from outer space? With flying saucers and all
the trappings?” Semple asked. “Why did they abduct people – like my wife
Sandy?”
“I
think you should ask them.”
Semple
grimaced. “I will. I will.”
Frank
looked at Bill. “There are some positive aspects to all this. First of all, we
won’t have to worry about UFO sightings any more – or at least for a while. And
secondly, imagine the benefits of all these technologies. The whole human race
should be able to take a big step forward.”
“Do
you think the Government will reveal all this to the public? I tend to doubt
it.”
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