from French Air Force days and Algeria. “This’s JeanLuc, old friend,” he said in French.
In French, Delarne said quickly, “The tower called me to say another chopper’s just come into the system on your expected heading, Dubois or Petrofi, eh? Tower keeps calling her but cannot make contact yet.” “Just one?” JeanLuc was abruptly concerned.
“Yes. She’s on a correct VFR approach for helipad 16. The problem we discussed, eh?”
“Yes.” JeanLuc had told his friend what was really happening and the problem of the registrations. “Mathias, tell the tower for me she’s G-HTTE in transit,” he said, giving the third of his four allocated call signs. “Then phone Andy and tell him I’ll send Rodrigues to deal with Rudi and Kelly. We’ll deal with Dubois or Sandor - you and me - bring the second batch of stuff. Where do we meet?”
“My God, JeanLuc, after this lot we’ll have to join the Foreign Legion. Meet me in front of the office.”
JeanLuc acknowledged, hung the mike back on its hook. “Stop here!” The truck stopped instantly. Rodrigues and JeanLuc almost went through the windshield. “Rod, you know what to do.” He jumped out. “Off you go!” “Listen I’d rather walk an - ” The rest of it was lost as JeanLuc ran back and the truck rushed off again with a screech of tires, out through the gate and onto the road that led to the sea.
AT KOWISS, IN THE TOWER: 11:17 A.M. Lochart and Wazari were watching McIver’s distant 206 climbing up into the Zagros Mountains. “Kowiss, this is HCC,” McIver was saying over the VHF, “leaving your system now. Good day.” “HCC, Kowiss. Good day,” Wazari said.
Over the HF loudspeaker, in Farsi: “Bandar Delam, this is Tehran, have you heard from Kowiss yet?”
“Negative. Al Shargaz, this is Bandar Delam, do you read?” Static, then the call repeated, now silence again.
Wazari wiped his face. “You think Cap Ayre’d be at your rendezvous yet?” he asked, desperately anxious to please. It was not hard to sense Lochart’s dislike of him, or his distrust. “Huh?”
Lochart just shrugged, thinking about Tehran and what to do. He had told McIver to send both mechanics with Ayre: “Just in case I get caught, Mac, or Wazari’s discovered or betrays us.”
“Don’t do anything stupid, Tom, like going to Tehran in the 212, with or without Wazari.”
“There’s no way I could sneak back to Tehran without alerting the whole system and screwing Whirlwind. I’d have to refuel and they’d stop me.” Is there a way? he asked himself, then saw Wazari watching him. “What?”
“Is Cap McIver gonna give you a sign or call when he’s dumped Kia?” When Lochart just looked back at him, Wazari said bleakly, “Goddamnit, don’t you see you’re my only hope to get out…”
Both men whirled, feeling eyes. Pavoud was peering at them through the stair banisters.
“So!” he said softly. “As God wants. You’re both caught in your betrayals.” Lochart took a step toward him. “I don’t know what’s bothering you,” he began, throat parched. “There’s noth - ”
“You’re caught. You and the Judas! You’re all escaping, running off with our helicopters!”
Wazari’s face contorted and he hissed, “Judas, eh? You get your Commie ass up here! I know all about you and your Tudeh comrades!”
Pavoud had gone white. “You’re talking nonsense! You’re the one who’s caught, you’re th - ”
“You’re the Judas, you lousy Commie bastard! Corporal Ali Fedagi’s my roommate and he’s commissar on the base and he’s your boss. I know all about you - he tried to get me to join the Party months ago. Get your ass up here!” And when Pavoud hesitated, Wazari warned, “If you don’t I’m calling the komiteh and blowing you, Fedagi, along with Mohammed Berani and a dozen others an’ I don’t give a shit…” His fingers went to the VHF send switch but Pavoud gasped out, “No,” and came onto the landing and stood there shakily. For a moment nothing happened, then Wazari grabbed the whimpering, petrified man and shoved him down into a corner, picked up a spanner to smash his head in. Lochart caught the blow just in time.
“Why’re you stopping me, for crissake?” Wazari was shaking with fear. “He’ll betray us!”
“No need… no need for that.” Lochart had difficulty talking for a moment. “Be patient. Listen, Pavoud, if you keep quiet, we’ll keep quiet.” “I swear by God, of course I’ll ke - ”
Wazari hissed, “You can’t trust these bastards.”
