State of Terror

Betsy holds a tissue to her face to deal with the rancid odor on Hamilton’s apartment block. He is reluctant to talk to her but when he opens the door, she is surprised that he is clean shaven, well-presented, and standing in a clean apartment. She is intrigued and tries to convince him to help her. Hamilton refuses and asks her to leave. He admits that he is searching for evidence or proof for how the Dunn administration humiliated and fired him. Betsy realizes that Hamilton’s outward appearance as an addict in dire straits is an act. Seeking a pretext to fire Hamilton, the Dunn administration manufactured evidence that he was drug trafficking. He believes they fired him for being too close with liberal reporters and not demonstrating constant loyalty to President Dunn. They made an example of Hamilton to ensure other employees remained loyal. Betsy shares her suspicions about Dunn’s involvement in the bomb attacks. Hamilton admits that he has heard related rumors.

On her plane, Ellen oversees the operation to contact Zahara. As Zahara walks to class, she notices that she is being followed. Suspecting the Iranian religious police are in pursuit, she hurries to her class. She runs straight into a man who grabs her and places a phone to her ear. Anahita speaks to Zahara through the phone. Zahara admits that she sent the message to Anahita but says that she does not want to leave her home country. She wanted to “help, not hurt Iran” (146). As Anahita asks about Shah, the line cuts out.

Ellen meets with Minister Aziz in Oman. She asks him about the bus bombs, but he denies any Iranian involvement. Recently, she had hoped that Aziz showed a genuine desire to improve diplomatic relationships between their countries, but now she is confused by his dismissive attitude. She mentions Shah’s name and suggests that they speak in private. The room empties and Ellen takes a more direct approach. She asks him to release Zahara and anyone connected with her who might be imprisoned by the Iranian secret police. After the meeting, Ellen calls the president. She believes that Aziz “all but admitted” (151) that Iran planted the bombs, but she believes that she can rescue the captured Zahara and others if she flies to Tehran. She hopes that she might even be able to talk directly to the Supreme Leader of Iran, as she believes that the Iranians want the Americans to stop Shah. The president reluctantly allows Ellen to go to Iran. Then, he summons Beecham.

Betsy takes Hamilton to Boynton’s office and logs him into the computer system. She wants him to search the classified files for information about Tim Beecham. After hours of searching, however, Hamilton decides that most of the data has been purposefully removed. While fetching food for herself and Hamilton, Betsy calls Ellen and reveals all the information about they have managed to uncover thus far and that she has called Captain Phelan to accept her offer of protection. She returns to find that Hamilton has uncovered a treasure trove of hidden documents. Betsy informs Whitehead.

Ellen takes a jet belonging to the Sultan of Oman to fly to Tehran. With Katherine and Anahita, she disguises herself in traditional Islamic clothes. She learns that Gil signed himself out of the hospital after convincing someone to lend him €2,000.

Shah sips lemonade and speculates about Ellen’s strange course of action. She is not where he expected her to be, though Gil is proceeding according to Shah’s plans. He tells an assistant to cancel his lunch and to ready his plane. He asks them to apologize to his expected guests, including the former President of the United States.

Gil signs himself out of the hospital after convincing a nurse to lend him €2,000. She thanks him for trying to save so many people on the bus and believes that he wants to help others. He flies to Pakistan. He has not returned to this part of the world since he was kidnapped by the Pathan. In Peshawar, he meets a taxi driver and old friend named Akbar.

Whitehead arrives in the office and reads the information uncovered by Hamilton. He encourages them to keep searching for something truly incriminating. Hamilton announces that he needs some rest, so Whitehead departs. After he leaves, Hamilton shows Betsy a document authorizing Pakistan to release Shah from house arrest, withdraw from the nuclear deal with Iran, and make no post-withdrawal plan for Afghanistan. The document is signed by General Whitehead.

Ellen meets with the president of Iran. She declines to take a call from Betsy, deeming the meeting too important to interrupt. Anahita’s behavior in front of the president convinces Ellen that Anahita is loyal to the United States. During the meeting Ellen assumes that she is being recorded by Russian and Iranian intelligence groups. As Ellen begins to speak about the bombs, the meeting is interrupted by the arrival of the Supreme Leader of Iran, Ayatollah Khosravi.

Akbar and Gil continue their journey. After a long taxi ride, they must walk the final stretch though Gil is still injured. Akbar skillfully changes Gil’s bandages and finds a branch for Gil to use as a cane.

Betsy asks Captain Phelan to wait outside as she tries to contact Ellen to warn her that Whitehead (not Beecham) is the person “siding with, and providing vital information to, terrorists” (167).

