There were jet noises in the sky. I said, ‘They might think they hold some trumps. The passengers.’

‘They’ll have to be talked out of that.’ A light flashed fifty yards up the road. ‘Here we are,’ he said. ‘Let me do the talking.’

As we crunched up the road, two men came down to meet us. Hanna raised his light and I saw Philips and the man with the black beard. Philips shone a light on us and it settled on Leotta. ‘Hey! What the hell is a woman doing here?’

Hanna said, ‘We have no time for chit-chat. I’m a police officer.’

‘I know who you are,’ said Philips. ‘And your nosey chum there.’

‘There’s one thing you need to know right away,’ said Hanna. ‘If we’re not back down there in five minutes, an army officer takes command. Soldiers like direct action and I can’t guarantee what he’ll do or what he won’t do. Am I making myself clear?’

The man with the black beard said, ‘You mean he’ll make an assault on the airfield?’

‘He might,’ said Hanna. ‘Who are you?’

‘You can call me Frank.’

‘And you?’

‘He’s Philips,’ I said quietly.

‘All right,’ said Hanna. ‘I want you all to come down the hill. If you have any guns, leave them at the airfield.’

‘Are you crazy?’ said Frank. ‘You want us to give up, just like that? You’re nuts! And I’ll tell you something else. If that soldier boy down there tries for the airfield, an awful lot of people are going to get hurt. Maybe dead.’

It was out in the open: the naked threat.

Hanna looked at him steadily. ‘Is that all you have to say?’

‘What the hell else do you want?’

‘What do you have to say, Philips?’

‘Nothing.’ But he shuffled his feet and looked worried. ‘It was you who wanted to talk.’

Frank narrowed his eyes and said suddenly, ‘I think you’re pulling a bluff. I don’t think you have the army down there. I don’t believe you have the field surrounded. You’re not as strong as you say you are.’

‘Don’t be a damned fool,’ said Hanna without heat. He cocked his eye at the sky, which moaned with jet engines. ‘If I can find jet fighters, I can certainly find an army unit. The soldiers are down there. You don’t have a chance.’

‘Yes, we do,’ said Frank. ‘We have a hundred chances.’ He glanced sideways at Philips. ‘That’s about it, isn’t it? I reckon there’s about a hundred.’

‘Near enough,’ said Philips.

‘Are you two elected to speak for the rest?’ asked Hanna.

‘We don’t go much for elections,’ said Frank. ‘You can say we are.’

Hanna said, ‘I’d like to talk to all of you.’

‘You’re not going to,’ said Frank. ‘We can pass on your message.’