Dr. Bashir knocked on the door to the royal wardrobe. To his surprise, he was greeted by a surly guard captain. "State your name!" the guard snarled.
"Hamsa, aide to Ambassador Hubal," said Dr. Bashir, holding up some ID lovingly faked by Beelzebub for inspection. "I have special clearance from Lord Adrammelech to enter." He held up the permission slip, glad that Adrammelech was the overseer of the royal wardrobe.
The guard gruffly nodded. "Looks legit. Go in."
Dr. Bashir stepped in and saw many more guards, enough for two companies. Besides them, there were four demonic women... all of them on Dr. Bashir's hit list. One was a radiant woman with mottled white skin that resembled marble. Two raven-like wings grew from her back, and her "clothes" appeared to be mostly ostentatious jewelry. Dr. Bashir tried not to frown; he frequently preached the virtues of modestly dressed women at his mosque, and this demon (whom he recognized as Princess Astaroth) didn't come even close to meeting his decency standards. Next to Astaroth was an alabaster-skinned woman with multiple pairs of horns, four saurian wings, and a trail of neon green scales running down her body. Nearby was a similar-looking demon, but there were notable differences. These two were obviously the mother and daughter. The final she-demon had light purple skin and black-feathered wings like Astaroth's, as well as the antlers, hooves, and tail of a deer. Dr. Bashir recognized her from Adrammelech's description of Princess Miasma.
Prepping himself for the deception, the disguised imam waved at them. "Pleased to meet you, Rachel! Oh, and Princess Astaroth! What an honor! And congratulations on your upcoming wedding, Princess Miasma. I hope to be in attendance if my duties don't keep me away." He turned to Atargatis. "And you must be Rebecca Church! Rachel's mother, right?"
"Bingo," said Atargatis. "Though I prefer my new name: Atargatis. Fresh start and all. What's your name?"
"I'm Hamsa," Dr. Bashir responded. "I just landed my dream job as an aide to Hubal, the Saudi ambassador."
"Hell has ambassadors to Earth countries?" Atargatis wondered.
"Sure," said Maisy. "They help us manage the needs of demons up on Earth looking for spouses."
"Exactly," said Dr. Bashir.
"What business do you have with my boss?" growled Astaroth's guard captain.
"Nahum, please try to be civil," Astaroth chided before turning to face Dr. Bashir. "Sorry, he's on edge because of the renegade Iron Knights. They've escaped into Hell, you know. We think they're here for Rachel."
"How terrible!" Dr. Bashir said with a staged gasp. "With any luck they're all stuck in the Fifth Circle. I really can't see them getting all the way down here, thank Darkness! As for my business, I'm here to invite you to a party at the Embassy. You see, I'm a staunch supporter of ex-humans in Hell's government, and I convinced Ambassador Hubal to host a party with the other ambassadors in honor of the upcoming weddings of you and your mother to Princess Miasma and Princess Astaroth. You four are the guests of honor of course."
This was true aside from the professed motive. Dr. Bashir felt that throwing a celebration in the targets' honor wad the best way to both build good will with them and study their psychologies. With any luck, Lucifer himself (the BIG prize!) might even decide to put in an appearance. Dr. Bashir wouldn't try to kill anyone tonight, but knowledge and trust were powerful weapons in his jihad against Hell. He had the cunning to make Allah and the Prophet proud, and he knew it.
"Can we go?" Rachel pleaded to Astaroth. "I'd love to check out what we demons do for fun!"
"It would certainly be interesting..." Atargatis said, sounding a bit nervous at the thought of demons might do for fun.
"I suppose it's safe enough if we bring all the guards..." Astaroth mused. "Fair warning, your average party in Hell is VERY hedonistic. Lots of booze, drugs, food, wild music, and sex. Oh, so much sex! A lot of the Greek Dionysian myths about the antics of satyrs and maenads were inspired by the festivities of Hell."
Atargatis trembled a bit but quickly pulled herself together. "Still curious. Hey, might as well immerse myself in the exact opposite of the way my ex-husband made me live, right?"
"Then it's settled!" Astaroth smiled sinfully. "I look forward to pleasuring my beautiful fiancee where everybody can see." She gave Atargatis a lustful wink.
Dr. Bashir nearly shuddered, but he quickly forced himself back into character as Hamsa. These shameful sinners could be punished later. True justice takes patience, after all...