he almost laughed out loud. even more important, zatopek gives me a free hand to continue to operate and maneuver as i choose in this area, to play the great game the stupid british let slip from their grasp.
he watched abdollah khan standing at the window, waiting patiently for him to decide on the favor he wanted in return for catching the saboteurs. come on, bad fats, he thought grimly, using his secret nickname for him, we both know you can catch those matyeryebyets if you want to if they're still in azerbaijan.
"i'll do what i can," abdollah khan said, still with his back to him, and mzytryk did not hide his smile. "if i intercept them, what then, petr?"
"tell cimtarga. he will make all arrangements."
"very well." abdollah khan nodded to himself and came and sat down again. "that's settled, then."
"thank you," petr said, very satisfied. such finality from abdollah khan promised quick success.
"this mullah we were discussing, mahmud," the khan said, "he's very dangerous. also his band of cutthroats. i think they're a threat to everyone. the tudeh should be directed to deal with him. covertly, of course."
mzytryk wondered how much abdollah knew about their secret support for mahmud, one of their best and most fanatic converts. "the tudeh must be guarded, and their friends too." he saw the immediate flash of irritation, so he compromised and added at once, "perhaps this man could be moved and replaced a general split and fratricide would only help the enemy."
"the mullah's a false mullah and not a true believer in anything."
"then he should go. quickly." petr mzytryk smiled, abdollah khan didn't. "very quickly, petr. permanently. and his group broken."
the price was steep, but the section 16/a gave him authority enough. "why not quickly and permanently, since you say it's necessary? i agree toer, pass on your recommendation." mzytryk smiled and now abdollah khan smiled, also satisfied.
"i'm glad we agree, petr. become a muslim for your eternal soul."
petr mzytryk laughed. "in time. meanwhile, become a communist for your earthly pleasure."
the khan laughed, leaned forward, and refilled petr's glass. "i can't persuade you to stay for a few days?"
"no, but thanks. after we've eaten, i think i'll start back for home." the smile broadened. "there's a lot for me to do."
the khan was very content. so now i can forget the troublesome mullah and his band and another tooth's been drawn. but i wonder what you would do, petr, if you knew your saboteur captain and his saboteur soldier were on the other side of my estate, waiting for safe passage out? but out to where? to tehran or to you? i haven't yet decided.
oh, i knew you'd come to beg my help, why else did i keep them safe, why else did i meet them secretly in tabriz two days ago and bring them here secretly if not for you? perhaps. pity vien rosemont got killed, he was useful. even so, the information and warning contained in the code he gave the captain for me is more than useful. he'll be difficult to replace.
yes, and also true that if you receive a favor you must return a favor. the infidel erikki is only one. he rang a bell and when the servant appeared, he said, "tell my daughter azadeh she will join us for food."
at tehran: 4:17 p.m. iean-luc sessonne banged the brass knocker on the door of mciver's apartment. beside him was sayada bertolin. now that they were off the street and alone, he cupped her breasts through her coat and kissed her. "i promise we won't be long, then back to bed!"
she laughed. "good."
"you booked dinner at the french club?"
"of course. we'll have plenty of time!"
"yes, che'rie." he wore an elegant, heavy raincoat over his flying uniform and his flight from zagros had been uneasy, no one answering his frequent radio calls though the airwaves were filled with excitable farsi which he did not speak or understand.
he had kept at regulation height, and made a standard approach to tehran's international airport. still no answer to his calls. the wind sock was full and showed a strong crosswind. four jumbos were on the apron near the terminal along with a number of other jets, one a burned-out wreck. he saw some were loading, surrounded by too many men, women, and children with no order to them, the fore and aft steps to the cabins dangerously overcrowded, discarded
suitcases and luggage scattered everywhere. no police or traffic wardens that he could see, nor at the other side of the terminal building where all approach roads were clogged with standstill traffic that was jammed nose to tail. the parking lot was solid but more cars were trying to squeeze in, the sidewalks packed with laden people.
jean-luc thanked god that he was flying and not walking and he landed at the nearby airfield of galeg morghi without trouble, bedded the 206 in the s-g hangar, and organized an immediate ride into town with the help of a $10 bill. first stop at the schlumberger office and a dawn date fixed to fly back to zagros. then to her apartment. sayada had been home. as always the first time after being so long apart was immediate, impatient, rough, selfish, and mutually explosive.
he had met her at a christmas party in tehran a year and two months and three days ago. he remembered the evening exactly. the room was crowded and the moment he arrived, he saw her as though the room was empty. she was alone, sipping a drink, her dress sheer and white.
"vous parlez fran cais, madame?" he had asked, stunned by her beauty.
"sorry, m'sieur, only a few words. i would prefer english."
"then in english: i am overjoyed to meet you but i have a dilemma."
"oh? what?"
"i wish to make love to you immediately."
"eh?"
"you are the manifestation of a dream..." it would sound so much better in french but never mind, he had thought. "i've been looking for you forever and i need to make love to you, you are so desirable."
"but... but my... husband is over there. i'm married."
"that is a condition, madam, not an impediment."
she had laughed and he had known she was his. only one thing more would make everything perfect. "do you cook?"
"yes," she had said with such confidence that he knew she would be superb, that in bed she would be divine, and that what she lacked he would teach her. how lucky she is to have met me, he thought happily, and banged on the door again.
their months together had flown by. her husband rarely visited tehran. he was a lebanese banker in beirut, of french extraction, "and therefore civilized," jean-luc had said with total confidence, "so of course he would approve of our liaison, che'rie, should he ever find out. he is quite old compared to you, of course he would approve."
