Follow Focus
26
Have Plane; Will Travel
ROBERT WAS IN THE CAR that picked us up Wednesday morning and he looked tired.
“Long night?” I asked.
“Short night,” he answered. “Not nearly enough sleep. I’ve been going over all the plans for the chancery in Dublin trying to identify any weak points. It’s a good testing ground for the security measures we’re trying to get built into all the chanceries. We’ve had a solid relationship with Ireland for a hundred years. The new building was constructed and opened in ’68. Ireland awarded it several accolades for the design and blending with the spirit of the neighborhood. But you’ll see that the design is unlike any other chancery in the world.”
“I’m looking forward to seeing it, and taking pictures,” I said.
“What kind of things are you looking at?” Ronda asked.
“This is one of the first installations with a security office and closed-circuit TV cameras all over the grounds. Their security team is nearly twice the size of London, just to keep someone monitoring the systems. The personnel requirement has kept use at a minimum. True that one person can monitor activity in a dozen locations at once, but it requires constant vigilance.”
“That sounds like a nap in the making,” I said. “I can’t stay awake during an interesting television show. I’d never make it trying to watch and be aware of everything that happens on a dozen cameras.”
“That’s part of the problem. But we’ve got newer technology just installed in the Dublin chancery. We can now record everything. It’s like a tape recorder, but on a single magnetic tape, we can record separate screens from six video cameras. It might not help the person monitoring the screens live, but if there is an intrusion, we’ll be able to identify where and when it happened, and even track the progress of the intruder.”
“Sounds like closing the barn door after the horse escapes,” Ronda said. Robert sighed heavily.
“I’m here to find out if the system really has a general application for embassy security, or if it is strictly for spot installations where we seem vulnerable,” he said.
The driver got us to the airport and we gathered our luggage and cameras. Ronda had received a new courier bag from Josie in Chicago. Tuesday, she had picked up a package from the State Department to deliver to the ambassador in Dublin. The crew was ready and we stowed our luggage, closed the door, and began taxiing.
“This is a short hop,” Nancy said, “but I have coffee ready if you’d like.”
“You’re a lifesaver, Nance,” Ronda said.
The trip was just over an hour, and so having a cup of coffee and some sausage rolls she had in the refrigerator was nice.
“We’re booked at The Lex Mark hotel, a few blocks from the embassy,” Ronda told the crew when we landed. “Here are your booking reservations. The rooms have been prepaid. You have the afternoon to yourselves, but meet us at the hotel at seven to go to dinner. Make sure our baby is secure. We’ll have a good time in Dublin.”
“Yes, ma’am. Thank you!” Luke said.
“Luke, have a drink before dinner,” Ronda said. “You really need to loosen up a little. See you guys later.”
We loaded the equipment and our bags into the embassy car that was waiting, and the three of us headed into town. It was a ten-mile trip from the airport to the embassy, but took about half an hour to get there. It was nice to get a view of the city as we cut across it.
That view and all Robert had told us still left us unprepared for the beautiful building we saw when the driver pulled up to the American Embassy. It was round! There were three floors of interlocking trapezoidal windows above the ground floor where we parked. From the front, however, there was a bridge to the first floor over what could have been a moat.
We unloaded the passport gear and checked it in to the crew who would operate it, before starting our tour. The rotunda in the center of the building looked up through all three floors to the cupola on top. It was very impressive.
Robert left us when he was joined by his counterpart, and the two of us were met by a guide we later discovered was the Minister Counselor for Public Affairs, Rebecca Norris. We’d met her counterpart in London, Alice Grove.
The tour included a full walk around the outside of the building, getting some good photos. A security person joined us when we went outside the embassy to find a couple of good places across the street to get pictures. The chancery was built on a triangular lot and the circular shape of the building was a brilliant way to face the three streets at once.
Inside, the rotunda was busy with people seeking services from embassy staff. The inside of the building continued the theme of the trapezoidal framed windows and doorways. It was beautifully symmetrical.
“I was told you are to be shown the security office and the ambassador’s office for photographs,” Mrs. Norris said. “May I ask what these photos are for? Those areas are typically restricted.”
