The American

by Andrew Britton

  After the guard had completed a cursory inspection of the jeep, the BMP-3 infantry carrier was rolled back to allow them to pass. The road led into a small clearing contained on three sides by towering granite walls that kept out much of the inclement weather. The clearing was dominated by a large canvas tent powered by a command vehicle and its generator, both of which were miniscule by comparison. Two more soldiers of the Taliban stood guard outside the imposing shelter, but otherwise the clearing was devoid of human life.

  After leaving the jeep, al-Adel and March approached the tent slowly, careful to keep their hands in plain view. One soldier checked them for weapons, taking both of al-Adel’s while the other stood back and covered the two arrivals with his rifle. Once again a quick conference was held by radio, and then the tent flap was pulled back to allow both men to enter.

  Ryan and Naomi walked for twenty minutes before he found a suitable location just opposite the predetermined collection point. The alley entrance was just below a recently installed streetlight, and the glare of the bulb made all but the first few feet of the black corridor impenetrable to the eye. The space between the brick walls of the buildings was perhaps 4 feet wide, and dominated by the smell of rotting garbage in close proximity. The stench was slightly quelled by a cool breeze that felt like an arctic wind in the narrow confines of the alleyway.

  He moved deep into the dark space before pulling one of the two blankets from his pack and folding it into thirds. He placed the neat square of material on the litter-strewn ground and pulled Naomi down onto the makeshift seat. Then he reached for the second blanket and draped it over her, watching with satisfaction as she pulled the coarse wool around her body. After taking his own seat on the rough cement several feet away, Ryan focused his attention on the road adjacent to the alleyway and tried to ignore the biting cold.

  After a few minutes he turned to check on Naomi and found her watching him, the luminous green eyes clearly visible even in the shadowed confines of the alley. He could also see that she was shivering hard, the thick material having fallen down from around her shoulders. Sliding over, he wrapped the blanket even tighter around her, and then pulled her shaking body close to his. After another moment she relaxed and rested her head gently on his shoulder.

  “Ryan?”

  “Hmmm?”

  “When you shot him, did you feel anything?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Is it hard for you? I mean, killing someone?”

  “Yes.”

  “That’s a lie,” she mumbled after a moment. He did not respond. “I watched your face when you pulled the trigger… There was nothing there.”

  Her eyelids were growing heavy, and she pushed herself tighter into his body as the sleep began to wash over her like a warm sea. “What was the little girl’s name, Ryan?”

  He felt his muscles stiffen with apprehension. He did not want to remember that, to remember what they had done to her. It had taken so long to forget…

  “It’s not right, you know. It’s not right that you feel nothing when you take a life…” A long pause. “The girl in Bosnia. What was her name?”

  “Safiya,” he finally said. Her head was dipped, her face hidden from view. She could not have known the pain it caused him. “Her name was Safiya.”

  “Thank you.” The words were so soft that he almost missed them.

  Once again he stayed silent, and after a few minutes heard her breathing settle into the soft rhythm of sleep. Looking down, Kealey found her features hidden by layers of lustrous hair falling about her face. Only her nose was visible, the very tip peeking through the black waves. Instinctively, he pulled her even closer, turning his head away from the alley’s entrance just as a police car screamed past.

  He willed the hours to pass and waited for the image of a young girl’s torn body to fade from his mind.

  The air was warm and thick inside the tent, the combined effects of an overworked space heater and the trapped odor of men who had not bathed in weeks. There was a section separated from the sleeping quarters by a threadbare blanket hung from a wooden pole. The makeshift curtain was not pulled all the way across, and March could see the communications gear set up on a wooden fold-out table. A soldier wearing a headset was seated before the array of equipment. Monitoring the radio net, he thought. He’d done the same thing many years before.