"i'm not so sure, cheri, and he's only fifty and you're f "
"divine," he had said, helping her. "like you." for him it was true. he had never known such skin and silky hair and long limbs and a sinuous passion
that was a gift of heaven. "more dieu, " he had gasped one night, kept lingering on the summit by her magic, "i die in your arms." later she had kissed him and brought him a hot towel and slid back into bed. this was on a holiday in istanbul in the fall of last year, and the utter sensuality of that city had surrounded them.
for her the affair was exciting, but not an affair to end all affairs. she had discussed jean-luc with her husband the night of the party. "ah," he had said, amused, "so that was why you wanted to meet him!"
"yes. i thought him interesting even though french and totally selfcentered as always but he excited me, yes, yes, he did."
"well, you'll be here in tehran for two years, i can't be here more than a few days a month too dangerous and it would be a shame for you to be alone, every night. wouldn't it?"
"ah, then i have your permission?"
"where is his wife?"
"in france. he's in iran for two months, then has one month with her."
"perhaps it would be a very good idea, this liaison good for your soul, good for your body, and good for our work. more importantly, it would divert attention."
"yes, that occurred to me too. i told him i did not speak french and he has many advantages he's a member of the french club!"
"ah! then i agree. good, sayada. tell him i'm a banker of french extraction, which is partially true wasn't my great-great-grandfather a foot soldier with napoleon on his middle east drive toward india? tell your frenchman we're lebanese for many generations, not just a few years."
"yes, you are wise as always."
"get him to make you a member of the french club. that would be perfect! a great deal of power there. somehow the iran-israel entente must be broken, somehow the shah must be curbed, somehow we have to split israel from iran oil or the archfiend begin will be tempted to invade lebanon to cast our fighters out. with iranian oil he'll succeed and that will be the end of another civilization. i'm tired of moving."
"yes, yes, i agree..."
sayada was very proud. so much accomplished in the year, unbelievable how much! next week leader yasir arafat was invited to tehran for a triumphal meeting with khomeini as a thank-you for his help to the revolution: oil exports to israel were finished, the fanatically anti-israel khomeini installed and the pro-israel shah expelled into ignominy. so much progress since she had first met jean-luc. inconceivable progress! and she knew that she had helped her husband who was highly placed in the plo, by acting as a special courier taking messages and cassettes to and from istanbul, to and from the french
club in tehran oh, how much intrigue to persuade the iraqis to allow khomeini to leave for the safe harbor of france where he would no longer be muzzled to and from all sorts of places escorted by my handsome lover. oh, yes, she thought contentedly, jean-luc's friends and contacts have been so useful. one day soon we will get back to gaza and regain our lands and houses and shops and vineyards...
mciver's door swung open. it was charlie pettikin. "good god, jean-luc, what the hell're you doing here? hi, sayada, you look more beautiful than ever, come on in!" he shook hands with jean-luc and gave her a friendly kiss on both cheeks and felt the warmth of her.
her long, heavy coat and hood hid most of her. she knew the dangers of tehran and dressed accordingly: "it saves so much bother, jean-luc; i agree it's stupid and archaic but i don't want to be spat on, or have some rotten thug wave his penis at me or masturbate as i pass by it's not and never will be france. i agree it's unbelievable that now in tehran i have to wear some form of chador to be safe, yet a month ago i didn't. whatever you say, cheri, the old tehran's gone forever..."
pity in some ways, she thought, going into the apartment. it had had the best of the west and best of the east and the worst. but now, now i pity iranians, particularly the women. why is it muslims, particularly shi'as, are so narrow-minded and won't let their women dress in a modern way? is it because they're so repressed and sex-besotted? or is it because they're frightened they'd be shown up? why can't they be open-minded like us palestinians, or egyptians, shargazi, dubaians, or indonesians, pakistanis, or so many others? it must be impotence. well nothing's going to keep me from joining the women's protest march. how dare khomeini try to betray us women who went to the barricades for him!
it was cold inside the apartment, the electric fire still down to half power, so she kept her coat on, just opened it to be more comfortable, and sat on one of the sofas. her dress was warm and parisian and slit to the thigh. both men noticed. she had been here many times and thought the apartment drab and uncomfortable though she liked genny very much. "where's genny?"
"she went to al shargaz this morning on the 125."
"then mac's gone?" jean-luc said.
"no, just her, mac's out at th "
"i don't believe it!" jean-luc said. "she swore she'd never leave without old dirty duncan!"
pettikin laughed. "i didn't believe it either but she went like a lamb." time enough to tell jean-luc the real reason why she went, he thought.
"things've been bad here?"
"yes, and getting worse. lots more executions." pettikin thought it better not to mention sharazad's father in front of sayada. no point in worrying her. "how about tea? i've just made some. you hear about qasr jail today?"
"what about it?"
"a mob stormed it," pettikin said, going into the kitchen for extra cups. "they broke down the door and released everyone, strung up a few savaks and police, and now the rumor is green bands have set up shop with kangaroo courts and they're filling the cells with whom the hell ever and emptying them as quickly in front of firing squads."
sayada would have said that the prison had been liberated and that now enemies of the revolution, enemies of palestine, were getting their just punishment. but she held her peace and listened attentively as pettikin continued: "mae went to the airport with genny early, then to the ministry, then here. he'll be back soon. how was the traffic at the airport, jean-luc?"
