Don't own Chuck
Chuck finally got Banai on the phone but he hadn't expected Banai to accuse him of being an accomplish in the heist. Especially after he'd risked all to help him out and gave him classified intel that helped Banai resolve his situation without the loss of life to his men. However, Chuck didn't know about the moles that had Banai wondering who he could trust.
"Of course we didn't have anything to do with what happened there. By the way what did happen? Who were you attacking?"
"Don't be coy with me Chuck. If you could see me, you could see who was shooting at whom. I really can't tell you anything because I don't really know anything. I'm still sorting out the pieces as it is plus I was told not to bring your people into this."
"Okay, okay I don't want to get you into trouble even if I got in hot water for you and believe me it was scalding. The word treason was battered about a lot but you're my friend."
"If I did what you did I'd be hanging right now in a public square in Tehran just to put things in perspective for you," said Banai. Margo gave Chuck a look.
"You're not helping my position out any here. If that's what you're trying to do but okay I understand, I really don't need your intel," said Chuck. Margo really was giving him a look now. "I figured it out already I was just going to see what you people wanted to say before I put it in writing then send it up the food chain until it reaches the White House. Then it will be too late and my president will have no choice but go to the security council to get sanctions put against you."
"Chuck, I don't like where this is heading. Some people might call this black mail. Let's cut to the chase and tell me your end game. Maybe we can find some middle ground here."
"Maybe," said Chuck as he smiled over at Margo. "Okay let's try this on for size. Someone stole a missile out of your silo. Don't deny it because I can see the hole and if Tehran sent you to investigate something is up. They wouldn't send you there for earthquake relief. Here one and one equals stolen missile. How am I doing so far?"
"I can neither confirm nor deny," said Banai. "Isn't that what you Americans say when questioned about your missiles?"
"True, but that wasn't just any missile that was stolen. It was a new prototype built on the Emad design. It is or was a multi-stage rocket with far great range then the original Emad."
"Are you sure about that? You've got more intel than I do here," said Banai. Chuck could hear the pause. Banai really didn't know but he was probably looking over at someone else in the room for a nod or something.
"You can tell whoever is confirming what I just said that I know what I'm saying is right. You are a little behind the eight ball there. You need a briefing to get caught up."
"Thanks for the advice but I've been a little busy so you've got to excuse me if I'm not up to speed yet. But you know I'm a quick study," said Banai. Chuck could tell from his voice Banai was a little on edge and he had to be careful not to push him too far.
"Sorry but on the bright side I know it wasn't nuclear. I did an IR scan of the silo since the earthquake open up the doors and there was no residual radiation but that doesn't mean that it couldn't be adapted to fit a special warhead."
"Hold up... what are you accusing us of? You know we're not nuclear. You've got your UN inspectors here snooping around into our business and if it isn't them snoop it's the Mossad."
"I never said you were I just asked if the missing missile could be adapted to fit a nuclear payload. But I think you've answered that for me."
"Okay since we're playing cat and mouse I've got a few questions for you. Have you ever heard of 'the old man of the mountain' or the word 'fidā'iyyūn' devotees? The singular would be..."
"Fidā'ī I know," said Chuck. He flashed. He saw crusaders and Persian armies clashing. Bloody wars with both sides waxing and waning in a continual conflict with heavy casualties on both sides. He saw political intrigue and assassinations the rise of a power leader then Mongol invasions ending with the fall of a mountain castle.
"Chuck... Chuck are you still there," said Banai. Even Margo got concerned and came over to check on him but Chuck suddenly snapped out of it.
"What? Who? No, I'm still here. Those were the exact words 'the old man of the mountain' and you said 'fidā'iyyūn'? That's what you heard?"
"Yes, absolutely positive. You know what that means don't you. Can you tell me without being hanged in a public square?"
"We don't do that... well not in public but some people probably wished they could. Sorry, I'm getting sidetracked. 'They call him Shaykh-al-Hashishim. He is their Elder, and upon his command all of the men of the mountain come out or go in ... they are believers of the word of their elder and everyone everywhere fears them, because they even kill kings.' Or that's what Benjamin of Tudela said. He was a medieval Jewish traveler and writer whose works precede those of Marco Polo.
