Queen Victoria's Revenge Read Free

you know, robes and things. It appears the skyjackers were similarly dressed and just boarded with the crowd.”
    â€œWeapons too?”
    â€œPlenty of them. They made the captain describe their arms. Pistols, submachine guns, grenades, satchel charges, bayonets.”
    â€œNo anti-tank guns?”
    â€œNone were reported.”
    â€œI’m surprised. They seem to have gotten everything else they needed aboard.”
    â€œThere will be an investigation.”
    â€œWhich won’t help me in the slightest. So this small army is aboard and makes its presence known after they take off. How many of them are there?”
    â€œCaptain Haycroft, the plane’s commander, reported twelve. They seized control of the ship and diverted to Dulles Airport here in Washington. They also asked for the two million dollars to be waiting when they landed. They threatened to kill one passenger a minute for every minute they had to wait for the money. After sixty minutes, or sixty passengers, they will blow the entire plane up. The money has been provided.” He waved in the direction of the long table where the industrious agents were still stamping the bills with invisible identification of many kinds.
    â€œI should hope so. Who put up the cash?”
    â€œTreasury is providing the cash. But there were some quick phone calls and ten of the Arab countries, the oil ones of course, have guaranteed two hundred thousand dollars each.”
    â€œThen what?”
    â€œWhen the money is aboard they agree to release most of the hostages. They want the plane refueled and after takeoff will announce their destination. The plane has a wingspan of one hundred and fifty-five feet, four inches…”
    â€œHawkin, let’s go.” X’s voice cut through the murmur of the room and pulled Tony to his feet as though he had been jerked by a rope. The head agent stood scowling down at the repacked suitcase, agleam with mint-fresh greenies. “We have used radioactive marking so these bills can be detected by a geiger counter or similar device. Under black light the legend SKYJACKED CURRENCY is revealed. The right-hand edge of every bill is coated with a saccharin solution very sweet to the tongue. And— Buenos días, señor Hawkin. Como está usted?”
    He looked up at Tony and waited expectantly. Tony blinked and ran the sentence through his mind a few times until he finally understood that it was badly pronounced high school Spanish which, with some effort, he translated.
    â€œAh, sí, me siento muy bien gracias y espero que te sientas igual. Que español tan perfecto hablas. ¿Porque no vas al avion…?”
    â€œThat sounds all right, Hawkin. But the files do not explain how you, an American Indian, came to speak a foreign language so well.”
    â€œIf you will look closer at the record you will see that I grew up in Palm City, California, on the Mexican border, where Spanish is not only not a foreign language but the language of choice for most of the population.”
    X frowned and chewed over this fact and eventually accepted it. He gestured to the big Treasury agent, Stocker, who still hovered over the money like an eagle guarding its kill. Stocker swooped and slammed the bag shut and locked it. He also clamped a handcuff around Tony’s right wrist and locked that as well; the cuff was secured to the handle of the bag. Both keys were in a small key case, which, with some show of reluctance, he finally handed to Tony.
    â€œYore responsible fur this two million dollars, Hawkin. Treasury is still fussin’ over that hundred dollars you…”
    â€œJust the keys if you please, Stocker. Thanks.” He put them in his pocket. “If you want a quick course in Spanish you can have the money back.”
    â€œHere we go, Hawkin, on your toes. The plane is in the landing pattern.”
    Sones and another burly agent flanked him and started him toward the door.