Chapter 38: The Home Stretch

WHEN I FIRST STARTED working for the State Department, I figured I’d never be seen in anything but a black suit and white shirt. It didn’t take long working in South and Central America before I loosened up that style considerably. I usually still had a fairly conservative suit with me when we traveled, but most of the time I wore slacks and a sport coat. Of course, a shirt and tie were always required.

At the embassy in Muscat, I stripped off my jacket as soon as we walked into the office. It was just too hot to be wearing it. Thursday was no exception when Ronda and I went to work. As soon as we were in our office, we both pulled off our jackets and hung them next to the desk. We went to work getting what we needed for the next trip set up. This would be a one-week trip to Pakistan and Nepal, so we’d leave Monday and be back by Friday. We just had to confirm our appointments with our trainees, and have the crew pick up the equipment and supplies.

The next few weeks would test the range of our little plane as well as our endurance. Luke and Jay had assured us that the range was not a problem and we would have a faster and more comfortable trip in the little plane than on a commercial airline. After Ronda looked up the flight connections in our OAG guide, we had to agree. Just the flight from Islamabad to Kathmandu—about five hours in our plane—would be eleven hours with two connections via commercial airlines. And with our plane, we knew and trusted the pilots. We’d heard that a lot of the Asian airlines that would fly to the destinations we wanted to go to were using equipment that had been retired by other airlines and picked up very used.

We were going over the timing when two figures darkened our door.

They would have been as at home guarding Al Capone in Chicago as approaching us in the embassy. They wore black suits, dark shirts and ties, and sunglasses.

“May I help you?” I asked. The last time I’d seen people who looked like this, they were gunning down Clyde Warren on the streets of Chicago. FBI. That must be it.

“We’re looking for Nate Hart and Ronda May,” the taller one said.

“You found them.”

“What do...?” the smaller one started. A woman! “I mean ... we’ve been assigned as security for you two. No one told us you were so ... young.”

“Yeah. I’m surprised by it myself. They were supposed to get us older bodies or at least rugged faces. Who’d believe anyone our age could possibly need security?”

“Who’d believe you had already been kidnapped and were transporting secret government documents?” the guy said. “That’s true, isn’t it?”

“Afraid so. I don’t expect a recurrence of that kind of event, but the boss doesn’t want to take any more chances. I’m Nate,” I said, holding out my hand to shake. Ronda stood beside me.

“Ronda,” she said as she shook hands.

“Oh. Uh ... Eldon Brown. This is Jackie Brown.”

“Related?”

“Married,” she said. “Our boss said it was a perfect job for married partners.”

“It isn’t really all that bright inside,” Ronda said. She motioned at their sunglasses.

“Sorry. Getting hit by the tropic sun when we landed was a shock to our eyes. We’ve been stationed in DC and it is nowhere near as bright there,” Jackie said. They took off their sunglasses and we were able to get a better assessment of what they looked like. I guessed in their forties.

“Isn’t that the truth? We were there over the weekend. Still trying to get readjusted to the time zone and the temperature. I’m afraid we won’t be going much of anywhere in the next two months where it isn’t hot. You might want to dress a little less warmly,” I said.

“We’ll see how it goes. Just about everyone in the department dresses like this. I guess there isn’t actually a requirement, though,” Eldon said.

“As you can see, our office is a little cramped for holding a meeting. Why don’t we step out and get coffee?” Ronda suggested.

“Is that common?” Jackie asked. “I mean you leave the embassy grounds on a normal basis?”

“We don’t live here. We have a home about a mile from here toward the airport with our family. We’re pretty comfortable here in Oman. It’s a great place. And when we’re just walking around or going out to eat, we aren’t much of a target. It’s really when we’re transporting the materials to make passports and the equipment for it that we’re vulnerable,” I said. Ronda and I grabbed our jackets and led Eldon and Jackie out of the chancery, leaving a message with the receptionist that we’d be back in an hour.

“That monstrosity across the way is the British Embassy,” Ronda said, pointing. The receptionist had immediately called a car and driver for us and he pulled up while she was pointing things out.

“You have a driver dedicated to you?” Jackie asked.

“No. The embassy has three cars and a school bus with drivers and we take them as we need them. The receptionist keeps track of where drivers are and where they are needed,” Ronda said. “It’s not unusual for the drivers to make two or three trips in a row to one of the European-style cafés. He’ll pick us up again in an hour.”

