Chapter Fourteen
Friday, February 26, 1988
Miran Shah, Pakistan
Franz Alperstein strode around the Puma, making his final checks before takeoff. The chopper was well armed now, although most of the kit had only recently been added.
The team’s biggest challenge had been to remove any evidence that it was being operated by the United States, because if it was shot down in Afghanistan and seized by the Russians, the covert game of the CIA supplying the mujahideen with armaments would well and truly be up. Not to mention the row that would erupt in Islamabad with President Zia, who had ordered all mujahideen-related operations to be conducted through the ISI.
Therefore, the Puma had to carry weaponry that might plausibly be found on any Russian military helicopter. That would give the CIA
