Jeffrey Archer - Sons of Fortune

‘Shit,’ he said as the first one took off.

The jeep screeched to a halt at the gates to the compound, where an MP asked to see their identity cards.

‘I have to be on one of those choppers in under a minute,’ shouted Nat passing over his papers. ‘Can’t you speed it up?’

‘Just doing my job, sir,’ said the MP as he checked both men’s papers.

Once both identity cards had been handed back, Nat pointed to the one helicopter whose blades were not yet rotating, and the corporal shot off towards it, skidding to a halt by an open door, just as its blades began to turn.

The pilot looked down and grinned, ‘You only just made it, Lieutenant,’ he said. ‘Climb aboard.’ The helicopter had lifted off even before Nat had been given a chance to click on his safety harness. ‘You want to hear the bad news, or the bad news?’ asked the pilot.

‘Try me,’ said Nat.

‘The rule in any emergency is always the same. Last off the ground is the first to land on enemy territory.’

‘And the bad news?’

‘Will you marry me?’ asked Jimmy.

Joanna turned and looked at the man who had brought her more happiness in the past year than she could ever have imagined possible. ‘If you still want to ask me the same question on the day you graduate, freshman, my reply will be yes, but today the answer is still no.’

‘But why? What could have possibly changed in a year or two’s time?’

‘You’ll be a little older, and hopefully even a little wiser,’ replied Joanna with a smile. ‘I’m twenty-five and you’re not yet twenty.’

‘What difference can that make if we want to spend the rest of our lives together?’

‘Just that you might not feel that way when I’m fifty and you’re forty-five.’

‘You’ve got it all wrong,’ said Jimmy. ‘At fifty you’ll be in your prime, and I’ll be a debauched husk, so you’d better grab me while I’ve still got some energy left.’

Joanna laughed. ‘Try not to forget, freshman, that what we’ve been through during the past few weeks may also be affecting your judgement.’

‘I don’t agree. I believe the experience can only have strengthened our relationship.’

‘That’s possible,’ said Joanna, ‘but in the long run, you should never make an irreversible decision on the back of good or bad news, because it’s just possible that one of us will feel differently when this all blows over.’

‘Do you feel differently?’ asked Jimmy quietly.

‘No, I don’t,’ said Joanna firmly, as she touched his cheek. ‘But my parents have been married for nearly thirty years, and my grandparents lived to celebrate their golden wedding anniversary, so when I get married I want it to be for life.’

‘All the more reason for us to get married as quickly as possible,’ said Jimmy. ‘After all, I’m going to have to live to the age of seventy if we hope to celebrate our golden wedding.’

Joanna laughed. ‘I’ll bet your friend Fletcher would agree with me.’

‘You could be right, but you’re not marrying Fletcher. In any case, my bet is that he and my sister will be together for at least fifty years.’

‘Freshman, I couldn’t love you any more if I wanted to, but remember that I’ll be at Columbia next fall, and you’ll be still at Yale.’

‘But you can still change your mind about taking that job at Columbia.’

‘No, it was only public opinion that forced the board to reverse their decision. If you’d seen the look on their faces when they delivered their verdict, you’d have realized they couldn’t wait to see the back of me. We’ve made our point, freshman, so I think it would be better for everyone if I moved on.’

‘Not everyone,’ said Jimmy quietly.

‘Because once I’m no longer around to haunt them, they’re going to find it far easier to amend the rules,’ said Joanna, ignoring his comment. ‘In twenty years’ time, students will never believe such a ridiculous regulation even existed.’

‘Then I’ll have to get myself a commuter ticket to New York, because I’m not going to let you out of my sight.’

‘I’ll be at the station to meet you, freshman, but while I’m away, I hope you’ll take out other women. Then, if you still feel the same way about me on the day you graduate, I’ll be happy to say yes,’ she added as the alarm went off.

‘Hell,’ said Jimmy, as he leapt out of bed, ‘can I use the bathroom first, because I’ve a nine o’clock lecture, and I don’t even know what the subject is.’

‘Napoleon and his influence on the development of American law,’ said Joanna.

‘I thought you told us that American law was more influenced by the Romans and the English than any other nation?’

‘Half a mark, freshman, but you’ll still need to attend my nine o’clock lecture if you hope to find out why. By the way, do you think you could do two things for me?’

‘Only two?’ said Jimmy as he turned on the shower.

‘Could you stop staring at me like a lost puppy whenever I give a lecture?’

Jimmy stuck his head back round the door, ‘No,’ he said, as he watched Joanna slip out of her nightie. ‘What’s the second?’

‘Well, could you at least look interested in what I’m saying, and perhaps even take the occasional note?’

‘Why should I bother to take notes when it’s you who grades my papers?’

‘Because you won’t be pleased with the grade I’ve given your latest effort,’ said Joanna, as she joined him in the shower.

‘Oh, and I was hoping for an A for that particular masterpiece,’ said Jimmy as he began soaping her breasts.

‘Do you by any chance recall who you suggested was the biggest influence on Napoleon?’

‘Josephine,’ said Jimmy without hesitation.

‘That might even have been the correct answer, but it isn’t what you wrote in your essay.’

Jimmy stepped out of the shower and grabbed a towel. ‘What did I write?’ he asked, turning to face her.

‘Joanna.’

Within minutes, all twelve helicopters were flying in a V formation. Nat looked behind him at the two rear gunners, who were staring intently out into the black cloudless night. He slipped on a pair of earphones and listened to the flight lieutenant.

‘Blackbird One to group, we’ll be out of allied air space in four minutes, then I anticipate an ETA of twenty-one hundred hours.’

Nat found himself sitting bolt upright as he listened to the young pilot. He glanced out of a side window at stars that would never be seen on the American continent. He could feel the adrenalin pumping through his body as they flew nearer to the enemy lines. At last he felt he was part of this damn man’s war. His only surprise was that he sensed no fear. Perhaps that would come later.

‘We’re moving into enemy territory,’ said the flight lieutenant as if he were crossing a busy road. ‘Are you receiving me, ground leader?’

There was a crackling on the line before a voice said, ‘I hear you, Blackbird One, what’s your position?’ Nat recognized the southern drawl of Captain Dick Tyler.

‘We’re approximately fifty miles south of you.’

‘Copy that, expect you to rendezvous in fifteen minutes.’

‘Roger. You won’t see us until the last moment, because we’re keeping all our external lights off.’

‘Copy that,’ came back the same drawl.

‘Have you identified a possible landing spot?’

‘There’s a small piece of sheltered land on a ridge just below me,’ replied Tyler, ‘but it will only take one helicopter at a time, and because of the rain, not to mention the mud, landing could be a hell of a problem.’

‘What’s your current position?’

‘I’m still at my same grid reference just north of the Dyng River.’ Tyler paused. ‘And I’m fairly sure that the VC have begun crossing the river.’