After breakfast the next morning Jack took Kathy and Anita by the arm and said, “Come on, tourists. It’s time for our golf game. Tee time is in 30 minutes.”
Once they had rented clubs and were at the first tee, Jack asked if they had played much golf. Anita replied she had played some but not recently. Kathy said she had played a little at UNC. Jack said not to worry and hit a drive 250 yards straight down the fairway. Kathy looked at Jack with smile and said, “A natural born sandbagger. No duffer has a swing like that.”
Kathy’s drive rolled almost even with Jack’s and Anita’s passed them both. Jack said, “Come on, you two. Come clean. You’ve both played this game.” Anita told him she once had a significant other who played on the nationwide tour, and he’d taught her to play. Kathy ‘fessed up’ that she’d been a member of the women’s golf team at UNC. After nine holes Jack was at even par and the two women were tied at plus one. Jack said, “Let’s take care of our caddies and sit at an isolated table for lunch, where we can discuss a plan to deal with Fahad.”
After they were seated, Jack started by saying Hassan’s success sounded too easy, but his gut told him Hassan was telling the truth and there is nothing wrong about being lucky. Finding Fahad in a week, rather than taking several weeks, was more than he had hoped for. Now they had to move the action to Kathmandu. Jack asked Kathy to ask her detective, Arjun Singh, to go to Kathmandu as soon as possible. And before Arjun Singh left for Kathmandu with a few of his people, he needed to get some good photos of Mr. Abdul Ali Fahad.
Kathy then reminded Jack that the Nepalese government was more than a little paranoid. Some years ago, a member of the royal family had used an automatic weapon to kill the King and a large portion of the royal family, including himself. That incident, along with the sensitivity of the security forces over the terrorist acts of the insurgent Maoist group, had the police and army primed to shoot first and ask questions later. Kathy finished by saying Kathmandu is easier to get into than out of.
Jack said, “I assume Yuri sent my picture and name to Fahad in New Delhi, who probably forwarded them to al-Qaeda members in Kathmandu. Al-Qaeda must have the capability of checking flight manifests and hotel listings. Al-Qaeda shouldn’t know we are even in India, but you can never be sure. Luck is not always on the good guy’s side. If they know about us, they’ll have taken the element of surprise from us. They also have better area knowledge and have our little group out-numbered and out-gunned. Those are deadly advantages.
“A second scenario is we could be suspected of being involved in some illegal action and the police get a description of three white Westerners. Kathmandu is not a big place. Most whites are either tourists or officials with some economic project or diplomatic mission. Not too large a number of people for the police to screen for suspects.
“In the U.S., we could leave the area immediately for any number of places by car, airlines, private plane, bus or train. Only three roads go out of Kathmandu. One goes to Birganj on the border with India. One goes west to Pokhara, the next large valley. Another goes to Kodari on the border with Tibet, and nowhere we want to go. The roads can be closely monitored. Scheduled passenger flights are a non-starter, and the use of private planes is out.”
Jack ended his discussion of options and asked them, “So where does that leave us if the police have even a marginal description?”
Anita said, “That leaves us sitting in jail, in hiding or escaping on foot.”
“Right,” said Kathy, “but no jail for me. Hiding for a couple of weeks or longer in Nepal is not a real possibility for us. And I’m not sure we can cope with a long walk south to India and an illegal border crossing.”
“How long would it take us to walk out?”
Anita said, “I figure roughly somewhere between five and seven days if we make no mistakes, if no opposition and if we know the route.”
“Are you suggesting we walk in as well as out? Holy Hell!”
“Give the cop a gold star. A few years before I left the Special Forces, I served in an operation with a SAS senior non-commissioned officer.”
Jack nodded and said, “In Marine Recon we learned SAS stands for Special Air Service, the British Special Forces unit, an extremely effective outfit, with highly trained and highly motivated troops as good as or better than our own Special Forces, but much smaller. They are sort of the definition of elite troops. So how does this retired noncom fit in?”
“This noncom is unique because he was a Gurkha soldier who acquired British citizenship but decided to settle in Nepal after his discharge. For a while he was an advisor with the Nepalese Army Air Service. His service with the British and the Nepalese made him a favorite of the now-deceased King who gave him a small land grant in the Terrai or the southern jungle area in Nepal south of the Mahabarat Mountain Range and just south of the confluence of the Kali Gandeki and Trisuli Rivers. These rivers join to form the Narayani River. Now, he makes a living conducting photo shoots in the jungle and boat tours on the rivers.”
Jack interrupted, “He sounds like just who we need!”
“Well, I haven’t been in touch with him in the last year. I have his business phone number and, if you agree, I can call him and set up a meeting. A small Indian town called Raxaul Bazaar, just across the border from the Nepali border town of Birganj, is the starting point for the road to Kathmandu. If my friend, Bahadur Thapa, agrees, we could be in Raxaul Bazaar tomorrow afternoon.”
“Do you think he can get us in and out of Kathmandu?”
“It depends upon how he reacts, but I hope he would be willing to get us into Kathmandu by riverboat and on foot without an official border crossing. Once we know the way, we can walk out of Kathmandu if we have to.”
“He’s your friend, but it seems to me you are asking him to risk a lot by helping you. Why would he do that?”
“For starters, he thinks I saved his life, and after he retired, I gave him a little money to help get his business started. Also, he once asked me to marry him. Even though I said no, I’ve a standing invitation to come at any time. I’m sure he’ll talk to us in Raxaul Bazaar, and I believe he’ll agree to help us. But I’d feel better if you would guarantee to bail him out financially if he has to leave Nepal.”
“That’s easy. Money is the least of our worries. Make the call, and let’s get ready for our trip to where?”
“Raxaul Bazaar. I guess you noticed I did some map work last night.”
Facts and Fictions 