by James Ward
“Yes, I know that model,” Kourosh declared. “They could be real trouble if they get any idea where we are.”
“Right you are,” said Roche. The thirty cal gun on those things can strafe a wide area and chew right through this brittle rock.” He gestured to the stuff they sat on.
“I think we should wait for darkness to make the last leg of our hike,” said Kourosh. “In darkness we could make it all the way to Kapikoy where Mister Taylor will be waiting.”
Roche thought about it for a minute. If he agreed, they would remain exposed to Iranian fire for yet another two or three hours. If they crossed the border in darkness, he would need Kourosh as a guide for longer than he had anticipated.
Before he could answer, the rhythmic sound of a helicopter engine came from the east. The helo was flying NOE (Nap Of the Earth) bobbing up and down the rough terrain. The machine followed the trail that Roche and Menzadah had just traveled. In just a minutes or so it could cover the distance that took the hikers most of the day.
“Come!” shouted Kourosh, “I know a place!” The two men scurried down some loose rock to a small clearing. The clearing sat at the mouth of a small cave. They scrambled into the cave just as the helicopter passed nearby.
They lay quiet in the cave. Roche was afraid they might have been picked up on the helicopter’s infra-red gear.
Moments later, one of the jets swooped down. Beginning at the end of the trail near the remains of the bus, the pilot strafed the trail with his rapid-fire cannon. Belching rounds at thousands per minute, the gunfire chewed up the trail. Vegetation and rock chips flew in all directions. The pilot soon spent all his ammo. He pulled up abruptly streaking skyward. Behind him came the second jet. He began his strafing pattern just behind the end of the first pilot’s. By the time the second jet pulled up, the destruction had reached a point near the spot Roche and Menzadah had just abandoned.
Roche and Menzadah peered out of their haven wide-eyed as the third jet came diving in to begin his run. Suddenly a noise was heard from just beyond the plateau. Roche strained to identify the noise. It sounded sort of familiar.
The jet fighter suddenly burst into flames and came apart. Pieces of the airplane fell in all directions, dripping balls of fire. The plane was close enough that Roche saw the pilot eject from the titanium tub that surrounded him to protect against small arms fire from below. The ejection seat functioned perfectly driving the seat and pilot high into the air above the disintegrating aircraft but the parachute did not. Realizing he was going to die but powerless to do anything about it, the pilot screamed just as he slammed into the rock face.
_________
Just across the border, Gunny Grundstrom did not know whether to laugh or cry.
The pilots had failed to see the gun, the trucks and Steck’s team of fighters snug under their camouflage nets. Steck ordered everyone to stay down and stay still.
As the third pilot made his approach to strafe the trail, Gunny realized that the strafing path would chop right through their position before the gun ran out of ammo. That would destroy the fifty caliber gun on the truck, blowing their ammo reserves and probably killing most of the team. He leaped onto the truck, sighted the gun and fired right down the Frogfoot’s snout. The pattern of his shots caught the engines on either side of the fuselage and the frogfoot ceased to be an airplane.
The action was close enough that chunks of flaming frogfoot fell within fifty yards of their position.
When Gunny regained his composure enough to speak, he just shouted “Oh crap!”
Steck shared his feeling. They had better get out of there fast before the Iranians figured out what had just happened. “Pull back,” he ordered. “Get back to base on the double.”
By the time they all reached their cave just off the highway and stashed their trucks and gear under camouflage, the helicopter crew had realized that their fighter plane had not malfunctioned but had been taken down.
They wasted precious minutes obtaining permission to have a look across the border.
Steck meanwhile rang up Morgan. “What the Blazes was that?” Morgan shouted.
“We had to take out an airplane,” was Steck’s reply. “There’s an Iranian helicopter with attack capability standing off,” he said. “The pilot’s probably trying to get permission to cross the border. When he gets it, he’ll kill us all.”
