“What?” Adira rounded on her but Casey waved her away.

They found seats or stood waiting as both Sam and Eli opened large cases. Adira and Casey had their abaya scarves around their necks.

“Are we okay to be in here together?” Alex asked. “With unmarried women?”

Adira shrugged. “If you were just an Iranian citizen, I would say definitely not, and you could expect a visit from the morality police. But they’ll turn a blind eye as you are IRG.” She sat at a table and flipped open a small computer tablet and switched to satellite feed. She then selected the Mashhad District, and drilled down on Tous, but the angle and height of the satellite didn’t allow enough clarity on the images.

“Ach, not close enough.” Adira threw her hands up.

“We’ll need to go in – hard and fast,” Alex said.

“Belly of the beast,” Sam said.

“Just the way we like it.” Casey had a twisted grin on her face. “Fight or die.”

Adira nodded. “Fight or die? Yes, and if they take you, you will want to die. And it will be death, eventually, after a long and painful few weeks of psychological and surgical torture.”

Alex got to his feet. “Every second we are here increases our chances of being detected. We need to get this over with before the odds shift.”

“Agreed.” Adira stood. “We need better eyes in there first.” She turned to Eli. “Send in Tweety.”

“Onto it.” Eli flipped open his case and was pulling out a small device in pieces which he began snapping together. When he finished, he had what looked like a small bird in his hands, complete with fake feathers.

He laid it on the bed and then went back to the case. He adjusted the lid, which became a view-screen, with a joystick pad and a few other small controls. Adira went to the window and opened it, and stuck her head out momentarily. Then she pulled back and stood aside. “All clear. Let him fly.”

Eli fiddled at the controls, and then three spikes, one on each wing and a third on the tail, started to spin. Blades flicked out, and then like a small helicopter, the bird lifted soundlessly. Eli guided it to the window. On his screen, their room was displayed in high resolution.

Sam clapped his hands. “Now that is cool.”

Alex grinned. “Spy cam, and all wrapped up in a local bird of prey package. We now have our eyes. Nice work.”

“It’s more than just eyes.” Adira nodded. “Shaped like a desert kestrel, and just like them, can hover on thermals for hours. Perfect camouflage for a spy drone.”

Tweety zoomed past Adira, and the group crowded around Eli’s screen as it darted out the window. The drone rose to several hundred feet and zoomed across the several miles of desert to the town of Tous.