taxi the 747 right up to the jetway, stopping again with the usual millimet-
ric precision. In less than a minute the doors were opened and passengers
clambered off. Through the windows of the terminal they could see a
crowd of people waiting at the gate, mainly the wives and children of peo-
ple who had flown so recently to Saipan in order to establish themselves as
. . . citizens, able to vote in the newest Home Island. But not now. Now
they were coming home, and families welcomed them as those who might
have been lost, now sale again where they belonged. The copilot shook his
head at the absurdity of it all, not noticing that Sato’s face still hadn’t
changed at all. Ten minutes later the flight crew left the aircraft. A relief
crew would take it back to Saipan in a few hours to continue the exodus of
special flights.
Out in the terminal, they saw others waiting at other gates, outwardly ner-
vous from their expressions, though many were devouring afternoon papers
just delivered to the airport’s many gift shops.
Goto Falls was the headline: Koga to Form New Government.
The international gates were rather less full than was the norm. Caucasian
businessmen stood about, clearly leaving the country, hut now looking about
in curiosity, so many of them with little smiles as they scanned the terminal,
looking mainly at the flights inbound from Saipan. Their thoughts could
handy have been more obvious, especially the people waiting to board
Mlj|lil» eastward.
Sulo »«\* n too. lie stopped and looked at a paper dispenser but only
itcwfal l«> *<•<• (he headline to understand. Then he looked at the foreigners utIhrli iimr* mid muttered, "(iaijin . . ." It was the only unnecessary wordhe'd »|xilioi( in two hours, and he said nothing else on the way to his car.Prilt4|>« winie sleep would help him, the copilot thought, heading off to his
own
“Aren’t WT MipjMised to jjo back out and-”
“Ami«!«» whm, Ding’.'” Clark asked, pocketing the car keys after a thirty-
mlnulr «|tin mound the southern half of the island. “Sometimes you just let
Ihintfft I* I think llns is one of those times, son.”
“Ytm Mying tl’» over’.'” Pete Burroughs asked.
“Well, lake n limk uintiiul ”
hglilri* war still minting overhead. Cleanup crews had just about
clcurril llw ilHnu hum the (XMiphery of Kobler Field, but the fighters had
nol moved ovei lo the international airport, whose runways were busy with
civilian airliner* I u llir cust ol the housing tract the Patriot crews were also
standing alert, but ihnM- imt in the control vans were standing together in
small knots, talking mining themselves instead of doing the usual soldierly
make-work. l^x«l »ili/ois \veir demonstrating now, in some cases loudly,
at various silcn around (lie island, and nobody was arresting them. In some
cases officer* hacked «i|» l»v mined soldiers asked, politely, for the demon-
strators lo May away liom ihe tumps, and the local people prudently heeded
the warnings, On thru diivr. (‘lark and Chavez had seen half a dozen such
incidents, and in all cases it was ihe same: the soldiers not angered so much
as embarrassed by il nil It wasn’i the sign of an army ready to fight a battle,
John thought, and morr ini|M)Haiiilv. the officers were keeping their men
under tight control. Thai meant uuleis from above to keep things cool.
“You think it’s ovei’,'” <)ie/a asked"If we're lucky, Porlagee "Prime Minister Koga's first olliciul act alter forming a cabinet was to sum-mon Ambassador Charles Whinny A political appointee whose last fourweeks in the country had been very tense and frightening indeed, Whitingnoted first of all that the guard detail around the embassy was cut by half.His official car had a police escort to the I )iet Building. There were camerasto record his arrival at the VIP entrance, but they were kept well back, andtwo brand-new ministers conducted him inside."Thank you for coming so quickly, Mr. Whiting.""Mr. Prime Minister, speaking for myself, I am very pleased to answeryour invitation." The two men shook hands, and really that was it, both ofthem knew, though their conversation had to cover numerous issues."You are aware that I had nothing at all to do-"Whiting just raised his hand. "Excuse me, sir. Yes, I know that, and Iassure you that my government knows that. Please, we do not need to estab-lish your goodwill. This meeting," the Ambassador said generously, "isproof positive of that.''' 'And the position of your government?''At exactly nine in the morning, Vice President Edward Realty's car pulledinto the underground parking garage of the State Department. Secret Serviceagents conducted him to the VIP elevator that took him to the seventh floor,where one of Brett Hanson's personal assistants led him to the double doorsof the office of the Secretary of State."Hello, Ed," Hanson said, standing and coming to meet the man he'dknown in and out of public life for two decades."Hi, Brett." Kealty was not downcast. In the past few weeks he'd cometo terms with many things. Later today he would make his public statement,apologizing to Barbara Linders and several other people by name. Butbefore that he had to do what the Constitution required. Kealty reached intohis coat pocket and handed over an envelope to the Secretary of State. Han-son took it and read the two brief paragraphs that announced Realty's resig-nation from his office. There were no further words. The two old friendsshook hands and Kealty made his way back out of the building. He wouldreturn to the White House, where his personal staff was already collectinghis belongings. By evening the office would be ready for a new occupant."Jack, Chuck Whiting is delivering our terms, and they're pretty much whatyou suggested last night.""You might catch some political heat from that," Ryan observed, in-wardly relieved that President Durling was willing to run the risk.The man behind the ornate desk shook his head. "I don't think so, but if ithappens, I can take it. I want orders to go out for our forces to stand down,defensive action only.""Good.""It's going to be a long while before things return to normal."Jack nodded. "Yes, sir, but we can still manage things in as civilized away as possible. Their citizens were never behind this. Most of the peopleresponsible for it are already dead. We have to make that clear. Want me tohandle it?""(hnHl idea. Lot's talk about that tonight. How about you bring your wilein («»r dinner.' Just a private one lor a change," the President suggested with» Minlc"I think Calhy would like that."Professor ('aniline Kyan was just finishing up a procedure. The atmospherein the operating room was more akin to something in an electronics factory.She didn't even have to wear surgical gloves, and the scrub rules here werenothing like those lor conventional surgery. The patient was only mildlysedated while the surgeon hovered over the gunsightlike controls of herlaser, searching around tor the last bad vessel on the surface of the elderlyman's retina. She lined up the crosshairs as carefully as a man taking down aRocky Mountain sheep from half a mile, and thumbed the control. Therewas a brief Hash of green light and the vein was "welded" shut."Mr. Redding, that's it," she said quietly, touching his hand."Thank you, doctor," the man said somewhat sleepily.C'lilhy Ryan Hipped off the power switch on the laser system and got offher stool, stretching as she did so. In the corner of the room, Special AgentAndrca Price, still disguised as a Hopkins faculty member, had watched theentire procedure. The two women went outside to find Professor BernardKal/, his eyes beaming over his Bismarck mustache."Yeah, Bernie?" Cathy said, making her notes for Mr. Redding's chart."You have room on the mantel, rath?" That brought her eyes up. Katzhanded over a telegram, still the traditional way of delivering such news."You jusl bagged a l.asker Award, honey." Katz then delivered a hug thatalmost made Andrca Price reach for her gun."Oh, Bcrnic!""You earned it, doctor. Who knows, maybe you'll get a free trip to Swe-den, too. Ten years of work It's one hell of a clinical breakthrough, Cathy.''Other faculty members came up then, applauding and shaking her hand,and for Caroline Muller Ryan, MI), I-'.A.C.S., it was a moment to match thearrival of a baby. Well, she thought, almost. . . .Special Agent Price heard her Ix-eper go off and headed to the nearestphone, taking the message down and returning to her principal."Is it really that good?" she finally asked."Well, it's about the top American award in medicine," Katz said while