Morgan looked around the room. Lindsley didn’t know what to say. The director finally nodded. “Send in the bird.” He said quietly.
“Give me your exact position,” Morgan said anxiously.
Steck barked his position.
“Take cover, Bob and good luck.” Morgan clicked off then contacted the pilot of the remote controlled Predator. The pilot was actually two floors away from them at Langley.
“Do you see the helicopter?” he asked the pilot.
“Lined-up and locked-on sir,” the man replied.
“Take it out,” ordered Morgan.
Morgan turned to the director. “Sir, I Think we better call the President.”
_________
Steck and his crew hunkered down in their cave. They could hear the helicopter coming toward them at high speed. The pilot saw infra-red signatures of the truck engines, still warm after their run to base. Figuring he was alone, he took his time, swinging the big bird around to take aim with his rockets.
Before the pilot could give the command to his gunner to fire, the machine exploded from a direct hit by a hellfire missile. They never knew what hit them.
Steck waited a few minutes to be sure the helicopter would not be joined by others.
“Let’s get our butts out of here.” He ordered. “Hey Brandt, I’ve got a job for you. Take Marya and make your way to the road just by the border crossing. You’ll see where the trail rejoins the road. If you spot Roche and his companion, tail them and report what you see.”
The two prepared for their detail. They packed night sights, side arms and ammo. They each chose H&K 500’s as rifles. They moved out just as the team finished packing the trucks for their pullback to Van.
When everything was ready to go, Steck summoned their attention. “We all owe our lives to one man today. He gestured to his second in command, “Great job, Gunny!”
_________
Roche and Menzadah stayed in their cave, waiting for darkness. An hour later in light snow they began the five mile trek to Kapikoy.
“We didn’t even have to fire a shot,” Remarked Roche as they walked along.
“We’re not there yet,” replied a stern faced Menzadah.
Roche was so pleased that he had made it alive that he forgot about killing Menzadah. He dismissed the whole idea as probably just paranoia anyway.
As they walked along, the relief of making it to Turkey in one piece set in and the two carried on a lively conversation. They never noticed the two figures tracking them from a few hundred yards behind.
CHAPTER 46
Ajir and one of his body guards had survived the attack on the bus, only to be taken into custody by the Iranian army then turned over to MOIS for questioning. His wife and children had to make a run for it so they would not be taken.
He was put in an unheated cell that stank of urine and death. After intense interrogation he had been allowed one visitor of his choice. His lawyer came to visit.
Ajir was a pitiful sight. He had two black eyes. Blood had dried on his forehead after oozing for hours from a head wound sustained during interrogation. “Are my children safe?” Ajir asked.
“Your children and you wife are safely in Ashgabat,” the lawyer told him.
“Did they take my airplane to Ashgabat?” he asked.
“No, they took a commercial flight. The government has impounded your airplane.” The lawyer waited for that to sink in. “I bribed the MOIS and your father was released twenty minutes ago.” he said. “I cannot get you out until you confess to whatever it is they want you to confess.”
“I don’t know what
they want me to confess!” complained Ajir. “They won’t tell me.”
After the lawyer left, Ajir put his head to the floor and thanked Allah that his children and his father had been spared. He got up and began to plot how he would get out of Evin prison.
_________
Roche and Menzadah finally made it to the appointed pick up area just outside the village of Kapikoy in Turkey about eight o’clock pm. As promised, Taylor and one of the Turkish employees of Al Kafajy trading company met them.
“Well, we finally meet Mister Roche!” Taylor announced. “Did you bring my precious trinket?”
“Trinket indeed,” muttered Roche. “The thing almost cost me my life.”
“You were paid well to risk your life my friend,” said Taylor, “the full amount we greed upon will be deposited to your account tomorrow morning.”
Roche brightened. “So, you are a man of your word,” he allowed.
