On Wings Of Eagles (1990)

The crew of the 707 included two pretty stewardesses. Perot got them to put their arms around Taylor, then took a photograph. He threatened to show the photo to Taylor's wife, Mary, if Taylor ever gave him a hard time.

Most of them were too tired to sleep, but Gayden went back to the luxurious bedroom and lay down on the king-size bed. Perot was a little miffed: he thought Simons, who was older and looked completely drained, should have had the bed.

But Simons was talking to one of the stewardesses, Anita Melton. She was a vivacious blond Swedish girl in her twenties, with a zany sense of humor, a wild imagination, and a penchant for the outlandish. She was fun. Simons recognized a kindred soul, someone who did not care too much about what other people thought, an individual. He liked her. He realized that it was the first time since the death of Lucille that he had felt attracted to a woman.

He really had come back to life.

Ron Davis began to feel sleepy. The king-size bed was big enough for two, he thought; so he went into the bedroom and lay down beside Gayden.

Gayden opened his eyes. "Davis?" he said incredulously. "What the hell are you doing in bed with me?"

"Don't sweat it," said Davis. "Now you can tell all your friends you slept with a nigger." He closed his eyes.

As the plane approached Frankfurt, Simons recalled that he was still responsible for Paul and Bill, and his mind went back to work, extrapolating possibilities for enemy action. He asked Perot: "Does Germany have an extradition treaty with Iran?"

"I don't know," said Perot.

He got The Simons Look.

"I'll find out," he added.

He called Dallas and asked for Tom Luce, the lawyer. "Tom, does Germany have an extradition treaty with Iran?"

Luce said: "I'm ninety-nine percent sure they do not."

Perot told Simons.

Simons said: "I've seen men killed because they were ninety-nine percent sure they were safe."

Perot said to Luce: "Let's get a hundred percent sure. I'll call again in a few minutes."

They landed at Frankfurt and checked into a hotel within the airport complex. The German desk clerk seemed curious, and fully noted all their passport numbers. This increased Simons's unease.

They gathered in Perot's room, and Perot called Dallas again. This time he spoke to T. J. Marquez.

T. J. said: "I called an international lawyer in Washington, and he thinks there is an extradition treaty between Iran and Germany. Also, he said the Germans are kind of legalistic about stuff like this, and if they got a request to pick up Paul and Bill, they'd probably go right ahead and do it."

Perot repeated all of that to Simons.

"Okay," said Simons. "We're not going to take any chances at this point in the game. There's a movie house with three screens down at the basement level in this airport. Paul and Bill can hide in them ... where's Bill?"

"Gone to buy toothpaste," someone said.

"Jay, go find him."

Coburn went out.

Simons said: "Paul goes into one theater, with Jay. Bill goes into another, with Keane. Pat Sculley stands guard outside. He has a ticket, so he can go in and check on the others."

It was interesting, Perot thought, to see the switches turn and the wheels start rolling as Simons changed from an old man relaxing on a plane to a commando leader again.

Simons said: "The entrance to the train station is down in the basement, near the movies. If there's any sign of trouble Sculley gets the four men out of the movies and they all take a subway downtown. They rent a car and drive to England. If nothing happens, we get them out of the movies when we're about to board the plane. All right, let's do it."

Bill was down in the shopping precinct. He had changed some money and bought toothpaste, a toothbrush, and a comb. He decided that a fresh new shirt would make him feel human again, so he went to change some more money. He was standing in line at the currency-exchange booth when Coburn tapped him on the shoulder.

"Ross wants to see you in the hotel," Coburn said.

"What for?"

"I can't talk about it now, you need to come on back."

"You've got to be kidding!"

"Let's go."

They went to Perot's room, and Perot explained to Bill what was happening. Bill could hardly believe it. He had thought for sure he was safe in modem, civilized Germany. Would he ever be safe? he wondered. Would Dadgar pursue him to the ends of the earth, never resting until Bill was returned to Iran or killed?