CHAPTER TWENTY ONE
Jay and Hakim sat patiently in the truck, waiting for the ferry to dock. The ramp lowered noisily under the clatter of heavy chains as the ferry positioned itself, rebounding off the side of the jetty in the process. Engines revved amid a cloud of exhaust fumes and the deafening roar of impatience. The first vehicles disembarked. Hakim checked that their two passports were close to hand, placing them on the seat beside him.
“Now.. whatever happens.. don’t say anything.. ok?” Hakim was quite firm.
“Not even my name?”
“No.. not even your name.. Let me do all the talking.. I have tried this a couple of times before you know?” Hakim smiled at Jay.
“Ok” replied Jay, trying to calm his nerves.
The disembarked vehicles were divided into two lines; one short line for Iranian vehicles and an ever-extending line for everyone else. Jay and Hakim stood a couple of hundred metres down the ‘everyone else’ line waiting for their audience with the Iranian customs and excise men. There was nothing else to do but take cover from the sweltering heat. They stayed in the cab and sipped water. Hakim tuned in to an Iranian government-owned radio station, explaining that this normally helped create a little empathy with the officials. Their turn arrived at last. They were waved in to an enclosed area and asked to switch their engine and radio off. Large scanners stood on both sides of a big red stop sign. Three soldiers carrying semi-automatic weapons wandered around the truck, looking under the tarpaulin, under the chassis, inside the wheel arches, inside the cab and around the engine compartment. An officer walked over from a nearby building carrying a pile of papers. He toyed erratically with a revolver hanging at his side as he walked up to the driver’s door and started speaking to Hakim. Jay noticed that the officer’s moustache twitched as he spoke, reminding him of one of the Super Mario Brothers. He decided to concentrate all his efforts on doing and saying nothing, looking down to avoid any eye contact and not laughing at the moustache.
Hakim gave the officer the passports and answered several questions. He was then ordered to step out of the lorry. Jay felt beads of sweat building up on his forehead which he discretely removed with swift swipes from his hand. He hoped no one had noticed as a true Kuwaiti would be able to cope with the heat. Jay looked in the side mirror and noticed several soldiers prodding around with things in the back of the truck. The officer suddenly appeared by Jay’s door, shouting something loudly which Jay didn’t understand. The more Jay ignored him, the more irate the officer got. Jay remembered Hakim’s order; that he should not saying anything. But what if the officer was speaking Arabic to him? What if this was a test?
“Baksheesh!” blurted out of Jay’s mouth as he held his cupped hands up towards the officer whilst keeping his eyes firmly fixed on the floor.
The officer ranted even more and turned to face Hakim who, by this time, also stood by the Jay’s door. Jay noticed a look of panic cross Hakim’s face out of the corner of his eye. Then Hakim started smiling, then laughing and shouted ‘baksheesh! baksheesh!’ Hakim continued with several enthusiastic words in Farsi as the other soldiers rallied around the front of the truck. Hakim talked some more until even the officer himself started laughing and handed Hakim the pile of papers. Hakim got back into the truck and started the engine to a serenade of ‘baksheesh!’ from all of the soldiers. Jay shouted ‘baksheesh!’ back, still looking down.
Hakim stopped the truck a few hundred metres further down the sand covered road and asked for some water. Jay handed him a bottle and noticed drops of sweat on Hakim’s brow. Hakim gulped water from the bottle and checked his side mirrors carefully.
“I think.. I think we did it.. you know?” said Hakim sounding both relieved and out of breath.
“Thats good.. but do you think they will try to follow us?”
“No.. not yet at least.. but you can never be too careful!”
“So what did they say?”
“Well my friend..” Hakim tapped Jay’s knee “..I think you deserve an Oscar for that performance! ..They were getting a little too interested in the motorbike.. so I had just finished telling them that it was a special delivery for one of my customers when you started making noises”
“I had no idea what to do to be honest..” replied Jay “..I was almost crapping myself at the end.. I had a feeling that the moustache guy was speaking Arabic to me.. and he was getting angry because I was ignoring him.. so I panicked I suppose”
“That’s ok Jay.. And yes.. he was speaking Arabic to you.. so it was just as well you did what you did.. They sometimes do that you know.. to catch people out?”
“It was lucky they thought my ‘baksheesh’ was funny then”
“Yes.. but I also told them that you were my simple second cousin.. and that the family had long suspected your mother of having had sex with a goat!” Hakim burst out laughing.
“How nice.. I am very flattered!” Jay laughed too.
The sun began to ebb as they drove into Bushehr. The town itself was old and run down; a distant memory of the energetic portal town it had once been. The fact that Jay was actually in Iran began to sink in too, in a strange surrealistic way. Hakim pointed to their hotel, a concrete building about four stories high with rusty iron wires jutting out in various places where the cement work had crumbled away. Jay wondered whether it was half built or half falling down. Hakim parked the truck at the back of the hotel, close to the rear fire exit. They got out of the truck and took their bags with them, ensuring that everything was securely locked.
The hotel manager greeted them with a smile, speaking broken English as soon as he realised they were foreigners. The manager asked for their passports. Hakim handed them over whilst Jay looked at a menu lying on the counter. The manager then sang the praises of the restaurant, recommending that they should just drop their bags off in their room and go straight down to the dining area to eat.
The stairs creaked under them as Hakim whispered that they had to be careful, adding that a lot of Iranians had become inherently suspicious of foreigners. And even though most people were generally friendly, there were some who would not hesitate to report any suspicious activity to the authorities, otherwise they thought they would risk getting into trouble themselves. That was just ‘the system’, how it was.
Hakim shoved the bedroom door open with his foot. The room was small, dark and reeked of old cigarette smoke. There were two single beds, a sink and a waste paper bin. Hakim headed immediately for the window and threw back the tar-stained curtains so he could open the window slightly. He peered outside to ensure that the truck was still there and that it wasn’t attracting unwanted attention. Jay threw his bag on the floor and jumped onto one of the beds, causing a cloud of dust to rise up from the cover as he did so.
“Home sweet home..” Hakim smiled as he pulled the dust sheet off his bed before laying down himself. He turned to Jay and spoke in an almost whisper “..We definitely mustn’t get caught without our passports tonight.. you know?”
Jay nodded.
“Are you getting hungry?” asked Hakim raising himself up from his bed.
“Yes.. a little” replied Jay, removing the dust sheet from his bed.
“Should we go downstairs and eat then?”
“In five minutes.. ok?” Jay lay down on the bed again, exhausted after the boat trip and from the extreme heat. The bed and a fresh breeze coming through the window sent him off into a slumber.
Hakim shook Jay on the shoulder an hour later and woke him up. It was pitch black in the room, with only a dim street light to break the darkness.
