Friday 29th January 2016
Saudi Arabia
Twenty-five minutes out from landing, the lights come on and the steward brings each of them hot towels. All four stir, stretching in their seats, each stifling yawns.
“Last chance to use the facilities, team,” Ricky booms loudly, standing up and opening an overhead locker. To a somewhat bewildered Emma he throws a plastic-wrapped black abaya and matching headscarf. To both Vladek and Adam, he lobs desert khaki jackets and matching trousers.
“Got to look the part, the pair of you. You are now Iraqi soldiers like me. It’ll be cold out there. It’s the desert at night and it’s January.”
Emma spots Adam and they both smile weakly across the cabin at each other. She mouths a single word. ‘Sorry.’ Adam shakes his head and goes in search of a rest room to change.
Twenty minutes later they hear the undercarriage wheels descending.
“Where are we?” Adam asks.
“Saudi. Close to the Iraqi border. About two hundred kilometres from where we were before. It’s a city called Arar. About forty kilometres from the border.”
Minutes later they land with a heavy ‘thud’. Exactly as on the last trip, the plane is met by an airport truck with the words ‘follow me’ illuminated in yellow on its roof. The captain announces over the intercom that the local time is two-thirty in the morning and the outside temperature is down to just one degree Celsius. The plane is led to a remote corner of the airfield, close to a private hangar where the doors have been opened wide but the hangar itself remains in darkness. Adam can see vehicles parked on the apron near to where they have come to a halt. Climbing out of one of them is a man Adam thinks he recognises. Sure enough, once the steps are in position and the main door opened, Adam is not surprised to see the familiar face of Amid Abdulraheem al-Dosari entering the cabin.
“Good evening, Mister Al-Shawabi,” he says, bowing gently. “Nice to have you back with us once again.”
Then with a brief nod to all three other guests, he continues.
“Welcome all of you to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. If you are ready to go, we have everything prepared that has been requested. Please follow me.”
He leads them down the stairs and onto the apron. Waiting on the tarmac to greet them is Ricky’s Bahraini intermediary, Ibrahim. Ricky and Ibrahim greet each other like old friends and head off together in a brief huddle. Parked close by are two ex-US Marine Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles painted in desert khaki, along with two armoured Jeeps in the same colour. Adam knows all about MRAPs, recalling with some envy that the US military had gifted a number to the Iraqi Army at the end of the US’s military presence in Afghanistan. It had been a sore point with soldiers in an under-resourced British Army. They had had to make do with the woefully inadequate modified Snatch Land Rovers that gave little or no protection against mines and IEDs whilst the Americans were handing out top of the range freebies to the locals. The MRAPs have a long wheelbase and can carry up to ten troops in the back. Two of them would be more than capable of carrying large volumes of cash securely.
Ricky and Ibrahim return and Ricky directs Vladek to take Emma and sit with her in the back of one of the Jeeps. Meanwhile he, Ibrahim and Adam all follow al-Dosari in a wide sweep around the aircraft’s engines to the 737’s rear cargo door. Al-Dosari pushes the locking lever inward in order to extend it and then activates the hydraulic opening mechanism. The large cargo door opens slowly upward. Adam can see the cargo for himself: hundreds of olive-green Army kitbags, each supposedly stuffed with used US dollars.
“Go and grab one, Adam,” Ricky has to shout. Although the plane’s engines are shut down, the auxiliary power unit that powers all the aircraft’s electrics is still active and very noisy. Adam climbs inside the hold area, releases the cargo netting securing the payload and selects a bag at random. He brings it across to the open cargo door so that Ricky can examine it. Ricky unclips the locking device on the kit bag and asks Ibrahim to reach within. Rummaging around with his hand, the Bahraini eventually pulls out a neat bundle, all tied together with string. This is a stash of fifty-dollar bills. Ibrahim tosses it back and picks out another one. Same again, only this time it is a one-hundred-dollar bill bundle. Again Ibrahim tosses it back and delves deeper, collecting yet another sample: another one-hundred-dollar-bill bundle. Satisfied, he puts the bundle back and closes the kit bag. He and Ricky smile, they shake hands and Ricky gestures to Adam to come closer.
