The Puppetmasters (28 page)

He would have preferred driving eastward across the Khyber Pass and into Pakistan. But there were numerous obstacles for that route, beginning with the lack of a passport for Kendall. They would never get by Torkham, the government crossing station from Afghanistan to Pakistan into the gateway of Khyber Pass. Given her light hair and obvious Western looks, she would have certainly stood out. By the time they even reached the pass, Pakistan would have been notified and been on heightened alert. The fact was that route was too obvious, it would be the first place General Omar looked, and it was frequented by military convoys.

Rashid also knew that with the light of the next day Israel would be
precision-bombing the Afghanistan-to-Pakistan highway route at the pre-designated farms, manufacturing sites, and transportation vehicles. It all had to be done before the trucks entered Pakistan territory, or Afghanistan would certainly have a war on its hands.

President Shazeb had been persuaded by Rashid to have the truck transports outfitted with the latest in GPS tracking system, so they could monitor each truck for its exact location and ensure its safe delivery to the Port in Karachi. The president had marveled at how smart and loyal Rashid was. He knew that if his own sons had been in charge, a delivery or two might have gone missing … on purpose.

No matter how Rashid played it in his mind, heading to Khyber Pass and Pakistan was not a viable option. It was certainly the most direct route taking them out of the country. But most Pakistanis still hated the West, and particularly, the U.S. Americans were not welcome and their lives were actually in danger while in Pakistan. Since the Afghanistan war had ended and the U.S. and all other U.N. troops had left, Pakistan was not seen as quite the important partner it once believed it was.

It was no longer the beneficiary of billions of dollars in foreign aid from any country. It had descended into chaos, with various factions of the military claiming they were running the country. There was continual bloodshed at the top, and after each such incident, a new “leader” would be announced. The world took note but refused to get involved.

Rashid snapped to attention when a blinding white light suddenly appeared before him. For the first time, he panicked. He looked over at the steep incline on Kendall’s side of the jeep and immediately contemplated driving right off the road. He knew they would never survive the now eight-hundred-foot drop into the swollen river below. But a quick end would be preferable to being taken prisoner by General Omar. Rashid turned the wheel sharply and braked hard. Kendall’s eyes flew open. She let out a bloodcurdling scream.

T
HE
AH-64D A
PACHE
L
ONGBOW HELICOPTER
with the Orion executives and the Afghanistan doctor safely on board flew south through the night air. It stayed within Afghanistan territorial boundaries and then continued south, hugging the Pakistan-Iranian border all the way to the Arabian Sea. It flew low, below radar, hoping to escape the detection of either of the “hostile” nations of Pakistan or Iran. Once it reached the open ocean, it rendezvoused with the newly commissioned Israeli aircraft carrier positioned offshore.

On board the aircraft carrier, Glenn Carson was immediately taken to the ship’s hospital, where he was found to be in grave condition. Within twenty-four hours, though, he was out of danger and had improved enough to be upgraded to “critical” status. He remained in a medically induced coma, and it was decided that for the next few days he would stay on board the ship. For that reason, Fields was informed that he, too, would be continuing on the carrier for the time being. Israel needed to complete the long-awaited mission.

Paul Fields was not happy about it when he was so informed by the commander. He paced back and forth like a caged tiger. “Fine! I understand that I need to remain on board for a few days. But I would like immediate access to a telephone and computer to contact my family and my company.”

The Israeli commander frowned and shook his head. “I’m sorry, but that won’t be possible for at least twenty-four hours. We will be running sorties all day. We have worked very hard to rescue you. Our troops and aircraft have been put in harm’s way. We have a mission to accomplish, and we will succeed. Tomorrow, or rather later this morning, we will be running combat missions all day. But rest assured that the people who need to know about your recovery have been so informed.”

Fields was not assured at all. “Why? We’ve been rescued! Well, except for Kendall Radcliffe. What happened to her, anyway? Where is she?”

“Unfortunately, your rescue helicopter was about to take small arms fire.
There was a platoon of soldiers in the building on its way up to the roof. The pilot had no choice but to take off with those already on board.”

Fields was uncomfortable having been rescued at the expense of Kendall’s being left to her own devices on the roof of the AIDC building. He had the decency to be embarrassed. He got rescued, but one of his employees, a female at that, got left behind.

“So, what’s happened to her? Is she dead? I saw the explosion. You blew up the goddamned building right after we took off! Why, in God’s name?”

The commander took a deep breath and maintained his composure. “Mr. Fields, it was necessary to take out that building. You have no idea what was going on in that building.”

“And you do? How?”

“We are not without our resources. I’m sorry, but that information is classified.”

“And what about Kendall Radcliffe? Is she classified too?” Fields barked with as much sarcasm as he could muster. He was shocked when the commander muttered under his breath, “Possibly.”