“I think we’d better go downstairs”
“Err.. yes.. “ Jay looked a little dazed as he wiped the sleep from his eyes. He sat up on the edge of his bed “..Sorry.. I must’ve dozed..”
“Shh!..” Hakim interrupted, holding a finger to his lips “..It sounds as if some guards are here.. I heard some men shouting out in the corridor”
“Wouldn’t it be better if we stayed here t
hen?” asked Jay hopefully.
“I don’t think so.. They’d find us if they wanted to.. Besides.. if they had come looking for us they would have found us a long time ago.” Hakim stood by the window and drew the curtain surreptitiously to one side “No.. it’s better if we act normally and go down and eat.. That way we can listen in and keep an eye on things”
Hakim and Jay went downstairs slowly. They could hear a commotion coming from the reception area as they rounded the corner. The hotel manager waved his arms frantically in the air as three men in military uniform shouted at him and then at each other. Hakim pulled Jay by the elbow into a side room which turned out to be the dining room. They sat down at one of the six small tables and read the menus. Hakim leaned over towards Jay and started whispering.
“They are arguing about ‘security costs’..” Hakim leaned a little more “..I think the soldiers are using a little.. um.. what’s the word?.. Aliyep kizaz?..Extortion?.. Anyway.. we’d better keep a low profile.. and keep our voices down”
Hakim translated parts of the menu for Jay and recommended a lamb and tomato stew. The manager walked in to the dining area after a few minutes, walking quickly and looking flustered. He apologised for the delay and handed them two cold bottles of water ‘on the house’ as a gesture of his hospitality. He took their orders and left. Hakim looked at the sell by dates on the bottles as soon as the manager’s back was turned, appearing positively surprised when he saw that the dates were only slightly overdue.
Their meal arrived, served in three black clay dishes. The lamb sauce sizzled whilst steam spiralled upwards from the saffron rice. The manager returned smiling, holding some flat bread in front of him and wished them health. Hakim wondered if the manager also made all the food. Jay joked that he probably did all the cleaning as well, until he noticed the manager sweeping the floor on the other side of the doorway. Hakim and Jay laughed discretely, agreeing that the manager was impressively multi-talented.
It was almost 9 pm by the time they went upstairs. Both tried to rest and prepare themselves mentally for the activities which lay ahead of them. Hakim set a quiet alarm on his wristwatch for 1 am.
Jay slept deeply until the faint beeping of Hakim’s wristwatch woke him up. Hakim had managed to sleep too. They got themselves ready without speaking. Jay arranged his headdress the Iranian way before both men walked out of the room, closing the door quietly behind them. The stairs creaked more than either of them wanted as they made their way hurriedly down to the rear fire exit. The stillness of the night was only broken by the sound of their feet scraping sand across the concrete ground floor and crickets chirping mockingly in the darkness. Jay pushed gently against the locking bar of the door. He nudged the door open quickly but quietly. Hakim took a thick piece of folded paper from his pocket and wedged it between the door and the frame so the door would remain open for their return.
It was strangely cold outside. Hakim and Jay surveyed the immediate area for passers-by before scampering over to the truck. There were no signs of human activity, not even dogs or cats, just crickets. They carefully rolled back the tarpaulin cover and lowered the tailgate. Hakim slid the wooden plank out from the side and attached one end to the truck. Jay removed the casing from the large PC and retrieved the harnesses and quadcopter. He deftly assembled the quadcopter in a matter of seconds and placed it in its harness. He placed the pad computer in the other harness and pulled his robe down to his waste. Hakim kept watch as Jay pulled both harnesses swiftly over his shoulders and wriggled his arms back into the robe, tugging the harnesses and fabric into place. Jay slid the PC cover back over the PC and helped Hakim roll the motorcycle down the ramp. Hakim pulled the motorcycle carefully up onto its stand. He then placed the wooden ramp back in the truck and pulled the tarpaulin closed before opening one of the motorcycle’s side bags and taking out the two blankets. He gave one blanket to Jay and threw the over his own shoulders, tying it up at the front. Jay followed suit, thinking however, that Hakim resembled a militia fighter.
Jay tried to find a motorcycle helmet. There were none.
“Your keffiyeh is your head protection..” whispered Hakim, noticing Jay’s bemusement “..besides.. wearing a helmet would be too conspicuous.. no-one uses them here”
“Well.. in that case.. I hope you are going to drive very carefully” whispered Jay back.
“I can’t drive this thing!” answered Hakim with an almost angry and slightly raised voice.
“What?!.. Am I supposed to drive it??.. I haven’t ridden one of these things for years.. let alone on the wrong side of the damned road!”
“You’ll be fine..” Hakim waved his arms up and down in an attempt to get Jay to lower his voice ”..at least you’ve ridden one before.. I haven’t.. I’ve never even managed to change the gears on one of these!”
“Jeez!.. Well there’s not really a lot of choice then.. is there?..” Jay swung his leg over the motorcycle saddle, snagging his leg momentarily in his robe “..Stupid thing!.. Come on.. We’d better get going!”
“Wait.. I think we ought to push the bike down the road first.. over to where it is dark.. before we start it”
“Right.. Good idea!”
Jay dismounted the motorcycle and turned the key one click in the ignition switch, twisting the handlebars free of the steering lock. He pushed the motorcycle quickly down the road with Hakim pushing behind until they stopped at a darkened area further down the road. Jay lifted his robe up and swung his right leg successfully over the motorcycle. He tried to familiarise himself with the instruments and gears whilst Hakim hopped on behind and held on to Jay’s waist.
“Which way are we going?” asked Jay.
“Straight on.. I’ll tell you as we go” answered Hakim.
“Ok.. Ready?”
“Yes.. ready” replied Hakim holding his thumbs up in the dark.
Jay turned the ignition key fully over and thrust his weight down on the starter pedal. The motorcycle roared into life as he twisted the throttle. He was certain that they were going to wake up the entire neighbourhood. Jay put the motorcycle into gear and released the clutch sharply. The motorcycle lurched forward and almost stalled, causing Hakim to bash his head into Jay’s shoulders. Hakim grabbed hold of Jay’s robe in a frantic attempt to maintain balance. Jay opened the throttle fully and changed rapidly up through the gears as they sped down the dark sand-covered road. Hakim signalled to Jay that he should bear left onto the main road. Jay ignored his automatic instinct to indicate, and drove onto the dimly lit main road. Hakim started tapping Jay violently on his shoulder whilst shouting something incomprehensible in his ear. Jay noticed Hakim’s right hand was waving from left to right which was when Jay realised that he was driving on the wrong side of the road. Jay swerved immediately over to the right and accelerated down the highway.
