Chapter 17

We watched the first film about the formation of fossil fuels, then the seating area split into separate carts that took us on a ride through the building to see different exhibits, showing us animatronic dinosaurs up close and personal. After a few minutes, the carts came back together, showing us a second film about energy resources around the world. I snorted a couple of times at the misinformation that was in the film. So did the young lady in the other group. Then the whole seating area moved as one into another area, where we watched yet another film about the future of energy.

After that it ended, and the lights came back up. We all slowly headed for the exit. I could hear Elroy speaking.

“Mister Jaako, I’m afraid to commit a faux pas, but you and your family are indigenous Australians, are you not?”

Jaako paused, then grinned again. “Yes, yes we are. And thank you for using our term correctly. While our skins may be close to the same color, we’re not exactly like your American Negroes, or as I have heard it said, ‘niggers’.”

“Yes, well, some of us learned the hard way about that.” He and Earl shared a look. “We helped a British unit in North Africa that was mostly diggers, and there were some indigenous people in it. Bit of a shock to some Kansas farmboys.”

“I can about imagine. I made quite a few young ladies in Los Angeles re-assess things when I went to USC.” At that comment, all three women in their group laughed, as did my three.

Jennifer made her voice a bit higher pitched. “It’s twue, it’s twue!”

That broke up all of the women, including security. Once we were outside, I saw that we were being given quite a bit of space by all of the tourists, including those that were black. I shook hands with Jeffery, Gloria Awarai, her daughter, Helen, and Andrew and Mahlee Marra.

“So, what brings the five of you here to the United States during your summer, but our winter?”

“If I heard correctly, your name is Cal, right?” I nodded, so Helen continued. “My uncle, Jeffery is the Administrator for Uluru. Andrew is one of six regional administrators for the Northern Territory, he’s in charge of the section where Uluru is, and the Watarrka National Park. We’re here in celebration of the completion of Yulara, which is now a full tourist destination town, where people can visit Uluru, Kata Tjuta, and the Valley of the Winds.”

Earl surprised me. “I wouldn’t think you’d make Ayers Rock a tourist destination. Pardon me, Uluru.”

“Better to make it one that we can control and monitor, than allow what has been happening to it. People climbing it without concern for our people, how we or our ancestors feel regarding it,” Gloria bitterly said.

“I can only imagine how that makes you feel. I’ve had to hear cases regarding Native American tribes and what we as a people did with their land. When I was young, I was just as guilty as Elroy of being a racist. Since then, well, I’ve seen too much.” He looked at me when he said that.

“I’m a regional administrator, and our national government treats us like children. We can’t make a decision; we’re to be cared for, like we don’t know how to wipe our own bums. You know, we had to get permission to go on this trip, even though it’s been planned for a long time.”

Margie shook her head. “That’s just not right. Well, the least that we can do is help you all while you’re here, to make your trip as enjoyable as possible. How long are you going to be here?”

“We have four days to see the wonders of the world, here in Epcot and Disney. It’s been more than twenty years since I went to Disneyland. It was billed as the happiest place on Earth then; now this is supposed to be it. It makes me wonder.”

Helen shook her head, her hair billowing in the breeze. “You’d think if they’re going to talk about energy, they’d at least get some things right. Dead dinosaurs didn’t make the oil underground. And they completely ignored the other reason we came to the United States, and why we have four days here. The other three days, we’re going up to where you’re from, the state of Kansas.”

“Oh? Why?” I innocently asked.

“I saw an article in the international version of the Wall Street Journal. It was a little vague on specifics, but there’s a company in ... Uncle Jeffery, what’s the name of that city again?”

“Hutchinson, dear.”

“Yes, thank you. Hutchinson, Kansas. There’s some company there that’s supposed to have come up with a new wind turbine that they’re having Siemens manufacture. We want to talk to them, about getting some for our part of the world, because the galahs in Darwin or Canberra do bugger all for us out there.”

I couldn’t help it, I laughed. At her look of exasperation, I explained, “I’m sorry, Helen, but your language and accent just then ... I apologize.” I could see the twinkle in her eyes as she played along with me. “Allow me to show my sincerity by arranging for you to have dinner with the CEO of the very company you seek.” I paused for a second. “Just to satisfy my own curiosity, why are you so interested in turbines?”

