El Al 318 Part VI

[Silktie]

PART VI

Monday 23 August
Heathrow Airport

Harry doesn’t know how long he sits there, cradling his head, filled with self-loathing. Thinking about Ruth, betrayal, and love.
L-T-H.
So she does love him. The thought is a balm to his battered heart. He only wishes that it weren’t under these circumstances that she told him. He can’t understand why they cannot figure it out, why they cannot be together and find as much joy as they can out of their union in the midst of their wretched lives. All he wants, all he has wanted for years, is a chance to hold her, to love her in all the ways it is possible to do so, to try and make her happy. And now, it would seem, he has forfeited any chance to do so. If she dies, he thinks, he will never be able to forgive himself.

Unwilling to give up on her, on them, ever, he casts around in his mind, frantically searching for something to save her. A thought comes to him suddenly, unexpectedly. It is the smallest fraction of a chance, but it is all he has. It’ll have to do.

* * *

Ruth is sweating under the suicide vest. Its weight hangs heavy on her shoulders, but she is too afraid to touch it and attempt to find a more comfortable position. After the little episode earlier, she feels drained and exhausted. She was so sure that she was going to die, and all she’d seen before her was Harry’s sorrowful eyes – it’s all she still sees every time she closes her own. They are keeping her at the front of the plane, near the open door, so at least she feels a cool breeze blow across her every now and then. She wonders how Esther is. And she wonders how Harry is, what he’s doing. At least she managed to get her message through. Surely, that must be the key to unlock this whole thing, and somehow salvage a peaceful solution?

She looks over at the air hostess. She can’t fathom, in any shape or form, being so committed to a cause that you would sacrifice a plane full of innocent civilians to achieve it. Her only consolation in all of this is that she at least got to tell Harry that she loves him. She promises herself, then and there, that if she manages to survive this ordeal, she won’t let the chance to love him, be with him, pass her by again.

* * *

Lucas looks around the table. They have been strategising for half an hour, and have made little progress. Many ideas have been considered, and then discarded as unworkable, including the use of stun gas or sleeping gas (too big an area to be effective fast enough to prevent detonation). It always comes back to the problem of preventing the detonation of the explosives. He sighs and rubs his temples.
“Okay, let’s start with the basics. How do we get CO19 to the plane without being spotted?”
Everyone ponders this. Beth glances at her watch.
“It will be dark soon.”
They all look at her to explain further.
“The plane has been sitting out there for more than 12 hours now. People must have used the toilet. The septic tank will need draining.”
“How on earth do you know that?” Dimitri asks. Beth shrugs, smirks slightly.
“I once went undercover as an air hostess.”

Lucas thinks about this.
“Can we hide the CO19 team in the tanker, get it in under the plane where it’s not visible, and then drop them there?”
The CO19 team leader nods.
“Yeah, that’ll work.”

Harry finds Aaron Bloom on the little balcony, having a smoke break.
“Mind if I join you?” He settles himself at the railing next to Bloom.
It is clear from the man’s expression that he minds very much, but he doesn’t say anything, just eyes the rumpled Section D Head warily. Unconsciously, Harry flexes his stiffening hand, and the pain that shoots through it makes him wince. He turns to Bloom.
“It occurs to me that you may have some way to contact your officer on that plane – call the whole thing off.”
They stare at each other, before Bloom shrugs, blows out a plume of smoke.
“I don’t.”
“I don’t believe you.”
Bloom, now irritated, flicks his stub over the railing.
“Come now, Harry. Do your officers take communication equipment with them when they are going deep undercover – equipment that will blow them sky-high if discovered?” He shakes his head at the idiocy of the notion.

