1 Thus saith the LORD to His anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him, and to loose the loins of kings; to open the doors before him, and that the gates may not be shut:

2 I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight; I will break in pieces the doors of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron;

Isaiah Chapter 45

She walked two or three times across her office and decided.
But among so much excitement and quandary, Roy just had his head in his hands sitting. He was experiencing his most difficult moments of life, hated himself, felt he was a traitor, wished death!
He couldn't think about anything. Humanity, morality, faith, value, every word was a thorn in his heart annoying him the most. Except one word: God!
It was dark and lights of the facilities were on when three helicopters took off from the military base, about a minute after Major left his fighter. Americans began their work again tracking them on GPS,
Everything happened very fast, but people also were fast understanding the situation, as soon as they saw helicopters up to the sky whispers lulled and ten thousand civilian voices joined each other screaming "Allahu Akbar" (:God is greater).
The bomb had been taken out from the fighter right in the moment it grounded and the American pilot was supposed to be in one of the three helicopters, all of them were tracked then, but sometimes things are different from what they seem to be.
Major Roy was led to a Samand car and one of his hands was manacled to its seat. He was handed his knapsack also after his GPS detector and revolver were taken out.
Though it was a risky way to take him to Esfahan but Major Raha decided it was the best choice specially to hide from eyes of enemy. She personally accompanied her officers and Roy in the car. Before getting in, she stopped and looked at him slipped down in his seat staring at a far point in the horizon.
The car sounded so normal that easily passed the crowd (of more than ten thousand people by now) and entered the highway. Still many cars were getting to the place. He was watching them but not seeing them, just fallen on the seat, his head towards the window, like a dead body. Raha looked at him again in the mirror,
'It's time for evening prayer... you didn't let!' she said not looking at him.
'What would you have prayed for if I had let?' he questioned in a very low deadly voice.
'What's your suggestion?' she questioned back.
He remained silent first, and then answered in the same low spiteful voice 'O Lord, kill traitors! Amen!'
'Hmm, I wonder how an American can define loyalty! To be loyal to war criminals and thugs?' she taunted immediately.
He suddenly turned his head towards her as if he was awakened that moment, and said in a stronger voice, 'like who?'
She breathed deeply with relief and said nothing.
'Who I asked?' he repeated impatiently, 'Israel, yeah?'
She laughed with herself at the way he thought, turned back to him and said, 'for one!'
'What the problem of you people really is with Israel?' he stooped forward.
'Occupation!' her look turned sharp again, the issue was too complicated to discuss about so easily.
'Well I support Israel.' He said, 'I believe they have the right to have a small nation of themselves just like how anyone and everyone else on earth made in the same way, through bloodshed! Victor takes the land. Loser leaves. A new nation’s born', obviously he was angry, rested in his seat again and looked at the desert.
'Hmm... Give them a part of United States then, or Europe' she said, 'if the word "my country" is so much meaningless for an American, then let's displace Americans to settle israelis! Why Palestinians?!'
'Why are they not allowed to own their promised land?' he replied, 'tell me?
'Oh I forgot Muslims want it. They want everything controlled by them. Spreading there faith with brutal tactics of converting or death, hiding among the population, and masters of propaganda
'Israel will remain a separate independent country if Palestine likes it or not!'
'Then you say Palestinians wouldn't defend their land if they were Christians or Jews!' she said, 'to let you know many of Palestinians are already Christians, even some are Jews'{original ethnic groups-18*}
'Yes but Muslims still try to be higher than everyone else, damn terrorists!' he said, again in a low voice,
'How is it that any nation which fight for their land are honored and called heroes, but Palestinians do the same and are called terrorists?' she said
'History is written through the eyes of the victors'
'Victors against those who didn't enter fighting with you at all? Where were Palestinians in WWII? Why should Palestinians pay and be displaced for crimes that Nazis in Europe did towards the Jew?'
He wasn't in a good mood to argue, then stopped answering, she wouldn't continue either, a long silence came after.
Lights of the highway didn't let you feel the pure steady darkness of the endless desert. Still the stars, appearing one by one, were much better seen than in a crowded shiny street of New York or Esfahan!
Roy was tracing the path of Milky Way disappearing behind the hills near the road, that the signpost, saying they were passing Natanz town, attracted his attention. Again it made him remember the order he disobeyed and the army he sold out! And felt sick.
Raha was anxious, thinking about the possibility of another missile attack to the plant and the military base near it or perhaps the towns to destroy the American fighter and warhead and pilot. She was informed by the military base that people had poured into the base, kind of zealot and angry with the US.
The young Iranian officer sitting beside Major Roy asked carefully in Farsi, 'sorry commander! It's a long time I'm trying to recall the meaning of "traitor", I've forgot.'
Roy guessed what he meant hearing the word "traitor" in English, and expressly said, 'means me!'
