Exit Plan

by Larry Bond

  “So, you are saying it is impossible,” Varamini blurted out.

  Mehr looked across the table and saw Aghassi’s facial expression, reinforcing his earlier advice. “No, Admiral, I am not saying it’s impossible, but it certainly won’t be easy either. Do you know what type of submarine I’m to hunt down?”

  Varamini hesitated, his face contorted into a scowl. It was clear he was not pleased with Mehr’s response. “We believe one of their SSGNs is in the gulf.”

  “A converted Ohio-class missile submarine?” Mehr asked, surprised.

  Varamini nodded stiffly. The Kilo captain leaned back in his chair and took a deep breath. “That’s a whale of a submarine, Admiral. An Ohio-class is at least five times larger than my boat. Size like that has definite advantages and disadvantages.”

  “Explain, Captain,” Zand growled, but less intensely than before.

  “A submarine of that size has considerable room for noise reduction measures. An Ohio-class boat is one of the quietest submarines in the world. This will complicate things considerably. However, once found, her size restricts her ability to maneuver. This is particularly true in shallow water. If I can find her, I have the advantage in a close-in fight.”

  “So, provided you can find the American, you feel your odds are good,” concluded Varamini.

  “Yes, Admiral. But finding her will be the trick. The Project 877EKM submarines we bought from the Russians were designed to hunt surface ships. They have a fair antisubmarine capability, but it is mainly for self-defense. An Ohio has a better passive sonar suite than my boat, however, her systems will be affected at least as badly as mine by the environment, perhaps more so since they are more sensitive. I have a superior active capability. If I can get a whiff of her, I’ll be able to quickly transition to the attack.” Mehr tried to look as confident as he sounded. What he had said was true, but he doubted either admiral appreciated just how hard it would be to get that initial whiff.

  “Well, Captain, I must admit I’m encouraged by your succinct explanation of this complex problem,” remarked Zand, clearly impressed. “Is there anything we can provide to assist you?”

  “Yes, sir. I need the best torpedoes we have. I’m assuming that some of the weapons on the dollies are TEST-71ME~NKs?” asked Mehr hopefully.

  “All of them are the newer torpedoes,” Aghassi replied, smiling. “I’ve given you all of the available TEST-71ME-NKs that I have.”

  “Thank you, Captain. They will improve our odds.”

  “Anything else?” Zand asked.

  “Any information I can get on the American’s location would be of considerable value. I will begin constructing our search plan, but the more I can focus it, the better my chances of finding her.”

  “I will ensure you are given all available information,” Varamini responded pleasantly. The Pasdaran admiral was even smiling.

  After the well-wishing and farewells, Aghassi escorted Mehr out of the conference room. He whispered, “Well done, Ebrahim!” and shook his hand. Mehr reiterated that the tasking he had been given was a significant challenge, but he would do the best he could to find this American submarine and put it out of their misery.

  But as confident as he was in the conference room, Mehr was troubled by a story he recalled from the Koran. The story was about the Prophet Yunes, Arabic for Jonah, who also had to face a whale. Mehr prayed that his boat would fare better than their namesake, and that when they grappled with their whale, it wouldn’t swallow them.

  ~ * ~

  16

  ROUGH ROAD

  6 April 2013

  1800 Local Time/1500 Zulu

  Highway 96, Between Bustaneh and Mollu

  Lieutenant Sistani looked at the map and then pointed to the right. “Here.”

  Corporal Afshar pulled the big Zil truck off the highway. Before Sistani could get out of the cab, Sergeant Zahedi was out of the back and shouting, ”We’re here! Everyone out! Start unloading! We’re losing daylight!”

  Sistani asked the sergeant, “Who should take the first turn?”

  Zahedi looked at the squad and spotted one small soldier struggling with a case of ammunition. “Ostovar. He’s no use to me setting up.”

  “Fine, I’ll take him and Corporal Afshar. I want to pick the spot myself.”

  Zahedi saluted. “Yes, sir. I’ll keep them busy here.”

  “Be sure you get that truck far away from the road, and camouflage it well,” Sistani ordered. Under Zahedi’s direction, the corporal and Private Ostovar shouldered several pieces of red-and-white-striped wood and followed the lieutenant.

  The three headed west along the side of the highway while Sistani studied the ground.

  Along this part of the coast, Highway 96 was a two-lane asphalt road, pushing through a sandy brown landscape dotted with dark green scrub and trees. Although dry now, the ground showed signs of water and erosion everywhere, with dry streambeds cutting into the earth from north to south as the land sloped gently toward the gulf. A few hundred meters from where the truck had stopped, the lieutenant said, “Here. This is good.”

  The two soldiers quickly assembled a wooden barrier, blocking the road. They placed battery-powered lanterns on each side, reflecting brightly off the painted wood. There wasn’t a lot of room on the shoulder, and the ground on both sides was uneven and rutted.

