The ringing telephone on his night stand woke Madari at four-seventeen. He groaned and lifted the receiver. This could only be bad news.

"Madari," he said, thickly, then cleared his throat and wished he could clear his head too.

"Duty officer, Colonel. We have a code two situation at the airport."

Madari sat up, his head clearing at once of the clouds of sleep. At his side, Sophia stirred and looked up at him, her eyes just visible in the moonlight.

"How many hostages?" Madari asked.

"Still waiting on that information. It landed twenty minutes ago. The helicopter is on its way for you. ETA, fifteen minutes. Alpha Unit is en-route by road now, Captain Jahni leading."

"Thank you. Call me with anything new." He hung up and got out of bed, flicking on the bedside light. Sophia sat up, her face worried.

"Hostages?"

"A hijacked plane. I have to get ready for pick up. Please call me if the phone rings again." No time to stay and tell her more, he hurried to the bathroom and, already naked, stepped into the shower. The water had barely started to run warm when he stepped out again, and dried off quickly.

Back in the bedroom, Sophia, wearing her silk robe now, had turned on the overhead light and taken his uniform from the wardrobe. She handed him his clothes piece by piece, and watched him dress, without saying anything. He saw fear in her eyes, which touched him. He gave her a small smile.

"Don't worry, my dear. We're only there as the last resort. With luck this will all be resolved by negotiators."

"I hope so."

"And if not, I won't personally be storming onto any planes."

"Kahil will." She bit her lip, perhaps seeing the pain in his face that he couldn't hide quickly enough. "I'm sorry. You know I worry about him as much as you."

Did that mean she worried about Jahni as much as she worried about Madari, or that she worried about Jahni as much as Madari did? It couldn't be the latter. Perhaps his parents could have worried for him as much as Madari did, but nobody else.

"He's my very best soldier." Madari wanted to go on and say 'he'll be fine' but the memories were still too clear, even two years later, of the explosion in that house. Of hearing the shout of 'men down' and knowing Jahni was among those men.

He turned away from Sophia and slid his arms into his jacket as she held it out for him.

"I'm sorry I have to go like this," he said, turning back to her and letting her fasten the buttons of his jacket. He had a day off tomorrow, or rather today and had wanted to wake up with Sophia in his arms, spend a lazy morning and then go to the falconry centre and work with Ruya for a while. Safe to say that was cancelled. "Don't leave until morning. I don't want you driving the desert road in the dark."

"I can hear the helicopter," Sophia said, looking up. Madari nodded. Yes, he heard it too.

"I have to go."

She stopped him before he left the room, held the front of his jacket and stood on tiptoes to kiss him. No simple peck on the cheek, but rather the kiss of a woman seeing a warrior off to battle. It left him short of breath. She moved back slowly and spoke in a serious voice, while her nervous hands smoothed down his jacket front.

"Good luck. And pass that on to Kahil too."