“What did you say? Is there something I need to know about Ms. Radcliffe?” Fields was a little taken aback at the subtle implication that Kendall’s being left behind might not have been an unfortunate or unplanned event.

“We’d like to speak with you about her, as well as the time you spent in Afghanistan, as soon as you’ve had some rest and a meal. Now, if you will follow Captain Abrams, he will show you to your suite on the lower deck.”

Fields was getting the distinct impression that he had gone from one kidnapping situation to another … of sorts. But this time he had a few more resources at his disposal.

As Fields turned to follow the captain, the commander spoke one last time. “Oh, and Mr. Fields, we will be posting an officer outside your room, should you need anything. Please don’t plan to wander about.”

Fields was furious and utterly deflated. That was precisely what he had planned to do: wander about. Now he knew for sure something was amiss. As he lay on his bed, he alternately worried about Carson, Kendall, Orion, and his family, in that order. He vowed that when he got out of there someone was going to have some explaining to do.

He was also intensely curious about Kendall. What was her role in all this? Was it just happenstance that she ended up on their charter flight? He replayed the events in his head. She hadn’t mixed her luggage with theirs. But she could have engineered it from behind the scenes, he reasoned. He was letting his imagination get the best of him. He fell into an exhausted sleep full of images of
shootouts, chase scenes, computer hacking, rooftop rescues, bombings, fire, and death. He awoke bathed in sweat.

As rescues go, Mossad Director Benjamin Zimmerman was pleased. Those that counted had been rescued, and Israel would look like a hero in the world’s eyes. The ones not rescued would not be missed should they perish in Afghanistan … like Rashid Sharif, who no one knew about anyway, or Kendall Radcliffe, who if need be would be made to look like an instigator or willing participant with the drug kingpin, the late President Mujtaba Shazeb. The AIDC building had been destroyed, and along with it, the critical Afghanistan computer network that kept the infrastructure going on a daily basis.

The country had been brought to its knees and would soon descend into chaos. The president and his sons were dead … presumably. With a quick communiqué from Rashid during the time he and Paul Fields were deactivating the AIDC network, the Mossad had received the passwords and financial accounts to President Shazeb’s personal business enterprises. The Mossad had now liquidated and closed all of the president’s personal accounts. Zimmerman was a little surprised how few millions had been in Shazeb’s accounts, and had a queasy feeling in his stomach. He chose to ignore it … for the time being. All evidence of those accounts had also been destroyed as a result of the bombing. The only other location of the personal account information was at the Shazeb Palace. And the Mossad had craftily taken care of that … unbeknownst to Rashid.

Director Zimmerman knew that he had to be patient for the first communication from Rashid … if he perchance survived. In his mind, the execution of the rescue plan had been flawless. He could not imagine that Kendall was still alive. There was no way she would’ve been able to jump the ten feet between buildings. He knew that Rashid could do it, but doubted that Rashid would have stayed behind and been blown up with her … no matter how much he liked her. And if he had remained with her, then it would be a shame, as he was a valuable Israeli asset. A lot of investment had gone into his training. Ultimately, he had done his job. He had masterfully orchestrated the events leading up to the rescue, the president and sons were dead, the Afghan government offices destroyed, and the personal financial accounts siphoned off. The only remaining task was the strategic bombing of the poppy fields, manufacturing locations, and all transport trucks before they reached the Pakistan border the next day.

For the good of the nation of Israel, the Mossad and Israeli leaders had made a strategic decision that no word would leak out about the rescue of the Orion executives until after all the bombing was through the next day. That would only amount to a delay of twenty-four hours. After that, a huge PR event would be set in motion, complete with the appropriate fanfare and parade of heroes.

The plan was for the Orion executives to be displayed on live TV … or at least Paul Fields to be on camera. Carson would hopefully have sufficiently recovered so that his rescue would be seen by the world as a godsend as well. The Orion families and the U.S. would certainly understand and forgive the holdup on the announcement, so that Israel could complete the planned day of bombing without interruption or delay.

The various international spy agencies were abuzz. Covert operatives all over the world had detected that Afghanistan had gone dark. That meant either an upgrade in Afghanistan’s internal network that caused a severe country-wide shutdown that included the military’s systems, or that something unexpected and possibly disastrous had happened at the top of the leadership chain of command—with or to President Mujtaba Shazeb.

No one was particularly worried at either scenario. While the Afghanistan computer systems were considered to be sophisticated due to the last five years of heavy-handed modernization attempts, it was generally viewed that there were not enough computer science experts within the Afghan government and military to maintain those systems in prime working condition. If those in charge did not know what they were doing, as was suspected, it would not be hard to envision a catastrophic shutdown.