James Clavell - Whirlwind

by Whirlwind(Lit)

  "what?"

  for answer she just smiled again, picked it up, and ran gaily across the room and down the corridor to the kitchen.

  unsettled, lochart stared at the fire, trying to marshal his arguments, not wanting to order her. but i will if i have to. my god, so many troubles: charlie vanished, kowiss in a mess, kyabi murdered, and sharazad in the middle of a riot! she's crazy! mad to take such a risk! if i lost her i'd die. god, whoever you are, wherever you are, protect her...

  this living room was large. at the far end was a dining-room table and chairs that could seat twelve. most times, they would use the room in iranian style, sitting on the floor, a tablecloth spread for the dishes, lounging against cushions. rarely did they wear shoes and never high heels that could damage the deep carpets. there were five bedrooms, three bathrooms, two living rooms this one they used generally or with company, the other, much smaller at the far end of the apartment was, as customary, for her to go to when he had business to discuss, or when her sister or girlfriends or relations were visiting so their chatter would not disturb him. around sharazad was always movement, always family nearby, children, nannies except after sunset, though frequently relations or close friends were staying in the guest bedrooms.

  he never minded, for they were a happy, gregarious family, in front of him. it was also part of his bargain with her father that he would patiently learn iranian ways, patiently live iranian ways for three years and a day. then he could choose to live outside iran temporarily with sharazad if he needed to: "because by then," her father, jared bakravan, had said kindly, "with the help of the one god and the prophet of god, may his words live forever, by then

  you will have enough knowledge to make the correct choice, for surely by then you will have sons and daughters, for though my daughter is thin, divorced, and still childless, i do not think she is barren."

  "but she's still so young, we may decide it is too soon to have children."

  "it is never too soon," bakravan had said sharply. "the holy books are quite clear. a woman needs children. a home needs children. without children a woman will get into idle ways. that's the most of my beloved sharazad's problem, no children. some modern ways i approve of. some i do not."

  "but if we agree, she and i, that it is too soo "

  "such a decision would not be her business!" fared bakravan had been shocked. he was a small, paunchy man with white hair and beard and hard eyes. "it would be monstrous, an insult, even to discuss it with her. you must think like an iranian or this possible marriage will never last. or even begin. never. ah, is it that you don't want children?"

  "oh, no, of course i want children, but per "

  "good, then it's settled thus."

  "then can it be settled thus: for three years and a day may i decide if it is too soon?"

  "such an idea is foolish. if you don't want chit "

  "oh, but of course i do, excellency."

  at length the old man had said, reluctantly, "one year and a day only but only if you swear by the one god that you truly want children, that this astonishing request is completely temporary! your head is truly filled with nonsense, my son. with the help of god, such nonsense will vanish like the snow on desert sand. of course women need children..."

  absently lochart smiled to himself. that wonderful old man would bargain with god in the garden of paradise. and why not? isn't that the national pastime of iranians? but what do i say to him in a few days now the year and a day almost over? do i want the burden of children? no, not yet. but sharazad does. oh, she went along with my decision, and she's never mentioned it but i don't think she ever approved it.

  he could hear the muted sounds of her voice and the maid's voice from the kitchen and the quiet it enhanced was, as always, wonderful such a contrast to the cockpit that was his other life. his cushions were very comfortable and he watched the fire. there was some gunfire in the night but by now it was so commonplace that they hardly heard it.

  i've got to get her out of tehran, he thought. but how? she'll never leave while her family're here. maybe she's safer here than anywhere, but not if she joins the riots. doshan tappeh! she's crazy, but then they all are at the moment. i wish to god i knew if the army's really been ordered to crush the revolt. bakhtiar has to move soon or he's finished. but if he does there'll be a blood

  bath because iranians are a violent people, death seekers providing it's in the service of islam.

  ah, islam! and god. where's the one god now?

  in all the hearts and heads of believers. shi'ites are believers. so's sharazad. and all her family. and you? no, not yet but i'm working on it. i promised him i'd work on it, promised i'd read the koran and keep an open mind. and?

  now's not the time to think of that. be practical, think practically. she's in danger. chador or not she's not going to get involved, but then, why shouldn't she? it's her country.

  yes, but she's my wife and i'll order her to stay out of it. what about her father's place on the caspian sea near bandar-e pahlavi? maybe they'd take her there or send her there the weather's good now, not as rotten cold as it is here, though our home's warm, the oil tank always full, wood for the fire, food in the icebox, thanks to her old man and the family.

  my god, i owe him so much, so very much.

  a slight noise distracted him. sharazad was standing in the doorway wearing the chador and a light veil that he had never seen before. her eyes were never more alluring. the chador was sibilant as she moved closer. then she let it fall open. she wore nothing underneath. the sight of her made him gasp.