As he hurried out to meet the small helicopter coming in to land on the road outside his house, he thought she probably only meant to pass on the luck and not the kiss.

~~~~

In the helicopter, more information, came in over the radio from the duty officer.

"It's an Air France flight, inbound from Paris. Everything appeared normal until it landed, then the hijackers announced they had control of the plane."

"What type of plane?" Madari asked.

"It's Boeing 747-300."

Good. They had plenty of practice on those. The men knew their way around a 747 blindfold now.

"Number of hostages?"

"One hundred and fifty-seven. We're getting a passenger list from the airline now."

"Number of hijackers? Weapons?"

"No confirmation yet. The control tower thinks they've heard three different voices so far."

"Haven't the pilots been able to pass anything on?" The pilots had special codes Madari knew, to pass on such information secretly to the tower.

"The hostiles haven't allowed the pilots to speak to the tower since the landing. We're analysing everything they said in their communications with the tower during landing. It's not clear if they were under duress then."

"Any demands?"

"They're demanding to speak to the king himself, say he's the only one they'll convey their full demands to."

That wouldn't happen, Madari knew. The king would not negotiate with terrorists, certainly not in person.

"Have they said who they represent?"

"They called themselves the Islamic Alliance."

Madari had never heard the name. Probably another splinter group. A few disaffected men who thought their fellow fanatics weren't fanatical enough. But that shouldn't make him underestimate them all the same. Though the groups often had a strange mix of men, some of them included professional soldiers, or civilians who'd had the same type of training Madari had given his guerrillas. No, never underestimate them.

"Is the plane at the gate?"

"No. It taxied to the end of runway two and stayed there."

Madari pictured that position. Open ground. No cover for a sneak attack during daylight hours.

"Does the plane have enough fuel on board to take off again?"

"I can find out."

Madari smiled at that answer. He'd taught his men never to say 'I don't know'. One of Ahmed's many pieces of advice he'd given to Madari as a young officer. Never say 'I don't know' to your commanding officer. Only say 'I can find out.'

"Make sure the runway is obstructed."

"Already done. Major Dhan ordered that right away."

Ah yes, Major Dhan, who Madari had met - still a captain then - the day the guerrillas handed the airport back to its management. Dhan had taken to his new role in charge of airport security with relish, bringing in many modern innovations. Madari had worked with him on several occasions since then, as airport security and the Special Forces unit planned and rehearsed for situations like this. This would be the first live one they'd have to deal with.

"Has Alpha unit arrived yet?"

"Five minutes ago. Moving to the command post now."

"Anything else?"

"Not unless you have any more questions, sir."

He didn't right then, and trusted his man to give him all the information he had. The helicopter was only minutes from the airport now.

"Keep this connection open until I land."

"Yes, sir."

He took that few minutes to calm and centre himself. The racket of the helicopter faded as he took deep breaths and put all other thoughts out of his mind. The memory of Sophia's lips on his only twenty minutes ago. His annoyance at being pulled from his bed and her side. His worry about the danger that lay ahead; the danger to Jahni, if it came to an assault. He let all of that go. Tonight he had a job to do.

~~~~

He stepped off the helicopter to find his driver, Sergeant Sijad, waiting with a Jeep.

"Morning, sir." Sijad pulled away the instant Madari slid into the passenger seat. "Have you at Security in two minutes."

"Thank you, Sergeant."

"Your staff car is out front if you need it. Here." He handed Madari a walkie talkie. "We're on channel two."

"I hope I'll need the car sooner rather than later," Madari said, but suspected he wouldn't be enjoying the drive back to barracks for a while yet.

"I'm sure you'll get it fixed quick."

"Thanks for your confidence, Sergeant." In a few minutes they arrived at the Airport Security building, newly built on the side of the terminal. Madari jumped out of the Jeep. "Find somewhere to wait, Sergeant. I'll radio you if I need you."

"Standing by, sir. If you or any of the lads needs anything fetched from barracks shout up and I'll get it." He saluted and shot off in the Jeep.

The Airport Security men guarding the door saluted him too and Madari returned that, but quickly as he rushed inside. The building was abuzz, but not panicky, Madari noted, satisfied. He suspected things may be different in the terminal. Reporters and other busybodies would be filling the place, waiting for news. Loved ones of the passengers would be there too of course. He hoped the airport manager, Mr Vali would find the friends and relatives somewhere private, away from the attentions of the press.

A security man waited for him just inside the door and led him straight through to the command centre. This room had monitors all around the walls and computer terminals arranged on desks. A big communications station kept the centre in constant touch with the tower and the outside world. Major Dhan had his desk right here in the command centre, which Madari liked. The man had a side room, for privacy when needed, but he worked out here in the midst of the action, his finger always on the pulse.

Another man sat a Dhan's desk now, to answer the telephone that rang again every time he hung up. Dhan himself stood with several other men around a large table in the middle of the room. Jahni and other officers from Madari's unit were among them.

