Debt Of Honor by Clancy, Tom

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«> *« 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’,'”