Kassem stopped to help him. He slung his Uzi over his shoulder and grabbed his fellow commando under the armpits. With a grunt he said, “I've got you!” He pulled as Gailani helped lift himself up. Kassem finally got Gailanni up and into a sitting position.
Dan doubled back to watch as the men chasing him approached the weakened part of the walkway. As the lead man crashed through, Dan pumped his fist and said in a murmur, “Yes!” and knowing he now had a little time, took the bow off and loaded an arrow. He watched the men struggle and as the armed one put his gun over his shoulder, stepped out onto the walkway. He watched as one man stood up and the other sat. It was what he waited for, a full figure target. He pulled back on the string and fired at the standing man.
Gailani saw the figure appear from the rigging and leaned completely forward. An arrow whipped above him and into Kassem's throat. Gailani moved fast and grabbed the choking, blood-spitting Kassem around in front of himself just in time for a second arrow to whip into Kassem's back. Gailani retreated, and as he dragged Kassem as a shield he shouted, “Arif! Arif!” as he tried to remove the dead man’s gun.
No way, thought Dan as he charged after Gailani who now dropped Kassem and turned to fight. He tried to get the gun again as Dan rammed into him. Gailani stuck a hand in Dan’s face as he got the gun out from beneath the dead terrorist. Dan kneed him in the kidney while talking trash to him. “Think you’re the only one who can fight, freak? I’ll show you some moves I learned on the streets of the toughest city in the world.” Gailani spit in Dan’s face and as he winced, elbowed him in his ribs. Dan doubled over for a second and as he looked up the terrorist had the Uzi and was trying to train it on him. Dan quickly threw a handful of pellets from his pocket at him. When he ducked Dan kicked his legs out from beneath him and they both were on the deck and scrambling for Kassem's gun. As they rolled, Dan’s face was shoved into the dead man’s and Dan grabbed the arrow out of his neck and plunged it into Gailani’s chest. He felt he needed to shove it in even deeper, but his bloody hands only slid down the shaft.
Arif heard the shouting and gunfire as he searched his assigned area. He ran to the sounds, only to hear them coming from another area as the fighting moved about the vast interior. Finally, he heard Gailani call him at the end of the walkway. He ran down the long walkway and saw the two men doing battle. He couldn’t fire for fear of hitting his comrade and he approached cautiously.
Dan grabbed Kassem's Uzi and stood on wobbly legs. Got to get under cover, he thought as he looked around. He started forward when he spotted another man on the walkway. His training kicked in as he realized he had the advantage of knowing the guy was one of the terrorists, while the baddie wasn’t sure who stood before him. The man held his weapon at the ready so Dan, still in shadow waved at him.
Arif saw the man wave and figured the winner was a comrade, so he started to walk forward. Suddenly the man that was down, sat up and with a gurgled voice shouted, “Arif, help me, please.” Instantly Arif and the man dived for a girder and began exchanging gunfire.
Bullets are flying as the dazed, choking Gailani staggered - clutching the arrow in his chest - between Arif and Dan. The opposing gunfire riddled, and actually kept him upright for a moment before being ripped to shreds.
The loud click and silence of Dan’s gun told him the bad news, “Oh, oh,” he said, “I’m on empty.” He looked back for a better hideout and thought, Time to go, Danny Boy. He took to the bracing wires once again and put a gasbag between him and the terrorist.
Arif fired well-controlled three-second bursts as he thought, This man is a novice. He fired his weapon as though he had a target in his sights. He wastes precious ammunition. So much the better for me. The silence told him that his adversary was most probably out of ammunition. Out of bullets anyway, he thought as he peeked around the girder. He advanced using the girders as cover and got to Gailani’s body. He looked down, shook his head and thought, A terrible way to die. He looked around, “I must get this man.” He tried to keep a girder between himself and any of the upper guy wires that his enemy may be hiding in just in case he still had a shot or an arrow ready to fire at him. He walked slowly along the center walkway, his Uzi always ready. The humming sound he heard meant nothing to him at first, just one of the sounds the airship’s many motors made. But as it increased in intensity, it dawned on him, That’s not a stationery motor; the sound is louder because it’s coming closer to me. He turned and finally noticed the electric trolley coming along the rails towards him. A figure was hunched over the controls. He crouched and fired half of his magazine of bullets into the moving target. As the figure was ripped to bits, an arrow flashed by Arif’s head from behind him. He suddenly recognized that the figure was nothing more than a bundle of rags. “Bastard!” he shouted as he spun around, “You bastard dung-eating son of a pig! You will die for this!” He turned and fired widely, everywhere. Another arrow slashed past his head. Frustrated, he retreated, towards the forward section. He now fired wildly just to keep his adversary from having time to get a good bead on him. Arif retreated back towards the safety of the gondola as he screamed obscenities all the way.