"Major," Madari greeted Dhan first, with a quick handshake, before nodding his greetings to his own men. "My duty officer brought me up to speed over the radio. Any developments in the last ten minutes?"

"Negotiators have arrived," Dhan reported. "They are in the tower talking to the hijackers now. We've placed fire tenders across the runaway to prevent the plane from taking off. They've started demanding their removal."

"Is the plane fuelled for take off?" Madari asked.

"Yes, sir," one of Dhan's men said. "This is a layover stop for them, en-route to Algiers."

"They've got enough fuel to reach anywhere in the Middle East and most of North Africa," Dhan said. "And yet they let the plane land here. If they wanted to go elsewhere, why not head straight here?"

Madari nodded in agreement. "Yes. They want something here. I'm sure they don't like being trapped in position, but I agree, they probably have no immediate plans for take-off. Are they Qumari, do we know?"

"Still unknown," one of Dhan's men said.

"Captain." Madari turned to Jahni. "Status of Alpha unit?"

"On standby, sir. Waiting in the break room." He waved a hand upwards, indicating the upstairs floor, where the airport's security men had a comfortable break room. Good, Madari thought. If this dragged out for hours, even days, then his men at least had somewhere to wait where they could rest and eat.

"The French are making a lot of fuss," Dhan said. "Their ambassador is on his way over now."

"Bloody frogs," Jahni muttered, in English.

"It is their plane," Dhan said, with a small smile in reaction. "Local Air France officials are heading over with all the data they can give us."

"Do we have a passenger list yet?" Madari asked.

"Expecting a fax any moment," Dhan said.

"Major." The man from Dhan's desk appeared at the major's side. "You need to take this call, sir."

"Excuse me." Dhan went back to his desk. The other men bent over the papers they had laid out. A large plan diagram of a Boeing 747-300 dominated the table. Several thick manuals lay around.

"Kahil," Madari said, time to take longer to speak to him now. "How are the men?"

"They're ready, sir. We've rehearsed this often enough. Knew it would happen for real one day."

"And you?"

"I was born ready." It should have been a boast, perhaps accompanied by a cocky smile, but Jahni's face remained grim.

"What?"

They all turned at the sound of Dhan's shout down the phone. His face was a mask of shock.

"You're sure?" A pause, while he listened and they all watched him, waiting. "Right. Thank you." He hung up and ran a hand over his face. He already had a hijacked plane with one hundred and fifty-seven hostages, the French breathing down his neck and the press probably setting up a shanty town in his terminal. Madari guessed that whatever Dhan had just been told must go well beyond what could be described as any normal kind of 'bad news'. Dhan took a shaky breath and came back to the table.

