The Hostages

The Hostages
By Walter Edminster

They were all impatiently waiting at the Cairo airport for their plane to leave. All but Hank Rogers. He wasn’t impatient, he was just waiting. There were six of them in all. One was a United States Senator; Ellen Cameron. Except for Hank they were all well dressed, very important looking people. They were there to help promote peace between the Islamic Fundamentalists and the Egyptian government. They had accomplished very little. Why the U.S. government was involved was anybodies guess. Neither side wanted them there. Hank was there for the same reason but he’d accomplished quite a lot. His approach was totally different than that of the other five people in the airport waiting room. The other five wondered why Hank was going to be riding in the same airplane they were. His clothes were filthy, he was filthy, and portions of his body which were exposed had scratches, cuts and bruises. He didn’t smell very good either. He’d been in the hot desert for over a week without a bath.

The man from the American Embassy was trying to explain to the group why they were being rushed out on a small 10 passenger aircraft instead of a 747. He wasn’t making much headway. He was talking to a bunch of pompous asses. All but one that is. Ellen, the Senator, who held the highest rank of anyone in the group, was the opposite of her companions, who would like people to think they were much more important than they actually were. She was a very pleasant person but one who could be tough as nails if the occasion called for it. She was the only one in the group who thought Hank belonged to the same human race they did. John Hudson The Third, was the worst of the bunch. He asked the man from the embassy why Hank was going to be on the same flight they were. Why wasn’t he being put on the next flight out of Cairo instead of this one. The man from the embassy told John that there would be no other flights out of Cairo. The airport would be closed until the minor skirmish between the Fundamentalists and the Egyptian army was settled. They were extremely lucky to be on this one and whether he liked it or not, Hank was also going to be on it. John grumbled on but nobody paid any attention to him. That was John’s nature. He grumbled about everything.

Finally they were told to board the aircraft, a small twin engine, 10 passenger Fokker F3. The pilot was Egyptian but spoke English with hardly a trace of accent. He seemed a little nervous. Hank, who was also a pilot, seeing that they were flying without a co-pilot, asked if he could sit in the right seat, The Egyptian said it would be ok but not to touch the controls. Hank agreed. The group was glad to have him up front. Until he bathed, he wasn’t going to be popular in anybody’s cabin. The Egyptian pilot was more or less used to the smell of sweating desert bodies. He hardly noticed Hank’s offensive odor at all.

They took off and headed west. Their destination was the Naval Air Station at Port Lyautey, Morocco. There they would be put on a military aircraft for the remainder of their flight to the United States. Sam watched every move the Egyptian made. There was something about him that Hank didn’t like but he couldn’t put his finger it. As a fellow pilot he was interested in the workings of the F3. He would love to fly it.

When they reached cruising altitude Ahmed seemed more nervous than ever. He was sweating profusely and it wasn’t because of the desert heat. It was cool in the cabin. He was holding the wheel in a death grip. Hank took the wheel and motioned for him to sit back and relax. Ahmed didn’t argue. Once he saw that Hank knew what he was doing, he relaxed a little and let him fly the plane. He was glad to have a co-pilot. His mind was on things other than flying at the moment.

When they reached Algeria Ahmed took over. He said he was going to have to land and refuel. Hank didn’t understand why he had to refuel. The F3 should have been capable of flying non-stop from Cairo to Morocco with fuel left over.

After they landed, Ahmed left the aircraft and went over to talk to the refuellers. He was looking more nervous than ever now. Hank stepped out of the aircraft for a minute to stretch his legs. Mostly, he just wanted to keep an eye on Ahmed. He didn’t trust him. They pumped fuel into the aircraft for no more than five minutes then quickly left the area. So did everyone else. All but Ahmed. For some reason Ahmed hadn’t shut down the engines. They were still running at idle. Not a good practice when refueling. Hank knew something was about to happen. He felt that Ahmed was trying to make a decision; Run for the hills or jump back into the aircraft and fly away. Then the jeeps came over the hill. As soon as Ahmed saw them he made his decision. He took off for the hills. There were machine guns mounted on the backs of the four jeeps and they were manned. Hank jumped back inside the aircraft and slammed the door. He shouted, “Everyone get on the floor, now! It was the tone of his voice. Everyone hit the deck immediately. All except John who didn’t like the idea of taking orders from a stranger in filthy clothes. Hank ran to the cockpit and pushed the throttles all the way forward. They started to roll just as the first bullets passed through the cabin. John was still standing when the bullet hit him. He would never grumble about anything again.

Hank didn’t head for the runway. That’s where the jeeps were coming from. He headed down the ramp between the parked airplanes and the hangers. It was a shorter runway than Hank would have liked but he had no choice. If it wasn’t for the carcass of an old DC3 at the end of the ramp there would have been plenty of room. Fortunately the people on the floor couldn’t see what was happening. Even if they could, they wouldn’t have minded. Behind them was sure death. Ahead was the possibility of escape. At the last possible moment Hank jerked the yoke back in his lap and leaped over the DC3. He immediately pushed the yoke forward again to prevent a possible stall and continued on at that altitude trying to gain airspeed before attempting to climb to a higher level.

