Viking Bay (12 page)

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The rest of the day passed slowly. Kay took a nap after lunch and, when she woke up, went looking for Eli.

As she was coming down the stairs, Nathan Sterling came into view. He seemed surprised to see her. “I was just checking on the old man,” Sterling said. “He's in the kitchen making dinner.”

“Okay,” Kay said, but she was thinking the old man looked pretty harmless. On the other hand, being paranoid was a good quality for the guy in charge of her safety to have.

She found Eli in the media room, sitting in the dark.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

“Just sitting here. I was trying to find a movie to watch, but mostly all this guy has is porn.”

“Maybe we can learn a few things,” Kay said.

Eli barely smiled at her comment.

“Something bothering you?” Kay asked.

“I was just thinking about what we're trying to do with the Khans. It's going to be hard, and I wonder how many times I'm going to have to come back to this damn country to keep things on track.”

Kay was surprised he was so tense. He'd seemed completely relaxed and confident in the meetings they'd held prior to coming here. But maybe he was like an athlete, putting on his game face before the game started. Kay sat down next to him and took his hand in hers.

“Maybe when we get back we can take a couple days off,” she said. “You know, go to some place with a beach and where we don't have to
bring our own bodyguards. And I think it's time for you to meet my daughter.”

“Yeah, maybe,” he said noncommittally. Then he rose from his seat and said, “I did find a copy of
The Godfather
here between
Debbie Does Dallas
and
Deep Throat
. I haven't seen the movie in years. Let's watch that.”

It annoyed Kay, the way he'd changed the subject—particularly not responding to her comment about meeting Jessica—but again she chalked up his brusqueness to pregame jitters.

Eli relaxed once the movie started. When Clemenza said,
Leave the gun. Take the cannoli,
Eli laughed and said, “That's my favorite line in the movie.”

“I thought your favorite line would be ‘I made him an offer he couldn't refuse,'” Kay said.

“Nah, the guys I worked with at Goldman were saying that long before Vito Corleone came along.”

—

HALF AN HOUR
before it got dark, Kay heard vehicles pulling into the compound and looked outside. Two cars. The man driving the lead car stepped out; he was dressed in dark green military fatigues, a red beret on his head, a sidearm on his belt. Three identically dressed men stepped from the second car, and two of them were holding assault rifles. Kay assumed these were Khan's security people.

Khan's driver glared for a moment at Sterling's men, probably not liking the fact that there were so many of them, all holding weapons, then said something to the passengers in the car. Ara Khan emerged from the front passenger seat. Like Kay, she was wearing an
abaya
—a beautiful cerulean blue one—and a matching scarf that covered the top of her head but not her face. Sahid Khan and a bearded man in his sixties who was at least six inches taller than Khan exited the car next. Khan and the tall man were both wearing black business suits and
white shirts, but no ties. Khan's head was bare, but the tall man was wearing a black
kufi
.

Kay left the house to greet the Khans. She was still wearing the black
abaya
she'd worn on the journey and had the scarf covering her hair. Eli had insisted she keep her head covered; Sahid Khan may have been fairly liberal when it came to his daughter, but Eli didn't know what his attitude was toward other women.

When she saw Kay, Ara smiled broadly. “It's so good to see you again,” she said, and as they walked toward the house, Ara linked her arm through Kay's as if they were old friends. “When we finish our business this evening, we'll have to have a drink and talk. I did some research on you, whatever I could find online. You've had an interesting life.”

“Did you ever call that Yankee?” Kay asked.

“Yankee?” Ara said.

“The ballplayer. You know, the stud you met in Fraunces Tavern there on Pearl Street.”

“Oh, him,” Ara said, and smiled.

“Well, did you call him?”

“Maybe,” she said, and Kay laughed.

Kay really liked Ara Khan. The woman was smart, she was fun to be around, and she had a sense of humor. More important was the fact that even as young as she was, she was a woman of substance, one who had the ability, the grit—and yes, the trickiness—to navigate the treacherous political waters of Afghanistan. She was a person Kay would genuinely like to have for a friend regardless of how Callahan's plans worked out.