Dan looked down from his perch about forty feet up and slightly to the left of the walkway, as he clung to the guy wires. He watched as the terrorist ran crouched, shooting as he ran to the forward section, entered the Passengers Lounge door and slammed it behind him.
Well, he thought as his body sagged from the release of tension, at least they now know they don’t have it all to themselves. He grinned and quickly returned to his habit of talking to himself as he descended. “Officer McKee, you're suspended for firing your weapon in a public area that was clearly marked 'No Arrows.’ I'm sorry, Commissioner, but it was five against one.” He kept his grin as he pictured his captain saying, “That's your problem, McKee, not the department’s. Don't let the door hit you on the way out . . . ”
He stepped on the center walkway and slowly walked to the rear. “Got to go home and get some rest. I just can’t see them letting this continue going on this way.” He made a stop by Gailani and pulled the arrow out of his neck. “Sorry buddy, but I need this back.” He wiped the arrow on his shirt then pushed him off the walkway, fifty feet down to the hull and once again spoke to himself, “Okay, McKee, your five minutes of self-pity a day are up.”
Aziz sat with his mouth open as he listened to Arif.
Hadi shook Arif and said, “Tell us again, but slow this time. And think, Arif. Think of everything that happened and leave nothing out.”
Arif is frantic and is starting to break down.
Karim handed him a flask and he took a swig of the liquid, “Arrg! What was that? Liquor?” he asked as he clutched his throat.
Karim nodded and said, “Hush! This is an emergency you will be forgiven. Now, answer Hadi.”
The shock, if not the taste of the liquor, had its effect on the man. He looked at Hadi and Colonel Aziz took note of that as Arif continued, “He killed them all! Gailani, Mustafa, Hamadan, Kassem! They're all dead! He fights like a savage! His arrows seem to come out of nowhere! And he seems to appear and disappear from out of nowhere! He is at home in the wires that hold this monster ship together as he is on the frail catwalks. He is going to kill us all I tell you!” He turned to Karim, took and drained his flask.
Aziz looked out the window, “Arrows! Who uses arrows these days?”
Arif has four weapons. Hadi grabs one and as he checked the chamber, said in a fierce voice, “Give me that! I'll kill this dog myself.”
Hadi!” Colonel Aziz said as he clasped his hands behind his back and stood in front of the door. “You will do nothing unless I order it. There's no reason to overreact; our operation has not been disrupted. It has to be the security man. His name is McKee - Daniel McKee - a former New York City Police Officer, relieved of his duty for being a throwback as they said, if I read the report correctly. Let's see if we can handle him intelligently.”
Jennifer stood behind
the door in the Auxiliary Control Room, her hands held high as they held a wrench. A single tap followed by a double and she lowered it as Dan slowly opened the door. They hugged. Jennifer’s eyes were puffy and Dan knew she had been worried about him. He smiled and pushed her hair back. She looked at his hand, “Dan! They hurt you. Come, sit here,” she said as she pointed at the cot.
Dan nodded and said, “Gladly honey. Gladly.”
She opened the First-Aid kit and swabbed his cut hands with an antibiotic salve and bandaged them. “Whoa babe,” he said as he tried to flex them, “not so tight I can’t make a fist.” She backed off the tightness and he gave her a smile. “I evened the odds a bit today, honey. I’d say we definitely have their attention.”
