"That's the most frightening possibility," conceded the Executioner. "So does that shipment of nuclear material tie in?"

"The boat docked in Karachi four days behind schedule. According to a local contact, the captain claimed he called in at Khurabi for emergency repairs. But they had plenty of time to drop off a contraband car go."

"What do you know about Khurabi? I thought that beneath all the usual rhetoric it was basically proWestern."

"I've assembled an electronic briefing for you. All you've got to do is hook up your terminal and I'll feed it through." Good, as always Kurtzman was on top of the job.

Bolan reactivated his machine, tapped in the appropriate instructions and waited for the two computers to start talking to each other. It did not take long.

The Stony Man genius had drawn on a variety of data banks, videotapes and intelligence digests to compile a concise overview of the current situation.

Khurabi is one of that patchwork of sheikhdoms and emirates that dots the shores of the Persian Gulf. Centuries ago it had thrived as a port for the spice trade and the slavers; in the modern age its fortunes were due entirely to oil. Colored graphs showed Bolan how oil revenues had spiraled to astronomical figures following the OPEC price hikes. The Zayoud family had inherited power in 1946, the country now being ruled by Sheikh Harun Zayoud. There was a recent photograph of the chieftain stripping the packing from a box of the latest video movies.

"Harun talks tough at times but he looks more favorably on the West than the Soviet Union," said Kurtzman, supplementing the visuals. He was watching the information displayed on his own terminal. "The sheikh likes new toys — an endless supply of them, in fact. And he sure can't get them from the Russians. As you can see... cars from Germany, video equipment from Japan, games and movies from America."