“Okay. If they see us, we play dumb. Selena, you talk to them. We’re tourists who had trouble with our boat. Pretend to surrender. When they get close, start shooting.”

  Lamont looked grim. “They’ve got heavy machine guns, Nick. They can cut us to pieces.”

  “Yeah, well. Shoot the gunners first.”

  Chapter 11

  They lay in the bottom of the raft for the better part of an hour, watching the Iranian patrol boat cruise back and forth. Once, the sweeping beam of the searchlight passed within feet of the zodiac. Finally, the boat moved away until it was out of sight.

  Lamont started the engine and they resumed course for Kuwait.

  “That was close,” Ronnie said. “You think we could have taken them, Nick?”

  “Not without the kind of luck that wins the lottery. But it would’ve cost them.”

  “You are brave,” Kezri said. “All of you.”

  “I wouldn’t say that,” Nick said. “Sometimes you don’t have a choice.”

  Nick took out his satellite phone and called Harker. With the time difference, it was afternoon in Washington.

  “What’s your status, Nick?”

  “We ran into a little trouble, but we have Doctor Kezri.”

  “What kind of trouble?”

  “Soldiers were waiting at the extraction point. We had to take them out. If they’d had more people, I wouldn’t be talking to you. We got lucky.”

  “Where are you now?”

  “On our way back to Kuwait. Director, we need help getting her out of here. I think someone tipped off the Iranians. I’m not sure we can trust our Kuwaiti contact.”

  “Does Doctor Kezri have a passport?”

  “I don’t know. I’ll ask. Doctor Kezri, do you have a passport?”

  “No. They have always been afraid I might leave the country.”

  “No, she doesn’t.”

  “All right. I’ll see what I can do. In the meantime, get ready to come home.”

  “Can’t be too soon,” Nick said.

  The rest of the way back, no one talked much. Selena sat in the bow, thinking how close they’d all come to dying. She thought about Jason and Katrina.

  They were young. They’d never remember her. In some ways that felt like the worst hurt of all. At times like this, she wondered what it was that drove her to keep risking everything in spite of all her resolutions to stop. When she was in the middle of it, nothing compared to the adrenaline high that came with walking the razor edge between life and death. It was only afterward that the guilt moved in. Guilt for risking a future for her children without her.

  As they got closer to shore, they ditched all the guns over the side. Kuwait was friendly territory. Now that the mission was almost over, it wasn’t worth the risk of being caught with them.

  When they got to the marina, the attendant started loudly complaining about the damage to the zodiac.

  “We tore it on a reef,” Selena said in Arabic. “No problem. We’ll pay.”

  She bargained with him until they agreed on a price. They got in the rented Land Rover and headed back to the hotel.

  “Why did you argue with that guy at the marina?” Ronnie asked. “Why not just give him what he asked for?”

  “He wanted three times what the raft was worth,” she said. “He wouldn’t respect me if I hadn’t argued with him. It’s the way you do things here.”

  “He was giving Doctor Kezri a hard look,” Nick said. “She was the only one not wearing a wetsuit. You can bet he’s going to talk to someone about it. Not to mention that the bullet hole in the zodiac doesn’t look like a tear from a rock. We need to leave right away. When we get back to the hotel, hustle out of this gear and grab your stuff. Then we’ll head for the airport.”

  Valentina was reading a magazine when they came into the villa. She put it down and stood up.

  “I am glad to see you back.” She looked at Selena. “I felt worried. Something happened, no? You had trouble? I could feel this.”

  “We had a little trouble,” Selena said.

  “You are Doctor Kezri?” Valentina said. “Excuse my rude sister. I am Valentina. I am pleased to meet you.”

  “Hello,” Kezri said.

  “Val, we have to get out of here right away,” Nick said. “Get your stuff together.”

  “I am already packed, Nick.”

  “Ditch your gun. You won’t need it now.”

  “Ditch? I do not understand this?”

  “It means get rid of it,” Selena said.

  “Okay. I know perfect place.”

  Ten minutes later they piled into the Land Rover and headed for the airport. Nick’s phone buzzed. It was Harker.

  “Nick, I’ve alerted the pilots. The Gulfstream will be waiting and ready to go. There’s an American passport for Doctor Kezri being held at the airport counter in the private terminal, in the name of Anahita Shirvani. It has her photograph and the proper stamps. Bring her up to speed on her legend. She’s married to a rug importer in New York. Her husband’s name is Mohammed. He’s fifty-one years old. They have an apartment on W. 87th St.”

  “That was fast.”

  “The Iranians are really pissed off,” she said. “They’ve figured out the operation was staged from Kuwait and they’re putting pressure on the government. Clarence and I are doing what we can, but you need to get out of there.”

  “We’re on our way to the airport now,” Nick said.

  “All right, good. Call me if there’s a problem. See you soon.”

  She broke the connection. Nick told the others what she’d said.

  “One thing I like about her, she always has our back,” Ronnie said.

  “I didn’t think we could rely on that, I’d quit,” Nick said. “Doctor Kezri, when we get to the terminal you have to pick up a passport. Do you think you can act naturally?”