The first one off the floor was Ellen, the Senator. The rain of bullets had ceased and she wanted to find out what was going on. She looked at the group hunkered on the floor. None of them seemed to be injured. John was obviously dead. He was laying on his back with a huge hole on his chest. Ellen left them and stepped into the cockpit. She moved into the right seat. Hank glanced over at her. She looked calm.

Hank said, “How are things back in the cabin?”

“They’ll live. All except John.”

Hank nodded. The F3 seemed to be all in one piece. They’d taken a lot of hits before they got out of range. It’s a wonder something vital hadn’t been damaged. Maybe it had and he just didn’t know about it yet.

Ellen said, “Where are we headed?”

“Away from Arabs with big noisy guns.”

“Are we going on to Morroco?”

“No. That place is crawling with Islamic Fundamentalists. Since all Arabs wear white dresses and sport black mustaches, it’s hard to tell the good guys from the bad guys. When we land I want to step out of this plane and shake hands with someone named Jones or Smith.”

“That was pretty quick thinking back there. I’m glad you came along for the ride.”

“It was nothing really. I was afraid they were going to deprive me of that nice warm shower I’ve been looking forward to for the last couple weeks.”

“Right. I sure wouldn’t want you to miss out on that shower. Hank looked around at her. She had an impish grin on her face. She was some cool chick. He’d vote for her any time.

They continued on over land until they’d had time to find out where they were. Ellen had the chart out and Hank was trying to show her where they were. Eventually they would have to head out to sea if they planned to meet any Jones’ or Smiths. Hank hadn’t mentioned it yet but their fuel supply was diminishing faster than it should have been. They had obviously taken a hit in a fuel tank. They had no choice. Before long they were going to land somewhere. He explained this to Ellen. They decided it would be best not to discuss the situation with the people back in the cabin just yet. Ellen started searching the chart for a close by Mediterranean Island.

Suddenly Hank heard a voice. “There’s a United States aircraft carrier not more than 80 miles from you. Do you want me to give you a heading?”

“Harry, where the hell have you and Jerry been?”

Ellen said, “Who is Harry and Jerry?”

“Oh, I was just thinking out loud. I think I just came up with a solution to our problem.”

“Oh, what’s that?”

“We’re going to land on the deck of an aircraft carrier.”

“Good idea. Do you know where we can find one?”

“As a matter of fact I do.” He’d already started turning to the new heading Harry had just given him. “By the way, I don’t think we’ve been properly introduced. My name is Sam Fletcher.”

“I thought the fellow from the Embassy called you Hank.”

“He did. For reasons I do not wish to discuss, I was working over here under an assumed name.”

“Do you want to tell me about it?”

“No.”

“I can find out, you know.”

“Go right ahead. By the time you find out it won’t matter.”

“By the way, how do you know there’s a carrier out there?”

“You’re full of questions, aren’t you?”

“Why shouldn’t I be? You’re leaking fuel like pouring water out of a boot and you’re heading out into the middle of the Mediterranean. I would like to know in advance if you know what you’re doing or if you’re cracking up.”

“You have a point there. Do you see this radio panel over to my left.”

“Yes.”

It doesn’t look like it really matches the rest of the interior, does it. Don’t bother to answer. It’s a military transceiver. It’s set to all our channels. Put on that headset and I’ll switch you in. You’ll find it interesting.” She listened for a few minutes then put the headset down in her lap. “I hear the carrier but how do you know where it’s at?

Sam pointed to a dial on the control panel. There was an arrow pointing to 346 degrees. ”That’s another piece of equipment that isn’t normally found in this type of aircraft. When I tune in a station, it points in the direction it’s coming from. I imagine this plane, while posing as a commercial aircraft, has been used mostly as a spy plane.”

“One more question. Do you think we have enough fuel to make it to the carrier?”

“I don’t know. We’ll be running close. In the worst case, we’ll call the carrier and request a rescue helicopter . We’ll ditch and hope he gets to us in time. Right now I want to stay off the radio. The wrong ears may be listening.”

Ellen got out of her seat. “I’d better go back into the cabin for a while and talk to the others. They’re still in a state of shock. I haven’t heard them this quiet since I’ve known them. Are you really going to try to land on that carrier deck?”

“Do you have a better idea?”

“Can’t say that I do. I’ll be back before you request permission to land. They may not like the idea of an Egyptian airplane landing on their deck. They might think you’re another one of those suicide bombers. You may need my help convincing them to let you land.”

“You’re right. I hadn’t thought of that.”

“Sam, that was smooth the way explained how you found out about that aircraft carrier.”

