Page 9 - Unlikely Stories 4

A Lot of Brass

can dispose of it profitably. My coreligionists, dispersed across the
land and sea, have many contacts. My own extended family trades in
every sort of goods in all the major cities of the world. We also have
the ability to muster and marshal the means of transport to get the
job done on time. And we can finance deals of any magnitude by
virtue of letters of credit issued by our bankers to their
representatives.”
Mu’ayiwa looked at his right-hand man.
“Is that true?”
“Yes. I myself have seen these bills of exchange produce their
promised amount of cash on presentation. I will have to examine his
papers, of course, to validate them. That explains his small purse.”
“Jew!” thundered the emir. “You yourself will be the guarantor of
your promise, should we come to an agreement.”
The old man shrugged.
“There is one problem,” he said quietly. “The inhabitants of
Rhodes have a powerful belief in the power of their fallen idol, even
after it was smashed ages ago by an angry demon subsequently
unable to save them from invaders. They will not be willing to assist
in its removal. Your soldiers will have to intervene.”
The emir frowned.
“Perhaps that would make the price too high: I have subdued the
population, but it won’t be easy to stop their interference.”
“Of course I will take that into consideration,” said Moshe. “And
rest assured I am eager to be away from these pagans with a cargo
that will have made my trip worthwhile. You see, many people have
had their eye on that colossal mass of metal lying here on the
ground—alloys of copper and other materials easily converted into
other uses—but I am the only one here now able to do it, and
gladly.”
“Gladly?” the vizier’s eyebrows rose.
“The sons of Ishmael and those of Isaac are both sons of
Abraham, the iconoclast. Representations of God are anathema to us
as much as they are to you. We often find ourselves a powerless
minority in lands where we cannot destroy such abominations. You
can and will. Our interest is the same here: crushing an idol. I could
not purchase it as scrap metal from the believers. But it is not theirs

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