Pahmudi, suave, intelligent, trilingual, and discreet. Never once over the years had there been the slightest suspicion against him. Never. How could he have escaped cleanly, even from the Shah who was constantly having his top associates checked and double-checked and rechecked. With every right, he thought. Five assassination attempts against him, bullets in his body and face, wasn’t he ruler of a people known for violence toward and from their rulers?
Christ! Where will it all end?
IN THE SAME TRAFFIC: 9:15 A.M. McIver was inching along, well to the south, heading for the bazaar area where Jared Bakravan’s family house was, Tom Lochart beside him.
“It’ll all work out,” McIver said, sick with worry.
“Sure, Mac. No sweat.”
“Yes, not to worry.” When McIver had got back home to his apartment from Ali Kia and the Ministry, elated, Tom Lochart was there, arrived just moments before. His even greater joy at finding Tom Lochart safe was dashed at once by the look of him and by the news Pettikin gave him about Freddy Ayre’s relayed radio call from Scot Gavallan at Zagros, and about Starke being taken by the Kowiss komiteh for questioning about “the Isfahan escape.” “It’s all my goddamn fault, Mac, all of it,” Tom Lochart had said. “No, not your fault, Tom. We were both trapped - anyway I okayed the flight, not that it helped Valik. Were they all aboard; how the hell did you get out? Tell us what happened, then I’ll call Freddy - you’d like a drink?” “No, no, thanks. Listen, Mac, I’ve got to find Sharazad. She wasn’t home, I’m hoping she’s at her folks’ house and I’ve got t - ”
“She’s there, I know she’s there, Tom. Erikki told me just before he left this morning for Tabriz. Did you hear about her father?”
“Yes, I have, awful, bloody awful! You’re sure she’s there?” “Yes.” McIver walked heavily over to the sideboard and fixed himself a drink as he continued: “She hasn’t been at your flat since you left and she was fine until… Erikki and Azadeh saw her day before yesterday. Yesterday they…”
“Did Erikki say how she was?”
“He said she was as well as could be expected - you know how close Iranian families are. We don’t know anything about her dad other than what Erikki told us - that he had been ordered to the jail as a witness, and the next thing the family was told to pick up his body, he’d been been shot for ‘crimes against Islam.’ Erikki said they picked up the, er, the body and, well, yesterday they were in mourning. Sorry, but there you are.” He took a deep swallow of the lovely, peat-tasting drink and felt a little better. “She’s safe at home - first tell us what happened to you, then I’ll call Freddy and we’ll go and find Sharazad.”
Quickly Lochart did so. They listened, appalled. “When Rudi told me that this Iranian Air Force officer, Abbasi, was the one who shot down HBC I almost went mad. I, I kinda collapsed and the next thing I remember was the next day. Abbasi and the others had gone by then and it was all SOP. Mac, Charlie’s idea about a ‘hijack’ - that’s not going to stand up - no way!” “We know that, Tom,” McIver had said. “First finish your story.”
“I couldn’t get a clearance to fly back so I borrowed a car, just got back a couple of hours ago and went straight to the apartment. The bastard of it is it’s been confiscated by Green Bands, along with all Mr. Bakravan’s property, except the shop in the bazaar and his family home.” Lochart told them what had happened, adding, “I’m - I’m a waif in the storm. I’ve nothing now, we’ve nothing, Sharazad and I.” He laughed and it was a bad laugh and McIver could see that he was dying inside. “It’s true it was Jared’s building, the apartment and everything in it, though… though part of Sharazad’s, er, dowry…. Let’s go, huh, Mac?”
“First let me call Freddy. Th - ”
“Oh, of course, sure, sorry. I’m so worried I can’t think straight.”
McIver finished his drink and went to the HF. He stared at it. “Tom,” he said sadly, “what do you want to do about Zagros?”
Tom Lochart hesitated. “I could take Sharazad there with me.” “Too dangerous, laddie. Sorry, but there it is.” McIver saw Lochart look into himself and measure himself, and sighed, feeling very old. “If Sharazad’s okay I’ll go back with JeanLuc tomorrow morning and we’ll sort out Zagros, and she goes on the next shuttle to Al Shargaz,” Lochart said. “Depending on what we find at Zagros… if we have to close down, Insha’ Allah, we’ll ferry all our riggers to Shiraz to go out by regular flights - their company’ll tell them where they’re to go - and we’ll move everything to Kowiss, airplanes, spares, and personnel. Okay?” “Yes. Meanwhile I’ll get on to the Ministry first thing tomorrow and see if I can straighten it out.” McIver clicked on the sender. “Kowiss, this is HQ. Do you read?”
