The chopper landed. The door opened. Nobody got out.

Alai picked up the suitcase that he knew was his because it was light—filled only with clothes instead of weaponry—and walked boldly to the door.

“Am I the passenger you came for?”

The pilot nodded.

Alai turned to look back toward where the couple had gone to kiss. He saw a flurry of motion. They had seen. They would speak of it.

He turned back to the pilot. “Can this chopper carry all five of us?”

“Easily,” said the pilot.

“What about seven?”

The pilot shrugged. “We fly lower, slower. But we often do.”

Alai turned to Ivan. “Please invite our young lovers to come with us.” Then Alai climbed into the helicopter. In moments, he had the women’s clothing off. Underneath, he was wearing a simple western business suit.

In moments, a pair of terrified doctors climbed into the helicopter at gunpoint, in various stages of deshabille. Apparently they had been warned to maintain absolute silence, because when they saw Alai and recognized him, the man went white and the woman began to weep while trying to refasten her clothing.

Alai came and knelt in front of her. “Daughter of God,” he said, “I am not concerned about your immodesty. I am concerned that the man you offered your nakedness to is not your husband.”

“We will be married,” she said.

“Then when that happy day comes,” said Alai, “your nakedness will bless your husband, and his nakedness will belong to you. Until then, I have this clothing for you.” He handed her the costume he had worn. “I do not ask that you dress like this all the time. But today, when God has seen how your heart intended to sin, perhaps you might cover yourself in humility.”

“Can she wait to dress until we’re in the air?” asked the pilot.

“Of course,” said Alai.

“Everybody strap down,” said the pilot.

There weren’t enough seats along the sides; the center was meant to hold a gurney. But Alai’s driver grinned and insisted on standing. “I’ve ridden choppers into battle. If I can’t keep my feet in a medical chopper, I deserve some bruises.”

The chopper tilted as it rose into the air, but soon it found a workable equilibrium, and the woman unstrapped and awkwardly dressed herself. All the men looked away, except her companion, who helped her.

Meanwhile, Alai and the pilot conversed, making no attempt to lower their voices.

“I don’t want these two with us for the main enterprise,” said Alai. “But I don’t want to kill them either. They need time to find their way back to God.”

“They can be held in Haifa,” said the pilot. “Or I can have them taken on to Malta, if that would suit you better.”

“Haifa will do.”

It wasn’t a long journey, even flying low and slow. By the time they arrived, the doctors were quiet and looked penitent, holding hands and trying not to look at Alai too much. They landed on the roof of a hospital in Haifa, and the pilot turned off the engine and got out to converse for a moment with a man dressed like a doctor. Then he opened the door. “I have to lift off again,” he said, “to make room for your transportation. So you need to come out now. Except those two.”