Book Read Free

Follett, Ken - On Wings of Eagles.txt

Page 11

by On Wings of Eagles [lit]


  bail.

  I'lien the bad news started coming in.

  Ile Iranian lawyers changed their tune. In turn they reported that the case

  was "political," had "a high political content," and was "a political hot

  potato." John Westberg, the American, had been asked by his Iranian

  partners not to handle the case because it would bring the firm into

  disfavor with powerful people. Evidently Examining Magistrate Hosain Dadgar

  was not on weak ground.

  Lawyer Tom Luce and financial officer Tom Walter had gone to Washington

  and, accompanied by Admiral Moorer, had visited the State Department. They

  had expected to sit down around a table with Henry Precht and formulate an

  aggressive campaign for the release of Paul and Bill. But Henry Precht was

  cool. He had shaken hands with them--he could hardly do less when they were

  accompanied by a former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff-but he had

  not sat down with them. He had handed them over to a subordinate. The

  subordinate reported that none of the State Department's efforts had

  achieved anything: neither Ardeshir Zahedi nor Charlie Naas had been able

  to get Paul and Bill released.

  Tom Luce, who did not have the patience of Job, got mad as hell. It was the

  State Department's job to protect Americans abroad, he said, and so far all

  State had done was to get Paul and Bill thrown in jail! Not so, he was

  told: what State had done so far was above and beyond its normal duty. If

  Americans abroad committed crimes, they were subject to foreign laws: the

  State Department's duties did not include springing people from jail. But,

  Luce argued, Paul and Bill had not committed a crimethey were being held

  hostage for thirteen million dollars! He was

  ON WINGS OF EAGLES 83

  wasting his breath. He and Tom Walter returned to Dallas emptyhanded-

  Late last night Perot had called the U.S. Embassy in Tehran and asked

  Charles Naas why he still had not met with the officials named by Kissinger

  and Zahedi. The answer was simple: those officials were,making themselves

  unavailable to Naas.

  Today Perot had called Kissinger again and reported this. Kissinger was

  sorry: he did not think there was anything more he could do. However, he

  would call Zahedi and try again.

  One more piece of bad news completed the picture. Tom Walter had been

  trying to establish, with the Iranian lawyers, the conditions under which

  Paul and Bill might be released on bail: for example, would they have to

  promise to return to Iran for further questioning if required, or could

  they be interrogated outside the country? Neither, he was told: If they

  were released from prison they still would not be able to leave Iran.

  Now it was New Year's Eve. For three days Perot had been living at the

  office, sleeping on the floor and eating cheese sandwiches. There was

  nobody to go home to-Margot and the children were still in Vail-and,

  because of the nine-and-a-halfhour time difference between Texas and Iran,

  important phone calls were often made in the middle of the night. He was

  leaving the office only to visit his mother, who was now out of the

  hospital and recuperating at her Dallas home. Even with her, he talked

  about Paul and Bill-she was keenly interested in the progress of events.

  This evening he felt the need of hot food, and he decided to brave the

  weather-Dallas was suffering an ice storm-and drive a mile or so to a fish

  restaurant.

  He left the building by the back door and got behind the wheel of his

  station wagon. Margot had a Jaguar, but Perot preferred nondescript cars.

  He wondered just how much influence Kissinger had now, in Iran or anywhere.

  Zahedi and any other Iranian contacts Kissinger had might be like Richard

  Helms's friends-all out of the mainstream, powerless. The Shah seemed to be

  hanging on by the skin of his teeth.

  On the other hand, that whole group might soon need friends in America, and

  might welcome the opportunity to do Kissinger a favor.

  While he was eating, Perot felt a large hand on his shoulder,

  84 Ken Follett

  and a deep voice said: "Ross, what are you doing here, eating all by

  yourself on New Year's Eve?"

  He turned around to see Roger Staubach, quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys,

  a fellow Naval Academy graduate and an old friend. "Hi, Roger! Sit down."

  "I'm here with the family," Staubach said. "The heat's off in our house on

  account of the ice storm.

  "Well, bring them over."

  Staubach beckoned to his family, then said: "How's Margot?"

  "Fine, thank you. She's skiing with the children in Vail. I had to come

  back-we've got a big problem." He proceeded to tell the Staubach family all

  about Paul and Bill.

  He drove back to the office in good spirits. There were still a bunch of

  good people in the world.

  He thought again of Colonel Simons. Of all the schemes he had for getting

  Paul and Bill out, the jailbreak was the one with the longest lead time:

  Simons would need a team of men, a training period, equipment ... And yet

  Perot still had not done anything about it. It had seemed such a distant

  possibility, a last resort: while negotiations had seemed promising he had

  blocked it out of his mind. He was still not ready to call Simons-he would

  wait for Kissinger to have one more try with Zahedi--but perhaps there was

  something he could do to prepare for Simons.

