[ Excerpted from The Great Game ]
But have they read “The Big Game”?
George: So, um, you’ve read “The Big Game”, have you?
Eva (fawning): Yes I’ve read it and I’ve memorized it.
George: Tell me your impressions, I would love to hear what a young woman thinks of “The Big Game”.
Eva: Well, this is sort of embarrassing, but it’s changed my life. The way you analyzed the game? The way you identify the major players? Well it left me breathless. You’re a brilliant, brilliant man.
George: Well, it’s just a game. Remember that, kids.
Tim: Just a game. He’s so humble. Don’t forget what you wrote in the epilogue, the fate of the world depends on the outcome of this game.
George: Well, I was exaggerating a bit, just for effect.
Zia was most likely killed by the Soviets. The best theory I’ve read - which also explains the plane’s unusual flight pattern - consistent with the pilots being unconscious - described a nerve agent being released in the cockpit once the flight reached a certain altitude.
Of course, it could have been just an accident, and we’ll never know (unless the KGB/Soviet files are ever truly opened).
But Zia was providing the bulwark of the support of Afghanistan rebels to the Soviet occupation next door. No one wanted him dead more than the communists.