As Kay was leading the Khans into the house, she looked back once and saw Nathan Sterling talking to Khan's driver. She imagined Sterling was establishing whatever protocols were necessary when two groups of heavily armed men, who didn't trust each other, all gathered in the same place.

Inside the house, Kay introduced Eli and the Glardon mining engineer, whose name was Schmidt. Ara introduced her father and the tall man wearing the black
kufi
. He was Dr. Hamid Jalal, a professor of economics and international law. Jamal handed Kay and Eli his business card, probably so they could see how many different institutions of higher learning he'd attended and how many initials he had after his name.

Sahid Khan was shorter than Kay had expected, about five-foot-eight. He was broad-shouldered and stocky, and he hadn't shaved in three or four days. His black hair and beard were streaked with gray, and with his dark eyes and hooked beak he reminded her of a bird of prey. Kay's first impression was that he looked like the brutal thug she'd been told he was, but when he smiled at her as he was introduced, she could sense the charm in the man. He had a delightful smile and a mouth filled with white teeth that had been well maintained.

The group moved into the dining room, where the meeting would take place and where there was a glass-topped table large enough for everyone to sit comfortably. Kay, Dolan, and the Glardon engineer took seats on one side of the table, the Khans and the professor on the other. Kay was actually surprised by how few people were attending the meeting; if this meeting had taken place in the United States, each side would have bought six lawyers, four finance guys, and three VPs from headquarters. Eli opened a briefcase and took out a laptop and his copy of the contract, and Dr. Jalal did the same.

For the next two hours, Kay didn't say a word, and she wondered again why she had to be at the meeting. She was also surprised that the primary spokesperson for Sahid Khan was his daughter and not the professor. Ara began by saying that her father had a number of issues he wanted clarified—although Kay had the feeling it was really Ara who wanted the issues clarified. She said her father spoke English but he was more comfortable speaking Pashto, and she would translate as necessary. As the meeting went on, Kay got the impression that Sahid Khan
was able to follow the discussion in English quite well and he spoke in Pashto to his daughter only when he didn't want Eli to know what he was saying.

As near as Kay could tell, Sahid Khan—or Ara Khan—had no major problems with the formal, written agreement that allowed Glardon to mine and export the lithium. Nor did they really have many questions about how the lithium would actually be taken from the ground, processed, and transported. They figured that Glardon had enough experience doing such things that they didn't really need to know the nitty-gritty technical details. Most of Ara's questions and concerns had to do with secrecy and speed. She wanted to make sure that as few people as possible inside Afghanistan knew they were planning to mine the lithium and Sahid Khan would decide who needed to know. They also wanted the mining equipment brought into the country without people knowing it was mining equipment. The main thing they wanted was a cover story for accomplishing the necessary infrastructure upgrades related to roads, facilities, and power. For example, they wanted to be able to say they were building some sort of manufacturing plant near the dry salt lakes that would employ local people and structures were being constructed for that reason. Then, when most things were in place, they wanted to move as quickly as possible to begin the mining operation and thus limit the time anyone would have to stop them.

After Ara ran out of questions, Eli said he'd like to talk about how Sahid Khan intended to handle the bureaucrats in Kabul. Without waiting for Ara to translate, Sahid shook his head and whispered something to Ara in Pashto.

“My father says he doesn't want to get into all that right now. He knows how to deal with the politicians in Kabul.”

Kay could tell that Eli wasn't happy with this answer. He knew that it didn't matter what papers were signed in this room if Sahid Khan couldn't control or bribe the right people in Kabul. The situation was similar to the governor of Montana signing documents allowing the
Chinese to come in and start mining natural gas in his state—something that would never happen unless the politicians in D.C. could be sold on the idea. But for whatever reason, Sahid Khan didn't want to talk about that right now—and Kay suspected she knew why.

