He said, “Okay, I trust the new card, but you used the old bank account more than just at the hotel and rental card agency. What about our exfiltration after the mission? You didn’t use the same card for all of that?”
“No. Ushuaia is incredibly remote. That entire segment was cash only. We have a safe house and a boat to get us to Chile. All of that is secure, I promise, as my life depends on it just as yours does. Whether you get to our plane is another question entirely, but if you do, I’ll get you out.”
The logical place for the team to retreat was the wild west area of the Triple Frontier, just as the Hezbollah killers had done after the initial attack on the Jewish center in 1994, and the planned exfiltration direction of the current Hezbollah team. Precisely because it was the most likely escape route, the Pasdaran had decided to go the opposite direction, to the town of Ushuaia.
Called the End of the World, it was the capital of the remote region of Tierra del Fuego and mainly known as the jumping-off point for research trips and tourist cruises to the Antarctic. It was also adjacent to the Patagonia region of Chile, where they could trade one remote, lawless area for another, working their way up to Santiago by boat and onwards travel out of the region, completely dislocated from the operation in Argentina.
The Ghost nodded, saying, “I’ll be at the exfiltration aircraft one way or the other, but you need to let Sardar know what happened here. Is he using tainted cards?”
“No. His cards are the same ones Cyrus is using to go home. It’s not tied to the Argentinian bank account that was used for the other purchases.”
“Tell him anyway. Ask him to switch accounts. He can do that, can’t he?”
Omar nodded and the Ghost said, “Good. One can’t be too careful. We have no idea what Cyrus is doing. He might be the weak link here.”
Slightly offended, Omar said, “If something had happened to Cyrus, we would have heard. He’s probably already back in Tehran.”
“Do it anyway. We have enough problems executing a successful mission.”
He pushed a Pelican case in front of him with his foot, saying, “When the Pasdaran said they had some magic means of sneaking in a weapon, I didn’t expect this.”
Omar said, “You mean the escape method? It looked good to me. Just like a battery belt for the camera.”
The Ghost said, “No. That part is good. Ingenious, actually. I’m talking about this.”
He flipped the locks on the Pelican case and opened the lid, revealing what looked like an older-model Sony over-the-shoulder digital camera. He pulled it out of the case, saying, “From my research, this is on the verge of obsolete in the world of news crew video cameras, but I guess the size was needed.”
He put it on his shoulder as if he was using it and said, “I practiced with it earlier. It works as intended, but it’s single fire. I get one shot, and that’s it.”
“You can’t reload it?”
The Ghost chuckled and set it down on its end, then unlocked the lens revealing a hollow space where there should have been CMOS sensors and other electronics. He reached into the Pelican case and removed what looked like a six-inch-long arrow, saying, “It’s a reverse-draw crossbow. You load it through the lens, then put the lens back on.”
He did so, then said, “To cock it, I hold the zoom function on the lens. The bolt is set on a rail, and rises into place as the arms are drawn. I aim through the eyepiece, and it exits through the boom mic.”
He put it back on his shoulder, slid his right hand under the strap of the zoom function of the lens and pressed it forward. A slight whirring could be heard, but that was all. Something inside clicked, and he put his brow to the eyepiece. He aimed, then pressed the rear button on the zoom mechanism. There was an audible snap, and then a deep thump. Omar lookedacross the room and saw the bolt had speared a picture of flowers on the wall, now sunk up to the vanes through the frame and drywall.
The Ghost placed the camera on the floor and touched the furry windscreen at the end of the false boom mike, saying, “It self-heals after every shot, hiding where the bolt came from.”
Amazed, Omar said, “That’s incredible. I had no idea we had such technology. Where are the limbs? How does it work?”
“I don’t know about the internals for the cocking and other things, but like I said, it’s a reverse-draw. The limbs are drawn towards the front instead of the rear, making it compact enough to fit in the body.”
Omar picked up the camera and said, “I don’t know why you’re complaining. It seems perfect. No bullets to be found on X-ray, everything made of composites. I’m assuming it will pass X-ray scrutiny?”
The Ghost chuckled and said, “I should be askingyouthat. All I did was read the instructions that came with it. They didn’t include X-ray photos. I’m assuming so, or why go to the trouble?”
Omar said, “True, true. The engineers wouldn’t have built it if it didn’t work, so what’s the issue?”
“There are no issues. I’m just telling you that we’ll get one shot. If I hit him in the head, he’s eliminated, but if I miss, we’re going into escape mode.”
Omar said, “The first shot is always the most important. Even if you could fire a second time, you probably wouldn’t get the chance.”
They sat in silence for a moment, then Omar said, “We have the full day tomorrow. Last day to get anything done we need to. What do you envision? A reconnaissance of the AIMA building?”
The Ghost shook his head, saying, “No. Nobody goes near the Jewish center. I have no idea what cameras or systems they have in place. We go in cold. Everyone stays inside the hotel tomorrow, especially Yassir and Fatima. They’re wanted, and they have to execute the diversion. I can’t have them getting arrested.”
“Khalil is the escape driver and I need to make sure the aircraft is ready.At least let him drop me off at the airport and run the route so he knows where he’s going.”
