The Sea Knight touched down in Key West on schedule.  Whereupon, the three of them transferred to a Learjet already fueled and waiting.  Two minutes later, it took off due northwestward across the Gulf of Mexico.  Five minutes after that, Special Agent Meriwether started briefing the other two on those aforementioned particulars 

 "Here's the cast of characters.  First up?  Her Royal Highness, Jumana Al Amira Ibna Rashid of Najranistan."

  The subject of the blown-up photograph he removed from a bulging beige folder revealed a lovely young woman (circa age 20) with unexpectedly blue eyes and long blonde hair.  Thereby eliciting an instinctive wolf-whistle from my dad which, in turn, earned him a glare of feministic annoyance from Cecilia!

   "Plastic surgery?" she asked Meriwether (in a tone that made him chuckle).

   "Nope!  It's a completely natural inheritance from her Circassian mother.  Her father's the one with the more usual brown eyes and black hair.  In fact, one female columnist out in Hollywood has described those traits as making him resemble (and I quote) 'an adorably rejuvenated Omar Sharif.' End quote!"

  "Do tell," Cecilia replied with a mischievous grin.

  So, naturally, Dad changed the subject.

  "Doc Long mentioned us as being 'extra security.'  I take it that means she has a regular team of bodyguards?"

  Meriwether nodded:  "Genuine Zouave warriors born and raised in Algeria.  Led--and personally hand-picked--by this man."

  The subject of the second blow-up showed a man in his mid-forties with a salt-and-pepper crew cut; a moustache clipped to pencil-thinness; and eyes so dark brown they were almost black. 

  "He's like a swarthy G. Gordon Liddy," said Dad.

  "Meet Captain Ali Hassan," replied Meriwether:  " A French Foreign Legion veteran (chausseur parachutiste).  Specially retrained, at Company expense, by Condottiere Protective Services of Venice, California."

  "Isn't that the private security company founded by 'Mad Dog' Barker back in '74?"

  When Meriwether nodded, Cecilia looked from one to the other of them in undisguised puzzlement. So Dad explained.

   "Colonel Maynard Barker of Barker's Dozen.  Arguably, the most decorated Green Beret A-team to serve in Vietnam!  After twenty years in the army, he took an early retirement to enter the private sector as a provider of bodyguards for foreign dignitaries; rock stars; you name it."

   "So, in other words," replied Cecilia:  "...Princess Jumana is pretty much well-protected against conventional terrorist threats.  Which leaves just the _unconventional_ ones!"

   "Exactly," said Meriwether:  "Because there are lot of people who'd love to see something happen to her as a way of hurting Sheikh Abdul. For starters?  Meet Abu Kamal.  A Turko-Cypriot nationalist leader currently living in exile in Fez, Morocco."

  The third blow-up showed a rather stocky man in sun glasses, wearing a white kaftan and a red tarboosh (with black tassle), drinking a cup of coffee.   

  "Kamal thinks Sheikh Abdul is a traitor to pan-Islamic unity for shipping his oil to the States in Greek-owned tankers. It's especially worrisome that he's become chummy with this next guy."

  The fourth blow-up revealed a bare-chested man sporting a white quasi-goatee and wearing a turban, while armed with an AK-47 and some kind of machete in a scabbard on his left hip. 

  "Meet Subic Bey.  During World War II, he was the foremost leader of the Moro resistance movement on Japanese-occupied Mindanao.  But, after V-J Day, he took an active part in the Hukbalahap Rebellion.  Following which, he fled to Singapore, then Mecca, and finally Cairo.  So, he has no love lost for Uncle Sam!  Rumor has it he now acts as an interpreter between the PLO and the Japanese Red Army.  Or, at least, this particular representative thereof."

  The fifth and final blow-up showed a Japanese man in a white suit (a la Ricardo Montalban of "Fantasy Island" fame) who looked to be in his mid-thirties.

  "Meet Joji Fujita, alias 'Takashi Takahashi,' of the Nihon Sekigun.  One of Mossad's most wanted.  Among other things, he's responsible for a kibbutz bombing that occurred during a bar mitzvah after-party.  So, he wouldn't think twice about blowing up a wedding reception!"

  It was Dad who asked the obvious question.

 "Was Fujita's photo taken at the same coffee house as Kamal's?"

 Meriwether nodded in grim silence.   A silence that was suddenly broken by the pilot announcing over the P.A. that they were approaching the Gulf Coast of East Texas.

  "ETA to final destination," he added:  "Ninety minutes."

   tbc