“Well now I sure couldn’t tell her I got the information from two bug eyed Martians who deserted me when I needed them most. Why didn’t you tell me about that ambush back there in Algeria”

“Stop calling us Martians. We are not Martians. Besides, we couldn’t help it. We were sick.”

“I didn’t think you guys got sick.”

“We don’t usually but we got hold of a bad Pizza.”

“How sick did you get? What were the symptoms?”

“This is embarrassing Sam. If you must know, we had acute diarrhea. We never had that before. It hit us pretty hard.”

“Ok, you’re forgiven. I’ve been there myself. That assignment in Egypt was the worst one you’ve ever conned me into taking. I almost got killed you know.”

“We know. You did a great job, Sam. We’ll have a surprise for you when you get home.”

“If I get home. Am I still on course?”

“Come about five degrees left. You have a cross wind that’s pulling you off course. We’ll talk later. Here comes the senator.”

“How are they back there?”

“Doing pretty well, considering their background. This is probably the closest thing to danger they’ve ever experienced. You know, born with the silver spoon and all that rot.”

“You know Senator, I think I like you. You have class. That bunch back there just thinks they have class because they were born with it. When are you going to run for president?”

“Let’s see if we’re going to get out of this first. By the way, how much flight time do you have in this type aircraft?”

Sam looked at his watch. “About 45 minutes, total.”

“Do you think you can land it?”

“Sure. I watched our previous pilot when he landed it the last time. It’s all recorded up here.” He pointed at his head.

“How’s the fuel holding out?”

“Not too well. It’s pretty close to empty.”

“Don’t you think you should call the carrier so they’ll know to set a few extra plates for dinner?”

“Do you have a licence for back seat airplane driving?”

“Yes.”

“Oh. Ok. I’ll call now.”

Sam went to the guard channel for his initial call and asked for a frequency. Once he had the frequency he switched channels and called again. “This is a Mayday. We are out of fuel, our aircraft is full of bullet holes, we have one dead, and we’re going to land on the deck of your carrier within 15 minutes.”

“Do not land on our flight deck. I repeat do not land. You will be shot down before you reach the carrier.”

“Can you live the rest of your life knowing that you blew a U.S. Senator and her staff out of the air?”

It was silent for a few moments then a different voice came on. “This is Captain Rolland. What is the name of your Senator?”

Sam told Ellen to answer. “Rolly this is Ellen Cameron. If you don’t let us land I’m going to tell your crew what we used to call you in High School.”

There was another pause. “Please don’t do that. You have my permission to land. When you roll to a stop you will be immediately surrounded by Marines with loaded weapons. The first person I want to see step through that door is Senator Cameron. Understood?”

Sam replied, “Understood. Turn that big row boat into the wind and we’ll make our approach.”

Sam was making his approach from 2000 feet. Ellen said, Aren’t we a little high?”

“Honey, our gas gauge says empty. These engines could stop at any minute. If I have to land dead stick I want a little altitude to maneuver in. I don’t know if this thing will glide like a butterfly or fall like a rock.” Sam dropped the flaps and started slow steep descent. Three quarters of the way to the deck, the engines quit. Much to Sam’s relief, the F3 was more of a glider than it was a rock. It touched the deck like a feather falling to the ground on a calm day. They rolled to a stop in front of a group of Marines pointing nasty looking weapons at them. Sam said, “I guess you better go first.”

When she stepped through the door, the guns were lowered and the Marines came to attention. The Senator’s staff came out next. They were slightly disheveled. They didn’t look nearly as pompous as they did back in Cairo. The last one out was Sam. He stopped at the door, looked around for a moment, then stepped out. There was blood all over the upper half of his left arm. It was starting to run down his forearm. Ellen ran over and took his bloody arm in her hands. “What happened, Sam?”

“I caught a stray one back there in Algeria as we were taking off. It’s not as bad as it looks. Just a lot of blood. Didn’t hit a bone or anything. It stopped bleeding and clotted right away. I had too much on my mind to worry about. I bumped it on the door latch just now and opened it up again. Ask the Captain there where I can find a warm shower and a bar of soap. I can’t even stand to smell myself anymore.

Captain Rolland told one of his lieutenants to take Sam down to sickbay and have Lt. Andrews give him a bath and patch him up. Lt. Jones introduced himself to Sam. Sam smiled and shook his hand. He looked over at Ellen and winked. She said, “I know, you predicted that too, didn’t you?”

Lt. Andrews was a very pretty nurse. When she told Sam to take off all his clothes and get in the shower he hesitated. She said, “Go on, get your clothes off and get in there. I’ve seen naked men before. When you finish your shower dry off and come lie down on this table, naked. He followed orders. Twenty minutes later, Lt. Andrews asked Sam when he was going to come out. He said he’d be out in about an hour. She told him he had five minutes to get out of there or she was coming in after him. Five minutes later he was lying on the table. She looked him over. “My God, what happened to you? You’re covered from head to toe with bruises, cuts and scrapes.”