  "so." her voice as always soft and throbbing, the farsi sweet-sounding. "so, excellency, my husband, so now my chador pleases you?"

  he reached out for her but she darted back a step, laughing. "in the summer the public women of the night wear their chadors thus, so it is said."

  "sharazad..."

  "no."

  this time he caught her easily. the taste of her, the sheen of her, her softness. "perhaps, master," she said between kisses, gently taunting him, "perhaps your slave will always wear her chador thus, in the streets, in the bazaar, many women do, so they say."

  "no. the thought would drive me mad." he began to pick her up but she whispered, "no, beloved, let us stay here," and he replied, "but the servants..." and again she whispered, "forget them, they'll not disturb us, forget them, forget everything, i beg you, beloved, and only remember that this is your house, this is your hearth, and i am your eternal slave."

  they stayed. as always her passion equated his though he could not understand how or why, only that with her he went to paradise, truly, stayed in the garden of the paradise with this nymph of paradise and then returned with her safe to earth again.

  later, during dinner, the front doorbell disturbed their peace. her servant hassan answered it, then came back into the room, closing the door. "master, it's excellency general valik," he said softly. "he apologizes that he arrives

  so late but it's important and asks if your excellency would grant him a few minutes."

  lochart's irritation soared but sharazad reached over and touched him gently and it went away. "see him, beloved. i will wait for you in bed. hassan, bring a fresh plate and heat up the horisht, his excellency's bound to be hungry."

  valik apologized profusely for arriving so late, refused food twice but of course allowed himself to be persuaded and ate ravenously. lochart waited patiently, fulfilling his promise to her father to remember iranian ways that family came first, that it was good manners to skirt an issue, never to be blunt, never to be direct. in farsi it was much easier than in english.

  as soon as he could, he switched to english. "i'm very pleased to see you, general. what can i do for you?"

  "i only heard half an hour ago that you were back in tehran. this horisht is easily the best i've had in years. i'm so sorry to disturb you so late."

  "no trouble." lochart left the silence to prosper. the older man ate without embarrassment that he ate alone. a p
iece of lamb attached itself to his mustache and lochart watched it, fascinated, wondering how long it would remain there, then valik wiped his mouth. "my compliments to sharazad her cook is well trained. i will tell my favorite cousin, excellency jared."

  "thank you." lochart waited.

  again the silence hung between them. valik sipped some tea. "did the clearance for the 212 come through?"

  "not by the time we'd left." lochart was unprepared for the question. "i know mac sent a messenger to wait for it. i'd phone him but unfortunately our phone's out. why?"

  "the partners would like you to fly the charter."

  "captain mciver's assigned captain lane, presuming there's a clearance."

  "it will be granted." valik wiped his mouth again and helped himself to more tea. "the partners would like you to fly the charter. i'm sure mciver will agree."

  "sorry, but i've got to get back to zagros, i want to make sure everything's okay." he told him briefly what had happened there.

  "i'm sure zagros can wait a few days. i'm sure jared would be pleased you thought it important to do what the partners ask."

  lochart frowned. "i'm happy to do anything. what's so important to the partners about this charter, a few spares, a few rials?"

  "all charters are important. the partners are very concerned to give the best service. so that's all right, then?"

  "i'd... first i'd have to take it up with mac, second i doubt if the 212'll be cleared, third i really should get back to my base."

  valik smiled his nicest smile. "i'm sure mac will give his approval. you'll

  have clearance to leave tehran airspace." he got up. "i'm going to see mac now and i'll tell him you're agreeable. thank sharazad again a thousand apologies for calling so late but these are troubled times."

  lochart did not move from the table. "i still want to know what's so important about a few spares and a hundred thousand rials."

  "the partners have decided it is, and so my dear young friend, hearing you were here and knowing your close relationship with my family, i presumed at once that you would be happy to do this if i asked you personally. we're the same family. aren't we?" it was said flat now, though the smile remained.

  lochart's eyes narrowed. "i'm glad to do anything to help b "

  "good, then it's settled. thank you. i'll see myself out." from the doorway valik turned and pointedly looked around at the apartment. "you are a very lucky man, captain. i envy you."

  when valik had gone, lochart sat by the dying fire, staring at the flames. hassan and a maid cleaned away the dishes, said good night but he did not hear them nor sharazad who came back later, peered at him, then went quietly back to bed, dutifully leaving him to his reverie.

  lochart was sick at heart. he knew that valik was aware that everything of value in the apartment, along with the apartment itself, had been a wedding gift from sharazad's father. fared bakravan had even given him de facto ownership of the whole building at least the rents thereof. few knew of their argument: "as much as i appreciate your generosity i can't accept all this, sir," lochart had said. "it's impossible."

  "but these are material things, unimportant things."

  "yes, but this is too much. i know my pay's not great, but we can manage. truly."

  "yes, of course. but why shouldn't my daughter's husband live pleasantly? how else can you be at peace to learn iranian ways and fulfill your promise? i assure you, my son, these represent little value to me. now you are part of my family. family is most important in iran. family looks after family."

