We went over the bridge and exited into the canyons of lower Manhattan. No one said much, but you could smell the brain cells burning.
Police cars don't have regular AM/FM radios, but Officer Simpson had a portable radio, and he tuned to 1010 WINS News. A reporter was saying, 'The aircraft is still in the fenced-off security area out by one of the runways, and we can't see what's going on, though we've seen vehicles arriving and leaving the area. What appeared to be a large refrigerated truck left the area a few minutes ago, and there is speculation that this truck was transporting bodies.'
The reporter paused for effect, then continued, 'Authorities haven't released an official statement, but a spokesperson from the National Transportation Safety Board told reporters that toxic fumes had overcome the passengers and crew, and there are some fatalities. The aircraft, though, has landed safely, and all we can do is hope and pray that there are few fatalities.'
The anchorwoman asked, 'Larry, we're hearing rumors that the aircraft was out of radio contact for several hours before it landed. Have you heard anything about that?'
Larry, the on-the-scene guy, said, 'The FAA has not confirmed that, but an FAA spokesperson did say that the pilot radioed in that he was experiencing some fumes and smoke on board, and he thought it was something chemical, or maybe an electrical fire.'
This was news to me, but not to Ted Nash, who commented cryptically, 'I'm glad they're getting their facts straight.'
Facts? It seemed to me that lacking any smoke in the aircraft, someone was manufacturing it and blowing it up everyone's ass.
The radio reporter and the anchorlady were going on about the Swissair tragedy, and someone recalled the Saudi air tragedy. Nash turned off the radio.
I realized Kate was looking at me. She said softly, 'We don't know what happened, John, so we won't speculate. We'll avoid talking to the news media.'
'Right. Just what I was thinking.' I realized I had to watch what I said.
What I was also thinking was that the Federal law enforcement and intelligence agencies were sort of like a cross between the Gestapo and the Boy Scouts-the iron fist in the velvet glove and all that. We won't speculate meant, Shut up. Not wanting to wind up in protective custody for a year, or maybe worse, I said, with real sincerity, 'I'll do whatever I have to do to bring this guy to justice. Just keep me on the case.'
Neither of my teammates replied, though they could have reminded me that I wanted out not too long ago.
Ted Nash, Super-Spy, gave Officer Simpson an address a block away from Federal Plaza. I mean, jeez, the guy's a cop, and even if he was stupid, he could figure out that we were going either to 26 Federal Plaza, or 290 Broadway, the new Fed building across the street from Fed Plaza. In fact, Simpson said, 'You want to walk to Federal Plaza?'
I laughed.
Nash said, 'Just pull over here.'
Officer Simpson pulled over on Chambers Street near the infamous Tweed Courthouse, and we all got out. I thanked him for driving us, and he reminded me, 'I have damage to the front of the patrol car.'
'Charge it to the Feds,' I said. 'They're collecting a trillion dollars today.'
We began walking up lower Broadway. It was dusk now, but it's always dusk down here in the skyscraper caverns of lower Manhattan. This was not a residential or shopping district, it was a government district, so there weren't many people around on a Saturday, and the streets were relatively quiet.
As we walked, I said to Mr. Nash, 'I have this sort of impression that maybe you guys knew we'd have a problem today.'
He didn't reply right away, then said, 'Today is April fifteen.'
'Right. I got my tax return in yesterday. I'm clean.'
'Muslim extremists attach a lot of significance to anniversary dates. We have a lot of watch dates on our calendar.'
'Yeah? What's today?'
'Today,' said Ted Nash, 'is the anniversary date of when we bombed Libya in nineteen eighty-six.'
'No kidding?' I asked Kate, 'Did you know that?'
'Yes, but I attached little significance to it, to be honest with you.'
Nash added, 'We've never had an incident on this date before, but Moammar Gadhafi makes an anti-American speech every year on this date. In fact, he made one earlier today.' mulled this over awhile, trying to decide if I'd have acted any differently if I'd known this. I mean, this kind of stuff was not in my clue bag, but if it was, I might have at least put it into my paranoia pocket. I love being a mushroom, as you can imagine-kept in the dark and fed a lot of shit-and I asked my teammates, 'Did you forget to tell me?'
Nash replied, 'It didn't seem terribly important. I mean, important that you know.'
'I see,' which means, 'Fuck you,' of course. But I was learning to talk the talk. I asked, 'How did Khalil know he'd be transported today?'
Nash replied, 'Well, he didn't know for sure. But our Paris Embassy can't or won't hold a man like this for more than twenty-four hours. That much he probably knew. And if we had held him in Paris longer, nothing would have been much different, except for the missed symbolic date.'
'Okay, but you played his game and transported him on the fifteenth of April.'
'That's right,' answered Mr. Nash. 'We played his game, wanting to arrest him here on the fifteenth.'
'I think you're going to miss the date.'
He didn't reply to this, but informed me, 'We took extraordinary security precautions in Paris, at the airport, and on the aircraft. In fact, there were also two Federal Air Marshals on board, undercover.'
'Good. Then nothing could go wrong.'
He ignored my sarcasm, and said, 'There is a Hebrew expression, shared by the Arabs, that says, 'Man plans, God laughs.''
'Good one.'
We reached the twenty-eight-story skyscraper, called 26 Federal Plaza, and Nash said to me, 'Kate and I will do the talking. Speak only if spoken to.'
'Can I contradict you?'
'You'll have no reason to,' he said. 'This is the one place where only the truth is spoken.'
So, with that bit of Orwellian information in my head, we entered the great Ministry of Truth and Justice.
April 15, I reflected, now sucked for two reasons.
BOOK II
Libya, April 15,
The air strike will not only diminish Colonel Gadhafi's capacity to export terror,
it will provide him with incentives and reasons to alter his criminal behavior.
President Ronald Reagan
It is a time for confrontation-for war.
Colonel Moammar Gadhafi
CHAPTER 13
Lieutenant Chip Wiggins, Weapons Systems Officer, United States Air Force, sat silent and motionless in the right seat of the F-111F attack jet, code named Karma 57. The aircraft was cruising along at a fuel-saving 350 knots. Wiggins glanced at his pilot, Lieutenant Bill Satherwaite, to his left.
