by Jim Wilson
Before they left the hospital room, Dr. Realey looked over the décor. There was a laptop computer near the telephone. Ivan’s bed was near the far wall and Helva’s bed was nearer the door. The headboards of the beds were against the wall to the left as you entered the room. Helva’s bed was marked by an AK47 hanging barrel-down on his head post. It was positioned so the bed separated the AK47 from the door and gave maximum shelter. Three full clips were neatly arranged on a small table near the rifle. On his right hip was an automatic pistol. Even in a place of peace Helva was ready for a fight. Ivan’s firearms were simply placed under his bed and he was not wearing a weapon. Dr. Realey secretly considered Helva to be on the other side and a tool of the government. He was the bogeyman, but for some reason she was attracted to this man. As a doctor she knew that chemicals controlled these special feelings and she was no fool. She would not act on these emotions.
The officer’s dining room was set with individual tables and white table cloths. Several waiters were gathered at the entrance as Bill, Ivan and the doctor entered. Two waiters showed them to a table. The same meal was served to all of the officers. A large glass of cold water was positioned to the right of each of them and they were each given a green salad with olive oil. At the same time, a single shared bowl containing grapes, olives, and fruit was placed on the table. When the salads were finished, dolmeh was served as the main dish. It was vine leaves stuffed with lamb and rice. Dessert was individual bowls of yogurt with dates and apricots. The doctor talked about her parents who lived in a small town near the Iraq -Iranian border. Her father was a general practice doctor who covered a large area around their home. She was raised in Ilam province and her family was Kurdish. Because her father was a doctor she was able to attend the medical school in Tehran. After she graduated, she returned to Ilam and attended a small advanced medical college. The price she paid for her education was four years in the military. During all her talk she only looked at Bill.
Tomorrow was Saturday and she volunteered to show them the city of Tehran. Ivan noticed her strong interest in Bill, but he did not say anything to him. They all looked forward to the tour. The three of them met the next morning at 0900 hours local time. She drove a four-door Volvo. Ivan sat in the back seat and Bill sat in the front seat. They all wore their uniforms. Iran had laws that restricted women from traveling with men that were not family members. There were severe penalties that could possibly include stoning for breaking this rule, but her presence with men in uniform was allowed. Bill had taken his AK47 and carefully laid it near his feet.
After a long dialogue about the city, Bill interrupted her and asked about her Kurdish history. She remembered back to the Iraq-Iran war when two of her brothers were officers in the Iranian army. One of her brothers was killed while in Iraq. She mentioned that her home was high in the mountains, but the temperature of the region was strangely warm. The more they talked, the more the doctor realized that Helva had a gentle side. She wished she could tell them that she was unhappy with the government and that she was not Islamic by choice. The combination of church and state made for a difficult life for educated women. In four hours of conversation there were no direct questions to Bill about the life he had in Lebanon.
Bill looked into her eyes and asked her a question, “Do you ever get a chance to go home?” Ivan was barely listening until he heard the question, “I get ten days off starting next Thursday and I’m going to drive to Ilam and stay with my parents and just relax.”
“I would love to see the mountains of Iran.”
Ivan chimed in, “I would too.”
“I was planning to make the drive alone, but I don’t see why the two of you couldn’t join me.”
Ivan smiled, “We’ll keep you safe.”
“It’s a long and difficult drive. If you join me, we’ll need to leave early to make the drive in one day. We should be on our way at sun rise.”
“Where do you want to meet?”
“My apartment’s on the western side of Tehran. If you could have your driver take you, we could leave from there.”
“Let’s do that. We’ll have a great time.”
Ivan was thinking. We must kill the ayatollah on Wednesday afternoon.
Sunday was a work day in Iran and Bill instructed their driver to take them to the Northern Tehran Residential Building. There was a possibility that the ayatollah would recognize him from their meeting in Libya. In addition to their normal uniforms they added black masks that covered their faces. As they walked the street they were given a wide berth. Bill looked at Ivan and said, “Today there’s a very light crowd. Around lunchtime on Wednesday there will be more people.”
“We need to drive the car ourselves. We can walk away and drive back to the hospital.”
“Better yet we could go to the doctor’s apartment, hide and wait until sunrise.”
They now had a plan for killing and a plan for escaping. Ivan had a scheduled communication with the Mossad and dialed an outside line on his hospital phone. When he heard the dial tone he plugged the phone line into his computer, which had a program that compressed both transmitted and received data. He pulled up a special web site at slow dial-up speed, but when he entered the Mossad site the compression program took him to the speed of a T1 connection. He outlined their plan, and he requested to have the Americans pick them up in Iraq near Ilam. He was given instructions to stand by for an answer and twenty minutes later he received a meeting point that was presented in longitude and latitude. Their escape plan was complete.
The next morning, Bill felt the adrenaline as he talked to the senior military officer that had earlier visited his bed side. “Sir, we need to interview the ayatollah staff and security immediately. The attack on his life could take place this week. Can you arrange for Ivan and me to do this as soon as possible?”
