SOMEWHERE SOUTH OF SUEZ

A Novel

By

Gene C. McCoy

BOOK TWO

CHAPTER 21

Liliana and Dan spent Thursday night at the beach hut, and on Friday morning they followed what was becoming their routine. They made love before Dan got up to sit on the deck drinking coffee and leaving Liliana to sleep a while longer. Dan was up just a few minutes that morning, however, when Liliana appeared on the deck, fully dressed in a pair of jeans and her blue and white sailor's blouse. She was bubbling with energy, and announced that she was going home to get her boyessa, Hibo, and from there she was going to the market to shop. "I'm going to give you a sample of my cooking tonight," she said and stopped to kiss Dan before pouring herself a cup of coffee. "What would you like for me to fix?"

"What would you like to fix?" he asked and walked to the chairs where they always sat.

"How about an osso buco," she said. "You can get pretty decent veal out here."

"That sounds good to me," he replied. "While you're shopping, I'm going out and play some tennis. This afternoon I have a meeting with Aden Ossman, so I'll be back at the residence late in the afternoon. Why don't you meet me there about four, then we can come down here to cook and have sundowners. I'll be your helper."

"No, I'll do it all by myself. I want to prove to you that I'm good for something besides bed," she said and laughed.

"If you're half as good in the kitchen as you are in bed, you'll be a gourmet chef," he said and laughed along with her.

"I'm only good in bed with you," she said. "You really know me. You know what turns me on, how to really find me," she said and smiled. "Now I know why in the Bible they say, 'and he knew her.' That's really what we all want. We want to be known."

"I didn't think I had any special talent in that department, but I'm glad you think so. I might also say the same thing about you. You know how to find me, or maybe it's because we're both letting ourselves be found. We're exposing ourselves - making ourselves vulnerable - letting ourselves be known, and not just in the bedroom," Dan said and finished his coffee.

They ate a quick breakfast, and Dan dropped Liliana at Marie-Claude's house to pick up her own car then drove himself in the embassy car to the tennis club on the Afgoi highway.

He stayed at the club after tennis to have lunch and gossip and in the early afternoon he again drove himself to keep his appointment with Aden Ossman at his office in the headquarters police compound on the other side of town.

Aden was wearing a smart tailored khaki colored gabardine uniform, and although he showed his usual cordial and affable manners, he seemed distant and preoccupied. The trip to the north had been tiring, and he had only returned late the night before, he said. Dan wondered if some of his preoccupation was not caused by the hint of tension inside the government over the Kenya negotiations, but Dan did not like to discuss confidential matters that might be even remotely construed as compromising either of them in a strange office. Even though Somalia was unsophisticated, Dan operated on the assumption that all offices other than his own were bugged, and sometimes he was not sure that his was all that secure.

They exchanged banalities, waited while an aide served tea to both of them, and Dan inquired about the health of his sister Khadija. She was just fine, Aden said, very involved in her work on getting the Somali language reduced to writing, and he reported that everyone had decided on the Latin alphabet. After a respectable time Dan raised the issue of Kurt's trouble with the police.

"Yes," Aden said. "I know a little bit about that case, and it's troubled me. I don't like to have difficulties with diplomatic missions, but I have just been too busy to focus my attention on it."

Dan refreshed his memory by sketching in the details of the incident, but left out any reference to General Hussein, and the air conditioners. He decided that it would be best to approach Aden as a statesman.

"Actually, Aden, this is a trivial matter, and I would very much appreciate it if you could just drop the charges," he said. "Even though Kurt is a Third Country National we have to report this kind of incident to Washington, and it will just open up the whole issue of diplomatic immunities, privileges and reciprocity which, as you know, is a can of worms. With the Prime Minister's forthcoming visit to the States we don't need any, if you'll pardon the expression, chicken shit issues like this hanging around. "We can get Kurt out of the country if you agree, and no more need be said about it."

"It's not all that trivial, Dan," Aden said. "This business of illegal hunting is serious, and I'm determined to stop it. Furthermore, Kurt might be guilty."

"I agree with you that stopping the illegal hunting is serious and I'll back you up on that," Dan said. "I'll put out a notice in the embassy, from me personally, that I will not tolerate illegal hunting by any member of the U.S. Mission, but in Kurt's case the timing is bad for both of us."

Aden was quiet and pensive for several minutes before he spoke. "Fine. I can't drop the charges, but you have my permission for him to leave. I'll pass the word that we have negotiated a settlement and that you have agreed to get him out of the country. Is that okay?"

"Well, it's not all that I would like, but, yes, that will be fine," Dan said. It was a face saving compromise, but Dan sensed that with the compromise Aden could deal with Hus

sein whereas to drop the charges would be too much of a slap in the face. Dan stood up to leave. "Let's play golf one of these days." "Good idea," Aden said. "I'll call you just as soon as the President's trip up north is finished."

Aden walked with Dan to the car and once outside his office Dan said, "You know, Aden, if you have anything you ever want to discuss with me, we can go for a long walk on the beach, and just bat ideas back and forth. No commitment and strictly off the record."

"That's a good idea, Dan," he said. "I may have a few issues to talk to you about. Once this presidential trip is over, I'll call you and we can play golf, walk on the beach or you can take me out sailing on that little boat of yours.

"Excellent," Dan said and shook his hand then got in the car to drive to the embassy to go over the cable traffic before going home.

