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Another jet approaching began to whistle across the desert as they sat there, catching their breath It ca louder as it neared

Out of natural fugitive instinct, both ainst the loall of the well

They needn’t have bothered A jet aircraft on final approach at one hundred and fifty knots required the pilot’s eyes to be well ahead of the plane and focused on the landing zone The chances of a pilot allowing his attention to be drawn to irrelevant objects on the ground was slim to none

Then again, there was no accounting for passengers

The jet roared over the top of theher this time Kurt noticed the saines set high above the fuselage near the tail, a thick boxy wing section It looked so like a DC-9 or a Super 80 or a Gulfstrea instruction booklet and a bunch of extra parts

“Same type,” Kurt said “Looks Russian to me”

“It does,” Joe agreed “Might even be the sa another pass”

The gray-and-white jet dropped lower and lower, sinking toward the ground as if it were headed in for a landing They lost it behind a sand dune before they heard it touch down

The sound of its engines faded for aacross the desert for fifteen seconds or so before dissipating

“Sound like thrust reversers to you?”

“Yep,” Joe said “I guess the eagle has landed”

“I think we just found our escape route,” Kurt said

Joe looked at him sideways

“None of the satellite photos showed any aircraft parked out here,” Kurt explained, “whichin the desert sun all day It’s going to drop off whatever cargo it’s bringing in and then turn and burn at some point before sunup”

“Sure,” Joe said “But that’s not Terminal One at Dulles over there We can’t just walk up to the counter and buy a ticket”