"I appreciate the history lesson but I don't see how that helps me with my problem today? Do you have anything a little more modern that can help."
"The Old Man of the Mountain refers to Rashīd ad-Dīn Sinān. He was a leader of the Ismaili religious sect the Nizari branch in Syria, and a figure in the history of the Crusades. But you need to look back to the founder of the sect Hasan-i Sabbah and his taking of Alamut Castle."
"Again with the history lesson. I still don't understand what this has to do with our problem here? Can you try to be a little clearer?"
"Our word for assassin comes from ḥashshāshīn 'eaters of hashish' who were followers of Nizari Ismailies. The called themselves 'fidā'iyyūn', devotees and they carried out some amazing political assassinations. One of these assassinations was carried out again Conrad of Montferrat, the King of Jerusalem. He was cut down in his courtyard in front of his armed bodyguard by two 'fidā'iyyūn' disguised as monks."
"But you keep talking about the past. I've got a missing missile, a dead Colonel and a mole in my group what do they all have to do with Hasan-I Sabbah and the Nizari?"
"I was talking just a few days ago to a guy who mentioned that he wanted to recreate the ḥashshāshīn order. At the time I thought he was mad but now, I'm not so sure anymore. Think about it he takes your missile fires it at the Israelis. They investigate the wreckage find it's yours then they retaliate with a strike of their own. You strike back and we've got a war on our hands soon the Russians and us join in then we have world war three."
"But you know we didn't shoot the missile so you can tell the Israelis we're not to blame so we can avoid this escalation of hostilities over something we're not at fault."
"I wouldn't call it nothing there still would be a high casualty count as well as a need for an eye for an eye. We could try to explain if the powers to be don't think we'd be revealing too much classified intel we want to keep secret. But I don't think we'd let a war escalate. However, just as you have your moles I'm sure we have ours so who knows how things will flush out in the end. That's the lesson to take away from Hasan-I Sabbah. He was able to take Alamut Castle, a castle up until then thought to be impenetrable. You know how he took it?"
"I'm afraid I'm about to find out," said Banai and Margo nodded her head in the corner.
"Funny, but he did it by stealth, persistence and patience. He put the right people in the right positions then slowly he converted the people who were supposed to be guarding the gates. When the day came he walked in and demanded the keys from the custodian who gratefully handed them over to him in exchange for his life and 30,000 pieces of gold."
"So are you saying there's some nutjob out there who wants to bring back this group of assassins? But why? What does he hope to gain? And who is this crackpot?"
"His name is Ettore La Barba, a notorious gun running, arms dealer and all around bad guy. I have his leg as a trophy from one of our encounters so you can image I'm not getting any Christmas cards from him. The why? Well for money of course and power. He wants to be the go to guy for professional hits, government coups, steer political careers and al around bad things."
"Okay, he sounds like a bad apple but what does he plan to do with our missile. I can't help but feel there's more in play then trying to pull us into a conflict with Israel. A man like that bets on a certainty and a certainty this isn't."
"I agree and I feel the same way but what is it? I think we're done here for now. You should try to find where they took your missile. I'm guess they won't keep it in country. It would be far too dangerous to keep something like that out in the open. They'd have to know we'd both be looking for it and there's only so many places they could hide it."
"Let me check with the motor pool here. I want to see if there were any late night pickups and if so where did they deliver to. I have a feeling the actually drivers died in our firefight but someone else might have over heard. You sneeze here and the guy on the other side of the base says bless you."
"The obvious place to start looking would be the closest port. Put it on a ship then take it out of country but would they risk taking it through Turkey? That would mean passing through Kurdish control territory to take it to a ship in the Black Sea. Somehow I don't think they'd take that risk."
"I don't either but this is my problem to solve not yours so you can turn this over to me now. My latest intel has you guys getting on a plane in Nice for Montenegro. If you're with Razib tell him I have him in my prayers."
