The Care of Time (16 page)

‘Well, Mr Halliday,’ he said, ‘I presume that if the reply to the set of proposals I have made had been negative in character you would not be here. No?’

‘I guess not.’

‘So, it would be interesting to hear from you now the terms of the acceptance. However, before we get to that, I need the answer to a question of critical importance. With whom am I dealing? Until I know that there is no point in your saying anything. Agreed?’

Schelm had warned me about Zander’s negotiating techniques. In the Gulf, apparently, they were regarded as brutal and lacking in finesse. They were also greatly feared. In the west they had more often, though not always, caused amusement. They were predictable. He always began by seizing the initiative, whether he was in a real position to do so or not, and assailing his opponents with bluster and meaningless rhetorical questions. The way to counter this was to ignore the questions and stick firmly to your own script. Zander would then appear to become entirely understanding and reasonable. That was when you really had to start watching out.

So, I began by sticking to Schelm’s script. I even took out a
page of notes I had made – Schelm had called it an
aide-mémoire
– to make sure that I got it right.

I said: ‘The terms of the reply I am instructed to make to you, Mr Zander, is not exactly an acceptance.’

‘If it’s not an acceptance,’ he snapped, ‘why are we wasting time?’

‘Mr Zander, the reply I am instructed to give is as follows. I quote. “We are sufficiently interested in the proposals you outline in your confidential memorandum to discuss them further, providing that certain questions that arise can be answered satisfactorily.” Unquote.’

The arms dropped and the eyes chilled. ‘If that is not a total and complete rejection it is dangerously close to it,’ he said carefully, then suddenly his voice rose. ‘Let us stop this nonsense, eh? Eh? Let us
stop
it. Who is the fool who writes this pompous rubbish? Who am I dealing with? Speak. Who have the CIA put up to front them on this operation? Don’t you
know
?’

‘The CIA are not involved, Mr Zander.’ I went back to the script. ‘I am liaising between you and Nato’s Combined Intelligence Services Bureau. They are not fronting for anyone except themselves. You may choose to recall, though, that the USA is a member of Nato.’

Vielle gave a sarcastic little laugh. ‘
Tiens!
Such secrets! We are privileged.’

Zander silenced him with a glance. ‘At what level, Mr Halliday, am I supposed to be communicating with Nato Combined Intelligence Services? The cleaning woman? The office boy? Do you know?’

‘Initially this liaison is with the Director of Combined Intelligence. If the proposed preliminary meeting with The Ruler takes place the Nato representative will be the Military Deputy to the Commander Nato Strike Force South. The Commander is an admiral. His Military Deputy is a lieutenant-general.’

‘Would he be given decision-making powers?’

The way they both seemed to be watching the movements
of my throat now instead of just listening was making me feel quite uncomfortable. The time had come to obey the other set of orders I had been given, the one that permitted me to use my own judgement about the degree of politeness with which I made certain crucial points, but enjoined me to make them firmly, clearly and early on in the proceedings even if I had to shout to make myself heard. I poured myself a little wine to give me time for a quick re-cap and then sat back in my chair with a small but plainly exasperated sigh.

‘Before we start talking about decision-making, Mr Zander, in fact before we even get to the point of negotiating what might eventually call for decision-making on a subject of such delicacy, Nato will want straight answers to some very important questions. They will want the air cleared, Mr Zander.’

Vielle jumped in again. ‘Have you been given plenipotentiary powers?’ he asked.

‘No, of course I haven’t.’

‘Then the messenger is merely giving his own opinions of what his masters are thinking.’

‘My opinions don’t come into it.’ I turned to Zander. ‘I’ve been told to give you verbal replies to your written proposals. Do you want to hear the replies or don’t you?’

The eyes were glittering angrily but he shrugged. ‘Low-level exchanges on matters of high importance are usually a waste of time. However, if you have been told to deliver messages you had better let us hear them.’