  There was a flurry of activity in another cordoned section and two men emerged, one with a rifle in his hands. The other carried no weapon, and wore a thick woolen sweater over a linen shirt and wrinkled dress pants. The eyes behind the simple steel-frame spectacles were bleary with lack of sleep, but March could still easily identify the distrustful gaze that was aimed in his direction. The younger man with the rifle watched March carefully as his superior pulled al-Adel aside and began speaking rapid French in forceful tones.

  March was fluent in the language, a fact that he had never revealed in al-Adel’s presence. He clearly understood that the older man was angry with Saif for bringing him into the mountains. Abruptly, the man turned to speak to March in cultured English. “Do you know who I am?”

  “Of course.”

  “Why have you come here?”

  “To speak with the Emir.” March tilted his head a fraction to the left and appraised the man who stood before him: Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri, the Director’s private physician and closest confidante. March knew it was widely suspected in Western intelligence circles that this man had died several years earlier in an air raid over southwestern Afghanistan. “I thought Saif would have explained this to you. I do not think it is too much to ask, considering what I have contributed to your organization.”

  “What you have contributed,” the physician repeated, an edge to his voice. A short, barking laugh as he turned to al-Adel in amusement, and then back to the American. “What have you done that is so special? I was fighting the jihad from an Egyptian jail when your mother was dressing you for school. The death of a politician, the destruction of an empty building… These are your grand accomplishments? That is all you have to offer?”

  “It is more than your entire organization has achieved in four years,” March pointed out. He watched the arrogant smirk fade, slowly replaced by a strangely indifferent expression.

  The older man turned to the junior soldier with the rifle and issued a command in French. Before the last word left his mouth, March had taken three lightning-fast steps forward to deliver a vicious blow to the young man’s throat. The soldier’s iron grip on the rifle slipped as his hands shot to his neck, groping at his crushed windpipe, his eyes bulging wide. March pulled the weapon out of the air, ejected the magazine, and snapped the round out of the chamber before the clip hit the ground. Only then was al-Adel screaming for security. The American’s hands were out and open, the rifle disarmed at his feet as the two soldiers standing guard outside pulled back the flap and moved quickly into the tent.

  March ignored the muzzles held to his head and the violent Arabic curses. He ignored the tortured choking sounds of the dying soldier. He stared straight into the shock-ridden face of Ayman al-Zawahiri before speaking again.

  “I won’t let you give that order,” March said, making no attempt to hide the snarl in his fluent French. “I didn’t come this far to lose my life at the hand of some pimple-faced child. You would be the one dying now if it pleased me to see it happen. I am here to give you an opportunity, perhaps the greatest of your life. Trust me when I tell you to take it. If nothing else, I should have your trust by now.”

  The rifles did not waver. There was complete silence in the room. Finally, the physician gave a hand signal and the soldiers slowly lowered their weapons. “Check him again,” he said, waving absently at one of the fighters. He studied March intently, his face wiped clean of any emotion. “My trust is not so easily won.”

  One of the young men stepped forward nervously and patted him down at arm’s length. The boy on the ground was moving slower than before, the spastic movements
coming less frequently now that he was almost out of air. The nineteen-year-old fighter conducting the search saw that the American did not once look down at the destruction he had caused. He finished as quickly as possible and retreated into the communications room, immediately pulling the curtain back behind him.

  Al-Zawahiri lifted his chin in March’s direction and said, “Follow me.” March was surprised when the man turned toward the entrance leading back outside. He was so surprised that he did not immediately take note of Saif al-Adel’s body next to his, the pale face moving in close, hissing words and flecks of spittle into his ear.

  “You are a dead man, American. Dead. I swear it to you.”

  There was nothing he could say. He ignored Saif and followed al-Zawahiri across the bleak clearing toward a cavernous opening carved deep into the mountainside.

  “Mr. Kealey? Ms. Kharmai? The ambassador will see you now.”

