Year of the Golden Ape Read Online Free PDF Page B

source - from the sheikhs themselves. So when Ahmed Riad met him in November, Winter was more than receptive to his approach - providing Riad would pay him one million dollars. From where Riad sat on the Tangier rooftop, Winter appeared to be anything but receptive after thirty minutes' discussion.
    'You are asking me to undertake an operation most men would find impossible, Riad,' Winter said coldly.
    Riad, wearing western clothes, was a hard-faced, plump little man with sweat patches under the armpits of his linen suit. He sat facing the sun, an arrangement Winter manoeuvred by the simple process of hauling out a certain chair when the Arab arrived. It was not only the heat which was making him sweat: he was uncomfortable in the presence of the Englishman.
    Earlier Winter had compelled him to explain what was needed by refusing to discuss terms until he knew exactly what he had to do. Riad had lied convincingly, assuring Winter he would be in complete command of the operation, that LeCat, who had already been approached, would be his subordinate. The plan was, he said, to bring pressure on Britain and America to stop more arms being sent to Israel. A British ship would be hi-jacked off the West Coast of America, would be taken to an American port, and there the demand that no more arms be sent to Israel would be made. The British crew of the seized ship would be hostages until the demand was met.
    It was a shrewd piece of power-play, Winter saw at once. The Americans would hesitate to take a strong line with the lives of another country's men apparently at stake - and if they tried to take a strong line the British government would intervene. 'There is, of course, no question of actually harming the hostages . . .' Riad went on. And this, too, made sense: certain Arab statesmen were trying to drive a wedge in between Britain and America, so the last thing they would wish to do would be to antagonise Britain.
    'Your idea - LeCat's idea- of how to hi-jack a ship is, of course, a joke,' Winter pointed out at one stage. He outlined his own idea which had occurred to him while he was listening. The flicker in Riad's eyes told Winter he had just scored a major point. This was the moment when he told the Arab, 'You are asking me to undertake an operation most men would find impossible ... so the fee must be reasonable,' Winter continued.
    'Reasonable?' Riad blinked in the sun. They had said this man was a hard negotiator.
    'From my point of view,' Winter said coldly. 'Otherwise it is not worth the risk. The fee for my controlling this operation will be one million dollars.'
    That is impossible!' Riad half-rose out of his chair.
    'Are you going?' Winter enquired bleakly.
    'It is quite impossible,' Riad repeated, sinking back slowly into his chair. 'We could not even discuss a sum like that...'
    'I agree. I'm not prepared to discuss it myself. Accept it - or forget the whole idea.'
    'You insult me . . .' Riad was perched at the edge of his chair as though on the verge of imminent departure. 'You are like all Westerners used to be - before they discovered they would die without oil, our oil...'
    'It's not your oil. Your ancestors just happened to pitch their tents in the right place. We had to find and dig it out for you.' Winter poured some more black coffee and then left the pot in the middle of the table. 'If you want more coffee, there's some in the pot...'
    They must need me badly he was thinking. Arab pride had lately become overweening; had, in fact, reached the stage where only Arab pride existed as far as the sheikhs were concerned. A dangerous combination - supreme economic power allied with fierce pride. Couldn't the West see this ?
    'We are prepared to pay you a fortune for your cooperation,' Riad said stiffly. 'We are prepared to pay you the sum of six hundred thousand dollars. Not one cent more.'
    'If you think my figure of one million is negotiable, forget it.' Winter's manner was icy and Riad, who had been staring into