The officer used his cell phone for a short call and within a few minutes he received a call back. The officer made Bill’s case for the interviews and, in a country where failure is not acceptable, the result was understandable. No one would like to stand before the Supreme Leader and explain why he would not protect the ayatollah. Bill then made the second request, “We feel that we have more flexibility if we drive and aren’t limited by a driver.”
“I think that makes a lot of sense. We’ll furnish you and Ivan a government police car. It’ll be easier for you to carry more weapons, arrest and transport prisoners. The ayatollah will be in his office tomorrow. His staffs have been told to be available for your interviews.”
Dr. Realey was wondering if her bold actions with Helva were appropriate. She had contacted her parents and they thought it was acceptable as long as the men stayed under constant supervision at their home. Her father would have her brother be with them at all times. Her mother was excited at Sarah’s interest in a relationship. In Ilam it was a proposal of marriage for a man to meet a single woman’s parents. It was the duty of the father to accept or reject the marriage proposal. Sarah Realey was getting older and by Islamic standards she should have been married long ago. Outsiders may not understand that respectable women and men do not even touch before marriage. Bill was attracted to Dr. Sarah Realey, but was more interested in escape than marriage. He did not even know her first name. She went on duty at 0700 hours local time and at 0730 she knocked on their door. They had been up for two hours and had just finished their morning five mile run. Bill opened the door and was sweaty and wearing shorts and a tee shirt. She looked at him and thought. He almost looks American in his running outfit.
She took them to breakfast at the hospital cafeteria. Lebanese drink coffee for breakfast, but most Iranians drink tea or a glass of water. She was served dark bread, a small lamb steak and a poached egg. Ivan and Bill were served coffee, toast and a lamb and cheese omelet.
Helva, you don’t know my first name do you?” Bill shook his head no. “It is Sarah. My full name is Sarah Realey.”
Bill smiled and thought. You don’t know my first name ei
ther. Bill considered her actions flirting, but Sarah was working on the marriage contract.
“We’ll knock on your apartment door at sunrise Thursday morning.” They got ready for meeting the ayatollah’s staff.
“Is it possible that she has desires for you?”
“I don’t think so. She’s just being nice.” They walked to the parking area and asked about their car. A guard checked his paperwork, and gave them directions to a large black Peugeot police car.
Ivan looked at the car, “That’s perfect.”
*****
It was hot in Muzuk, Libya, Africa. Henry was on edge. He was still trying to digest the bombings in America. He vividly remembered the warnings of the American men who visited them not long ago. He thought. This was only a small bombing. Islamic countries have them all the time. This bombing killed over 100 Americans! That means that you cannot say it is a small bombing. Even by Islamic standards four dead is a small bombing. I must warn the ayatollah. He had a special cell phone number for the ayatollah and would change the small cards in the phone each time it was used. They hoped that it would make it harder to trace. Then by secure email they would send their new phone numbers to each other. This was the first call to the ayatollah in six months. The secure email was highly encrypted, but little did they know that the code for the encryption was written by the CIA.
The call was made and the ayatollah answered. They had a short conversation about the bombing in America and Henry warned him of the earlier American threats. “Don’t worry. I have Hezbollah Fighters coming to my office today to guard me from treachery.” Henry felt better, but thought. The Americans are worse than the Jews when they are mad.
There were two full time NSA agents monitoring Henry and the ayatollah, and this was the first flag in six months. The call was translated, transcribed and hand-carried to the DNAS’s office. It was placed in the blue box, but should have been placed in the red box. The document sat for three hours before his secretary cleared the blue box and took several documents into his office. When a document is placed in the red box she pushes a button that lights a red light on his desk. The DCIA was getting ready to leave the office for a reception at the white house. He normally would have read the blue box documents in the morning, but he noticed the top document. It had a black star that marked it as “to be read only by the DCIA.” He read it while he was riding to the reception in his limousine and this was the first real evidence that the ayatollah and Henry were in some way involved in the Kansas bombing. I will show this to the president.
*****
Again they wore black masks to cover their faces from their eyes down. They drove to the Northern Tehran Residential Building and parked one block away and walked to the main entrance. A receptionist announced their presence. Ivan would try to do all the talking. The ayatollah’s office was on the fifth floor. Two security guards casually stood by the door. They snapped to attention when they saw the Hezbollah Fighters. Ivan talked to both guards at the same time. Bill knew that he was safe so he asked them when they start their shift and when it was completed.
“What do you do when your shift’s over?” They told him that they stayed in a small dormitory on the ninth floor. “Who relieves you?” They were on call after 1700 hours. Inside the office Bill would no longer speak. One by one, Ivan asked questions that would tell them how long they would have before it was discovered that they were all dead. They did not see the Ayatollah Ali, but told the staff they would return to add protection for him Wednesday afternoon about 1500.
Ivan drove the car. Bill said, “We need to have silenced weapons. There is a good chance the bodies won’t be discovered until morning and by that time we’ll be on our way to Ilam.”
