Stan Mason - Stopping World War Three

‘Good morning,’ he greeted in excellent English, although his accent was slightly clipped. ‘I am Menel. I welcome you to my humble home where we shall enjoy some refreshments and discuss matters relevant to both of us. Please sit down’

We relaxed in low comfortable chairs as Menel studied our faces closely in the dim light. He was a dapper man, dressed smartly in a black pin-striped suit completely out of touch with the surroundings. Despite the fact that the temperature in the room must have been almost a eighty degrees he still wore a white shirt and a tie knotted up to his Adam’s Apple. It was difficult to determine whether he was an Arab or a Jew, not that it mattered, for he was probably a mixture of both anyway. His brown face had a slightly longer appearance as a result of the absence of hair on his head and he sported the smallest of moustaches which fitted neatly on the central ridge below his nose. Menel had two obvious nervous habits. The first was to rub the middle finger of his right hand over his tiny moustache at regular intervals. The second involved jutting out his jaw and moving his lips over the front of his false teeth before releasing them in a kind of spasm. Yet despite these nervous traits he carried an air of authority which commanded respect, while his manner, although curt, was pleasant.

It soon became apparent that Menel was in no hurry to launch into the meeting and he scanned us closely in the interim period. Then, suddenly, he clapped his hands together twice and the bearded Arab swathed in white clothing brought in a tray bearing cups of dark liquid which he offered to us without speaking.

‘Please accept my humble hospitality,’ begged our host meekly. ‘The hot coffee will cool you down but you may be surprised by its taste. If you require any other refreshments… falafel, peanuts, pumpkin seeds… they’re all yours for the taking.’

‘Falafel?’ I asked with interest.

‘Falafel are little balls of ground peas fried in oil, wrapped in pitta… a kind of bread spiced with hot peppers. We have many delicacies if you’d like to try them.’

‘No thank you,’ I replied feeling slightly nauseous at his reply, having regretted asking the question. ‘I’ll stay with the coffee, if you don’t mind.’

‘You’re not used to our way of life,’ he continued amiably. ‘We have many customs which may seem strange to you. You will learn to love us though… if you live that long.’

The hair at the back of my head started to bristle as I stared at him with alarm. ‘What do you mean by that?’

Menel jutted out his jaw and moved his lips over his front teeth. ‘Information of the sensitive kind brings its own danger. The more sensitive, the more dangerous. We live in troubled time where the emphasis on intelligence becomes more imperative each year. You see, more wars are in progress in the offices of secret service agencies in most countries than are ever fought on the battlefield. You are amateurs at the bottom of the pile. I can only assume that you like to live dangerously.’

‘You don’t believe in pulling punches, do you?’ I responded swallowing hard.

‘It depends on how much you value your life!’

The air was hot and absolutely still with just a gentle whiff of breeze coming from a small fan fixed to the ceiling. The stench of inadequate plumbing and the cooking of spicy foods in the kitchen was almost overwhelming although the awful smell did not seem to affect our host. In addition, there were numerous flies which clearly enjoyed tormenting us, landing briefly but regularly on our hands, arms and faces. Menel, himself, had found a tried and tested solution for the problem. He waved a fan, shaped like a large table-tennis bat, in front of his face every twenty seconds with an automatic sweep of his hand.

‘Okay.’ he went on seriously. ‘Let’s get down to business. I’m an arms dealer. The top man in this country.’

‘The top man.’ I repeated in disbelief. ‘If you’re so successful how is it that you live in a dump like this?’

A smile flickered across his face. ‘Does the Chief Executive of the Bank of England have to live at the Savoy Hotel in London? This is my place of work… my office. We have no need of filing cabinets, documents, computers systems or the like. In my profession, all the information is kept up here.’ He tapped his forehead with the first two fingers of his right hand. ‘Clearly you are not aware that this row of houses is a fortress. Shock-proof, sound-proof, bullet-proof and relatively bomb-proof. I am, as you say, as safe as houses.’

I rued the fact that it wasn’t odour-proof as well.

‘As you know,’ he continued, ‘the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks known as SALT I and II treaties imposed limits on the number of nuclear weapons to be held by Russia and the United States. Inevitably, it meant that some of the weaponry not required was certain to find its way into the hands of other people in other countries. The Americans possessed two major missiles… the Cruise and the Pershing 2. The Russians had four… the SS20, the SS4, the SS22 and the SS12/22. The last three were very short in range and rather ancient. So it was deemed that seven hundred Soviet missiles were to be destroyed. But human nature is such that people do not always follow the rules especially where money can be made. Subsequently, not all of them were destroyed. They found their way into foreign hands. Worst still is the fact that those controlled by the major powers are placed in so many countries there is doubt as to who actually controls them. With regard to artillery pieces, there are three categories of nuclear or ‘dual-capable’ weapons which exist. Dual-capable relates to weapons with ranges of nine to eighteen miles. Within the NATO Guidelines Area they are deployed by Britain, the United States, Belgium, Holland, Luxembourg, Germany, Czechoslovakia, Russia and Poland. Some three thousand of them! The dual-capable aircraft, mainly NATO’s F-111 and Tornado, and the old Warsaw Pact’s SU-7, SU20, Mig-23 and SU-24 total over one thousand two hundred and they have a range of nearly three thousand miles. Battlefield nuclear weapons comprise NATO’s Lance missile with a range of almost seventy miles. Additionally, there are the Frog SS-21 and the SCUD missiles. If one nation were to occupy another nation by force, it would automatically acquire a whole armoury of nuclear weapons.’

I held up my hand for him to stop. ‘All this is extremely interesting,’ I cut in quickly, but what has it got to do with me? I’m no weaponry expert. My job with Dandy Advance Electronics is to deal with domestic computers.’

Menel shrugged his shoulders, jutting out his lower jaw and playing his lips over his front teeth. ‘I’m well aware of that,’ he responded calmly. But you work for them and they have a prototype of a very advanced nuclear laser gun for military purposes. The most advanced of its kind in the world. I’ve been informed that it is far more advanced than the American prototypes which were supposed to be used in their Star Wars programme.’

I sipped the coffee trying not to show my distaste for the ugly liquid. ‘Let me guess,’ I advanced with an element of contempt. ‘You want me to get those plans for you!’ By now, I was beginning to understand my role in the future of the organisation although I was technically unable to fulfil it.

‘Indeed,’ he went on. ‘But first let me explain the situation. ‘When Islam starts to assemble its troops for World War Three, it will have in its possession a whole array of nuclear weapons.’

‘But so will we,’ I countered. ‘I mean there’s no point in them using them against anyone because retaliation will be severe. The world might even wipe itself out.’

He flapped the fan forwards and backwards in front of his face. ‘Now you’re getting the picture, Mr. Scott,’ he said confidently. ‘And that’s the reason we must prevent any group or country taking over another one in advance. We must protect ourselves from allowing them to gain those weapons of destruction. The main advantage of a nuclear weapon is that it acts as a deterrent. It can never be deployed as an operational weapon for fear of retaliation. As you say, in such a circumstance, the planet could be wiped out. So, in essence, it’s not a weapon but a threat. A foe could invade a country claiming it had an arsenal of such weapons and no one could do much about it. If someone decides to press the red button releasing nuclear missiles there is no doubt there will be an equal response. If we became too frightened to retaliate we would be unable to defend ourselves. Therefore it’s essential that we find a new weapon far superior to enable us to maintain control. I understand that the laser gun developed by Dandy Advanced Electronics is capable to destroying missiles at a range of one hundred miles and that the beams are deadly.’