“I don’t,” Lochart said. “Quick. Write it all down! Quick! All the names you can remember. Quick - and make three copies!” Lochart shoved a pen into the young man’s hand. Wazari hesitated then grabbed the pad and began to scribble. Lochart went closer to Pavoud who cringed from him, begging mercy. “Shut up and listen. Pavoud, I’ll make a deal, you say nothing, we’ll say nothing.”
“By God, of course I won’t say anything, Agha, haven’t I faithfully served the company, faithfully all these years, haven’t I been ev - ” “Liar,” Wazari said, then added to Lochart’s shock, “I’ve overheard you and the others lying and cheating and slobbering after Manuela Starke, peeping at her in the night.”
“Lies, more lies, don’t belie - ”
“Shut up, you bastard!” Wazari said.
Pavoud obeyed, petrified by the venom, and huddled back into the corner. Lochart tore his eyes off the quaking man and took one of the lists, put it into his pocket. “You keep one, Sergeant. Here,” he said to Pavoud, shoving the third into his face. The man tried to back away, couldn’t, and when the list was thrust into his hand, he moaned and dropped it as though it were on fire. “If we get stopped I promise you before God this goes to the first Green Band and don’t forget we both speak Farsi and I know Hussain! Understand?” Numbly Pavoud nodded. Lochart leaned down and picked the list up and stuffed it into the man’s pocket. “Sit down over there!” He pointed to a seat in the corner, then wiped his sweating hands on his trousers and switched on the VHF, picked up the mike.
“Kowiss calling inbound choppers from Bandar Delam, do you read?” Lochart waited, then repeated the call. Then, “Tower, this is base, do you read?” After a pause a weary, heavily accented voice said, “Yes, we hearing you.” “We’re expecting four inbound choppers from Bandar Delam that’re only equipped with VHF. I’m going to get airborne and try to raise them. We’ll be off the air until I get back. Okay?” “Okay.”
Lochart switched off. From the HF came: “Kowiss, this is Tehran, do you read?”
Lochart asked, “What about him?” Both of them looked at Pavoud who seemed to shrink into his chair.
The stabbing pain behind Wazari’s eye was the worst it had ever been. I’m gonna have to kill Pavoud, that’s the only way I can prove I’m on Lochart’s side. “I’ll deal with him,” he said and got up.
“No,” Lochart said. “Pavoud, you’re taking the rest of the day off. You walk downstairs, you tell the others you’re sick, and you’re going home. You say nothing else and leave at once. We can see you and hear you from here. If you betray us, by the Lord God, you and every man on this list’ll be betrayed too.”
“You swear you … you’ll…” the words started to pour out, “you swear you’ll tell no one, you swear?”
“Get out and go home! And it’s on your head not ours! Go on, get out!” They watched him totter away. And when they saw him on his bicycle pedaling slowly down the road toward the town, they both felt a little easier. “We should have killed him… we should have, Cap. I’d’ve done it.” “This way’s just as safe and… well, killing him wouldn’t solve anything.” Nor help me with Sharazad, Lochart thought.
Again over the HF, again the nagging: “Kowiss, this is Bandar Delam, do you read?”
“It’s not safe to leave those bastards broadcasting, Cap. Tower’s gotta pick ‘em up, however untrained and inefficient they are.”
Lochart put all his mind on the problem. “Sergeant, get on the HF for an instant, pretend you’re a radio mec who’s pissed off with having his holiday screwed up. Tell ‘em in Farsi to shut up, to stay the hell off our channel until we’re repaired, that this lunatic Lochart’s gone aloft to raise the four choppers on the VHF, perhaps one of them had an emergency and the others are with him on the ground. Okay?”
“Got it!” Wazari did it all, perfectly. When he switched off he held his head in his hands a moment, pain blinding him. Then he looked up at Lochart. “You trust me now?”
“Yes.”
“I can come with you? Honest?”
“Yes.” Lochart put out his hand. “Thanks for the help.” He pulled the company HF frequency crystal out, mutilated it, and put it back, then pulled out the breaker of the VHF and pocketed it. “Come on.”
In the office downstairs he stopped a moment. “I’m going aloft,” he told the three clerks who stared at him strangely. “I’m going to try to raise the Bandar choppers on the VHF.” The three men said nothing, but Lochart felt they knew the secret too. Then he turned to Wazari. “See you tomorrow, Sergeant.”
“Hope it’s okay to quit. My head hurts like hell.”
“See you tomorrow.” Lochart pottered in the office, conscious of the scrutiny, to give Wazari enough tune to pretend to saunter off, actually to go around the hangar and sneak aboard: “Once you’re out of the office you’re on