‘Right. Now, to begin with, it is noted that your principal in this – The Ruler as we have agreed to call him – wishes to enter into a defence pact of a special kind with the west, if not with the United States directly then with one or more of America’s allies. Specifically, he is offering to let this ally put a military and naval base on territory under his personal, princely control. This territory is adjacent to the Strait of Hormuz and is known as Abra Bay. The work of building such a base would, of course, be observed both by Soviet surveillance satellite and by Soviet reconnaissance flights
from their air bases in South Yemen. According to you, The Ruler believes that, in the early stages of the project at any rate, the real nature of it could be concealed by a cover plan involving the construction of container-ship docking facilities in Abra Bay and extensive warehousing facilities to service them on Abra Point. Right so far?’

‘A desalination plant would also have to be built.’

‘That’s understood. What has to be clearly defined is the area of agreement. The Ruler considers that such a base, operating under air cover from the reactivated RAF base on the Omani island of Al Masirah, would do much to offset the recent Soviet build-up in Ethiopia, Socotra and South Yemen. I am to say that The Ruler’s opinion is shared and that the Nato planners concerned are ready to respond to The Ruler’s suggestion in the friendliest and most affirmative way. The request for a prompt and decisive response is also well understood.’

Zander was staring critically at the cuticle of his right forefinger. ‘At least they are not complete fools.’

‘They’re not fools of any kind, Mr Zander. As I said, they want clarification on some points. And, before we go any further, they have certain reservations to make.’

‘About the cover and deception measures, no doubt. What don’t they like?’

‘The measures wouldn’t work and even if they could be made to work they would be undesirable. In the Gulf strength should be displayed not concealed.’

The eyes smiled a little. ‘I agree. I told The Ruler that they wouldn’t like his cover plan. It’s a minor point. What else don’t they like?’

‘When I mentioned reservations, Mr Zander, I wasn’t referring to minor points.’

‘What major reservations can they have? Reservations about what?’

‘For one thing, about
your
acting for The Ruler in the matter.’

The eyes went blank. ‘I do so at his personal request.’

‘That is understood. You have acted for The Ruler on many occasions, in business transactions. The difficulty here is, as you must realize, that any serious discussion of the granting of military base facilities at Abra Bay, or anywhere else in the United Arab Emirates, would normally be conducted in the first place through diplomatic channels involving the UAE’s Foreign and Defence ministries and then between heads of state and governments. There are six other Rulers in the UAE. What would be their view of a deal of this importance done unilaterally and behind their backs?’

‘They will welcome it.’

‘When the west came looking for bases in the Gulf a couple of years ago Abra Bay wasn’t on offer. Nowhere in the Gulf was on offer.’

‘The Gulf peoples wished to remain aloof from the superpower confrontations. They wished to be what your press calls non-aligned.’

‘What’s happened to change their minds?’

Vielle snorted his share of their joint exasperation but Zander only raised his hands and glared. ‘You can ask me that?’ he demanded. ‘With Soviet encirclement of the Gulf now complete? With their missile ships covering the sea lanes? With Cuban and East German assault troops deployed in the Yemen? You don’t call these things reason enough for minds to be changed?’

‘No, Mr Zander, I don’t. There’s nothing new about them. These build-ups you’re talking about began years ago when there was a Shah in Iran and before Afghanistan became a Russian colony. The fact that some of the pro-Soviet ground troops and technicians in the area are now Cuban and East German is something of a change, maybe, but it’s a change without much of a difference. Cubans and East Germans tend to get on better with the local people than the Russians do, that’s all.’

‘You are deluding yourself, Mr Halliday, or you have allowed others to delude you. Are you not aware that new chemical and biological weapons have been introduced into
the area? Would you not call that a very considerable change?’

‘I might. How considerable would depend on how long their presence has been known. And how new is new? New to whom?’

‘New to The Ruler and deeply offensive to him.’

‘So, it’s
his
mind that’s changed. But how about the minds of his six colleagues? You say that they’ll welcome the Abra Bay deal. In that case, why is he acting independently? You see the reason for our concern I’m sure. We in the west now buy more oil from the UAE than we bought from Iran, even when it was in full production. Our relationship with the UAE is a highly sensitive and important one. So, we ask again. Why, in this very serious matter of Abra Bay, must we negotiate in the way you propose? First, you answer, because Abra Bay lies in The Ruler’s traditional family territories and so he has been deputed to act for all. That we can understand. But why, if he is acting for all, must we meet to confer with him in the hole-and-corner way you specify in your proposals? What is there to be said or discussed in this Austrian house of his that couldn’t be more comfortably and securely said in one of the UAE embassies or at some agreed conference site on neutral ground?’