A sign pointing to the atomic power plant took them down a narrow road and through a small village. The village itself was sparsely lit and sparingly populated, only boasting a dozen or so rickety old houses which looked on sedately as they passed by in their haste. Jay throttled back to reduce the noise as they joined a newly asphalted road on the other side of the village. They could see bright lights in the distance. Small newly-built dwellings dotted the road towards the power plant. Jay guessed that these probably belonged to the power plant’s bosses. A high perimeter fence came into view, lit up by floodlights every two hundred metres or so. An old shed stood isolated, just past the last house and approximately fifty metres from the fence. There were no guards but lights moved around within the compound. Hakim tapped Jay on the shoulder, signalling him to turn left towards the shed. Jay cut the engine as they got closer. Hakim hopped off the back of the motorcycle and quickly pulled the shed door open, kicking stones out of his path. Jay dismounted the motorcycle and pushed it into the shed. He pulled it quickly up on its stand as Hakim closed the shed door behind them. The interior of the shed was pitch black and stank of a mixture of ammonia and hay, somewhat re
miniscent of a cow shed that had been subjected to forty degrees heat for several days. Jay could feel his heart begin to pound with adrenalin. They had to move quickly. Jay took the quadcopter and pad computer out of their respective harnesses and switched the pad computer on at which time a large object scurried towards them out the dark. Hakim jumped up blurting ‘camel spider!’ in a subdued scream. Jay directed the light from the pad computer towards the aggressive creature which sat back on its hind legs and threatened everything around it with its massive pincers. Jay pushed the door open carefully as Hakim grabbed a nearby wicker broom and fought off the advancing menace.
Jay looked around and ran quickly towards the perimeter fence. He threw himself into the shadows of an area, about three metres wide, which lay between two floodlights. He lay the quadcopter and pad computer in front of him as he remained lying on his stomach. Jay switched on the repeater and started the quadcopter’s motors. He sent the quadcopter immediately upwards into the dark skies and over the fence. Jay fixed his eyes on the pad computer’s display and guided the quadcopter into the compound, spotting an area where he could land about forty metres ahead. Jay initiated a descent, flying between two high steel buildings and out to an open area surrounded by single storey temporary huts. A workman wearing white overalls and a white hard hat came out from one of the buildings. Jay sent the quadcopter into an emergency climb, hoping the workman hadn’t noticed the quadcopter. Jay turned the quadcopter’s camera so he could follow the workman as he walked out of sight. He started a descent again, this time rotating from side to side to keep an eye on passers-by. Jay was annoyed that he hadn’t thought of having a microphone fitted to the quadcopter so that he could hear what was going on. Jay landed the quadcopter between two of the low buildings.
A dog barked suddenly. It sounded very close. Jay’s shoulder and arm muscles contracted in a shock reflex. He turned his head round to see a guard and a large dog running towards him. The dog snapped angrily whilst the guard shouted aggressively and reached for his machine gun. Jay turned quickly to the pad computer, released the repeater from the quadcopter and made the quadcopter climb as fast as it could into the night skies. He then slid the pad computer surreptitiously into the front harness before he flipped over and stood up, holding both hands in the air.
Jay’s brain raced through possible action plans as he reminded himself not to speak English. He decided he would try to look a little simple and say ‘baksheesh’ in the hope that the same trick would work twice. But the guard had already released the dog and readied his machine gun, pointing it at Jay. The guard’s voice had reached scream pitch by the time the dog had reached Jay. It sank its frenzied teeth into Jay’s robe as it shook its head violently from side to side. Jay managed to stay standing even though the dog had bitten off a large chunk of his robe. The guard stopped about five metres away from Jay, holding his machine gun in front of him and shaking with anger. The guard shouted and waved his gun muzzle, signalling that Jay should come out of the shadows. Jay took three paces sideways, dragging the guard dog through the sand as he moved. The guard got closer, placing himself directly in front of Jay. He was as angry as Jay was frightened. He looked like the type who would shoot first and ask questions later. Jay could take no chances. He smiled nervously, not knowing what else he could do. This seemed to aggravate the guard even more, resulting in him taking a swipe at Jay’s face with the back of his hand. Jay managed to pull his head back in time and dodged the blow. The guard, however, lost his balance and stumbled sideways. Jay seized the opportunity and delivered a ‘knife-hand’ to the guard’s neck. The guard passed out immediately. Jay turned to the dog and saw that its leash was still attached to the collar. He removed the blanket from his shoulders and threw it over the dog’s head. He then grabbed the leash handle and tied it to the guard’s belt before wrestling himself away from the dog. The dog held on to a new piece of Jay’s robe and gnashed more fiercely in frustration as Jay pulled away, taking the blanket with him. Jay heard noises from within the camp. They had clearly heard the commotion.
He threw the blanket over his shoulders, retracted the pad computer and tried to connect to the repeater. The signal was too weak. Vehicles started their engines within the compound, revving furiously. Jay ran back towards the perimeter fence, hoping he could get a stronger signal there. The timer on his screen cycled round for what seemed like an eternity but he was finally able to log on to the main network and start the file transfer. Jay could see out of the corner of his eye that the guard was regaining consciousness. Jay quickly started the back-door program, shoved the pad computer back into its harness and ran over towards the shed. Hakim had already pushed the motorcycle out and exclaimed breathlessly that he had tried to warn Jay by waving at him. Jay jumped onto the motorcycle and started the engine in one swift movement. He turned to see the guard kneeling in the distance, leaning over on one arm to maintain balance. The guard stood up unsteadily and released the dog from his belt. He then retrieved his machine gun from the sand and pointed it towards Jay and Hakim. Hakim swung his leg over the motorcycle’s back seat and climbed on. The dog ran furiously towards them amid a blaze of machine gun fire coming from the guard. Jay released the clutch. The motorcycle jolted forward as Jay felt one of Hakim’s arms suddenly release its grip from around his waist. Hakim let out a piercing scream. Jay looked down. Hakim had a gaping wound in his leg where a bullet had passed through his calf muscle and into the motorcycles silencer box.
Jay accelerated away quickly, shouting to Hakim that he should hold on. There was no reply from Hakim. Jay wouldn’t have heard him anyway due to the immense noise coming from the motorcycle’s punctured silencer. Jay told Hakim that he would stop as soon as he could, hoping Hakim could hear him. Blood dripped down onto Hakim’s shoe, splashing onto the road.
They arrived at the outskirts of the village. Jay cut the engine and allowed the motorcycle to coast into a dark alleyway between two houses. He got off the motorcycle and told Hakim to hang on to his shoulders as he pushed the motorcycle around the back of one of the houses. The house had high white walls encircling it which made it difficult to see if there was anyone inside. There were no visible lights so Jay decided to take the chance. Noise from distant vehicles became steadily louder, inevitably closer.
