The guards on the Indian side were not really concerned about people leaving India as their main responsibility was to prevent an attack from the Pakistani side. The big sign on the side of the road, between both border posts read "Welcome, Chakothi-Uri Xing Point". As the small convoy crossed into Pakistan with no hassle, the driver of the Tata held a small envelope in his hand and let it fall at the feet of the Pakistani sergeant major in charge. The driver was impressed by the sergeant major's huge mustache with its waxed ends in the best British army tradition but wisely refrained from commenting on it. The convoy continued to Chakothi where they intended to spend the rest of the night.
Inbal and Zorik were ordered out of the van and were led into a small building that served as the local police station. It was a multipurpose three room building: one room served as a detention cell, another as the office and the third as the bedroom for the two policemen that manned the station. Zorik had hoped that he would be able to convince the policemen that they were forcibly kidnapped and ask for help, but when he saw the warm welcome his captors received from the policeman on duty he realized that he too was involved in the plot. He didn't know if this was just some local enterprise or if it was condoned by the Pakistani government or intelligence services. Compared to their conditions the previous night the holding cell in the police station was like a five star hotel. Albert came over to tell them that they had completed the most dangerous part of their journey and from now on they would be in the good hands of the Pakistani intelligence services. Inbal was relieved to see that Creepy would no longer harass her.
Anna Sabatani was worried. She had expected the weekly phone call from Inbal two days earlier and when it failed to materialize she tried to contact Inbal on Skype to no avail. So far, in the three months since Zorik and Inbal had gone on their trip to the Far East this had never happened. Inbal knew that her parents were concerned and although they had great faith in Zorik they insisted on hearing from her at least once a week. Anna called her husband who was also troubled by the absence of any recent communication and he suggested speaking with Zorik's parents to find out if they knew what was going on. Anna called Zorik's mother and her response was that she, too, was anxious about not hearing from the young couple. Anna hesitated for a couple of hours but decided to call her father, the Prime Minister, and ask for his advice and assistance.
Anna called the PM's office and was answered by a secretary that the PM was at a meeting with a visiting head of state. Anna asked her to tell him that it was an urgent personal matter. An hour later the PM called and enquired about the urgent matter. Anna told her father that she was concerned that Inbal had not called and that she wanted his advice. When she told him that Inbal was in Kashmir the PM said that he would ask his Aide de Camp, Dan Oren, who was a Special Forces lieutenant-colonel to look into the matter. He added that he was also concerned about Zorik who was a jet-fighter pilot and told Anna to expect a call from Dan. Anna thanked him and he hung up.
Later that night Dan Oren called and told Anna that the Indian police at Srinagar had received a report of that a strange incident occurred at one of the houseboats on Dal Lake. Apparently the owner of the houseboat came over to collect the weekly rent and found that the place was a complete mess and the young couple was missing. He searched the bedroom and saw that their clothes and belongings were there but their passports were not to be found anywhere. He then filed an official complaint with the police. A policeman was sent to the houseboat but all he could do was confirm the report of the owner. Colonel Oren said that he would contact the Israeli embassy in New Delhi and ask them to send one of the diplomats from the embassy to Srinagar and would also try to obtain more information from the Indian security services with which Israel had a good rapport. Anna called Zorik's parents and updated them on these developments.
Zorik and Inbal were allowed to sleep until noon and were woken up by the local policeman whom they had seen earlier. He was accompanied by a gentleman dressed in an expensive looking suit who introduced himself as Colonel Hussain from the Pakistani intelligence services. He said that he was sorry that they had to go through such an ordeal to get to Pakistan but promised that they would not be harmed if they behaved well. Zorik was indignant and demanded their immediate release. Hussain smiled and said that it was beyond his power to do that but once they arrived in Islamabad they would be able to speak to the head of the intelligence service and discuss it. Inbal requested permission to make a phone call to her family because she was sure that they were worried sick about her, but the colonel said that this would be allowed in due course.
When Zorik tried to find out why they were kidnapped in the first place, the colonel said that high level politics were involved, and everything would be explained later. He added that a helicopter was waiting to fly them to Islamabad and that they should hurry. He showed them the passports that had been delivered to him by Albert and told them that they may be free to go after the "unfortunate event" came to its end.
Zorik felt a none-too-gentle hand shaking his shoulder. For a moment he thought that he was still having a nightmare in which he and Inbal were taken hostage in Kashmir by two gunmen and transported to Pakistan. He opened his eyes and saw the bearded face of a very fat man looking down at him with a cruel smile, and saying in English "Zionist dog, wake up. You have arrived at your final destination — Evin Prison in Tehran." This was followed by a backhand slap on Zorik's face and then a forehand spank. Zorik tried to lift his hand to defend himself and realized that both his hands were chained to the metal frame of the bed on which he was lying. His face was still numb from the anesthetics that were given him before boarding the plane in Islamabad which was fortunate because the slapping which would have been painful did not hurt as much as it was intended. Although the face slapping had woke him up Zorik shook his head several times trying to clear it. He remembered that he had been with Inbal when he was kidnapped and stammered "Where is my girlfriend?" but all he got was another cruel smile. He repeated his question and received another couple of slaps and his torturer said "She is having fun with some real men". Enraged and out of his mind, Zorik pulled at the chains that were restraining him and only managed to bruise himself badly, while his captor broke out laughing "I only wanted to see if a Zionist pig had a sense of humor. She is in the next cell, all alone".
The heavy metal door of the cell opened with a loud bang, and a thin man with a neatly trimmed beard entered. He looked at Zorik and saw that his face bore the clear marks left by the fat man's fingers and said something terse in Farsi and pointed to the door. The fat man cringed and even Zorik who understood no Farsi figured out that he was asking for forgiveness and then slowly exited the cell making sure not to show his back to the boss. The thin man said "Mr. Shemesh, my name is Akbar and I apologize for the barbaric behavior of this man. We are civilized people, with a proud 3000 years history, and will treat you well as long as you cooperate with us". He added "If you promise to behave nicely I'll free your hands from the shackles. Let me remind you that you are in the most secure block in Evin Prison. If you have not heard of this place, let me assure you that no one has ever escaped from here — not in the days of the corrupt Shah and not since the people's Islamic revolution started running this place".