His men stood before him waiting for an order. “We are not going back. We will die before we reach the shore. The choppers are low on fuel and the oil is clogging the intakes. We will clean it up as best we can, head as far along the coast as we are able in the opposite direction. We will be free of the sludge.
From there, I do not know.
We may surrender.
If we are fortunate we will make it into Yemen or Ethiopia. We can apply for refugee status. They will not kill us there. If anyone wants to go back, they are welcome to do so. Step forward if you wish to return to Iran.”
No one moved.
He smiled. They were good men and did not deserve to die. “Our mission was doomed from its inception. We may die before the dawn. In any event I am proud of all of you. It is Allah that has brought me to this decision. It is Allah’s will that we stick together. We will follow Allah’s will and pray that we live through this day.” Shortly, the ragtag warriors lifted into the sky headed for Yemen.
Chapter Thirty-four
“We interrupt this regularly scheduled program to bring you a SPECIAL BULLETIN.”
ABC, CBS, and NBC all broadcast the satellite link from Telekanal Rossiy, popularly called the Russia TV Channel. In all, virtually every station in the world carried the breaking story.
NBC’s Tom Kirkham sat behind his desk while the screen behind focused upon a runway. “We have just been informed that the hostages in the pirating crisis are alive and well. In a few minutes the hostages will arrive on the Russian presidential jet along with President Kuznetsov and Foreign Minister Vissarionovich who personally handled the negotiations for their release.” He held his hand to his earpiece and listened. “I have word the plane has been sighted and we now take you to Dan Gephart on the ground at Sheremetyevo International Airport in Moscow. Dan, what can you tell me?”
“Hi Tom — there is a very large crowd here awaiting the arrival of the hostages. It is one of the largest gatherings I have every seen and we estimate that around sixty thousand or so are here. They announced this on Russian TV about two hours ago and all these people have arrived in that short space of time. You can hear a military band playing in the background where the jet is expected to land. A red carpet has been rolled out; a stairway is already on the tarmac and—
HOLD EVERYTHING! I SEE THE PLANE!”
Robinson pulled the auto to a stop in front of the house with the white picket fence. Carol jumped out and rocked on the gate like she did so often during her childhood. “You should not do that,” Robinson warned her. “You are not that little girl anymore.” The gate nearly dropped off the hinges and she almost fell.
“Oops! Now I have done it!” she exclaimed as Robinson caught her.
“Now look what you have done,” he admonished. “You have broken it.”
“No harm done!” She lifted it back into place and brushed back her hair. “Nutt’n that a screwdriver can’t fix.”
Mom powered down the window. “We’d better beat it before you tear down the whole house. Let’s hope no one saw—”
Robinson pointed to the DSS agents sitting in a Cadillac across the street. “I bet they saw it all and will arrest you. It is their job to report vandalism like this.”
“You made that up!” said Turner her eyes sparkling. “Look, Sugar — no one is home. I want to peak around the back and see if that ole tire is still hanging from the oak.”
“We’d be trespassing. We can’t go running around—” She dragged him around the back while admonishing him for being a prude. “Look, it is still here!” She spun it, jumped on it, and began swinging. “It’s a new tire, but it is just as fun. Come on give me a push!”
“Are you sure? This is like the gate. You’ll bring the whole thing crashing down.”
“Psssh!” Give me a little push and then we can go. If you don’t; you’ll be sorry!”
He could see the DSS agents were getting a charge out of Turner’s antics. They had followed the pair around the back and were smoking cigarettes while grinning as though they had struck oil in their backyards. He gave her the push she wanted.
“Higher, Uncle Houston!”
“That is enough.” He pulled her to a stop. “You could hurt yourself. You nearly fell off the darn thing.” He spun her around and déjà vu set in when she peered into his eyes.
He kissed her. “You said something to me the last time we were here. Do you remember?”
She suddenly became serious. “I think I do” She tucked under her lower lip. “I was just a little girl, but some things can traverse beyond time. I love you as much as I did then. I told you so then and I’m telling you now—”
He placed a finger to her lips. “And it is time for me to tell you that you were right. No one ever measured up to you. I told myself that my work was too important to become involved with others and never gave it a thought. Now I know that I was waiting—“
“Waiting, Houston?” She placed her forehead against his, her palm on his cheek.
“Yes, waiting for this very moment. The moment when we had traversed time and I could see that we were meant for each other. I can clearly see it now and I want to apologize to the little girl who saw it so clearly.”
“Apologize?”
“For making you wait so long.” He kissed her and hoped she felt the same. She returned the kiss and knew that she loved him as she always did.
“Can you give me a sense of the feeling among the crowd?”
“There is an incredible feeling here. With all the bad news that has happened recently you can sense that those things are behind us. That perhaps we can begin rebuilding our world. And of course the Russians have been central in the new order. This is certainly a strong signal that the Russians are serious about becoming a part of the international community as never before.”
“I can sense it right here in the NBC newsroom. When one understands that not one hostage is a Russian, it tells something about the humanity of the Russian people.”
“It certainly does, Tom. These are wonderful people. I had been speaking to several before we began and—
THE PLANE HAS TOUCHED THE TARMAC! In about a minute it will taxi right in front of us. As I was saying, I was talking to the members of the crowd here as some of them do speak English very well and they are as excited about this as one could expect. We’ll talk to some of them in a few minutes, but right now let’s focus on this plane that has come to stop right in front of us. The crew is installing the stops; the stairway is being wheeled into place. It is exactly 7:53 a.m. Russian time. We are witnessing a moment in history. Until now the world did not know if the hostages were dead or alive and now we can see for ourselves. The door has opened and—
It looks likePresident Kuznetsov and Foreign Minister Vissarionovich are the first that we see. They are waving to the crowd and descending the stairway. You can hear the roar of the crowd behind me. The hostages are coming out single file and waving. They all look well and happy. Look at those smiles. Look at this! Some are kissing the Russian soil and now embracing the president and the foreign minister. Each hostage is being greeted by the president and the foreign minister as they reach the bottom of the stairway and they are forming a double line along the red carpet.”
A few minutes later the president and foreign minister walked down the red carpet while the gauntlet of EU citizens applauded. Kuznetsov stood in front of a bank of microphones at a podium. “I rejoice with the world, as before me we can report to you that THE NEGOTIATIONS WERE A SUCCESS AND THE HOSTAGES ARE SAFE!”