“Now go and collect one of the two armoured vehicles and reverse it up close to the cargo door,” he shouts. “There should be three hundred kit bags in total, each bag containing one million dollars. I want one hundred and fifty bags stashed in each vehicle. Is that clear? While you get the first vehicle, I am going back to the Jeep to get Vladek so that he can help you load up. I shall be babysitting the girl whilst you all do the work. Ibrahim here will be making a few random checks on various kit bags as they come off the plane.”
Adam nods, climbing down from the cargo hold and walking to the first MRAP. It has a simple push-button ignition. The vehicles are a bit clunky but Adam has driven them before and knows how they handle. He manoeuvres the vehicle in a wide sweep and then, very gingerly, backs it up towards the cargo bay door. There is not a lot of visibility. He has to make a couple of attempts before he gets the vehicle near enough. Vladek has by this stage, joined him at the cargo door. It is the first time the two of them have been together, alone, since the gym incident less than twenty-four hours previously. It is a fact that is not lost on either of them.
“Very, very soon, Fraser, and guess what, you little shit? I am going to beat you to a pulp. Yours is going to be a very slow and painful death. Trust me, I can hardly wait to get started.”
“Fuck off back into your hole, Vladek. I punched your lights out with no effort at all a few hours ago. I’d be more than happy to do it a second time. This time, you might even die if you’re lucky.”
“Pity, then, that I have the girl and you don’t.”
They stare at each other menacingly, then turn away. For the moment there is work to be done. Adam opens the rear doors of the MRAP before climbing into the aircraft hold. Soon he is tossing bags towards the cargo door for Vladek to load onto the first vehicle. He counts each bag as he goes. When he reaches one hundred and fifty bags, he climbs down to help Vladek load the sorted bags onto the vehicle.
Meanwhile Ibrahim has selected four bags at random. One of them he empties completely, counting each and every bundle to make sure it tallies to the one-million-dollar total. From the other three bags, he takes out random bundles of cash. One such bundle he unties and counts the whole pile of notes in its entirety to make sure the totals again tally. The rest he seems satisfied with, just seeing that the money looks and feels real. Once all the testing is finished the final four bags are loaded. With the rear door of the first MRAP closed, Adam drives the vehicle away, parks it, then brings the second vehicle around, once more reversing it carefully. The loading process is repeated with this second vehicle, Adam finding that there are indeed one hundred and fifty bags remaining on the aircraft, ready to be offloaded. Again Ibrahim pulls four bags at random and repeats the same tests he did previously. Finally, the unloading, sampling and reloading complete, the second vehicle’s rear door is closed. All three then walk over to where Ricky and al-Dosari are talking. At this distance from the aircraft, the noise level is much reduced and there is no longer any need for anyone to shout to make themselves heard.
“Ibrahim, is everything in order?”
Ibrahim nods his head and smiles.
“Thank you, Ricky. All the money is there. There are indeed three hundred bags: three hundred million dollars in total.”
“So, now you can contact your lawyers and have the oil contracts released unconditionally?”
“I will do it this instant.” He takes out a mobile phone and selects a number from the memory and presses dial. A few seconds later he begins speaking rapidly in Arabic. After a brief wait he ends the call.
“There, it is done. Your lawyers in Geneva will have the documents in their hands as soon as they open for business in the morning.”
“Very good. It’s been a delight doing business with you, Ibrahim.” They shake hands, clasping each other warmly.
“The pleasure is all ours, Ricky.”
“Okay, listen up everybody, here’s the plan. Amid Abdulraheem al-Dosari and Ibrahim are going to lead our little convoy in their Jeep and escort us to the border. Adam will go second, Vladek third, and me and the girl fourth in the other Jeep. We keep to a maximum speed limit of eighty kilometres an hour and no more. When we reach the border, al-Dosari will deal with the Saudi border guards. It has all been arranged and there should be no problems. He and Ibrahim will then drive off, leaving the rest of us to proceed through No-Man’s Land to the Iraqi border. Once we are through the Saudi side, I will become the lead vehicle and thus be the first to arrive at the Iraqi border checkpoint. I am assured by Ibrahim that there should be no problems with our entry into Iraq. Certain palms have been well-greased: I have more available to sweeten the way if needed. Once into Iraq, you will both follow wherever I go: Adam immediately behind me and Vladek at the rear. Is that clear? No one stops unless I stop first. Unless there are questions, we should get going.”
The time is just after four o’clock in the morning. Everyone heads to their respective vehicles, Adam managing to pass close by Emms on his way. He gives a brief smile and a reassuring wink as he does so.