We went into the European-style café. The big difference between this and an Omani café was that there were women in this one. Women seldom entered the Omani cafés and only in the company of their husbands. The atmosphere here was a little brisker, and the café served western food.

“Now, tell us a little about yourselves so we know who is watching over us,” I said. “What is your department?”

“Department of the Treasury, Secret Service Agency,” Eldon said.

“Whoa! Is the secret service, like, assigned to protect the president?” I asked.

“There is a group with that assignment,” Eldon laughed. “We aren’t a part of that contingent. We’re on loan to the State Department and your duty.”

“I had no idea the Secret Service was part of Treasury,” Ronda said. “I thought you were a part of the Justice Department, like the FBI.”

“The Agency has had a lot of overlap with other agencies, but when it was founded as part of Treasury right after the Civil War, it was primarily to combat counterfeiting. I guess that’s what brought us to the attention of the Consular Bureau in your case. I understand the attack you experienced just a week ago was by terrorists seeking to counterfeit US Passports,” Jackie said.

“Yes. It’s considerably riskier than counterfeiting, though,” I said. “With the equipment we install in consular agencies and the supplies we provide, a terrorist could create legitimate passports that were indistinguishable from the real thing. Except for one thing, which we don’t advertise.”

“What’s that?”

“Every passport has a seal of the United States Consular Services embossed in the last page. Technically, without that, it isn’t a legal passport.”

“Technically?” Eldon asked.

“How many times was the last page of your passport checked by passport control on your way to Oman? I assure you, having traveled to over a hundred countries in the past two years, including numerous entries back into the US, no one has ever run his fingers over the last page of the passport to check for the embossed stamp.”

“Wicked. But I’ll bet every passport submitted for renewal is checked,” Jackie said.

“No doubt. The issuance number would also be checked, so a passport that wasn’t legitimately issued and registered would be flagged when checked. It’s always a risky operation. At any time, the US could issue a directive to all their ports of entry that the number and emboss had to be checked. To my knowledge that hasn’t ever been done.”

“So why are we putting this valuable technology in hostile areas?” Eldon asked.

“Efficiency,” Ronda answered. “Prior to the introduction of this technology, the issuing of a passport or visa could take six months or more. Many times, especially in locations where there is a refugee crisis, people might not be able to survive that long. This cuts the time required to a few days, with some able to be turned around in an hour if necessary.”

“It still seems like a dangerous thing to do,” Jackie said.

“I agree,” I said. “Ronda and I travel as diplomatic couriers with a diplomatic passport. But we are required to have both our diplomatic passport and our tourist passport stamped upon entering or leaving a country. I assume that you have been issued such a passport as well.”

“Yes. And we were instructed to have both stamped, though I didn’t understand why. That’s good to know,” Eldon said. “So, what is our plan and mode of operation?”

“We’ll have a kind of shakedown cruise next week. We’ll be traveling to two countries that are basically friendly to the US and the embassies are in desperate need of the technology. According to our latest figures, Pakistan has had an influx of over 100,000 refugees from Afghanistan in the past two years. War, famine, internal strife, and earthquakes have sparked this,” Ronda said.

“One of the first locations we went to when assigned this job was to go to Calcutta and train the operators for the new embassy in Bangladesh. After the war for independence, over a million Pakistani nationals were displaced. Most have made their way back to Pakistan through India. Many, however, have migrated through Nepal. Pakistan is facing such a crisis of refugees from the other direction that they don’t want their own people back. Which isn’t surprising. Many of them were born in East Bengal. They have no roots in Pakistan,” I said.

“Okay, now let’s talk about how we can keep you and your equipment safe.”

We had a good meeting that went a lot longer than the hour we’d planned. We decided to get together with the crew over the weekend and make sure everyone was on the same page before we took off on Sunday. It would be interesting.

“The directive for the week says that we should plan a stopover in Bangladesh,” Ronda said. “That was our first installation two-plus years ago, but we actually did the training and delivered the equipment to Calcutta. The new embassy in Dacca has requested that we stop by and make sure their new tech is up to speed and the equipment is functioning correctly.”

“Is there a problem?” I asked.

