The Evening News (91 page)

"Which Sendero has big bucks to buy
,”
Jaeger added
.”
Plus their foxy
infiltration everywhere
.”

Even the extremist spiel that followed was largely over kinetic scenes--of
rioting in Lima, industrial strikes, clashes between police and protest
marchers, the grisly aftermath of attacks on Andes villages by government
forces
.”
We are the world
,”
an unseen commentator expounded, "and the world
is ready for a revolutionary explosion
.”

Featured at length was an interview, stated to be with Abimael Guzm
a
n
,
Sendero Luminoso's founder and leader. Some uncertainty existed because the
camera focused on the back of a seated person. The commentator explained
,
"Our leader has many enemies who would like to kill him. To show his face
would help their vicious aims
.”

Guzma
n's supposed voice began in Spanish, "Compafieros revolucionarios
,
nuestro trabajo y objetivo es unir los creyentes en lafilosofia de Marx
,
Lenin, y Mao . .
.”
Then the words faded and a new voice continued
,
"Comrades, we must destroy worldwide a social order that is not fit to be
preserved . .
.”

"Doesn't Guzma
n speak English
?
”

Kettering queried
.
Jaeger answered, "Strangely, he's one of the few educated Peruvians who
don't
.”

What followed was predictable and had been spoken by Guzm
a
n many times
before
.”
Revolution is justified because of imperialist exploitation of all
poor people in the world
.”

. .
.”
False reports blame Sendero Luminoso for
inhumanity. Sendero is more humane than the superpowers who are willing to
destroy mankind with nuclear arsenals, which our proletariat revolution
will ban forever
.”

. .
.”
The United States labor movement, an elite
bourgeois class, has cheated and sold out
American workers
.”

”
Communists in the Soviet Union are no better than imperialists. The Soviets have betrayed the Lenin revolution
.”

"Cuba's Castro is a clown, an imperialist lackey
.”

Guzm
a
n's statements were invariably, general. Those seeking specifics
searched his speeches and writings in vain
.”
If we were running this instead of the evening news
,”
Chippingham
commented, "we'd have lost our audience by now and ratings would be in
the cellar
.”

The recorded half hour ended with additional Beethoven, some more scenic
beauty and a rallying cry from the commentator, "Long life to
Marxism-Leninism-Maoism, our guiding doctrine
!”

"All right
,”
Chippingham said at the end, "as we agreed, I'm putting this
tape away in my safe. Only the three of us have viewed it. I suggest we
don't discuss with anyone what we've seen
.”

Jaeger asked, "You're still going with Karl Owens's idea
the story that
the cassette was damaged when we received it
?
”

"For chrissakes! Do we have anything else? We're certainly not going to
use that tape in place of Monday's news
.”

"I guess we don't have anything else
,”
Jaeger acknowledged
.”
As long as we understand
,”
Kettering said, "that our chances of being
believed aren't as good now-not after Theo Elliott's screw
up with the
Baltimore Star
.”

“
Goddamn, I know that
!”

The news president's voice reflected the strain
of the past few days. He glanced at a clock: 3:53
.”
At four o'clock, Don
,
break into the network with a bulletin. Say that we've received a tape
from the kidnappers, but it's defective and we haven't been able to fix
it. Getting a replacement tape to us is now up to Sendero Luminoso
.”

"Right
!”

"Meanwhile
,”
Chippingham, continued, "I'll call in press relations and
issue a statement for the wire services, urging them to repeat it to
Peru. Now let's move it
!”

The misinformation issued by CBA News was circulated promptly and widely
.
Because Peru was one hour behind New York-the U.S. was still on daylight
saving time, Peru wasn't
the CBA statement was available in Lima for
evening radio and TV news as well as the following day's newspapers
.
Also in the day's news, though circulated earlier, was a report about the
discovery of Nicholas Sloane's severed fingers by his distraught father
.
In Ayacucho, Sendero Luminoso leaders noted both reports. As to the
second, about a damaged tape, they did not believe it. What was needed
immediately, they reasoned, was some action more compelling than a small
boy's fingers.

Afterward, Jessica remembered, she had a sense of foreboding as soon as she awoke that morning in the half-light of dawn. She had been sleepless through much of the night, mentally tormented, doubting that rescue would ever come. Over the past three days her earlier confidence in eventual freedom had ebbed away, though she tried to conceal from Angus and Nicky her diminishing hope. But was it likely, she wondered, that in this obscure portion of an alien, faraway land, some frie
ndly force could find and som
ehow spirit them home? As more days went by, it seemed increasingly doubtful
.
What sent Jessica's morale tumbling had been the brutal dismembering of
Nicky's right hand. Even if they got out of here, life could never again
be the same for Nicky. His youthful, dearest dream, of becoming a piano
maestro, was suddenly, irrevocably . . . so needlessly! . . . ended. And
what other perils, including death perhaps, awaited them in days ahead?
Nicky's fingers had been removed on Tuesday, Today was Friday. Yesterday
Nicky had been less in pain, thanks to Socorro who had changed the
dressings and bandage daily, but
h
e was silent and brooding, unresponsive to Jessica's attempts to lift him from his deep despair. And there was always the separation between them-the close-spaced bamboo stalks and strong wire screen. Since the night Socorro had allowed Jessica to join Nicky in his cell, the favor had not been repeated, despite Jessica's pleading
.
Today, therefore, the immediate future seemed bleak, with little to hope
for and everything to dread. As Jessica became fully awake she
understood, as she never had before, a Thomas Hood poem learned in
childhood which ended:

But now, I often wish the night
h
ad borne my breath away!