"He and I are going to go out this evening after evening prayer for a walk. I'll tell him you asked about him," said Chuck as Margo gave him a look. "Margo is right here if you want to say something to her?"
"No, I really need to run but tell her I admire the work she's doing for Razib. Other people would try to convert him and make him into something he's not. If there were more people like you guys we wouldn't have the problems we have today. Well I have to run. Goodbye my friend."
"Until we talk again as-salāmu ʿalayka," said Chuck.
"Waʿalaykumu s-salām," said Banai then he hung up.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
The Red Star slowly made headway towards Baku her final destination. They picked up their pilot just outside the bay along with a member of the Coast Guard. He was sent to investigate the accident on board that cost the First Mate his life. The Third Mate greeted them then took them to meet the Skipper on the bridge. There the Skipper turned over navigation to the pilot and went out on the bridge wing with the Lieutenant where they could talk in private.
"Listen, I'm going to be honest with you. Ali went down to checkout our cargo then the next thing I knew our port lookout was calling man overboard which turned out to be my First Mate. If I were you I'd go down and start your investigation with the cargo in the hold."
"Why is there something wrong with it?" said the Lieutenant like he hadn't heard a word. "Give me your cargo manifest documents. Is there something in particular I need to look at?"
"Didn't you hear me? I would start with this one," said the Skipper as he pulled out one of the cargo manifests. "I was talking with the owner shortly before… well what happened to Ali. The cargo's registered as agricultural equipment but I wonder if that's true. They posted guards on it like they were afraid someone would steal it."
"Maybe they were. It wouldn't be that your First Mate went down there to help himself to a five finger discount then fell overboard trying to keep from being caught. I've heard of something like that has happened before."
"That's just plain ridiculous. The man knew this rust bucket like the back of his hand from bow to stern almost as well as I do. If he was up to what you're accusing him of then he wouldn't be caught."
"His falling overboard begs to differ. You seem to know a lot about what your First Mate's intentions were. You wouldn't happen to be in on this with him. He changed his mind... things went sideways so you had him taken care of."
"Not only are you barking up the wrong tree you're not even in the right forest. You go do what you have to do just clear off my bridge and don't come back. I've got a ship to bring into port and you're just wasting time," said the Skipper and with that he pushed past the Lieutenant and went on to the bridge.
"This isn't done here. We'll continue this conversation in port," said the Lieutenant then he walked off the bridge.
"Where are we?" said the Skipper. He tried to regain composure but his blood was boiling and he could feel his heart racing in his chest.
"We're about to shoot lines over," said the pilot. He gave the Skipper a look then looked out of the bridge porthole down on weather deck below. The Skipper came over and looked down. He saw what the pilot wanted him to see. The Lieutenant was on the bow below talking with Mr. Bin Abu like they were old friends.
"It looks like I jumped into it with both feet," said the Skipper as he watched them from above. Suddenly one of Bin Abu's men raced over and pointed up at him looking down on them. They both turned and looked up.
"Crap," he said as he ducked away from the porthole. He heard the gunshot as the first line was shot over and his heart skipped a beat. A few minutes later and they were ready to begin off-loading.
"Thanks for bringing us in and the heads up," said the Skipper. Everything told him to let it go and even the voice in his head was telling him to let it go but he just couldn't. He watched the customs people coming onboard but he realized if these people had gotten to the Coast Guard they'd probably have the customs people in their pocket too.
"I need to play this smart," he said to himself as he waited for the customs people to be escorted up to the bridge.
"Skipper, can we go with you to your cabin so we can inspect your papers. It won't take long then we'll be out of your hair. In the meantime, while we're doing that my men will look over your cargo. Is there anything you want to flag before we start?"
"Anything I want to flag," said the Skipper. As he was about to speak the Coast Guard Lieutenant appeared. "You should ask him. He's been snooping around my ship since we took the pilot onboard. I think he's seen everything from bow to stern."
"Actually I was investigating an accidental death," said the Lieutenant. "I really haven't looked at the cargo that wasn't in the scope of my duties. Although the manifests looked okay to me at least the ones I looked at. You know this is the Skipper's last voyage his company is cutting him loose after this."
