Karl's last flight, Part 6

Karl's last flight, Part 6
©2006, Basil Sands

Shortly before sunrise Gilles stopped the SUV just beneath the top of a hill.  The three men got out and stretched their legs.  Their bodies ached with weariness from the drive.

Liam led the way to the top of the hill, Gilles and Karl following.  Before breaking  over the crest, Liam motioned to lay down and crawled the rest of the way up.  He stopped once he was far enough over to see the town below them, without allowing himself to be seen.

It was a large town, perhaps better described as a small city,  that covered about about 3 or 4 square kilometers of land with tightly packed buildings of various shapes and sizes, none more than three stories high.  It looked like an ancient town that had reluctantly followed time into the 21st century. 

They lay there for nearly twenty minutes scanning all the approaches to the city in the early twilight, trying to gauge the safety of entering the town.

Liam broke the silence.

"Karl, we don't know what we are going to find in this place.  There is a man named Faisel we are going to see.  He is our main contact in this town.  He owns a small fabric store that he runs with his daughter Esther and his nephew Manoosh. "  He pointed out a small building with a red and purple sign, just inside the entrance to the city on the main road.

"The family can be trusted, they are agents that have worked with us for many years.  Since we were ambushed back there at Harmesh, though, we can't be sure of anything else.  You and I are going to get down there before business opens and meet with them. Gilles is going to stay up here and watch our backs.

He paused for a moment, then asked, "Do you speak French or Russian?"

"I speak pretty good French, but no Russian." Karl replied.

"Good.  Our cover has been as French merchants. We buy and ship large quantities of Persian cloth and woven materials made by the locals.  In the event we are approached by anyone, you will be my new sales rep brought in from France two weeks ago, but now thanks to the war you are stuck here."

They scooted back down the hill to the Nissan.

"Change into these clothes," Liam said. " they were Kharzai's.  You are about the same build so they should fit you well enough."

Karl hadn't realized that he was still wearing his flight suit from the day before.  He would definitely draw attention if he tried to walk around town in a blue jump suit.  He quickly changed into the khaki trousers and white button-down shirt Liam had handed him.

"We will take the vehicle, but leave some water for Gilles."

Karl offered Gilles one of the MRE food packs he had still in his survival pack.  Gilles thankfully accepted and said, "Let me hear your French."

"Mais bien sur." He started with a very convincing south France accent, "L'Iran est une belle nation, mais l'île du Fiji est plus belle."

"Good enough, you have a passable accent.  Many Iranians speak French, so you should be able to get by if we get separated, but don't trust anyone."  Gilles said, raising his eyebrow like a facial exclamation mark.

Karl noted that even after more than 12 hours of driving, Gilles seemed to be wide awake and ready for anything. 

"Let's head out," Liam said, "put your weapons under the seat. Hopefully we won't need them."

The sun was just now starting to peek over the horizon, lighting the sky with it's warm orange fire as they drove into town.

The road into the town was flat and fairly well maintained.  Liam pulled the SUV in to an alley beside Faisel's fabric store and they got out.  A door in the side of the building opened as they approached and Karl was surprised to see a beautiful Persian woman's face smiling back at them. 

"Dominick, your  journey was safe, my brother?" she said in perfect French.

"Esther, you are lovely as always.  Your smile warms my heart every time I see you. "  Liam replied.

The phrases they exchanged were, in fact, more than a greeting, they were code.  Esther indicated the house and area were safe, they were not being watched at the moment, while Liam replied that something had gone wrong on his end.

They entered the house and she closed the door behind them, locking the bolt. 

"This is Karl," Liam started, "he was the pilot of the spacecraft that crashed in the dessert and started this whole mess."

"Good day Ma'am, sorry to have started a war on an otherwise beautiful day." Karl said.

She raised one eyebrow towards him, "You certainly brought a lot of bad luck with you, didn't you."

Her attitude was a bit harsh, but Karl understood.  He had, after all, just plunged her nation into an all out war with the most powerful country on earth.  Who could blame her for holding a grudge?

