Free The Gilgamesh Conspiracy by Jeffrey Fleming Page B

interrogated by the secret police. Rukan reached into the briefcase and slowly pulled out a length of electrical cable and placed it on the table. On each end were some big crocodile clips. Rashid realised they were a set of vehicle jump start leads. Rashid squirmed uncomfortably in his seat. He felt a sudden urge to empty his bladder.
    ‘You know that if you lie to us we will fry your balls so that you will never have the urge to fuck another woman.’ He paused. ‘Now tell us the truth. You wanted to screw the English woman.’ He picked up the forked end of the cable and waved it about.
    ‘Yes. Yes. I did!’ Rashid shouted. Rukan smiled at him.
    ‘Of course. Why not? She was an attractive woman, eh? Of course you did. Now tell us what happened next.’ Rashid felt his heart pounding in his chest and he tried to control his breathing and speak in a normal voice. He described how he had woken up as a prisoner and was taken to an unknown airport and on to a military transport and flown to Kuwait. He told them of his briefing by Colonel White and his journey across the desert under the watchful eye of Major Hansen and Dean Furness. Then he described how he had met Hakim Mansour and handed over the package that the Colonel had entrusted to him, and then their subsequent journey to Baghdad. Lastly he told them of the night he had spent at his parents’ house right up to the moment that he had arrived at the building in which he was now being questioned.
    Rukan Khalifa listened in silence. Occasionally he made notes on the pad, sometimes he frowned or nodded briefly, but he never interrupted. When Rashid had finished he smiled at him once again.
    ‘Thank you very much Rashid. A very good, succinct account, and very well delivered. I have a few questions for you. What was in the package? What did you read?’ He looked up at Rashid and stared.
    ‘I didn’t open the package. I didn’t read anything.’ Rashid found he was rubbing his fingers together nervously, and made himself stop. ‘I’ve no idea what was in it.’
    ‘Yes but the American Colonel described what was in it, didn’t he?’
    ‘No, no, no! He told me to hand it over with the seal intact. That’s what I did. Ask Hakim Mansour!’
    For a nightmarish period Khalifa kept asking questions about his story, sometimes asking the same question twice, sometimes asking another before he had finished his previous answer, sometimes accusing him of changing his story. Finally he finished with the question with which he had begun. ‘You found a way to open the package, then you read the contents and managed to re-seal it, didn’t you!’
    ‘No!’ Rashid shouted. The big man Tariq suddenly got out of his seat. He walked slowly around behind Rashid, who looked up at him and then back at Khalifa.
    ‘It’s true, I tell you, in God’s name!’ Rashid was frantic.
    Rashid watched Rukan Khalifa pick up the jump leads. There was a sliding noise behind him. He turned round and saw Tariq pulling a big vehicle battery across the floor until it was beside his seat. Rashid tried to jump up but Tariq took him in a headlock so that he could scarcely breathe.
    ‘So now you will tell us what was in the package,’ said Khalifa. Rashid saw him connect the two leads to the terminal and then he touched the live clips together briefly. There was a bright flash and a snapping sound.
    ‘In the name of God, no!’ Rashid managed to blurt out. ‘I don’t know what was in the package.’ He tried to pull the arm from around his neck. Suddenly the door opened. Hakim Mansour stood in the doorway. ‘What the hell’s going on!’ he roared. ‘Let him go. Now!’
    The arm released its grip and Rashid slumped in his seat moaning. Tariq and Rukan backed away and Hakim Mansour helped Rashid to his feet.
    ‘Come on, boy. Let’s take you back home. There’s been a huge misunderstanding. A very bad mistake. These two will suffer for it.’
    ‘They were asking me what was in the package