"you're russian?"
"i told you, finnish, and i tire quickly of men with knives in the night, british, russian, or even finnish."
"you're a pilot with s-g helicopters?"
"yes, hurry up and let her go whoever you are or i'll start something."
ross was not yet over his own panic. "is she russian?"
"my wife's iranian, she speaks russian and so do i," erikki said icily, moving slightly to get out of the narrow beam of moonlight into shadows. "move into the light, i can't see you, and for the last time tell this little bastard to release my wife, tell me what you want, and then get out."
"sorry about all this. gueng, let her go now."
gueng did not move. nor did the curved blade. in gurkhali he said, "yes, sahib, but first take the knife from under the man's pillow."
in gurkhali ross replied, "if he goes for it, brother, even touches it, kill her, i'll get him." then in english he said pleasantly, "pilot, you have a knife under your pillow. please don't touch it, sorry, but if you do until this is all okay... please be patient. let her go, gueng," he said, his attention never leaving the man. with the side of his eyes he saw the vague shape of a face, long hair touseled and half covering her, then she moved behind the great shoulders, bunching her long-sleeved, winter nightclothes closer. ross had his back to the light and he saw little of her, only the hatred in her half-seen eyes, even from the shadows. "sorry to arrive like a thief in the night. apologies," he said to her. she did not answer. he repeated the apology in farsi. she still did not answer. "please apologize to your wife for me."
"she speaks english. what the hell do you want?" erikki felt a little better
now that she was safe, still very aware how close the other man with the curved knife was.
"we're sort of prisoners of the khan, pilot, and i came to warn you and to ask your help."
"warn me about what?"
"i helped one of your captains a few days ago charles pettikin." he saw the name register at once so he relaxed a little. quickly he told erikki about doshan tappeh and the savak attack and how they had escaped, describing pettikin accurately so there could be no mistake.
"charlie told us about you," erikki said, astonished, no longer afraid, "but not that he'd dropped you off near bandar-e pahlavi only that some british paratroopers had saved him from a savak who'd have blown his head off."
"i asked him to forget my name. i, er, we were on a job."
"lucky for charlie you, we " ross saw the woman whisper in her husband's ear, distracting him. the man nodded and turned his eyes back again. "you can see me, i can't see you, move into the light as to abdollah, if you were his prisoners, you'd be chained up, or in a dungeon, not loose in the palace."
"i was told the khan would help us if we had trouble. we had trouble and he said he'd hide us until he could get us back to tehran. meanwhile he put us in a hut, out of sight, across the estate. there's a permanent guard on us."
"hide you from what?"
"we were on a, er, classified job, and being hunted an "
"what classified job? i still can't see you, move into the light."
ross moved but not enough. "we had to blow some secret american radar stuff to prevent it being pinched by soviets or their supporters. i rec "
"sabalan?"
"how the hell did you know that?"
"i'm being forced to fly a soviet and some leftists to ransack radar sites near the border, then take the stuff down to astara on the coast. one of them was wrecked on the north face they got nothing out of that one and so far the rest haven't produced anything worthwhile as far as i know. go on warn me about what?"
"you're being forced?"
"my wife's hostage to the khan and the soviets for my cooperation and good behavior," erikki said simply.
"christ!" ross's mind was working overtime. "1, er, i recognized the s-g decal when you were circling and came to warn you soviets were here, they came here early this morning, and they're planning to kidnap you with the friendly help of the khan it seems he's playing both ends against the middle, double agent." he saw erikki's astonishment. "our people should know that quickly."
"kidnap me to do what?"
"i don't know exactly. i sent gueng on a recce after your chopper arrived he slipped out of a back window. tell them, gueng."
"it was after they had eaten lunch, sahib, the khan and the soviet, and they were beside the soviet's car when he was leaving i was in the undergrowth near and could hear well. at first i could not understand them, but then the khan said, let's talk english there are servants nearby. the soviet said, thanks for all the information and the offer. the khan said, then we have an agreement? everything, patar? the soviet said, yes i'll recommend everything you want. i'll see the pilot never bothers you again. when he's finished here he'll be brought north..." gueng stopped as the air hissed out of azadeh's mouth. "yes, memsahib?"
"nothing."
gueng concentrated, wanting to get it perfect for them: "the soviet said, i'll see the pilot never bothers you again. when he's finished here he'll be brought north, permanently. then..." he thought a moment. "ah, yes! then he said, the mullah won't trouble you again and in return you'll catch the british saboteurs for me? alive, i'd like them alive if possible. the khan said, yes, i'll catch them, patar, do y "
"petr," azadeh said, her hand on erikki's shoulder. "his name was petr mzytryk."
"christ!" ross muttered as it fell into place.
"what?" erikki said.
"i'll tell you later. finish, gueng."
"yes, sahib. the khan said, i'll catch them, patar, alive if i can. what's my favor if they're alive? the soviet laughed. anything, within reason, and mine? the khan said, i'll bring her with me on my next visit. sahib, that was all. then the soviet got into his car and left."
azadeh shuddered.
"what?" erikki said.
"he means me," she said, her voice small.
ross said, "i don't follow."
erikki hesitated, the tightness in his head greater than before. she had told him about being summoned for lunch by her father, and about petr mzytryk inviting her to tbilisi "and your husband, of course, if he's free; i would love to show you our countryside..." and how attentive the soviet had been. "it's... it's personal. not important," he said. "it seems you've done me a big favor. how can i help?" he smiled tiredly and stuck out his hand. "my name's yokkonen, erikki yokkonen and this is my wife, az "
"sahib!" gueng hissed warningly.
ross jerked to a stop. now he saw erikki's other hand was under the pillow.