“We do not normally photograph those areas either,” I said. “I’ve been told that the chancery here is unique and is being studied by the Bureau of Consular Affairs for the effect of architecture and technology on the function of the staff and guests. The photos we are taking will not even be processed until they arrive on the desk of the Assistant Secretary of Consular Affairs in Washington, DC.”
“I see,” Mrs. Norris said. “As long as they aren’t leaked to the public. We’re actually a fairly secure facility by virtue of our relationship with the Republic of Ireland. But we are still cautious. We’re lucky that most of the political unrest is in the north.”
She led us to the security office and we were reluctantly admitted to the video room after Robert spoke up for us. This was something out of the future. It reminded me of the video conversations Dave had with Hal in 2001: a Space Odyssey. Robert had some specific requests regarding what I should be taking pictures of in the room. It included a storage cabinet full of videotape.
We didn’t stay there long, but it was sure an eyeful. We could see in every direction outside the embassy and in many rooms inside. The cameras were positioned in such a way that a person walking across the rotunda, for example, was seen from several angles as one camera and then another picked him up. Just amazing.
When we left the surveillance room, Mrs. Norris led us to the Ambassador’s office. This one didn’t require special permission because Ronda had a courier envelope for him and we had an appointment to take his photo. It didn’t take us long to conduct our work. He told Ronda he’d have a package for her tomorrow when we visited the residence. He was a nice person, but didn’t seem as effusive—or maybe just not as impressed—as the ambassador in London.
Robert went to the hotel with us and we went to our rooms to rest half an hour, and to change clothes for our evening outing.
Robert acted as our host that evening, which relaxed our team dynamic some. It wasn’t just our crew and us. We were all part of the same team and Robert was giving us a treat on behalf of the embassy.
“I understand this is your first visit to Ireland,” he said. “Nate and Ronda have their schedule filled with their jobs, but if the rest of you are looking for something to do tomorrow, the Phoenix Park is always a good bet. There is a prehistoric burial site, the Wellington Testimonial, and the Magazine Fort. Wild deer so tame they might investigate your pockets for food.”
“That sounds like a contradiction in terms,” Luke laughed.
“Indeed. If you are in the mood for shopping, there’s Grafton Street or the Antiques and Art Quarter on Francis Street,” Robert added.
“How do you know so much about Dublin?” I asked. “Aren’t you based in London?”
“Yes, but I’m assigned to both embassies, so I travel back and forth quite a lot, just as I travel to Edinburgh and Belfast. I’ll meet with your trainees tomorrow to give them the message on adopting the ID badges, just as I did at the other embassy and the consulates,” he said.
“So, does that mean you outrank Nate and Ronda?” Jay asked. Robert laughed.
“Rank? Oh. Were you Air Force pilots?” Robert asked.
“Navy.”
“Nate and Ronda are the mission commanders and the plane is assigned to them by the Secretary of State. I’d have to challenge the Secretary if I wanted to override anything affecting their mission,” Robert explained. “They are not embassy employees and therefore not in my chain of command.”
“I see,” Luke said. The ideas of rank and chain of command were very important to these guys. That was a military thing and apparently some servicemen were more sensitive to it than others. They were still trying to adjust to having their bosses be ten years younger than they were.
“I am, however, a security specialist assigned to the embassies in London and Dublin. That assignment gives me the authority to direct how quickly the ID system is adopted in the embassy. It’s also why I’ll be traveling with Nate and Ronda next week. They’ll be venturing behind the Iron Curtain for the first time and their boss has asked for security assistance while they get some experience dealing with communists.”
“Where are we going?” Luke asked.
Robert turned to me and I turned to Ronda.
“Poland and Romania,” she answered. “In working with the Bureau of Consular Affairs, we determined that it would be best not to simply cross borders from one country to another. You’ll have a briefing packet waiting for you when we get back that will contain information on overflying communist countries and protocol upon landing.”
“How does this work, Nate?” Jay asked.
He took another long drink of his black beer. It was definitely powerful stuff. I had to function first thing in the morning or I’d have been tempted to overindulge. I was sipping. It was definitely getting Jay and Luke loosened up a little and allowing them to express their questions freely.