“I fell down a hill.”

“Into the Grand Canyon?”

It turned out that Lt. Andrews was a doctor, not a nurse. She was a little concerned about the bullet wound. It cut a pretty good slice out of Sam’s arm. She was afraid it would get infected. She started patching him up. Finally she said, “Ok, you can get up now.”

“Where are my clothes?”

“In the incinerator. Lt. Jones brought you these.” She handed Sam a pair of white officer’s trousers, a white shirt, and white skivvies. Sam had shaved in the shower and with a clean body, clean clothes, and his hair combed, he was quite a striking figure. “I think you’re ready to go now.”

“Go where?”

“To dinner. I’m to be your escort.”

“I couldn’t think of a nicer person then you to have as an escort.” She tried to look tough but it was obvious she was pleased. “I don’t think you’re near as tough as you pretend to be.”

They were sitting around the Captain’s table having an after dinner cup of coffee. The Captain, his senior officers, Ellen’s staff and Sam. Sam had been pretty well ignored all evening. The Senator was the star attraction. That was natural in a military environment such as this. Having a friend in the Senate was a real plus for a Captain who’s life long ambition was to become an Admiral.

Sam liked the coffee. It was typical strong Navy coffee. Just the way he liked it. But there was something extra. Along with the coffee were three pieces of Sam’s favorite candy. A Europan brand. Each piece was round, about inch in diameter, covered in chocolate with an outer layer of nuts and wrapped in gold colored foil. A small package of this candy was very expensive but well worth the cost. Sam had eaten two of his three and was saving the last one until later.

Ellen’s staff was back to normal. They were out of danger now and recovered from the shock of almost being killed. A shower, a good meal, a little wine and they were back to being their obnoxious selves again. The fact that Sam had saved their miserable hides didn’t change their opinion of him a bit. They still didn’t consider him a member of the human race. Especially Mark Hopkins. He would rate a nine on a scale of ten in being as obnoxious as John what’s his name the third, now deceased.

Captain Rolland looked over at Sam for the first time that evening. “Sam, that was a fine dead stick landing you made today.”

“Thank you, Captain. Coming from you, that’s a real compliment.”

Mark, who was a little soused on wine, said, “With a little practice he might even become a real pilot.”

Sam said, “There’s a little more to it than just practice. A good pilot has to have coordination, good eyesight, and good physical and mental reflexes. Let me demonstrate.” Sam picked up his last gold covered candy, kissed it affectionately, and arched it down toward the other end of the table, 20 feet away. It fell, dead center, into Mark’s wine glass throwing a considerable amount of the liquid into Mark’s face. For a moment everything was very quite. Captain Rolland looked at the Senator, afraid she might have been offended by Sam’s act of revenge. She looked at Sam and gave him a thumbs up. “Good shot, Sam.” The Captain gave a sigh of relief and everyone else laughed. Lt . Andrews handed Sam one of her pieces of gold covered candy. “Here take this one as a replacement. I can get more.”

The Captain asked Sam what he did for a living. Sam Said, “I’m a computer programmer.”

“What are you doing in this part of the world?”

“Well, that’s a long story. I was talked into taking a two week vacation.” It was a long story alright and Sam wasn’t about to tell it. It started one peaceful Saturday night.

Sam and Marge were sitting in their living room. It was around ten in the evening. They were watching a boring “B” rated black and white Science Fiction movie. They kept dozing off. Then suddenly there was aloud bang and the room was filled with smoke. Sam and Marge came out of their seats. When the smoke cleared Harry and Jerry were sitting on the floor in front of the television looking sheepish.

Sam said, “What the hell happened? I thought you had this beaming down stuff perfected to where it was soundless. You probably woke up the whole neighborhood.”

Harry said, “Jerry was trying out a new modification. You know we don’t just beam down here instantly. There’s an uncomfortable delay between the time we leave and the time we arrive. Jerry’s new mod was supposed to make it instantaneous.”

“Did it work?”

“Oh, it worked alright but it sure does give you a headache. You thought it was loud. You should have heard it from where we were.”

“Yeah, I’ll bet it was loud. What can we do for you guys?”

“Oh, we just dropped in for a visit.”

“Sure you did. By the way, where are the girls?”

“We left them up in the UFO, as you call it. We didn’t know how the experiment was going to turn out.”

“You kind of like those two, don’t you?”

“Oh, they’re ok.”

“Just ok, huh.” Sam winked at Marge. “Their tour of duty should be just about up. When are they heading back to the home planet?”

“We’re working on an extension. They need to gather a little more data before they can make a final report.”

“Right!” Sam winked at Marge again. Ok, tell us what you want us to do.”

“What makes you think we want you to do anything?”

Sam didn’t say a word, he just stared at them.

“Have you ever been to Egypt, Sam?”

“No I haven’t. Why, are you planning to go there?”

