by Tony Criddle
That explains some of the telly footage Gerry, but it looks as if they abandoned all the bloody choppers.”
“They did Nick. Unfortunately there was a violent sand storm in the area, that hadn’t been expected, and one of the choppers hit a Hercules while it was trying to refuel. Five air force and three marines were killed, and the pilot and co-pilot of the chopper were badly burned. They high-tailed it out of there as fast as they could. That’s all I’ve got so far.”
“Jesus! So what will happen now?” “Well the Yanks would have definitely got up Iranian noses with that one, but the Iranians have got plenty of hostages already so I can’t see them picking up anyone else unless they try to get out of the country. The real down side is that anything American is sure to be impounded, and with only a few roads and two railway tracks out of the country every city on those routes will be flooded with cops. If you haven’t got the right papers you’ll be accommodated at the ayatollah’s displeasure.”
“Will friendly embassies be watched in case they try to help?”
“For sure Nick, but not so much physically. There are too many for around the clock surveillance, but I bet every scrap of paper involving travel will get hammered to death. If it gets rough I suggest you get your arse up here and shelter in the embassy. You and Jock are British subjects and Laleh is recognised as your de-facto now, so we can shelter her too. I can’t do anything about Farhad though. He’s an Iranian citizen, and he might have been a naughty boy in Abadan. Should I say that a rather nasty copper met with a fatal accident down there, and it would be big trouble if we harboured him.”
“How about Abdul and Minu?”
“It hasn’t affected them at all so far. He sends his thanks by the way.”
“What on earth for?”
“The interrogation technique thing you talked about when you were up here last. He phoned a few days ago. Two uglies did visit him after sifting Laleh’s home address from her US Embassy files. He told them that he couldn’t find her after the takeover, but didn’t report it in case she was with another family. He admitted that Farhad had visited several times as well, but the last time was eighteen months ago when Amini was in defence HQ. He hasn’t heard from him since. Abdul thought they were going to get a bit mean, but it seemed his honesty took the wind out of their sails. One let slip that they found Farhad’s patrol boat on the western side of the Zagros while they were talking, so now they think he’s in the mountains with his crew. They still want Farhad, but they’ve left Abdul alone since. What was it mate? Ten per cent truth mixed in with 90 per cent bull shit, as long as it can’t be verified. Works every time. He said to tell you guys to keep away though. He thinks he’ll be watched for a while.”
“Thanks for that Gerry. It’s given me a hell of a lot to think about. Will the vehicles be impounded as well?”
“Maybe Nick. Only one vehicle anywhere obvious at any time from now on, and the US company logo doesn’t help, so be careful. Air travel is totally out of course.”
They said their goodbyes and Nick put the phone down thoughtfully. He saw the familiar troop carriers stopping outside the crew-room when he looked up.
The hangar was shut so Nick and Sinclair had to be in the demountable. The Hum-vees made directly for administration, skidding to a halt in a swirl of billowing yellow sand. Arak climbed out of one, two armed troopers from the other. The ill-fitting khaki uniforms looking creased and grubby, but not so the guns they carried. Arak stepped up onto the wooden entrance veranda while the soldiers covered the building. Nick and Jock had already climbed to their feet when he entered, but he took in the patchy paintwork and scattered magazines before he spoke. There were no preliminaries.
“No doubt you’ve heard the news Mister Evans.”
“Vaguely. Some rescue attempt that went wrong as I see it.”
“Correct Mister Evans, so we can no longer be so lenient with American companies. There will be a few changes.”
“You’ve come to arrest us then?” Jock threw that in.
“That won’t be necessary Mister Sinclair. You’ve nowhere to go so this is as good a prison as any, and we don’t have to feed you out here. I’ll be putting our own locks on your hangar though, and taking one of your vehicles.”
Nick bristled. “I couldn’t care less about the choppers mate, any surveys were for your lot anyway, but we need the Cherokee for shopping.”