  Ryan stood with Naomi and followed Gillian Farris, the deputy chief of mission, through the large, oak-paneled doors leading into the ambassador’s spacious office. Henry Martins stood up from behind his desk politely as they entered, but there was no trace of a smile on the broad, weathered face. Martins had nearly thirty years of experience in the Foreign Service, but had never before dealt with a situation quite like the one he currently faced. He did not relish the opportunity to do so now.

  “Please, take a seat,” he said. He walked around the desk and joined them in the small seating area, easing his weight wearily into one of the several comfortable armchairs. Ryan watched in surprise as Martins poured them each coffee from a small carafe on the low center table. Finally, he looked up to study them from beneath hooded eyelids.

  “I received a call thirty minutes ago from the Minister of Foreign Affairs. He’s been on the phone with the chief of the South African Police Service… Evidently, the only vehicle found outside of the warehouse was a silver Mercedes sedan leased three years ago by one of Stephen Gray’s holding companies. That will go on the police report, by the way.”

  Ryan breathed a soft sigh of relief and saw the tension drain out of Naomi’s shoulders. The Nissan must have been taken by Gray’s injured bodyguard. It was definitely a break; the vehicle would have linked them directly to the scene. Although they were traveling under assumed identities, it was one less thing that might come back on them at a later date. “What about the driver?” he asked.

  The ambassador raised his thick eyebrows and settled back slightly, the chair creaking in protest against his shifting weight. “Nowhere to be found. The police won’t be looking too hard, either.” He took a long sip of coffee before continuing: “It should be said that this won’t come cheaply. President Mbeke will be leaning on us for favors in the months to come, and he’ll get much of what he asks for. You were under orders to question Gray quietly, as I understand it.”

  “That’s right. He wasn’t very forthcoming.”

  “Clearly. I’ve spoken with Jonathan Harper as well — he’ll have some choice words for both of you when you hit stateside. He’s not a happy man. Director Andrews is coming under heavy fire from the president. Privately, of course. It’s a miracle that this little debacle escaped notice of the press. I hope you at least got what you were looking for.”

  Ryan nodded in the affirmative. “I have a name for you, sir: William Paulin Vanderveen. I know I’m in no position to be making requests here, but I really need your best people working on this. I need family history, anybody he might still have contact with. If that looks promising, then I need surveillance. Most of all I need photographs; I have to verify that March and Vanderveen are one and the same.”

  Ambassador Martins was nodding slowly, his gaze alternating between the two CIA officers. “You two were placed in a difficult situation there. I can sympathize with that, but you’re asking a lot.”

  “Sir, the South African government has a good reason to pitch in here,” Naomi pointed out. “No offense, but the embassy’s resources just won’t cut it. We’ve got to put the SA police to work. Vanderveen is a citizen of this country, and responsible for the murder of more than a hundred people. You might want to make sure they understand what that headline would look like on the front page of the New York Times — we really need all the help we can get. Besides, they won’t be getting any favors at all if President Brenneman has to carry all the weight for these attacks.”

  There was the hint of a smile at the ambassador’s mouth. “You don’t pull any punches, Ms. Kharmai. But I agree, they do have a certain responsibility in this matter. I’ll push for you on one condition: you don’t leave this embassy unless you’re getting on an airplane. Deal?”

  “You’ll have no argument there. I think we’re both ready to get back to Washington,” Ryan said.

  “Good. I’ll start making some calls.”

  Martins stood up, indicating that the conversation was over. Both CIA officers rose to their feet as well, moving toward the door, which the ambassador graciously opened for them.

  “I want both of you to get some rest,” he said as they moved out into the anteroom. Farris was waiting for them along with Aaron Jansen, the ambassador’s private secretary. “We found a couple spare beds — Gillian will show you where to find them. Oh, and the deputy director wants to hear from you, Kealey. Anything more from Washington, Aaron?” Ryan watched the young man shake his head. “Okay, good. Ms. Farris will find you a secure telephone. I should have some information for you later in the day. We’ll get you a change of clothes and the basic necessities as well.”