“I’m not sure of the question, Jay. How does what work?”
“You and Ronda both being in command. Who do we follow if orders conflict?” Jay asked.
“Oh. We’ll try not let our disagreements affect you. In fact, we have never had a disagreement, have we, Ronda?”
“Frankly, I’ve been surprised that we haven’t gotten into any arguments,” she laughed. “In matters of where we’re going and when, I’m coordinating that with our superiors in the State Department. Nate doesn’t get up in the morning and say, ‘Oh, let’s go to Moscow.’ I’ve got the schedule worked out and unless we have an emergency, we’ll follow that schedule. And emergencies do happen.”
“When it comes to working on our assignment,” I said, “I interface with the personnel at the chancery. I’m responsible for the equipment, supplies, and training. Also, I present the face of the State Department in dealing with customs and foreign police. That’s really only because most of the customs and law enforcement personnel we encounter are men in a man’s world, and they don’t have sufficient respect for a young woman in authority.”
“Either of us might receive a courier assignment at any time. While Nate was working in Germany, for example, I took the plane to Belgium to deliver a critical package. Then we went back to Frankfurt and picked up Nate to return home.”
“Okay. We’ll deal with conflicts if they arise,” Luke said, shaking his head.
“Here’s to a long and successful association,” Nancy said, raising her glass. It was pretty much the first thing she’d said at the meal. She took us all by surprise and we automatically raised our beer mugs to click over the table. “Personally, I’m looking forward to Africa. Do you know yet where you’ll be stationed next fall?”
“A lot of questions on that one,” Ronda said. “We want someplace that is safe enough for us to bring our family. And also that has an English-speaking population. Fortunately, Africa is full of former British colonies.”
“You’ll take us all to your next assignment?” Luke asked.
“We’d rather not train anyone new,” I laughed. “Nancy’s been with us through Central and South America and all of western Europe. We like her.”
“Cool!” Jay said.
He looked at Nancy and she had laughter dancing in her eyes. This was our first trip with this cockpit crew, but I could see some sparks flying between her and Jay.
By the time we got back to London Friday, we were working together as a cohesive unit. We spent Monday with all six of us in a briefing on the two countries we’d be visiting behind the Iron Curtain.
In Poland, we’d train the consular services staff at the embassy and the technicians from the Krakow consulate in Warsaw. Both teams were coming to the embassy. I’d need two setups to deliver to the embassy, but one would travel with the techs back to Krakow. In Romania, we’d train only the consular section at the embassy. We were expected to have two days in each location.
It was really training on how to function in a communist country. We were reminded that people did not enjoy the same freedoms we were used to in the UK. We should not offend anyone or suggest they would be better living in a democracy.
But we were also reminded that people were not necessarily miserable in any of these countries. In most, they hadn’t been cut off from friends and family in the West. Many supported the communist regime and felt they voted for it. The biggest change for most of them was the regulation and near elimination of the church. Churches were no longer exempt from government control. To exist, they had to account for their money and property and pay taxes like any other business.
I kind of thought that wasn’t such a bad idea.
At the end of the training session our instructor said, “Remember, the people of these countries are people just like you. They are proud of their nations and want you to enjoy your time there.”
Okay. Be careful but enjoy ourselves. Right.
In Poland, Robert, Ronda, and I were picked up by a van with room to load the equipment and my cameras. Luke, Jay, and Nancy locked up the airplane and stayed in a hotel near the airport. We scheduled departure for eight on Thursday morning.
At the embassy, a couple of workers helped carry the equipment from the van to a training room. We set up, but training wouldn’t be until the next day. Robert showed up about an hour later and said we were expected in the ambassador’s office. He showed us the way and the ambassador greeted all of us.
“Well, Mr. Brice, how does our security shape up?” he asked.
“If the only threat you have is an armed invasion, you’re in good shape,” Robert answered.
“That’s always a possibility, I suppose,” the ambassador said. “Our security team is made up of Marines. The eight of them are always on alert and cover the access points around the clock.”