"I heard that so can we all go to your cabin and get this paperwork taken care of? We've got other ships to inspect," said the customs agent. "But if you want to tell those people who've been prescreened they can go ahead and off-load it's fine by me. I don't see a problem with that."
"I'm sure they'd appreciate it," said the Skipper looking over at the Lieutenant. "I'll take you back to my cabin then I'll have one of my men let them know. I'm sure some are anxious to get moving."
"I'll do that for you. You look a little busy and you're a little shorthanded right now plus I'm done here," said the Lieutenant. "I don't mind and that way you can stay here and get your paperwork taken care of."
"I guess I should thank you. This way," said the Skipper as he went to the hatch and held it open. He led the man out of the bridge then straight back to his cabin. "Would you like some tea before we start? I find a good cup before I start work helps clear the head."
"No thank you, I'd like to get down to work," said the customs agent. The Skipper slid a folder over to him with a lot of loose papers in it then he set about making himself a cup of tea. The man opened the folder and started thumbing through the documents checking to make sure that they had all the right signatures and stamps.
"Well everything seems to be in order here," said the agent as he handed the Skipper back the folder. "Do you have any concerns or anything you want to report that you want me to note?"
"Well," he said then he paused and took a deep breath. The voice inside his head was screaming at him to shut up. "No… no nothing just that I'm going to miss this. I don't know what I'm going to do on dry land. I've been at sea all my life almost from birth and now... it's over."
"I'm sure you'll come up with something. I wouldn't worry too much about my future if I were you," said the customs agent as he got up. "I guess I should get out of your hair so you can get your stuff packed up and hauled off the ship."
"Yes, I need to box up then head out," said the Skipper as he stood up and shook the customs officer's hand. "Let me walk you down to the brow."
"There's really no need I know my way out," said the customs officer but the skipper insisted following him out the hatch.
"Well if you want to you can lead the way," said the customs officer. He followed the Skipper down inside the ship then out onto the weather deck. They shook hands one more time at the head of the brow then the Skipper watched him regroup with his men on the pier.
"Third Mate, you can tell everyone they have permission to get their crap off my ship. The Red Star has finished her last voyage and if anyone is looking for me I'll be in my cabin," said the Skipper. He turned and saw Bin Abu on the pier with his men standing next to two large truck waiting for a crane to haul his cargo out of the hold. He looked up at the Skipper and smiled.
"Oh how I'd love to shove my fist down that smiling face. No, I just can't do this," he mumbled to himself then he turned and headed back to his cabin. He went inside and sat down at his desk then he opened a drawer and started rifling through it. He tossed things out on to the deck as he searched.
"Where are you? I know I put you in here somewhere," he said until he found what he was looking for. He held up a business card then dialed a number. It started to ring.
"Come on pickup," he said. He hoped the number was still good. Finally, there was a click then a voice on the other end came on asking him who he was calling for.
"I need to talk with a Colonel Sheshenko. He won't know me I'm the Skipper of the Red Star but I got this number from a mutual friend, Borz Maribek. He told me that if I was ever in trouble I should call the Colonel and I think I'm in trouble…" said the Skipper but as he was talking the door to his cabin opened. A man stood there with a pistol in his hand.
"Hang up and put the phone away," he said as he motioned with his weapon. "I won't tell you twice. Now do it."
"You won't get away with this," said the Skipper. "You shoot me and people will wonder what happened then they'll remember about Mr. Bin Abu and his cargo. That is what this is about, isn't it?"
"You're too smart for your own good but I beg to differ with you. I've already gotten away with it," he said as he looked at the Skipper's tea cup. "Do you feel that tingling in your fingertips? That's from the poison," said the man as he put away his weapon.
"What did you do to me?" asked the Skipper as he felt his chest tighten and a pain ran down his left side.
"It's a fast acting poison that mimics a heart attack. See the customs officer was right you don't need to worry about your future," said the man as the Skipper collapsed over his desk. "Yes you should've left it alone."