Jay helped Hakim dismount the motorcycle and sat him carefully down against the perimeter wall. Hakim shone the light from his mobile telephone onto his leg and shrugged his shoulders. Jay insisted on treating Hakim’s wound even though this was against Hakim’s wishes, stating that he didn’t want to leave a trail of blood for everybody to follow. Jay took out the first aid kit from one of the panier bags and disinfected Hakim's leg with liquid antiseptic which caused Hakim to wince. Jay tore a strip of cloth from his thawb, finishing off what the guard dog had started, and folded the cloth into a patch. The patch was delicately placed on Hakim’s wound. Jay bound the patch in place using bandaging from the medical kit. The vehicles were now very close by. Jay asked Hakim what the pills in the medical kit were for, and if they were painkillers. Hakim nodded. Jay handed him four of the pills together with a bottle of water. They heard the noise of several vehicles with powerful engines stop on the other side of the house. Jay pictured pickup trucks fully laden with psychotic machine-gun wielding revolutionary guardsmen hungry to kill anything that moved. He turned his focus to the motorcycle’s exhaust pipe and tore off yet another strip of his robe, wrapping it tightly around the hole and tied a knot to keep it in place. Jay hoped that the cotton wouldn’t catch fire but convinced himself that that was probably the least of their worries. They heard a helicopter in the distance as the pick-up trucks took off down the main road at speed. Jay switched on his satellite sender and took a map out of the panier bag. Hakim stuck his hand down the front of his robe and produced a compass from under his clothing. Jay studied the map, deciding that it would be safest if they headed north-east towards the hills at Dalaki. The guards would probably be waiting for them on al
l the main roads and at all the main towns in the area. Jay drew a route with his finger, showing Hakim which way they would go. Hakim nodded in pained acceptance. They would follow the foothills, staying on small tracks, and go round the north side of Zohreh under the cover of darkness. They would then head for the Iraqi border about four hundred kilometres away. Jay tapped the motorcycle’s petrol tank. It sounded half empty but he hoped that they would have enough petrol. Otherwise it was going to be a very long walk home.
The helicopter drew closer, hovering briefly over the village and scanning everywhere with its powerful searchlights. Jay and Hakim decided to set off again as soon as the helicopter had left. Hakim limped back to the motorcycle where Jay helped him up. Jay pushed the motorcycle slowly out on to the main road, vigilant for any signs of activity. He got on, started the engine and drove off briskly, turning right at the end of the village onto a dirt track. Jay noted that the motorcycle, although quieter, was still noisy enough to ‘wake the gods’.
A set of vehicle headlights appeared suddenly on the horizon. Jay switched off the motorcycle’s lights almost instinctively. He veered immediately off the dirt track and pulled the motorcycle together with Hakim down to the ground behind a clump of small rocks. The oncoming vehicle got closer and slowed down. It was a pickup truck with three men in the cab and two others on the back, one controlling a heavy machine gun, the other controlling a searchlight. The searchlight shone fleetingly over them but too quickly for them to register Jay and Hakim. They drove on slowly, scanning the landscape around them
Jay picked up the motorcycle and helped Hakim up again, telling him to keep an eye on the exhaust bandage so it didn’t catch fire. Hakim thanked him for the ‘reassuring’ information. They reached the main road after about ten minutes and continued on for a little over an hour before stopping at Dalaki. It was 03:30 am and they had seen no signs of the helicopter since they left the village, nor had they noticed any vehicles following them. They had travelled a little over eighty kilometres. Jay checked Hakim's leg. The makeshift pad had gelled with the blood from Hakim’s wound, sticking bits of material to his leg. Jay drank some water and shivered, wondering if it was due to the chill of the night or the adrenalin racing around in his body. They knew that they couldn’t stay for long. They needed to reach the mountains before daybreak. They headed off again, resolute but exhausted.
They covered a further one hundred and twenty kilometres by 05:00 am. The sun cast a warm halo around the mountains ahead of them. Hakim spotted an old stone bridge in a shallow valley and suggested that they should take refuge there and try to get some sleep. Jay agreed, admitting to himself that he was too tired to carry on anyway.
Jay helped Hakim get comfortable in the soft sand under the bridge before concealing the motorcycle in some bushes behind one of the bridge’s thick pillars. Hakim pulled his blanket around himself and fell asleep. Jay removed his sandals and walked out into the shallow water which flowed under the central part of the bridge. He scooped a handful of cold water up and sniffed it. It smelt fresh, reminding him of the brooks he splashed around in as a child in Wales. Jay looked up at the sky. It was getting brighter by the minute. He decided to taste the water, convincing himself that it had to be safe as it came directly down from the mountains. Jay drank until his stomach was full then washed the dust off his face. He walked back to where Hakim was sleeping. Jay pulled out the pad computer and forced a factory reset, checking that everything had been deleted. He put his sandals on again and crushed the pad computer with his foot before digging a hole in the sand with his bare hands. He placed the pad computer and the harnesses in the hole and covered everything up meticulously with sand and small stones. Jay checked that the satellite locator was still working and placed it strategically to catch the sun as it passed. He finally pulled his blanket over his shoulders and fell wearily to sleep.
The sound of clanging goat bells woke Jay with a start. A young shepherd boy tended a herd of goats further down the stream, a couple of hundred metres away. The boy looked relaxed and had apparently not noticed the two men holed up under the bridge. Hakim was still asleep, snoring intermittently. Jay nudged him gently to wake him up, raising a finger to his lips to tell him to remain quiet and pointed to the boy. Hakim raised his body up on one elbow and wiped the sleep from his eyes. They watched the boy’s moves carefully, aware of the fact that any false move would spook the goats and alert the boy of their presence. Jay smiled at the irony of the situation; two grown men hiding from a skinny boy surrounded by goats. Jay and Hakim remained quiet for several minutes until the boy coaxed the herd across the river and moved away. Jay picked up the locator and put it back inside his sock, wondering if anyone was actually tracking them. They decided to move on. Jay washed Hakim’s wound and retrieved the motorcycle from the bushes, helping Hakim to climb onto it once more. They drove off as quietly as they could, taking a dirt track which led up through the mountains.
Small rocks and a sandy surface made travel very slow. Jay could only manage a maximum of thirty-five kilometres per hour before the motorcycle started juddering and sliding violently. But the track seemed to be free of other people at least. They stopped in the shade of an overhanging rock at about 10:00 am. The nearest town, Hendijan, lay approximately one hundred kilometres to the north-west. They both looked forward to a happy reunion with tarmac and petrol stations. Jay looked at the petrol gauge which looked worryingly empty. A sand storm began to swirl around them, but they had to move on.
