Gifts of the Future Ch. 16

They all understood and knew that if they were ever approached and questioned about Nuri and Jasmine to stick with the story. The CIA had even set up false records of her life in U.S. computer files in case anyone ever got suspicious and dug into her background... and they had effectively "erased" the existence of Jasmine Layla Richards...

According to school, medical and motor vehicle records, she was Jasmine Haddad, born in Saudi Arabia as Yasmeen Bint Hana Ibn Yahya al-Haddad... Jasmine, daughter of "John, son of (the prophet) John, the Smith"... a dual citizen of both the U.S. and Saudi Arabia. And once she returned to the country of her birth, she'd apply for new identification records honoring her husband's wishes that she bear his name...

**********

Jasmine stood nervously behind her husband peering through the slightly sheer black fabric of her full veil as he explained to his new boss, the Sheikh, why he'd married her. They were speaking in Arabic and she could only catch words and phrases here and there. Father and mother dead... no family... home... beloved... beautiful... love. Those last words she knew well, having heard them often.

The Sheikh scowled at her as he peered around Nuri, looking as though he couldn't believe what he was hearing. Nuri stepped aside and gestured at his wife to come forward... she approached slowly and stopped beside him, but just slightly behind him. Nuri reached back and put his arm at her shoulders and brought her up beside him.

He spoke in English. "Your Eminence... this is my wife, Yasmeen. Her knowledge of our language is limited, but she is learning quickly. If you would do me the favor of speaking to her in English I would be most grateful," he stated as he bowed his head in deference.

The Sheikh crossed his arms over his barreled chest under his fancy robe and long tunic and eyed her shapeless form under the drapes of her abaya and hajib. Then he spoke boomingly. "MASA ALKHAIR!"

Jasmine managed not to flinch from his loud, unexpected greeting. "Masa alnur," she said softly, thankful she remembered the correct reply to "Good Evening."

His eyebrows softened slightly from the severe scowl as he asked, "Kaif halik?"

She almost smiled as she realized he was testing her knowledge of the usual pleasantries exchanged when first meeting someone. She decided to be honest with him, so instead of the usual reply, "Ana bekhair... I am fine," she answered, "Ana la a'arif, your Eminence. I fear you are displeased in some way and I do not wish to cause trouble for my husband with his employer. Please... if I have offended you... Ana asif," she said sincerely as she lowered her head.

She kept her head down as she heard the Sheikh snort softly, and then looked up when he spoke in English. "Well, Nuri... it appears Allah may have well blessed you with an honorable, obedient wife. And if she is as beautiful as you claim, then she may be deserving of your heart as well. Tell your wife to show her face so that I may judge for myself," he commanded.

Nuri turned his head to nod at Jasmine and then watched the Sheikh's face as she pulled her veil aside. The older man's eyes widened and his mouth fell open slightly as he muttered, "Azrak... so blue... eyes like the deepest sea..."

When Jasmine lowered her eyes modestly, he took in the rest of her features, noting that she wore no makeup at all... and she didn't need to. Her natural eyelashes perfectly framed her mesmerizing blue orbs and her obvious modesty colored her cheeks naturally... she was a stunning beauty, just as Nuri had said. It was no wonder he'd been anxious to take her as his wife!

The Sheikh was a little disappointed that the young man had not thought to bring her home and present her to him as a gift! He would've jumped at the chance to add her to his collection... his "harem of wives!" It was obvious from the size of her that she was not a skinny little waif, nor was she a huge woman... she probably had a body that would make any man hard and ready to plant his seed inside her!

The Sheikh shook his head to clear his mind of those sinful thoughts as the young woman lowered her veil. He cleared his throat and spoke gruffly. "You are wise indeed, young man, to insist your lovely wife be fully covered at all times! She could likely entice the most devout Imam into thoughts of wickedness."

Nuri spoke plainly, but respectfully. "No, your Eminence... it was not at my insistence. My wife made that choice on her own."

The Sheikh looked skeptical for a moment and stared intently at Jasmine as he asked, "And how is it that a woman raised in such a freely hedonistic society so easily made such a choice as this?"