“That spreads them pretty thin,” Robert said. “I’ll do more investigation during our time tomorrow, but off-hand, I’d say we need a civilian security detail. This is not to denigrate what the Marines do, but they are a military force guarding American land in a foreign country. The task force has suggested that we need to have a focus on keeping order in the reception areas and making sure our confidential materials are kept out of reach. The new equipment, for example, comes with the materials to make legitimate passports and visas. There needs to be a plan for shredding the important stock and disabling the equipment.”
“I assume this will all be in a written report so my deputy can get it put into action.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Now, I’m happy to welcome you to Warsaw, Poland, Mr. Hart and Miss May.”
“Thank you, sir. I do have some dispatches for you, if I may have your signature on the receipt,” Ronda said. She handed him the receipt and laid the packet on his desk. He quickly signed for it and immediately pushed it into his drawer.
“A female courier. Quite an innovation,” the ambassador said.
“I’m told there are six of us in the service now. We aren’t as readily identified as couriers, even with a dispatch bag on our shoulders.”
“Quite so. You, too, are a courier, are you not, Mr. Hart?”
“Yes, sir. It was determined that we need diplomatic immunity to care for and transport the equipment and supplies. It also protects our plane,” I said.
“You’re doing good work,” he answered. “The equipment may have more limited use here, but it will still be vital. We know the chancery is watched. That is no secret from the people. They need to carefully plan their visit if they wish to have a visa to the USA. And just having the visa does not mean they will ever get to use it. However, we do have students who get permission to travel and some businesses. And, of course, some of the usual tourist emergencies.”
“This should at least make issuing them on the spot possible.”
“Currently, the process can take as much as three months to gather the documentation, photo, and application, send it to the West for review and manufacture, and then get a finished document back. Thank you.”
“You are welcome. As you have been informed, I’m photographing the ambassadors and consuls general we visit. Can we do the photo now?”
“Yes, of course.”
We explored Warsaw with Barbara Polaski, a cute guide assigned by the Warsaw consul general. We discovered she’d be one of our students on Wednesday. She got us to our hotel, just a block from the chancery, and then we went to dinner. She wanted news from home, but occasionally cut a response off because the topic shouldn’t be discussed in public. She went back to the hotel with us and joined us in our room.
“We needn’t actually do anything,” she said. “But occasionally, we should make happy noises as if sex was going on. If we cover our conversation with that and random white noise, we can converse without attracting too much attention from the listeners.”
“The room is bugged?”
“I’ve no doubt someone is listening. It could just be the guy at the front desk or it could be secret police. We never know.”
As it turned out, we didn’t need to fake the happy noises of sex going on. She stayed with us overnight and we held many whispered conversations that did not involve either my cock or Ronda’s tongue in our new friend’s pussy.
Romania was a different matter entirely. When we landed, the plane was directed to a special area where we were met by four US Marines in a truck. As soon as the plane stopped, they were out of the truck and standing by. When Luke unlocked the cargo hold, two of the guys attacked the gear like it was an enemy. They scooped it up and transported it to the truck where we saw two more guys in the back to receive our equipment, supplies and gear. Then all six of us from the plane got into the truck with the first two, leaving two Marines standing guard at our closed and locked plane.
It was only about twenty minutes to get to the American Embassy compound and it seemed that most of the trip was through countryside. We hadn’t seen an embassy that wasn’t as near to the seat of government as it could get. We didn’t even go through Bucharest to get to this one.
I called it a compound, because this was a formidable walled fortress. The part that wasn’t walled had a tall iron fence around it. Between its location and the restrictions of movement around the embassy, this was not the kind of place that any ordinary national would just walk into.
Robert, Ronda, and I were handed off to a couple staff people to help get the equipment and supplies to the proper place in the consulate portion of the chancery. Luke, Jay, and Nancy took their luggage with them as the Marines conducted them to their lodging in the compound. I guess they were also supposed to get a tour around the facility, which included a gym, cafeteria, and a bowling alley.
After our equipment was secured, we were taken to the deputy chief of mission’s office where we were introduced and served lunch. The consul general, director of security, and ambassador joined us there.
“Welcome to Romania,” the ambassador said, shaking our hands. “I hope your reception was not too off-putting. We take security here very seriously.”