Jay was grateful that Hakim had brought a compass with him as the sand storm made its presence felt. It was almost impossible to see where the track was, let alone which direction the track took immediately ahead. Slow progress was needed if they were to avoid plunging off the side of the mountain into one of the deep gorges below. Jay wrapped part of his headdress around his face to protect it from the biting sand. He drove with his eyes virtually closed, hoping his eyelashes would keep the sand out. But the sand would at least cover their tracks if anyone was following them he concluded. Jay drove on in second gear, at about fifteen kilometres an hour, letting his legs dangle down on either side to keep balance.
The sand storm died down about half an hour later, allowing the sun to resume its relentless punishment of the two weary travellers. Jay shouted over his shoulder, asking Hakim if he had any Iranian money. Hakim shouted back that he had a little but, more importantly, he had some boiled sweets. Hakim held a small bag of sweets up in front of Jay’s face as they drove on in the intensifying heat.
The sun stood high in the sky as they crossed the river into Hendijan. Street sellers lined both sides of the road. There were lots of them, all in makeshift shacks made out of corrugated iron. They sold everything from hats and bread to dates, tea and pistachio nuts. Jay’s first priority was to find a petrol station, and preferably one offering a little shade. Hakim tapped Jay on the shoulder and pointed to an open area with a shed on the right, saying it was a petrol station. Jay thought it looked just like all the other street seller shacks but weaved his way carefully between the traffic and stopped in front of the building. And old man wearing a turban and a grubby white robe got up from a plastic garden chair and started unscrewing the motorcycles petrol cap. He pumped petrol manually using a contraption resembling an old bicycle pump attached to a garden hose.
Hakim spoke Farsi with the man who immediately left the petrol nozzle hanging from the tank and went into the shed. The old man waddled back with some bread and two large bottles of water under his arm. He handed the bread and water over to Hakim and pointed to Hakim’s leg as if he was asking what had happened. Jay ate the bread voraciously as the old man resumed his task of filling up the motorcycles petrol tank. Hakim shook the old man’s hand warmly and gave him some cash and a handful of boiled sweets before they drove off again. They found a shaded spot under a palm tree where they stopped to eat. Jay asked Hakim what he had said to the old man when he pointed to his leg. Hakim replied that he had told him that h
e was going to hospital with a suspected broken ankle after a fall, which is why he couldn't get up from the motorcycle.
Jay looked around him. It felt as if all the street sellers were scrutinising their every movement. Hakim felt it too and suggested that they move before they attracted too much attention. They headed off towards Bandar Mashahr, a large town which lay a little over seventy kilometres away. The journey from there would have to be under the cover of darkness.
Jay spotted a clump of trees as they neared the outskirts of Bandar Mashahr. He checked his mirrors and quickly turned off the main road onto a farm track. They found a cool spot under some trees and settled for the night. Hakim removed his bandages, washing his wound with a little water. It had become infected. Jay could see Hakim was suffering and gave him some more painkillers. They finished off their bread and water and sat with their backs supported by the same thick tree trunk.
“You know.. this place reminds me of the village I was born in?..” Hakim looked over to Jay “..It was just like this.. sandy soil.. trees to take shade in.. and play in”
“Were you born here.. in this area?” asked Jay
“No.. we lived outside Tehran.. that’s a long long way away.. but it looked and felt..” Hakim grasped the tree trunk with his hand “..just like here”
“Hmm.. that’s funny..”
“Why is that amusing?”
“Well.. no.. not funny ‘ha ha’.. just a strange coincidence is what I meant”
“How come?”
“It reminds me somehow of my childhood too.. especially the tree”
“They will outlive us all.. You know?.. I often wonder what trees would tell us if they could talk”
“Now you sound like someone from the British Royal Family”
Hakim let out an involuntary laugh before controlling himself and looking around to see if anyone had heard him.
“I am flattered you think I am a bit.. how do you call it.. regal?”
“My pleasure..” Jay smiled back at Hakim “..So.. tell me.. do you have family?.. Wife.. kids etcetera?.. Or are we not supposed to talk about that sort of thing?”
“Yes.. yes I do.. And I don’t really give a damn about the ‘rules’ right now.. especially given the situation we are in.. Who knows ..We might well be the last people we ever get to talk to”
“Yeah” Jay threw a little sand across the ground in front of him.
“I have a wife.. she is from Jordan.. and four beautiful children” continued Hakim.
“Ok” replied Jay, thinking that four children was a lot, but not wanting to say so out loud.
“You?”
“No.. no family of my own.. as yet.. Just a mother.. sister.. girlfriend.. But I would like to have children ..some day”
“Well then..” Hakim slapped Jay on his thigh “..We’d better make sure we get you out of here then!”
Jay and Hakim tried to relax, taking naps in turn. Night time came suddenly, changing from daylight to total darkness in the matter of minutes. Hakim checked his mobile phone and nudged Jay. It was half past eight. Jay nodded, brushed the dust off his robe and lifted the motorcycle up. He threw his blanket nonchalantly over his shoulders and helped Hakim get onto the motorcycle. Once satisfied that everything was in its correct place, Jay started the motorcycle, dimmed the headlights and set out onto the main road towards Bandar Mashahr.
___________________
Patrick knocked on the meeting room door, opening it simultaneously.
“Sorry Clive.. do you have a minute?”
Clive apologised to the three men sat around the table and walked over to the door.
“What is it Patrick?”
Patrick spoke slowly “Snow has fallen”
Clive’s facial expression took on the gravity of a man who had just lost a close friend. He stepped out of the meeting room and pulled the door closed behind him.
“Are you sure?” asked Clive hopefully.
“Yes.. They weren’t on the ferry.. and we haven’t heard from either of them since deployment”
“What about the satellite tracker?”
“Nothing there either.. We will keep monitoring it of course.. just in case”
“What does Intelligence say?.. Has Iran any inkling of what this is all about?”
“No.. apparently not.. Our people on the ground say that there was some type of ‘commotion’ outside the target area but they apparently suspect that it was thieves trying to steal equipment.. No-one was captured or questioned”
“Good.. good..” Clive looked down, clearly saddened by the news. He pushed the door open again “..Thank you Patrick.. Keep me informed will you please?”
“Yes.. of course”
___________________
Jay turned off the main road before they reached Bandar Mashahr’s centre and followed a narrow track around a group of irrigation trenches which led to a road on the other side of town. Jay was forced to use the motorcycle’s headlights in order to navigate safely around the water-filled ditches. They came to an incline which would take them up to the main road on the western side of the town. An army lorry passed overhead just as Jay dimmed his headlights.
“You do know that the whole area is known for its Revolutionary Guard camp nearby don’t you?” said Hakim.
