Chapter One

 

My name is Shada Amiri. I neutralize targets for a living. The word "Targets"is a euphemism for people. Targets may be men or women, I don't distinguish. My academic training is in medicine. I graduated from one of the finest medical schools in the United States. Since there are times when my medical skills are requested, this makes my overall profession an oxymoron. I work for a mercenary group that is referred to as the 'Company'. We are based out of Panama. The 'Company' decides my "missions"as they refer to them. I carry them out. Mostly, I work alone. Sometimes, I am assigned a partner if the mission needs more than one person. The partners are selected from the 'Company's' small army of Rangers. The Rangers were previously Seals or Special Forces. They are highly trained in warfare. They are human-killing machines.

My committed role in life began when I was five years old. I lived in Tehran with my mother and father. The Shah's secret police broke into our house one night and arrested my parents. I never saw them again. My mother's friend from college raised and educated me until I was fourteen years old. About that time, I met the love of my life, Agrajeeta. He was the son of a Saudi Ambassador to Iran. Agrajeeta was a few years older than me. He was determined to be a jihadist. I was completely under his spell. I would do anything he asked. In nineteen-seventy-nine, the Shah's government was failing. The population was on the verge of revolt. The Americans supported the Shah; therefore, they became an enemy of the revolutionaries. A plan to take the American Embassy was drafted. Agrajeeta, along with hundreds of other students, decided to take part in the invasion of the Embassy Compound. Agrajeeta insisted I go along with him. As it turned out, we were in the first wave over the wall.

When my aunt learned I had been at the taking of the embassy, she contacted her previous college roommate (Joan). She decided for me to live with Joan in Virginia. I was put on an aircraft to London connecting to the United States. I lived with Joan throughout the rest of my secondary education. Upon graduation, I was admitted to the University of Virginia. In my senior year of college, I inadvertently ran into Agrajeeta in Georgetown.

I was doing the clubs one evening with some classmates when Agrajeeta appeared. We had a long talk and reminisced about our days in Tehran. Agrajeeta informed me he was attending law school at Georgetown University. When he graduated, he was intent on going to Syria to train for jihad. I planned to go to medical school. I had applied and was accepted at Johns Hopkins Medical School. Agrajeeta was pleased. He said the jihad movement could use doctors. I should join him when I finished my medical training. I agreed. I knew I loved him. I wanted to spend my life with him no matter under what circumstances.

 

After I graduated from college, I didn't see Agrajeeta for a long time. I had moved to Baltimore and began medical school. Four years later, I began my internship. The internship program was for two years. Six months before the internship was completed, I received a call from Agrajeeta. He was calling me from Syria to tell me he had just completed his one-year training with Al Qaeda. He said that when my internship at Hopkins was complete, I should come to Syria and join him. I reminded him that I still had a residency program to fulfill after the internship. He convinced me to waive the residency since I wouldn't be formally practicing medicine. I decided to do as he asked. I convinced the administrators at the hospital I was going to complete my residency program at a European hospital. I informed Joan I was taking a respite between my internship and residency program. She believed that I was going to spend a summer visiting friends from college in Europe.

When the internship program was completed, I left for Syria.

Agrajeeta met me when I got off the airplane in Damascus. He took me to his apartment. We made love for two days. He introduced me to many of his friends. He shared with me the activities he and his friends had been engaged in for the past several months. We visited the facility where he received his jihad training. He encouraged me to enlist. Within a week, I was deep into the program. The training was very intense and at times frightening. One day, a few months into my training, I was ushered into a cabin in which a person was tied to a chair and blindfolded. Before entering the cabin, I was told that he had been held for ransom. The ransom had been paid, but the movement was intent on killing him anyway. He was an infidel who didn't deserve to live according to the movement. As part of my training, I was to convince him that I was his friend and was going to do what I could to get him released. After I won him over, I was to execute him.

 

The individual's name was Steven. I wasn't told about his background. I suspected that he was an attaché from the American Embassy. He may have even been a CIA agent. In the case of the Russians, half of the staff in every country where they have an embassy, are Federal Security Service.

I removed Steven's blindfold and introduced myself. I told him that I had lived in America for over ten years. I had applied for and received citizenship. I had been partially raised by an American. Most of my friends were Americans as well. Steven could identify with me. We developed a bond. He began to trust me.

I spent several days with him. I wasn't allowed to untie him, but I attended to his needs: I fed him three times a day. I convinced him that had I interceded with my comrades to get a shower and change his clothes. It had reached a point where he completely trusted me and everything, I told him. When I finally reached that crescendo with him, it was time for neutralization. I waited until one evening when he had fallen asleep. I took the revolver that had been provided, put it to his head, and pulled off two rounds. My instructors were elated with my performance. I was highly praised. It was decided that I would be of more value to Al Qaeda as a neutralizer than as a doctor. I reversed my career from helping to killing people.

After a year, I graduated from the program. I was ready for whatever mission the Al Qaeda cell in Syria requested of me.

 

I was given an assignment at once. The target I was to neutralize was a Canadian businessman who operated out of Amman Jordan. He was an arms dealer who had negotiated with the Damascus Al Qaeda cell to provide M-16s. The cell gave him a down payment for a shipment. He didn't deliver the arms. The cell wanted to send a message to any of the other arms dealers with whom they would do business in the future.

I was briefed on his movements and the many places that he frequented. I was also given a photograph of the target. I contacted a few hospitals in Amman. It was a cover to inquire about doing my residency there. Furthermore, it offered a good reason for my being in the country. I even attended a few interviews. In the evenings, I would go to the various haunts of the Canadian target. Then one evening, I made contact. He was sitting at the bar nursing a drink. I moved in, and within a few minutes, we were in conversation. He asked me to dinner. That was the beginning of a week-long relationship.

After several dinners together, he made his move. He asked me one evening to come back to his hotel for a nightcap. Of course, I accepted. After a few drinks together, he made a sexual advance. I was accommodating. We proceeded into the bedroom and undressed. We got into bed. I allowed him to completely take me. After the sex, the Canadian promptly rolled over and fell asleep. After about an hour, I slipped out of the bed. I withdrew a revolver with a silencer from my purse. I put it to his head and pulled off two rounds. Then, I took a shower, got dressed, and slipped out of the rear of the building. Within a few hours, I was back in Damascus.

 

Agrajeeta and I reunited. I moved into his apartment. Agrajeeta was proud of my accomplishments. His contacts at the training facility gave me an outstanding review. Agrajeeta and I caught up on our lovemaking. I had time to rest. The year at the training facility was exhausting. We spent time sightseeing in Damascus. It was like a honeymoon of sorts.

Within a few months, Agrajeeta and I received our first mission together. We were to hijack Flight 534 out of Amman from Jordan to Rome. We were to kidnap three passengers. Through our implant at the airline, a list of passengers had been delivered to our Al Qaeda cell in Damascus. They named two-Caucasian men that the cell believed to be CIA. There was an Egyptian woman who had political connections. She was also a western sympathizer. Agrajeeta and I moved to Amman. We connected with Al Qaeda operatives. They decided to rent a white van under a false name. The van had the appearance of an airline service vehicle. The Amman cell also provided us with weapons, money, and added manpower.