Franklin watched the dancer. "He's saying there's going to be some shooting. The closer we can get with these little parabellums the better."
They left the car the same way, hit the ditches on each side of the road, and ran, keeping pace with the car. It slowed more as it came up to the headlights that now shown from the two vehicles. There were no big trucks at this spot.
The car stopped fifteen feet from the Army vehicle, and the driver got out quickly. He jabbered something, and the soldiers came forward.
When Murrah left the car, it was a grand entrance. The soldiers let their submachine guns swing down and gawked. An officer came out at once. He showed no weapon, and was all smiles.
Franklin and Douglas had agreed to shoot over the heads of the Iranians. They didn't want bullet holes showing up in the bodies later.
The SEALs shot almost at the same time. Franklin barked out in Farsi, telling the men to lay down their weapons at once or they would be riddled with bullets. The soldiers did as they were told. The officer made a lunge for his car, where he must have left his weapon. Murrah's driver tackled him, and by then Franklin and Douglas were on the scene. They had noticed a cliff of sorts that dropped off here almost into the Gulf of Oman. It would be a hundred-foot fall.
Douglas took one of the soldiers, put him in the jeep, and backed it out. He drove toward the cliffs and parked. He kept the man under his own submachine gun.
Douglas found the right spot, then pushed the Iranian into the jeep's driver's seat and slashed him with the butt of the submachine gun. It took two blows to put him out. Then Douglas started the jeep, put it in gear, and steered it straight for the drop-off. It went over with a scraping of the undercarriage. He heard the crash far below, and glass breaking, then silence.
He went back to help Franklin. He had tied the officer's hands, and had both men in the officer's car. Franklin drove the rig to the cliff and got out.
They put the soldier in the driver's seat and the officer in the back, then slugged them with their weapons. They took the ties off the hands of the officer, then angled the small sedan off the same cliff. It crashed far below in the rocks and incoming tide. It should take the Iranian police, and the military, at least a week to figure out what happened at this poorly manned roadblock.
Back at Murrah's sedan, they said nothing, just motioned the rig forward. George started to say something, then thought better of it. They had the two submachine guns and found six 30-round magazines for each one. They were simple to use. George also found a 14-round pistol in the officer's gear.
Murrah broke the silence. "I'm glad that's over. At least now we'll have a clear run into Chah Bahar. I know a few people there. We should be able to find a safe house before morning. Then I and my driver will see what we can find out about the highways to the north. Somebody must know something. How can such a huge project be kept so secret?"
"There's a chance that most of the people living here are paid by the Secret Police and the army not to say a word about it," George said. "I've heard such talk."
Murrah nodded. "I've heard that talk as well, but there is no chance to keep this many people quiet about something like this. We had a small group of protesters here for a while, but three of them were killed when they were said to be trying to escape from jail. They were simply murdered. I've got a lot of scores to settle."
The car crept into Chah Bahar with lights off. They sat in shadows watching the main street. They saw no police cars, no roving military patrols. They turned off the main street into some sparsely settled areas, and soon came to a house better than the rest. Murrah sent her driver in to knock on the door.
Five minutes later, they all were inside the house, and the car had been hidden behind it. A man and woman came into the room, and there was much hugging and crying by the two and Murrah. Then she wiped her tears, and introduced them to the three Americans.
"These people are my dear friends who used to live in Tehran. They have kept out of trouble here with the authorities, but have been our listening post, and sent us mail reports.
"Now it seems that security has been stepped up. They know the main road into the hills, but have no idea where the trucks vanish to after that."
Douglas rubbed his face and nodded. "is there any way that Guns and me can get back in there? Fifty miles and then a turn. Do they agree with the distance?"
Franklin asked the question in Farsi, and the man, who was tall with thinning gray hair, smiled. He replied in the same tongue.
"I'm pleased you speak our language so well. You can't drive in there. The road is constantly patrolled and no one is allowed in that area. The only solution may be to disguise you as prospectors. There are still crazy men who risk being shot hunting for copper and chromium back here in our hills to the north. There's a huge chromium mine up by Bandar-e, and nuts think they can find another one in the mountains down here."
Franklin briefed Douglas on what the host had said.
"You mean a prospector with a donkey, a pick, and a sack full of food?"
The Iranian chuckled. "More likely a beat-up old jeep or a falling-apart sedan, and a backseat full of food and water. That would give you cover, and let you move longer distances. Most of the wildcat prospectors use this kind of a rig these days."
"They get shot at?" Franklin said.
"Routinely. When they get too close to a closed area or one patrolled. The guards, and the helicopters, do it mostly for sport, and target practice. They don't really chase them unless they really move in too close."
"Which way do you guess the big plant is, to the left or right of the end of that highway?"
"I simply don't know. It could be either way."
Douglas figured their host was in his fifties. Murrah said he was a teacher in the local school system, teacher and principal. He was a highly respected man in Chah Bahar, and had the full respect of the local authorities, and the military units posted to the town.
"How much army is there here?" Douglas asked. Murrah interpreted for him.
"Roughly two hundred men," the host said. "They rotate in units of fifty up to guard duty around the facility. They are gone for a week, then another fifty go up to replace them and the first group returns in trucks."
"Do you have military law here?" Franklin asked.
"Yes and no."
The woman of the house left, and soon returned with rolls and coffee. It was almost daylight outside.
"We have civil law. Judges, courts, but this is strongly slanted toward the religious leaders. If there is any problem, the military have the final say, or so it would seem down here. We are a long way from Tehran."
When the rolls and coffee were gone, Murrah said now was the time for some sleep. She would need to put in an appearance at the town's main meeting hall the following night. The guards at the first roadblock would be sure to radio their men down here that the famous dancer was coming.
"Between now and then I'll help arrange for a prospector's car for the two of you. It'll be all outfitted with food and water and supplies and ready to roll."
Douglas brought out a stack of ten-thousand-rial notes and gave them to Murrah. "I know this sort of thing costs money. Uncle Sam will pay his way. If that's not enough, we have more."
Murrah leafed through the bills and smiled. "Do you know how much money this is? It's a fortune to the average Iranian. I'll put it to good use, without tipping our hand. Now, off to bed, all of you. I need to make some early morning arrangements before I get to sleep."
Douglas went to the flat roof on the house and set up his radio antenna. He adjusted it to the satellite, then sent off a quick message to Stroh "Stroh At Chah Bahar. Contacts here good. Will be moving out in old car into hills as prospectors. Many do this in these hills. Try to penetrate to the road and see which way it turns. Any satellite photos to help us? Read them and send us directions. Be a big help. All else cool. Three Iranians had an accident at a roadblock, but all is taken care of. Douglas."