  While the soldiers worked, Sistani checked a portable radio and flashlight, then handed them to Ostovar. “Repeat your orders.”

  Ostovar came to attention and recited, “Stop all traffic and check identity documents. I’m supposed to watch for two fugitives—” He stopped and pulled a paper from his shirt pocket, “—named Akbari and Naseri. They may have accomplices and are dangerous.”

  The private had read the last part off the paper, but Sistani was satisfied. “And if you spot them, or have any trouble?”

  “Use the radio,” Ostovar answered.

  “And when do you use your rifle?”

  “Only if I’m shot at.”

  Sistani nodded. “Good. You’ll be relieved in an hour.”

  The lieutenant and the corporal walked back to where the rest of the squad was working. Looking back, he could see Ostovar, nearly dwarfed by his KL assault rifle, standing alone with an oversized sawhorse across the highway.

  “Sir, shouldn’t we leave two men at the roadblock? He can’t stop anybody by himself.”

  “Let me worry about that, Corporal.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Sergeant Zahedi had already set up one man on a low hill as a lookout, while others organized equipment or made positions for themselves in scrapes in the rocky ground.

  Sistani climbed to the top of the rise. The lookout lay prone, reasonably well concealed, under a camouflage smock that would keep him warm while it masked him from observation. Using his own glasses, the lieutenant could see the highway for several kilometers in either direction. It ran almost straight east and west here, and while the ground was uneven, there was no place that offered a covered approach on his position. Aside from the paved road, there was no human mark on the land—no buildings, not even a power line. Private Ostovar’s checkpoint was as bright as a lighthouse in the darkening landscape.

  “Lieutenant, headlights.” Private Peyman was on lookout duty, and he pointed east. The lights resolved into a civilian car, slowing to a stop as it approached the checkpoint. Ostovar, rifle slung, leaned over the driver’s side window for a minute, then stepped back and swung the barrier out of the way. According to headquarters, the fugitives they were watching for would come from the west, but they had ordered all vehicles to be checked, whatever direction they came from.

  Sistani walked back down and called to Zahedi. “That’s a good position up there. Take Alizadeh off the rotation and put him up there along with the lookout. Having our best shot on overwatch should make whoever’s on duty at the roadblock happier. And make sure his position is as well camouflaged as the others.”

  “Yes, sir,” Zah
edi said, then continued by asking, “Sir, how long will we be here?”

  “Third squad will relieve us at 0600 tomorrow morning, and first squad will relieve them at 1800 tomorrow night. We’ll take our turn again at 0600 the morning after that.”

  “And how long will this last?”

  “Until they tell us to stop, Sergeant.” As they talked, the two walked the squad’s positions, pointing out small tasks or praising a soldier’s work. Sistani smiled. “I’ve never seen the major move so fast as when he got that order. We drew this post because we were the squad on duty. Right now the major is mustering the rest of the battalion and passing out the rest of the assignments, all with the colonel gone. I’m glad to be away from that circus.”

  “Is it true that these are American assassins? That they’ve wiped out two platoons?”

  “More rumors, Sergeant? Don’t repeat them. Whoever the fugitives are, a Basij patrol is missing without a trace. Headquarters said to be ready for anything.”

  Sistani looked around. “And tell the squad to get this place organized. What if the major saw this? We’ve been here half an hour and already it looks like we lost a battle.”

  ~ * ~

  South of Baverdan, near Highway 96

  1900 Local Time/1600 Zulu

  Harry was driving, a pair of night-vision goggles draped over his eyes. Shirin still rode up front, with Yousef on the far side. The windows were open enough to keep the air from getting stuffy, as well as to help Harry stay awake. Yousef was dozing, as much as the bumpy ride allowed.

  They’d turned off the highway fifteen minutes earlier, and slowed to a crawl as they felt their way along an unpaved track. Ramey, navigating with Lapointe’s assistance, was taking them around a roadblock south of the town.

  At Michigan’s direction, CENTCOM operators were using a UAV to scout ahead of the truck. The UAV’s images were streamed directly to Lapointe through the remote video-receiver function on the laptop. This God’s-eye view gave enough warning to let them avoid the roadblocks.

  Unfortunately, that meant using some secondary and a lot of tertiary roads. The UAV had spotted roadblocks near most towns, a sign that the hunt for them had gone to a much higher level.

  In the back, while Ramey and Lapointe navigated, Jerry and Phillips cleaned weapons and reorganized their gear. Phillips even drilled Jerry again on the SCAR rifle. With the rough ride, sleep was impossible. Dinner had been cold MREs, Harry and the two Iranians having theirs passed up to the cab.

  Shirin, squeezed in between the two men, chewed mechanically on something she hadn’t bothered to identify. It might have tasted better hot, but she didn’t care. Beyond exhaustion, she didn’t dare close her eyes. Even with them open, images from the fight flashed in front of her, as if projected onto the dark windshield. What would her dreams be like?