Her mother put her hand on her shoulder. “You’ll forgive him, Helen. He doesn’t know your history.” She had a pleasant smile, and a soothing voice.

“Aye. It’s simple, really. I’ve a Masters of Engineering, a Bachelor of Science, and a Diploma of Project Management. In four years at uni, I earned and learned what it would normally take someone seven or eight. You know what the wankers want me to do? Go be on the dole, with a bun in the oven all the time. Seriously?”

I saw Elroy put his hand on his face. I heard him mutter under his breath, “Oh, Lord. I hope there’s no haylofts around.”

We’d sort of casually been walking deeper into Epcot. “Would you care for some Mexican food? I’m sure it’s as close to authentic as they can make it.”

Helen giggled. “Sure. But there’s a line to get in, so that’s a...” Her voice trailed off when I walked up to the side door. One of the staff had been casually watching us, then hurried and opened the door.

“Seating for everyone, Sir?”

“Yes, including those not blessed with our benefits. Anything that’s not covered on these, will go on my tab.”

“Not to worry, Sir. Entertainment of other guests is covered. If you’ll follow me, I’ll take you to our private room.” He led us through the restaurant, to a flight of stairs. We went up to a room on the second floor that overlooked the lake. “I’ll have your server here in a moment. If anyone wishes anything from La Cava del Tequila next door, I can have someone from there come up and take your order.”

Elroy said, “Yes, please. We’re going to need it.”

The staff member left, but not before a waitress was already in position, with glasses of water, lemon slices, and menus for all of us.

As soon as she’d left, I said, “I hate to say it, but you’d just be wasting your time going to Kansas. The owner of the company that you’re looking for just won’t see you, there.”

“Oh, and how can you be so sure of that?” she snapped.

Margie laughed. “Because he’s sitting right across from you, trying to figure out how to explain to his six girlfriends that he’s falling for the exotic woman from Australia. I heard you, Elroy. I don’t think haylofts are going to be needed.”

Andrew snorted. “Seriously? You’re the mysteriously wealthy and intelligent man that has so captivated our Helen, but she’s only read about?”

Margie pulled out her business card. “Other than Elroy, we’ve only given you our first names. I’m Margaret Miller, Margie, the CFO of CEDEM. This is Marcia Kaufman, the materials engineer and acquisitions manager for CEDEM. Jennifer Patrick is our head of advertising. And the goofy looking guy in the middle of all us is Cal Lewis, the CEO of CEDEM and probably the smartest guy in the world.” She smiled. “In addition to being the best looking, in our opinion.”

Mahlee looked at me. She nodded. “I could see that you’d think so. He’s built like he could be a rugby player when he finishes growing up.”

Marcia laughed. “He’s going to be the starting quarterback for the Stanford football team this next fall.”

Jeffery frowned. “Oh, now, see? I was just starting to like you. Fight on, Trojans!”

Gloria smacked him on the arm. “You larrikan! Watch your gob, or you’ll end up pushin’ up daisies!”

“Who’s been looking out for ya since your man went off with the diggers and never came home? You’re me sister. It’s me burden to keep an eye out for ya, is it not?”

I looked right at Gloria, in her eyes. “Gloria, you and your daughter didn’t choose your makeup today. It chose you.”

Gloria sucked in her breath, looking shocked. “What do you know about that?”

“Not here. Let’s enjoy our dinner, everyone get to know a little bit more about each other,” I said. “Are you all here on B1 visas?”

“Tourist visas? Yes, we are,” Andrew replied, like nothing else had happened. “The US embassy didn’t have any problems issuing them to us; it was Darwin that delayed us.”

“Serendipity, then. I’ve read federal immigration law, since we all have passports as we’re now a multinational company. You can stay for six months on those. We’ll get Helen switched to an F1 before the end of the month.”

“That could cause problems, Cal. I’m not an immigration judge, just a federal circuit court judge,” Earl said.

“I think Marcia can call her list of contacts; the ones she was talking to today. That’ll take care of that little issue. Then, Helen can do the same thing we’ll do at the start of January, and that’s see how many courses at Stanford she can test out of. I’m quite sure she won’t have issues getting a doctorate or three, like everyone else.”

“We still have a problem. We only have hotel rooms here for three more nights, then we’re scheduled to fly from here to Wichita, so we can find ... well, you, and we weren’t planning on staying in country that long,” Andrew said.

