Honour Among Thieves

future.' 'Any particular reason?' she asked. 'The date of the Baghdad operation has been settled.' 'Thank God,' said Hannah. 'Why do you say that?' asked Scott, risking his first question. 'The Ambassador expects to be called back to Baghdad to take up a new post. He intends to ask me to go with him,' replied Hannah. 'Or that's what the Chief Administrator is telling everyone, except Muna.' 'I'll warn Kratz.' 'By the way, Simon, I've picked up two or three scraps of information that Kratz might find useful.' He nodded and listened as Hannah began to give him details of the internal organisation of the embassy, and of the comings and goings of diplomats and businessmen who publicly spoke out against Saddam while at the same time trying to close deals with him. After a few minutes he stopped her and said, 'You'd better leave now. They might begin to miss you. I'll try and arrange another meeting whenever it's possible,' he found himself adding. She smiled, rose from the table and left, without looking back. Later that evening, Scott sent a coded message to Dexter Hutchins in Virginia to let him know that he had made contact with Hannah Kopec. A fax came back an hour later with only one instruction. ON MAY 2STH 1993, the sun rose over the Capitol a few minutes after five. Its rays crept along the White House lawn and minutes later seeped unnoticed into the Oval Office. A few hundred yards away, Cavalli was slapping his hands behind his back. Cavalli had spent the previous day in Washington, checking the finer details for what felt like the hundredth time. He had to assume that something must go wrong and, whatever it turned out to be, it would automatically become his responsibility. Johnny Scasiatore walked over and handed Cavalli a steaming mug of coffee. 'I had no idea it could be this cold in Washington,' Cavalli said to Johnny, who was wearing a sheepskin jacket. 'It's cold at this time of the morning almost everywhere in the world,' replied Johnny. 'Ask any film director.' 'And do you really need six hours to get ready for three minutes of filming?' Cavalli asked incredulously. 'Two hours' preparation for a minute's work is the standard rule. And don't forget, we'll have to run through this particular scene twice, in somewhat unusual circumstances.' Cavalli stood on the corner of 13th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue and eyed the fifty or so people who came under Johnny's direction. Some were preparing a track along the pavement that would allow a camera to follow the six cars as they travelled slowly down Pennsylvania Avenue. Others were fixing up massive IK arc lights along the seven hundred yards that would eventually be powered by a 200kw generator which had been transported into the heart of the capital at four o'clock that morning. Sound equipment was being tested to make sure that it would pick up every kind of noise -feet walking on a pavement, car doors slamming, the rumble of the subway, even the chimes of the clock on the Old Post Office Tower. 'Is all this expense really necessary?' asked Cavalli. 'If you want everyone except us to believe they're taking part in a motion picture, you can't afford to risk any short-cuts. I'm going to shoot a film that anybody watching us, professional or amateur, could expect to see one day in a movie theatre. I'm even paying full equity rates for all of the extras.' 'Thank God none of my people have a union,' commented Cavalli. The sun was now full on his face, twenty-one minutes after the President would have enjoyed its warmth over breakfast in the White House. Cavalli looked down at the checklist on his clipboard. Al Calabrese already had all his twelve vehicles in place on the kerbside, and the drivers were standing around in a huddle drinking coffee, sheltered from the wind by one of the walls of Freedom Plaza. The six limousines glistened in the morning sun as passers-by, cleaners and janitors leaving offices and early-morning commuters coming up from the Federal Triangle Metro slowed to admire the spectacle. A painter was just touching up the Presidential Seal on the third car while a girl was unfurling a flag on the right-hand fender. Cavalli turned to see a police truck, tailboard down, parked in front of the District Building, Barriers were being lifted off and carried onto the pavement to make sure innocent passers-by did not stray onto the set during those crucial three minutes when the filming would be taking place. Lloyd Adams had spent the previous day