On Wings of Eagles by Ken Follett Page B

Tehran, telling them to
        get off their butts; and he's going to write a personal note to Vance about
        Paul and Bill."
    "Good."
        "We also called Admiral Moorer. He's up to speed on this whole thing
        because we consulted him about the passport problem. Moorer's going to talk
        to Ardeshir Zahedi. Now, Zahedi is not just the Iranian Ambassador in
        Washington but also the Shah's brother-in-law, and he's now back in
        Iran-running the country, some say. Moorer will ask Zahedi to vouch for
        Paul and Bill. Right now we're drafting a cable for Zahedi to send to the
        Ministry of Justice."
    "Who's drafting it?"
    "Tom Luce."
        "Good." Perot summed up: "We've got the Secretary of State, the head of the
        Iran Desk, the Embassy, and the Iranian
        ON WINGS OF EAGLES 67
     
    Ambassador all working on the case. That's good. Now let's talk about what
    else we can do."
        T.J. said: "Tom Luce and Tom Walter have an appointment with Admiral Moorer
        in Washington tomorrow. Moorer also suggested we call Richard Helms-he used
        to be Ambassador to Iran after he quit the CIA."
        "I'll call Helms," Perot said. "And I'll call Al Haig and Henry Kissinger.
        I want you two to concentrate on getting all our people out of Iran."
    Gayden said: "Ross, I'm not sure that's necessary-"
        "I don't want a discussion, Bill," said Perot. "Let's get it done. Now,
        Lloyd Briggs has to stay there and deal with the problem-he's the boss,
        with Paul and Bill in jail. Everyone else comes home."
        "You can't make them come home if they don't want to," Gayden said.
    "Who'll want to stay?"
    "Rich Gallagher. His wife-"
        "I know. Okay, Briggs and Gallagher stay. Nobody else." Perot stood up.
        "I'll get started on those calls."
        He took the elevator to the seventh floor and walked through his
        secretary's office. Sally Walther was at her desk. She had been with him
        for years, and had been involved in the prisonersof-war campaign and the
        San Francisco party. (She had come back from that weekend with a Son Tay
        Raider in tow, and Captain Udo Walther was now her husband.) Perot said to
        her: "Call Henry Kissinger, Alexander Haig, and Richard Helms."
        He went through to his own office and sat at his desk. The office, with its
        paneled walls, costly carpet, and shelves of antiquarian books, looked more
        like a Victorian library in an English country house. He was surrounded by
        souvenirs and his favorite art. For the house Margot bought Impressionist
        paintings, but in his office Perot preferred American art: Norman Rockwell
        originals and the Wild West bronzes of Frederic Remington. Through the
        window he could see the slopes of the old golf course.
        Perot did not know where Henry Kissinger might be spending the holidays: it
        could take Sally a while to find him. There was time to think about what to
        say. Kissinger was not a close friend. It would need all his salesmanship
        to grab Kissinger's attention and, in the space of a short phone call, win
        his sympathy.
    68 Ken Follett
     
        The phone on his desk buzzed, and Sally called: "Henry Kissinger for you."
    Perot picked it up. "Ross Perot."
    "I have Henry Kissinger for you."
    Perot waited.
        Kissinger had once been called the most powerful man in the world. He knew
        the Shah personally. But how well would he remember Ross Perot? The
        prisoners-of-war campaign had been big, but Kissinger's projects had been
        bigger: peace in the Middle East, rapprochement between the U.S. and China,
        the ending of the Vietnam War ...
        "Kissinger here." It was the familiar deep voice, its accent a curious
        mixture of American vowels and German consonants.
        "Dr.