  Back at EDS he found Pat Sculley. Sculley, a West Point graduate, was a

  thin, boyish, restless man of thirty-one. He had been a project manager in

  Tehran and had come out with the December 8 evacuation. He had returned

  after Ashura, then come out again when Paul and Bill were arrested. His job

  at the moment was to make sure that the Americans remaining in Tehran-Lloyd

  Briggs, Rich Gallagher and his wife, Paul and Bill--had reservations on a

  flight out every day, just in case the prisoners should be released.

  With Sculley was Jay Coburn, who had organized the evacuation, and then, on

  December 22, had come home to spend Christmas with his family. Coburn had

  been about to go back to Tehran when he got the news that Paul and Bill had

  been arrested, so he had stayed in Dallas and organized the second

  evacuation. A placid, stocky man, Coburn was thirty-two but looked forty:

  the reason, Perot believed, was that Coburn had lived eight years in one as

  a combat helicopter pilot in Vietnam. For all that, Coburn smiled a lot-a

  slow smile that began as a

  ON WINGS OF EAGLES 85

  twinkle in his eye and often ended in a shoulder-shaking belly laugh.

  Perot liked and trusted both men. They were what he called eagles:

  high-fliers, who used their initiative, got the job done, gave him results

  not excuses. The mono of EDS's recruiters was: Eagles Don't Flock-You Have

  to Find Them One at a Time. One of the secrets of Perot's business success

  was his policy of going looking for men like this, rather than waiting and

  hoping they would apply for a job.

  Perot said to Sculley: "Do you think we're doing everything we need to do

  for Paul and Bill?"

  Sculley responded without hesitation. "No, I
don't."

  Perot nodded. These young men were never afraid to speak out to the boss:

  that was one of the things that made them eagles. "What do you think we

  ought to do?"

  "We ought to break them out," Sculley said. "I know it sounds strange, but

  I really think that if we don't, they have a good chance of getting killed

  in there."

  Perot did not think it sounded strange: that fear had been at the back of

  his mind for three days. "I'm thinking of the same thing." He saw surprise

  on Sculley's face. "I want you two to put together a list of EDS people who

  could help do it. We'll need men who know Tehran, have some military

  experience-preferably in Special Forces-type action-md are one hundred

  percent trustworthy and loyal. "

  "We'll get on it right away," Sculley said enthusiastically.

  The phone rang and Coburn picked it up. "Hi, Keane! Where are you? ... Hold

  on a minute."

  Coburn covered the mouthpiece with his hand and looked at Perot. "Keane

  Taylor is in Frankfurt. If we're going to do something like this, he ought

  to be on the team."

  Perot nodded. Taylor, a former marine sergeant, was another of his eagles.

  Six foot two and elegantly dressed, Taylor was a somewhat irritable man,

  which made him the ideal butt for practical jokes. Perot said: "Tell him to

  go back to Tehran. But don't explain why."

  A slow smile spread across Coburn's young-old face. "He ain't gonna like

  it. "

  Sculley reached across the desk and switched on the speaker so they could

  all hear Taylor blow his cool.

  Coburn said: "Keane, Ross wants you to go back to Iran."

  "What the hell for?" Taylor demanded.

  86 Ken Folleu

  Coburn looked at Perot. Perot shook his head. Coburn said: "Uh, there's a

  lot we need to do, in terms of tidying up, administratively speaking-"

  "You tell Perot I'm not going back in there for any administrative

  bullshit!"

  Sculley started to laugh.

  Coburn said: "Keane, I have somebody else here who wants to talk to you."

  Perot said: "Keane, this is Ross."

  "Oh. Uh, hello, Ross."

  "I'm sending you back to do something very important.

  "Oh. "

  "Do you understand what I'm saying?"

  There was a long pause, then Taylor said: "Yes, sir. Good. "

  "I'm on my way."

  "What time is it there?" Perot asked.

  "Seven o'clock in the morning. "

  Perot looked at his own watch. It said midnight,

  Nineteen Seventy-nine had begun.

  Taylor sat on the edge of the bed in his Frankfurt hotel room, thinking

  about his wife.

  Mary was in Pittsburgh with the children, Mike and Dawn, staying at

  Taylor's brother's house. Taylor had called her from Tehran before leaving

  and told her he was coming home. She had been very happy to hear it. They

  had made plans for the future: they would return to Dallas, put the kids in

  school ...

  Now he had to call and tell her he would not be coming home after all.

  She would be worried.

  Hell, he was worried.

  He thought about Tehran. He had not worked on the Ministry of Health

  project, but had been in charge of a smaller contract, to computerize the

  old-fashioned manual bookkeeping systems of Bank Omran. One day about three

  weeks ago, a mob had formed outside the bank-On-iran was the Shah's bank.

  Taylor had sent his people home. He and Glenn Jackson were the last to

  leave. They locked up the building and started walking north. As they

  turned the comer onto the main street, they walked into the mob. At that

  moment-die army opened fire and charged down the street.

  ON WINGS OF EAGLES 87

  Taylor and Jackson ducked into a doorway. Someone opened the door and

  yelled at them to get inside. They did-but before their rescuer could lock

  it again, four of the demonstrators forced their way in, chased by five

  soldiers.