“No, we’d like to but we’re just too busy right now. Why don’t you go in our place then when you come back you can tell us about it?”

“No, I’m to busy right now. I don’t have time.”

“How would you like to have your bank account increase by $10,000?”

“Maybe I could put off cleaning out that garage for a while after all. Will I get to see the pyramids?”

“You sure will. We have you booked on a two week tour of Egypt.”

“When you say you do you mean like in me or in we?”

“I mean you. Marge can’t go.”

Marge said, “Now wait a minute..,”

Harry said, “Marge can’t go. That’s final.” Marge was furious.

Sam said, “Harry, make it $20,000 and I’ll go.”

“$20,000? That’s a lot of money.”

“True, but Marge has been wanting to visit the Grand Canyon for as long as I’ve known her. That extra $10,000 should be enough to assure her of a very enjoyable vacation.”

“Yeah, but does she need that much?”

“She plans to buy a lot of souvenirs.”

“You drive a hard bargain, Sam.”

“Bull, you would have gone as high as $30,000.”

Jerry chuckled. “He got your number that time, Harry.”

Did you bring that black box with you to activate my special features or do you have to go back up to your penthouse in the sky and get it?”

Jerry handed Sam an object that looked something like a cell phone. “This is our latest model.”

“Aren’t you afraid I’ll steal it and activate myself whenever I feel like it?

“No problem. It’s programmed to work only when it’s in my hand or Harry’s.”

“Jerry took it back, pressed a button, and passed it over different parts of Sam’s body. Jerry only needed to pass it over one particular spot but he didn’t want Sam to know where the implanted chip was located.

“Ok Harry, what’s the score?”

“If you’ve been watching CNN you know that the Islamic Fundamentalist are causing trouble again over in Egypt. Islamic Fundamentalists are a group of fanatically religious Muslims who follow every rule Mohamed posted in the Koran but know absolutely nothing about God. They want to send the Middle East back to the dark ages, with them in complete control. In order to do this they kill indiscriminately in the name of Allah. They've been giving Egypt a harder time than some of the other Middle East countries because they're more liberal. One of their favorite pastimes is murdering busloads of foreign tourists. Hopefully the tourists will stop coming to Egypt thus preventing the unholy feet of the infidels from standing on their sacred ground. We happen to know that Ali Mohammad Bin Sultan is planning to attack the tour you’ll be sightseeing with.”

“Who is Ali Mohammad Bin Sultan?”

“He’s the leader of the current rebellion. They come and they go but they all think in the same insane manner. He has to be stopped. He seems to have more influence than some of the other leaders have had. He has more followers than the others and they’re accumulating more daily. It seems the more fanatical they are the more followers they gain. He needs to be put out of business.”

“Permanently?”

“I didn’t say that.”

“No you didn’t, but then you never do.”

“We have to be careful. Mary hasn’t filed her final report yet.”

“So when do I leave?”

“As soon as possible. The tour group in Cairo will be leaving for Luxor in two days. There’s a group from your government there now but they’re doing more harm than good. They can’t bring themselves down from their pedestal long enough to get to know the people they’re supposed to be winning over to their point of view. Arabs are very sensitive to things like that. They don’t like these people. One, a lady Senator, they like, but the total effect of the other four counteracts anything positive she might present. Most of those Middle East countries don’t like the United States but they love their money. The United States keeps handing money over to these countries to bribe then into sedation. When they get a little low on cash they stage an uprising and collect another bribe.”

“I hate to admit it but you’re right.”

“You had better have your bag packed and ready to go at six o’clock in the morning. There will be a car here to pick you up. The driver will give you your ticket, your passport, and a book of traveler’s checks, already signed by you. He’ll take you to the airport where a commuter plane will take you to LAX. From there you’re on your own. You have a seat in the first class section of the KLM flight to Egypt. The flight number will be on your ticket. When you arrive in Cairo you will wear the name tag found in your ticket envelope. A tour guide will meet you and take you to your hotel where you will meet the other members of your tour. Any questions?”

“Yeah. How do you guys arrange all this?”

“Someday we might tell you. But not now.”

“That’s what you always say. What do I do when I get there and how do I get back home after I finish my assignment and what exactly is my assignment?”

“Very simple. You prevent the members of the tour from being killed and you make sure Ali Mohammad Bin Sultan doesn’t kill anyone else. Ever!”

“That’s all, huh? Will you be around to help me?”

“Of course. Have we ever let you down?”

“No, I guess you haven’t at that. I guess you guys had better go home so I can get some sleep. See you in Cairo. And you’d better be there.”

It was a very pleasant flight. KLM pampered their first class passengers a little more than Sam liked but the food was great. Especially those round hard rolls. Just as Harry had said, the tour guide met Sam and took him to the Cairo Hilton. The next day the tour guide would take them to the pyramids. They would ride the bus to a point near the the pyramids then they would ride camels the rest of the way there. The tour guide was good. A real performer. His description of how to ride a camel was hilarious.