“We’ll let Mary handle that. She’s our travel coordinator. She’s with my other three ladies and Toby, Jennifer’s son.”

Mahlee looked at Jennifer. “Son? And he’s old enough to run around here? What’d you do, have him when you were twelve?”

Jennifer’s laugh was a sheer delight to hear. “Thank you again for your gift, Cal. Mahlee, I’ll be 41 on Tuesday. Toby is my youngest. Well, youngest already born.”

“My birthday is Tuesday as well. I’ll be 26. I think Marcia and I are like you, Helen. I have my MBA, Masters in Business Administration. We break our science degrees down; my Bachelor’s are in Mathematics and Psychology,” Margie explained.

Marcia said, “I have Bachelor’s in Mathematics and Physics, but I’m also a fully qualified armorer and explosives expert. And unfortunately for friendly relations, I’m a Caltech grad.”

“Oh, the iniquities that I have to endure for family,” Jeffery lamented.

Elroy looked suspicious at that. “There’s no way this is a coincidence.”

“Any more of a coincidence than you picking me to discuss finances with Cal? You heard his comment regarding the makeup. That’s for later,” Margie insisted.

While we’d been talking, we’d ordered and eaten. In addition, the men had all had a couple too many shots of tequila, while Mahlee had two margaritas. Of course, as large as she was, she had the mass to handle them. I noticed that neither Gloria nor Helen had anything alcoholic to drink.

Andrew was looking around. “Why does it appear that the room is moving to me?”

“Because, my husband, you’ve had too much to drink.”

“Strange, it seems to be doing the same for me,” Jeffery said.

“The room’s not moving for me, but I can’t feel my feet,” Elroy said.

“Oh, good, I was hoping I wasn’t the only one,” Earl replied.

“You mean to tell me that the two of you can sit and guzzle whiskey by the quart, and a few shots of tequila put you on your ass?”

“My dear Margaret, we typically sip our whiskey, taking several hours to drink even four ounces of it. And it’s typically 80 proof, so 40 percent alcohol. The lovely liquids we’ve been imbibing have been between that and 100 proof, and I believe that I have consumed closer to ten ounces over the last two hours. I suspect that the only reason I am coherent right now as far as my speech is concerned is that I was eating some of the best food that wasn’t made by the Menendez family I have ever eaten. However, I find that I no longer have any motor control whatsoever of my lower limbs.”

Earl simply started snoring.

“Triumph of the will!” Jeffery said. Then his head hit his chest.

Andrew said, “Don’t look at me. I’ve felt this way once before in my life. I need a bed, and someone to help me. Elroy, I consider you to be my brother, because I am in the same shape you are at this point.”

“Such is our cross to bear, my brother Andrew.”

I got up with Chuck following me, and found the manager of the restaurant. “My sincere apologies, but my grandfathers just reunited with some people they knew from the other side of the world, and all of the men had ... way too much to drink. I hope you have an elevator to the main floor, and if it wouldn’t be too much trouble, can you arrange for ground transportation for all of us back to the Contemporary Resort?”

He chuckled. “I’m one step ahead of you, young man. I wish this weren’t the only time that this has happened, but we’re well aware of the effect of tequila on many of our patrons. At the same time, because of your ... status ... if I had to, I’d use my own, personal car for transport. That will not be necessary. If we can get the gentlemen into some wheelchairs, we can take them down to our loading dock area. I have a tram and flatbed transport for the gentlemen in their chairs.”

By the time we got them all downstairs, all four of them were asleep. We used some straps to help hold them in place on a flatbed trailer that was being pulled by one of the regular passenger trams. Before we loaded up, I looked at Margie, who opened her purse, pulling out a strap.

“No, thank you, Ma’am. On behalf of my staff and I, we cannot accept. Truly, this is simply part of my job description.”

She let the strap of money fall to the floor. “Sorry, I seem to be a bit of a litterbug. Take care of that, and your people, for me.”

He showed me his true feelings then. Picking it up, he said, “Ma’am, you’ve dropped this. Please, on behalf of the Disney family, be careful with your ‘trash’.” He handed it back to her.

“Sir, if you ever find yourself in need of a job, please make your way to Hutchinson, Kansas. I’ll hire you for whatever you’re qualified to do on the spot,” I said.

