The Voice translated for him.

“Simultaneous translate to Farsi,” Danny told the computer. “As long as it’s chocolate.”

He repeated the words as the Voice reeled them off.

“Your pronunciation is off,” said Hera. “And what’s that supposed to mean?”

“It’s a joke. I like chocolate cake.”

“Oh.”

“You don’t have much of a sense of humor, do you?” he said.

“I laugh at things that are funny.”

As Nuri’s boat slipped in alongside, the Voice reported that two more cars were coming down the road.

“I don’t want to wait too much longer,” said Nuri. “If we miss that bus, we have no way of getting to Tehran until morning.”

“Agreed,” said Danny. “We’ll go in after these pass. You ready, Flash?”

“Born ready, Colonel.”

“Nuri let a soldier drive?” said Hera.

“Boats are easy,” said Flash. “You should see me with a motorcycle.”

“Maybe you’ll get a chance with the bus,” said Danny.

“I’m game.”

Hera scoffed.

“You like driving motorcycles?” asked Danny.

“I have to be honest, Colonel,” said Flash. “I’ve never driven one.”

“No?”

“Chief Boston was going to show me in Sudan, but we didn’t get a chance.”

“It’s practically a requirement for Whiplash. We’ll have to teach you.”

“I’m ready whenever you are.”

“One more thing,” Danny told him. “Don’t call me colonel anymore. We have to stick with our covers.”

“Right.”

“Boss, anything like that is good.”

“Right.”

While they waited for the cars, Nuri sat on the deck at the rear of the cockpit, rehearsing his Farsi. He had spent much of the trip practicing with the Voice. Iran’s native language had never been particularly hospitable to his tongue. While the Voice could help with vocabulary, Nuri was still having fits with the pronunciation.

“Vehicle three has passed,” said the Voice.

“Let’s get in while the gettin’s good.” Danny slid the engine up out of idle, gave it a quick jolt, then dropped the throttle back again.

The Voice steered them past a group of rocks to a shallow shelf at the sea’s edge. The wind had died to almost nothing. Danny handled the boat easily, stopping just short of the shore, where the water was shallow enough that he didn’t beach.

Flash had a harder time. Just as he drew his boat up to the Phantom, the bow hit a submerged tree trunk. They pitched hard to port against the other cruiser.

The impact caught Hera by surprise, sending her to the deck.

“Watch it,” she said, scrambling up.

“Sorry.”

“Let’s go,” said Danny. “Hera, grab the line.”

She went to the side of the boat. Nuri, still somewhat distracted, climbed out to the bow and tossed the lead to her.

“Can’t we get any closer to shore?” he asked Flash.

“Man, I’m just hoping I didn’t beach us.”

Nuri sat and took off his shoes and socks, then rolled up his pants. He didn’t want to be too wet when he got on the bus. He had another change of clothes, but they were packed in the suitcase, which would be brought along by Danny and Hera later.

He put his foot over the side tentatively, dipping it in the water. It was colder than he expected.

“Best to just get in,” he said aloud to himself, easing down. His teeth started chattering. He held his shoes above his head and walked toward dry land.

The water was nearly three feet deep and came up to his waist, soaking his pants and the bottom of his shirt.

“Damn,” he muttered.

He pushed away from the boat, took a step, then slipped on the mossy bottom, dunking his entire body.

“You better grab the suitcase and get some backup clothes,” said Danny.

“Have Flash get it,” said Nuri, squeezing out his drenched shirt on shore.

Flash had his own solution. He stripped off his pants and held them over his head as he waded first to the other boat for the waterproof luggage, then to shore.

“Tell me next time so I can close my eyes,” said Hera.

“Next time I sell tickets.”

“You got the boat?” Danny asked Hera.

“Yeah, they’re tied to us.”

“Go ahead, get in.”

“I think you ought to pull it off the tree or rocks or whatever first. Make sure they’re not hung up.”

“If they are hung up, we’ll need their engine, too,” said Danny.

“It’ll float higher without me in it.”

“Just do it.”

Hera jumped into the other boat.

She was just one of those people who would always want to do the opposite of what anyone else suggested, Danny thought.

He started reversing the engine on the Phantom 21. The line between the two boats grew taut—then snapped.

“How can it be so wedged in there?” Hera asked. “We’re not even hitting anything.”

“Get everything out and into our boat. Maybe it will float a little higher.”

There wasn’t much in the boat except for six jerry cans. Only four had fuel in them. Hera brought them over while Danny retied the line, doubling it this time. They got the other boat to nudge back, only to have it hang up on another submerged piece of the tree. The rope held, but the boat wouldn’t budge.

“The gods are screwing with us,” said Danny. “You take the helm here. I’m going across. Don’t do anything until I tell you.”

Because of the time constraints, the plan called for Nuri and Flash to head for the bus at the nearby stop. The bus would take them to another line that ran to the airport.

Danny and Hera would stash the boats a few miles away at a marina. Then they’d catch another bus to Tehran, arriving several hours later with the gear. Depending on where Tarid went—Nuri was betting on Tehran itself—Danny and Hera would immediately get a hotel room and start making other arrangements to support the surveillance mission.

Ashore, Nuri changed and checked his watch. They had fifteen minutes to walk the mile to the bus stop down the road.

“Flash and I have to get moving,” he said as Danny settled behind the wheel for another try. “We’ll take the bags with us.”

“Hold on, hold on,” said Danny. He revved the engine and shouted to Hera to pull backward. The boat didn’t budge.

“Danny, we’re going,” said Nuri.

“All right,” he said. “You’re better off with them anyway. In case we’re late.”

Nuri had changed everything but his shoes, deciding that his boots would look too American. He squished with every step.

“Car approaching,” warned the Voice.

“There’s a car,” Nuri told Flash, starting off the road.

“Maybe we should hitch.”

“You have an explanation about why we’re here?”

“We went for a midnight swim.”

“That’s not going to work in Iran. Come on—there are some bushes we can duck behind.”

IT TOOK DANNY AND HERA ANOTHER HOUR TO GET THE SUNSEEKER unstuck. By then they had no hope of making their bus.

“What’s Plan B?” asked Hera over the radio as they finally got the two vessels pointed toward the marina. The Voice tied her team short-distance unit into its communications circuit.

“We grow wings and fly,” said Danny.

“How come you can be a wiseass, and I can’t?” snapped Hera.

The remark caught Danny off guard.

“I wasn’t being a wiseass,” he said.

“What do you call it?”

“It was kind of a joke.”

“But I have no sense of humor.”

“You’re being awful sensitive,” he said.

“If I’m going to get canned, I want to understand why.”

“We’re going to get a later bus,” said Danny coldly. “There’s one that passes four hours later.”

“So we just wait? What if they need us?”

“If you have a better idea, I’m all ears.”

“Why don’t we see if we can rent a car?”

“There are no car rental places. Not even at the marina.”

“Then let’s steal one.”

Danny had considered it earlier, but decided that even the slight risk wasn’t worth taking if they could simply ride on the bus. Now, though, he saw the long gap as a potential problem, leaving him no way to back up Nuri and Flash for hours if something went wrong.