The Evening News (80 page)

Theo:
Resulting from our talk, the following will be in the National Evening
News tonight:
"The government of Peru and Sendero Luminoso have been fierce enemies
for many years, dedicated to each other's destruction. Peru's President
Costafieda has declared, 'Sendero's existence imperils Peru. Those
criminals are a knife thrust in my side
.”

Castafieda will be seen and heard making the last statement
.
Thanks for your suggestion and help
.

Margot Lloyd-Mason

The memo was to be hand-delivered by special messenger to Globanic
Industries headquarters
.
Margot's next call was to Washington-the Secretary of State.

Throughout Friday at CBA, until the National Evening News first feed at
6:30 P.m., security was strained while outsiders nibbled at its edges
,
attempting to gain access to the exclusive information about which CBA
News had been titillating viewers and competitors all day. News staff at
other TV networks, radio stations, news wire services and the print press
telephoned friends and contacts at CBA, attempting-sometimes directly
,
but mostly by inventive ruses-to learn the gist of what was coming. But
within CBA, by carefully limiting the number of people with knowledge
,
and temporary isolation ot an inner core of computers, the line was held
and secrecy preserved
.
Consequently, when the news broke it was immediately copied and repeated
throughout the world, with CBA News acknowledged as the source. At other
TV networks, testy inquests would soon be held, asking: How did we miss
out on this? "at could we have done, but didn't? "y didn't you check
this, or you follow through on that? Didn't anyone think of calling
there? How do we guard against this happening again?
Meanwhile, TV networks hastily revised their second newscast feeds, using
swiftly supplied videotape displaying "Courtesy CBA
,”
while newspapers
reshaped the next day's front pages. At the same time, all major media
alerted their regular Peru contacts while rushing to get their own
reporters, correspondents and video and sound crews on airplanes to Peru
.
Amid it all, a major new development occurred
.
Don Kettering, now heading the CBA kidnap task force, heard about it
shortly before 10 P.m., as the one-hour News
Special was nearing its conclusion. Kettering was still at the anchor desk, where he had presided-apparently, so far as viewers were concerned-jointly with Harry Partridge, though the Partridge contribution was on tape
.
Norman Jaeger conveyed the news through an anchor desk telephone during a
commercial break. Jaeger was now senior producer since Rita Abrams had left
for Teterboro Airport and her Peru flight an hour ago
.”
Don, there's to be a task force session immediately after we've finished
.”

"Has something happened, Norm? Something hot
?
”

"Hot as hell! I've just had word from Les. Over at Stonehenge they've
received the kidnappers' demands along with a videotape of Jessica Sloane
.”

They ran the videotape of Jessica first
.
It was 10:30 P.m. on Friday. In a private viewing room at CBA News, used
normally by senior executives, ten people were assembled: Les Chippingham
and Crawford Sloane; from the task force, Don Kettering, Norm Jaeger, Karl
Owens and Iris Everly; from CBA corporate headquarters at Stonehenge
,
Margot Lloyd-Mason, an executive vice president, Tom Nortandra, and Irwin
Bracebridge, president of CBA Broadcast Group; and from the FBI, Special
Agent Otis Havelock
.
Chance had played a part in the group's assembly. Earlier in the evening
,
about 7:30 P.m., a small plain package was delivered by messenger to the
main lobby of Stonehenge, addressed: President, CBA Network After a routine
security check it was sent to Margot Lloyd-Mason's floor where it would
normally have waited, unopened, until Monday morning. However, Nortandra
,
whose office suite adjoined Margot's, happened to be working late, as were
his two secretaries. One of
the secretaries received the package and opened it. Realizing its importance, she informed Nortandra who telephoned Margot at the Waldorf where she was attending a reception and dinner honoring the President of France
.
Margot abandoned the reception and hurried to Stonehenge where she
,
Nortandra and Bracebridge, who had also been called in, screened the
videotape and read an accompanying document. Immediately they realized
that the News Division must be informed and arranged a meeting at CBA
News headquarters;
A few minutes before the meeting, Bracebridge, a former news president
himself, took Crawford Sloane aside
.”
I know this is hard on you, Crawf
,
and I have to warn you there are some sounds on the tape I didn't like
hearing. So if you'd prefer to watch the video alone first, while the
rest of us wait outside, we'll do that and understand
.”

Crawford Sloane had driven in from Larchmont, along with FBI Agent
Havelock who had been in the Sloane house when a call about the videotape
of Jessica was received. Now Sloane shook his head
.”
Thanks, Irwin. I'll
see it with the rest of you
.”

It was Don Kettering, taking charge, who called to an operator behind the
small audience, "Okay, let's go
!”

Lights in the viewing room dimmed. Almost at once a large, elevated TV
screen went to black with scattered pinpoints of light, as was usual when
running a blank tape without pictures. But sound was on the tape and was
transmitted suddenly-a series of piercing screams. The group was
transfixed. Crawford Sloane sat up straight, exclaiming in a broken
voice, "Oh, Christ! That's Nicky
!”

Then abruptly, as unexpectedly as it had begun, the screaming was cut
off. A moment later a picture appeared--of Jessica's head and shoulders
against a plain brown background, obviously a wall. Jessica's face was
set and serious, and to those in the group who knew her, as most did, she
appeared wan and under strain. But her voice, when she began, was firm
and controlled, though an impression persisted that Jessica had willed
herself to speak normally
.
She began, "We have all been treated well and fairly. Now
that the reason we were taken has been explained to us, we understand why it was necessary. We also have been told how easy it will be for our American friends to ensure our safe return home. To have us released, you must simply follow
quickly and exactly-the instructions which accompany this recording, but be sure of this . .
.”

