out, of course.'
'Call them together in Masqat and bring me to them. I'll choose one.'
'You'll choose one—’
'All I need is one, but it must be the right one. He'll carry a message for me and I'll have you in Bahrain in three hours.'
To the Mahdi?'
'Yes.'
'But you said—you implied—that you don't know who he is.'
'I don't.'
'Still, you know how to reach him then?'
'No,' answered Kendrick, a sudden hollow pain in his chest. 'Another insult but more readily understood. My operations are in Europe, not here. I simply assumed that you knew where to find him in Bahrain.'
'Perhaps it was in the note you destroyed in the Al Kabir, a code—’
'There are always emergency procedures!' broke in Evan harshly, trying to control his anxiety.
'Yes, there are,' said Azra thoughtfully. 'But none that ever directly involve the Mahdi. As you must know, his name is spoken in whispers to only a few.'
'I don't know. I told you, I don't operate in this part of the world—which was why I was chosen… obviously.'
'Yes, obviously,' agreed Blue. 'You are far away from your base, the unexpected messenger.'
'I don't believe this!' exploded Kendrick. 'You receive instructions—no doubt daily, don't you?'
'We do.' Azra looked briefly at Yosef. 'But like yourself I am a messenger.'
'What?'
'I am a member of the council, and young and strong, and not a woman. But I am not a leader; my years do not permit it. Nassir, my sister Zaya, and Ahbyahd; they were appointed the leaders of the council. Until Nassir's death the three of them shared responsibility for the operation. When sealed instructions came, I delivered them but I did not break the seals. Only Zaya and Ahbyahd know how to reach the Mahdi—not personally, of course, but through a series of contacts that lead to him, get word to him.'
'Can you make radio contact with your sister—over a secure frequency or perhaps a sterile telephone? She'd give you the information.'
'Impossible. The enemy's scanning equipment is too good. We say nothing on the radio or the telephone that we would not say in public; we must assume it's one and the same.'
'Your people in Masqat!' continued Evan rapidly, emphatically, feeling the beads of perspiration on his hairline. 'Could one of them go inside and bring it out?'
'Information concerning the Mahdi, no matter how remote?' asked Azra. 'She'd execute the one who sought it.'
'We've got to have it! I'm to take you to Bahrain—to him—by tonight, and I won't risk our sources of operating funds in Europe because I'm held responsible for a failure here that isn't mine!'
'There is only one solution,' said Azra. 'The one I spoke of below. We go to the embassy, into the embassy.'
'There's no time for such complications,' insisted Kendrick desperately, terrified now of being discovered. 'I know Bahrain. I’ll choose a location and we'll call one of your people here to get the word inside to your sister. She or Ahbyahd will find a way to reach one of the Mahdi's contacts. There can't be any mention of either of us, of course—we'll have them say an emergency has arisen. That's it, an emergency; they'll know what it means! I'll fix the meeting ground. A street, a mosque, a section of the piers or the outskirts of the airport. Someone will come. Someone has to!'
The lean, muscular young terrorist once more was silent as he studied the face of the man he believed to be his counterpart in far off Europe. 'I ask you, Bahrudi,' he said after the better part of ten seconds. 'Would you be so free, so undisciplined, with your
