CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
Stanton got back to the lair before midday and checked more information, had a think but was still left with the same path. He needed to find Al Ahmadi and eliminate him. He was resigned to the fact that that was as much as he could do with not much chance of interrogating him with the time frame. With Ahmadi gone the chain would be decimated and he had another idea for follow up. He checked his tools, Wayne and Truman in the US. Legrand in the US. Hurst and Barkly in the UK. Even if he found Ahmadi's location they were all too wide. He then thought Sivert must be somewhere in the area if he had returned the AC 130 and as far as he knew he had a crew with him. He dialled up Sivert's background and it read like a war movie, one of the most decorated air force commanders still operational. Sent to a desk job in Garcia after he had moved an aircraft carrier in the Gulf in 2003 against orders. Stanton thought if Sivert moved an aircraft carrier he had a damn good reason and thought he might like the chance to have that reviewed.
He called Hurst who informed Stanton that Sivert had taken the Hercules to King Khalid Military Base in Saudi Arabia as requested by the RAF; it had only just arrived and as far as he knew Sivert was still there awaiting change over.
Stanton called Conrad Wayne asking for Sivert's personal phone number. Wayne gave the number to him after Stanton explained the situation and suggested a drone attack if Stanton knew the exact location of the target. Stanton was not in favour of the method of drones as it could not extract information nor clearly identify a target before proceeding.
Stanton then convinced Jacob to phone his father mobile to mobile; it took a while but he eventually agreed explaining peace stood in the balance. When Ahmadi identified his son’s contact he answered. He abused his son for over two minutes until Stanton had a fix on his location. Ahmadi called his own son an infidel pig. Jacob was gutted, admitting he had made up stories on his close relationship with his father and that he still grappled with understanding the radical elements in his homeland. Ahmadi was located on Failaka Island in the town of Az-Zawr twenty kilometres off the Kuwaiti coast and part of Kuwait. Stanton searched for information, finding Al Ahmadi's organisation of oil distribution now owned most of the island and extensive work was being carried out developing the island. Ahmadi had a registered office complex located at the old Failaka Harbour.
Stanton called Sivert bouncing from Hawaii, forced to use normal communications for the delicate call with nothing else available and no time. Stanton explained the situation to Sivert who listened without interruptions making notes. Stanton explained a plan that Sivert could elaborate on as he flew missions into the island during the Iraq war. Stanton asked Sivert to bring Ahmadi out alive to try and further the information trail on the nuclear threat. Sivert asked it be left with him to map a plan; Stanton gave Sivert a contact number to call back with success or failure. Stanton rang Hurst and asked the Hercules’ retrieval be put back another twenty-four hours; then he waited.