“Oh good” answered Jay sarcastically.
“Everyone in the area seems to keep a twenty-four hour vigil.. you know.. watching for intruders and suspicious characters.. like you and I.. It’s due to the proximity to the Iraqi border.. But don’t worry.. It will be much worse by the border” Hakim gave Jay a friendly slap on the back.
“Well.. I suppose it’s lucky for us that most ‘intruders’ will be travelling in the opposite direction then” Jay tapped Hakim’s knee as he revved up the engine and sped up the incline, onto the main road heading towards Abadan.
The Iraqi border lay a little over ninety kilometres to the west of Bandar Mashahr, but the road and the total darkness seemed to go on forever. A star-filled sky and intermittent minor panic attacks were the only things that broke the monotony. After a further hour and a half of driving, town lights appeared ahead of them on the horizon. Jay pulled over to the side of the road.
“That must be Abadan”
“Yes.. I think so” replied Hakim.
“What’s the plan?.. It looks like there is a bridge there..” Jay pointed straight ahead “..but I think it will be too risky to go that way.. It will be teeming with guards”
“I think you are right.. Maybe we should go off to the left and look for an alternative way through?”
“Yes.. We’ll have to go south of the town.. there’s really not much choice.. North is too far and therefore too risky.. especially riding on this thing..” Jay tapped the motorcycle’s petrol tank “..the world’s most indiscrete motorcycle”
They found a small bridge as they got closer to the town centre. The bridge seemed to lead into a residential area. They proceeded across cautiously, aware that the motorcycle was becoming steadily more noisy as the temporary fix fell off bit by bit. Once on the other side they checked constantly for signs of guards or other threatening activities. A militia jeep leapt out from the shadows just as they drove off the bridge. It accelerated towards them with lightning speed. Jay took a sudden left turn down a side road and accelerated as hard as he could. The militia jeep responded by accelerating even more, gaining ground on them rapidly amid the sounds of gun-fire, shouting and blazing car horns. Jay told Hakim to hold on as he swung violently right down an alleyway, the back wheel almost snapping out of control. Jay turned immediately to the left, then right again and stopped abruptly. They were in a dead end, surrounded by high walls and dim street lighting. There was no obvious way out other than going back the way they came in. A light came on inside one of the nearby houses. The occupant stuck his head out cautiously from behind the shutters to see what the commotion was. Jay turned the motorcycle round and moved forwards into a pocket of shadow. He switched t
he engine off and waited. The jeep drove quickly past the top of the road a few seconds later. They waited in the dark, not saying a word, both aware of the fact that the man in the house had seen them. After a few seconds Jay turned and nodded to Hakim. Hakim nodded back. Jay fired up the engine and accelerated quickly away whilst Hakim clung on to his robe. They raced past several more houses, ending up in an industrial area filled with oil towers, tanks, pipes and pumps. The whole area was lit up like a football pitch, making it virtually impossible to hide. The only consolation was that the noise of the equipment would drown the noise of the motorcycle’s exhaust. They stopped briefly to consult the map. They would have to head towards the main river, the Arvand Roud, which divided Iran and Iraq and hope that there would be a bridge somewhere they could use to cross over. Jay accelerated quickly away in the direction of the river whilst Hakim held the compass by Jay’s side.
___________________
Clive’s home telephone shook violently on the sideboard.
“Hello?” Clive recognised the out of breath voice on the other end.
“Hello Clive.. Patrick here.. Sorry to use the CritSit number.. but we’ve just received a signal from Snow.. Can you talk?”
“Yes.. yes..” Clive walked out of his living room, into the hall “..Can we trace it?”
“We’ve got a position near Abadan”
“Aba what? ..Where’s that?”
“Iran.. across from the Iraqi border”
“Really?.. Really?!..” Clive could not hide the disbelief in his voice, containing a mixture of pleasure and surprise “..Well.. I’ll be damned!.. Snow!.. Good on you!.. Can we make an extraction?”
“No.. unfortunately not.. Stealth operations are too risky due to the high levels of surveillance in the area”
“Seriously?!.. Are we just going to leave them?!..” Clive fell silent for a moment “..No.. No.. You are right.. We don’t want any political incidents.. But what do we have on the Iraqi side?.. Is it safe?.. Can we organise a reception of some sort?”
“Yes.. people are on their way.. But we haven’t had contact with the Iraqi’s as yet.. We are working on that”
“Good.. Keep me informed Patrick”
“Yes.. of course sir”
___________________
Jay could only just make out what was on the other side of the river when one of the searchlights made a wide scan. Searchlights were scattered along the banks on both sides of the river with observation towers every one hundred of metres or so. Jay and Hakim stood on a small unlit quay using a large military power boat as cover. Several smaller fishing vessels lay moored alongside.
“I’m going to get rid of the bike and find a boat” whispered Jay as he helped Hakim settle in the shadows. Jay pushed the motorcycle behind a collection of oil drums and returned moments later with a glint in his eye “What do you say to us borrowing this?” Jay patted a small dinghy strapped to the back of the military boat just above Hakim’s head.
“Hmm.. good idea” Hakim tried to get up.
“No.. no.. it’s ok.. I can manage” Jay motioned Hakim to remain seated.
Jay unstrapped the dinghy, holding its weight up with his left arm. Hakim dragged himself out of the way to give Jay better access. The dinghy became heavier and heavier with each strap Jay released until it suddenly dropped onto the concrete moorings with a clatter. Jay and Hakim looked around to see if anyone had heard them. Jay flipped the dinghy onto its back and lowered it into the water. He held onto a piece of rope attached to the front end so it didn’t float away.
“Hakim.. do you think you can get into this?”
Hakim nodded and raised himself up in slow agony “You don’t think I’m going to stay here do you?” replied Hakim with a pained smile.
Hakim hobbled over to the side of the quay and climbed down three rusty steps. He placed his good leg in the dinghy first and balanced his body weight so the dinghy wouldn’t tip over. He pulled his injured leg into the boat and plopped down onto the front seat, grasping the side of the boat as a jolt of pain hit him. Hakim reached out to the steps with his other hand and steadied the boat for Jay as he clambered in. Jay pushed the boat forcibly out into the river and set himself down at the back. He rummaged around the bottom of the dinghy as if he was looking for something.
“Un-bloody-believable!..” mumbled Jay “..What sort of idiot would have a dinghy with no paddles?”
Hakim shrugged his shoulders and whispered “We’ll just have to use our hands.. But remember.. there are probably crocodiles down there” Hakim pointed down into the dark moonlit water.
The river was about four hundred metres wide and seemingly free of obstacles. Jay tried to allay concerns of meeting crocodiles or running into water mines. But the water was calm, almost peaceful. Searchlights flickered across it, changing direction after the whimsies of the operators. Jay and Hakim remained silent as Jay removed his sandals and dipped them into the water.