  “I have been pretending as if nothing is wrong for a long time. It will not be a problem.”

  Nick went over the story with her about who she was supposed to be. They parked the Land Rover outside the terminal and went in. At the counter, Kezri retrieved the passport. As they started for the gate, Fahad Al-Azmi came through the terminal doors. Two armed soldiers were with him.

  “Ah, Mister Carter. I’m afraid there is a problem with your departure.”

  “Oh? What problem is that?”

  “There’s been an unfortunate incident with our Iranian neighbors. You will recall that I cautioned you about such things?”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Nick said. “We haven’t been anywhere near Iran. Whatever this incident is, it has nothing to do with us. I don’t know anything about it.”

  Al-Azmi looked at Kezri.

  “I see you have a new member with your party.”

  “This is Mrs. Shirvani. Her husband is a friend of ours. We’re giving her a ride back to the states.”

  “How very convenient for her.” He turned to Kezri. “May I see your passport, please?”

  She handed him the well worn passport. Al-Azmi flipped through the pages, looking at the numerous stamps.

  “What is your business here?”

  “My husband imports rugs from the Gulf region,” Kezri said. “I act as his agent. It requires someone who can evaluate quality and workmanship.”

  Beyond the glass doors of the terminal, Nick saw a black SUV pull up. Two men in military uniforms got out and came in. One of them was tall, athletic looking. His face was angular, his nose large, his eyes black and piercing. His crisp uniform bore shoulder boards with two crossed swords and a crown. Al-Azmi looked surprised. He snapped to attention.

  “General Kadeem.”

  “What is going on here?”

  “General, I believe these are the people responsible for the incident in Bushehr. I was about to bring them in for questioning.”

  “You are...?”

  “Major Fahad Al-Azmi. Sir.”

  “Major, do you enjoy your work?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Then I assume you would like to continue doing it.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Listen to me carefully. You will not bring these people in for questioning. You will not further delay their departure. Do you object to this?”

  Al-Azmi looked as if he had swallowed something unpleasant. He opened his mouth and closed it again.

  “No, sir.”

  “I am pleased to hear it.”

  The general turned to Nick.

  “You are free to go. However, I suggest you do not return. If you do, you will find you are no longer welcome here. I trust I make myself clear?”

  “Very clear, General. Thank you.”

  “Good. Major Al-Azmi, accompany our guests to their plane. Make sure they depart.”

  “Sir.”

  Waves of heat rippled from the tarmac where the plane waited. Selena and the others boarded the plane. Nick was the last. He put his foot on the steps.

  Al-Azmi gave him a look filled with hatred.

  “I don’t know how you made this happen, but do not come back to Kuwait, Mister Carter.”

  “And here I was going to tell you to stop by if you ever got to America,” Nick said. “I were you, I’d watch my step. I don’t think you’re too popular with General what’s his name.”

  “You are an arrogant infidel,” Al-Azmi said.

  “Maybe so.”

  Nick turned and climbed the steps. As the copilot pulled the door shut, he caught a last glimpse of Al-Azmi, the corners of his mouth pulled down in anger.

  Chapter 12

  Two days after returning from Kuwait, the team was in Elizabeth’s office, along with Kezri, Hood and Stephanie.

  “When you hear what Doctor Kezri has to say, you’ll understand why getting her out of Iran was important,” Elizabeth said. “You took the risk to extract her. You deserve to know why. I want to repeat the warning I gave you about the problems we could run into if this gets out. No one outside this room must know what you’re about to hear.”

  “That sounds ominous,” Selena said.

  “I meant it to. We just took a stick and poked it into a very big secret hornet nest. Sooner or later, someone will take exception to that. So be on your guard.”

  “You think we’re at risk, here at home?” Nick asked.

  “Clarence and I agree it’s possible. We don’t know yet how far this goes, but we’re dealing with a serious threat. It’s best to be prepared for any eventuality.”

  “Wonderful,” Selena said.

  “Consider us warned,” Nick said. “What’s going on?”

  “What do you know about the field of neuroscience?”

  “Nothing, really. I assume it’s the study of how the brain and nervous system operates.”

  “That’s basically right. It’s a discipline that goes back as far as ancient Egypt, if you include early attempts at brain surgery and treating things like epileptic seizures. I want you to listen while Doctor Kezri explains her research. What she was working on and what she was doing in her laboratory. Then you’ll understand why it’s a good thing we acted. Doctor?”

  Kezri’s face showed fatigue and stress. There were dark pockets under her brown eyes. She clasped her hands together in her lap.

  “I will try to explain my research for you,” she said. “I know you do not have a scientific background. However, in order to understand what I’m going to tell you, you need to know about a fundamental principle of modern neuroscience. We call it CRISPR.”

  “Sounds like a cracker,” Lamont said

  Kezri smiled. “I can see why you might think that. CRISPR is an abbreviation. It stands for Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats. These are DNA sequences that repeat themselves. Like a palindrome, the same forward or backward. My particular field is genetic neuroscience. I work with genes and strands of DNA.”

  “Why do I have a feeling I’m not going to like where this is going?” Nick said.