“You have two Mister Evans. You can hang on to the other one. There will be no more flying and you won’t have much else to do, so one vehicle is enough.”
Nick was getting really angry, already white around the lips. “And how do we exist out here if the company stops paying the bills?”
Arak’s eyes slitted and his nostrils flared. “That will be your problem Evans, but I don’t think it will happen. The American State Department knows that there are still dozens of their citizens and overseas employees in the same position as you. They won’t want that sort of diplomatic pressure so they’ll keep paying.”
“Will you drop us off in Shahabad then Mister Arak?”
“No I won’t Evans. We won’t be going in there again so you’ll have to walk.”
Nick was ready to blow. Sinclair laid a restraining hand on his arm.
“It’s not far Nick. Leave it.”
“Keys please Mister Evans, and we’ll be on our way.”
“They’re in the ignition.”
Arak inclined his head and left. He gestured to a trooper and the vehicle, then stopped at the hangar. Nick and Sinclair watched through the plate window as chains were wound through the door handles and padlocked. Arak didn’t miss the small access door on the side either.
“I could willingly kill that bastard” he muttered as they watched Arak’s small convoy take off for Qom. Startled, Sinclair glanced at the pilot. He meant it, it was in his eyes.
Nick and the Scot got lucky walking home. They were picked up by a battered blue ute five kilometres from town.
It was only midday when they got back. Nick called them for a revamp, but Sinclair reminded him that everything had changed overnight.
“International flights are out, we’ve only got one vehicle, and an escape by train now seems pretty much impossible. There’s only one decent road and railway at each end of a 2000 kilometre long stretch, and they can cover those easy. We’re pretty much fucked Nick. None of us have travel papers and we don’t know how to get forgeries either.”
“Could Gerry suggest anything?”
“He only had one idea Fred. Jock and I could hole up in the embassy and Laleh is recognised as my de-facto now, so she could as well. He can’t do much for you though, and I didn’t even ask what might happen to Imran and his boys.”
“Would Sarah be okay?”
“For sure Laleh. She wouldn’t be expected to know anything considering how they think about women. They wouldn’t have a clue how things really are out here either, how much of a family we all are, and there are a lot of Bakhtarans around. I can’t see them overturning that apple cart willingly. They probably wouldn’t even question her.”
“If you two and Laleh can hole up in the embassy, I’ll put the word out. I can take off into the Zagros and join up with my crew-mates.”
“That’s pretty risky though Fred, and god knows how long we’d be in the embassy anyway. Shit! The way things are going they may sack that place next. I wouldn’t let Laleh go through that again.”
Nick started thinking outside the box, and it wasn’t long before the germ of an idea sparked illusively around the receptor centres, but he needed a few more facts before he decided. “Farhad and I are going out to the yard guys, so indulge us for a moment.” Amini looked surprised but followed the pilot out.
“No bullshit Fred, what happened in Abadan?”
Amini looked steadily at Nick. It was several long seconds before he spoke. “A particularly nasty religious policeman dropped in just a few hours before I was going to take off. I know he was responsible for what ha
ppened to some of my friends in Abadan and he threatened me personally. I pissed him off and he was drawing his revolver to emphasis his point. I got one in first, that’s all. Me and my chief hung the prick’s body in my uniform wardrobe and took off.” The commander didn’t sound contrite.
“I’m not criticising Fred, but they obviously want you a bit more than most, so I needed to know. Quite honestly, if I met the two that got to Laleh, the bastards would be joining him. Okay let’s go inside.”
Nick remained standing. “I’ve got some ideas but I need an hour in the fresh air to nut things out. Can you guys round up Sarah and Imran while I’m gone?” He looked at Laleh. “You coming Lil?”
She didn’t answer but grabbed her moccasins. They took the high track again but didn’t go as far along it before he stopped.
“Do you want to hang around hoping things will change, or do you want to try getting out Lil?”