Poor young man didn't get it, but didn't dare to ask more. It was Raha that continued, 'if you were born German, you would do the same what Hitler ordered while WWII, you were a loyal soldier to Hitler and you thought you were loyal to your nation!!'
Then looked at her officer and said in Farsi 'means "khaen" or "vatan forush"'
'Nazi Germany was damned since day one' said Roy, 'they formed off racial hatred, ethnic cleansing campaign to wipe off the Jews. I'll never ever do that.'
'You washed minded poor man! What is the difference between israel and Nazi but Names, only names? Or if torture, genocide and occupation are not war crimes in your eyes, then you've probably lost your sense'
It was very difficult for Roy to be called washed minded, 'why not yourself?' it was the most polite sentence he could make in that moment. 'Open your eyes and see, you people, so called descendants of Cyrus, today are converted to terrorist trainers and threats to the world... nowadays the Iran Revolutionary Guards are a well trained special operations, that train insurgents and Hezbollah fighters, they train bombers, that kill in the name of God!
'Israel has every right to defend itself in any possible way then, even if it seems brutal.'
'A government based on occupation doesn't have any right to ask for security, and peace!' she said, ' Occupation is cursed in eyes of God, Palestinians didn't grew from the ground, they existed and lived in their ground, before being pushed to camps where they die'
Here, suddenly she felt her hostile tune only provoked him to fight back, why to fight while you can speak? She thought.
'Well I'm sorry' she said with her tune much calmer, ' why do you think israelis should stay there?'
Roy felt as if he was asked an evident question, ' why?! it is their country! Why do you stay in Iran?' then hesitated and added, 'well, you'll say their countries were where they left and immigrated to Israel, some other people used to live there I know, but remember, the land belonged the Jew first, the land's historically theirs, read Bible!'
'Then if some people live in a piece of land for sometime it will be theirs for ever!' she said smartly ' Hmm, I welcome that idea!! At the same time you speak about, Iran owned most of the Middle East, the Great Empire of Persia, read Bible! Then you advise us to attack and take our territory back? ...
' Well... did God promise it to you?' he was such an improviser, ' here is Bible "To your descendants (Abraham's) I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates"(Genesis 15:18), (also Joshua 1:4), here is Quran "(Moses says) O my people enter the holy land that God has ordained for you..." (Maede 21). To answer you, no I don't!'
' you may think I have never read Bible, what about the verses saying the Children of Israel were interspersed from that land as a result of their sins I don't remember where. (see the verses)' said Raha, ' you said a verse and it is right, we know they lived there once and by both holy books it was God who let them in,
' Don't we need then to see why should God give a land to people of special blood?'
' Do you blame God racism?'
' On the contrary, I say racism is cruelty and shame, and God never ever proceeds it, and it is exactly why we need to see why God gave the land to these people?
' I admire the nation who exited from their country with their prophet to arise against God's enemy, those who accepted a risk on their lives to believe in Him. And now they were homeless and astray. You see it's quit reasonable that their Lord wills a land for them as they left theirs for his love, the land which its nations had heathenized to God at that time and corrupted in the earth,
' These are conditions of that time; the commandments fulfill ages and conditions; ages change, conditions change and commandments change'
' What's different today? They have left their countries...' but he stopped for he was not sure.
' To obey what command of God? To arise against what enemy of God? To obey which prophet? To...' she said before letting him think.
' Ok...' he cut her off, ' but the land was promised to them, anyway, it is the God’s word... that it will belong to children of Abraham from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates.
' Even if you are right and conditions are changed, anyhow a promise is a promise!'
' I call it a prediction not promise, and yes it is correct', she said, ' in all of that land children of Abraham live... Arabs are children of Abraham to let you know!'
' They are what?' he said kind of angry for he thought she justified things.
' They are Abraham's descendants through Ishmael's blood.' She said.
' You miss one point,' he said, ' when this promise was repeated it was repeated to Isaac and Jacob
' Difference was God promised Abraham a child with his wife. He chose another woman thinking his wife was too old’
‘ Bible obviously says it! Even Muslims accept it!’
The discussion got so serious for the two that they forgot which situation they were in. Raha continued:
‘I mean where does Bible say your Israeli brothers through Isaac are the only descendants of Abraham?’
He got really nervy.
‘What do you mean?’
‘Arabs are also from his blood, aren’t they? And they live from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates’
‘Then all the world are chosen ones, except me!’ Roy said angrily.
‘I say the idea of israelis is pure Pretension, that’s all!’
For the first time after grounding he really recalled he had a copy of Bible with him so he tried fast to take it out of his knapsack. He knew one thing about Muslims for sure, they respect The Holy Book, he would show her in Bible, then his hand snapped to take it out,
unaware his hand was caught while moving toward his knapsack, reminding him of the handcuff, He felt cold…
A silence followed, even Raha noticed sudden change in his face, if they just weren’t opponents at the moment she would sympathize with him.
His heart felt heavy, like a terrible nightmare, like shame, like death.
He realized captivity!