Ellen reacts carefully to the arrival of Ayatollah Khosravi, the spiritual leader of Iran and the country’s most powerful figure. He sits with Ellen and President Nasseri; Ellen knows that the Ayatollah wants help because he wishes his son to succeed him, not a candidate chosen by the Russians. As such, he may want to help the Americans so they will not interfere with his son’s ascendancy. The Ayatollah all-but confesses to the bomb attacks, the murder of the three nuclear physicists, and the murder of Aram Wani and the CIA agents. However, he claims that he warned the United States about Shah’s physicists months before, but Iran’s warnings were ignored. As such, he believes that Iran had no choice but to act. Resisting the urge to criticize Iranian violence, Ellen offers an apology on behalf of her country. Boynton is shocked but Ellen assures herself that she is in control of the situation. The Ayatollah agrees to share what little information the Iranians have about Shah, who they believe will continue to sell weapons to terrorists. He implies that the United States should kill Shah.

Zahara and Behnam Ahmadi are led into the room. Zahara admits that she overheard her father discussing the plans for the bombs and decided to warn Anahita. She did not believe that the “murder of innocents” (172) fit with her understanding of Islam. Behnam confesses that he told the Iranian government about the message sent by his daughter; he believes they would have found out eventually, but he wanted to prove his loyalty to protect his wife and his other children. Everyone in the room is disgusted that he could betray his daughter in such a fashion. Ellen asks for information about the Iranian’s intelligence source. The Ayatollah’s unwillingness to say anything in a room potentially filled with listening devices leads Ellen to deduce that the source is Russian. He tells her a cryptic story about lions, rats, and hunters. Then, the Ayatollah orders the arrest of Anahita. He apologizes to Ellen as he leaves the room.

Gil and Akbar are greeted by armed guards at the entrance to the Pathan encampment. Hamza, the camp commander, welcomes Gil and leads him past the stacks of military hardware, all stamped with Russian writing. Gil and Hamza drink tea and reminisce about Gil’s kidnapping. Hamza is Gil’s source for the information about the Pakistani nuclear physicists, but he insists that he cannot provide any more information. Gil reminds Hamza of the months they spent together, studying the Quran and they bond they formed during his imprisonment. Hamza helped Gil to escape, and they remained friends ever since. Gil begs Hamza for help stopping Shah from building a nuclear bomb.

As Katherine fears for Anahita’s safety, Ellen tries to deduce the reasoning behind the Ayatollah’s sudden turn. Her thoughts are interrupted by a message from Betsy, who reveals that Whitehead rather than Beecham is the “traitor” (179). At the same time, she receives an email from Gil which suggests that the three nuclear physicists were “undistinguished scientists hired by Bashir Shah with the sole purpose of being slaughtered” (180) as a distraction from his real plan which is still in motion: a nuclear weapons program in Afghanistan. She calls Gil in desperation as Katherine counts down the time until her telephone is tracked. He tells her that Shah has numerous facilities in abandoned factories alongside the Afghan-Pakistan border. The Russian mafia is supplying materials to Shah, who aims to target numerous cities in the United States. Shah, Ellen deduces, sent a false tip to the Iranians, knowing that they would kill his scientists and think that they had foiled his plan. As Katherine signals that the time has expired, Gil warns that the bombs are already in the United States, and they will be set off soon.

Shah arrives in Pakistan. He wants to know Ellen’s location and he is annoyed to be told that she met with President Nasseri and Ayatollah Khosravi. Though she seems to have failed, he contemplates the reasoning behind the Iranians’ actions.

Akbar wants to leave the compound, but Gil insists that they wait until morning.

Ellen and Katherine are horrorstruck by Gil’s news. Ellen decides that she needs to locate the informant who passed information to the Iranians. She tells Katherine and Boynton to remain in Iran “sightseeing” (186) while she returns to the United States to update the president about her latest information. She wants them to distract whoever is following them, wasting their time while she finds the bombs. Katherine and Boynton begin a long car journey to visit an ancient set of cave paintings while Ellen boards the Sultan’s jet to Washington. Her theory is that the Ayatollah deliberately arrested Anahita to give the Americans a pretext to leave somebody behind; he wants to tell Ellen something but is worried that she is too closely watched.

Boynton and Katherine fly to the cave paintings, near the Pakistan border. They are driven to the site by a man named Farhad. He speaks enthusiastically about the cave art and complains that “no foreign traveler ever comes here” (188). Deep inside a cave, they are met by Anahita, Zahara, and Behnam Ahmadi, as well as the two Iranian agents who work for the CIA. Farhad is revealed as an undercover agent for the Iranian intelligence agency who also works sometimes for the Russian mafia. Katherine secretly videos the meeting on her telephone.

As Hamza bids farewell to Gil, he slips a pistol into Gil’s pocket. Gil returns to Akbar, who begins to drive them back to the airport. Akbar plans to kill Gil and claim a bounty.

Ellen returns to Washington and goes straight to the president. Betsy and Pete Hamilton meet her in the outer offices, but as they enter the Oval Office, they see General Whitehead and Tim Beecham already sitting with the president. Ellen accuses Whitehead of being the traitor; he denies her accusation and insists that Beecham is the real culprit. Whitehead is arrested by security; he insists that Captain Phelan is not involved, but eventually admits that he is guilty. Beecham is furious that Whitehead tried to frame him. Whitehead wrestles free and punches Beecham in the face, breaking his nose. Whitehead is led away for interrogation. Ellen begins to tell the president about what she uncovered in Iran.