“As always,” Chris replied. He produced a pint of good Scot’s whiskey and offered it to his companions. Roche took a long draught. The Muslims declined. Between Taylor and Roche the bottle was half empty by the time they had each recounted the day’s activities.
Just yards away, hidden in some snow-coated brush Brandt and Lukianov recorded the conversations of their enemy on a small MP3 machine.
For safety’s sake they did not try to communicate. Lukianov smiled when the bottle came out and held her hand up as if holding a glass. Brandt got the inference and held up his own. They made an imaginary toast. Brandt could almost taste the whiskey.
“So, where are you guys headed after Istanbul?” Taylor asked Roche and Menzadah.
“I’m going to stay in Turkey,” Menzadah declared. “It will be too hot for me in Iran for quite a while.”
“I’m going to hit the beach in Spain,” said Roche, “How about you Taylor?”
“I’m heading for Paris.” Chris held up the ABS case. “My boss is waiting to receive this.”
When the last of the bottle had been consumed the men loaded into the car for the trip to Istanbul.
Brandt and Lukianov retreated. They had what they needed. Finding a small cave just off the road, they holed up and dialed up Steck, who had already reached Van. Steck sent Gunny with a car to extract them. Within hours Steck had relayed the pertinent information to Morgan.
Next morning after reaching Istanbul, the men split up.
Menzadah took his payment as a grub stake to establish a life for himself in Turkey.
Roche took a flight to Spain. He had decided to rent a villa on the Mediterranean near Marbella to settle in for a month’s vacation as Jacob Breen. Eventually he would catch a flight back to Mexico. His bank account had been seriously enriched in the past weeks. He left it with Taylor that he might be available for future operations but only on a very selective basis. He had enough money to live the way he wanted to live for the rest of his life.
Chris Taylor caught Air France to Paris.
Morgan and Mort Lindsley consulted about how to proceed. They decided to contact Interpol to have Taylor picked up in Paris. They were told that Interpol’s constitution prohibits ‘any intervention or activities of a political, military, religious or racial character.’ It would take three to five days for Interpol to study the request and make a determination whether the Americans were simply chasing thieves or if there were some political overtones that would violate Interpol protocol. Of course if they waited three days Taylor would be long gone.
Morgan fumed at what he perceived as “bureaucratic nonsense nearly equal to those NATO idiots.”
They contacted one of Morgan’s counterparts in French Intelligence and within hours had two agents; one Frenchman and one American waiting at the gate for Taylor’s plane.
_________
Greg Liss woke next morning in his own bed beside Lisa Raines. As consciousness spread Greg tried to remember what had happened last night.
Lisa’s eyes opened. She snuggled up to Greg.
“Did we…uh did we do anything last night?” Greg asked.
“No, baby but I’m ready if you are,” she said seductively.
“I’m not,” he replied scrambling out of bed.
“What’s wrong?” Lisa looked puzzled.
“Lisa, we have to talk,” Greg began. “Look, I don’t know where to begin but I can’t go on like this.” Greg reached for his pants. It would be a long morning.
_________
Air France flight 2391 from Istanbul to Charles De Gaulle arrived on time at eleven-forty a.m. The crew had to wake Taylor, who had slept through the four hour flight in his comfortable first class seat. Chris was last off the plane.
Two men came along side him as he walked briefcase in hand down the long moving walkway towards passport control. Moments later he was in custody, riding in a vehicle run by French security to a place off the airport grounds where he would be searched and interrogated.
At eight pm Washington time, Morgan received a call. The Hand of Mohammed was in the possession of an American agent who would catch a flight to Dulles next morning. That meant the figurine would be in the JUMP team’s hands within twenty-four hours.
“Gosh,” Lindsley blurted at the news, “that was easy once the thing got to Europe.”
The JUMP team spent all day writing reports and cleaning up paperwork in preparation for closing the operation.
Susan Deet suggested that Doctor Wigglesworth have a look at the item before it went into storage. She argued that it would be a kindness to the old man since he had spent his life searching for the thing.
