Lethal Trajectories - Michael Conley [179]
In the meantime, the allied armored force that had split off for the south about thirty miles west of the Bahrain bridgehead reached the Saudi nuclear facility. The assault force was guided to the facility by none other than Major General Aabid ibn Al Mishari. He had a hunch that his former boss would have retreated to this area, and he had a score to settle.
Al Mishari’s force met up with units of the 101st Airborne Division, forming a defensive perimeter around the nuclear compound. Al Mishari was disappointed to learn that the highest-ranking officer captured was an RSAF colonel. That left only one place: Ali Jabar’s personal hiding place, yet another of the secrets he shouldn’t have shared.
Al Mishari requested two squads of paratroopers to search out a place where Ali Jabar might be hiding, and the squads were quickly dispatched. Al Mishari and his contingent entered the commanding officer’s oversized office, where he walked over to a floor-to-ceiling bookshelf. He pushed a button hidden behind a full-length tapestry and the bookshelf opened, to the amazement of the paratroopers.
“We go through this door,” he said with authority, despite his hesitant English, “and then down a corridor of about ten meters. At the end of it, there is a door leading to a bomb-proof concrete bunker. My guess is that Ali Jabar will be in that bunker. He may have armed guards with him. Be careful.”
The veteran paratroopers proceeded to the end of the corridor and broke down the door. They encountered no opposition, finding only Ali Jabar hunched in a fetal position behind a desk. Still wary, Al Mishari walked into the room.
“Good afternoon, General Ali Jabar. How are you today?” he asked in a cheerful voice.
“You, you … you’re supposed to be dead,” said the astonished general, his collar soaked with perspiration. “You died in a jet fighter crash. How can you be here? Are you a ghost?”
Al Mishari smiled amiably and said, “Why no, General, I’m the real thing.” He motioned to a chair and said, “Please, General, take a seat, and I’ll explain to you exactly what happened before I put a bullet in your forehead.” At that point, he dismissed the paratroopers, telling them that he had to take care of unfinished business.
“Let me refresh your memory, General,” said Al Mishari softly, relishing the coward’s agony. “Last November, I met you at this very facility to plead for the life of my niece. You accused her of being a harlot, and she was stoned to death without your intervention. From that point on, General, I became your worst nightmare, but you were too vain to even think you were vulnerable.”
“Aabid, I did everything I could to save her life! But they would not listen to me. I …” Al Mishari cut him off with a sharp blow to the forehead with his Uzi.
“You did no such thing, and you insult my intelligence to even suggest it. In any case,” Al Mishari said in a more settled voice, “after that meeting I gathered all the information I could about our defenses—information you were only too happy to share with me—and only a few days ago I faked the plane crash and made an arrangement with the Americans. It might interest you to know, Ali Jabar, that this invasion would not have been possible if you had only done your job. I figured that you wouldn’t change the defense codes at my presumed death because you would’ve had to confess that you gave me the locations and codes of the dirty bombs. You knew King Mustafa would cut off your rotten head for your breach of security. Instead, you did what you’ve always done best—you saved your own skin.”
“What happens now, Aabid?” asked the terrified Ali Jabar. Blood trickled down his forehead. “Please … spare me, and I’ll tell you anything you want to know. I can make you a very rich man. Please, Aabid!” he babbled.
Al Mishari walked a slow circle around the quivering man before speaking. “I’m going to give you a chance, Ali Jabar—something you’d never do for anyone else if you were in my position.”
“Yes, Aabid, what is it?” he asked, desperation in his voice.
“I’m going to put