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there any of their officers or soldiers. these men waited in their barracks or airfields or ships all equally anxious and impatient to move.
     
     
"i wish you'd stayed at home, gen," mclver had said uneasily.
     
     
"i wish we'd all stayed at home," pettikin said, equally ill at ease.
     
     
a week before, mciver had been approached by one of khomeini's supporters to supply the helicopter to take khomeini from the airport to behesht-zahra. "sorry, that's not possible, i haven't the authority to do that," he had said, aghast. within an hour the man was back with green bands, mciver's office and the outer offices jammed with them, young, tough, angry-looking men, two with soviet ak47 automatic rifles over their shoulders, one with a u.s. m16.
     
     
"you will supply the helicopter as i have said," the man told him arrogantly. "in case crowd control becomes too difficult. of course all tehran will be there to greet the ayatollah, the blessings of god be upon him."
     
     
"much as i would like to do that, i can't," mclver had told him carefully, trying to buy time. he was in an untenable position. khomeini was being allowed to return, but that was all; if the bakhtiar government knew that s-g was supplying their archenemy with a chopper for a triumphal entry into their capital, they would be very irritated indeed. and even if the government agreed, if anything went wrong, if the ayatollah was hurt, s-g would be blamed and their lives not worth a bent farthing. "all our aircraft are leased and i don't have the necessary authority to g "
     
     
"i give you the necessary authority on behalf of the ayatollah," the man had said angrily, his voice rising. "the ayatollah is the only authority in iran."
     
     
"then it should be easy for you to get an iranian army or air force helicopter't "
     
     
"quiet! you have had the honor to be asked. you will do as you are told. in the name of allah, the komiteh has decided you will supply a 212 with your best pilots to take the ayatollah to where we say, when we say, as we say."
     
     
this was the first time mciver had been confronted by one of the komitehs small groups of young fundamentalists that had appeared, seemingly miraculously, the moment the shah had left iran, in every village, hamlet, town, and city to seize power, attacking police stations, leading mobs into the streets, taking control wherever they could. most times a mullah led them. but not always. in the abadan oil fields the komitehs were said to be left-wing fedayeen literally "those who are prepared to sacrifice themselves."
     
     
"you will obey!" the man shook a revolver in his face.
     
     
"i'm certainly honored by your confidence," mciver had said, the men crowding him, the heavy smell of sweat and unwashed clothes surrounding him. "i will ask the government for perm "
     
     
"the bakhtiar government is illegal and not acceptable to the people," the man had bellowed. at once the others took up the shout and the mood became
     
     
ugly. one man unslung his automatic rifle. "you will agree or the komiteh will take further action."
     
     
mclver had telexed andrew gavallan in aberdeen, who gave immediate approval provided s-g's iranian partners approved. the partners could not be found. in desperation mclver contacted the british embassy for advice: "well, old boy, you can certainly ask the government, formally or informally, but you'll never get an answer. we're not even certain they'll really allow khomeini to land, or that the air force won't take matters into their own hands. after all the bloody fellow's an out-and- out revolutionary, openly calling for insurrection against the legal government that everyone else recognizes her majesty's government to boot. either way, if you're silly enough to ask, the government will certainly remember you embarrassed them and you're damned either way."
     
     
eventually mclver had worked out an acceptable compromise with the komiteh. "after all," he had pointed out