  The first battle had been over in moments. But this time, there’d been enough time to be really afraid. She and Yousef had lived in fear for years, but that had been an abstract thing. This had been immediate. She’d heard bullets snap overhead, felt pieces of rock and dust fall on her.

  This was Yousef’s first time in combat, as well. He looked thoughtful, maybe a little sad. “Yousef, I thought you were very brave today.”

  “I’m glad we are safe,” he responded in Farsi. “I keep on thinking about the men we killed. They had families. They were doing their duty”

  “You can’t do that,” Harry told him. “Whoever they were, when they fired a weapon at us, they had to die. We didn’t want the fight. They could have walked away and we would’ve let them. They got what they deserved, no more, no less.”

  “You mean I should ignore my feelings.” Shirin was surprised. Yousef’s tone was thoughtful, certainly not hostile.

  “I mean, put them in perspective. If we hadn’t killed them, they would have killed you and your wife, which would have led to many more deaths when the Israelis attack. Taking those soldiers out was necessary to our mission. It’s as simple as that.”

  Shirin asked, “Have you killed many men?”

  The American paused for a moment before answering. “That’s not how I think of it. I don’t keep count. I’ve been on two other deployments, and both involved combat.”

  “How long is a ‘deployment’?” Shirin asked.

  “Usually five to six months. It depends. We spend a lot of our time training and on exercises, then deploy for a while.”

  “So you’ve seen a lot of fighting,” Shirin said.

  “It doesn’t matter how many fights someone’s been in. What matters is being ready for the next one.”

  “And the feelings? Do they go away?” Yousef asked.

  “They become more familiar. They never go away.”

  Memories of those dead Basij soldiers merged with the forms Shirin had seen outside Uncle Seyyed’s house. She was a fugitive, and her uncle had paid the price…Suddenly, a frightful thought burst into her mind.

  “Yousef, I have to find out if mother is all right!”

  The urgency in her tone shocked her husband. “Yousef, is there any way I can call mother? If they tried to arrest Seyyed, VEVAK will take her, too.” As she spoke, her tone changed from urgency to horror at the thought of her own mother in their hands.

  “We can’t use a cell phone, or stop to use one somewhere,” he said flatly. “You know that.”

  “There has to be something we can do to find out,” she pleaded.

  Yousef shook his head and held her hands gently. “What if we could call? Would you warn her? Tell her to run away? And if they were not interested in her before, that call would only draw their attention to her—give them a reason to question her.”

  “I had accepted that I would never see mother again, but I hoped we could find a way to keep in touch. But if they’ve taken her like your brother, Ali. . .”

  Leaning against Yousef, grief swallowed her. “They are destroying my family,” she wept. Eventually, she slept, giving herself over to whatever her dreams would hold.

  ~ * ~

  Second Squad Position, Highway 96

  1930 Local Time/1630 Zulu

  Lieutenant Sistani had walked out to the roadblock. Binoculars were useless now, but he’d taken Alizadeh’s nightscope and carefully studied the scene. The hills on the left blocked any view of his squad’s position from the road, as he knew it would. He’d banned any fires, and the squad had grumbled but obeyed. All of them were in their positions, but he’d allowed some of them to sleep.

  Telling Private Yadegar, now manning the post, to stay alert, he walked the four hundred meters back to the squad. The walk helped wake him up. They’d put in a full day’s work before the alert message had arrived, and now with the rush to get in position over, and the enforced inactivity, fatigue was their enemy.

  Sergeant Zahedi’s voice echoed across the empty ground. “Lieutenant, urgent call from battalion!” It didn’t sound like good news, and the young officer double-timed back to the command post.

  The two noncoms had dug a circular position well back from the road, building it up in front with the spoil and rocks and covering it with a camouflage net. It wasn’t as deep as Sistani would have liked, but oncoming darkness had limited their digging, and he didn’t expect the fugitives to have artillery.

  “Sir, it’s the colonel,” Zahedi reported softly, and the lieutenant took the handset.

  “Sistani here.”

  “Report, Lieutenant. Has there been any sign of trouble?” the colonel asked, as if he were expecting bad news.

  “All quiet here, sir. We’ve seen moderate traffic from both directions. They’ve all stopped and nobody has matched the names or descriptions of the fugitives.”

  “Any trucks?”

  “Yes, sir. We searched them with no results.”

  The signal was clear enough so he could hear the colonel sigh. “There’s been another incident just north of Bandar Charak. Four soldiers and a security agent were killed, and there’s no sign that any of the
fugitives were hurt. Headquarters says they may have accomplices, and are heavily armed. And an army truck is missing.” The colonel read off a license number.

  Sistani had been holding the handset so that Zahedi, standing next to him, could hear as well. He saw Zahedi’s eyes widen, and knew his expression must be similar. The sergeant pointed to his watch, and Sistani nodded.

  “When was this, sir?”

  “About 1830, an hour ago.”

  “Which means if they’re heading southeast on the highway, they could be here at any time.”