  "yes, but i must look after her i must, not you."

  "of course, and with the help of god you will, in time, provide for her in the way she is used to. but now this is not possible for you with the support for your ex-wife and child which you must provide. now it is my wish to arrange matters in a civilized way, our iranian way. you have promised to live as we live, no?"

  "yes. but please, i cannot accept all this. give her what you like, not me. i must be allowed to do the best i can."

  "i'm sure you will. meanwhile, this is all my gift to you, not to her. this makes my gift of her to you possible."

  "give it to her not't "

  jared bakravan had said sharply, "it is the will of god that man is the master of the house. if it is not your house then you will not be the master. i must insist. i am head of the family and sharazad will do what i say and for sharazad i must insist, or the wedding cannot take place. i realize your western dilemma though i don't understand it, my son. but here iranian ways dominate all else, and family looks after family..."

  in the vast loneliness of the sitting room lochart nodded to himself. that's right and i chose sharazad, chose to accept but... but that sonofabitch valik threw it all in my face and made me feel dirty again and i hate him for it, hate not paying for everything, and know the only gift i can give her is freedom she would never otherwise have and my life if need be. at least she's canadian now and doesn't have to stay.

  don't fool yourself, she's iranian and always will be. would she be at home in vancouver, b.c., with all that rain, no family, no friends, and nothing iranian? yes, yes, i think so; for a time i'd make up for all the other. for a while, of course not forever.

  it was the first time he had confronted the real problem looming between them. our iran's gone forever, the old one, the shah one. never mind that perhaps the new will be better. she'll adapt and so will 1. i speak farsi and she's my wife and jared's powerful. if we have to leave temporarily, i'll make up for the temporary parting, no problem there. the future's still rosy and good and i love her so very much and bless god for her...

  the fire was almost finished now and he smelled the comforting, burned wood fragrance and, with it, a thread of her perfume. the cushions still held the indentations where they had lain and though he was totally satisfied and spent, he ached for her. she's really one of the houris, the spirits of paradise, he thought sleepily. i'm in her spell and that's wonderful, i've no complaints and if i died tonight i know what paradise is like. she's wonderful, jared's wonderful, in due course her children will be wonderful and her family...

  ah, family! family looks after family, that's the law, i have to do what valik asked, like it or not. have to, her father made that clear.

  the last of the embers spluttered and, in dying, momentarily blazed up. "what's so important about a few spares and a few rials?" he asked the flames.

  the flames did not answer him.

  monday february 12

  at tabriz one: 7:12 a.m. charlie pettikin was fitfully asleep, curled up on a mattress on the floor under a single blanket, his hands tied in front of him. it was just dawn and very cold. the guards had not allowed him a portable gas fire and he was locked into the section of erikki yokkonen's cabin that would normally be a storeroom. ice glistened on the inside of the panes of glass in the small window. the window was barred on the outside. snow covered the sill.

  his eyes opened and he jerked upright, startled, not knowing where he was for the moment. then his memory flooded back and he hunched against the wall, his whole body aching. "what a damned mess!" he muttered, trying to ease his shoulders. with both hands he awkwardly wiped the sleep out of his eyes, and rubbed his face, feeling filthy. the stubble of his beard was flecked with gray. hate being unshaved, he thought.

  today's monday. i got here saturday at sunset and they caught me yesterday morning. bastards! ~

  on saturday evening there had been many noises around the cabin that|had added to his disquiet. once he was sure he heard muffled voices. quietly he

  doused the lights, slid the bolt back, and stood on the stoop, the very pistol in his hand. with great care he had searched the darkness. then he saw, or thought he saw, a movement thirty yards away, then another farther off.

  "who are you?" he called out, his voice echoing strangely. "what do you want?"

  no one answered him. another movement. where? thirty forty yards away difficult to judge distances at night. look, there'
s another! was it a man? or just an animal or the shadow of a branch. or perhaps what was that? over there by the big pine. "you! over there! what do you want?"

  no answer. he could not make out if it was a man or not. enraged and even a little frightened he aimed and pulled the trigger. the banggg seemed like a clap of thunder and echoed off the mountains and the red flare ripped toward the tree, ricocheted off it in a shower of sparks, sprayed into another to bury itself spluttering and spitting in a snowdrift. he waited.

  nothing happened. noises in the forest, the roof of the hangar creaking, wind in the treetops, sometimes snow falling from an overladen tree branch that sprang back, free once more. making a big show he angrily stamped his feet against the cold, switched on the light, loaded the pistol again, and reboiled the door. "you're getting to be an old woman in your old age," he said aloud, then added, "bullshit! i hate the quiet, hate being alone, hate snow, hate the cold, hate being scared and this morning at galeg morghi shook me, god curse it and that's a fact but for young ross i know that savak bastard would've killed me!"