‘You will die,’ Mostofi told Golzar as they were driven to MUT.
He and Nassour were on the middle bench seat behind the driver, while the Quds operative sat in the back. The close protection team which normally accompanied the boss was riding in the support vehicle. Behind them.
‘Yes, agha,’ Golzar said respectfully. ‘I know.’
‘None of your previous missions were suicide ones.’
‘I could have died, however, agha. Palestine wasn’t a picnic.’
Mostofi placed a hand on Nassour’s arm when his aide stiffened at the operative’s retort.
‘It’s okay,’ he said softly. ‘I like spirit.’
‘You could have,’ he told the killer, ‘but you didn’t. There’s no could about this mission. You will die.’
‘I am prepared for it, agha. I have trained my entire life for this moment. To sacrifice myself for my country. I just hope it will be for something that will be remembered.’
‘You can be sure of that,’ Mostofi smiled, his eyes shining with the thought of USX-74. ‘What you do will never be forgotten. But I have not made my mind up. It depends on how you react.’
‘React to what, agha?’
‘You’ll see.’
‘Can I ask something, agha?’
‘Yes.’
‘I was expecting you to give me some assignment. Kill someone. Test me with weapons. Something like that.’
‘I have seen your reports,’ Mostofi half-turned and regarded him from the corner of his eye. ‘I have spoken with other Quds soldiers who worked with you. I also checked with our Hezbollah friends. I am satisfied with what you are capable of. In this mission, you won’t need your knowledge of weapons. If you kill someone, it will be in self-defense only. In fact, you won’t even need any weapons.’
‘But … how?’ Golzar leaned forward in perplexment.
‘You will be the weapon,’ Mostofi chuckled as his ride rolled to a stop at the university’s entrance.
Mostofi didn’t introduce Golzar to Professor Nazer when the scientist received them at the entrance to the lab.
‘You’re just in time, Commander,’ their host greeted them. ‘Some of our guests are going to die.’ He cast an eye over the new arrival but didn’t comment as he turned on his heel and led them inside the building, through the security and inside the glass-walled lab.
Mostofi recognized the other researchers from his previous visits, who, at a nod from the scientist, left the room.
Beyond the glass walls were several men, each one of them strapped to a bed. Three of them were the Shahriar guards. ‘The others are the prisoners you sent,’ Nazer pointed at the men.
‘That one,’ he drew Mostofi’s attention to the corner of the room where a man lay motionless on his bed. ‘He’s the one you saw when you visited last time. He died. He wasn’t strong enough.’ He glanced at his watch and nodded at several chairs. ‘It won’t be long now. Let’s get comfortable. I’ll order chai.’
Mostofi took the center seat while Nassour and Golzar flanked him.
‘What’s this place, agha?’ the killer whispered when Nazer went to speak to a flunky.
‘You didn’t tell him?’ the scientist caught the question as he returned.
‘No, why don’t you brief him.’
‘This, my friend,’ Nazer smiled broadly, ‘is a demonstration of USX-74. A weapon that your commander commissioned.’
A racking cough filled the room as one of the prisoners jerked on the bed, his body trembling from the effort of just drawing breath.
‘He’ll be the first to go,’ the professor predicted.
Mostofi nodded at Nassour who brought out his camera and started recording.
A flunky arrived just then and served them chai and placed a tray of biscuits. They enjoyed the beverage as the prisoner, as the scientist had guessed, shivered and cried and moaned and coughed blood and died.
Mostofi slurped in appreciation, wiped his lips and glanced at Golzar. The operative was watching in fascination, no fear in his eyes.
Another prisoner died when they were on their second cup.
Golzar wasn’t scared. He hadn’t taken his eyes off the lab, didn’t talk, didn’t even look at the professor as the scientist kept a running commentary going. He sat in rapt attention, watching attentively as the men died one by one in the lab.
Two hours later, Mostofi bit into the last biscuit as the Nazer’s researchers entered the secure premises and checked the pulses of the dead men.
‘None of them are alive, agha,’ one of them called out.
‘Very good, Mansoor,’ Nazer replied cheerfully. ‘Tell our guests how you feel?’
‘Me, agha? I am fine.’
‘How close have you been to these prisoners?’
‘For several hours a day, agha. Carrying out various tests.’
‘While they were coughing and spitting, correct?’
‘That’s right, agha.’
‘You and the others, you have no fever, no cough, no flu, no pneumonia—’
‘We are perfectly fine, agha.’
Nazer beamed and turned to Mostofi who looked at Nassour. ‘Habib, you recorded all of that?’
‘Yes, agha.’
‘Good. You can stop recording. Golzar, that’s how you will die.’
The operative seemed to come out of his trance. His eyes were glowing. ‘I get it, now, agha. You will infect me with this US—’
‘USX-74.’
‘And I will go to America and infect many others. That’s how I will die,’ Golzar jerked his head at the bodies. ‘And those men, the researchers, they are safe, because of some vaccine.’
‘USXV,’ Mostofi steepled his fingers. ‘America? Why do you assume it’s that country?’
‘It’s not difficult, agha. What sets me apart from Fathi, Radan and Jehangir is my English. I can speak it like the Americans. And then, the name of that virus. US. Am I right?’
Mostofi smiled and patted Nassour on his arm. ‘You picked a good one here, Habib. Yes, Golzar, you are right. How do you feel about it?’
‘It will be an honor to die like that, agha,’ the operative said reverently. ‘But this virus … what if the Americans detect it?’
‘They can’t. It’s a new one,’ Nazer beamed. ‘No one knows of its existence. The symptoms you will develop will be that of a flu. Any physician will diagnose it as that ailment. Nothing else.’
‘How will all this work, agha?’
‘Habib, why don’t you tell him?’ Mostofi suggested and leaned back while his aide briefed the killer about the two-day window, about visiting a public place.
‘I can go tomorrow,’ Golzar exclaimed. ‘Inject me now, and I will go. There won’t be a lack of crowded places in America. Subway stations, trains, even sports bars.’
‘No,’ Mostofi told him firmly. He eyed Nazer who took the hint and left the lab. ‘You can’t go tomorrow.’
‘Why not? The virus is ready, isn’t it? No one in America knows about me. I won’t face any travel restrictions.’
‘You will go just before the Fourth of July.’
Mostofi’s smile stretched from ear to ear when Golzar made the connection.
‘USX-74,’ the operative whispered. ‘Of course!’