A man dressed in jeans and wearing a short sleeve shirt held his earphones tight against his ears, then looked at a couple of teenage girls that stood in the way of the television crew’s planned shooting area. He smiled as he said, “Ladies, will you please move to the left a bit.” As they moved he gave them a smile and said, “Thanks a lot.” He looked at the anchorwoman who stood under an umbrella that shielded her from the bright sun as a make-up man applied some tan to her pale face. The awning over her head read: HOTEL LE GRANDE.
The technician pointed four fingers at her then three followed by two. He then pointed at her and she smiled as limos began to pull up. The cameraman started taping and as the umbrella was removed she said into the camera; “Hello, I’m Maryellen Auley and this is CNN. It's quite a coup for the City of Miami to be hosting the world's oil ministers. The Vice President is even expected to join us today and address the OPEC Ministers as they begin the week of meetings.”
Dan stretched and got out of the cot. He let Jennifer talk him into taking a nap, providing she wakes him in twenty minutes. She shook him gently and he was instantly awake. He did two pushups and said with a moan, “Oow, that hurt.” He sat on the floor and looked at his wife. “I don’t think this is the time to start getting back into shape, hon, I’ll just have to wing it.”
He sauntered over to the computer, opened and typed in his password, then, “SHIP’S POSITION” and was immediately shown the familiar graphic of an airship at the end of a long line. “Sky Ship's 200 miles from Miami,” he said as he shut it down and walked to the table. He slipped the bow over his shoulder and fluffed up the feathers on the arrows in is quiver. He stuffed the slingshot in his back pocket and put the shots in his front pocket. Jennifer watched as she stood listening at the door. Suddenly the walkie-talkie on the table beeped. Dan grabbed it and opened the channel. “McFarlane's Balloons.” He quipped into the mouthpiece.
“Hah! Remarkable that you can joke, lad. I've been really worried.”
“Sorry, Jim, I've been out of the office. By the way, they know that there’s someone trotting around in their new playground.”
Jim’s voice sounded tired and stressed as he answered. “Oh, great! Dan, I just feel terrible: None of this would be happening if I hadn't been hell-bent on owning the world's greatest airship. Me and my big ideas! Now innocent people have died and thousands more are in danger.”
“Whoa, big guy!” Dan came back. “You can't blame yourself, Jim. You didn't invent this guy, Aziz. The worst thing would be if we were to let madmen like him stop the rest of us from following our dreams. Remember what you told me?” ‘Dan, if a poor kid from Glasgow can bring back the day of the great dirigibles, maybe some other poor kid will follow his dream, too.’"
Jim’s voice took a softer tone. “Aye. I did say that, didn't I? You're a true friend, Dan.”
“Are you kidding me? I'm honored that you feel that way, Jim. Listen, I took out six of 'em and-“
Suddenly the intercom opened with a burst of static that made Dan and Jennifer jump. “Mr. McKee? Are you near an intercom, Mr. McKee?”
“Jim,” he whispered into the walkie-talkie, “ I gotta go - got another call coming in.”
Jim is perplexed, “Another call?”
“Yeah, apparently our demented host wants to talk and he seems to have figured out who his antagonist is. I'll be in touch. Keep the faith.” Dan eyed the intercom warily.
Again Aziz spoke, “Are you there, Mr. McKee? Let's have a chat shall we?”
Colonel Aziz, Hadi, Rashid and the pilot are in the gondola. All watched the overhead speaker as though that would let them see whom they were talking to. Hadi smashed the gun butt into the palm of his hand. “The coward hides.”
They all give a start as Dan decides to answer them. “Are we having fun yet, Colonel Aziz? But why don’t we use first names? Call me Dan. And I’ll call you, uh, Abbie – you know Abdul is just so formal. Don’t you think?”
Aziz is taken aback. He covers the intercom. “Pig! How does he know my name?”
They all shrugged.
Aziz, who is fast at grasping the initiative when he senses things turning against him, said, “Yes, Dan, let's use first names. It's friendlier. You know, Dan, killing men under my command is a very stupid thing to do - and completely unwarranted: You see, we're heading back to Florida; everyone is safe.”
