That task completed, Aziz typed into the computer, "Wahoo. sig."

Botulph, Federated States, 10/7/459 AC

"The orders are received. We go tomorrow."

" Allahu akbar. Allahu akbar, " the swarthy men congratulated each other, shaking hands and slapping backs in unconstrained joy. God is great; God is great. Now, finally, they were chosen to strike a great blow against their greatest enemy. Now, at last, they would bring home to the Great Demon the meaning of war. Could there be any doubt of their coming success, their cause being just and the Most High being on their side?

"Shall we rehearse again?" asked the youngest member of the team.

The leader smiled indulgently and answered, "No need, Samadi. We have rehearsed so many times any one of us could cut a throat in our sleep. Go out. Have a good time. Just be asleep before midnight and remember that tomorrow night you will be feasting among the houris of Paradise."

Samadi simply shook his head in the negative and went to his room to study his flight manuals.

Yusef, the convert, likewise didn't go out. Instead he pulled out the guitar that he loved and began to play and sing something of his own composition:

"I've been dreamin' fait'f'ly

Dreamin' about the jihad to come…"

Interlude

21 January, 2037 to 14 March, 2040

… to emerge, unknown to Mission Control, somewhere… else.

The robot didn't know where it was; the star and constellations matched nothing in the catalogue. It didn't know how it got there. Most disconcertingly, it had lost touch with Mission Control. It blared out a distress signal. It blared in vain.

This was where good programming came in. While this precise turn of events had definitely not been foreseen-no one on Earth remotely suspected the existence of such a flaw in space-other emergencies which that have required a certain amount of independent judgment on the part of the ship had.