On Wings of Eagles by Ken Follett Read Free Book Online Page A

the best use of the service we provide. Dr. Towliati is such a
        consultant. He has a dataprocessing background, and he is familiar with
        both Iranian and American business methods. He is paid by EDS, rather than
        by the Ministry, because Ministry salaries are too low to attract a
        ON WINGS OF EAGLES 37
     
    man of his caliber. However, the Ministry is obliged to reimburse us for his
    salary, as laid down in the contract; so he is not really paid by us."
        Once again Dadgar wrote down very little. He could have got all this
        information from the files, Paul thoughiq. perhaps he has.
    Dadgar asked: "But why does Dr. Towliati sign invoices?"
        "That's easy," Paul replied. "He does not, and never has. The closest he
        comes is this: he would inform the Minister that a certain task has been
        completed, where the specification of that task is too technical for
        verification by a layman." Paul smiled. "He takes his responsibility to the
        Ministry very seriously-4ie is easily our harshest critic, and he will
        characteristically ask a lot of tough questions before verifying completion
        of a task. I sometimes wish I did have him in my pocket."
        Mrs. Nourbash translated. Paul was thinking: What is Dadgar after? First he
        asks about the contract negotiations, which happened before my time; then
        about the Mahvi group and Dr. Towliati, as if they were sensationally
        important. Maybe Dadgar himself doesn't know what he's looking for-maybe
        he's just fishing, hoping to come up with evidence of something illegal.
    How long can this farce go on?
     
    Bill was outside in the corridor, wearing his topcoat to keep out the cold.
    Someone had brought him a glass of tea, and he warmed his hands on it while
    he sipped. The building was dark as well as cold.
        Dadgar had immediately struck Bill as being different from the average
        Iranian. He was cold, gruff, and inhospitable. The Embassy had said Dadgar
        was "favorably disposed" toward Bill and Paul, but that was not the
        impression Bill had.
        Bill wondered what game Dadgar was playing. Was he trying to intimidate
        them, or was he seriously considering arresting them? Either way, the
        meeting was not turning out the way the Embassy had anticipated. Their
        advice, to come without lawyers or Embassy representatives, now looked
        mistaken: perhaps they just did not want to get involved. Anyway, Paul and
        Bill were on their own now. It was not going to be a pleasant day. But at
        the end of it they would be able to go home.
        Looking out the window, Bill saw that there was some excitement down on
        Eisenhower Avenue. Some distance along the street, dissidents were stopping
        cars and putting Khomeini posters on the windshields. The soldiers guarding
        the Ministry Build-
        38 Ken Follett
     
    ing were stopping the cars and tearing the posters up. As he watched, the
    soldiers became more belligerent. They broke the headlight of a car, then
    the windshield of another, as if to teach the drivers a lesson. Next they
    pulled a driver out of a car and punched him around.
        The next car they picked on was a taxi, a Tehran orange cab. It went by
        without stopping, not surprisingly; but the soldiers seemed angered and
        chased it, firing their guns. Cab and pursuing soldiers disappeared from
        Bill's sight.
        After that the soldiers ended their grim game and returned to their posts
        inside the waited courtyard in front of the Ministry Building. The
        incident, with its queer mixture of childishness and brutality, seemed to
        sum up what was going on in Iran. The country was going down the drain. The
        Shah had lost control and the rebels were determined to drive him out or
        kill him.