“Right across there, down the sidewalk, and right up to the front door. We’ll cover you in case of any firing. We haven’t fired a shot down here and don’t think we’ll have to. You ready? Tell him anything you negotiate has to be approved by our colonel, who’s running this operation.”
“Not my kind of assignment, Captain. This is strange, but I’ll do my damnedest.”
Murdock walked across the street. He had no idea what to say to the general under attack from both sides and evidently deserted by his army. He’d play it by ear.
Two uniformed men without arms met him just outside the big doors. He was expertly frisked and then led inside. Two armed men stared hard at him, motioned him forward. One walked in front of him and one in back. They went into the basement instead of upstairs, where Murdock guessed they would go. They went down two floors into a safe room through a heavy steel door. It clanged shut once he was inside, sounding like a bank vault closing. The large office looked like a living room with upholstered chairs, a coffee table, a sofa, a large-screen TV, bookcases, and several oil paintings.
“Well, Commander Murdock. A SEAL. I have great respect for you men and what you do. I took part of the training, but it was too rugged for me. What class were you in?”
“It was one-eighty-two, General Nassar. You seem to know a lot about the SEALs.”
“I was in the States on a training/exchange program. At one time we thought here we might have such a unit. But it wasn’t practical, so I recommended that we not form one.”
“Yes sir, General, I understand. Now, how can we end this stalemate?”
“I would prefer to leave the country under your safeguard.”
“How would we do that, General?”
“A car to the airport. My family is already there. I will use the royal jet, a Gulfstream. We would be granted safe passage to the airport and then on to Libya, which has granted me sanctuary.”
“In exchange for this safe passage?”
“I will surrender the remainder of my forces. Most of the troops deserted when they heard about the invasion.”
“Do you have any other conditions, General Nassar?”
“Only that I be allowed to take personal luggage and certain assets with me.”
“What assets?”
“That would not be revealed.”
“Not acceptable, General. Those assets would be gold or funds or diamonds that must rightfully belong to the Bahrainian people. We could not agree to that. Your luggage will be searched at the airport.”
The general sank lower in his leather executive chair.
“Very well. Get confirmation from your forces.”
“I’ll need the phone you used to talk to Captain Browser.”
The general pointed to the phone on his desk.
A moment later, Murdock spoke to Captain Browser. He told him the conditions the general had set down.
“Sounds like a winner. Let me check by radio with Colonel Albers with the B troops. It’s his baby, and I’ve been keeping him up to date as we go along. He has to agree to the final conditions the general makes.
Murdock held on the phone. Two minutes later, the captain came back on the line.
“It’s a go, Commander. The sooner the better. Tell the general that he should proceed now to the front of the building, where we will have a car to take him to the airport. He should first order all of his troops out of the building without any arms and put them in military formation in front of the flagpole. Then he comes out.
The general waved at Murdock. “One more condition. I must talk to the captain.”
Murdock gave the general the phone, wondering what else the crafty Arab had in mind.
“Captain, you must have a superior here. Tell him there is one more condition. To insure that my plane is not shot out of the sky once we take off, I insist that Commander Murdock be my guest on the flight to Libya. That’s not a condition I will negotiate. It’s the SEAL with me in the airplane with my family and me, or it’s no deal, and we go back to square one.”
18
Murdock and two others inspected the luggage of the twelve family members. They found only reasonable family jewelry, three cameras, a video camera, and assorted goods. No stolen millions from the monarchy. Murdock figured that had already been wired to a Swiss bank.
It had taken an hour to get Colonel Albert’s approval for Murdock to go along as the “guest” of the general. With a U.S. Navy SEAL on board the business jet, it was certain it wouldn’t be shot down. The colonel had asked Murdock if he would go. He said to end the standoff and the bloodshed, he would.
“Hey, I’ve never been in Libya,” he told DeWitt.
The twelve family members boarded the plane, then Murdock went up the fold-in steps, and the plane rolled to the takeoff point.
The general came around and offered Murdock a drink. He settled for a beer. It was warm and tasted awful.
“What will you do now, General?” Murdock asked.
“Now, my young friend, I am retired. I do not need to work to make a living. Eventually, I hope to come to the United States. Life is so much more civilized there. That may take some doing, but it is my hope.”
“One more question, General Nassar. Americans are not welcome in Libya. How will I get back to the Middle East?”
“I have arranged that. You will be traveling as my aide without a passport, and you will be given diplomatic immunity to return to Cairo and from there back to Saudi Arabia and on to your huge aircraft carrier.”
“How can I be sure of that?”
“I made two phone calls before we left. I talked to a high government official, and he guaranteed to me that it will be so. He knows that you are an American. He knows that you will be coming as my diplomatic guest. We will put you in some better clothes so you don’t look like a terrorist. I think some of my brother-in-law’s clothes will fit you.”
They flew over the water to Iraq, then across it to Amman, Jordan, where they refueled and then angled across the Mediterranean Sea to Libya and soon into Bengasi, the capital. Murdock wore the civilian clothes and felt like a geek.
“The pants are too big and the jacket is too tight,” Murdock said to the general.
He shrugged. “It’s a costume for you. You need it. These people are not as polite as they could be. They may give me a hard time and most certainly will challenge you. It might take me two or three hours to get to the man in the government I called. He probably has forgotten to talk to his police here at the International Airport. Trust me. It won’t take long.”
Two police cars waited when the steps came down on the Gulfstream. It wasn’t an honor guard.
An officer met General Nassar, who had also changed into civilian clothes. They talked for five minutes. All the time, Nassar was getting more and more agitated. At last he shouted something and started back up the steps.
Two policemen pulled him back down and walked him to a car. Then the officer came into the plane and shouted at the others and motioned them outside.
Murdock didn’t have the slightest idea what the man said. He went out with the others but was at once picked out as not being a member of the family and taken to one side.
“You are American,” the officer said in accented English.
“Guest of Mr. Nassar,” Murdock said.
“Your passport and papers.”
“I have none, they were lost in Bahrain. I’m the guest of General Nassar.”
“You are CIA spy. We have watched for you. Clever. You will come with me.”
“I’m not a spy. The general made me a hostage so his plane would not be shot down by the Americans who liberated Bahrain from the general.”