His Grumman took off just after midnight. He slept until it crossed the Libyan coast and chased ahead of the rising sun to London. It was autumn. There would be red and gold leaves in northern Virginia, and he would be dearly glad to see them again.
EPILOGUE
When the news of the death of their clan chief came through to Garacad, the Sacad tribesmen on the Malmö simply left for the shore. Captain Eklund took advantage of the—to him—unexplained chance, raised anchor and headed for the open sea. Two war skiffs from a rival clan tried to intercept him but shied away when a helicopter from a British destroyer on the horizon loudspeakered them to think again. The destroyer escorted the Malmö to the safety of Djibouti port, where she could refuel and then resume her journey, but in a convoy.
Mr. Abdi also heard of the death of the pirate chief and told Gareth Evans. News of the rescue of the boy was already through; then came news of the escape of the Malmö. Evans at once stopped payment of the five million dollars, just in time.
Mr. Abdi had already received his second gratuity of a million. He retired to a pleasant villa on the coast of Tunisia. Six months later, some burglars broke in and, when he disturbed them, killed him.
Mustafa Dardari was released from his sojourn in Caithness. He was taken back, blindfolded and released on the streets of London, where he met two things. One was a polite official refusal to believe he had not been in his town house all along because he could not prove otherwise. His explanation of what had happened to him was regarded as quite ludicrous. The other thing was a deportation order.
The Pathfinders went back to their base at Colchester and resumed their careers.
Ove Carlsson made a complete recovery and studied for a master’s degree in business administration. He joined his father’s company, but he never went back to sea.
Ariel became famous in his tiny and, to most people, incomprehensible world when he invented a firewall that even he could not penetrate. His system was widely adopted by banks, defense contractors and government departments. On the Tracker’s advice, he acquired a shrewd and honest business manager, who secured him royalty contracts that made him comfortably off.
His parents were able to move to a bigger house set in its own grounds, but he still lived with them and hated going out.
Colonel Christopher “Kit” Carson, aka Jamie Jackson, aka the Tracker, served out his time, retired from the Corps, married a very comely widow and set up a company delivering personal security for the ultra-wealthy traveling abroad. It made him a good living, but he never went back to Somalia.