"Gentlemen, the fax of the passenger list is coming, but that was our contact at Air France. He just confirmed that one of the passengers on the plane is the United States ambassador to Qumar."

~~~~

"Coffee, sir?"

Madari turned to Kadry, who held out a steaming mug to him. "Thank you, Sergeant."

He'd come up to check on the men, and of course found they have already commandeered the large coffee machine. The security officers were in awe of the black-clad men bristling with weapons, and gave them a wide berth in the break room.

The men were calm, though Madari saw traces of nervousness, in the way some checked and rechecked equipment and weapons. Others pored over plans of the plane and discussed their well-rehearsed assault plans. Less obvious nerves there, but, since they already knew the material inside out, then perhaps it was a way to distract themselves.

A few men appeared entirely calm, some even dozed in the seats, played cards, or read newspapers or magazines. Hurun was actually completing a crossword, which made Madari smile. The coolest heads belonged to those men who'd lead the teams going aboard the plane if they had to attack.

He walked to the window, and stood there sipping his coffee. The hijacked plane was a distant shape in the morning light. The sun had come up an hour ago now and Madari felt sure that meant his squad now had at least until nightfall to wait.

"We won't go in before dark." Jahni echoed Madari's thoughts as he stepped up to his side.

"Unless they start killing the hostages," Madari said.

Jahni nodded. "Or unless the negotiators end it all before then."

Madari glanced at him. Would he be disappointed in that outcome? It was the best outcome after all, if the hijackers gave up peacefully and nobody died. Yet would a soldier as hungry as Jahni be happy about that? He frowned at himself. Hungry? What did he think Jahni was hungry for? Blood? Glory? Or just to do his job that he'd trained so hard for. To prove himself. To make Madari proud of him.

Jahni sipped his coffee, watching over the airport, gazing at the plane he might have to lead an attack on soon.

"Dhan says the American President has been on the phone to the King," he said.

Madari nodded. Officials from the American embassy had arrived even before the French ones. According to them the Ambassador and his wife had been returning from a weekend in Paris. Had the hijackers known that, or was it pure luck they'd managed to take such a valuable and high profile hostage?

Good luck or bad for them though? Both the Americans and the French had already offered the help of their own armed forces if needed. Madari respected those forces, but he wanted his men to resolve this. They were a new unit, with some good work on their record now, but yet to make their mark internationally.

"The eyes of the world are on us, Kahil." He'd seen the TV vans at the front of the airport, all arriving in the last couple of hours, their roofs bristling with antennae and satellite dishes.

"We'll have to give them something worth looking at then, won't we?" Jahni shrugged. "But it won't be before dark. Only chance of getting close. Permission to get some sleep?"

Madari nodded. "Of course. All of you, rest. I'll be in the command post."

He finished his coffee and headed back downstairs.

~~~~

Little changed through the day. Negotiations continued. One of the king's senior aides showed up and joined the negotiators in the tower.

"They want the release of ten prisoners," Dhan had reported during the hourly briefing at eleven in the morning, after speaking to the control tower. He handed a list of names across the table. Madari scanned it and recognised some of the names. His team had captured several of the men. All Islamist fanatics, some of them already terrorists. He passed the list on to Jahni at his side.

"The king won't give in to their demands," Madari said, not as a question. In the past he'd spoken to the king about this very scenario and knew the man's mind on the matter.

"Having the American ambassador as a hostage might change things," Dhan said.

Madari didn't think so. "The Americans don't believe in giving in to hijackers either."

A man handed Dhan another piece of paper and he read it quickly and frowned.

"Our men close to the plane report they've started one of the engines." He looked out across the airfield. The fire tenders were still in place, blocking the plane from taxiing along the runway. "They can't be intending to take off."

"No," Jahni said, from Madari's side. "It's almost noon now. Getting hot out there. They'll be running the air-conditioning."

"Ah, of course," Dhan said and smiled. "Good. They'll be using fuel."

That didn't matter, Madari knew. What they wanted was here - he glanced at the list going around the table - those ten prisoners. They weren't going anywhere. Unless they intended for the prisoners to be brought here and then fly out with them to some other country, seeking refuge.

Madari pinched the bridge of his nose, his head starting to ache. That part wasn't his concern. That was for the negotiators and for Dhan. Madari's job was to gather all the information his unit would need and plan their assault.

Jahni's hand touched his back for a second before moving away. Just a moment of support and reassurance. Madari smiled at him from behind his hand, grateful for that.

"If there's nothing else new, I'll be back upstairs with my men," Madari said. Dhan nodded at him, with gratitude in his eye. He appreciated Madari giving him the space to command the control centre, rather than coming in an taking over. Madari commanded only his unit, not this whole operation, he had to remember that, and not let his years of training in throwing his weight around cause him to overstep the mark. Dhan had done well so far. The command post ran efficiently, the room was tense and the mood urgent, but with no panic.

A moment after Madari arrived back in the break room that had become his unit's ready room a bevy of airport catering staff arrived, led by the airport manager.

"Colonel," Vali said, greeting Madari with a long handshake as his people began distributing food to the Special Forces men. "Always good to see you again."

"I wish it was under better circumstances, Mr Vali."

"Yes, yes, indeed."

"How are things in the terminal?"