“Tsk, tsk. I don't know, Abbie. You sound like a sincere guy, but, see, I've been askin' myself: Dan, what would you do if you'd just attacked Miami with nerve gas and killed thousands of Americans? And guess what, Abbie, the answer I came up with wasn't exactly, 'I'm goin' to Disneyland.'
The stunned Aziz now looked hateful. He was momentarily stunned by the extent of Dan’s knowledge of his mission.
“Very impressive- for a policeman who lost his job due to endangering the lives of innocent civilians, then selfishly blamed others and ran away to Coral Gables with his wife and two young daught . . .”
Dan is wrenched out of his seat by an unseen force and slapped off the intercom. Jennifer went pale. “He- He mentioned the girls! Oh my God, Dan he mentioned the-“
Dan grasped her shoulders. “Listen: He's playing mind games. We gotta ignore it. Don’t forget he’s had, heavens knows how long, to do all the research on the crew that he needed.”
She nodded and he embraced her. “Babe, we’re under his skin and he’s trying to find some soft spot to use.”
Aziz has the cut-away drawing that showed the entire airship’s interior. He said with a voice of confidence. “Hadi, there is one door to the interior of the ship. It’s located here,” he pointed to a place on the map, “between the Passengers Lounge and the interior. The only way he can make trouble for us is if he entered through that door. And even then, he still would have to enter this gondola to disrupt our mission.” He pointed at another place and continued, “And in order to get in here, he has to enter through this door that connects us to the Passengers Lounge.” He stepped back and put his hands on his waist. “I want them both guarded at all times. If he cannot come forward, he cannot disrupt our operation.”
Hadi hurried out.
Inside Room number one, Jim is at his usual spot beneath the vent, he sat on the chair that Levon pushed over and demanded he sit in. Levon and Joan are cuddling on cushions in a corner. She tickled his ear as she whispered, “I was just thinking of our first date.”
He cringed, “Oh, no. Don't remind me.”
“Uh huh! You were so funny.”
“But were you laughing at me or with me?”
She gave a big grin and answered, “Why, at you, absolutely.”
“Ah ha, the truth comes out.”
“There you were, fresh from having thrown that touchdown pass and . . .
The big man interrupted her and said in a mock vain tone, “Hey! I threw three touchdowns that day. You always forget that part of the story.”
She continued as though he never said a thing, “We were in that nice restaurant. And - Wham! - you walked right into that waiter with the pitcher of water.”
“I didn't walk into him - he walked into my chair as I was getting up. Waiters are supposed to go around you; that was an errant waiter.”
“Oh, yeah, an errant waiter.“
<
br /> “Well, He was...” Their mood turned sober. As Joan put her arm through his and squeezed. “I was also thinking about the kids at the hospital last week; the way their eyes lit up when you walked into the room.”
He shook his head. “Naw! They lit up when they saw that big box of goodies you packed for them.”
She squeezed him harder. “No. They were excited just to see Levon Humphries walk into their hospital room.”
He lowered his eyes. “Well ... they're what it's all about, right?”
Joan looked up at him and he saw tears welling up in her eyes. “I'm pregnant, Levon.”
“You- You're- Really?”
She nodded, unable to say more. Levon grins. “Aw, hon; that's great!”
She wiped a tear away and said, “Is it? Now?”
“Faith, baby, faith. It got us this far, hasn't it?”
She nodded again and they hugged.
Jim couldn’t hear their conversation, but knew it was about what was coming up. I’ve got to help them, he thought, and all these other people. I’ve just got to help them all.
In the gondola, Karim tore off a printout from a weather satellite tracking computer, read it and called to Colonel Aziz. “Colonel, I have a new weather read-out - some squalls are moving in.”
Aziz sat in the captain’s chair and stared out the window. He didn’t even turn around when he answered, “Do we need to skirt them?
“No, my colonel. We can stay on course; the squalls will pass quickly.”
Aziz checked his watch and said, “Two hours and six minutes to Miami. Keep us on schedule.”
In the hallway between the passengers’ rooms, Ali and Harun - Uzis slung over their backs kicked a soccer ball back and forth. Both looked bored. “Shall we have a game Ali?”
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