“Thank you, sir. On behalf of the San Angel Inn Restaurante, we thank you for allowing us to serve you.”

I looked at his name tag. Raul Tejeda. “Are you related to Sophia Alvarez Tejeda? She looks quite a lot like Jo-Raquel Tejeda.”

He blinked in surprise. “That you know both of those names tells me that you know of the family, Sir. My mother is her cousin.”

“Then you are a part of my family. She is the grandmother of one of my ladies. Dora Menendez, daughter of Roberto and Esmeralda Menendez, from the Valley.”

“It has been ... years ... since I left the Valley. That you also know of it ... and them ... yes, we are cousins.” He gave me an embrace, then, in the Spanish tradition.

“If you ever tire of this position, you and your chefs are welcome to open a restaurant in Kansas. The food here was excellent,” I said. I held out my hand, that Margie filled with her business card and three straps. I put it into his jacket pocket. “You are family, Raul.”

Gloria had watched our interaction with the restaurant manager with knowing eyes. I shook my head. “Not here. I don’t know what you do know, but you know not to talk about it out here like this,” I said.

The tram driver took us via service roads to the Contemporary Resort. Between the bellhops, our security, and me, we got the four sleeping beauties down from the cart without an issue.

Mahlee said, “This is not our hotel.”

“It is, now. Just push your husband into the elevators with us.” Gloria was pushing her brother while Margie and Marcia pushed Earl and Elroy. We went to the elevator bank and headed up to the fourteenth floor.

Chuck pulled me aside. “Cal, are you sure about this?” Then he stopped for a second, thinking things through. “You were expecting this when you told me to hire more personal security.” He had an accusatory look.

“This, specifically? No, but I knew it was only going to be a matter of time. You heard Helen mention how smart she is, and what she’s here to do. I hate to use the comparison of moths and flames, but...”

He shook his head. “I’ve never seen moths that look like that.” He laughed softly. “I do admit I just about lost it when Judge Bannister mentioned haylofts. That’s become an epic story. You’re a legend, you know that?”

My brow furrowed. “I’m almost afraid to ask.”

“Just that you and Miss Miller were together for almost two hours before she fell madly in love with you, and the two of you ended up in the same hayloft where Harry and Emily had their first encounter years ago. The minor detail that you already had three girls living with you is inconsequential. You’re right, moths to flame.” He laughed again. “If you could bottle whatever that factor of yours is that you have, you’d make another fortune off it.”

With Elroy and Earl sharing a suite that had four beds between two rooms, we dumped each of the sleeping men into their own bed, without bothering to undress them. Gloria and Mahlee followed us to our suite, while Chuck and his crew stopped in theirs.

Once we were in our suite, with the doors closed, Helen wrapped her arms around my neck, giving me a huge kiss. When she finally broke it, due to lack of air, she smiled at me. “I have been waiting for that for a long time.”

“Young lady, I think you need to do a bit of explaining,” Gloria said.

Mahlee was looking at Helen in shock. “What is going on with you, Helen Awarai? I’ve known you your whole life, and never seen you act this way.”

Beth came from the master bedroom, pushing a wheeled cart loaded with pitchers of tea, glasses, and cans of pop. “Eve just finished tucking Toby into bed, in the far bedroom. He’s plumb tuckered out. Dora will be out in a moment. Hello, my sister. Worth the wait, wasn’t it?”

Gloria fell backwards, into a chair. “No wonder Henry’s been tinkering with his Ute, and Charley’s been walking around like a kicked puppy. I don’t know whether to be angry with me brother and you, darling, or simply offer praise.”

Mahlee wasn’t far behind her in figuring things out. “Andrew and Jeffery knew. That’s how this trip came up like it did, all of a sudden. They had to leave us in the dark, so our reactions would be real. Are you him, then?”

Eve and Dora had joined us, then all six girls gathered with Helen, hugging her and giving her some not so chaste kisses.

I got a pitcher of tea and poured the two women glasses, handing it to them, opening a can of pop for myself. “Yeah, pretty much. Those seven have been talking to each other for the last three weeks, so while they know each other, this is the first time six of them have met in person. Beth and I met Helen at Uluru three weeks ago. My real name is Kalikulo, but please, call me Cal. And yes, I’m from what you call Star Home.”

