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plaque below gave a decidedly pro-Georgian account of the Russia-Georgia War, a brief conflict in 2008 in which the Georgians attacked South Ossetia, formerly a part of Georgia, in an attempt to recapture it. The Russian 58th Army intervened and chased the Georgians back to Gori, only a few miles from Tbilisi.
    Bush sent Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on a hurried visit to Tbilisi to stand by Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvilli and show American solidarity with Georgia. Something else must have happened behind the scenes because, the next day, Russian President Dimitry Medvedev announced the withdrawal of Russian forces from Georgian territory. Bush became a hero in the Republic of Georgia.
    Bush was not a hero to Dabney St. Clair. She loathed the “Cowboy President” and all of the nationalistic, power politics he stood for. And she loathed being in Kutaisi, a hundred miles from Tbilisi and its sophisticated international community. She could see no connection between this ludicrous bust and the nuanced American mission in Central Asia, as defined by an administration very different from the George W. Bush crowd. She felt she’d been sent to Kutaisi as punishment, or simply because the ambassador didn’t want to be bothered. It involved a long drive, two days of listening to dull debate in a language she didn’t understand, and attending another official dinner and a luncheon.
    As the small crowd broke up and moved toward a catered luncheon in a nearby hall, a thin, well-dressed man approached her.
    “Ms St. Clair, I am Farhad Shirazi. I think we are both here representing our bosses. I am the deputy ambassador of the Democratic Republic of Iran. I am so pleased to meet you.”
    He extended his hand and gave a slight bow.
    “I am likewise pleased, Mr. Shirazi. Are you going to the luncheon?” As she turned toward the luncheon, he fell in beside her, and they walked together. Before she could decide where the American presence would be most advantageous, a committee chairman took her arm and led her to the head table and seated her next to himself, with Shirazi on her other side. The head of the U.S. Embassy cultural office, her driver and guide for this expedition, was seated at the back, much to his consternation.
    Dabney accepted her place at the head table as no less than the due for her position as the second in command at the embassy of the United States. And, she had, after all, had the major speaking part in the opening ceremony for the semi-annual session of the Parliament of Georgia. Maybe this State Department stuff wasn’t so bad after all. She’d spent several years working embassy cover jobs, so she was familiar with the basics of protocol. She’d never been at this level, though.
    ****
    Driving back to Tbilisi that night, she elected to sit in the back, leaving the cultural officer as the driver alone in the front of the car. It wasn’t the ambassador’s limo, just an ordinary embassy Suburban, but she’d played the ambassador role for two days and she rather liked it. Plus, she needed some space to think.
    Shirazi was a graduate of Georgetown University Law Center and had lived in Washington more years than she had. He spoke impeccable English. He had mostly listened as their host had talked about the upcoming parliamentary docket of bills to be presented for debate. Later, on the way out of the Parliament building, he had given her his card and asked for hers. He asked whether he might call on her to discuss some “minor matters.” She had agreed.
    What did that mean? Was this a diplomatic contact? Was it an attempt to initiate some kind of dialogue? Had Iran decided to use her as the conduit for some major discussion of the tension between these two great nations? She was up for it.
    ****
    “You’ll have to report your contact with Deputy Ambassador Shirazi,” the cultural officer said later as they parked the car in the embassy parking lot.
    “It was a casual contact in the