He rolled his eyes at Vielle. ‘And your all-wise, all-knowing Nato masters no doubt wonder also why The Ruler calls upon me, a man with a price on his head, to act for him in a matter of such delicacy.’

‘Yes, they do wonder a bit about that. Of course, you’ve acted for him a great many times before on matters of business. But why, they wonder, does Zander take this on? If a base at Abra Bay is to be built, the contracts wouldn’t be of the kind he is used to handling. They would be no-nonsense cost-plus defence contracts. So, “What’s in it for Zander?” they ask.’

He looked astounded. ‘They ignore the request I make in section five of the presentation?’

‘They feel that it must be incomplete. You ask for United States or Canadian nationality.’

‘
Plus
the protective documentation and assistance normally given a Soviet defector to the west following debriefing. Don’t forget that.’

‘A man of his wealth? Can he be serious? That is all he asks? To get Rasmuk off his back? These are their questions, Mr Zander.’

‘Then they know nothing about Mukhabarat Zentrum and I am dealing with fools,’ he snapped.

I said nothing and waited. After a moment or two he took a sip of wine and then massaged the back of his neck. The eyes calmed down. He said: ‘The Ruler understands very well my desire for peace and tranquillity. It is a desire he shares. You ask, “Why Austria?” Do you know Judenburg in Styria and the hills just north of it?’

‘I’ve driven through there, I guess, on the Klagenfurt road. I can’t say that I recall it as one of the beauty spots of Austria.’

‘In the Middle Ages there were silver mines worked for over two centuries in that region. The house that The Ruler has bought stands over the main entrance to one of those old mines. It was built in the last century by an Austrian doctor who was also an amateur archaeologist. He spent many years of his life exploring the mine-workings below the house and made a little private museum of the artefacts and relics that he had found. He died in nineteen-fourteen. A grandson who inherited the house and land allowed it to decay. The land was useless for farming. For safety reasons the mine entrance was sealed. Then, twenty years ago, an important discovery was made at another old silver mine not far away at Oberzeiring. The air in those mines there is very pure and free from pollens. At Oberzeiring they began using the mine for the treatment of certain kinds of asthma, bronchitis and sinusitis. The patients go to the clinic above the mine and then descend for a certain time each day for treatment. The Ruler himself suffers from sinusitis. At Oberzeiring he found a treatment that worked. He looked at this other mine with the house above it. The owner was only too glad to sell to
someone with the capital needed to re-open the mine and make all safe. In place of the old house The Ruler means to build a modern clinic where people from the Gulf may go and be given treatment free of charge.’ He paused thoughtfully and then added: ‘Of course, The Ruler has a number of anxieties and problems. Sinusitis is only one of them.’

‘Yes. I was told to ask about The Ruler’s anxieties. Are they taking any particular form at present?’

‘As I told you, the introduction of chemical warfare weapons into the Gulf has been a source of great concern to him. But let me deal once and for all with your side’s reservations about the protocol for this conference.’ He raised his hands and examined them as if to check that they were perfectly clean. ‘There is,’ he went on finally, ‘a truth that you must grasp and hold on to. It is this – that you in the west, with very few exceptions, always fail to understand the Arab mind. That is why your businessmen need persons like me to interpret for them. To interpret not merely words, but attitudes and states of mind. The English I speak is different from yours. You’ll have noticed that.’

‘Yes. You speak British English, Mr Zander, with some other sort of accent in there, but essentially British English.’

‘I learned it from a British officer with whom I worked many years ago in Jordan. He was a good soldier, as I also was then, very good at training men for war, for the battlefield that is, not the barracks. But he was also a scholar, an Arabist. He taught me about the desert Arab, and he taught me about men like The Ruler. I didn’t need teaching about your kind. I had already learned all I need to know about the west. He taught me the Arab mind. You have probably been told that The Ruler is a crazy man. Am I right?’