The black car stopped outside the airport building and a police officer opened the
door.
Helen Sandberg got out and went quickly inside. Upstairs, in the control room, the
Chief of Airport Police, Inspector Holm, was waiting with a soldier. Helen’s secretary,
Michael, was there too.
‘Good evening, Prime Minister,’ said Inspector Holm. ‘This is Colonel Carter, of the
Special Commando Section.’
‘Good evening, Colonel.’ Helen shook hands with the soldier and looked at him. He
was a thin, tough-looking man, about forty years old, with a brown face. His hand was hard
and strong. ‘I hope you know your job,’ she thought. ‘I may need you.’
She looked out of the window. There was a large plane on the tarmac about two
hundred meters away. All its lights were on. ‘Is that the plane?’ she asked.
‘That’s it, Prime Minister.’
‘Right, give me the facts. How many people are on it?’
Inspector Holm answered. ‘One hundred and eight passengers, five crew.’
‘What nationalities are they?’
‘There are twenty-nine Americans, fifteen British, two Brazilian, and one Chinese. The
others are from this country.’
‘I see. There are a lot of Americans and British, then,’ said Helen quietly. ‘That means
trouble.’
‘Yes, Prime Minister,’ answered Michael. ‘I’m afraid their Ambassadors are on their
way here now.’
Helen smiled at him quickly. He was a good secretary; he usually knew what she was
thinking. Both the American Ambassador and the British Ambassador were difficult people.
She turned back to Inspector Holm. ‘Tell me about the hijackers. What do they want?’
‘We don’t know how many hijackers there are, Prime Minister. But they have guns, we
know that. They say they are from the People’s Liberation Army. And they want three
things.’ Inspector Holm paused and looked down at her. He was a very tall man and he
looked very important in his uniform. Helen didn’t like him much.
‘Yes, well. What three things?’ she asked quickly.
‘Firstly, they say we must set free their two brothers from prison. You remember,
Prime Minister – two men tried to put a bomb on a plane last year. They are in prison near
here.’
‘I remember,’ Helen answered softly. ‘They’re in prison for thirty years, aren’t they?’
‘I think so. Something like that.’ The man paused. ‘Secondly, they say we must refuel
the plane because they want to fly to another country. Thirdly, they say we must put this in
all our newspapers. It says they are fighting for freedom for their people. They are freedom
fighters. They want to liberate their people.’
He gave her a sheet of paper. Helen put in on the table. She did not read it. ‘And what
about the passengers?’ she asked. ‘When will the hijackers set them free?’
‘They say they will set most of the passengers free when their brothers to fly away
with them. They will set them free when they arrive.’
‘I see.’
‘There’s one other thing, Prime Minister,’ Colonel Carter spoke for the first time. His
voice was very almost gentle. ‘They say we must bring the prisoners to the airport in two
hours. If not, they will kill a passenger. They said his one hour ago.’
‘So we have one hour left?’
‘That’s right, Prime Minister. Just one hour. Then they will kill the first passenger.’