The duty officer, a young FSO in the Economic Section named Bill Hayden, was standing with the Marine Guard when Dan walked in the chancery. "Hello, Bill," Dan said. "What brings you down to the embassy on Friday afternoon." Dan signed the Marine's log.

"We had a priority classified cable from Ghana on a man named Kurt Conrad over in the USAID Mission, and I had to come in to look at it. I was just about to call Pete Stuart and ask him to come down to see it," Hayden said and handed the cable to Dan.

Dan took the cable from Bill and read it. "Go ahead and call Pete, and ask him if he can meet me at the residence in about a half an hour," Dan said. "Tell Pete I just had a meeting with General Ossman about Kurt and I`d like to tell him what happened."

"All right, sir. I'll call him right now," Bill said and handed Dan a stack of cables. "Here's the rest of the cable traffic. There's nothing else important."

Dan read the rest of the traffic while the duty officer called Pete, and, after Bill told him that Pete could meet him at the residence, Dan left the embassy, taking the message on Kurt with him.

It was just after four when Dan pulled up in front of the house to park beside Liliana's little red Alfa. The residence was located high up on the side of the dunes behind the beach, isolated from other homes, so they did not have the same trouble with her coming and leaving in her own car as they did in the more public beach hut. She was sitting on the terrace sipping a Campari and soda, and, as a cover, she had her copy of the FSI language textbook open on her lap.

"Hello, darling," Dan said and kissed her on the cheek before sitting down. "Pete Stuart's coming up in a minute to talk to me about something, but I won't be long. How was your day?"

"Wonderful," she said. "I found two beautiful veal knuckles and I'm going to cook a fantastic Italian meal for us tonight. How was yours?"

"Good," he said and asked his houseboy to bring him a Campari and soda. "I negotiated a peace between Kurt Conrad and the Somali Police, and I beat Pete Stuart in the first set of tennis."

It was just a few minutes before they heard the low muffled rumble of Pete's little sports car, and shortly after Pete walked out to the terrace. Pete knew Liliana, having taken some Italian lessons from her himself as a part of the post language training program, so no introductions were necessary. They exchanged quick greetings. Dan was cordial and businesslike with both Liliana and Pete, then stood up, offered Pete a drink which he declined, excused himself to Liliana, and asked Pete to accompany him to his study. "I guess you haven't seen this cable yet, have you?" Dan said and handed Pete a copy of the incoming message.

Pete took the cable and sat down in a chair to read it:

THE FOREIGN SERVICE

OF THE

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

INCOMING CABLE

PRIORITY

LIMITED OFFICIAL USE

ACTION: AMEMBASSY MOGADISHU

FROM: AMEMBASSY ACCRA

SUBJECT: KURT CONRAD-TCN EMPLOYEE

REF: MOGADISHU UNCLASSIFIED CABLE 0235

1. USAID/ACCRA WISHES TO OFFER SUBJECT A TWO YEAR CONTRACT AT A SALARY OF U.S. $ 30,000 PER YEAR PLUS HOUSING AND 25 PERCENT POST DIFFERENTIAL.

2. IF SUBJECT WISHES TO ACCEPT ASSIGNMENT HE SHOULD PROCEED ASAP TO ACCRA WHERE CONTRACT WILL BE SIGNED.

3. MOGADISHU AUTHORIZED TO ISSUE GOVERNMENT PAID AIRLINE TICKETS FROM MOGADISHU TO ACCRA VIA MOST DIRECT AND EXPEDITIOUS ROUTE.

4. IF SUBJECT ACCEPTS OFFER PLEASE CABLE ETA.

Pete looked up from the cable. "Sounds perfect," he said. "Now all we need is permission from the Somalis for Kurt to leave. That's your department, sir. How did you make out with General Ossman?"

"Well, I didn't get what I wanted, which was for the government to drop the charges, but I did get the General to agree to let Kurt leave the country. In effect it amounts to a P N G, but it lets them save face.

"I could have tried a lot of tail twisting, and reminded General Ossman about the air conditioners we found in Hussein's bedroom, and I could have pointed out that in this case Hussein might not be totally objective, which would have been a gross diplomatic understatement, but I think Aden would have held his ground. I think he figures that he can handle Hussein with this compromise. Dropping the charges would be too much for Hussein to accept. Moreover, I had the distinct impression that Aden thinks that Hussein might be right about the charges against Kurt. That Kurt has been involved in a lot of killing of wild animals."

"I would be surprised if they were true, sir," Pete said. "I've been out in the bush with Kurt, and I know he's not that kind of guy. He a very gentle, mild mannered man. He's no bloodthirsty nazi killer."

"I'll take your word for it, Pete. I guess at this stage it's academic anyway," Dan said. "Tell Kurt to get his gear packed up and shipped next week. I'd like to see him on the first plane out of here which is day after tomorrow, but I know that's too soon. We can shoot for next Sunday's plane though, so let's try and get him on it."

Pete left and Liliana and Dan drove down to the beach hut. They decided against taking a walk on the beach and it was a good that they did. They saw Marlisa di Paulo walking by herself toward their favorite spot, on what, Dan guessed, was her final walk along the beach, where as a little girl she had probably played, before returning to Rome on Sunday morning.

Liliana did keep her promise to prepare a delicious Italian meal.

Gene McCoy © July 1998

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© 1997 ginofso@gte.net