"Not good." Vali winced. "We've been allowed to keep runway one open, so we have some flights going in and out, but obviously we have many delays. The place is full of reporters of course and there are the people with family and friends on the flight."

"Yes, I was wondering about them."

"We've cordoned off part of the departure lounge for them to use and I'm trying to keep the press away from them." He shook his head. "I've never had to deal with such a situation before."

"I'm sure you'll do fine, Mr Vali."

"And I'm sure if they decide your men have to finish this, then so will you, Colonel. Please, have some lunch now. Nothing gourmet, I'm afraid, but there's hot food there too."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome, Colonel. You of all people are always welcome here in my airport." He winked. "Or should I say, our airport?"

~~~~

Evening drew in slowly and Madari wondered if Sophia was watching events unfold on the television. The TV in the break room showed continual news coverage of, well, very little happening. Coverage of the airport, interviews, but no progress.

Because so far there was none. The negotiators appeared stymied. They'd tried to do the usual, offering deliveries of food in exchange for the release of certain hostages, children, elderly, or ill people. But the hijackers hadn't accepted it. Their demands were absolute and they wouldn't listen to any delaying tactics.

The negotiators and the observers watching the plane through its windows now estimated seven terrorists, armed with pistols. All the new information factored into the plans Madari and his men kept on revising and updating as they waited.

Madari returned to the ready room after the hourly briefing at ten p.m. and had just started pouring himself a coffee when one of Dhan's men ran in.

"Major Dhan needs you back downstairs, sir."

Madari dumped his half-full coffee cup and hurried after the man. A small gesture commanded Jahni and two of the other officers to follow. They found Dhan and the rest of the operation's participants gathering around the table downstairs.

"Gentlemen," Dhan said, "the hijackers have threatened to kill a hostage at midnight if their demands are not met by then, and then one every thirty minutes after that." The men around the table stirred and murmured. Madari caught the eyes of his men. They tensed like athletes on the starting blocks.

"Do the negotiators think they'll do it?" another of Dhan's men asked.

"Yes," Dhan said. Madari agreed with him. The hijackers demands had been unwavering so far. That told him they were likely to be men who stuck to their word. If they said they'd kill a hostage, they'd do it.

"Did they specify which hostage?" That question came from an official from the American embassy. Everyone knew he was asking about the Ambassador.

Dhan shook his head. "They won't start with the Ambassador. He's their best bargaining chip. It would be a grave mistake to kill him first."

Jahni made a snorting noise. "These lunatics are liable to do something that crazy, aren't they?"

"If they do..." the embassy official said, and didn't finish. He was the military attaché, and Madari had to wonder if he was itching to bring the Marines guarding the embassy to the airport and finish this now. Madari understood that feeling, and guessed his officers did too. They all wore grim expressions. Ready.

Madari glanced out of the windows. Dark outside, so he could move his men into position to wait. But how long would they wait out there, getting cold and stiff? Better to wait here. It would take them only moments to deploy.

A few more minutes of talk and the briefing broke up. Madari and the officers headed back upstairs.

"Be ready," Madari told them. "Assume we'll move out on a moment's notice."

Now he only had to wait for the order.

~~~~

It came just before eleven. The telephone rang and one of the men handed it to Madari.

"Dhan here, Colonel. Hold the line, I have his majesty for you."

Madari instinctively straightened, which caused the men to go silent and watch him tensely. In a moment he heard the king's voice, rather hoarse, as if he'd been talking all day. He had of course, to the President of the United States for one. The king wasted no time on preamble.

"Colonel, I won't wait to find out whether they are serious about their threat or not."

"No, sir."

"I've already advised Major Dhan. You are authorised to attack at your discretion to prevent them carrying out their threat."

"Thank you, sir."

"Good luck, Colonel."

"Thank you, sir," Madari repeated and the line went dead. Madari took a breath and thought for a moment about the assembled international press, and about the diplomats from a half dozen countries all harassing Dhan.

The world is watching.

He turned to his men.

"Go."