"don't move a muscle," he said, kookri suddenly out of its scabbard. erikki recognized the tone and obeyed. cautiously ross moved the pillow aside but the hand was not near the knife. he picked the knife up. the blade glinted in the shaft of moonlight. he thought a moment, then handed it back to erikki, heft first. "sorry, but it's better to be safe." he shook the outstretched hand that had never wavered and felt the enormous strength. he smiled at him and turned slightly, the light now on his face for the first time. "my name's ross, captain john ross, and this's gueng..."
azadeh gasped and jerked upright. they all looked at her and now ross saw her clearly for the first time. it was azadeh, his azadeh of ten years ago, azadeh gorden as he had known her then, azadeh gorden of the high country staring up at him, more beautiful than ever, eyes bigger than ever, still heaven sent. "my god, azadeh, i didn't see your face..."
"nor i yours, johnny."
"azadeh... good god," ross stammered. he was beaming and so was she, and then he heard erikki and looked down and saw him staring up at him, the great knife in his fist, and a shaft of fear rushed through him and through her.
"you're 'johnny brighteyes'?" erikki said it flat.
"yes, yes, i'm... l had the privilege of knowing your wife years ago, many years ago... good lord, azadeh, how wonderful to see you!"
"and you..." her hand had not left erikki's shoulder.
erikki could feel her hand and it was burning him but he did not move, mesmerized by the man in front of him. she had told him about john ross and about their summer and the result of the summer, that the man had not known about the almost child, nor had she ever tried to find him to tell him, nor did she want him ever to know. "the fault was mine, erikki, not his," she had told him simply. "i was in love, i was just a few days seventeen and he nineteen johnny brighteyes i called him; i had never seen a man with such blue eyes before. we were deeply in love but it was only a summer love, not like ours which is forever, mine is, and yes, i will marry you if father will allow it, oh, yes, please god, but only if you can live happily with knowing that once upon a time, long long ago, i was growing up. you must promise me, swear to me you can be happy as a man and a husband for perhaps one day we will meet him i will be happy to meet him and i will smile at him but my soul will be yours, my body yours, my life yours, and all that i have..."
he had sworn as she had wished, truly and with all his soul, happily brushing aside her concern. he was modern and understanding and finnish wasn't finland always progressive, hadn't finland been the second country on earth after new zealand to give women the vote? there was no worry in him. none. he was only sad for her that she had not been careful, for she had told him of her father's anger an anger he could understand.
and now here was the man, fine and strong and young, far nearer her size than he, far nearer her age than he. jealousy ripped him apart.
ross was trying to collect his wits, her presence possessing him. he pulled his eyes off her and the memory of her and looked back at erikki. he read his eyes clearly. "a long time ago i knew your wife, in switzerland at... i was at school there for a short time."
"yes, i know," erikki said. "azadeh told me about you. i'm... i'm... it's a... it's a sudden meeting for all of us." he got out of bed, towering over ross, the knife still in his hand, all of them aware of the knife. he saw that gueng, on the other side of the bed, still had his kookri out. "so. again, captain, again thanks for the warning."
"you said you're being forced to fly the soviets?"
"azadeh's hostage for my good behavior," erikki said simply.
thoughtfully ross nodded. "not much you can do about that if the khan's hostile. christ, that's a mess! my thought was that as you were threatened too, you'd want to escape too and that you'd give us a ride in the chopper."
"if i could i would, yes... yes, of course. but i've twenty guards on me all the time i'm flying and azadeh... my wife and i are watched very closely when we're here. there's another soviet called cimtarga who's like my shadow, and abdollah khan's... very careful." he had not yet decided what to do about this man ross. he glanced at azadeh and saw that her smile was true, her touch on his shoulder true, and that clearly this man meant nothing more than an old friend to her now. but this did not take away his almost blinding urge to run amok. he made himself smile at her. "we must be careful, azadeh."
"very." she had felt the surge under her hand when he had said "johnny brighteyes" and knew that, of the three of them, only she could control this added danger. at the same time, erikki's jealousy that he sought so hard to hide excited her, as did the open admiration of her long-lost love. oh, yes, she thought, johnny brighteyes, you are more wonderful than ever, slimmer than ever, stronger than ever more exciting, with your curved knife and unshaven face and filthy clothes and man smell how could i not have recognized you? "a moment ago when i corrected this man's 'patar' to 'petr' it meant something to you, johnny. what?"
"it was a code message i had to give the khan," ross said, achingly aware she still bewitched him. "'tell abdollah khan that peter' that could be gueng's patar or petr, the soviet 'that peter's after the gorgon's head and peter's son is worse than peter. the son plays with curds and whey and so does the father, who'll try to use a medusa to catch the gorgon.'"
azadeh said, "that's easy. erikki?"
"yes," erikki said, distracted. "but why 'curds and whey'?"
"perhaps this," she said, her excitement rising. "tell abdollah khan that
petr mzytryk, kgb, is after his head, that mzytryk's son let's presume also kgb is worse than his father. the son plays at curds and whey perhaps that means the son is involved with the kurds and their rebellion that threatens abdollah khan's power base in azerbaijan, that the kgb, the father, and the son are also involved and that petr mzytryk will use a medusa to catch the gorgon." she thought a moment. "could that be another pun and mean 'use a woman,' perhaps even an evil woman to catch my father?"
ross was shocked. "the khan's... my god, the khan's your father?"
"yes, i'm afraid so. gorgon's my family name," azadeh said, "not gorden. but the principal of the school at chateau d'or told me the first day i could hardly have a name like gorgon i would get teased to death so i was to be just azadeh gorden. it was fun for me, and the principal thought it better for me that i was just plain azadeh gorden and not the daughter of a khan."