  “Please,” Harker said. “Let her talk.”

  “Sorry, Director.”

  “It’s all right,” Kezri said. “Please feel free to interrupt or ask questions. The point of this research is to discover ways to interfere with the diseases that affect humanity. For example, a disease like Alzheimer’s. The causes are not fully known, although the mental and physical effects are well documented. What if we could alter the deterioration of brain cells and neural connections before the disease could wreak its damage? Or consider if there was a cancerous tumor? Perhaps we could block or shrink its development. These are the kinds of possibilities neurogenetics offers. My research has been in applied genetic engineering, developing a kind of magnetized protein that can affect the brain. By stimulating this protein it is possible to control groups of neurons and the circuits they are involved with.”

  “You can manipulate this protein and affect the brain?” Selena asked.

  “Yes.”

  “How would you introduce it into the brain?”

  “This was a major challenge for me. At first, I developed a complex system with many steps. This created inherent problems, as the process could break down at any one of those different points.”

  “But you solved this?”

  “Yes. I created a process that allows the protein to attach itself to a virus. This eliminated all the previous steps. A virus can carry the protein through the blood brain barrier. Then it can be stimulated by electronic transmission to produce a change in neural activity.”

  “Wait a minute,” Nick said. “Are you saying that once this protein gets into someone’s brain, it can be activated by remote transmission?”

  “That is correct.”

  “But how would that affect something like Alzheimer’s?”

  “As a function of the genetic component,” Kezri said. “The protein can be programmed to affect any genetic sequence desired.”

  “Someone’s DNA?”

  “Of course. Genes and DNA are inseparable.”

  “So you could affect any individual, as long as you had a sample of his DNA?”

  Kezri looked uncomfortable.

  “More than that. At first I was sure an individual sample would be necessary. However, that turned out not to be the case. It is possible to affect the neural activity of anyone affected by the combination of virus and protein. The protein will respond to the transmission. Depending on the nature of the signal, different results may be obtained.”

  “What kind of results?” Selena asked.

  “It is possible to affect logical thought. For example, one could stimulate dopamine release to create pleasure as a reward for behavior. Or just as easily, create confusion, fear, pain, unbearable headaches. The protein can interfere with involuntary nervous processes, like heart rhythms or breathing.”

  “You could stop someone’s heart?”

  “Yes.”

  “You’re talking about a weapon.”

  “In the wrong hands, my research is a disaster. That is why I decided to defect.”

  “You think your research is being used to create a weapon?” Nick asked.

  “At first I didn’t think that, but now I am certain of it.”

  “What made you change your mind?”

  “My work is funded by the government. Everything is documented and checked. It was about a year ago when I discovered that the protein didn’t have to be linked to a specific subject. Soon after that, things changed. Security was hardened. My personal life was subjected to more restrictions. I couldn’t go anywhere without specific permission. I was always accompanied by armed guards. I felt they were there to keep an eye on me, more than protecting me from some unidentified threat.”

  “Tell them about the German who visited your laboratory,” Elizabeth said.

  “A foreigner had never been escorted through my laboratory before,” Kezri said. “I was told only that this man was important and that I should demonstrate how the protein worked for him.”

  “How would you do that?” Nick asked.

  “With laboratory mice. Mice exposed to the protein will behave in programmed ways, according to the type of transmission sent to them. The experiment uses a control group which have not been exposed. They are unaffected by the transmission. In this way I was able to demonstrate the effectiveness of the protein.”

  “Go on.”

  “The visitor spoke only German. We talked through a translator. I did not like him. The demonstration was successful. Toward the end of the experiment, he wanted to see the transmission disrupt neural activity. When I pointed out that this would result in the death of the laboratory animals, he said to me they’re only mice. I was told to proceed. It is not a pretty thing to see, what happens when brain activity is fully disrupted. It was bad in mice. I could imagine how it would look if the subjects were human.”

  “It would work just as well with humans?” Lamont asked.

  “Yes. After that, I started to worry. A few days after the visit by this man I was called in to the office of my superior. He began a review of my research. He referred to a folder on his desk when he had a specific question and made a note. Then he was called away for a few moments. He told me to wait for his return.”

  “You looked at the folder, didn’t you?” Nick said.

  “How could I not? The questions he was asking were unusual. Mostly to do with production of the protein, potential problems, timelines, like that. Inside the folder were two sheets of paper. The top page listed the same questions he had been asking me. The second page was a copy of a letter to the Minister of Health requesting that these questions be answered. That page had the corporate heading of a pharmaceutical company.”

  “Which company?”

  “Gutenberg, AG.”

  “Gutenberg, AG is a big outfit,” Elizabeth said. “They produce antivirals, antibiotics, and biologic drugs. It’s owned by an American, Carl Hauser.”

  “The billionaire?”

  “That’s him.”

  “Man,” Lamont said. “I’ve heard of him. He’s supposed to be one of the three or four richest men in the world.”

  Harker continued. “The question is, why would the Iranians give his company access to Doctor Kezri’s research? Iran has a highly developed pharmaceutical industry. Why would they need to bring in Hauser?”