At Stalin’s orders two teams of scientists and engineers competed to demonstrate the Soviet Union’s first atomic bomb. Failure was not an option, and the loosing team was purged with no warning. Its records destroyed, and all of the key personnel eliminated, well, almost all. What happened to the team’s work in progress? Forty years later The Group discovers the answer.
The Rings of Allah is a grand saga in the genre of James Clavell’s Shogun and Tia-Pan, with a little Clancy thrown in. Spanning over sixty years the story sweeps across Russia, central Asia, and into the United States. The cast of characters include Soviet scientists, radical Islamist, KGB officers, al-Qaeda terrorists, Usama bin Laden, and American businessmen, doctors, and government officials. Islam, Wahhabism, and the Soviet-Afghan war, provide the backdrop for the birth of al-Qaeda. The story proceeds into the future where a sleeper cell of al-Qaeda attempts to complete Usama bin Laden’s master plan for the final strike against the Great Satan.
This epic novel presents a realistic and frightening picture of how simple atomic weapons could be smuggled into and hidden in the U.S. The author has the background and knowledge to write a realistic, technically sound story that will leave no doubt as to the vulnerability of western civilization to terrorism and the threat of weapons of mass destruction. Yes, it can be done, and the Rings of Allah provides a thrilling and realistic story of one such plan.
The main characters include an old but sharp Soviet nuclear weapons engineer; an idealistic young American Arab drawn into the Afghanistan Jihad who later becomes a conflicted soul; the American educated al-Qaeda cell leader who slowly slips into insanity; a beautiful blond venture capitalists, who is unwittingly ensnarled into the terrorist plot; an enterprising KGB officer and member of The Group; and General Alexander who becomes aware of the plot in the eleventh hour and attempts to stop Muraaqibu al-Khawaatim (the Keeper of the Rings) from executing the plan, becoming caliph, and starting a worldwide jihad.
Ralph Eid meets Mohammed a-Mihdar at a Mujahedeen training camp in Afghanistan. Mohammed recognizes Eid’s potential and brings him to Usama bin Laden’s attention. Mohammed becomes Ralph’s mentor and later guides his career into a position at the United States Nuclear Weapons lab in Livermore California. Ralph uses the knowledge gained at Livermore Labs combined with his natural business ability to create the mechanism for importing and hiding the atomic devices al-Qaeda obtains from The Group.
“Uranium must be enriched in the uranium-235 isotope to at least 89%. This is the difficult part. Once highly enriched uranium (HEU) is obtained, the rest is very simple. The supercritical mass is divided into components, and then very quickly assembled. As the components come together the fission reaction begins. The trick is getting the components together before they melt. If that is done, then you have an atomic explosion.”
“This has been done?”
“Yes, the American’s first atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima was a gun-type bomb called the Little Boy. They did not test the design before using it.”
“May Allah punish the arrogant American infidels. . . . Go on.”
“A gun-type weapon is referred to as a ‘poor man’s atomic bomb’: which is very easy to make, if you can obtain enough highly enriched uranium-235. Getting the HEU is the problem. Once you have it making the bomb is simple.”
“Praise be to Allah, our brother Saddam Hussein is trying to produce HEU. It is very difficult to do. Please continue.”
“The Soviet Union was developing both types of atomic bombs. We were successful in testing our implosion bomb before the gun-type. The reason we failed to test the gun-type bomb lay in the fact that the chief project scientist was waiting until he had enough HEU for several bombs. He wanted to test several component designs, in order to select the best one. He was two months away from his test when the implosion bomb was detonated. Had his bomb been tested first, he would have been a Hero of Socialist Labor.”
“Yes, yes, this is very interesting, but how does this concern us?” Mohammed rejoined, and waved his hand as if to say get on with it. What do we care if the man was a hero? Our only concern is whether these bombs even exist; and if so, their usefulness in blowing the Americans to hell, he thought, get on with it. Do you have them?
Aware now that Mohammed was irritated Alexei quickly responded.
“The five test bombs were built, but never tested. We think they are still in storage at the test site.” While he was speaking Alexei had opened his brief case and withdrawn an envelope. “This envelope contains sketches of the nuclear components, projectiles and targets for each device.”
“You think! You do not know?” Mohammed said in a disgusted voice and sat forward as if to rise.
“Our information is that they were left in a remote area and forgotten, ” Alexei said quickly.
Mohammed raised a questioning eyebrow and eased back in his chair.
“Yes, this is possible, because the team responsible for them was punished for not being first. All records of the team were destroyed; and as you have already said, their designs are inefficient. Also, Joseph Stalin was set on having a thermonuclear bomb. To verify their actual existence we must go to the test site and find them.”
Mohammed made no reply. Instead he sat with his eyes closed obviously thinking and toying with his teacup. So the Russian pigs have something after all, but how great a something and what will they want for it? Nuclear weapons! he reveled in the thought, Allah’s answer to our prayers. Usama will be jubilant. I must not appear too anxious . . . show casual indifference in my response.
“When are you thinking of doing this?” Mohammed asked as he slowly reached for more tea, watching Alexei out of the corner of his eye for signs that the Russian sensed his growing excitement.
“Depending upon your interest and ability to purchase one or more of the bombs, I will go in May.” The Arab goat herder is pretending not to be interested, Alexei thought and laughed to himself, but he is hooked and just doesn’t want me to see it. Give him a reason to pretend more interest by speeding up the timetable just a bit. “If we find them, they must be moved quickly. Our great Soviet Union is coming apart. This will make removing them easier. We can truck them to the Uzbekistan border near Termez; where you can take possession of them.”
“You actually believe they will still function, after being abandoned for so long?”
“Yes, a standard artillery piece is used to shoot the smaller piece into the larger one. We will supply fresh propellant for the guns.”
Fingering his beard Mohammed continued his feigned indifference. “You say there are five of these atomic bombs?”
“Yes, but understand that while they are complete atomic bombs, they are also test devices designed to be installed and then detonated. They are not bombs designed to be dropped from an airplane.”
The pompous ass, he must know we have no capability to drop a bomb from an airplane, Mohammed thought and almost sneered his next reply. Instead he unassumingly replied, “Allah the great has not provided us with bombers. You said these bombs, or devices as you call them, can be easily disassembled and moved as components.”
“Yes. This will also reduce the chance that they can be detected by radiation detectors.”
Allah be praised, nuclear, portable, undetectable: that makes them even more interesting – and priceless. Even though Usama has said we have unlimited funds, I refuse to let this greedy Russia know how eager we are to have so great a prize as these bombs. Devices, keep using the word devices that devalues them somewhat. “What are you thinking of asking for these devices?”
“The price will be $50 million U.S. dollars each.” Alexei watched al-Midhar carefully. This was the crucial point of the conversation. If they had the money, things were about to get very interesting.