“I take it you have good reason to,” I said.
“Have had, could have, might have,” he responded. “Let us just say that we don’t wander around outside the chancery. You’ll have rooms here and meals. We’ll get through all the necessary training and appointments, and we’ll escort you back to your plane and see you are safely airborne. For convenience sake, we call it a safety drill so our Marines and staff don’t become lax.”
“One of the things we discussed in Poland was the improvement of their security systems. I’m happy to see you have civilian security within the chancery and Marines outside,” Robert said.
“It was high on our agenda. My first job when I became ambassador five years ago was to prepare the embassy and our security systems for a visit by President Nixon. He visited in August of 1969 and we have kept our security teams sharp ever since. He was here again in December, a month ago.”
“I’m glad to hear that. We are looking at enhancing chancery security with video surveillance. We have four embassies that have fully operational systems and part of my job is to see where we should recommend an installation next,” Robert said.
“Excellent. You’ll find us cooperative.”
“That also brings us to a part of Mr. Hart and Miss May’s responsibility. I’m certain you have all received the notice from the State Department regarding ID badges. Nate?”
“Mr. Ambassador, Deputy, gentlemen, the new equipment has the ability to generate new passports and immigrant visas onsite. We understand this has been a long and cumbersome process up until this time. But equally as important is its internal use to create photo badges, like those the three of us are wearing. The State Department has indicated that all Department employees are to have ID badges by the end of 1976. While that sounds like a long time, we still have well over a hundred embassies and consulates to visit, install the equipment, and train the operators. We hope that once you have the system in place, you can report 100% compliance within three months,” I said.
“We got each of our offices up to full compliance within two weeks of receiving the equipment and training,” Robert said.
“I detect a challenge in your tone of voice,” the director of security said. He was grinning broadly, so I guessed there was no offense in that.
“As you wish,” Robert replied.
We finished lunch and Ronda delivered packets to both the ambassador and the deputy chief of mission. Then she dug in her bag and handed an envelope to the consul general. We went into the official press room to take photos of the three men both individually and as a group. The ambassador asked that Ronda and I ‘stop by his office’ before we left in the morning.
Robert and the director of security went off together and we went to meet our class. It was already nearly three o’clock, I realized we’d jumped another time zone. We spent enough time to get everyone up to speed and test them on the creation of IDs. By then it was seven and we were escorted to very nice lodgings on the grounds and invited to join our students for dinner.
Not everyone who worked at the embassy lived on site. The ambassador’s residence was also a guest house. The deputy chief of mission and the consul general lived in different buildings. And some employees preferred to live outside the protective walls and even had some snide remarks about those who chose to isolate themselves from the country they were serving in. I admit, I would like to have had some Romanian food instead of the good old American steak and potatoes.
“I’m concerned about a woman carrying dispatches,” the ambassador said when we met with him in the morning. He had a rather large packet to hand off. “Have you had any difficulty?”
“None, sir,” Ronda said. “I believe observers simply pass over me as a woman with a large purse and look elsewhere.”
“There’s some sense to that. Well, I’ve prepared my report, but would like to add some notes verbally. I trust you will record them when you are safely out of the country. Nicolae Ceau?escu came to power in 1965. The president visited in 1969, hoping to firm up relations with Romania and encourage broad human rights improvements. I’m sorry to say he failed. He came back with Mr. Kissinger in December, just over a month ago. Romania is pushing hard for Most Favored Nation trade status with the US as a way to hold Russian aggressiveness at bay. Ceau?escu already considers Bulgaria to our south to be the seventeenth soviet republic and fears Romania will likewise be gobbled up. So, here are my notes, my meetings with the foreign minister, and my assessment of Ceau?escu’s stability as a dictator. Please see that they get to the Secretary.”
“We have a courier who makes the trip from London to the US on Friday nights. I’ll place it in his hands,” Ronda said.
“That is the best I can ask. Thank you.”
We all breathed a little easier when we had lifted off and were flying toward London, even though the pilots had filed a flight plan and had permission to overfly Hungary so we could make a direct flight.