Harry’s face darkens at the unintended pun; he keeps looking at Bloom, barely blinking, not bothering to hide his repugnance for the other man.
“No, you’re right. But.” He lets it hang for a moment, lets the tension build up in his companion.
“I would certainly have a way to communicate with them without such equipment. Code words in a news broadcast, or on a radio programme, for instance.”
He observes Bloom’s reaction closely, and picks up the tell-tale twitch of his mouth that convinces him he’s right. Without turning, he calls out: “Levi, if you would.”
Levi steps onto the balcony, holding out a phone to Bloom.
“Our Prime Minister wishes to speak to you.”

* * *

Tariq is explaining why they can’t block the remote triggers’ signals when it’s in such close proximity to the explosives when the door opens. Harry steps in, followed by Bloom.
“Mr Bloom has some information that will be of use to you.”
Bloom clears his throat. He seems diminished, somehow.
“We can get a message to our operative on the nine o’clock news. Once she receives it, she will disarm the explosive devices, and expect a raid on the plane in one hour’s time. You can go in without the fear that they will blow the plane, and you’ll only have to worry about the firearms.”
It is as though a weight has been lifted from the room.
Lucas gives Harry a smile before turning back to the table, and beginning the formulation of a concrete attack plan.

* * *

21:15

Ruth becomes aware of the air hostess leaning over her, and realises she must have been dozing. Then she notices the woman fiddling with the vest, and she is instantly awake. She tries to shy away, but the woman grabs her shoulder and pushes her down into the seat.
“Shhh. I’m just making it more comfortable. I won’t hurt you.”
When she moves away, Ruth looks down at the vest, and notices that a couple of wires have been disconnected. She frowns, and turns her head to watch the air hostess move down the aisle. She sees her bending over the passengers underneath each explosive device, and then reaching up to quickly fiddle with the device.

21:30

Harry watches through the binoculars as the tanker trundles over the tarmac, its headlights illuminating the huge wheels of the Boeing 777. It stops close to the wheels, at an angle that would prevent anyone glancing from the door of the plane to see the silent figures disembark on its blind-side. They begin to make their way into the underbelly of the plane through the wheel shafts. The tanker empties the plane’s septic tank, then crawls back towards the terminal.
Now all they can do is wait.

Lucas comes to stand next to Harry.
“I’d rather be out there with them, than standing here calling the shots.”
Harry smiles a little, nods.
“’Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown’…” He muses softly. “I’m exceedingly familiar with that feeling.”
Lucas watches him cradle his right hand, which is badly swollen by now.
“Harry, you really should get that seen to.”
“I will.” He meets Lucas’ eyes. “When I go to the hospital with Ruth later.”
There is a desperate look in his eyes, which begs Lucas not to dash the hope he is hanging onto. So Lucas merely nods, and they stand side by side quietly, counting down every second. Trying not to think about the myriad things that can go wrong, and failing miserably.

22:00

It is time.

Lucas murmurs into the comms.
“Alpha team in position?”
The answer crackles through.
“Alpha team check.”
“Bravo team?”
“Bravo team check.”
Lucas takes a deep breath, looks at Harry. Receives a tense nod.
“Charlie team, we are go.”
“Charlie team, check.”
From somewhere behind the terminal, the throbbing of helicopter blades grows louder. After a few seconds, the comms comes to life again.
“Gold Commander, Charlie team in position.”
Lucas briefly closes his eyes, swallows. No turning around now.
“Alpha, Bravo teams, we are go. On my mark: Three. Two. One. Mark.”

For a second it seems as though nothing is happening. Then the flash of the first stun grenade can be seen through the windows of the plane.
“Charlie team, go go go!”
Four Chinooks swarm over the building, each with a blinding searchlight which it immediately trains on the plane, as snipers balanced in the doorways sight their weapons on any possible targets.
Through the comms they can hear shouting, some shots, a short burst of what sounds like an AK-47. One of the hijackers appears in the door, training his weapon on the helicopters. They see him jerk and fall backwards, spraying bullets in an arc as he does so.
Harry closes his eyes, tries to quell the panic. She’ll be all right. Perhaps it will be true after all if he repeats it enough.
And then, just as suddenly as it started, it is over. All that can be heard is the whumping of the helicopters.
Finally, Dimitri’s voice: “Gold Commander, the plane is secure. I repeat, the plane is secure. All six protagonists are down. We have some light injuries to a couple of passengers, and one serious gunshot wound to an SO.”

A wave of relief sweeps through the Crisis Centre, and applause breaks out. But when Lucas looks at Harry, none of the tension has left his face. He gets back on the comms.
“Alpha One, what is Gazelle’s status?”
Beth’s voice answers.
“This is Bravo One, I’ve got her. She’s okay, she’s alive.”
Lucas can’t stop the grin from spreading across his face.
“Get the ambulances over there, now!”
When he turns to speak to Harry, the older man is no longer there.

* * *

Beth and Dimitri help Ruth down the plane’s steps between them. When she reaches the bottom, she looks up to find Harry standing a few feet away from her. His face is naked, and she can read every emotion he is experiencing as clear as day.
She reaches out a hand to him.
“…Harry…”
And then she is in his arms, being held tightly. Holding on even more tightly.
“Don’t let me go, Harry, please…”
He buries his face in her hair.
“Never,” he promises. “Never again, Ruth.”

Dimitri turns to grin at Beth, and catches her wiping a tear from her eye.
“Well well. Bad Beth Bailey has a heart,” he teases.
She glares at him.
“Shut up.”

Levi stands a little apart, watching Harry and Ruth. He sees Harry gaze at her with a most tender look, and hears her tell him three little words, sees his old friend’s face light up before he lowers his head to softly kiss her tears away.
They are an oasis of calm in the chaos swirling around them, entwined as closely as it is possible to be.
Together.
He smiles, nods to himself, and walks away.

* * *

Saturday 28 August, Evening
Harry’s house

They are nestled together on the sofa, watching the news. Or rather, Harry is watching the news. Ruth is simply watching him. She notices everything about him; the way he purses his lips when they’re reporting something he doesn’t like, how he curls his bare toes into the carpet when Scarlet licks them, how the muscles in his forearm move when he clenches his right hand around the cast. She reaches out in wonderment, tracing the muscles as they move.

It seems that, once she’s started touching him, she simply can’t stop. Harry, of course, doesn’t seem to mind at all. When she lifts a finger to trace the shell of his ear, he makes a low, content humming sound in the back of his throat. She presses closer to him, and lays her head on his shoulder, her hand straying to his shirt-front and tracing his skin inside the open V of the collar. He turns his head, and she can feel his breath against her forehead. He waits until she looks up at him, and gives her a slow, sexy smile that lights up his eyes. Then he kisses her, deeply, thoroughly, and so very lovingly, until she can’t remember anything but his name.

Harry

Always his, deep in her heart.

It has always been him.

And it always will be.

Fin



Thank you for reading, and for all the kind reviews.

[Aria]

A brilliant end to a wonderful story, Silktie. The plot and characters were spot-on and very believable. I have enjoyed this immensely. Thank you.

[A Cousin]

Damn, Silktie! You sure know how to write them!

Love, love, love the wonderful little series of French scenes at the bottom of the plane stairs - HR's reunion (very subtle), Beths response to Dimitri ("Shut up." LOLOL!) and HR through Levi's eyes.

[Obsession]

Lovely. Another great piece of writing, Silktie. Well done.

Thanks

[lwhite53]

Great ending, Silktie -- thanks for sharing!!

[HellsBells]

Wonderful ending, great writing, thanks for sharing this fic.

[Tea Lady]

Great ending Silktie. I really enjoyed this "action" type fic from you.

For some reason I have the image of Scarlet licking Harry's toes in my mind. Can't seem to shake it.

[Byatil]

Brilliant, I love the mix of drama and humour in this. A very compelling ending, extremely well written. I enjoyed it immensely

[JHyde]

This was really terrific, Silktie. You have a good balance between the prose and the dialogue. Nice one!

[pookster]

Terrific tense story. Go Ruth and Harry. Well done.