At the words "be sure of this
,”
there was a sharp intake of breath by
Crawford Sloane and a muted exclamation. The tape continued
.”
. . . If you do not obey these instructions, you will not see any of us
,
ever again. We beg of you, do not let that happen . .
.
Again a sudden sound from Crawford Sloane-a whispered exclamation
,
"There
!
”

“
We will be waiting, counting on you, desperately hoping you will make
the right decision and bring us safely home
.”

For a second there was a silence in which Jessica's face remained on
screen, her features expressionless, her eyes apparently unfocused
,
looking straight ahead. Then both sound and picture ended. In the viewing
room the lights came on
.”
We ran all of the tape earlier
,”
Irwin Bracebridge said
.”
There's
nothing else on it. And about the screams at the beginning, we think that
was patched in from another tape. When you watch closely with the tape
slowed right down, there's a slight visual break where two tapes were
edited together
.”

Someone asked, "Why would they do that?
Bracebridge shrugged
.”
Maybe to wake us up, scare us. If so, it worked
,
didn't it
?
”

There was a murmur of agreement
.
Les
Chippingham
asked gently, "Are you certain that first sound was
Nicky, Crawf
?
”

Sloane said bleakly, "Positive
.”

Then he added, "Jessica passed two
signals
.”

"What kind of signals
?
”

Chippingham sounded puzzled
.”
The first was licking her lips, which means 'I am doing this against my
will. Don't believe anything I'm saying.- :'Cleverl
”
Bracebridge said
.”
Good for Jessica
!”

'Spunky
!”

someone else added. Others nodded approval.
S
loane went on, "We talked about signals the night before all this
happened. I thought that one day I might need them myself . . . Life's
full of coincidences. I guess Jessica remembered
.”

"What else was she able to tell you
?
”

Chippingham asked
.”
No, sir
!”

The voice of the FBI man, Havelock, cut across the
conversation
.”
Whatever else you learned, Mr. Sloane, keep it to yourself
for the time being. The fewer people who know, the better. We'll talk in
a little while, please
.”

"I'd like to be in on that
,”
Norm Jaeger said
.”
The task force has done
pretty well in keeping secrets until now
.”

He added pointedly
,
"Discovering them too
.”

The FBI agent glared
.”
It's my understanding you'll be hearing from our
director about that-why we weren't kept informed
.”

Iris Everly said impatiently, "This is wasting time. Mrs. Sloane said
something on the tape about instructions. Do we have them
?
”

Though she
was the youngest person present, Iris was typically unimpressed by the
influx of network heavy brass. She had worked hard
all day on the one-hour
News Special and was tired, but her fast mind was functioning as usual
.
Margot, still wearing a lavender chiffon Oscar de la Renta gown in which
she had met the French President, answered, "We have it here
.”

She nodded
to Nortandra
.”
I think you'd better read it aloud
.”

The executive vice president accepted a half-dozen clipped sheets from
Margot, perched a pair of half-moon reading glasses on his nose, and
moved under a light; it heightened his thatch of white hair and a
brooding face. Nortandra had been a corporate lawyer before becoming a
CBA executive; his voice had an assured authority, developed from years
of addressing courtrooms
.”
The title of this docum
ent--or perhaps I should say this extraordinary
diatribe--is: 'The Shining Time Has Come.' I shall now read to you
,
without comment or interjection, exactly what is here.

"In the histories of
enlightened revolutions, there have been times when
the persons leading and inspiring them have chosen to remain silent, to
endure and suffer, sometimes to die miserably, but always to hope and
plan. And then there have been other times-moments of glory and victory
in the uprising of a downtrodden and exploited majority, the overthrow of
i
mperialism and tyranny, and the deserved destruction of an encrusted
capitalist-bourgeois class
.”
For Sendero Luminoso the time of silence, patience and suffering has ended. The shining time, along the Shining Path, has come. We are ready
to advance
.”
In the world at large the sel
f-proclaimed superpowers, while jockeying
with each other and pretending to seek peace, are in reality preparing for
a catastrophic confrontation between imperialistic and socialist-imperialistic forces, both seeking world hegemony. In all of it
,
the already enslaved and abused majority will suffer. If left alone to further exploit the world, a few power-mad money masters will, for their own advantages, control mankind
.”
But like a volcano ready to explode, revolution is simmering everywhere
.
The Party-Sendero, Luminoso-will lead that revolution. It has the
knowledge and experience. Its growing influence is extended throughout the world
.”
The time has come to make ourselves better known and understood
.”
For many years the lying capitalist-imperialist media, which prints and
broadcasts only what its money-grubbing masters tell it, has ignored or
misrepresented the heroic struggle of Sendero Luminoso's people
.”
That will now be changed. It is why capitalist captives have been taken
and are held as hostages
.”
The American CBA television network is hereby ordered to do the
following
.”
One. Commencing with the second Monday after receipt of this demand, the
program CBA National Evening News (both network feeds) will be
cancelled
for five weekdays---one
full week
"Two: In place of the
cancelled
program, another program, to be supplied
in five tape cassettes delivered to CBA, will be broadcast. The program's
title is, 'World Revolution: Sendero Luminoso Shows the Way.'
"Three: During the Sendero Luminoso broadcasts no commercial advertising
will be allowed
"Four: Neither CBA nor any other agency will attempt to trace the source
of the cassettes received, the
first of which will reach CBA by Thursday
of next week. Others will
follow day by d
ay. A single attempt to find the origin of the cassettes will result in immediate execution of one of the
three prisoners held in Peru. Any further foolish attempts will bring a similar result
.”
Five: These orders are not negotiable and will be obeyed exactly
.”
If there is full obedience by CBA network and others with the orders in
this document, the three prisoners will be released
four days after the
fifth Sendero Luminoso broadcast. But if the orders are not obeyed, the
prisoners will not be seen again and their bodies will never be recovered.