When we returned to London, Mr. Martin was waiting in our office for us.
“This is a surprise! Hello, Mr. Martin,” I said.
“Nate and Ronda. How are you doing?” he asked.
“Things have been interesting this week,” Ronda said. “In Poland, we had one of our students invite herself to spend the night with us so she could whisper a report from the ambassador he didn’t want committed to paper. In Romania, we got a brief history of US relations with the ambassador’s assessment of progress since the president’s visit last month. We spent our entire time in the air coming home reconstructing everything we could remember from the meetings and writing it down.”
“Congratulations. I can only say to expect more of the same in the future,” Martin said.
“Our jobs seem to have expanded exponentially since we left Ireland last week,” I said. “Mr. Brice has asked us to observe security measures and report back to him each week, as well. He spent a good bit of time with us this week, talking about what to look for.”
“I’m sorry I can’t give you another promotion commensurate with your added responsibilities,” Martin said seriously. “Perhaps next fall. I’m afraid I’m here to enhance your schedule, not to diminish it.”
“What else can we do?” Ronda asked. “It seems bizarre that two relatively new employees are having so much responsibility pushed on them with no additional training.”
“That’s what I came to talk about. I’ve scheduled this coming week for you to stay here in London and attend training—along with your crew. I need to know if you have any doubts about any of them.”
“No, sir. We had to reach some understandings last week, but they were nothing serious and this week we worked well together.”
“Good. Some of your tasks may be as hard on them as on you. They’ll all move to the next increment of pay within pay grade, so they’ll be rewarded, too. Your trainer this week will be training you all on rapid assessment of ground situations, memory techniques for reports and messages, and protocol for some of your upcoming meetings. You’ll also have training on what to do in an emergency. We don’t want you left vulnerable if you are confronted by another situation like you had coming out of Greece.”
“Mr. Martin, let me re-affirm that the reason I am in your employ as a conscientious objector is because I object to all military service and use of weapons. I will not carry a weapon.”
“That goes for me, as well,” Ronda said.
“The training is in situation avoidance, not necessarily in defense. Diplomats, including couriers, are not expected to be combatants,” he said. “Among other things, you will meet a courier at the beginning and ending of each week here in the embassy. On Fridays, you will hand off anything you’ve accumulated for Washington. That courier will leave that night and deliver dispatches in DC on Saturday morning. On Monday, you’ll meet a courier with outgoing dispatches for your scheduled trip.”
“I thought one of the reasons we were living in London was so we wouldn’t be making weekly trips across the Atlantic,” I said.
“You won’t be. We do have regular courier routes, however. It will not be often that the same courier is leaving on Friday and returning on Monday, or vice versa. When he gets here Monday morning, he’ll be on his way elsewhere. You’ll simply be extending the number of fingers we can get on that route.”
“That seems reasonable.”
“Now I’ll get to the unreasonable part,” he said. “The Deputy Secretary will be taking a more active part in determining your routes. Up until you started penetrating the Iron Curtain, you’ve been entirely self-determining—or nearly so. We’ll be consulting with Washington each week regarding your proposed schedule and firming up where you are needed that week. As a result, for example, I expect you will be sent to Israel after you’ve completed your training. You can probably make a stop in Cyprus on your way back. You might not be logically handling one clear sector after another. You may also be sent to stop over in a country you’ve already checked off your list. Usually, that would be a touch-and-go. Get down long enough to hand off your dispatches and then continue your journey. Your orders will be delivered on Friday when you return so your crew can be ready on Monday.”
“I don’t have any objections to any of this,” I said. “We set our schedule based on what seems logical to us. But I still have to ask why we’re being asked to take on this responsibility when I’m just a photographer. I can understand Ronda being given the responsibility.”
“You actually answered your question. Your photos from Ireland and Greece—not just the ones from your friend—were very helpful in the discussion on chancery security. You’ll be asked to continue that expanded role, and I would anticipate there will be more photography of events when you arrive at a destination. We might, for example, have had you cover the meeting between Ceau?escu and Nixon in December. There may be other diplomatic missions you intersect with,” Martin said.