Almost instantly: “HQ this is Kowiss, Captain Ayre, go ahead please, Captain McIver.”
“First, about Zagros Three: Tell Captain Gavallan that Captains Lochart and Sessonne will be back tomorrow around noon with instructions. Meanwhile prepare plans to obey the komiteh.” Rotten bloody sods, he thought, then went on for the benefit of those who were listening in: “The Zagros IranOil base manager should remind the komiteh that the Ayatollah and the government have specifically ordered oil production back to normal. Closing down Zagros will severely interfere with orderly production in that area. Inform Captain Gavallan I will take this up at once with Minister Kia personally who, an hour ago, confirmed this to me, and gave me written approvals to take out and replace crew by our own 125 until…”
“Christ, Mac, that’s great news,” came over the airwaves involuntarily. “Yes… by our own 125 until regular service resumes. Crew replacements and replacement aircraft to service all the extra work and Guerney contracts the government are asking us to service, so I cannot understand the actions of the local komiteh. Got it, Captain Ayre?”
“Yessir. Message received five by five.”
“Has Captain Starke returned yet?”
A long silence, then: “Negative, HQ.”
McIver’s voice became even colder. “Call me at once when he does. Captain Ayre, just between you and me and to go no further: if he has any problems whatsoever and isn’t safe back at base by dawn, I will ground all our aircraft throughout Iran, close down all our operations, and order 100 percent of all our personnel out of Iran.”
“Good, Mac,” Pettikin said softly.
McIver was too concentrated to hear him. “Did you get that, Kowiss?” Silence, then: “Affirmative.”
“As far as you’re concerned,” McIver added, developing his sudden thought, “inform Major Changiz and Hotshot from me, I’m ordering you right now to cease all operations including all CASEVACs until Starke’s back on the base. Got that?”
Silence, then: “Affirmative. The message will be relayed at once.”
“Good. But only the information that applies to your base. The rest’s private until dawn.” He smiled grimly, then added, “I’ll be making an inspection trip as soon as the 125 returns so make sure all manifests are up to date. Anything else?”
“No, sir. Not for the present. We’ll look forward to seeing you and we’ll listen out as usual.”
“HQ over and out.”
Pettikin said, “That should do it, Mac, that’ll put a hornet up their arses.”
“Maybe, maybe not. We can’t stop CASEVACs - apart from humanitarian reasons that makes us illegal and they can steal everything.” McIver finished his drink, glanced at his watch. “Come on, Tom, we won’t wait for JeanLuc, let’s go and find Sharazad.”
The traffic had lessened a little now but was still inching along, snow griming the windshield. The road was slippery and banked with dirty snow. “Turn right at the next corner,” Lochart said.
“Okay, Tom.” They drove in silence again. McIver turned the corner. “Tom, did you sign for the fuel at Isfahan?”
“No, no, I didn’t.”
“Anyone interview you, ask for your name, that sort of thing? Green Bands? Anyone?”
Lochart pulled his mind off Sharazad. “No, not that I remember. I was just ‘Captain’ and part of the scenery. Far as I remember I wasn’t introduced to anyone. Valik and… and Annoush and the kids, they went off for lunch as soon as we landed with the other general - Christ, I can’t even remember his name - ah, yes, Seladi, that was it. Everyone called me ‘Captain’ - I was just a piece of the scenery. Matter of fact I stayed with the chopper at the hangar all the time we were there, watching the refueling and checking her out - they even brought me some food on a tray and I ate sitting in the cabin. I stayed there all the time until those goddamn Green Bands fell on me and dragged me off and locked me in the room. I had no warning, Mac. They just enveloped the base, they must’ve been helped lavishly from inside, had to be. The bastards that grabbed me were all hopped up, shouting I was CIA, American - they kept on about that, but they were more concerned about subduing the base than about me. Take
