He assured us, “Sana’a is actually quite safe compared to most of the country. There is very little crime in the city and very few political or religious attacks directed against Westerners. However, it does happen, and there have been a number of plots against the American and British embassies, so you need to be vigilant while you’re here.”
I asked, “How long will we be in Sana’a?”
“I’m not sure.”
Brenner said, “I know you’re exhausted, but we’d like to finish this conversation inside.”
It was still my turn to carry the gun bag, and we went back into the lobby and up the elevator to where I knew that the SCIF—the Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility—was located.
It was in that room, I was sure, where Buck would mention the small and apparently forgotten fact that Kate and I were here not to find The Panther, but for The Panther to find us.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
The SCIF was on the third and top floor, a windowless and soundproof room, lined with lead and kryptonite or something, impervious to directional listening devices and other types of electronic buggery.
Half of the big, dimly lit room was filled with commo and crypto, and the other half, partitioned with thick glass, was taken up with work stations and a round conference table.
A young woman was attending to the electronics, and when we entered she stood and greeted Brenner and Buck, said hello to Kate and me, then closed the glass door between us.
We’d had a similarly purposed room in the Sheraton Hotel in Aden, but that had been an emptied bedroom in which a lead-lined tent was pitched. The world of spying has come a long way since the days when gentlemen did not read each other’s mail, or when it was bad manners to listen at the keyhole or stand outside a building and literally eavesdrop. Today, even pissant countries like Yemen had access to off-the-shelf electronic listening devices and decoding equipment, and the world of secure communication had become a game. The Americans had the best equipment, but you never knew who just developed something better.
Buck Harris broke into my thoughts and assured us, “We can speak freely here.”
Right. Except, of course, every word was being recorded.
Brenner got on the intercom and made contact with the Yemenis in the kitchen, and ordered in Arabic.
Buck got down to business and said to me and Kate, “There is something else about this mission that you may not have been told.”
I didn’t reply.
“Or maybe you were told.”
Again I didn’t reply. He was fishing to see what we knew, and I was waiting to see if he’d actually tell us why we were in Yemen.
Buck glanced at Brenner, then said to Kate and me, “Well, then, I’ll fill you in.” He hesitated a second, then said, “One of the reasons you were both picked for this assignment is because the CIA has knowledge or belief that Bulus ibn al-Darwish, The Panther, would likely make you a target if he knew you were in Yemen.”
“Actually,” I replied, “it is the only reason we were picked.” I said to Kate, “The Panther is looking for payback for The Lion.” To be sure she understood, I added, “We are Panther bait.”
Kate looked at me, then Buck, then Brenner, and said, “I see.”
“Good,” I said, “and that makes us the best-qualified people for this job. Just as Tom told us.”
She thought about that, then instead of saying, “That bastard,” she asked, “Do you think Tom knew that?”
Jeez. Sweetheart, your buddy is a deceitful prick. I said, “Uh… let me think—”
Buck interrupted my sarcasm and said, “None of us knows if he did or not, and it’s really a moot point.”
Not for me, so I said to Buck and to Brenner, “It would have been nice if Tom Walsh or anybody had given us that information in New York so we could have made an informed decision about whether or not we’d like to be bait for a homicidal terrorist.” I asked, “Agreed?”
“Agreed,” agreed Buck. “But you’re here, you’ve heard why you’re here, and now all you have to decide is if you want to stay here or get on that Air Force plane and go home.”
Brenner, to help us decide, pointed out, “Does it really matter who is the hunter and who is the hunted? It doesn’t change the tactical approach that much.”
Actually, it does if you happen to be the hunted. But