“But when it all comes down to it, it’s a matter of convenience. You happen to be traveling where we need a presence. The communist bloc countries and the entire Middle East, as well as northern Africa, are all areas where we have immediate concerns. We will be opening a new embassy in Cairo in February or March. You’ll undoubtedly be asked to cover the opening. Syria and the UAE are both close to establishing diplomatic relations and I would guess you will have something to do there. And as you know, the cold war is always on the brink of heating up. The stability and concerns of the nations behind the Iron Curtain are a constant concern to the Secretary and the President.”
“We’ll do our best, sir.”
“I have every confidence you will.”
Our crew was surprised as they were brought in for training with us. I have to say, it would have been nice to have some of this training before we actually started traveling. When we started, though, we had a fairly simple mission. We took commercial airlines to India, working a two-week schedule around when we could fly from one consulate to another. When we went to Mexico, we essentially hitched a ride on a plane with the president’s national security advisor. We had a plane for Central America, then a charter in the Caribbean. A private crew flew us around South America where we carted other State Department employees with us.
Europe and the Middle East were a different matter entirely. We had a dedicated plane and crew for nine months. We took passengers on when someone needed to go where we were going, but mostly it was just the crew with Ronda and me. Our responsibilities (as well as our pay grade) had expanded with the plane and crew.
I had a bunch of stuff to tell the movie company. I’d need to go directly to LA before I went to Stratford this summer.
We had dinner with our crew twice that week just to work on solidifying our team. They didn’t have to fly anywhere, so there were no restrictions on drinking. Robert and Livia, our trainer, had dinner with us. The guys really loosened up.
“I thought this job was a babysitting mission,” Luke said. “I mean, that’s what I thought when I took it. I’d been shopping around for a job with a commercial airline after I took my discharge and they just looked boring to me. I didn’t want to be shot at anymore, but those guys are really just bus drivers. They fly back and forth every day or every two days if they have to have a rest. Pay’s good, but it just looked monotonous. I saw this posting and called Jay. We applied as a team because it sounded easy to shuttle a couple of diplys around. At least we’d get to see some interesting places. I have to say, first we were surprised that the kids were in authority and they knew what they were doing. Second, this new dimension to what we’re doing sounds a lot more exciting than what we expected when we signed up.”
“I hope you’re happy with it,” I said.
“Hell, yes. You and Ronda are great to work with and we’ve come to understand and respect what you’re doing. And for the record, neither Jay nor I consider you kids anymore.”
“I’m glad to hear that. Are you still good with us, Nancy?” Ronda asked.
“Honey, you know I’d go anyplace with you. If things get too exciting, we might have to pull the curtain across the cockpit and have you settle me down some,” she giggled. “Service with a smile, you know.”
I thought Jay was still looking at her speculatively. I didn’t think they’d developed a relationship that crossed any professional lines yet. I’d be watching that, though, to make sure we didn’t interfere with it.
“Jay?” I said.
“I like it,” he answered. “I’ll feel more comfortable having a sidearm in the cockpit. I promise it won’t come out unless we’re in dire straits, but it makes me more relaxed.”
“You know I’m here because I’m a conscientious objector,” I said. “I have nothing but respect for you guys who served in tough situations. I lost my best friend in Nam. I fought with my draft board for five years before they pulled this number on me, but I’m serving my alternative service and still have a year to do. I don’t object to you carrying if it makes you more comfortable, but I’m not here for you to protect because I won’t carry. I’ll do everything I can to make sure you never have a reason to pull your sidearm out of its holster.”
“You’re the kind of commander I respect,” Jay said.
“The best advice I can give all of you is to watch each other’s back,” Robert said. “The biggest risk I foresee is a snatch and run on a courier bag. That’s why we’re issuing one to each of you instead of just to Ronda. They aren’t identical, but you will all have black passports and will keep your bag with you. No one will know which are decoys. Nate and Ronda, you should split the packages between you so neither of you are carrying everything. It’s still a good idea for Ronda to carry the film. If someone was after it, they’d be more likely to snatch the bag of the one with a camera.”
“We aren’t going to have to be handcuffed to the bags, are we?” Luke asked.