“No. Not according to this. But they have a new operator and Mr. Martin would like us to install the failsafe on the equipment.”

“Okay. Luke, how’s it sound to go to Dacca after Kathmandu?” I asked.

“We should be good for that with no problem. We’ll still need to stop for refueling in Bombay on the way back,” Luke said. He and Jay went to the cockpit and started warming the plane up.

“In order for the system to be effective, Jackie and I need to disembark first when we arrive in Islamabad. We’ll wait until the plane is met by customs and when we’re satisfied there is no present danger, then everyone else can deplane,” Eldon said.

“I’d like one other criterion,” I said. “I’d like to be assured that we have an embassy car ready to take us to the chancery.”

“Yes, sir. That should be a standard part of our checklist. We’ll verify that the car and driver are from the embassy. What about the crew billeting?” Jackie asked.

“We make arrangements for housing as near to the airport as possible,” Nancy said. “We’ll be at the Crown, five minutes from the airport.”

“Is that considered safe?” Eldon asked. “I mean, to have everyone split up?”

“It helps us with having everything ready to take off when we get clear of the embassy without having to wait a long time to get the plane ready. We just call their room when we’re ready to leave the embassy and our people have everything ready to go by the time we get to them. They’re really top notch.”

“I’ve no doubt about that. I just want to make sure we’re providing the right level of protection for everyone.”

“Once we’re inside the chancery, I don’t anticipate we’ll need anything until we’re ready to leave again,” I said. “Of course, we never needed anything getting on or off the plane until a week and a half ago.”

“The embassy in Islamabad is well secured, with twenty Marine Security Guards stationed there,” Eldon said. “Once we get you to the embassy, there should be no problems. Our highest areas of risk are between the plane and the car. That’s when we’re carrying equipment, luggage, and are distracted. We’ll use our first stop as a training mission and go through all the processes. We’ll ask you all to remain in your seats until we call ‘clear.’ We’ll also ask the group to stay together when we are moving supplies so we aren’t strung out in different places, leaving one person vulnerable.”

“We’ll cooperate fully, Eldon,” Ronda said. “Can we all relax for a while? We have three more hours to Islamabad.”

It all went off perfectly in Islamabad. Since we were arriving Sunday evening, our stop at the embassy was only long enough to deliver the equipment. Then the four of us were shuttled to a hotel only about eight blocks away. Eldon and Jackie went through the full process of sweeping our room and then moving into their own room next door.

It took Ronda and me a few minutes to convince them that they could sit with us when we went to the hotel restaurant for dinner. They were a little nervous about it, but accepted that they could be as watchful at the same table as from across the room.

There was a little tension when we got to the embassy Monday morning over Jackie and Eldon being armed. They agreed that they did not need to go into the chancery with us and stayed outside with the Marines.

We completed our training and equipment installation in the morning, delivered our dispatches to the ambassador, and had lunch with the Consul General.

“There are over a hundred American citizens working for the embassy in Pakistan,” he said. “You’ve trained two teams with equipment this morning. They will make the rounds of offices here, in Lahore, and in Karachi. Lahore is probably the busiest at the moment, but I expect we will open a satellite office in Peshawar so Afghani refugees don’t need to travel all the way to Islamabad to get consular services.”

“Will you be issuing a lot of visas to refugees?”

“Surprisingly not. Just because they are fleeing problems in Afghanistan doesn’t mean they want to immigrate to the US. They want a safe place to hide until they can go back home. Most do not have papers, so the Pakistani government has asked us to help in issuing IDs. We’ll probably issue more IDs than passports and visas combined.”

It was a pleasant luncheon, during which, the consul general wanted to hear all about what had happened in Iran. He seemed genuinely pleased that the State Department had assigned security to our mission and wished us good speed on our remaining assignment.

The crew was waiting at the plane with the engines turning when we arrived. Eldon checked all around the plane while Jackie checked inside to be sure it was our crew who were onboard. Then we were permitted to board and were soon on our way to Kathmandu.

That trip was reminiscent of the trip from Kabul to Tehran. We were flying into the Himalayan foothills and the weather was rough. We had rain and wind buffeting the plane around, but the guys brought her in safely. We all had to re-collect ourselves before we were ready to disembark. An embassy driver was waiting with the customs official. Our passports were quickly checked and stamped, then we loaded our equipment into the embassy car.

