Blowback

They had kissed in the driveway of her cottage in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, over two months ago, and that was the last time they had seen or spoken to each other. Harvath still had no idea when he would be back home for any real stretch of time, nor did he have any illusions that she’d be waiting for him. In fact, she had all but said that she was going to move on with her life. As difficult as all of that was to deal with, right now he was grateful for the few precious moments he’d been granted to rest his tired mind and somewhat battered body in this sauna halfway around the world. The reprieve, though, was short-lived.

A cold rush of air signaled the arrival of a newcomer. “Interesting choice for a rendezvous, Ozan,” said Harvath.

Kalachka joined Harvath on the long, porcelain-tiled bench and responded, ”I’m a Turk, and like all good Turks, I cling to my heritage. The Hamam has been an integral part of our lives for centuries.”

“Let’s cut to the chase, Ozan.”

Kalachka wiped the sweat from his heavily perspiring face and said, “As you know, I’ve proposed a trade.”

“Yeah, my government’s very aware of that. I want to know everything you know about this illness, why Muslims seem to be immune to it, and how al-Qaeda has been able to pull this off. And finally one very big item: my government wants to know how the hell you got your hands on classified video footage.”

“All in good time.”

“Bullshit, let’s start with the footage,” said Harvath. “I knew you were well connected, but this is unbelievable. Who the hell do you have on your payroll? Or are you blackmailing someone in the Department of Defense?”

“Scot, you should know me better than that. I am no blackmailer.”

Harvath laughed. “I don’t even know the first thing about you, and you know what? I don’t want to know. Tell me about the illness.”

Kalachka shook his head. “First, I need something from you.”

“Of course, right to the price tag. I forget that everything costs with you, doesn’t it, Ozan? Even friendship.”

For a moment, Kalachka didn’t look at Harvath. Finally, he turned to him and said, “It’s about my nephew.”

“You’ve got a nephew?” replied Scot.

“He’s my sister’s only son, and even though he’s always been a little too Muslim for my taste, he’s still family and I promised to-”

“Ozan, I have no time and even less patience. Regardless of how you see yourself, you’ve blackmailed my government into a corner, and I’ve been instructed to work with you and do anything within my power to facilitate this exchange, so enough beating around the bush. What kind of trouble are we talking about here? Spit it out already.”

As Kalachka looked at Harvath, it was difficult to tell whether it was sweat or tears rimming the older man’s eyes. “My nephew has been kidnapped.”

“By whom?”

Kalachka hesitated. “I have my suspicions, but I can’t be positive about anything.”

“You’d be surprised how accurate suspicions can be in these situations. Let’s back up a second, though. How do you know he’s been kidnapped? Has there been a ransom demand?”

“No, but there were witnesses. Dozens of them,” said the Turk. “He was grabbed off a street in Bangladesh in broad daylight. Three men wearing ski masks and carrying automatic weapons plucked him off the sidewalk near his office in Dhaka and then drove him away.”

“What about the car?” asked Harvath, still skeptical.

“Stolen. The police found it abandoned the next day.”

“Any idea why somebody would want to take him?”

Kalachka wiped his face yet again and replied, “I think it has something to do with what he was working on.”

“Which was what?”

“He’s a scientist, neuromolecular biology something or other. I have never pretended to understand it. Suffice it to say that he’s a very intelligent young man.”

“Ozan, what was he working on?” repeated Harvath, who was starting to get a very bad feeling.

Kalachka couldn’t stall any longer. He threw up his hands and answered, “He was one of the scientists working on the sword of Allah project.”

Harvath was beyond shocked. “Your nephew is responsible for all of this?”

“Trust me,” said Kalachka, “when he accepted the position with the Islamic Institute for Science and Technology, he did so intending to do great things for the Muslim world. The scientists there had no idea what they were working on. Everyone on the project was kept separate from one another. It wasn’t until they were nearing the end that Emir was able to fit the pieces together. But by then, someone had begun silencing all of the people involved. It had to be someone from the institute.”

Harvath took a towel and wiped the back of his neck. “I think you’re wrong.”

“What do you mean, wrong?” replied Kalachka. “It makes perfect sense. He put the pieces together, they found out that he was going to expose them, and so they kidnapped him.”