Lindsley was against having Wigglesworth involved. “For goodness sake, Susie, we’re going to open an investigation into his illegal trafficking in antiquities as soon as we wrap up this operation,” he said. What use would it serve?”
“Hold on a minute Mort,” Morgan said. “I think Susan’s idea has merit. If we let old Wigglesworth see the thing with his own eyes we could send a message to the Saudis to back-off in a way that would allow them to ‘save face’ diplomatically.”
Susan flashed a look of appreciation to Morgan. She wondered why Greg hadn’t shown up yet this morning. She knew he would support any kindness toward his old professor. She wanted to have his support to add weight to her argument.
Lindsley finally came around. “I will support Susie’s initiative,” he said, but I still have misgivings.”
Greg arrived in the early afternoon offering a lame excuse for being late. He and Susan exchanged longing glances then went to work on a joint report.
The glances did not go unnoticed by Mort Lindsley. He wondered what was going on between his two protégés. Young love was a thing he always favored, but not between two of his agents that had to work together every day. He decided to keep it to himself for now.
Lindsley got a message to Wigglesworth by having one of the agents watching his house meet him at his door and taking a walk with him across the Dartmouth campus. He did this because he knew the Saudis were still in the area. There was no telling what kind of electronic surveillance they might have in place beyond the rudimentary stuff the FBI had already detected.
Morgan and his boss the director contacted the President, who was happy that the item was back in American hands. He asked for a call when it arrived safely.
At the end of the day around nine pm, the JUMP team sat at their conference table staring at the item that had been their objective for months.
Greg Liss was ecstatic. Morgan was pleased at the outcome. Mort Lindsley drawled, “The thing looks like the ceramics my aunt used to make. She always gave us some ugly thing like that every Christmas.”
“Now that we have the thing,” Morgan announced, “let’s all call the President on the speaker phone and share the glory.”
CHAPTER 47
Brandt and Marya Lukianov bid farewell in Istanbul. Her next posting was to Paris, where she would check-in with the local CSIS bureau. She liked working in France because among the many Russian émi
gré families in Paris were some of her relatives. Her job required facility in the French language, so she felt at home in Paris. Steck thanked her for her exemplary service and sent a long email to MacFergus commending her as an able and professional agent.
Marya tried to keep a line out with Brandt. She was very attracted to him and thought about a relationship outside work. Until the operation they were working together was over, it would have to be professional. Now that it was ending she let him know that he could look her up anytime.
Brandt was wary of a personal relationship with Marya. She was a very beautiful woman and he was strongly attracted but there was the issue of Carole Hinson. If they ever became more than colleagues, he knew he would let it slip sooner or later. Brandt had no doubt that Marya would kill him without remorse if she knew what had happened.
Brandt and Grundstrom flew back to Amman, where Gunny had some business to tidy-up for Free Nation. When they checked-in at the Intercontinental there was a message from Colonel Randy. He wanted to meet Brandt in Frankfurt, Germany. When Brandt called him, Randy was already in New York visiting Saleem. They made arrangements to meet in Frankfurt two days later.
_________
When Professor Wigglesworth heard that The Hand of Mohammed had been recovered, he asked right away if he could see it. The agent assigned to him reported that the old man was eager to view the item, but that he was reluctant to travel and leave his wife at home.
At JUMP team headquarters, Greg Liss suggested that he take The Hand to Dartmouth.
“No way, Greg,” snapped Lindsley. “We can’t risk losing this thing. Either the old man comes here or we just put it away.”
Morgan had to agree with Mort. Careless handling or some accident could be a disaster right at the cusp of victory.
In the end it was decided that Susan and Greg would fly to Lebanon airport, just two miles from Dartmouth College in the team’s Learjet. They would pick up Doctor and Missus Wigglesworth and would fly them directly to Washington. They would stay with the couple as escorts then fly them back home.