On Wings Of Eagles (1990)

Howell was not reassured. He watched Cathy, still trying to catch her eye. More numbers were called, but she did not get up.

"Ladies and gentlemen, some good news. We have checked with Pan Am's European headquarters, and have been given permission to take off with an overload of passengers."

There was a ragged cheer.

Howell looked over at Joe Poche. Poche had his passport on his chest and he was sitting back with his eyes closed, apparently asleep. Joe must have ice in his veins, Howell thought.

There was sure to be a lot of pressure on Dadgar as the sun went down. It had to be obvious that Paul and Bill were not on the plane. If a thousand people were deplaned and escorted back to the Embassy, the revolutionary authorities would have to go through the whole rigmarole again tomorrow--and somebody up there was bound to say "No way!" to that.

Howell knew that he and the rest of the Clean Team were certainly guilty of crimes now. They had connived at the escape of Paul and Bill, and whether the Iranians called that conspiracy, or being an accessory after the fact, or some other name, it had to be against the law. He went over in his mind the story they had all agreed to tell if they were arrested. They had left the Hyatt on Monday morning, they would say, and had gone to Keane Taylor's house. (Howell had wanted to tell the truth, and say the Dvoranchik place, but the others had pointed out that this might bring down trouble on the head of Dvoranchik's landlady, whereas Taylor's landlord did not live on the premises.) They had spent Monday and Tuesday at Taylor's, then had gone to Lou Goelz's house on Tuesday afternoon. From then on, they would tell the truth.

The story would not protect the Clean Team: Howell knew all too well that Dadgar did not care whether his hostages were guilty or innocent.

At six o'clock the captain said: "Ladies and gentlemen, we have permission to take off."

The doors were slammed and the plane was moving within seconds. The passengers without seats were told by stewardesses to sit on the floor. As they taxied, Howell thought: surely we wouldn't stop now, even if we were ordered to ...

The 747 gathered speed along the runway and took off.

They were still in Iranian airspace. The Iranians could send up fighter jets ...

A little later the captain said: "Ladies and gentlemen, we have now departed Iranian airspace."

The passengers gave a weary cheer.

We made it, Howell thought.

He picked up his paperback thriller.

Joe Poche left his seat and went to find the chief steward.

"Is there any way the pilot could get a message through to the States?" he asked.

"I don't know," the steward said. "Write your message, and I'll ask him."

Poche returned to his seat and got out paper and a pen. He wrote: To Merv Stauffer, 7171 Forest Lane, Dallas, Texas.

He thought for a minute about what his message should be. He recalled EDS's recruiting motto: "Eagles don't flock--you have to find them one at a time." He wrote:

The eagles have flown their nest.

2_____

Ross Perot wanted to meet up with the Clean Team before returning to the States: he was keen to get everyone together, so that he could see and touch them all and be absolutely sure they were safe and well. However, on Friday in Istanbul he could not confirm the destination of the evacuation flight that would bring the Clean Team out of Tehran. John Carlen, the laid-back pilot of the leased Boeing 707, had the answer to that problem. "Those evacuation planes must fly up over Istanbul," he said. "We'll just sit on the runway until they pass overhead, then call them on the radio and ask them." In the end that was not necessary: Stauffer called on Saturday morning and told Perot the Clean Team would be on the Frankfurt plane.

Perot and the others checked out of the Sheraton at midday and went to the airport to join Boulware and Simons on the plane. They took off late in the afternoon.

When they were in the air Perot called Dallas: with the plane's single-sideband radio it was as easy as calling from New York. He reached Merv Stauffer.

"What's happening with the Clean Team?" Perot asked.

"I got a message," said Stauffer. "It came from the European headquarters of Pan Am. It just says: 'The eagles have flown their nest.' "

Perot smiled. All safe.

Perot left the flight deck and returned to the passenger cabin. His heroes looked washed out. At Istanbul Airport he had sent Taylor into the duty-free shop to buy cigarettes, snacks, and liquor, and Taylor had spent over a thousand dollars. They all had a drink to celebrate the escape of the Clean Team, but nobody was in the mood, and ten minutes later they were all sitting around on the plush upholstery with their glasses still full. Someone started a poker game, but it petered out.