Ivan drove to the practice range and signed out two silenced UZI machine guns. As they were driving back to the hospital Ivan said, “There are eight people in addition to the ayatollah, five men and three women that are just working for a living. I can kill the ayatollah, but I can’t just kill these people. It’s wrong.” There was silence for a few minutes.
“I got into this business to get back at the people who started this war. Somewhere along the way I’ve become cold and as bad as they are. Ivan you’re right. We need to kill the ayatollah and find a way to get past his staff without killing them. We have the rest of the day and tomorrow to figure this out. After this job I’m going back to Tampa and take some time to get my head right.”
They arrived at the hospital. “Ivan, I have a plan, but it requires that Sarah Realey help us. It’s possible that she will turn us in when I ask her, but it’s up to you. We’re pushing this killing ahead so that we can have an escape plan and it’s possible that Sarah wants to escape too.”
Ivan agreed to take the risk and they worked out a daring plan that would involve much less spilled blood. The only problem was that it could spill their blood. It was 1400 hours Tuesday afternoon, local time. Dr. Realey was just finishing her patient rounds and the men were sitting in her office waiting for her. She entered, sat down behind her desk and Bill told her his plan. “Sarah, Ivan and I have an important job to do. I can’t go into detail, but it involves killing a very bad man. We’ve no choice. The killing must be done tomorrow. The problem is that we must neutralize eight people to get to him. We have no right to ask you, but we need your help.”
Hiding the ties between the two factions
The bond is tested unsure what to think
With silent deadly vengeful actions
The chain is reduced by one more link
Chapter 18
Salina, Kansas was a nice town. It had a long history and for many years it was considered the Wild West. From their early history, the people of Salina developed an independent lifestyle. No one had to tell them to work hard and do what was right. Their reaction to the bombing was much the same as the reaction of people in Tampa. They felt rage, but they did not know where to direct that rage. When the DFBI arrived at the site of the bombing many felt that he could get to the bottom of this crime. The DFBI was an honest man and knew that, with hard police work and a little luck, he would find the bomber. He did not feel this was a crime, but considered it an attack of war. It was the beginning of a battle to bring fear to America. The more isolated and unpredictable the explosions were, the greater the fear that would be generated. He knew that suicide bombers had no regard for their own lives, and had no regard for the lives of innocents. As he looked around the cul-de-sac he wondered, there must be a reason he set the bomb off here. He turned to the sheriff who was standing beside him, “Where exactly is ground zero?”
Bryan had gutted six ambulances and from the outside they were normal in every way. On the inside of the patient area it was just a water tight box. The ambulances were modified so they could carry the extra weight of explosive soup. Presently they were empty and parked in a large steel building at the farm. The construction of the ambulances was done using a contract from their South African reseller. In fact the paper work was bogus and the Kansas Truck workers built the vehicles thinking that someone else would do the inside work. All of the assumptions were very reasonable and as the ambulances were completed Brian simply drove them to the farm.
Malcolm had told Bryan to build 50,000 square foot warehouses in Houston and Atlanta. Each warehouse would hold many of the modified ambulances and fire trucks. Once everything was in place, Georgia Haulers would deliver the nitrate from Fast Grow. They would simply pump the dry powder into the empty vehicles and then Georgia Haulers would deliver diesel fuel from Well Oil. The diesel fuel would complete the explosive soup. In the old barn building at the farm, Bryan was manufacturing remote detonation devices. He had increased their range to about a mile. They worked better by using the full size battery of the vehicle. He added a twelve inch antenna to the roof of each of his ambulances. The device itself was a waterproof black box that sat on the vehicle’s floor. After additional experimentation he developed a set of relays that closed when they were called by
a cell phone. He was now able to park the ambulances and leave. A cell phone call could detonate the explosive soup from anywhere.
He was certain that the power of the explosives in one of his ambulances was more powerful than the truck bomb used in the old Oklahoma City bombing. The pumper fire trucks had many times the volume that the ambulances had. It would take a full dry truck and a full diesel truck to fill them. They would be used for special targets. Malcolm was working on the list of what he called “change” targets. The explosion would be so large that a nearby nuclear energy plant would be a change target and he could park two trucks in a downtown area and change the map of a city. He loved the fire trucks because after the first explosion in an area the fire trucks running with sirens and lights would be able to go anywhere. He could see the police opening gates that protected valuable areas and letting the fire truck get in deep within a target site. The fire trucks would be driven by a martyr. Fully loaded fire trucks would reach their target and change things.
The DFBI and the sheriff inspected the original blast crater. There was evidence that two 55 gallon drums were used in Salina. Explosive residue showed it was nitrated diesel fuel. The mixture must have been well mixed and at the optimum ratio. The explosion was ignited in the front yard of a state trooper. He was a married man and well respected in the community. They had gone back five years and listed every person that had received one of the thousands of tickets that he had written. There was also a city of Topeka police officer killed in the Topeka explosion and the officers also had a list of contacts for him, but they had run them through a computer and there were no database matches. The difficult part was looking at each name for possible spelling errors and changes. Presently, computer matching was their only avenue for the leads that they had.