She spoke clearly and calmly. "My mother continued to raise me in the knowledge and ways of Islam in honor of my father. I am a devout believer that it is my honor and duty to serve Allah by being a faithful lover to my husband and the mother of his children. I have no wish to tempt any other man into doing that which would bring shame on me in the eyes of Allah, your Eminence."

The Sheikh nodded his head and addressed Nuri respectfully. "You chose wisely, young man. She is obviously a good and honorable wife deserving of your love. You should treasure her."

Nuri looked at his wife as she turned her head toward him... he could just barely see her eyes glittering at him through the opaque fabric. "Oh, I do, your Eminence. She is my most treasured possession..." he stated sincerely.

The Sheikh could see from the intense look of possessiveness in the young man's eyes that he meant every word. And for a man to love and desire a woman that intensely would mean that he'd most likely kill her if she ever dared to tempt another man and his wise wife had recognized how lucky she was to have such a man...

Jasmine had felt no fear in telling the Sheikh a little white lie about being raised in the ways of Islam. That part of their laws she could almost agree with... it was her honor and duty to be Nuri's faithful wife, lover and mother of his children. And she did not wish to be a temptress... she just wished Islamic law did not place ALL blame for Muslim men's weaknesses on the temptations of women!

The Madani family had welcomed Jasmine with open arms. They had a lavish family compound a few miles outside of Riyadh that was surrounded by walls and gates with the highest tech security system and each family unit had their own private wing. The grounds around the house were well maintained, looking like an oasis surrounded by acres of arid desert thanks to an underground cistern system, and their power was mainly supplied by a vast solar array on the southern side of the property.

Yosef's father had saved his money while working as the Sheikh's body guard and had bought the property and built the main part of the house while Yosef had been attending college in the U.S. Yosef's mother's family had been happy to see them leave since they finally believed he was a devout Muslim fully capable of affording to take care of his wife and children.

When he'd returned home to take over the Sheikh's financial matters, Yosef had also invested some of his bonuses and his parent's money and his family was soon highly regarded as one of the wealthiest in the capitol that were not of royal descent. That was why the family had been able to shield Jada from being married off to just any man and the government had allowed her to attend college in the U.S.

The family had been surprised that the government hadn't asked many questions about why she hadn't returned... until they'd learned about her forced sterilization. They realized the government had been wary that her main reason for going was so she wouldn't be forced into marrying a Saudi, so they'd tried to "fix" her to make her unwanted by any man...

That was purely ideological Islamic Shari'a law at its worst... if a woman could not bear children she was worthless. According to Mohammed, Allah had decreed a woman's sole purpose was for procreation. She was nothing more than a possession... an object of his lust in order to drive his will to procreate... the vessel in which to deposit his seed and bear his children, especially sons... and to nourish them after birth...

The Saudi government had not taken Western ideology into question when they'd come up with that plan. They believed Jada would be shunned and sent home in disgrace if any man agreed to take her for wife and then discovered she could produce no children. The concept of some man wanting her and loving her despite that made absolutely no sense to them...

Yosef and his father had added a wing onto the main house for his family and while Nuri had been in America, they had built another wing for when he returned with his wife. Nuri had been telling them since he was a boy that he was going to marry Jasmine some day... that she was his destiny. The only excuse his family had been able to give his mother's family for not arranging a marriage between Nuri and one of his cousins was that he wanted a wife that would better suit his family's wealthy status.

His mother's family was only anxious to try to get rid of another female they had to house, feed and clothe. But they couldn't very well force a family as wealthy and powerful as the Madanis had become to take another female off their hands. Despite wishing she could give a female relative a better life, Salihah was adamant that the inbreeding among Saudi families needed to stop.

She'd been lucky that, being her parent's eldest daughter, she'd turned out healthy and beautiful even though they were first cousins. Her oldest brother was also normal, and her next two sisters had been all right, but her youngest sister had not been normal. Her parents had feared they'd never find a husband to take her... until they'd pawned her off on a male cousin who was not quite right in the head, either! And the children they'd produced were even worse...

That was why Salihah was so thankful that Yosef Madani had spotted her glancing shyly at him in the marketplace that day when she'd first noticed him and was instantly attracted to him. And, luckily, it had been the same for him, so he'd approached her father on the spot and told him he wanted to marry his daughter.