I nodded at the thirteen triangles on Gloria’s forehead. “We have six of them. The other seven that we know about are in a place where we can’t get to them right now, on Halley’s Comet. Security doesn’t know about me, that I’m aware of, but Earl and Elroy do. On the other hand, they didn’t know about Helen or any of you, so their reactions were quite genuine.”

I gave off a sigh of relief. “I admit I was concerned. They’re both older men, products of their generation, and from what is the American South. They’re both gentlemen, but at the same time...”

Margie came over to me, sitting on the arm of my chair. “At the same time, it’s still the American South. Kansas was fought over during the War of Northern Aggression, or as you might know it, the American Civil War. Memories run deep, and so do prejudices. Dora’s parents faced it when they first moved to town, but we had no way of really knowing for sure whether Uncle Elroy and Earl would treat all people, or...”

“Oh, we understand that, way too well, young mother to be,” Gloria said. “Now that I know we’re among family, I can be open. I’ve learned to guard, to hide my power when I’m around strangers and worse, galahs, especially the government ones. I wondered why me brother and cousin felt like they could get full as a goog with you. Now it makes perfect sense.”

She looked at the others, still standing and chatting like the sisters they were. “Oh, my. Jennifer let slip that she was preggers, I didn’t realize that Marcia was as well. And those three girls...” Her eyes looked at me in wonder. “They’re like you are!”

Helen came over, sitting on my other knee. “He’s the one for me, mum. He’s the Guardian.” She and Margie both squealed a little bit when I raised up into the air, about two feet above the chair.

“Can’t have radical claims about being full of superpowers without a bit of proof, can I? The seven ... now eight ... of us are a family unit. The only issue, or problem, is that none of us can legally marry each other. The mothers are legally changing their last names to Lewis, before the end of this month, so when we’re at Stanford and they give birth next summer, it won’t cause any problems. That’s when we’ll ... upgrade ... them, with the medical units.”

Gloria brushed a finger across her forehead. “That’s what these symbolize? Some kind of medical device?”

We spent the next two hours in discussion with them, regarding what we knew, and how things fit into their legends as well as those from the gypsies.

Mahlee was the first to start yawning, quickly followed by the other two.

“We probably ought to wrap this up tonight. Helen, as much as I know what you want to do, I don’t think it’s going to happen tonight.”

“I wish you weren’t right, my love, but I know that you are. It’s been so nice feeling you when you and the rest of my sisters are together. I can’t wait until I can feel you inside me for real for my first time.”

Being a mother brought Gloria out of her tiredness.

“Hang on. Helen, you’ve told us you were linked with the other girls, your sisters. But you’re telling me you can also feel it when they ... snog and root?”

Helen nodded. I could see the temperature difference in her cheeks as she was blushing.

Mahlee made it worse. “Damn, girl. I’ve seen pictures of the Messenger in his outfit. There ain’t much left to the imagination, if you know what I mean.”

Now I was blushing.

“Oh, don’t you worry, hon. Old Mahlee isn’t going to make a play for you. My Andrew is more than man enough for me. Of course, I don’t know if old Gloria here is woman enough to handle your grandfather and his best friend.”

That made everyone look at her like she’d lost her mind ... except Gloria. “They’re both a little bit older than I am, but that’s fine by me. That means they’re experienced. And I know a few things to help keep them going for quite a while.”

I was totally bewildered at that point. “You’re serious?”

“Quite serious, my not-quite son-in-law. Which, by the way, is the reason I can talk to you like this. Helen was born in March of ‘63, her younger sister was born in ‘71, nine months after my husband left for Vietnam, and five months before he died there. But Helen isn’t me oldest. She’s got two brothers, the oldest of which is your age, Jennifer.”

Jennifer looked puzzled. “Hang on. I at least looked like I was 41 before Cal cured my breast cancer. You hardly look old enough to be in your thirties.”

She nodded. “I thank you. I turned 59 last month. Women of our blood ... we stay young until we don’t. My own mother passed on five years ago. She was born the same year the Europeans found Uluru. I should have plenty of life left in me.”

Margie started laughing. After a moment, so did the rest of us that knew Elroy and Earl. I suspected that Gloria would be more than a match for them.

“I have one question. I’ve been doing some reading about your customs. While my ladies primarily have a relationship specifically, and only, with me, they do also take care of each other’s comfort and pleasure as well. Is that going to violate any of your customs or traditions?”