The camel sits down on the ground so you can climb into the saddle. That’s the easy part. The hard part is trying to stay on the camel when he stands up. A camel gets up one end at a time. The camel’s body tilts to an angle of forty five degrees or more when he’s half way up. The angle is determined by the length of the camel’s legs. In order to stay in the saddle The rider must garb the large saddle horn on the front of the saddle and hang on for dear life until the camel raises the other end and his body is parallel to the surface of the earth. From then on it’s quite pleasant. As the camel walks, you ride along, synchronizing your body movements with the rolling gate of the camel while trying not to get seasick.

After the pyramid tour and a good night’s sleep the group will then head down to Luxor to visit the large temple and the valley of the kings. Sam didn’t think Ali would strike there. Too many people. He was sure he would hit them on the bus ride down to the Aswan dam. Sam decided to relax and enjoy the tour. He’d always wanted to visit Egypt and he wasn’t about to let a little terrorism spoil his trip.

Sam was really enjoying the tour. He’d spent a day visiting tombs in the Valley of the Kings, he’d ridden a small native sailboat down the Nile to Banana Island, and he’d had a good night’s sleep. Now he was relaxing in an air conditioned bus rolling through the desert toward the Aswan Dam. Sam was sure the fun was soon to end. He was right.

Sam was dozing when heard he the voice. “Sam, wake up. You’re about to be hit.”

Sam sat up straight. “Where?”

“Just around that next turn. I don’t think they plan to blow you away. I think they want you as hostages.”

“Thanks for the warning. I think I’ll duck out for a while.” Thank goodness this was one of the older buses with a door in the back. Sam had purposely seated himself in the rear of the bus so he could make a quick exit when the inevitable occurred. Sam opened the door and slid out onto the ladder that went up to the roof. The passenger’s luggage was stowed on the roof along with a small amount of cargo. It was all covered with a large tarpaulin. He climbed the ladder and slipped in under the tarp. Nobody had seen him leave. They were all asleep, tired out from yesterday’s romp around the Valley of the Kings in the hot desert sun.

Sam crawled up toward the front so he could peek out from under the tarp and see what was going on up ahead. From atop the roof Sam saw them before the driver did. When he did see them, he slammed on the brakes. There were two military type vehicles ahead of them with arabs in dirty thobs standing in front of them with assault weapons. The driver started to turn around and go back the way he had come but two more vehicles moved in behind them and blocked the way. If they were going to shoot up the bus they would have done it by now. Harry was right; they wanted them as hostages.

One of the Arabs walked up to the bus and motioned for the driver to open the door. He said something to him in Arabic and walked back to vehicle. They all got in and started driving across the desert, not the road. The bus driver followed them while the vehicles in back followed the bus. Sam noted that there were four vehicles with two men each. Eight in all. He wondered how many there were besides these. It was important to know what his odds were. “Harry, where are we headed?”

“To a small village just a short distance away. There are two others which makes a total of ten. One of you, ten of them. That makes it just about even.”

“What do they intend to do with us?”

“I can’t tell you any more than I already have. The temporary restriction, you know. But let me say this. Walking around in their minds is like standing up to your neck in a tank of human excrement. I do it as little as possible.”

The fact that Sam was hiding on the roof of the bus didn’t mean he was running away. If he was captured and tied up, he wasn’t going to be of any help to anybody. By staying free, he could sneak out after dark and conduct a little terrorism of his own.

When they pulled into the village the people in the streets looked the other way. They didn’t look like they were happy about having these people here. Sam said, “Are the people from this village with them or against them?”

“Neither. They aren’t with them but they aren’t against them either. It wouldn’t be healthy. If you ran them out on a rail, the people wouldn’t be the least bit unhappy about it. Sort of like Jordan during the Gulf war. It wouldn’t have been healthy for them to have opposed Saddam.”

The soldiers herded the bus passengers into a small building right next to a larger building. Two people came out of the larger building to look over their prisoners. They spoke in Arabic for a few moments then the one in the clean thob went back into larger building and the dirty thobs hustled the prisoners into the small building. Sam said, “Harry, is the guy in the clean clothes Ali whchamacallet?”

“That’s him.”

“Good. I’ll save him until last.”

“Have it your way. I’d take him out first. The others would fall apart almost immediately. These are followers. Kill their leader and they would have no one to follow. But I know what you have in mind. You want to play cat and mouse with him.”

“Right. I also want him to see his empire falling apart one piece at a time.”

Night time finally arrived. Fortunately no one had come out to the bus to divide the spoils. Sam had a feeling they’d been told not to. If someone picked out the good stuff before the others had a chance, they’d probably kill him. Ali didn’t want to lose any men fighting each other over loot.