Speaking in English for the first time, Khan said, “I think it's time to finalize this agreement before we move on to other issues.”

What he meant was:
Show me the money.

“I'm sorry,” Eli said, “but I need to have a fuller understanding of how this agreement is going to be, uh, facilitated.”

Sahid Khan just stared at Eli, and Eli stared back at him, and Kay was reminded of a drug deal where one guy brings the money and the other guy brings the dope. Somebody was going to have to move first, but neither guy trusted the other guy.

Ara Khan whispered in Pashto to her father. For a moment he didn't acknowledge her, then he said in English, “Okay, fine.”

Ara had apparently convinced him to quit being so bullheaded and share a little of his strategy with Eli. Kay also couldn't help but think that Callahan had been completely correct when he said that Khan took his daughter's advice.

For the next hour, Sahid Khan spoke in Pashto, Ara translated, and the professor occasionally put in his two cents' worth. The discussion centered mostly around the legal and traditional relationship between the Afghanistan central government and the provincial governors, and how Khan would be meeting with—and bribing—certain people in Kabul. Eli seemed to know the people he was talking about, and judging by the way he nodded, he seemed to be agreeing with Khan's strategy. Kay, on the other hand, thought the political discussion sounded like a lot of nebulous bullshit and that everything Khan was planning was incredibly complicated, nuanced, and uncertain. The word
byzantine
came to mind. Finally, Khan said in English, “I think that's enough to give you an idea of how I will proceed.”

Kay could tell Eli wasn't completely satisfied—as if he had a bunch
of questions that he still wanted Khan to address—but he decided to allow Khan to have his way. He said, “Thank you for sharing that information with me. I think it's time to complete our agreement.”

Eli opened the laptop that had been sitting on the table in front of him. It was already powered up and connected to the Internet. He tapped a few buttons and spun the computer around to face Sahid Khan.

“Please enter the password and routing information for your bank in the spaces indicated,” Eli said.

Ara, not Sahid Khan, took the computer from Eli and from memory entered whatever numbers were needed to transfer fifty million dollars to Sahid Khan's bank. She started to swing the computer around so Eli could see the screen, but Eli said, “No. I'll come to your side of the table so you can see what I'm doing.” He stood over Ara as he tapped a few more instructions into the computer, then hit the
RETURN
button with a bit of a flourish. “All done,” he said.

“How do I know the money is in the bank?” Sahid Khan said in English.

“It's there,” Eli said, “provided you entered the correct routing information. Call Bonhôte & Cie in the morning to verify if you wish. They've already gone home for the day in Neuchâtel. Obviously, if it's not there, the documents you're about to sign are null and void.”

Khan nodded, then gestured for the documents sitting in front of the professor. He slid them over, and Eli said, “Initial the paragraphs marked and sign on the last page.”

As Sahid was signing the documents, Ara said softly to Kay, “What we've done here today is going to help a lot of my people. You can trust me on that.”

Before Kay could respond, the power went out and the meeting room was plunged into blackness.

“Damn it,” Eli muttered. “I hope this place has a generator.”

“It does,” Ara said. She didn't sound particularly concerned about
the loss of power. Kay had noticed candles on a credenza behind the dining room table, and Ara must have noticed them, too. She said something to her father in Pashto, he handed her his cigarette lighter, and she stood to light the candles.

Eli's phone rang. He listened for a moment and hung up. “That was Sterling. His guys are having a hard time starting the generator and he wants to know if we've seen the old man, the servant.” Eli picked up a candle. “I'll go see if he's someplace in the house.”

After Eli left the dining room, Kay said, “Would anyone like a drink? Bottled water, fruit juice, whatever.”

Sahid Khan, speaking in English, said, “I'll have a beer. Yunus usually has some in the refrigerator in the kitchen.” He flashed a smile, which looked even brighter in the candlelight. “He keeps it for Western barbarians.”

“I'll have a beer, too,” the Glardon engineer said. “That is, if we're done for the day.”