  “Thank you, sir.”

  The ambassador acknowledged Ryan’s gratitude with a slight nod and retreated back into his office, closing the door softly behind him.

  “I bet you two could use some sleep,” Gillian Farris said with a smile. “Follow me. Aaron, Minister Zuma wants some time this afternoon. Can we clear the ambassador’s schedule for an hour at three?”

  “Sure, Ms. Farris.” The secretary smiled pleasantly. “I had the head of embassy security penciled in, but I can bump him back to tomorrow.”

  “Okay, great.” She left Jansen behind in the anteroom and led them through the building toward the staff temporary quarters. “This used to be the press room, but we converted it to make space for the additional security personnel after the bombings in Tanzania and Kenya,” she explained. “It’s not much, but it’s all we have available at the minute. Anyway, here are your keys — I’ll come and find you in about five hours.”

  “Thanks,” Ryan said. “We appreciate it.”

  The DCM smiled and turned back toward the main building, leaving them alone in the brightly lit corridor.

  “See you in a few, Naomi.” He pushed into his room without looking back down the hall. A moment later he heard her door open and then slam shut. Sitting down on the edge of the hard mattress, he shook his head and reached for the receiver of the secure telephone.

  Aaron Jansen had served as the ambassador’s private secretary for ten months. It was his first posting and a good one; most Foreign Service officers found themselves in obscure locations filling out low-level paperwork for the first few years of their career. Jansen owed his success to a Yale degree earned magna cum laude and his father’s wide-ranging influence. Despite his privileged upbringing, Jansen was used to the long hours and the heavy responsibility of his current position. He was accustomed to planning the ambassador’s schedule down to the most minute details. Jansen was young, handsome, and affable. He always had a joke or a kind word for his coworkers, especially the women. He was popular within the embassy walls, and he enjoyed his work.

  The gate guards were well acquainted with the secretary’s strolls into the city center. He never came out of the embassy at the same time, owing to the ambassador’s unpredictable schedule. Sometimes he would walk across the broad expanse of cement in late afternoon, when the heat swelled and the air-conditioning was going full blast in the gatehouse. Other times he would make an appearance in the evening, when the
sun had dipped behind the pale stone of the city’s skyline and the air was cool and inviting.

  On only one morning each week did the secretary leave the building at precisely 8:30 AM. The young marine stationed outside the embassy watched as Jansen ambled across the circular driveway, the polished shoes shining in the hazy morning sun. The corporal, young and impressionable, snapped to attention as Jansen approached.

  “Good morning, sir.”

  Aaron Jansen smiled easily and shook his head in mock disappointment. “Corporal, I’m only about two years older than you are. I keep telling you to cut that out. How are you doing?”

  “Just fine, sir, thank you.”

  Another rueful smile. “Well, I guess there’s no convincing you. I’m just going to get some air… Give me about twenty minutes.”

  “Sounds good, sir. Do you have your identification with you?”

  “Always.”

  “Okay, I’ll call it in, then.” The corporal was attentive to detail, which was how he’d earned his position in the first place. He called in the departure time to the operations center and made a note in his log before opening the electronic gate reserved for pedestrian traffic. “See you in a few, Mr. Jansen.”

  “Catch you later, Corporal.” The secretary passed out into the busy street. He turned left from the embassy and walked down Pretorius, trying his best to avoid the crowded mass of humanity that lined the main artery running through the heart of the city.

  The interior of the cave was tall and wide, but not deep. The only lighting was dim, emanating from oil lanterns that hung from the wet stone of the walls. It was also surprisingly warm, perhaps owing to the large number of young Taliban soldiers who were gathered in the dark space. They cradled small arms in their laps and listened intently, apparently oblivious to the discomfort of the rough dirt floor on which they sat. Each weapon had been cleared before they were allowed into the cave. Their collective attention was focused on the man who stood before them, his voice shaking with emotion as the words echoed in their ears: