Terrorists Will Still Get Anywhere They Want To Go, Just As A Determined Assassin Can Still Get To A World Leader.” The Phone Beeped, And The Desk Sergeant Answered The Call. It Was For August. The Colonel Hurried Over. If And When They Left This Room, The Squad Would Instantly Switch To The Secure, Mobile Tac-Sat Phone. While They Were Here, They Still Used The Secure Base Lines. “Colonel August Here,” He Said.
“Brett, It’s Mike.” In Public, The Officers Observed Formal Protocol. In Private Conversation, They Were Two Men Who Had Known Each Other Since Childhood.
“You’ve Got A Go.” “A Go Is Understood,” August Replied. He Glanced Over At His Team. They Were Already Beginning To Gather Their Gear. “I’ll Give You The Mission Profile When You Arrive,” Rodgers Said. “See You In Thirty Minutes,” August Replied, Then Hung Up. Less Than Three Minutes Later, The Striker Squad Was Buckling Themselves Into The Helicopter Seats For The Ride To Andrews. As The Noisy Chopper Rose Into The Night And Arced To The Northeast, Colonel August Was Puzzled By Something Rodgers Had Said.
Typically, Mission Parameters Were Downloaded To The Aircraft Via Secure Ground-To-Air Modem.
It Saved Time And Allowed The Process To Continue Even After The Team Was Airborne. Rodgers Had Said He Was Going To Give Them The Mission Parameters When They Arrived. If That Meant What He Thought It Meant, Then This Was Going To Be A More Interesting And Unusual Evening Than He Had Expected.
New Fork, New York Saturday, 10:08 P Dism.
When The Violinists Had First Arrived In The Security Council Chambers, They Assembled Behind The Horseshoe-Shaped Table On The Main Floor. Their Musical Director, Ms. Dom, Had Just Arrived.
The Twenty-Six-Year-Old Had Given A Recital In Washington The Night Before And Had Flown In That Day.
While Ms. Dorn Reviewed The Score, Harleigh Hood Stood By The Curtains In. Front Of One Of The Windows. She Peeked Outside At The Darkening River And Smiled At The Jiggling Lights Reflected On The Surface. The Bright, Colorful Spots Reminded Her Of Musical Notes, And She Found Herself Wondering Why Sheet Music Was Never Printed In Color–A Different Color For Each Octave.
Harleigh Had Just Released The Edge Of The Curtain When They Heard Pops In The Hallway. Moments Later, The Double Doors On The North Side Of The Chamber Slammed Opera And The Masked Men Ran In. Neither The Delegates Nor Their Guests Moved, And The Young Musicians Remained Where They Were, In Two Tight Rows. Only Ms. Dom Moved, Protectively Positioning Herself Between The Children And The Intruders. The Masked Men Were Too Busy To Notice Her. They Were Running Down The Sides Of The Chamber, Surrounding The Delegates. None Of The Intruders Said Anything Until One Of The Men Grabbed A Delegate And Pulled Him Off To The Side. The Intruder Spoke To The Man Quietly, As Though He Were Afraid Of Being Overheard. The Delegate, Who Had Been Introduced To The Violinists Earlier In A Receiving Line-He Was From Sweden, Though She Forgot His Name-Then Told The Group That No One Would Be Harmed As Long As They Stayed Quiet And Did Exactly As They Were Told. Harleigh Didn’t Find Him Convincing. His Collar Was Already Sweaty, And The Whole Time His Eyes Were Moving All Over The Place Like He Was Looking For A Place To Run.
The Intruder Resumed Talking To The Delegate.
They Sat Down At The Horseshoe-Shaped Table. The Delegate Was Handed Paper And A Pencil. Two Of The Intruders Checked The Windows, Opened The Doors To See What Was Behind Them, Then Took Up Other Positions. When One Of Them Had Been Standing Beside Her Window, Practically At Her Shoulder, Harleigh Had Had To Fight The Urge To Say Something. She’d Wanted To Ask This Person What He Was Doing. Her Father Had Always Told Her That A Reasonable Question, Reasonably Asked, Rarely Provoked An Angry Response.
But Harleigh Could Smell The Tartness Of The Gunpowder-Or Whatever The Smell Was-Wafting From The Man’s Gun. And She Thought She Saw Blood Spots On His Glove. Fear Froze Her Throat And Loosened Her Insides. Her Legs Really Did Go Weak, Though At The Thighs, Not The Knees. She Didn’t Say Anything And Then Got Angry At Herself For Having Been Afraid. Talking Could Have Gotten Her Shot, But It Also Might Have Made The Intruders Sympathetic Toward Her. Or Maybe They Would Have Made Her A Spokesperson Or A Group Leader Or Something That Would Have Taken Her Mind Off Her Fear. And What If They All Got Shot Later? Not Necessarily By These People But By Whoever Came To Save Them. Her Dying Thought Would Be That She Should Have Said Something Before. As She Watched Him Go, She Almost Said Something Again, But Her Mouth Wouldn’t Let Her.
Shortly Thereafter One Of The Men-Again Speaking Very Quietly, With An Accent That Sounded Australian– Began Collecting People Around The Table. The Children Were First.
He Told Them To Leave Their Instruments Where They Were, On The Floor, And Come Over. Harleigh’s Violin Case Was Already Open, And She Took The Time To Lay The Instrument Inside. It Wasn’t A Small, Belated Act Of Defiance. She Wasn’t Even Testing The Man To See What She Could Get Away With. Her Parents Had Given The Violin To Her, And She Wasn’t Going To Let Anything Happen To It. Fortunately, The Man Either Didn’t Notice Or Decided To Let It Go.
As Harleigh Sat At The Circular Table, She Felt Very Exposed. She’d Liked It Better By The Drapes, In The Corner. The Fear, Which Had Been Liquid, Began To Solidify. Harleigh Began Trembling As She Sat There And Was Almost Glad When One Of The Girls Beside Her Began To Shake. Poor Laura Sabia. Laura Was Her Best Friend, But She Was A Skittish Girl To Begin With. She Looked Like She Wanted To Scream.
Harleigh Touched Her Hand And Caught Her Eye And Smiled At Her. It’s Going To Be Okay, Her Smile Said. The Girl Didn’t Respond To That. She Did Respond When The Masked Man Began Walking Toward Them. He Didn’t Have To Say A Thing, Didn’t Even Have To Walk All The Way Over. Just Coming Over Scared Her To Silence. Harleigh Patted The Girl’s Fingers And Then Withdrew Her Hand. She Folded Her Hands In Front Of Her.
Harleigh Drew A Deep Breath Through Her Nose And Stopped Herself From Trembling. A Girl Across The Table Saw Her And Did Likewise. After A Moment, The Girl Smiled. Harlei.Gh Smiled Back. She Discovered That Fear Was Like. Being Cold. If You Relaxed, It Wasn’t As Bad. The Cavernous Room Became Quiet. There Was A Feeling Of Tense Resignation At The Table, An Awareness That The Quiet Was Thin And Could Be Broken At Any Moment. Inside The Table, The Diplomats Seemed A Little More Restless Than The Musicians, Probably Because They Were The Most Vulnerable.. The Intruders Seemed Very Angry About Somebody Not Being There, But Harleigh Didn’t Know Who.
Perhaps The Secretary-General, Who Had Been Late.
Ms. Dom Was Sitting At The Head Of The Table. She Made Eye Contact With Each Of Her Violinists, Making Sure They Were All Right. Each Girl Responded In Turn With A Little Nod. It Was All Bravery, Harleigh Knew; No One Was Really Okay. But In The Absence Of Anything Else, The Sense Of We’re All In This Together Was Something To Hold Onto.
Harleigh Thought She Heard Footsteps Outside The Door. Security People Were Bound To Show Up. She Looked Around For Places To Hide If Something Did Happen, If People Began Shooting. Behind The Horseshoe Table Looked Like The Safest Spot. She Could Run Over, Slide Across, And Be On The Other Side In A Matter Of Moments. She Lifted Her Knees Very Slowly Against The Bottom Of This Table, Like She Did To Her Desk At School When She Was Bored–Make It Seem To Float. The Table Rose Slightly, Which Meant It Wasn’t Bolted To The Floor. They Could Turn It Over And Duck Behind It If They Had To.
As Harleigh Thought About Defending Themselves, She Experienced A Flash Of Terror. She Wondered If This Might Have Something To Do With Her Father And Op-Center. He Had Never Talked About Work At Home, Not Even When He And Her Mother Had Argued. Could It Be That Op-Center Had Wronged These People In Some Way? She Had Learned In Civics Class That Except For Israel, The United States Was The Largest Target Of Terrorism In The World. The Violinists Were The Only Americans Here. Were They After Her? What If They Didn’t Know Her Father Had Resigned? What If They Wanted To Control Her To Control Him?
The Flesh Of Her Neck And Shoulders Grew Warm.
Harleigh Began To Perspire Along Her Sides. The Gown That Had Felt So New, So Elegant, Clung To Her Like A Bathing Suit. This Isn’t Happening, She Thought. It Was The Kind Of Thing You Saw On The News Happening To Other People. There Were Supposed To Be Safeguards Here, Weren’t There? Metal Detectors, Guards At The Doors, Security Cameras.