‘Yes, indeed it could. As long as there is war, there are also atrocities!’
‘I didn’t hear what you said! Now there’s the roar of aircraft engines too. Say it again!’
‘I said, it’s just like you say. Yes, it could be an old story too.’
‘So, to return to the matter in hand, what would you like to see? Those young men and the corpse, or the film of them?’
‘Neither!’
‘I can’t hear you, speak up!’
‘I said whatever you wish.’
‘The planes are coming. I told you they would. The anti-aircraft fire has started. Switch off the engine, soldier! Get out of the jeep quickly and walk away, Katib! Move! Give me your hand, man! Take your spectacles off your nose for a moment and lie down prone on your front. In the ditch. Burrow down into the earth if you can! Lie down, lie down. Dig in. Like that soldier’s doing over there. Bastards! I hope they won’t bomb those silos … not today, at least … They’ve no idea their own prisoners are being housed in the silos. They probably think they’re aircraft shelters or storage depots. No!.. not today at any price … You there, soldier! Lie on your back and tell me what height they’re coming in at!’
‘There’s no sign of them, sir! I can’t see them.’
‘What about that engine noise? Can’t you hear it?’
‘It’s way off … very far away. Too high. They must be flying very high.’
‘Why did the anti-aircraft guns open up, then?’
‘Our jets have taken off, sir.’
‘How many?’
‘Six units. I think they’re off to intercept them.’
‘I think so, too. Lie down, on your front. Lie down! You too, Katib, you too!’
‘They’ve gone, sir. And the anti-aircraft fire has stopped.’
‘They’ve gone, yes, Katib. So, now you’ve experienced what the enemy is like at first hand. What do you think now? Is there any room left for your ethical qualms? Let’s get back in the jeep, soldier.’
‘Prisoners … we had a few captives in the trench. They killed one. With a bullet through his temple. He was young, tall, and healthy; they killed him and threw his body out of the trench. He was heavy. He rolled and rolled and rolled all the way down to the bottom of the hill. On and on he rolled till I couldn’t see him anymore. He was lost, lost. I didn’t want to … I didn’t want to … and now, the other one … there’s another wounded man too, and he’s even younger … I don’t want anything to happen to him. I tried to … What truce? We’ve been on the offensive or defensive for centuries … No caliph on this side of Mesopotamia had any peace for fear of constant uprisings. Rebels sprouted out of the ground like grass, raised a flag and rode westwards behind their commander, towards us. Their destination was Baghdad, home to the caliph at the time. Their base was in Ahwaz. They stayed there, rested, replenished their forces and started out for Baghdad again. The heart of the caliphate. The caliph was the target. Until eventually they fulfilled their plan. Ultimately, those fire-worshipping Zoroastrians planned to force-feed us the same thing we’d rammed down their throats. Yes, Major? What manner of thinking is this? I mean this way of looking at the enemy? Yes, Major?’
‘Are you sure you’re in your right mind, Katib?’
‘Only the flies … the flies won’t let me. I can put up with the candle smoke and the smell of damp … and all manner of deprivation and discomfort … but these flies. The flies mating, the trench and the wounded captive and now this … this thought that has forced me to live in the past. Think in the past. The dwellers of the Gobi desert were under our control. Whenever necessary we dispatched them to ride in and topple the government in Khorasan and seize control of the throne. The Samanids! They were mindful of their distinguished heritage and proceeded to foster culture and produce scientists and translators and analysts. But because they started putting down roots, we destroyed them from within, so effectively that the last in line blinded his heir before going insane. As I’ve said, the Samanids harboured a nostalgia for old Iran and built a city of seven interlinked castles, in the manner of Ctesiphon. This displeased us, so we decided to set our proxy army of desert dwellers on them. Because the Samanid court had become a hotbed of petty quarrels and covert and overt animosities and internecine feuding, each faction raised a banner and a clerk and a commander and an army against Baghdad. It was during one such conflict that the desert-dwelling emirs rose up against their own king, meaning that they became heretics. The emirs’ uprising did not achieve its aim of killing the king and seizing the throne. But it did prompt the son of the Samanid ruler to usurp his father, who was arrested, imprisoned in an ancient castle and then murdered. At the same time, an order was issued to slaughter all those who were heretics, in their thousands … it must have been during that conflict that the poet laureate of the time was blinded, perhaps after a false accusation or on some other groundless pretext!’
‘Such as?’
‘For being too good-looking, reciting beautifully, or for the crime of playing instruments well … or even for seeing beautifully. For seeing beautifully, and for observing beauty. Do you know what we did to the women of Bukhara when we conquered the city? They were the most beautiful women of grand Khorasan! And do you know what we did to the people of Sistan? The victorious commander ordered the dead to be piled up and blankets spread over the heap, which was duly done. Then he ascended the hill of corpses step by step and stood on top in prayer. And it has been said that he had a clear voice and a tall frame, large teeth and a wide mouth … but a coppersmith’s son surfaced in response to that pile some time later and set out on a journey to Baghdad to assassinate the caliph of the period. A city which the Iranians themselves had had a hand in building — unlike Damascus, which was built by the Romans. And their treason against themselves has been a blessing to us from God, for all eternity.’
‘Soldier, where are we?’
‘We’re passing the prison camp, sir.’
‘Passing? Turn around and drive back to my office.’
‘Yes, sir.’
‘Stop here, soldier! Run ahead of us and prepare some coffee, so the katib and I can stroll along after you at our leisure and find it ready when we arrive. I want you to feel at home here, Katib. It’s safe here. We’re under the protection of the International Red Cross. As you see, we’ve run up its flag above that tower. So we can walk along unhurriedly and calmly, and you’ll have time to reflect and I will be able to focus my mind on my responsibilities and my work. Now, what were we talking about?’
‘We were ranging far and wide. From Sistan to Khorasan, from Khorasan to Rey, Sepahan, Ahwaz, and from Ahwaz to Baghdad and back again. We were discussing the downfall of Saman, the Samanid dynasty, the power and the wisdom of caliphs, the deployment of the men from the Gobi desert, and finally we talked about Baghdad and the empire of our caliphs, which was ultimately defeated by the Ajams with the help of the Turks, after some eight centuries.’
‘I actually meant our discussion from Thursday, after office hours. I didn’t want to interrupt your fine speech … but certainly, if there’s time I’d be interested in hearing those tales from you, in their historical order. So, before we come back to the topic in hand, please make a mental note that you have to tell me about two things. First, the treason of the Ajams, and second, the conquest of Sistan and the conqueror of Sistan and the rise of the coppersmith’s son … and then, those women of Bukhara and that poet laureate … and … ah … well, the whole lot, basically … but let’s go to my office now, drink the coffee the soldier has brewed for us, and talk turkey about what really happened. The murder of a prisoner at the hands of two fellow inmates, and a pamphlet left by the victim and the backgrounds of all those three, paying special attention to the time they spent together in prison. Please, after you!’