‘It’s almost time,’ said Zane from outside.
‘This is it, then,’ Eddie told Nina, groping for the light switch.
She kicked away the sheets and swung her feet down to the deck. ‘Did you sleep?’
‘Yeah. I think that was what I needed.’
‘And by “that”, you mean…’
‘Yeah. That.’ He grinned.
‘Me too.’
‘We didn’t use any protection,’ he noted. ‘What changed your mind? After all that time not wanting to take any risks?’
‘For one thing, I decided to trust the doctors’ opinion that the eitr infection isn’t transmissible. For another…’ She touched his cheek. ‘I couldn’t live what’s left of my life without being so close to you again.’
He smiled lovingly, then kissed her. ‘You know, I’m really glad I married you.’
‘So am I.’ She started to dress. ‘Hmm. I could use a shower, but I doubt this boat’s got much of a bathroom.’
‘What, doing a King of the World on the bow and hoping the waves splash you isn’t enough?’ He retrieved his clothing, giving the tumours on her side a mournful glance. ‘This is it, isn’t it?’
‘What do you mean?’
‘After this, once we’re done, if we’re done… it’s only going to be you and me, right? No more little operations to help out the IHA? Just the two of us, together. To the end.’
Nina nodded. ‘Yeah. To the end.’
‘Promise?’
‘I promise.’ A moment as they exchanged looks, then kissed again.
‘Thanks,’ said Eddie as they finished dressing. ‘Okay, so before that… let’s go and invade a hostile country.’
Zane was waiting for them on the old trawler’s darkened bridge. ‘Did you sleep well?’ he asked, with a hint of a knowing smile.
‘Best I have for ages,’ Eddie replied. ‘What’s the sitrep?’
The Israeli directed his attention to a GPS screen. ‘We’re forty kilometres off the Iranian coast. Captain Aslanov,’ he nodded towards the bearded middle-aged Azerbaijani at the controls, ‘says that going any closer will definitely draw attention from their patrol boats. They sometimes investigate ships even farther out, so he’s taking a risk just being here.’
‘Well, yeah, with a hold full of Mossad spooks. How long will your little toys take to get us ashore?’
‘Not long. We’ve used them to infiltrate the country before.’
‘Are you sure they won’t be seen?’ asked Nina. The trawler’s hold contained a pair of small, odd-looking speedboats. ‘Don’t the Iranians have radar?’
‘They do, but,’ a grin, ‘our boats don’t need to worry about it. Your head has a bigger radar cross-section than they do. Well, Eddie’s does, definitely.’
‘You saying I’ve got a big head?’ the Englishman faux-protested.
‘I never even thought about it. Okay, we’re ready to go. Our radar says the nearest other ship is five kilometres to the south-east, and Captain Aslanov thinks it’s probably a patrol boat. So he’ll raise his nets and use them for cover while we drop our boats, then we’ll let him get clear before we move off.’ He checked his watch. ‘It’s 3.36. Sunrise is at about 5.50, so that gives us just enough time before dawn to get to shore, hide the boats and meet your friend. If he’s there,’ he added.
‘He’ll be there,’ Eddie assured him.
‘Good. So are you ready?’
‘As I’ll ever be,’ Nina said, with a sigh.
They headed to the trawler’s deck. To Eddie’s relief, the rain had stopped. Aslanov whistled to his crew, who raised the nets on the starboard side like a curtain, blocking everything behind them from potential observers aboard the Iranian patrol vessel. The Mossad agents brought their boats out of the hold and moved them to the port side.
The vessels, slender launches with angular, faceted prows made from a textured material resembling carbon fibre, were quickly lowered into the sea. ‘With me,’ said Zane, climbing into the lead boat after the pilot. His leg was still stiff from Rasche’s stab wound, but it had been stitched up and treated as best it could. He helped first Nina, then Eddie down. Another agent joined them, the five remaining men boarding the other craft.
‘Bit nippy,’ said the Englishman as a stiff breeze blew across the water. Nina had donned a black parka, but he had chosen to stay with his torn jacket.
‘Why didn’t you wear something else? That’s not just ruined, it’s covered in… I don’t even want to know what it’s covered in.’
‘Dead Nazis, mostly. Which is why I’m keeping it on.’
‘To remind you who we’re up against?’ asked Zane.
‘No. To remind me to finish the job. There’s still plenty of ’em left.’
The boats were pushed clear of the trawler. Engines revved, and the old vessel wallowed away. ‘Okay, keep down,’ said Zane. The launch’s seats were set very low inside the hull, the passengers leaning back almost horizontally as if in a racing car.
‘Isn’t it kinda hard for the driver to see?’ Nina asked. The view ahead was mostly obscured by a raised lip above the top of the dashboard, into which was set a softly glowing GPS display.
‘We’re on open water, so we won’t run into anything — I hope!’ The Israeli watched the trawler until it was well clear of the two bobbing stealth boats. A command, and the pilot started the engine, a muffled rumble coming from the rear of the vessel. Another growl from astern told them that the second boat had followed suit.
The pilot slowly opened the throttle to bring the vessel around towards the coast, a flashing green diamond marking a waypoint on the GPS, then increased power. Both boats surged across the water, their shallow keels and ducted propellers barely raising a wake.
Nina was very glad of her motion-sickness remedy. Even though the huge inland sea was quite calm, the same low profile that made the vessel nearly invisible to radar also meant that it was very sensitive to even small waves, each new crest thumping up through the hull into her spine. But she could tell from the speed at which spray was whipping past that the boats were fast.
Zane occasionally raised his head to look for more Iranian patrols, but the sea held only darkness. ‘How much longer?’ Eddie shouted to him over the smack of the waves.
‘Fifteen minutes! You’re sure your contact will be there?’
‘He was sneaking me and my mates into Iran while you were still playing with fucking Lego,’ Eddie replied with faint impatience. ‘Yes, I’m sure.’
‘Just checking.’ In the screen’s glow, Nina saw Zane’s mouth curl into a smirk. ‘So, you operated in Iran when you were young? What was it like there when the Shah was still in power?’
Eddie kicked Zane’s seat. ‘Fuck off, you cheeky little bastard.’ Nina laughed.
The two boats continued onwards. After another ten jolting minutes, the pilot reduced power. The GPS display showed they were approaching the shore. Nina saw with disquiet that there were lights along a good swathe of the coastline. ‘Jeez, are you sure we’ll be able to land without being seen? And how are we going to hide the boats?’
Zane produced night-vision goggles and surveyed what lay ahead. ‘That’s a forest,’ he said, pointing out a gap over a mile long in the line of lights. ‘The Sisangan National Park. We’ve used it as an entry point before. And I doubt anyone will be on the beach this early in the morning.’
‘I dunno,’ said Eddie. ‘You’d be surprised how many people in New York are out jogging at the crack of sparrowfart.’
‘Iran isn’t exactly the world’s jogging capital,’ the Israeli replied. He surveyed the shoreline again, then issued an order. The boats angled for the forest’s eastern end, reducing power to glide up to the empty beach.