“I am not bloody putting my hands in there!” said Jay in a loud whisper.
“Good idea” agreed Hakim with a quiet laugh as he followed suit.
A searchlight turned quickly across the water towards them. They were still only a few metres out from the quay but they would not be able to paddle back, nor could they paddle forward to avoid it. They would have to stay still and hope.
“Down!” said Jay forcefully as he climbed into the middle of the boat. Hakim threw himself almost on top of Jay, landing slightly to one side and causing the boat to rock violently. Jay focussed all of his attention on the course of the searchlight. A group of seagulls had distracted the searchlight’s operator just short of the dinghy. Hakim held his injured leg, letting out a painful groan.
“Are you ok?” whispered Jay.
“Yes.. fine.. I think I’ll stay here though.. I can’t really get up”
“Ok.. just stay down.. I’ll do the rowing”
Jay clambered back into his seat and started paddling as quietly as he could using slow, deliberate movements which allowed the dinghy to glide forward under its own inertia. A set of yellowy cat-like eyes appeared in the water in front of him. Jay steadied his nerves, persuading himself that whatever it was, it would be more afraid of the boat than he was of it. He pulled his sandals out of the water as they passed, just in case. After a few more minutes of paddling Jay looked around to see how far they had got. They were approximately half way. Jay heard the roar of a motor launch in the distance but he couldn’t see anything due to the light. He focussed on pushing and gliding, pushing and gliding, pushing and gliding. His arms were getting tired. Jay remembered the boat trip with Zu; how her hair got caught by the breeze, the sounds of ecstatic tourists, the sunshine, Zu’s smile. A sharp light appeared to the right of them. A patrol boat approached them at speed. Jay paddled frantically, no longer caring about the noise. The boat opened fire. Jay heard bullets entering the water around them. It would be a matter of seconds before the dinghy was hit he thought. Hakim raised himself up onto his knees and paddled with all his might too, despite his agony. The motor launch slid to a halt some fifty metres or so behind them, causing a wake which nearly threw Jay and Hakim into the water. A searchlight from the launch fixed directly on them. Jay held his arm over his eyes in order to see through the blinding light. More shots were fired, this time from a machine gun. They too fell short of the dinghy. Jay turned to Hakim.
“Why aren’t they hitting us?” asked Jay in disbelief.
“It must be because we are in Iraqi waters”
“Ahh.. that must be it!.. Let’s hope so anyway.. Come on.. Let’s get away from this lot!”
Jay and Hakim paddled the remaining distance together, driving the dinghy onto the muddy bank on the other side of the river. They sat gasping for breath for a few moments before putting on their sandals. Jay hopped out of the boat and clutched Hakim’s arm. Hakim almost fell out of the boat, grasping Jay’s shoulder to maintain balance in the thick black mud. They held their robes like eighteent
h century bathing women as they trudged their way to the top of the bank. Hakim kept an eye open for crocodiles whilst Jay crawled over the top. Jay held a hand out, dangling it over the dunes so Hakim could scramble his way up too. Both men collapsed onto a mound of earth in exhaustion.
Within seconds a sea of floodlights illuminated them and everything else around them. There were people at a distance everywhere they looked, and a lot of shouting. There were gunshots. Jay and Hakim stood up and stepped forward out of the earth with their hands raised in the air, barely able to distinguish anything in the blinding light.
“Do you know what they are saying?” asked Jay, turning his head towards Hakim.
“I think..” Hakim’s voice sounded nervous “..I think they are telling us that this is a mine field”
Jay stared at Hakim with a look of terror. He looked down and scanned the area around them. Bits of metal glimmered in the soil at even distances of about four metres. Jay looked behind him without moving his feet. They had just crawled between two of them. The people started shouting again.
“They are saying we are spies” said Hakim. Hakim shouted something back to the men.
“And you answered that we are not.. hopefully?” asked Jay
“Yes.. yes.. Don’t worry.. I think I have convinced them that we are not Iranians.. They will help us out.. I am sure..” Hakim turned to face Jay with a wry smile “..Anyway.. if they thought we were Iranians.. they would just have left us here”
“How nice..” said Jay “..but how are we going to get out of this..” A large vehicle drove into the minefield before Jay could finish his sentence.
“That is a mine remover.. you know?” shouted Hakim over the noise of flaying chains and small explosions coming from under the vehicle.
“And what’s going to happen to us when that thing gets to us? Said Jay pointing at the vehicle heading towards them.
“Good question” replied Hakim, shrugging his shoulders.
The machine stirred up a large cloud of dust as it went and finally came to a standstill about fifteen metres away from Jay and Hakim before reversing out. Another vehicle came in, following the tracks left by the mine remover. Jay thought that it looked like a window cleaner’s telescopic lift. The telescopic arm stretched out towards them. There was a cage at the end which Jay and Hakim climbed into. They were hoisted up, high over the minefield. They could see the river, gaining a good view of the irate Iranian guards who still stood at the halfway point on the river. The telescopic arm retracted to a resting position between four large wheels. The vehicle started rolling backwards towards a large gathering of heavily armed men surrounded by floodlights.
“They are Iraqi border guards as far as I can tell” said Hakim.
“Is that good or bad?” asked Jay.
“Well.. it should be good.. but let me do the talking ok?”
“Ok”
The armed men seemed agitated, almost on edge. They threw the gate to the cage open and pulled Jay and Hakim forcibly out whilst pointing their machine guns at them. An officer with a red rope over his right shoulder shouted at them, pointing to the ground. Hakim threw himself immediately to the ground and told Jay to do the same. Two men frisked them and pulled their arms up behind their backs. Their wrists were bound together with black plastic strips which bit into their skin. Jay was then picked up by his shoulders whilst a man removed his headdress and placed a bag over his head. There was total darkness, little air and a smell of dusty sacking.
“What are they doing?!” shouted Jay through the cloth. Sweat began dripping into his eyes and a hopeless feeling of claustrophobia came over him. Jay received a hard kick on his hip from a heavy boot. He groaned and tried to ignore the pain. He couldn’t hear Hakim nor indeed guess what they were doing to him. Jay began to think the worst; maybe they had run into a group of militants who were not Iraqi guards after all?
Jay was dragged along the ground and pulled up onto a cold, hard floor, hitting his face in the process. He presumed this was the floor of a vehicle of some sort. He could feel blood trickle down his nose. Doors slammed shut as an engine was started. They drove off over very bump terrain. Jay tried to rest his head on his chin to avoid further damage to his face but the tumblings of the truck were so violent that his whole face felt battered and bruised within seconds. There were no voices in the vehicle, no signs of life other than him, just the engine and the clashing of chains against metal. The heavy smell of diesel fumes wafted over him every time there was a change of gear.