As soon as her father had learned that Yosef had a good job and the potential to earn a lot of money, he'd demanded the highest price possible for a marriage contract and all sorts of unreasonable conditions that Yosef hadn't been in a position to argue at the time. So he'd agreed to them... he'd have agreed to sell his soul to Satan to have Salihah if her father had demanded it!

When Yosef had amassed his fortune and added the lavish living quarters for him and his wife at his family's compound, he'd taken her away and shielded her from her domineering father. But that hadn't helped to make her feel any freer. She was at ease with him and his family inside their home, but she still feared going out in public and traveling because she'd been able to produce only one child for Yosef and the doctor had told her it was miracle she'd had Nuri. Salihah would not leave Saudi Arabia for any reason...

Not even to visit her only son in America. That was why she was so glad he was back home... and that she had a lovely daughter-in-law as well. She was a little perplexed at first... knowing that Nuri and Jasmine had been married for two and a half years and were still childless until they explained they'd wanted to wait until they were settled in their new home before having children.

They told her at breakfast the morning she had asked that they were "vigorously" working at getting Jasmine pregnant. Yosef and Salihah had chuckled as she replied, "Ahhh... that would explain all the loud moans I heard coming from your side of the house last night then!"

Nuri and Jasmine had gasped and reddened when his grandparents had busted out laughing. Then they'd all burst into laughter when his grandfather said, "Don't be so sure, Salihah... that might've been us you heard making all that noise!"

To protect the rest of the family, only Yosef was aware that Nuri and Jasmine would be working with the CIA. He was also the only one who knew of his son and daughter-in-law's special "gifts." She and Nuri had worked together to develop their abilities to see into the true nature of people's hearts and minds. And Jasmine had also learned to somewhat "control" her instinct to kill when threatened.

The only problem Jasmine was having was in trying to distinguish between the people who truly were evil and the ones who were just confused because they'd been so literally "blinded by faith" that they couldn't even distinguish what was just common human decency. But as she and Nuri traveled around the city together and encountered many different souls, he helped her to see the difference.

The blackness that initially appeared around someone who was just "blind" would eventually fade to gray. If their heart was truly evil, the blackness persisted. Jasmine was amazed to find that the majority of Saudis were surrounded by shades of gray even though in their hearts and minds everything was black and white. Shari'a laws were to be followed... there were no exceptions. That was all they knew...

**********

A few weeks after Nuri and Jasmine had settled into their new lives, Jonathan came for a visit to give them information on things the CIA wanted to check into. While he was there, Yosef received a phone call from a friend of his through the IOPF who needed help.

The daughter of the IOPF operative's friend had gone to Saudi Arabia to search for the father who didn't even know she existed. The girl's name was Karida Barak and her life had been spent going in circles trying to figure out where she belonged...

Karida Barak's stepfather was an Israeli citizen who'd fallen in love with and married a South African woman who was half black. Karida's grandmother was a Norwegian woman working for DeBeers who'd fallen in love and married a black man when they were both protesting apartheid during the 1950's.

Karida's mother had told her since she was a little girl that her real father was a Saudi man she'd met and they'd fallen in love. They'd had a brief affair while both were on vacation in Egypt, but his unwillingness to leave his family and his country caused them to part... she knew she'd never be accepted by either because of her ethnicity.

She didn't realize until a couple of months after that vacation that she was pregnant. Her parents had been able to support her because they'd both had good jobs with DeBeers. Karida's mother had met her stepfather when Karida was only a baby. Her stepfather had traveled from Israel to meet with some people at DeBeers to discuss new diamond cutting and polishing techniques they were working on.

Joseph Barak had been instantly taken with Belana Arrowsmith's exotic beauty. She was darker skinned like her father, but her hair was a light golden brown color and waved softly like her mother's. But her most remarkable features were her eyes... she'd also inherited her mother's ice blue eyes. And her daughter Karida's eyes were the most remarkable shade of aqua blue he'd ever seen...

As soon as Jonathan North had seen the photo of Karida Barak that her stepfather e-mailed to Yosef, he knew he had to find her. She was the one...