“If you mean the embassy, I’m a bit doubtful about that. We can’t take Farhad and there aren’t any guarantees for me either. Even you and Jock could have problems, so if you’ve got another plan I’d like to hear it.”
“Okay. All the normal means of transport are locked out but there’s one they haven’t thought of yet. What about we use a chopper and run for Turkey.”
Laleh looked startled. “The bloody thing won’t go that far though will it?”
“It’s a bit under a 1000 clicks. We can fly over 600 on full tanks, and we’ve got 300 pounds in containers. That’s good for 200 more. Even if we can’t refuel we’ll only have a bit over 120 clicks on foot at the other end. It will be in the mountains, so we’ll have some cover, but it will be bloody cold.”
Laleh thought about it deeply. She knew Nick didn’t want gut reactions, but her mind was soon made up. “I can walk that if we have to. Where do you think we might get fuel?”
“Several small airfields en route support survey ops and probably only American firms will cop it, so they might still be operating. We won’t need much either. I’ll look at the maps, but we have to go soon. We need to be the first.”
“At least that will give all four of us a chance. I think we should try it.”
Nick gave her a hug. “Okay, let’s get back.”
The others were talking urgently but quietly when they appeared, the atmosphere serious and intense. Nick made the inevitable mugs before reversing a chair to sit on.
“Okay guys, here’s how I see it. It’s looking dodgy for us as well now Jock, and all the other means of transport are a no-no so we’ll nick a chopper and all four of us will hop it. And it’ll be soon, before someone else gets the same idea, so we’ll go for Friday. Even aircraft will be off the menu after that, so we can’t hang around.” Nick passed Sinclair a small-scale map of the route. “Using their Sabbath against them again could give us an edge.”
A noisy hub-bub followed the startled looks. Nick let it die naturally, let them think about it before he continued.
“How about your guys Imran?”
“Don’t worry about us Nick. We’re from a big Islamic nation right on their bloody doorstep, and we’re small fry anyway. They won’t want to piss off Pakistan over us. We’ll let our consulate get us home.”
“Okay. So early on Friday you lads take us out to the airfield at first light then take off for Tehran. I’ll lift off from inside the hangar, so we won’t need you guys for that, and if I make it around 7.30 you should just about be at your embassy. I’ll need full daylight if I’m going low level through the hills, so that’s no big deal. What about you Sarah?”
“Not problem for me neither Nick. Police in town our people too. I show rooms with things still in, say you told me nothing and only know when I find you all gone.”
“I’m sorry about the rent though.”
“No problem neither. French, German or Russian be doing same thing in few months. We rent to them.” She smiled. “I not report so maybe Americans keep paying for while anyway.”
“Okay. Are the new chains and padlocks a problem Jock?”
Imran butted in. “I shouldn’t hear any more Nick. If someone did question us a bit heavily we don’t know a thing. I’ll be off now and see you tomorrow.”
“Same for me Nick. Dinner prepared and naan in oven for later Laleh. Start cooking stew in one hour.” Both Imran and the housekeeper left.
“I’ve got a universal key for the locks and chains laddie. Some people call them bolt cutters.”
Nick couldn’t help a smile. “I’ll plot a route shortly, but there are a few other things we can do as well. Even with the two fuel containers we’ll be about a 100 clicks short of the border so we’ll have to find some fuel or we’ll have to hike it. The good thing is that we’ll be doing it only a few hours after we leave here, and we won’t have far to go. Depending on how quick they react we may keep well keep ahead of them.”
Farhad shuffled in his seat. “Will we take the weapons Nick?”
“I thought about that and I think we should. Heaven forbid we do go down, but we might need the Tikka to get food, and if we’re chased they could use anything to get at us. We’ll take your cannon just in case as well. We can always ditch it if we need to.”
“There won’t be room to take much else though will there Nick?”
