ambush.
The two officers came to the end of the ditch. Slowly, they peered over its lip and looked around. Twenty meters to their front was a large building.
Light came from several cracks in the boards and from a window. Iranian guards, weapons slung and appearing quite inattentive, paced around it.
Cerro whispered, 'That's got to be it. Wish we could get closer, but it's too risky. Let's go back.'
Ilvanich turned. 'I'll go in. Stay here and cover me.'
Cerro grabbed his arm. 'No, too risky.'
'We must know for sure. It will do us no good if we all run in here and hit the wrong building. I will go, you stay here, Cerro.'
'OK, but watch your ass.'
Confused, Ilvanich stopped and looked at Cerro. In a serious tone: 'I cannot do that. You must.'
Cerro chuckled. 'OK, I'll watch it. Now go.'
Ilvanich watched until the guards were walking away from the near side of the building. Crouching low, he left the ditch and ran up to the building.
Once there, he flattened himself against the wall and froze, listening for any sign that someone had seen him. Satisfied he was undetected, he took his knife, turned around and stuck it into a crack between two boards, twisting it slowly to make a small peephole. When he thought it was large enough, he pulled the knife out and peered in. He saw a room filled with metal casings, machine tools and electronic equipment.
Men in white coats walked about or worked on various electronic components. This was it. The assembly building had been found.
Satisfied, Ilvanich turned to go back to the ditch. As he did so, a guard came around the corner. They looked at each other for a moment.
The guard started to unsling his rifle. Instinctively, Ilvanich rushed him with his knife. The guard, however, hit him in the stomach with the rifle butt, sending Ilvanich sprawling on the ground. Ilvanich, his knife lost, looked up as the guard began to raise his rifle at him.
Suddenly, the rifle dropped to the ground and Ilvanich heard a gurgling noise. The guard slid to his knees, then fell over onto his face.
Behind where the guard had been was the figure of Lieutenant Cerro with a knife in his hand. He had cut the guard's throat.
'Grab the rifle and cover the bloodstains.' Cerro pulled the guard's body up and slung it over his shoulder, then headed for the ditch.
Ilvanich, now recovered, grabbed the rifle and spread sand over the pool of blood and a thin trail of blood as he followed Cerro. Once in the ditch, he asked Cerro what they were going to do with the body.
'We'll take it with us. Hopefully his buddies will think he went A.W.O.L..' llvanich asked, 'Awol what does that mean?'
'Deserted, over the wall, gone home to Mama. Now let's get the hell outa Dodge.'
Although Ilvanich had no idea where Dodge was, he got the idea and followed, covering up all traces of blood as Cerro dragged the body along the ditch.
Word of the run-in with the guard spread fast and did much to relieve the tension in both camps. Though the men still were cautious, they believed that what their officers told them about the operation was true.
During the morning the two commanders discussed what they had seen and what they knew from before, and formulated a plan. At noon, all the officers and the senior NCOs were briefed. Because the Americans had more men and firepower, they would provide the security and deal with the guards, just as in the original plan. There were four barracks buildings as well as an administration building that needed to be neutralized. Trenches and machine-gun pits ran at regular intervals between the bar racks buildings. Two work and storage buildings were in the center. Ilvanich and his men, along with Lieutenant Commander Hensly, would go after those buildings.
While one platoon took on the barracks and trenches on the north side, and another did the same on the south, Cerro would lead a platoon to seize the barracks on the west and overrun the trenches there. Ilvanich and his men would move along the ditch the two lieutenants had been in the night before. When the attack began, they would move in and seize the work and storage buildings. Once they had done so, they would kill everyone there.
A special demolition squad of Americans and Soviets who knew how to handle demo would work for Hensly, destroying everything that needed to be destroyed. When they were finished, Ilvanich and his men would withdraw through Cerro. The platoon in the west would cover the withdrawal of the platoons in the north and the south. Cerro wanted to be in and out in less than fifteen minutes. Hensly, however, would make the final decision based on how much needed to be destroyed.
Word that the Soviet major was conscious temporarily broke up the planning session. Ilvanich suddenly became uneasy. What would he do if the KGB major objected? How would he be able to explain the situation? His convictions wavered as he walked over to where the wounded were. What the hell, he thought. What is done is done. The major is in no position to influence the situation.
The major was propped up against a rucksack, and the American doctor was helping him drink from a canteen cup. When the major saw Ilvanich, he waved the American away. For a moment he watched the young lieutenant without expression. Suddenly his face contorted with a surprised look as he focused on Ilvanich's AK dangling from his shoulder. His head snapped to the right in the direction of a group of Americans sitting under a tree cleaning their weapons and joking. By the time he turned back to Ilvanich, the lieutenant was standing before him at attention.
Ilvanich saluted. 'I am most happy to see you are responding to treatment,
Comrade Major.' The major did not return the salute or say anything as Ilvanich squatted down at his side. The look on the major's face bespoke his confusion.
'No doubt you are wondering what is happening, Comrade Major.'
The major regained his composure, his face going blank as his eyes locked on Ilvanich's. Though his voice was weak and raspy, his question was direct and measured. 'You have, I trust, an explanation for all this, Lieutenant Ilvanich?'
Ilvanich explained the situation, including what he and Cerro assumed had happened before the Americans arrived at the oasis and found the major and the burned-out helicopter. The KGB major listened without interruption as Ilvanich described in detail the events that had led up to his capture, the bargain the two lieutenants had struck and the results of the previous night's patrol. When Ilvanich finished, the major simply stared at him for a moment. Ilvanich was uneasy but did not allow him to see that.
Finally the major spoke. 'What about Lvov, and the other helicopter?'
'We have seen nothing of the captain or the men with him, Comrade Major. Either they went down like me or turned back because of the storm.'
'Do you really believe the American, Comrade Lieutenant? Do you really think that once the mission is complete he is simply going to let us walk away?'
'Yes, Comrade. He will.'
The major's eyes narrowed. 'You are more naive than I thought. I had hoped to make something of you. You had a great future. Do you know what will become of you now if the Americans do let you live?'
Ilvanich felt his anger rising. He fought the urge to lash out at the KGB major. Only when he had regained his composure did he answer.
'Have you realized, Comrade Major, what will happen if the Iranians are not stopped? I may not have a future in the Party. And I may be sent to a gulag for cooperating with the Americans. But at least there will be a Party left to send me to a gulag if we succeed. What, Comrade Major, do you suppose will happen if the Iranians do drop a bomb on either the Americans or us? Do you suppose anyone in Moscow or Washington will worry much about who started it? And where will it stop? Here? No, Comrade Major. I will not gamble on the chance that sane heads will prevail. Not when the stakes are Mother Russia herself. I am a soldier. I have a mission to accomplish, an important one. If it means cooperating with the enemy for a moment, then I will do so. After all, did not Stalin sign a pact with the fascists in order to serve the needs of the Soviet Union and the Party?'
