The Increment: A Novel - By David Ignatius Page 0,100
Turkmenistan with a young Iranian scientist. This individual is a nuclear physicist who works for Tohid Electric—”
Harry broke in before Adrian could finish his sentence.
“Whoa!” Harry put up his hand. “Hold on a minute. Can I talk to you for a moment, Adrian. Privately.”
Adrian looked at Atwan and shrugged. “We have no secrets here. We’re among friends.”
“Maybe you don’t have any secrets, chum, but I do. So humor me. Let’s find a private place to talk. Now.”
Harry rose and walked across the floor of the library, carpeted with an immense Persian rug from Ardebil. He waited for Adrian, who eventually followed after a hushed apology to Atwan.
“What the fuck are you doing?” said Harry when they were together in an anteroom outside the library. “This is my guy. This is my operation. I don’t have a clue who your Arab friend is, other than the fact that you seem to have your hand in his pocket. And I damn sure hadn’t planned on sharing the details of our operation to exfiltrate my guy.”
“But you already have, dear boy.”
“Fuck you, Adrian. And stop the ‘dear boy’ crap. Level with me or I’m walking out of here right now and never coming back.”
“Calm down. Take a deep breath, and listen to me. Kamal is working with us on some things that are more sensitive than you understand. He is not some Arab lightweight. He is the key to something very much larger than you realize. And he is utterly trustworthy. I assure you. He has far greater reason to stop the Iranians from making a nuclear weapon than does your government or mine. Or even the Israelis, for that matter. So please, relax and come back into the library with me. It will all become clear.”
Harry moved to leave, but Adrian stopped him.
“And please don’t make any more silly threats. This is not your operation; I thought we were clear about that. Your ‘guy’ is in the hands of my ‘guys’ at this very moment. There’s nothing you can do about that now. You made your decision some time ago. It’s really quite out of your control now, I’m afraid.”
Harry returned to the library knowing that he was caught in a box that was largely of his own design. He had set this process in motion, and he couldn’t really complain now that it was continuing along its course, at its own pace and carving its own direction. He had given up control to another service and its network of people and priorities, because he had believed that was the only way to accomplish his larger aim. Now he had to see that decision through to its end.
When they regained their seats on the couches, Harry was the first to speak.
“Sorry, Mr. Atwan. It’s been a long night, and I haven’t had much sleep. I just needed to get some things clear with my partner Adrian. I was the one who originally made contact with the Iranian who works for Tohid, so this is personal for me. I don’t like anyone shopping my kids without my permission. But Adrian tells me that you are one hundred percent reliable, and I trust Adrian. So I trust you. And there we are.”
Harry reached out his hand to Kamal Atwan. They had greeted each other earlier, when Harry first arrived. But this time the Lebanese held the American’s palm in his own for a good twenty seconds. Atwan’s fingers were finely drawn but powerful, like those of a pianist.
“Trust does not speak in words, Mr. Fellows,” said Atwan, finally letting the American’s hand go.
“So let us think this through, eh, gents?” said Adrian, starting up again. “As I said before, our Iranian friend works for Tohid Electrical. And that, in turn, is a company to which Mr. Atwan has been supplying equipment for some years. Which provides certain opportunities, and also certain difficulties.”
Harry nodded, but he needed to understand this better before he made any more mistakes. He turned to Atwan.
“What kind of equipment have you been selling Tohid?” he asked.
“Very high-end. A half dozen different items, I should think. Adrian has the list. We’ve sold them flash X-ray systems. I’m quite sure of that. We’ve sold them many different kinds of measuring equipment. Hydrodynamics is the name of that area of research, I think. Shock waves and all that. Very expensive.”
“I’m sure,” said Harry with a wave of his hand. He didn’t understand money or care much about it.