Habeas Corpus when you passed the Prevention of Terrorism Act, and in
Cyprus and Palestine you were holding prisoners without trial long before that. Now your block in Ulster is that any better than what we are forced to do here?” Sir William, the British Ambassador, gobbled indignantly, while he collected his thoughts.
Kelly Constable intervened smoothly. “Gentlemen, we are trying to find common ground here not areas of dispute. There are hundreds of lives at stake-” A telephone shrilled in the air-conditioned hush of the room and Sir William lifted the receiver to his ear with patent relief, but as he listened, all blood drained from his face, leaving it a jaundiced, putty colour.
“I see,” he said once, and then, “very well, thank you,” and replaced the receiver. He looked down the length of the long polished imbuia wood table to the imposing figure at the end.
“Prime Minister-” his voice quavered a little I regret to inform you that the terrorists have rejected the compromise proposals offered by your government, and that ten minutes ago they murdered four hostages. ” There was a gasp of disbelief from the attentive circle of listening men.
“ The hostages were two women and two children a boy and a girl they were shot in the back and their bodies thrown from the aircraft. The terrorists have set a new deadline midnight tonight for the acceptance of their terms. Failing which there will be further shootings.” The silence lasted for almost a minute as head after head turned slowly, until they were all staring at the big hunched figure at the head of the table.
“I appeal to you in the name of humanity, sir.” It was Kelly
Constable who broke the silence. “We must save the women and children at least. The world will not allow us to sit by as they are murdered.”
“We will have to attack the aircraft and free the prisoners,” said the
Prime Minister heavily.
But the American Ambassador shook his head. “My government is adamant, sir as is that of my British colleague-” he glanced at Sir
William, who nodded support we cannot and will not risk a massacre.
Attack the aircraft and our governments will make no attempt to moderate the terms of the U.N. proposals, nor will we intervene in the
Security Council to exercise the veto.”
“Yet, if we agree to the demands of these these animals-” the last words were said fiercely we place our nation in terrible danger.”
“Prime Minister, we have only hours to find a solution then the killing will begin again.”
“you yourself have placed the success chances of a Delta strike as low as even,” Kingston Parker pointed out, staring grimly at Peter Stride out of the little square screen. “Neither the President nor I find those odds acceptable.”
“Doctor Parker, they are murdering women and children out there on the tarmac.” Peter tried to keep his tone neutral, his reasoning balanced.
“Very strong pressure is being brought to bear on the South
African Government to accede to the terms for release of the women and children.”
“That will solve nothing.” Peter could not restrain himself
“It will leave us with exactly the same situation tomorrow night.”
“If we can secure the release of the women and children, the number of lives at risk will be reduced, and in forty hours the situation might have changed. we are buying time, Peter, even if we have to pay for it with a heavy coin.”
“And if the South Africans do not agree? If we come to the midnight deadline without an agreement with the hijackers, what happens then, Doctor Parker?”
“This is a difficult thing to say, Peter, but if that happens-” Parker spread those long graceful hands in a gesture of resignation, we may lose another four lives, but that is better than precipitating the massacre of four hundred. And after that the South Africans will not be able to hold out. They will have to agree to free the women and children at any cost.” Peter could not truly believe what he had heard. He knew he was on the very brink of losing his temper completely, and he had to give himself a few seconds to steady himself.
He dropped his eyes to his own hands that were interlocked on the desk top in front of him. Under the fingernails of his right hand were black half moons, the dried blood of the child he had carried back from the aircraft. Abruptly he unlocked his fingers and thrust both hands deeply into the pockets of his blue Thor overalls. He took a long deep breath, held it a moment, then let it out slowly.
“If that was difficult to say, Doctor Parker console yourself that it was a bloody sight harder to listen to.”
“I understand how you feel, Peter.”
“I don’t think you do, sir.” Peter shook his head slowly.
“You are a soldier-” and only a soldier knows how to really hate violence, Peter finished for him.
“Our personal feelings must not be allowed to intrude in this.”
Kingston Parker’s voice had a sharp edge to it now.
“I must once again forcibly remind you that the decision for condition Delta has been delegated to me by the President and your
Prime Minister. No strike will be made without my express orders. Do you understand that, General Stride?”
“I understand, Doctor Parker,” Peter said flatly. “And we hope to get some really good videotapes of the next murders. I’ll let you have copies for your personal collection.” The other 747 had been grounded for servicing when the emergency began, and it was parked in the assembly area only a thousand yards from where Speedbird 070 stood,
but the main service hangars and the corner of the terminal buildings effectively screened it from any observation by the hijackers.
Although it wore the orange and blue of South African Airways with the flying Springbok on the tail, it was an almost identical model to its sister ship. Even the cabin configurations were very close to the plans of Speedbird 070, which had been tele printed from British Airways
Headquarters at Heathrow. It was a fortunate coincidence, and an opportunity that Colin Noble had seized immediately. He had already run seven mock Deltas on the empty hull.
“All right, you guys, let’s try and get our arses out of low gear on this run. I want to better fourteen seconds from the “go” to penetration-” His strike team glanced at one another as they squatted in a circle on the tarmac, and there were a few theatrical rollings of eyes. Colin ignored them. “Let’s go for nine seconds, gang,” he said and stood up.
There were sixteen men in the actual assault group seventeen when
Peter Stride joined them. The other members of Thor were technical experts electronics and communications, four marksmen snipers, a weapons quart erA master, and a bomb disposal and explosives sergeant,
doctor, cook, three engineering NCOs under a lieutenant, the pilots and other flight personnel a big team, but every man was indispensable.
The assault group wore single-piece uniforms of close fitting black nylon, for low night visibility. They wore their gas masks loosely around their necks, ready for instant use.
Their boots were black canvas lace-ups, with soft rubber soles for silence. Each man wore his specialized weapons and equipment either in a back pack or on his black webbing belt. No bulky bulletproof flak jackets to impede mobility or to snag on obstacles, no hard helmets to tap against metal and tell tales to a wary adversary.
Nearly all the group were young men, in their early twenties, hand picked from the U.S. Marine corps or from the British 22.SAS regiment that Peter Stride had once commanded. They were superbly fit, and honed to a razor’s edge.
Colin Noble watched them carefully as they assembled silently on the marks he had chalked on the tarmac, representing the entrances to the air terminal and the service hangars nearest to 070. He was searching for any sign of slackness, any deviation from the almost impossible standards he had set for Thor. He could find none. “All right, ten seconds to flares,” he called. A Delta strike began with the launching of phosphorus flares across the nose of the target aircraft. They would float down on their tiny parachutes, causing a diversion which would hopefully
