'You want to kill me, Jew?' he said softly. 'You can kill me.
But you cannot kill what I lived for. Captain Hauer said Phoenix will
be wiped out. But he is wrong. What united the men of Phoenix exists
everywhere. In Germany. South America. In the Soviet Union.
The United States and Britain. Everywhere. All governments know about
our groups, but they do nothing. The press calls them ultra-right
organizations. A few members go to jail now and then, so what?
Why are they tolerated? Because deep down, people understand these
movements. They express something every civilized man feels-the '
justified fear of anarchy, of racial destruction. They know that one
day the great struggle will come ... the struggle against the Schwarze
and Asian and the Jew-'
'Didn't you hear what I said this afternoon!'
Stern cried.
'The Jews don't want to destroy anyone! That's the difference between
us and you. We have the power to vaporize our enemies, yet we choose
not to.'
Hess smirked. 'I'll tell you what that tells me, Jew. It tells me that
your race is weak. The Jew is clever enough to build atomic weapons,
but he lacks the moral courage to use what he has created.'
'You're mad,' Stern said quietly.
Hess chuckled. 'Don't deceive yourself. There are individuals in
Israel who want to use their nuclear weapons.
That is why your nation must be obliterated.'
With a profound emptiness, Stern dropped his rifle to the floor and
turned away. Seeing this, Hess heaved himself away from the wall and
began dragging himself slowly toward Stern.
'You'll have to kill me, Jew.'
Sweating and grunting in the darkness of the airstrip, Hans and Hauer
lifted General Steyn through the main door of the Libyan Learjet.
Ilse and Dr. Sabri were already aboard. After laying the general on a
pile of carpets at the rear of the cabin, Hauer leaned out of the plane
to speak to Alan Burton.
The Englishman had disappeared. Peering into the darkness further up
the runway, Hauer saw the Libyan Yak-42.
Several guards patrolled beneath the big airliner, but as yet 'they had
not spied the activity around the Lear. 'Burton!'
Hauer called into the darkness. 'There's no pilot in here!'
Hearing a scuffle of footsteps at the edge of the runway, Hauer raised
his pistol.
'Help me get him in!' said Burton.
'My God,' Hauer breathed, spying Diaz's blood-soaked shirt. He slid
beneath the Cuban's shoulder and struggled up the jet's three steps. It
took both him and Burton to get Diaz to the Lear's cockpit.
Hauer looked down at the Cuban's face. 'He's unconscious!'
'Just resting his eyes,' said Burton. 'He's a tough little bugger.' The
Englishman slapped Diaz on the cheek.
'Aren't you, sport?'
The Cuban's head lolled forward in something close to a nod.
'Jesus,' Hauer muttered.
As Hans pulled the Lear's step-door closed, someone grabbed it from
outside and tried to pull it down. 'Captain!'
he shouted.
Hauer darted back to the cabin,'kicked the step-door down, and shoved
General Steyn's pistol through the door.
Gadi Abrams stood there gasping for breath, his left trouser leg soaked
with blood. Hauer pulled the Israeli into the plane and secured the
door.
'Ready!' Hans shouted forward.
In the cockpit, Burton strapped Diaz into the pilot's chair.
Everyone else hunkered down in the passenger cabin. Ilse did her best
to comfort General Steyn, who lay with his head propped on a small
pillow. Hess's briefcase lay on the floor at Ilse's feet.
'Can that man fly?' she asked worriedly'If he wants to live,' Gadi
groaned as he tied a pillowcase around his torn thigh.
Hans ducked his head and walked up to the cockpit partition. Over
Hauer's shoulder he saw Burton sitting in the copilot's seat, massaging
Diaz's ashen face. 'Can he do it?'
Hans asked quietly.
Hauer shrugged. 'He's trying.'
Diaz's hands floated forward and hit several switches. The cockpit
lights came on. Hans felt a soft thrumming in the jet's hull.
Burton glanced up at Hauer'Those camel bumpers will come running when
they hear the engines, mate. Can you handle them?'
Hauer moved back into the cabin and lifted a Libyan Uzi from the floor.
Hans pulled open the rear door for him.
'Put your hand in the back of my pants,' said Hauer.
Then, with only Hans to keep him from falling, he leaned out and drew a
bead on the black figures beneath the Libyan airliner.
Suddenly General Steyn sat up and shouted, 'Can't! Can't let Stern ...
detonate! He'll kill thousands'. .. millions!'
Ilse tried to calm the South African, but he would not be comforted.
'Shut him up!' Gadi snapped from the floor.
Hans glared back at the Israeli. 'You shut up, you fucking fanatic!'
'Everyone be quiet,' Ilse begged. 'Please.
The Lear shuddered once, then lurched forward. Through the open hatch
Hans heard distant shouts of alarm. Hauer's Uzi barked three times in
quick succession. Hans thought he saw two Libyans fall, but in the
darkness it was hard to tell.
'Secure that hatch!' Burton shouted from the cockpit.
Hauer fired twice more, then he pulled the steps up into the Lear's
belly. The sleek jet gathered speed rapidly.
Through a side window Hans saw the Yak-42 flash past.
Diaz pushed the engines to their limit. Everyone in the cabin clung
fearfully to whatever he could.
Hauer struggled up to the cockpit and looked out through the windshield.
He saw only darkness ahead. Gripping the back of Diaz's seat, he heard
the Cuban muttering a prayer.
He said a silent one himself. Suddenly Diaz pulled back hard on the