Sam waited until things started getting quiet. He was just about to come out from under the tarp and go down the ladder when he saw someone come out of the large building. He stopped and looked around to make sure he was alone then he quickly came over to the ladder. Sam knew he was going to pull the tarp back and take a quick look at the spoils. Sam knew he’d shout as soon as he saw him and the game would be over. Sam waited until he lifted the tarp then he gave him a hard right cross to the side of the jaw. He never made a sound. When Sam hit hard it was like being hit with a sledge hammer. In his rewired condition Sam had the strength of ten gorillas. Sam heard the man’s neck bone break as his head twisted at an angle it was not designed for. Sam twisted the rope that was holding the tarp down around the ankle of the deceased and pushed him over the side. He was hanging there by one leg when Sam scooted down the ladder and headed for a nearby alley. He watched from the shadows as two more of the terrorists came out of the building and spotted their ex friend hanging from the bus. They started jabbering in Arabic then called out the others. “They think he was looting the spoils and had a fatal accident. That was quick thinking, Sam. I noticed you relieved him of his knife and pistol before you pushed him over the side.”

“I needed a weapon. Lucky he came along.”

“What are you going to do now?”

“I’m going to eliminate them one by one. Every time I get one of them alone I’ll take him out then I’ll hide the body. Ali won’t know what’s happening to his soldiers. May think they’re deserting. I want to keep him confused for a while.”

“How do you feel?”

“Sort of beat up. I got a lot of scratches and bruises bouncing around with the luggage coming across the desert. I’m a little sore but that’s all. Looks worse than it is.”

Three days later he had taken out four more. The head count was down to five now and Ali was beginning to worry. On the fourth night Sam almost got caught. Ali had sent out a couple of his people out to see if they could find out what was happening to his men. Sam was moving from one alley to another and didn’t see them when they came around the corner. One of them shouted and the chase began. Sam was hiding in a doorway waiting to make a break for it when suddenly he heard a voice, “Quick in here.” The door had silently opened behind him. There was a man standing inside motioning for him to get his butt in there in a hurry. Another voice said, “It’s ok Sam. Go in.” He did.

“My name is Abdullah. I won’t recite the rest of my names because you won’t remember them anyway. My title is Doctor of Medicine. I trained in the United States and I speak English fluently. Before you ask me what I’m doing in this small village out in the middle of nowhere I’ll tell you. The reason I became a doctor in the first place was because I saw my people here in this village dying like flies. I trained and then I came back to take care of my people. Now the people in this village are no longer dying like flies.”

“I’ve been watching you from my upstairs window for the past few days and nights. You are a man of many talents. Until you finish your job you are welcome to stay here and rest until nighttime when you are at your best. I’m sure you are tired and hungry after three days of hiding so come into my kitchen and let me prepare you a meal.”

Sam was speechless. Yes he was hungry and he was tired. A good meal and a little sleep would be appreciated.

“How do you feel about the terrorist living in your village?”

“We would love to get rid of them but we can’t even express our desires. In another village they opposed the terrorists and the whole town was destroyed. Men woman and children. Their purpose is to bring Egypt back to the dark ages. They claim to be of the Islamic faith. They care nothing about Allah. They care only about themselves and the power they will have if they succeed. You are in the process of eliminating the plague that has come upon this small village and we wish to help you. The whole town knows what you’ve been doing for the last three nights.“

Sam and Abdullah had a nice meal, a glass of wine, and a long talk. Then Sam took a three hour nap. When he woke up, Abdullah had prepared a snack. Again they ate and talked. Then they went into Abdullah’s living room. Abdullah had a couple of surprises for Sam.

“Sam I’m going to give you a couple of weapons that will help you finish you’re job.” He handed Sam a beautiful crossbow. A real craftsman had constructed this one.

Abdullah said, “This is a very powerful weapon. It’s quiet and it will drive an arrow completely through a man’s body. The problem is that it takes a very strong man to load and cock it.” He demonstrated. It was all he could to draw the string back to the cocked position.

Sam said, “ Here, let me try it.” He pulled it back as if it was a thin rubber band,

Abdullah said, “You are much stronger than you look. Now let me show you something else.” He handed Sam a pistol with a silencer attached to it. These two items should help you complete your mission to save your people and at the same time, rid our village of these undesirables. When you want to come into my house, knock twice, pause, then knock twice again.”

“I won’t be back unless it’s an emergency. I don’t want them to know that you’ve helped me. If I fail, you would be the first to die.”

“If that’s the way you feel then at least let us provide you with food and water. Go to the place where you have been hiding the bodies. You will find the bodies you left the night before missing. We will dispose of them for you and replace them with food and water. Good luck.”

That night Sam went on the prowl again. He got two more this time. With the crossbow. Sam loved that weapon. Very accurate, very powerful, and best of all, very quite. Sam removed the bodies and deposited them in his secret hiding place. He found that the previous bodies had been removed. Some one in he village was helping him. They were beginning to decay. The odor would have attracted some attention and Ali would have then known what was happening to his men. Sam wanted to keep him in a state of confusion as long as possible.

