“I don’t know. But I think it’s time to get the sheriff involved.”
“The sheriff?” Luke exclaimed.
“You got any other ideas?”
“There must be some explanation…”
“I’m all ears.”
“All right. Call the sheriff in the morning.”
“Will do.”
Luke walked toward the back of the house, pointing out the unique Western and Native American art and furniture. He took them out onto the back patio. Luke had finally finished the shade covering, and the now-sheltered patio looked out over the fifty acres they owned and the thousands of acres that, although indistinguishable, were not their property. It was federal land, as was most of the rest of Nevada. The closest house was at least a mile away and barely visible when he pointed it out.
Khan studied the leveled dirt. “What work are you doing?”
Luke stared at the dirt and his unfinished work. “Building a runway.”
Khan and Rashim looked at Luke with surprise. “What for?”
“To buy an airplane to fly to Tonopah every day instead of driving. Or anywhere else I want to go.”
“Your own private airfield? Is this allowed?”
“Sure. You have to follow the regulations, but you can fly from your own airstrip anytime.”
Khan was stunned. “You own your own fighter squadron, your own private fighter base, and now you will have an airstrip at your own house?”
Luke detected bitterness in Khan’s tone. “It’s always been a dream of mine. I want to own a biplane. An acrobatic plane that I can just fly in the sky over my house and run out of gas and dead-stick right back down to my backyard. It may sound silly to you—”
“No,” Khan said.
“I could fly to work. Take off here, land at Tonopah, fly my MiG, then fly my own airplane home for dinner.” He thought about it. “Well, it’s not going to happen anytime soon. The plane I want costs too much money.”
“What kind of airplane do you want to buy?”
“I was thinking about a Stearman, but I don’t know. A good refurbished Stearman would be over a hundred thousand dollars, and they’re sixty or seventy years old. I was thinking of buying a new Pitts Special. You can get them brand-new right out of the factory in Wyoming. But they cost even more than a Stearman.”
“The Pitts? The one they used to fly in the acrobatic championships?”
“That’s the one.”
“Small biplane.”
“Yep.”
“I have seen them before. Very nice.”
“If I had a lot of nerve, I would buy a Sukhoi. It’s probably the best aerobatic airplane in the world right now. They’re a little squirrelly, and maintenance might be tricky, but what an airplane.”
“It would be in keeping with your ownership of Russian fighters. You could get your private airplane from the other Russian design bureau, from Sukhoi,” Khan said. “I’m sure you never expected to be one of the biggest operators of Russian airplanes outside of Russia.”
“Not even close,” Luke said.
“How have you liked the school so far?” Luke asked as Katherine handed them each their drinks.
“As you know, we would like more air-to-ground, but the training that we have been getting has been… adequate.”
Luke almost choked on Khan’s description. Adequate? It was at least a hundred times better than anything he’d ever known before. If he paid attention, he might actually leave the school knowing something—knowing how to fight in combat, how to employ his aircraft, how to defend his country. Instead he was more interested in insulting Luke and the school and the United States. “Have you learned anything?” Luke asked, trying to keep the sarcasm he felt out of his voice.
“Like what?” Khan asked.
Never mind, Luke thought. Just never the hell mind. “Don’t forget to go down to the flight line tomorrow at 1600,” he said, changing the subject.
“Why?” Khan asked.
“Class picture. The first class of the Nevada Fighter Weapons School. It’s a momentous occasion.”
Khan grew instantly uneasy. “I don’t think so.”
“Why not?”
“I have set a meeting for my group for that time.”
Rashim glanced at him, confused.
“This photo has been on the weekly schedule since you arrived.”
“Impossible. Our meeting is extremely important.”
Khan was obviously dodging the photo. Luke was tired of letting the little deceptions go by. “I guess we’ll have to change the photo to another time. You have any other meetings scheduled?”
“Yes, many. But you go ahead and take the photo.”
“Nah, that’s okay. We’ll reschedule.”
“No,” Khan insisted.
“Why not?” Katherine asked.
“You would not understand. It is a cultural imperative.”
Luke knew he had Khan in a ridiculous corner. He decided to press it. “Tell you what—since you can’t make the photo shoot tomorrow, why don’t we have Katherine take our picture together tonight, just for fun?”
“No photos.”
“None at all?” Thud asked, seeing the concern on Khan’s face.
“I’m afraid not.”
“Why?”
“Cultural.”
“What about your culture?”
“You wouldn’t understand.”
Thud leaned toward Khan. “Try me.”
Khan looked back at him, unmoved. “No.”
“It’s time to eat. I hope steak is okay,” Katherine commented, trying to keep whatever was happening from getting worse.
“Fine,” Khan said.
“Let me take your drinks. I have water on the table already.” Katherine put all five drinks on a tray and headed for the kitchen.
Khan and Rashim wandered around the expansive family room looking at the decorations and the artwork. The sun had set, and the desert cast a reddening glow over the room through the enormous picture windows that faced south.
Khan had his hands behind his back as he stared at a pottery vase on an end table. He picked it up. “What is this?” He studied it intently, turning it over in his hands, feeling the rough textures and examining the workmanship.
Luke was surprised by his interest. “It’s a Paiute pot.”
“What is a Paiute?”
“Native American.”
“Yes. Of course. An Indian. They are ever-present in my life.”
Luke couldn’t keep from smiling. “Right. Indians. Columbus thought he’d made it to India.”
“Yes. What did they use these for?”
“This one was just ornamental. Sort of… art. From about a hundred years ago. They used to live near Pioche, Nevada, where I grew up. In fact, Pioche was founded when a Paiute Indian showed a miner an ore—”
“Interesting,” Khan said, returning the pot to Luke.
Luke placed it back on the table. Khan had the annoying habit of asking about things just so he could dismiss the answer as unimportant or uninteresting.
Hayes decided to ask the question he had been waiting to ask. The more off-the-wall his timing was, the more likely that Khan might actually give him an unfiltered response. “How come you were so shocked by Crumb the other day?” Hayes asked.
“What?”
Luke interjected, “I’m going to go see if Katherine needs any help.”
“When Crumb mentioned warheads to you—you know, when he asked you if you wanted a warhead, that hard candy he offered you—you about came out of your skin. Why?” Hayes pressed.
“I didn’t understand him. I thought he wanted us to load actual warheads on our airplanes for the school. I couldn’t imagine why.”
Hayes wasn’t buying it. “That’s what you thought? Seriously?”
“Yes. That is exactly what I thought.”
Hayes drank from his glass and looked at the desert behind Luke’s house. “Tell me about life in the Air Force in Pakistan.”
“What would you like to know?”