Jay tried to prepare himself for the worst. He thought of Zu, his mother, his father, his sister, Steve, Ben, even the time he had spent with Hakim. It had all been worth it he decided, come what may. They had driven for approximately ten minutes when they ground to a stop, propelling Jay’s body forward into an upright metal bar which hit his forehead. Doors were opened and people jumped in beside Jay. He was lifted up again and carried out of the vehicle. He was brought into a building with creaking metal doors and grit covered concrete floors. Jay heard a door being unlocked as it squealed open on rusty hinges. He was thrown unceremoniously onto something soft, a mattress of some sort. The bag was removed from his head together with his robe. Three guards scurried off, locking the door behind them.
Jay sat inside a green-painted prison cell with nothing other than cockroaches on the floor for company. A tiny barred window high up on the wall supplied meagre ventilation as well as an easy way in for cockroaches. Jay counted them. There were eighteen dotted around the room. Seconds turned into minutes and minutes turned into what seemed like hours.
Another vehicle arrived outside. Moments later a high-ranking American soldier stepped into Jay’s cell.
“Snow?”
Jay felt an urge to reply “Is there really?” but decided not to attempt that sort of humour given his present predicament. “Yes.. that’s me” Jay replied.
“Colonel Nash.. United States Eleventh Cavalry.. We’re gunna get you outta here!” The colonel ordered the Iraqi guards to give Jay his clothes. Jay dressed quickly and put on his sandals. The colonel led Jay out to a black car waiting outside. An American soldier opened the rear door and Jay got in.
“Hi Hakim!..” Jay reached over and hugged Hakim who sat on the back seat “..Are you ok?.. How’s your leg?”
“I’m fine.. How are you?.. What did they do to you?..” Hakim pointed at the blood clot still evident at the bottom of Jay’s nose “..Did they beat you up?” Hakim looked concerned.
“No.. well.. I did get a kick from one of them.. when they picked me up.. What about you?”
“Nothing here.. luckily.. But I could tell they were about to use some rough tactics.. if you know what I mean?.. Lucky for us that Uncle Sam intervened eh?”
“Yes.. that was rather fortunate.. I must admit.. I was getting more than a little concerned for a while”
“I think they were suspicious about us not having ID’s.. you know.. so they automatically presumed that we were spies”
The colonel talked sternly to the Iraqi officer and got in the car. There was silence as they drove along an unlit desert road for about half an hour, finally arriving at a large military base.
Their car weaved through mounds of sand bags and stopped alongside a sentry post. Several armed guards walked around the car, two holding mirrors under the chassis, looking for explosives. They were waved on, entering a brightly lit area filled with jeeps, lorries, helicopters, forklift trucks and piles of containers. Soldiers ran around like busy ants. The car stopped outside a pre-fabricated building. A man wearing a dark suit opened the car door.
“Please come with me” said the man as he turned and walked up the makeshift to an already open door. He waited impatiently for Jay and Hakim to catch up. Once inside, he escorted the two dishevelled men into a room containing a large wall-mounted TV screen and a table bearing a camera and a microphone.
“Please, sit down” invited the suited man as he pulled two rickety wooden chairs out from u
nder the table. He pushed a button on the remote control as Jay and Hakim took their places facing the TV screen.
“Well done both of you!”
Jay recognised the voice but it wasn’t until Clive’s tired face fuzzed into focus on the TV screen that he could be sure. Patrick sat next to him.
“Thank you” replied Jay and Hakim in fatigued unison.
“Very impressive guys!.. The mission was a success and we are already receiving data from Basrah.. “ added Patrick “..And we are of course delighted that you both got back safely!.. Hakim.. doctors will attend to you as soon as we’re done here ok?.. We just need to do a quick two minute debrief before letting you both get some very well earned rest.. So.. without further ado.. Jay.. Hakim.. did anyone other than the people present here get to know of the purpose of the mission?”
“No” replied Jay.
“Good.. Did anyone see you installing or using the equipment?”
“No.. “ Jay thought for a moment, trying to remember if the guard had seen the pad computer “..No.. they didn’t”
“Excellent.. Now.. did either of you leave anything behind that could be linked to the mission?”
“Well.. “ answered Jay “..only the pad computer.. we didn’t want to get caught with that on us so I destroyed it and buried it under a bridge in the mountains”
“Ok.. Do you have anything else you would like to inform us about?.. Any relevant information we may need to know about before we wrap this up?”
Jay and Hakim shook their heads.
“Ok..” Clive took over from Patrick and looked at his wrist watch “..It is now two forty-seven am where you are.. Hakim.. you will be flown back to Kuwait at eleven am today.. Jay.. you will take the next direct flight to Brize Norton at five am.. I would suggest you both try to get some sleep.. Once again.. thank you both very much for your efforts!”
Jay wondered why Clive had used the phrase ‘efforts’. It made it sound as if they had just returned from a scouting trip. Jay was escorted over to a collection of green army field tents whilst Hakim limped over to the medical tent helped by a medic. Jay was handed a set of army clothing and told to put them on. Once changed he threw himself on to a bunk bed and fell asleep immediately despite the constant noise from helicopter landings and take offs.
Jay was woken up unceremoniously two hours later by a loud sergeant telling him that he had to run over to a transport plane immediately. Hakim lay bleary-eyed in the bed opposite, wondering what all the commotion was about. Jay shook Hakim’s hand firmly and said goodbye. He ran over to a plane standing on the runway. The sergeant waved him up the cargo ramp. Jay found a vacant seat amongst a group of weary soldiers and sat down. He gazed down the ramp to witness his second desert sun rise. An army Land Rover stood chained to the floor in front of him.
Jay fell asleep soon after take-off, only vaguely feeling occasional jolts due to air turbulence during the journey. He felt a tap on his shoulder as they came in to land. Jay peered out of the window in disbelief that they could already be home, but the skies over Oxfordshire did not lie. Nor did the weather which aptly reflected his state of mind - hazy with a chance of sunshine. Jay wondered what he was going to tell Zu.
An army officer greeted Jay as he walked down the ramp onto the runway. He found it difficult to hear what the officer was saying over the roar of the aircraft’s engines. The officer handed Jay his rucksack and belongings and pointed to a group of buildings over by the main terminal building. Jay found a toilet and changed his clothes, leaving the army clothing in an organised pile beside the sink. He switched on his mobile telephone. It was almost 10:30 am. Jay went out to his car, opened the door and sat down. An inexplicable feeling of emptiness came over him as he slumped into the car seat and closed the door. He waited for a few minutes before dialling a number on his mobile telephone.