“We need that for air traffic control. Without it someone might run into us.”
“Nobody’s landing at our strip, and I’m sure they’ve stopped all traffic into the primary airport. We’re the only show in town. As long as you don’t run into that fighter, we’ll be fine. Land this plane.”
The copilot flipped some switches, circled over the water, then straightened up with the strip the Ghost had seen during the turn. He said, “I need the captain. Please.”
Omar stood up and waved the captain forward. When he reached the cockpit the Ghost said, “If you put this down in one piece, you’re free. Do you understand?”
The captain nodded his head and scrambled to his seat, slapping on the headphones and grabbing the yoke.
The Ghost went to the rear, where Omar was in a seat with his hands clamped to the arms of his chair. The two hostages were staring out the window, their seat belts cinched tight, faces grim.
The Ghost took his seat and buckled up, feeling the landing gear extend. They dropped lower and lower, the edge of the strip coming at them slowly,then flying under them in the dying light. They hit the ground much harder than expected, bouncing once, then the engines reversed hard, pushing the Ghost into his seat.
He unbuckled his seat belt and dashed to the cockpit, saying, “Keep going forward, straight to those helicopters.”
The pilot did so, and the Ghost got his first good look at the helicopters, seeing they were small and rudimentary, like a wind-up child’s toy, with only four seats. The one in front, painted bright red, had a man inside, the rotors lazily moving. Standing fifty feet to the front of it was a woman with a clipboard.
Omar came to him, looking out the window and saying, “Is she for us?”
“Yes. She thinks some rich newlywed paid forty thousand US dollars for a sunset glacier flight with his new bride.”
Omar said, “Well, she’s going to be in for a shock.” He looked closer, then said, “Those helicopters only have four seats. Are we going to kill one of the hostages?”
“No. We’ll cram in.” He opened the overhead bin and began strapping the suicide vest back on his body and causing the hostages to stare.
He said, “When the door opens, you go straight to the helicopter with the tablet and the pistol. You get control and show the pilot where we’re headed.”
Omar said, “Why can’t we kill one here? We need to kill the prime minister. The command needs to see it on the news.”
The Ghost said, “I told you no.”
“We’ll still have the American! They won’t shoot us down with the American secretary of state on board! What is wrong with you?”
The Ghost advanced on him, closing until his face was inches away. In a voice dripping with menace, he said, “I’ll kill him after you tell me the third target. Not before.”
Omar spluttered, “We don’t have time for that now.”
The Ghost cinched his belt of explosives down and said, “Then he dies at the safe house, but he comes with us now. If you’re worried about the seating, I’ll leave you here.”
Chapter 76
I saw the captain leave his seat in the cockpit and come into the cabin. At first, I thought he was coming to tell me we had our own personal fighter escort. I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket and pulled it out, seeing a text from Creed:
Compromised credit card used in Ushuaia.
The pilot reached me, and I put the phone away, saying, “What’s up?”
“The hostage aircraft landed at Ushuaia. I heard the conversation between him and that lone A4. He’s demanding gas and saying he’d release the SECSTATE if he gets it. What do you want to do?”
“He’s already there? I thought we were closer to him.”
“Yeah, I did too, but his transponder is off, which means the aircraft is shut down.”
I said, “Follow them in, I guess.”
He went back to the cockpit and, to the team I said, “Looks like this is the end of the road for the vaunted hybrid Mossad–Taskforce team.”
Shoshana said, “What about our prime minister?”