That time it was Mahlee and Gloria’s turn to laugh. “Cal ... you’re the Guardian against evil. What was it Dora said her grandmother called you, the Guardian of Earth? You’re the one that MAKES traditions. You’re from Star Home, and you’re the Messenger from Above that’s making the governments of the world act properly.”

“Um ... okay. Keep in mind that I’m still effectively a young man. Now, since there are four of us that weather and cold do not, will not, bother ... no arguing ... the four of us will sleep on the balcony tonight. Not what I was thinking would happen, but until we get the five of you moved in up here tomorrow, that’s what is going to happen.”

I was surprised that I got absolutely zero negative feedback from that.

I almost wish I’d been in the suite when Earl and Elroy woke up. Their description of how getting out of bed and being greeted by two large black men wearing war paint and boxer shorts truly could not have done the scene justice.

The minor detail that as soon as one of them yelled, they all grabbed their heads in pain must’ve truly been a sight to see.

The first thing I did, even before breakfast, was tell the concierge that we needed an additional suite, adjacent to the one we had. She said that all of the suites on our floor were taken.

“Young lady, I’m normally not this way. And this is not Mary’s fault in any way, shape, or form. What does my badge say?”

“Disney Special Guest, Sir.”

“Correct. Now, you’re well aware of what that means, don’t you?”

“It means that if it’s at all possible, we accommodate your requests.”

“That’s right. Now, we can do this one of two ways. One, whoever is in the suite next to us can move, and the friends and family that we weren’t expecting to meet, here from Australia, can move into that suite. And then that means I don’t have to tell my grandfather to make one phone call. Of course, he could make one of four phone calls. I’m sure you know who Michael Eisner, Sid Bass, Sid Gold, and Frank Welles are. The difference is, you know who they are. He knows them. Which is why we’re where we are, and have these. Or, two, we pack everything up, leave your fine resort, go to somewhere a bit more ... accommodating, even if I have to buy the whole property, which, by the way, I could do ... and a phone call gets made explaining your assistance, or lack thereof.”

My heightened sense of smell could tell that she’d actually peed herself. It actually wasn’t needed for long, because it was running down her leg, while she was on the phone to someone downstairs.

I stepped back from the desk. “I think I’m going to get a glass of orange juice over here. I hope that by the time I’m done drinking it, you have good news for me.”

I went over to the drink machine, getting two large glasses of orange juice. I handed one to Chuck, who was glaring at me. I quietly said, “Don’t be so melodramatic, Chuck. You and I both know that there’s not going to be any phone calls made.”

He took a sip of the juice. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen that side of you, Cal. I’m not sure I like it.”

“Don’t worry, that’s two of us. The last one that saw that side of me was named Morton, and we both know what happened to him.”

“You’ve already accepted Helen as one of your ladies. That means her mother, and all the rest are your family. I withdraw my objection. Oh, and I called Mike. We have two empty beds, in our suite. The nice thing about you owning four small jets is that we can use one to ferry more people here.”

I blinked. “Four? Last time I looked, it was two.”

He grinned. “That was yesterday morning. As of last night, your small jet fleet is now four. They just sent you two brand new C-20s that were supposed to go to Ramstein, and you’re also getting half a dozen C-140Bs that are surplus. While Salthawk One can’t land at Riley, those could.”

I sighed. He clapped me on the back. “Look at the bright side. You’ll get to enjoy Salthawk for a year.” His eyes got wide. “Oops.”

“Do I even want to know?”

“No, I don’t think so. Oh, hell. Your plane can’t handle the whole family now, plus us. It sucks, but that’s the reality. We were looking at some 707s that are being retired. Boeing just had two orders cancel for planes that are already most of the way built. Seems the leader of the country that ordered them doesn’t need them anymore. No return on the deposit, either. The country itself doesn’t want them after they deposed their leader.”

“I know we got Salthawk One because Assad had ordered it. He’d ordered two others?”

Chuck shook his head. “No. Saddam Hussein. The people in the Army decided that not fighting any more, since they’d be the ones who’d die, as would most of the country when the Messenger from Above came along, would be a good thing. They’ve changed the name of the country back to Mesopotamia, and are actually discussing breaking into two countries. Iran is in the middle of a civil war right now, that the mullahs are losing. I think they’re going to go back to being Persia, but that’s just me.”