Honor Among Thieves Read online

  Once she was back in the Chamber she removed another rag from the cleaning box and began polishing the table until she was in a position where no one could see her from either passageway. She then lowered herself slowly onto her knees until she was below the table, and let the cardboard tube fall to the floor in front of her. She quickly flicked off the cap, to find the cylinder wasn’t empty. She pulled out the parchment, unrolled it and studied it in disbelief: a magnificent copy of the Declaration of Independence, obviously made by a craftsman, even if someone had tried to deface it. She realized immediately that Simon must have been hoping to find some way of switching the copy for the original.

  Kratz watched Scott follow General Hamil into the building, then walked slowly across to the truck and climbed into the cab. He stared through the front window. No one was taking any particular interest in what they were up to.

  “This is too easy,” he said. “Far too easy.” Cohen and Aziz looked straight ahead, but didn’t offer an opinion. “If Hamil is involved, they must suspect something. The time has come for us to find out who knows what.”

  “What do you have in mind, sir?” asked Cohen.

  “I have a feeling that our switchboard Major isn’t fully aware of what’s going on. Either they haven’t briefed him, or they think he’s not up to the job.”

  “Or both,” suggested Aziz.

  Kratz nodded. “Or both. So let’s find out. Aziz, I want you and Cohen to take a stroll down to the barrier. Tell the guards that you’re going for something to eat, and that you’ll be back in a few minutes. If they refuse to let you through, we’ve got a real problem, because that will mean they know what we’re up to. In which case, come back to the cab and I’ll start working on what we have to do next.”

  “And if they let us through?” asked Cohen.

  “Get out of sight,” said Kratz, “but keep in visual contact with the truck. That shouldn’t be too hard, with these gawking crowds. If Professor Bradley comes out with his cardboard tube and I rest my arm on the window ledge as I’m doing now, get back here fast, because we won’t want to be hanging about. And by the way, Cohen: if I’m not around for any reason, and the professor should suggest a detour to the Foreign Ministry, overrule him. Your only job is to get him over the border.” Cohen nodded, without a clue what the Colonel was talking about. “But if you spot that we’re in trouble, keep well out of the way for one hour, and then pray that the whopper works.”

  “Understood, sir,” said Cohen.

  “Take the keys with you,” said Kratz. “Now get going.”

  Kratz stepped back down onto the tarmac, strolled over to where Major Saeed was listening to one of his interminable phone calls and placed himself a few feet to Saeed’s left as if wanting to attract his attention. At the same time he looked over his shoulder to watch Aziz and Cohen walking towards the barrier.

  Kratz continued to try and attract the Major’s attention as he watched Aziz come to a halt at the barrier and start joking with one of the guards.

  A few moments later he saw both of his men step under the barrier. Within seconds they were lost in the crowd.

  Major Saeed came off the phone. “What is the problem this time?” he asked. Kratz took out a cigarette and asked the Major for a light.

  “Don’t smoke,” he said, and waved him away.

  Kratz walked slowly back to the cab and took his place behind the steering wheel, his eyes never leaving the open doorway of the Ba’ath Party headquarters.

  Hannah stared at the Declaration hanging on the wall. It was only a few paces away from her. She waited until she heard another roar of laughter from the soldiers before walking over to the document and quickly trying to remove the nails. Three came out with the minimum of effort, but the one at the top right-hand corner refused to budge, and the Declaration continued to dangle from it. After a few more seconds, she felt she was left with no choice but to ease the document over the head of the nail. Once the parchment was in her hand she went back to the table, placed the original on the floor and returned quickly to attach the copy to the wall.

  She hardly glanced at her handiwork before she turned back to the table, knelt on the ground and rapidly rolled up the original, replacing it in the cylinder. Once again she tucked it under her skirt. It had been the longest two minutes of her life. She remained on her knees, trying to think. She knew she couldn’t risk trying to get the tube out of the building, as the guards might decide to “search” her again. There was no alternative. She walked quickly back down the short corridor and was in the safe even before the two soldiers had stopped talking. She let the cylinder fall to the floor, then pushed it back into the darkest corner, exactly where she had first seen it. Then she picked up the duster and polish she had left behind, stepped back out of the safe and showed them to the soldiers and ran back down the corridor towards the Chamber.

  Hannah knew she must get out of the building as quickly as possible, and somehow pass a message to Simon. And then she heard the voices.

  The elevator doors slid apart at the basement floor. The General stepped out into the corridor and headed towards the Council Chamber.

  “And just how large is this safe?” the General asked Scott.

  “Nine feet in height, seven feet in width and eight feet in depth,” responded Scott immediately. “You could hold a private meeting in there if you wished to, General.”

  “Is that so?” said Hamil. “But I am informed the safe can only be operated by one person. Is that true?”

  “That is correct, General. We followed the exact specifications your government requested.”

  “I am also told that the safe can withstand a nuclear attack. Is that the case?”

  “Yes,” replied Scott. “The safe has a six-inch skin and would be unaffected by any explosion other than a direct hit. In any other circumstances, everything in the safe would be preserved, even if the building it was standing in was completely demolished.”

  “Impressive,” said the General as the guards sprang to attention and he touched the rim of his beret with his swagger stick. He marched into the Chamber and Scott followed, annoyed to find there was a woman polishing the table. He certainly didn’t need her hanging around when he came back out. The General didn’t even look at Hannah as he strode through the Chamber.

  Scott glanced across at the parchment before he followed the General out of the room.

  “Ah,” Hannah heard the General say when he was still several yards from the end of the corridor. “Pure statistics don’t do your safe justice, Mr. Bernstrom.” The two soldiers remained rigidly at attention as the General studied the safe for some time, before stepping inside. When he saw the cardboard tube on the floor he bent down and picked it up.

  “Just to protect the picture,” explained Scott, as he stepped in to join him. He pointed to the portrait of Saddam Hussein.

  “You are a thorough man, Mr. Bernstrom,” said Hamil. “You would have made an excellent colonel in one of my regiments.” He laughed and passed the cardboard tube over to Scott.

  Hannah listened intently to every word, and concluded that she must get out of the building as quickly as possible and alert Kratz to what she had done.

  “Would you like me to show you how to program the safe?” she heard Scott ask as she reached the entrance of the Chamber.

  “No, no, not me,” said General Hamil. “The President will be the only one who will be allowed to operate the safe.” Those were the last words Hannah heard as she walked out of the Chamber, past the guards and continued purposefully down the long corridor.

  When she reached the doors that led to the staircase she turned back to see the General striding into the Chamber and, some way behind him, Scott following. He was holding the tube.

  Hannah wanted to scream with delight.

  Scott realized he would never be given a chance to carry out the switch once Saddam was in the building. When he reached the Chamber he allowed the General to get a few paces ahead of him. His