Sam almost got caught again. There were only three left now. Sam had gone out in the daytime, something he would never have done when there were a large number of them still alive. He was trying to find a way to disable their vehicles so they couldn’t run. Mary, for the second time since she had been here, saved Sam’s life.

“Watch out behind you!” Sam turned, crouched and fired all in one smooth motion. His opponent had fired his weapon at approximately the same time but Sam was a fraction of a second faster. His shot threw the terrorist off balance and the bullet passed over Sam’s head.

“Thanks again Mary.”

“Do I get another hug?”

“You sure do but later. I don’t think you’d want to be that close to me right now. After I’ve had a bath. Ok?”

“I’ll be waiting.”

On another assignment, Mary, who was supposed to be there to make sure Harry and Jerry didn’t interfere, interfered to save Sam’s life. Now she’d just done it again.

Ali was worried. The last man he sent out had not returned. Now it was just him and his second in command and they were in the small building with the prisoners. Harry had told Sam to hurry over there because Ali was planning to shoot all the hostages and leave town. When Sam walked in, Ali’s assistant was pointing an assault weapon at the captives. Sam said. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”

The terrorist looked up. He couldn’t believe what he was looking at. A filthy Caucasian with a pistol in one hand and a crossbow in the other. Sam shot him with the pistol then turned to Ali. Ali looked scared. Ali wasn’t just scared, he was petrified. He couldn’t even speak. He was used to facing people with nothing to defend themselves with, not the other way around. Sam looked at the hostages. It was obvious they had been tortured and the women raped. Sam felt anger so intense he thought his heart was going to stop. He took a deep breath and cooled down. To Ali he said, “go over there and stand with your back against that wall. Ali didn’t move. Sam said, “Move!!!” Ali backed up to the wall, his hands up begging for mercy, in Arabic. Sam shot him through the stomach. Ali started screaming. Sam ignored him and turned to the hostages. A voice behind him said, “May we be of some assistance?” Sam looked around. There stood the good doctor and several of the villagers. Sam said, “I would appreciate all the help I can get.

Doctor Abdullah told his friends to untie the prisoners and bring them to his villa so he could treat them. One of the hostages, a women looked at Sam with hatred. “You barbarian, are you going to let that man die a slow agonizing death or are you going to put him out of his misery?”

Sam looked her in the eye and said, “I’m going to let him die a slow agonizing death. And if he looks like he’s going to recover, I’m going to shoot him in the stomach again.”

The woman started raving. Another woman said, “Shut up! That’s all you ve done since you’ve been here. You’re just mad because they thought you were too ugly to rape.”

Sam had to grin at that. He looked over at Ali. He was dying, that was for sure, and it wasn’t a pleasant way to do it. After everyone left Sam reloaded his crossbow. This was his last arrow and he didn’t want to waste it. He shot Ali again, in the stomach, and walked out. Maybe that lady was right. Maybe he was a barbarian. He felt no remorse.

Lt. Andrews said, “Wake up Sam. You looked like you were a thousand miles from here.”

“I was. I was thinking about the events of the past couple weeks and how nice it will be to get back home and see my wife.”

Sam was going home. The Navy had flown them to London. The diplomats stayed at the American Embassy for a couple days and Sam went straight on to the U.S. He’d had enough vacationing for a while.

Sam, Marge, Harry, Jerry, Mary, and Carrie were sitting around the kitchen table drinking pink lemonade. Sam was working on his third glass.

Marge said, “Sam, I didn’t think you liked lemonade very much.”

“While I was out there in that hot desert, pink lemonade was all I could think about. It’s like when I had my first can of beer. When I was in high school I’d had a taste of beer and didn’t like it. Swore I’d never drink another can. Then one summer day I went to a local baseball game. They had a tub full of ice and beer. I was thirsty and getting thirstier by the minute. Finally for lack of any other type of beverage I opened a beer. I had never tasted anything that good in my whole life. I’ve liked it every since.

Harry said, “Sam, I promised you a surprise when you got back. Are you ready?”

“Yeah, I’m ready. Wait! I know! You’re being sent back home and I won’t have to be doing you’re dirty work for you anymore. That’s great news Harry. When will you be leaving?”

“Sam, that hurt. After all I’ve done for you, too.”

“It seems to me that Mary has done more for me lately than you have.”

“That’s the good news. Mary and Carrie have been given permission to remain here permanently.”

“Harry, that is good news. Between the four of you I might be able to live to a ripe old age. Now that you have companions, your dispositions may improve. By the way, you still haven’t told me about the Martian version of the Birds and Bees.”

“No and I’m not going to tell you about the Martian version of the Birds and Bees. Now or ever. And stop calling us Martians!”

“Mary said, “Give me my hug and I’ll tell you.” Pffffffft. Harry pulled the plug before Mary had a chance to talk.

“Marge said, “I thought they’d never leave.”

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