Karl's Last Flight, Part 10

Karl's Last Flight, Part 10
(c)2006, Basil Sands

The three men loaded back into the SUV and took off for town, hoping to reach Faisel's house as soon as possible.   

As they approached the edge of town, Liam slowed the vehicle almost to a stop. Kharzai rolled out and dropped into the tall grass along the side of the road.  The SUV then picked up speed and rolled into the town. 

They drove past Faisel's shop.  Liam was looking for signs that the police or VEVAK were there. The city street was nearly empty.  It felt eerily quiet and still to Karl.

Liam parked across the street, caddy-corner to Faisel's shop, facing the Nissan towards outside of  the town to make a quick getaway.

"Keep your pistol with you.  Be ready, but keep it out of sight ." Liam said.

The night air was cool and clean smelling.  Karl was amazed at how the senses are significantly enhanced during times of stress.  He felt that his sight and hearing where amplified as they crossed the street and drew closer to the shop.  Every muscle was tensed, his heart was beating steadily like a drum. 

Upon entering the alley, they heard voices coming from inside Faisel's house at the back of the shop. 

They silently drew near the door at the rear of the alley, each man taking a side of it.  Karl was nearest the corner of the building where it opened to a back alley that crossed between the rows of brick buildings.   Liam leaned his head towards the door, straining to listen to the voices inside.

Sensing movement behind him, Karl turned a split second before a shadow abruptly emerged from behind the building, tugging at the zipper on his trousers. 

They both saw each other at the same time. Karl, much to his own surprise, reacted with incredible speed, slamming his pistol grip across the width of the other man's brow, sending him reeling back against the wall on the opposite side of the back alley.  Before he could recover, Karl followed through hitting him twice more squarely on the forehead.  The skin split open, letting blood stream into his eyes and across his face as the man collapsed into a pile of rubbish strewn along the grey brick wall.

The man lay completely still.  Karl panicked as he suddenly realized it could have been Manoosh.  Looking closer, he was relieved to see that this man did not have a beard. 

Liam stood over him. 

"Faisel is in trouble.  This man is VEVAK, Iranian Secret Police.  You got a lucky punch on him, they don't normally go down that easy."

He continued, "Seems like Faisel's in a bad way.  They've beat him up and keep asking where Esther and Manoosh are."

A shaft of bright light flashed from the doorway as it was being opened.  Liam grabbed Karl by the collar and yanked him to the back of the house next to a partially open window where the unconscious man had been relieving himself.  As he crossed by the waist high window Karl could see several sillouettes moving inside through the diffused light of the curtain that covered it.

"Faoud!"  a voice called out.  "Faoud!" 

The owner of the voice stepped into the alley opening the door wider.  Light from inside fell across Faoud's bloody face.  The man shouted something urgent in Farsi and Karl saw the shadows run from the room towards the door.

"Inside!" Hissed Liam throwing the window up and leaping through.  Karl was right behind him.  They tumbled into the room and saw Faisel, barely conscious on the floor next to his bed. 

Liam deftly heaved him up over his broad shoulder and ran through the narrow hallway of the house towards the front of the shop. 

"Door!"  he grunted at Karl.

Once out of the hallway, Karl ran ahead, fumbled with the dead bolt and threw the door open.  The men spilled out onto the sidewalk, Karl raising his pistol toward the alley as they ran across the street to the Nissan.

Angry shouts followed them from the alley.  As they approached the SUV a shot rang out behind them. 

"You drive!" Shouted Liam.

Karl jumped into the drivers side, found the key in the ignition and started the vehicle as Liam dumped Faisel into the back seat climbing in on top of him.

Shots boomed loudly across the street.  They felt like fists of sound slamming the night. Their fury was interrupted by several short bursts of staccato gunfire raining a fiery hell back at them from down the street.  One of the VEVAK agents fell to the pavement, screaming and clutching at his thigh as the others leapt back into the alley to avoid the hail of destruction.

Liam grabbed Karl's shoulder and shouted in his ear, "Go towards downtown!"

Kharzai leaned out from the building across from Faisel's shop spraying deadly streams of bullets down the sidewalk in covering fire as Karl executed a torturous u-turn in the street.

As he brought the Nissan back under control, Liam shouted, "Slow down!  Let him in!"

Karl slowed enough to let Kharzai, still firing short bursts from his sub-machine gun, jump into the vehicle.  As he pulled the door shut, Karl floored the accelerator and they sped into the heart of the city.

Karl had no idea where they were going, but he drove like a formula one racer nonetheless. 

Kharzai looked up and shouted, "Turn left here!"

The Nissan leaned precariously into the turn as Karl took it with only the slightest deceleration, pressing the passengers tightly against the passenger side of the SUV.

Coming out of the turn, Liam sat up in the seat and was checking Faisel's condition.  The old man was coming back to consciousness. He tried to say something, but was still too weak to talk.

"Just rest old friend.  We will take you to the safe house, you can recover there."

"Before planning your vacations," Kharzai turned and pointed out the rear window, "we need to shake those guys off our butts!"

Karl looked in the rear view mirror and saw a car speeding towards them.  He pressed the accelerator to the floor but couldn't seem to increase the distance between them.  The smaller, lighter vehicle began to gain on them.

"Take the next left, then an immediate right after that!" Kharzai called out. 

At that moment, the rear window burst into a thousand tiny blocks of glass, a second shot hit the glass and the whole panel fell into the back of the SUV.

"Oh good!  Now I don't have worry about fixing that crack in the window."  Kharzai said as he turned in the seat and shouted, "Duck Liam!"

The Irishman laid in seat, covering Faisel with his body as Kharzai fired his MP5 out the missing window.  The thunderous explosions of the shots in the enclosed space were deafening.  Kharzai scored several hits on the VEVAK windshield, creating a wild starburst of cracks and shattered glass that caused the driver to abruptly slow but not stop.

"Turning!"  Karl shouted as he hit hard into the left turn, then again into the immediate right Kharzai had told him to take.   The shattered windshield had slowed the sedan enough that they missed seeing Karl take the second turn and passed by quickly. 

Kharzai shouted, "Whoohoo!!  That'll give us about 60 seconds till they figure out what happened."  Then pointed to a wide, but dark alley and told Karl, "Turn left and stop there!"

"This is where we get out Karl," said Liam as he opened the door and briskly pulled Faisel out and onto his shoulder. 

Kharzai said, "I'll ditch the Nissan, you guys disappear here.  Karl stick with the leprachaun! They bring good luck you know."

He smiled widely jumping behind the wheel of the SUV. 

"God!  I love my job!"  he exclaimed exuberantly, speeding back out into the street, tires screeching as he accelerated around the corner.

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