As Anna and Stanski went to put on theirsuits, Massey crossed to the Finn. "How's the weather turning out?"

"it seems a bit rougher thanexpected, but don't worry, I've seen worse."

Massey nodded. Saarinen came back to thetable, picked up the vodka bottle and filled each of their glasses generously,then poured himself a tiny drop of spirit.

Stanski and Anna had dressed in the greencanvas suits and helmets and goggles, but left the gloves until last.

Saarinen smiled and raised his glass."It looks like I'm breaking the habit of a lifetime. Just enough to wet mylips in a final toast for luck. Kipiss."

He knocked back the vodka, and the othersdid the same.

Massey could feel the growing tension inthe room. It was almost physical. He put down his glass and looked over at Annaand Stanski, then Saarinen.

"Are we ready?"

Saarinen nodded and smiled. "Onwardand upward."

He picked up the flashlight and hisparachute, and they followed him out of the door.

The tiny office that served as theoperations room of the Finnish Air Force Liaison Unit at Helsinki's Maimiair-port was bitterly cold, despite a tiled stove going full blast in thecorner. The wing commander had been summoned from a dinner party at the PalaceHotel and his pinched face showed his irritation as he looked up at the warrantofficer standing in front of the desk.

"They can't be serious, Matti?"

The warrant officer was in his latetwenties, tall and lean. He wore an air force greatcoat and scarf and gloves.

"I'm afraid so, sir. It's PriorityOne. If the aircraft manages to get airborne it's to be stopped at all costsbefore it reaches Russian airspace."

"They must be out of their tinyminds at the Defense Ministry wanting us up in this weather. What the hell'sgoing on?

Where's the authorized signal, thepaperwork?"

The warrant officer shrugged. "Iwish I knew, sir. But you know the Ministry brass."

The wing commander shook his headdoubtfully. "Well, it's damned irregular. And I want the ordersverified."

"I already did, sir. I contacted theC-in-C by telephone. The order stands."

"Does he realize we'll be riskingthe boys' lives'? I wouldn't send up a balloon in weather like this."

The warrant officer shrugged. "Theorders were quite specific, I'm afraid, sir. The aircraft is to be stopped atall costs."

"What type is it?"

"Possibly a Norseman C-64, though wecan't be absolutely certain. One thing will be, though. It'll be the only lightaircraft flying up there tonight. I have the likely flight projectionhere."

The wing commander studied the paper thewarrant officer handed him, then stood and crossed to the window. He sighed."Well, I suppose we had better do as we're told. But I'll check with theMinistry myself, just to be absolutely sure. You're quite certain we're toblast this thing out of the sky?"

"Those were the orders, sir. Noquestion."

The commander scratched his chin andsighed. "I suppose it could be some Russian spy trying to beat a hastyretreat? It's about all that makes sense on a dog's night like this. If that'sthe case, I hope it's worth the risk to get the bastard, that's all I cansay."

He nodded to the warrant officer andreached for the telephone. "Very well, Matti, give the order to crank up.We'd better warn the boys to be extra careful, It's going to be pretty damnedrough up there."

The two Fords came off the Espo main roadand turned left. taking the narrow track that led down to Bylandet Island.

Branigan gritted his teeth infrustration. His watch said 8:10. The visit to the pilot near Spjutsund hadbeen a waste of time. The man was laid up with a broken leg and hadn't flown inweeks. The roads had been bad, hard-packed snow and ice all the way. An hourwasted.

He looked at the SUPO officerimpatiently. "What about the local police near the island? Couldn't wehave got in touch with them?"

Stenlund smiled indulgently. "Thatwas something I considered, Mr. Branigan. But you did say you wanted this donediscreetly and that the people you're looking for will be armed and possiblydangerous. The nearest police station to Bylandet Island is over half an houraway by car, but all the local policemen have are bicycles. In this weather,we'd probably have passed them on the way."

"Can you go any faster?"

The man was embassy staff and glancedback nervously. "If I do that we end up in a ditch or Worse. These roadsare treacherous."

"Just put your goddamned footdown!"

Darkness had swallowed up the sea and thesky was pitch black.

The wind slashed at their skin and thefour of them shivered as they walked down to the hangar, Saarinen ahead ofthem, playing the flashlight beam in front.

A long stretch of electric cable ran fromthe generator out onto the ice, and when Massey and Stanski helped open thehangar doors Saarinen flicked a switch on the wall. A single string of yellowlights glowed brilliantly out on the ice, and stretched into the gloom for- ahundred meters.

"Our runway lights. Simple buteffective," Saarinen said to Massey. "You can leave the lights on,I'll be back in no time."

He removed the blanket from the engineand took away the chocks from the skis.

"OK, let's move this baby out,"he said.

They all helped to slide the Norseman outand down the ramp onto the ice. It kept on sliding for a couple of meters, thencame to a halt. Saarinen told them to move back before he started the engine,then opened the door and hauled himself into the cockpit.

Moments later the Norseman's engineerupted into life, exploding the silence as the propeller turned, sounding likethe buzz of a giant angry wasp. As Saarinen checked the instruments and movedthe control surfaces, going through his preflight check, Massey looked up atthe sky.

The storm was obviously getting worse.Flakes of snow began to fly around them in gusts. Anna and Stanski started tohaul on their parachutes, looking a little absurd in theirjumpsuits, helmetsand goggles with the worn suitcases beside them.

Massey looked back as Saarinen shoutedabove the enaine noise, "Whenever you're ready." At that moment helooked up at the sky and pursed his lips.

There was a tangible tension everyonecould feel. Massey said to Stanski and Anna, "Well, I guess this isit."

He shook Stanski's hand, then Anna's."Good luck."

It seemed as if there was nothing else tosay. For a moment Anna hesitated, then she leaned forward and kissed Masseyfull on the lips.

"Do Vvidaniva, Jake."

For a long time Massey looked at herfrozen face, but before he could reply she climbed into the Norseman, Stanskiafter her, closing the cockpit door as Massey stood back.

Immediately Saarinen revved up the engineand the snow gusted around Massey like a blizzard. In the surge of power as theaircraft strained to move, he looked at the three faces in the cabin, Saarinenworking at the controls, Anna and Stanski in the back. He gave a thumbs-up signand Stanski did the same.

There was a crunching sound as the skisstarted to move out slowly onto the ice to the right of the string of yellowlights. Moments later came a sudden harsh growl of power as Saarinen easedforward the throttle. There was a momentary lag before the propeller bit the airhard and then the Norseman started to move more rapidly.

It took- only a couple of seconds for thespeed to build up and then the little aircraft was skimming fast over theuneven surface of the frozen sea, the skis bumping every now and then when shehit a rough patch of ice.

The sound of the engine faded in the windand the plane was sucked up and disappeared into the swirl of snow andblackness.