But she knew that if applied to herself, the wish was selfish and
defeatist. Despite everything else she must hang on, remaining the strong
staff on which Nicky and Angus leaned
.
It was soon after those thoughts, and with the arrival of full daylight
,
that Jessica could hear activity outside and footsteps approaching the
prisoners' shack. The first person to enter was Gustavo, leader of the
guards, who went directly to Angus's cell and opened it
.
Miguel was immediately behind. He was scowling as he, too, moved toward
Angus, carrying something Jessica had not seen him with before-an
automatic rifle
.
The ominous implication was inescapable. At the sight of the powerful
,
ugly weapon Jessica's heart beat faster and her breath shortened. Oh, no!
Not Angus!
Gustavo had entered Angus's cell and roughly pulled the old man to his
feet. Now Angus's hands were being tied behind him
.
Jessica called out, "Listen to me! What are you doing? Why
?
”

Angus turned his head toward her, "Jessie dear, don't be distressed
.
There's nothing you can do. These people are barbarians, they don't
understand decency or honor . .
.”

Jessica saw Miguel tighten his grip on his gun until his
knuckles were white. He
commanded Gustavo impatiently, Dese prisa!
No pierdas tiempo
!
”
Nicky was on his feet. He too had grasped the significance of the
automatic rifle and asked, "Mom, what are they going to do to Gramps
?
”

Not believing her own words, Jessica answered, "I don't know
.”

Angus, his hands now tied, straightened his body, squared his shoulders
and looke
d over
.”
We haven't much time. Both of you-stay strong and keep
believing! Remember, somewhere out there Crawford is doing everything he
can. Help is coming
!”

Tears were streaming down Jessica's face. Her voice choked, she managed
to call, "Angus, dearest Angus! We love you so much
!”

"I love you too, Jessie . . . Nicky
!”

Gustavo was pushing Angus forward
,
propelling him from the cell. They all knew now that he was going to his
death
.
Stumbling, Angus calle
d again, "Nicky, how about a song? Let's try one
.”

Angus's voice lifted.

"I
’
ll be seeing you
In all the old familiar places

Jessica saw Nicky open his mouth but, both too choked with tears, neither
he nor Jessica could join in
.
Angus was outside the shack now, beyond their sight. They could still
hear his voice, though it was fading.

"That this heart of mine embraces al
l day through In that small cafe
. .
.”

The voice faded entirely. There was only silence as they waited
.
Seconds passed. The wait seemed longer than it was, then the silence was
broken by gunfire-four shots, closely spaced. Another brief silence, then
a second burst of gunfire, the shots too fast to count.
Outside, at the edge of the jungle, Miguel stood over the dead figure of
Angus Sloane
.
The first four shots he fired had killed the old man instantly. Then
,
remembering the insult of last Tuesday"
Waldito hijo de puta!'
-and the
contemptuous reference to "barbarians
”
only moments earlier, Miguel had
stepped forward in a rage and emptied another fusillade from his Soviet-
made AK-47 into the recumbent body
.
He had fulfilled the instructions received from Ayacucho late last night
.
Gustavo had also been informed of a distasteful chore which was now
expected of him and which, with help from others, he could begin
.
A light airplane, operating for Sendero Luminoso, was now on its way to
a nearby jungle airstrip which could be reached from Nueva Esperanza by
boat. Very soon a boat would leave for the airstrip, after which the
airplane would transport to Lima the result of Gustavo's work.

Later that same morning in Lima, a car skidded to a halt outside the
American Embassy on Avenida Garcilaso de la Vega. A male figure carrying
a substantial cardboard box jumped out. The man deposited the box outside
the Embassy's protective railings, near a gate, then ran back to the car
,
which sped away
.
A plainclothes guard who had seen it happen sounded an alarm and all
exits from the embassy, which was built like a fortress, were temporarily
closed. Meanwhile a bomb disposal squad from the Peruvian armed forces
was summoned to help
.
When tests revealed that the box contained no explosives, it was opened
carefully, revealing the bloodstained, decapitated head of an elderly
man, probably in his seventies. Alongside the head was a wallet
containing a U.S. Social Security card, a Florida driver's license
complete with photo, and other documents that identified the partial
remains as those of Angus McMullen Sloane
.
At the time the Lima incident occurred, a Chicago Tribune reporter
happened to be inside the embassy. He stayed close to
ensuing developments and was the first to file a story that included the victim's name. The Tribune report was quickly picked up by wire services, TV, radio and other newspapers, first in the United States, then throughout the world.