mental picture of what Chet had just outlined. It sounded good… but there were some potential problems with the scenario. Like, people don’t always do what you want them to do, or sit or stand where you want them to sit or stand. Right?
I asked, “What if it’s raining on the outdoor tea party?”
Chet assured me, “It hasn’t rained in Marib in two hundred years.”
That might be an exaggeration, but it sounded like zero percent chance of precipitation.
Chet also informed us, “The second pair of Predators is our security at the safe house, and they will cover us as we drive to the scene to collect some bits and pieces of Mr. al-Darwish and the men around him for DNA and fingerprint ID.” He added, “Some photos, too, though I don’t think there will be any recognizable faces.”
Chet was enjoying this. Hey, you earned it, Chet. Now you can go home and get your head tuned up.
Brenner had a thought and asked, “Won’t this assassination and massacre put a little strain on Sheik Musa’s relationship with Al Qaeda?”
Chet replied, “Sheik Musa, of course, will say he had no clue that the Americans were watching him, and he’ll claim casualties of his own.” He added, “There won’t be any Al Qaeda witnesses alive to contradict his version of the attack. Also, after this, Al Qaeda won’t be much of a problem in Marib province.”
I asked Chet, “Does Musa get the five-million-dollar reward?”
“I think he earned it.”
Right. Better than a hundred thousand from Al Qaeda. I inquired, “How much do we get?”
“The satisfaction of a job well done and the thanks of a grateful government.”
“Same as last time.”
Kate had a good question: “How do we get out of there?”
Chet replied, “As I said, we’ll be covered by two Predators on our way to the scene. The Twin Otter will land on a nearby road and take us across the border into Saudi Arabia to a secret forward base in the Arabian Desert. We turn over the goo bags, the cameras, and our weapons, then the Otter will fly us to Riyadh Airport, where we will hop commercial airliners and fly home, wherever that is.”
No one spoke as we all sat there in the dim, quiet tent, thinking about the plan, or about flying home first class or flying home in a box.
Well, I thought, this plan was based on a lot of past history, some of it true, some of it made up, and some of it not fully evaluated. The plan also depended on a lot of assumptions. The CIA, as usual, had come up with an operational plan that seemed clever, but was actually too clever by half. Keep it simple, stupid. But it might work.
Chet let the silence drag on, then asked, “Questions?”
Kate asked, “Don’t you think The Panther will smell a trap?”
Chet replied, “The Panther, as a devout Muslim, would not believe that the sheik, also a devout Muslim, would betray him to the Americans, who are, of course, infidels.”
I commented, “That’s a good assumption, making me wonder why Musa would set up a fellow Muslim to be whacked by the infidels.”
Chet replied, “The short answer is the five million bucks. But also Musa and al-Darwish don’t have much else in common beyond their religion. Musa is a royalist and Al Qaeda is anti-royalist. Musa is a Bedouin, and the non-Bedouin Arabs, like al-Darwish, look down on the tribesmen. Plus, most of the tribes in Yemen want Al Qaeda out of their tribal lands.” Chet added, “Also, I think Sheik Musa may not consider Mr. al-Darwish a true Yemeni. In fact, he probably thinks of him as an American intruder.”
Everyone in this room is an American intruder.
Brenner observed, “You’re making a good case for why Musa would betray The Panther, but not a good case for why The Panther would trust Musa and come to this meeting.”
Chet nodded, then said, “The Panther needs a win after the Hunt Oil fiasco, and the recent failed ambush of our convoy, so the opportunity to get five Americans—not tourists, but intelligence operatives, including Mr. and Mrs. Corey, who are on Al Qaeda’s kill list—will be so tempting that he’ll talk himself into taking the risk.” Chet added, “The Panther may not trust Musa, but he won’t want to appear fearful and not go to the meeting.” He also told us, “We have a psychological profile on al-Darwish that I’ll show you on the way to Marib. Bottom line on Bulus ibn