Excerpt
The airline attendant looked at each passport photo and then at each passport holder and, in each case, seemed satisfied. How many bags are you checking? she asked. Six, one for each of us, said Mohamed. The attendant printed the baggage tags and, as each bag was placed on the scale, she attached a tag to it. Youll need to take the checked baggage to the station there to be inspected, she said while pointing to the station. They will put your bags on the baggage conveyor when they finish. You can proceed to gate B23. Boarding will start about 5:15 pm.
The team members carried their bags to the inspection station and left them with the inspector, then started for the gate area. At the entrance to the gate area, they came to a long line of people waiting to go through airport security. The line was moving fairly quickly, however. A TSA employee at the head of the line was checking the boarding pass and identification of each passenger, then directing them to one of the three stations to have their carry on x-rayed. Then each passenger was asked to pass through the metal detector. The other team members were all ahead of Farid in the line. Farid was carrying the carry on bag and, when he saw the three stations, he momentarily froze. Kamal didnt mention three stations, he thought. Which one has the inspector that will pass our carry on? Then, looking closer, he recognized the inspector at the station on the right. Kamal had shown him a picture of the man. But there was still a problem. The TSA employee at the head of the line might direct Farid to the wrong station! Farid decided to wait to see what happened. Then he had an idea. He slipped his boarding pass into a front pocket on the inside of his blazer.
Fred was checking the bags passing through his x-ray machine but frequently stole a glance at the line of passengers. It was almost four pm. The courier should be coming through soon. Then he spotted him. Yes, he thought, thats him. And his carry on has the red and white ribbon. And then a frightening thought hit Fred. Stupid, stupid, stupid, he thought. I forgot to tell Kamal there are three stations. The courier has only a one in three chance of getting to my station. There was nothing to do now but wait and see how it played out.
The TSA employee at the head of the line sent three people to the station on the left. That left one person in line ahead of Farid. The TSA employee checked the documents of that person and sent him to the center station. Then he turned to Farid. Farid put on a worried look. He turned to the couple behind him. I seem to have misplaced my boarding pass, he said. Why dont you go ahead of me while I look for it. He stepped aside and the couple moved to the front. As the couple were leaving for the center station, Farid said, Oh, here it is and withdrew the boarding pass from his pocket. The TSA employee inspected the boarding pass and passport, then directed Farid to the station on the right. There, Farid took off his shoes and put them into one of the plastic trays that were stacked on the table. Then he removed his blazer, folded it and put it on top of the shoes. He put the tray and then the carry-on upon the belt of the x-ray machine and stepped toward the metal detector. Then he looked down and saw the special pen. It was now exposed in shirt pocket. I should have put it in my pants pocket, he thought, but it was too late now. When the attendant signaled, Farid stepped through the metal detector. The attendant nodded for him to proceed. So far, so good, Farid thought and moved to wait for his possessions to pass through the x-ray machine. The other team members had all passed through security. They stood and waited for Farid.
Fred watched as the tray with the couriers shoes and blazer passed through the x-rays. They were clean, just shoes and the blazer. Then the carry on bag came into view. Fred stopped the belt to inspect it. Yes, there were the five packages! The lead enclosures were doing their job; he could see the rectangular shapes and the microelectronic chips must be inside. Then he noticed something else; it appeared to be some sort of electronic device. Kamal hadnt mentioned any electronic device! Fred decided he certainly wasnt going to pass anything that could be used as a weapon. He stopped the belt, reversed it and removed the bag at the front of the scanner. Then he opened the bag.
The team members all froze and stared at Fred. What was the TSA man doing? Mohamed desperately tried to recall what Kamal had said about this part of the operation. He was certain there had been no mention of a search of the carry on bag. What would the TSA man do if he found the guns? Maybe Kamal had been wrong about the TSA man and this was really a trap! Mohamed considered leading the team away from the security check area without waiting for the bag. But no, if they didnt have the guns, they couldnt take over the plane. Then the mission would fail. Better to wait to see what happened.
Fred opened the bag and removed the device he had noticed via the x-ray machine. Then he saw that it was a GPS unit. Probably the courier needs it to find the meeting place with his contact in Europe Fred thought. He placed it back in the bag and closed it. He put the bag back on the belt. Then he started the belt. The men waiting in their NYU blazers all breathed a quiet sigh of relief.
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