“There won’t Lily, so choose carefully. We can squeeze the fuel containers and a spout into the luggage compartment, but everything else goes in the cabin. The guns go under the bench seat, along with one bag each, but we can seat three in the back, so with only two there’ll be a bit of extra room. I want you up front as well Lil. It’ll be a long flight at low level and I’m going to need you to spell me. You’ll have to keep us roughly on track if we have to deviate as well.” Nick looked at the two men when he said that. Neither said anything.
“Right Lily. There’ll be some heavy stuff to hump at the last minute, but us boys can do that. You think about the catering. We’ll never remember all that on the day.”
“Okay. I’ll need your flasks. I can’t imagine you without coffee.” She grinned.
“I’ll make some fresh bread for sandwiches and see what we can take from the larder.”
“Good, we’ve got a couple of army water bottles somewhere we can dig out as well. The only other major thing is what to wear. We’ll need sturdy footwear, and it’ll be bloody cold if we have to walk out so you’ll need something on top as well. We’ve only got the three flight anoraks Farhad. What about you?”
“Your surveyor left some things in his wardrobe. There’s a reasonable parka thing that fits me and I can wear a jumper underneath. I came away in boots, so footwear isn’t a problem.”
“Okay. If anybody thinks of anything else bring it up right away. We’ll have a break then I’ll sort out a route.”
Vividly coloured topographical maps, some large scale and some not so large, were scattered over the table. Nick and Laleh poured over them alongside the inevitable mugs, their chairs and heads almost touching. He had a navigational computer, dividers, a rule and grease pencil to do the pilot thing with and had already sketched in a few preliminary tracks.
“I’ll throw up some facts and you remember what I’ve said Lil, then if I forget anything important you can let me know. We won’t be able to change much once we’re on our way so we’ve got to get it right from the word go.”
“Hang on. I’ll get a piece of paper to write it all down then.”
He waited.
“Right. First we could try for Kuwait. It’s a bit shorter, but most of Iran’s radars and military assets are on the Gulf and it’s heavily populated. There’s nowhere to hide for a long track across the sea either, and we’d still end up in the middle of several Islamic states. I don’t fancy it much, but put it down as a diversion.”
“Some are fairly friendly though, aren’t they?”
“They are, but it’s almost a war zone down there already. Anybody might take a shot at an unidentified chopper over the sea.”
Laleh nodded an
d marked down a few notes.
“Pakistan is getting more radical in the border areas these days as well, so I’m inclined to put that lower on the list too. I reckon our best bet is Orenburc in Turkey. It’s less than twenty clicks over the border making the trip a fraction under 1000 all up, and it’s on the main route out of Iran. We can bus to the nearest Turkish rail head from there and get a sleeper to Istanbul. After that the world’s our oyster. Ankara’s the capital, but it’s out of our way, and Istanbul is even bigger than Ankara, with a big British consulate. Turkey’s vast though. We’ll have another 150 clicks by road then 1200 on the train.”
“I didn’t realise it was that far.”
“It won’t matter Laleh. We’ll be free and I’ve got some mates in the consulate at Istanbul. We can fix up a few things there before we move on.”
“Let’s hope we can get some fuel then.”
“That’s next. Put down Hamadan, Sanandaj, Urmia, Naqadeh and Tabriz. They’ve all got large commercial airfields so we’ve got to avoid them, but we’ll use them as decoys. We’ll hide the route we’re actually taking but I’ll work that out properly later. Where we will refuel is at a place called Azar Shahr.”
“I’ve never heard of it.”
“It’s a small, isolated airfield like this one near the eastern shore of Lake Urmia. It was developed because a good road and a railway run pass it, and it’s close to the mountains. Also it’s only thirty clicks from Mount Sahand, and that’s a good landmark.”
Nick pointed out the mountain then the small airport to Laleh.
“I went there on a company famil flight when I first got here, so I know the basic layout, but what’s really important is that a Norwegian company runs the heliport side so they probably weren’t closed down. We don’t need much fuel either. A few hundred pounds and we can make it.”