“No. There are couriers who cuff a briefcase to their wrists, but those are mostly military. If someone gets your bag, let them go. Better deception than resistance,” Livia, our trainer, said. “I have a question that is going to be blunt, but I need to know. Ronda and Nate, you are a couple, right?”
“Yes, ma’am,” we agreed.
“How often do you sleep with Nancy?”
“Um…”
“It’s not against any rules. While you are in command of the missions, you aren’t direct managers of your crew. But if sleeping together is routine, there are some specific instructions we need to go over to protect each other. The same is true if that becomes a routine with or between any of you.”
“Livia, I’ve flown with Nate and Ronda for a year and a half and we’ve shared a bed maybe half a dozen times. It’s fun, but I’m not committed to them or anyone else. I slept with our former pilots, too. Would like to sleep with one or two of these guys sometime. But I know where my job ends and entertainment begins,” Nancy said. “I’m not just a sky mattress.”
“Okay. That’s what I needed to know. I will have some pointers for all of you. I just wanted to know what level to take them to.”
“Thank you.”
We got through the embarrassment of that question and continued with our dinner and building the team.
Friday, we got our assignment for the next week. We’d be training in Tel Aviv, Israel, and in Nicosia, Cyprus. On the way out, we’d have a refueling stop in Athens where a courier would meet the plane to receive a package we’d be carrying. The pilots could plot their own refueling spot on the return trip, unless we received word that we needed to stop somewhere else.
Monday morning, we were in the air reviewing our briefing packet.
Israel was our first Middle East stop, but there would be several more mixed with our Eastern Bloc stops.
We spent nearly three days in Tel Aviv, arriving Monday afternoon, training on Tuesday, photographing things on Wednesday and making the short jump to Cyprus on that afternoon. We trained in Cyprus on Thursday and spent the full day training and photographing at the chancery in Nicosia while we received a briefing from the Chargé d’Affaires.
“You have arrived at an inopportune time,” he said. “However, I don’t believe there is an opportune time coming. We are on the brink of war in Cyprus and everyone who gets between the Greeks and Turks in this will be hurt or killed. That includes Americans, Russians, and British. Our ambassador resigned and left the country two weeks ago. The government of Archbishop Makarios is shaky at best. Greek Cypriot Nationalists and most of the military support enosis.”
“Excuse me. What is that term?” Ronda asked.
“Enosis is the political ambition of a unified Greek state that encompasses all the major Greek population centers of the former Ottoman Empire. That includes Cyprus, where there is an 80% majority of Greeks, and a large share of Asia Minor, including making the capitol in Constantinople. Obviously, the Turks object to that, not only in Anatolia, which is over half of Turkey, but in Cyprus as well. It will probably lead to war sooner rather than later and the battleground will be here in Cyprus.”
“Is there that much animosity between Turkey and Greece?”
“Read Homer’s Iliad,” the Chargé said. “I believe the situation is so tenuous that I asked not to have your equipment delivered here. However, the former ambassador’s report indicated that as many as 200,000 people on the island might be made refugees and many will want to immigrate. If they are smart, they will either go back to Greece or to Turkey. I have no confidence in the level of their intelligence.”
I understood now, why we were told to visit Cyprus on this round when we were flying from Israel, rather than when flying from either Greece or Turkey. The four people we trained looked nervous and there was some competition to see which ones would not be responsible for the key. We created the ID badges for all seventeen personnel in the chancery that afternoon.
We all breathed a sigh of relief when we were finally on our way home. The guys chose to refuel in Naples, avoiding even overflying Greece.
Ronda and I spent the entire seven hours back to London working on our report and assessment of chancery security. If ever a place needed a big wall around it and a contingent of Marines, it was Nicosia. The six Marines in the security force seemed like too small a force to protect the seventeen employees. It was the first time I showed a tech team how to quickly and permanently disable the equipment, and destroy the blank pages for the passports and visas.
We met our courier at the airport at Southend-on-Sea, who immediately left for Heathrow to fly overnight to Washington, DC. Ronda and I went home to fall into the arms of our lovers and care for our children.
Please feel free to send comments to the author at devon@devonlayne.com.
