forgotten.
At that moment a comatose Miller was wheeled out, and they followed him down the corridor and outside to the ambulance, where he was lifted inside by two male nurses. Hamza and Ferguson joined him and the ambulance drove away.
The Gulfstream was waiting outside the hangar, and Lacey and Parry supervised the careful loading of Miller into the cabin. They were all there now.
Ferguson said, Time to go, people, but not before thanking Colonel Hamza for conduct far above the call of duty, and Captain Slay for some extraordinary flying. He gave Slay a package. It s a bit late in the day, but here s one of our nylon-and-titanium vests with our appreciation.
Slay smiled and took it. One never knows.
Ferguson shook his hand. So Hamza s arranged a lift back to Hazar for you?
Yes, all taken care of. All I can say is it s been an amazing couple of days and I wouldn t have missed them for anything, Slay said. Watch your backs, you lot.
He walked across to where Hamid waited and was driven away. The others said their good-byes to Hamza and boarded, leaving him and Ferguson alone.
Our governments may sometimes disagree, Ferguson said. But in the world we inhabit today, it s vital for us to keep in touch. What we ve just been through together proves that. It was good working with you, Colonel.
And you, General. And I have one last piece of information. Ali Selim s plane left an hour and a half ago with a flight plan for Bahrain. Only the two pilots on board.
I m sure Roper will find that useful. Ferguson shook hands. Take care, my friend.
He turned, went up the steps to where Parry waited, and went inside. As Hamza turned away, the Gulfstream started to move.
It rose to thirty thousand feet and turned northwest, still climbing into a darkening sky. Ferguson sat on his own at one end of the cabin and talked to Roper by Skype. He told him of his final conversation with Hamza.
I ll put a trace on that jet and I ll try and do something about the Raptor helicopter Ali Selim cleared off in, Roper said. How s Harry?
Out for the count, thanks to the medication Brigadier Mahmud gave him. It s all a bit subdued on the plane at the moment, but, then, night flights usually are. Walking on eggshells around a wounded man makes it even more so. Any word from Downing Street?
I believe the Prime Minister was speaking in the House today. Maybe Henry s not been able to give him the bad news yet.
Damn Frankel, Ferguson said. He s enjoying my humiliation.
Don t be so silly, Roper told him.
If he was, it would mean he was treating Harry s being wounded unimportant, which is rubbish. This damn operation was a complete failure. We couldn t lay hands on Ali Selim, and every one of our people had to kill to survive. It was like a bad day in Afghanistan. You re lucky we got away with just one wounded man.
Good God, Giles, Ferguson said. You re angry with me?
You re damn right I am, Roper said.
So go and get yourself a large Scotch and shut up.
He logged off, the screen cleared, and Ferguson sat there, completely deflated. God help me, I m getting old, he said softly, turned to get up, and found Sara holding out a glass of whiskey.
I heard, she said. Try not to take it to heart. But he was right, you know. A lot of people died so we could be here. If it weren t for Greg Slay and Hamza well, they saved the day.
The way I heard it, you, Daniel, and Dillon were into it up to your necks, too. But there you are. He toasted her.
My sincere thanks.
She turned and went back to Harry Miller, tucked in his blanket, then sat beside Holley, who lay back, eyes closed.
An hour later, a signal beeped and the screen flickered into life again, bringing Ferguson awake from his doze to find Henry Frankel on his screen.
Ah, there you are, Charles.
So what do you want? Ferguson asked.
The Prime Minister would like a word. Frankel smiled. If you can spare him one.
He was replaced by the PM sitting at his desk, who said, A bad business, Charles.
It was impossible to argue with that, and Ferguson said, I m afraid so.
How we play this with the newspapers is beyond me, the Prime Minister said. They ll be wanting a statement in the House. I can see the headlines now.
Where Is Ali Selim? Lots more juicy publicity for Al Qaeda. So what s your next move?
It s difficult to say. He s being protected by important people in Arab circles. Almost anything we do could be made to look like harassment of a holy man.
And he s certain to play that card. He could even surface in London again, for all I know, and defy us to do anything about him. One would have hoped, Charles, that during this little battle of yours, a stray bullet might have gone his way, or was that expecting too much?
To which there could be no answer. Ferguson took a deep breath and tried to be honest. Right now, we re in his hands, Prime Minister. We have no idea where he is, what his intentions are, or what he plans next.
Which is no use to me at all. Find him, Charles. Put everything else to one side and find him, and that s an order. I ll leave you to get on with it.
His image faded, the screen went dark, and Ferguson contacted Roper and found him, as usual, in the computer room at Holland Park. He relayed what the Prime Minister had said.
My head s on the block here, Giles.
Nothing new in that, Roper said cheerfully.
Is there anything you can do to trace the sod?
I m doing everything I can, Charles. There s no instant response possible here. You ll just have to sit it out and hope. The moment I ve got any news at all, you ll be the first to know.
So the screen went dark again, leaving Charles Ferguson more embattled than he had been in years.
TWELVE
About two hours later, Harry Miller came back to life to a certain extent, groaning and trying to sit up. Sara was with him instantly, and Dillon and Holley scrambled up to see if there was anything to be done.
Harry was hot and feverish. Where am I? What s going on?
Dillon got an arm round him, and Sara said, The instructions the brigadier left with him say more morphine and penicillin if an episode like this occurs. Just hold him while I take care of it.
After a while, he slipped back into troubled sleep, and Parry, who had come in to see what was happening, said, Another four hours before we land, I m afraid.
We ll just have to make him as comfortable as possible, Ferguson said. Rosedene has been notified, and Charles Bellamy will be available for advice, Sara, if Harry s condition gives you cause for concern.
Roper came on screen again. Bad news, I m afraid. That jet for Bahrain altered destination twice, then vanished.
How can that be? Ferguson demanded.
It happens all the time. I shouldn t need to remind you, Charles, how often we ve done the same thing in our line of work. All the pilot has to do is stop calling in, and in this case, Arab pilots flying in Arab aircraft in Arab airspace can usually do anything they want.
So what now? Ferguson asked in despair.
Hang on, there s more, Roper said.
That Raptor helicopter that cleared off from Amira carrying Ali Selim?
What about it?