In spite of the poor circumstances of their meeting, Karl couldn't keep from staring at her.  She was wearing the required Iranian clothes for a woman.  They were colourful but covered every bit of  skin and hair on the woman's body except for the face and fingers.  By the small part he could see, she was stunningly beautiful with smooth tanned skin and almond shaped dark brown eyes that sparkled as if they had a power source of their own.  They seemed like pools of water he could dive into. 

Karl took his eyes off Esther's face as he suddenly leapt back to the reality.  Upset at himself for letting his mind wander, he realized that he must be more tired than he thought. 

Turning toward Liam he listened as the Irishman was telling her what had happened in the past 24 hours.  Her expression was serious but emotionless even when he told her of Kharzai's death.

"Do you know who turned you over?"  She asked

"Not sure." he answered, " But it had to be someone who knew our code system for the message house.  That leaves only a couple people."

Her father Faisel walked into the room from behind a curtain in the back.

"Greetings my son," he said in French as he embraced Liam placing a customary kiss on each side of his face. "I heard what you were talking about as I dressed, poor Kharzai, he was like my own blood.  May his soul be at peace in the arms of God."

"Good morning Faisel."  Liam introduced Karl, "He will be with me for the foreseeable future."

"Sir," Karl bowed slightly and extended his hand in greeting.

"That is not how we greet a brother here." Said the older man.  Reaching forward with both arms he took Karl in an embrace and kissed him on the cheeks.  "If you are going to be here for a while, at least try to act like one of us so you don't stick out too far. Gentlemen, let's sit at the table."

He motioned with his hand towards a small round table with four chairs that sat comfortably in a corner of the warmly coloured room.  Esther walked quietly out of the room, through the curtain by which her father had entered.  Karl noted that even in the shapeless dress she wore, her movements were very feminine.

"So Liam, what now is your plan?"

"We were ordered to activate the resistance and start general mayhem, so that is what we plan to do. But first, I have to find out who outed us back there."

"I do not know who turned you over, but  there have been several agents of regime milling around town here." Faisel lowered his voice a bit. "I do not think they are aware of me in particular, but they certainly seem to think there is some kind of operation going on here in this city."

"Liam," he continued, "there is a new military group in the area, we got word of it only yesterday.  An air force wing with some fighters has moved to the old airport north of here.  I am not sure what they are doing, but it is not a standard unit."

"Air force, eh?" Liam queried, "You said they have fighters, what kind?"

"A couple of the newer MiG31's and some old MiG27's." Faisel said.  "The funny thing though, is that Manoosh told us the markings are gone from them all, and they are painted black.  They are obviously destined for a specific purpose.  I think it may be a suicide bombing mission."

"That's what it sound like to me." Liam said, "We should check it out."

A moment later Esther entered the room again with a tray of biscuits and very dark tea.  She set it on the table and began to pour cups for each man. 

Karl again caught himself staring at her.  This time she looked back, directly into his eyes.  He felt suddenly embarrassed. 

Faisel noticed and said, "Karl. Tell me about yourself.  Are you married?" 

Karl and Esther both looked quickly towards the older man, Esther's face blushing slightly at her father's question.

"No sir." Karl clumsily replied. 

Regaining his composure he went on,  "I watched several of my friends fumble through years of wedded lunacy only to end up with divorce papers and more years of misery, some of them three or four times.  No, not me.  Jets and spaceships always seemed much more stable to me, and at least until yesterday, that was still the case."

"Well then, perhaps your life has lead you to this place and time for a reason, no?" Faisel said, turning towards his daughter. 

He said this in such a manner that Karl thought he should know what the old man meant.  He did not.

Whatever the intention of the statement, Esther seemed to have clearly understood it as she blurted out, "Father!" and turned, storming out of the room.

Karl lifted the tea to his lips for a sip, only to find it was still near boiling temperature.  He winced as he burned his lip on the black liquid.

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