Arthur Hailey: Evening News

One item of news, Rita realized, could not and should not be suppressed throughout the day. That was the fact that a rescue had occurred and Nicky and Jessica were safe.

There must be a bulletin. When CBA News received it in New York, they would break instantly into network programming. Once more, CBA would be ahead of the competition.

Again Rita checked her watch: 9:23. Another twenty minutes or so of flying. Allowing time to get from the airport into Lima, the bulletin could be set for 10:30 A.m. They would send just a few pictures, transmitting "quick and dirty"—the way they had from Dallas-Fort Worth airport for the Airbus crash story she, Harry, Minh and Ken O'Hara had worked on less than a month ago.

Was it really only that short a time? It seemed much longer —another world away.

She would need satellite time for the 10:30 bulletin. Rita leaned forward and tapped Zileri on the shoulder. When he turned, she pointed to the aircraft radio.”Can you patch a phone call through? I want to call New York.”

"Sure can.”

She scribbled a number and passed it forward. In a surprisingly short time a voice on a speaker said, "CBA foreign desk.”

The copilot, Felipe, passed back a microphone.”Go ahead,” he told her.

She held the transmit button down.”This is Rita Abrams. Get me a bird out of Lima for a bulletin at 10:30 Lima time. Make sure the Horseshoe knows.”

A voice replied laconically, "You got it. Will do.”

"Thanks. Goodbye.” She handed the microphone back.

A script would be needed for the bulletin, also for later. Rita scribbled a few phrases, then decided Crawf would do the rest and find the right words. He always did. He would probably ad-lib in part. He was good at that too.

In what was left of the flight, she and Crawf must work together. Unfortunately, it meant pulling him away from the arms of Jessica and Nicky. But he would accept the need and so would they. Like everyone else in the business, they all understood that the news came first.

”Crawf,” Rita said gently, "you and I have work to do. It's time we started.”