  Taylor and Jackson flattened themselves against the wall and watched the

  soldiers, with their truncheons and rifles, beat up the demonstrators. One

  of the rebels made a break for it. Two of his fingers were almost torn off

  his hand, and blood spurted all over the glass door. He got out but

  collapsed in the street. The soldiers dragged the other three demonstrators

  out. One was a bloody mess but conscious: the other two were out cold, or

  dead.

  Taylor and Jackson stayed inside until the street was clear. The Iranian

  who had saved them kept saying: "Get out while you can."

  And now, Taylor thought, I have to tell Mary that I've just agreed to go

  back into all that.

  To do something very important.

  Obviously it had to do with Paul and Bill; and if Perot could not talk

  about it on the phone, presumably it was something at least clandestine and

  quite possibly illegal.

  In a way Taylor was glad, despite his fear of the mobs. VAlile still in

  Tehran he had talked on the phone with Bill's wife, Emily Gaylord, and had

  promised not to leave without Bill. The orders from Dallas, that everyone

  but Briggs and Gallagher had to get out, had forced him to break his word.

  Now the orders had changed, and perhaps he could keep his promise to Emily

  after all.

  Well, he thought, I can't walk back, so I'd better find a plane. He picked

  up the phone again.

  Jay Coburn remembered the first time he had seen Ross Perot in action. He

  would never forget it as long as he lived.

  It happened in 1971. Coburn had been with EDS less than two years. He was

  a recruiter, working in New York City. Scott was bom that year at a little

  Catholic hospital. It was a normal birth and, at first, Scott appeared to

  be a normal, healthy baby.

  The day after he was bom, when Coburn went to visit, Liz said Scott had not

  been brought in for his feeding that Morning. At the time Coburn took no

  notice. A few minutes later a woman came in and said: "Here are the

  pictures of your baby."

  "I don't remember any pictures being taken," Liz said. The woman showed her

  the photographs. "No, that's not my baby."

  88 Ken Follett

  The woman looked confused for a moment, then said: "Oh! That's right, yours

  is the one that's got the problem."

  It was the first Coburn and Liz had heard of any problem.

  Coburn went to see the day-old Scott, and had a terrible shock. The baby

  was in an oxygen tent, gasping for air, and as blue as a pair of jeans. The

  doctors were in consultation about him.

  Liz became almost hysterical, and Coburn called their family doctor and

  asked him to come to the hospital. Then he waited.

  Something wasn't stacking up right. What kind of a hospital was it where

  they didn't tell you your newborn baby was dying? Coburn became distraught.

  He called Dallas and asked for his boss, Gary Griggs. "Gary, I don't know

  why I'm calling you, but I don't know what to do." And he explained.

  "Hold the phone," said Griggs

  A moment later there was an unfamiliar voice on the line. 'Jay? 11

  'Yes.

  "This is Ross Perot."

  Coburn had met Perot two or three times, but had never w
orked directly for

  him. Coburn wondered whether Perot even remembered what he looked like; EDS

  had more than a thousand employees at that time.

  "Hello, Ross."

  "Now, Jay, I need some information." Perot started asking questions: What

  was the address of the hospital? What were the doctors' names? What was

  their diagnosis? As he answered, Coburn was thinking bemusedly: does Perot

  even know who I am?

  "Hold on a minute, Jay." There was a short silence. "I'm going to connect

  you with Dr. Urschel, a close friend of mine and a leading cardiac surgeon

  here in Dallas." A moment later Coburn was answering more questions from

  the doctor.

  "Don't you do a thing," Urschel finished. "I'm going to talk to the doctors

  on that staff. You just stay by the phone so we can get back in touch with

  you."

  "Yes, sir," said Coburn dazedly.

  Perot came back on the line. "Did you get all that? How's Liz doing?"

  Coburn thought: How the hell does he know my wife's name?

  ON WINGS OF EAGLES 89

  "Not too well," Coburn answered. "Her doctor's here and he's given her some

  sedation . - - "

  While Perot was soothing Coburn, Dr. Urschel was animating the hospital

  staff. He persuaded them to move Scott to New York University Medical

  Center. Minutes later, Scott and Coburn were in an ambulance on the way to

  the city.

  They got stuck in a traffic jam in the Midtown Tunnel.

  Coburn got out of the ambulance, ran more than a mile to the toll gate, and

  persuaded an official to hold up all lanes of traffic except the one the

  ambulance was in.

  When they reached New York University Medical Center there were ten or

  fifteen people waiting outside for them. Among them was the leading

  cardiovascular surgeon on the East Coast, who had been flown in from Boston

  in the time it had taken the ambulance to reach Manhattan.

  As baby Scott was rushed inside, Coburn handed over the envelope of X rays

  he had brought from the other hospital. A woman doctor glanced at them.

  "Where are the rest?"

  "That's all," Coburn replied.

  "That's all they took?"

  New X rays revealed that, as well as a hole in the heart, Scott had

  pneumonia. When the pneumonia was treated, the heart condition came under

  control.

 

‹ Prev