We arrived at the chancery after hours, of course, but the car was permitted to enter and park while we took our bags and walked half a mile to a hotel. We ate at the hotel and went to sleep before making our way back to the embassy. Once again, Jackie and Eldon were detained at the entrance and we were allowed through to retrieve the equipment from the car and get set up.

I guess the mission here was modest by comparison to the one in Islamabad, but it was obviously prepared for growth. There were a number of empty offices and we were taken to one to set up the equipment.

Our trainees were harried. They weren’t convinced the equipment would help with their jobs and only saw it as ‘one more thing’ they had to deal with. The Deputy Chief of Mission we met with, though, begged our forgiveness for her personnel as we had lunch together. It was one of the few times we’d met a woman in one of the top two positions in an embassy.

“Our people see this as yet another responsibility put on their plates,” she said. “I’m sure you are aware of the war for Bangladesh independence of just a few years ago. Nepal, India, and Pakistan are still dealing with the refugee crisis that brought on. The fundamentalist Muslim Pakistanis were nearly all displaced when the Bengali guerillas fought back against the near annihilation of their more liberal populace. I will say that the Pakistanis asked for it. Their religious jihad against the intellectuals and secularists came back to roost as they were all deported from the country. Nearly two million displaced Bengalis flooded back into Bangladesh and took over the homes and businesses of the displaced East Pakistanis.”

“That’s terrible,” I said. “I mean, I agree there was some justice to it, the way you describe it, but why can’t people all co-exist?”

“That’s a good question,” she laughed. “The sad truth is that they can’t. Some of the Pakistanis made their way into Nepal and some into India, attempting to be repatriated into Pakistan. The problem is that even though they are Muslim and ethnically Pakistani, they have been fifty to a hundred years in what was termed East Pakistan. They have no roots in Pakistan proper and are looking for friends and relatives only remotely interested in them. And the 1965 division of Kashmir into an Indian administration and a Pakistani administration makes the transit even more difficult.”

“And your people are dealing with the fallout from that war yet?” Ronda asked.

“Indirectly. Nepal has rejected the Pakistani as immigrants in most instances and sends them on their way. It is a Hindu country. Pakistan and Bangladesh are over ninety percent Muslim, though Bangladesh could be considered more secular. We field a fair number of requests for visas to the United States, but mostly they are being directed northward into India—the area known as Kashmir.”

“I’ve heard that area was claimed by both India and Pakistan,” I said.

“And so, we have back pressure and conflict. Each morning, our staff is briefed on the current situation on all fronts.”

The deputy accepted delivery of our dispatches and we returned to our hotel with Jackie and Eldon. We let the crew know we’d head for the airport first thing in the morning.

Wednesday, we were off to Dacca. I’d decided that instead of trying to retrofit the equipment we’d installed over two years ago, I would replace the camera unit entirely. It was just a lot easier.

We got the equipment to the chancery, which was a three-story structure, newly constructed of white stucco. It had round corners and a fence around the grounds. We were told the ambassador was not available to see us that day, and we could train the staff and replace the equipment, but we’d need to wait until Thursday to deliver our packet and get his picture.

It turned out that the operators had not had formal training, but had been trained by the former operators. I seemed to recall that the Chargé d’Affaires was one of the people we trained in 1972 and he had long since moved on. So, we went about the process of installing the new equipment and training the two new technicians.

There was no problem with Eldon and Jackie remaining armed at this embassy. There were as many Marines here as there were in Pakistan and the building seemed to be very busy. As long as we were there, we got right at making IDs for everyone since only about a third of the employees seemed to have one.

“There hasn’t been anyone really authorized to use the equipment in a year,” Susan said. She was one of the two employees to be trained. “And the embassy has really grown since the ambassador arrived last April.”

“It seems really big for such a small country,” I said.

She looked at me curiously.

“Bangladesh is not a small country,” she said. “You may think that geographically we are nothing, but the country is the eighth most populous in the world.”

“My word! I had no idea! You mean, like up there with China, India, the USSR and the US?”

“It is helpful to put things in perspective, I suppose,” she said. “As the eighth most populous nation in the world, that still means Bangladesh has less than a tenth the population of China. But the United States, the third largest nation in the world, has only a quarter the population of China. Bangladesh is not so far behind the US.”