◆ SpookStack

Stil ai Mons o Den CUA e next on seca Batty: 4 . 48; going” to, search ev cy Fay _ between Seattle and Reno to find COOPER: WHAT skydiving expetionee? WHAT 21 bounds of ' twenties? It requires very few smarts to guess that ‘anybody. who’ ‘can pull the first skydive from “a commercial jet- in. the dead of night, free-falling ‘with ©, - 200 grand strapped around ‘ his gut, wearing street ~. clothes and low-cut shoes~knows his ass from a D-ring, sv to speak. Sure, I’ve done a lot of skydiving. over the years and belonged to several clubs, but I don’ t think that’s much of a lead for the FBI to go on,!: 037 ‘ANON: Why not?.. “ : COOPER: Because ‘maybe 20, 000; ‘maybe ‘more,’ peop.t make the one jump-each year, | mean~that’s- needed to get their certificate. Most of them, maybe 75 . naderedtnntntsuvorns * televisio nn sta loner, i assume, he will pick” up. ‘a copy. of this i issue. ne whe dacs ya . ” ° per cent, qualify and then stop jumping. With a turnover .. did hY¥e one private quirk asa skydiver, though. ... ANON: That being...? like G22) it'll take the law years to pick up my scent. I : 7 COOPER: | did thousands of « weight-lifts to build up.. y ankles. Even did roadwork with weighted leather ’ cks of sand buckled to my ankles. Occasionally I“ ould jump wearing low-cuts, but none of the other, . skydivers—ithey’ve got to be the most’ vain,’ glory-hounding types you'll find anywhere—ever noticed. They were too wrapped up in their own Superman fantasies, . ; + Fede She aks 0 rhe Saree there stuclingt clon Ncrewme i ar $4 undersid ithe thes’ “statistics, oma wa er) y:. iy, head: ee webs a “COOPER: Would it make : a better story "for you arr: ay : i ANON: No. But other lines fly the 727, don’t they...254 COOPER: No, I had nothing against Northwest at all; - far from it. They happen to be my very favorite airline. ‘ right now. But I did know that Northwest is one of the” re ~ biggest profit-makers of all the airlines, and that they’ “could raise the $200,000 fast. 1 was sure Northwest : Le could get the money for me even if Flight 305 got in’! from Portland after the banks had closed for the day.':. ~ And there were other considerations, too. There. had 4+ ' mever been a real skyjack at Seattle, and Northwest in _ definitely does not have what I would call a “take me too. Cuba complex”. All of those things~plus some other. ; little subtleties-helped make my decision to jump {4 Northwest: . ANON: Let’s touch a litle on the actual drama of the skyjack itself, shall we? COOPER: All right... ANON: Was your briefcase bomb real, or was it fake? COOPER: It was real, in the sense that it worked. In : actuality, it was a fake. The dynamite sticks the’ stewardesses blabbered about were nothing more than” ' -! haywire. The passengers~there were around 34; 35, ‘of? « some Gillette shaving-cream cans rigged with prima-cord fuses. Five of them were in the briefcase I flashed. I painted them red because people always associate that color with something explosive, like dynamite, ANON: Why did they fall for it? Were they stupid, super-cautious, or what? COOPER:, I'd say none of those, only - well-endoctrinated and 1 thoroughly trained. Of course, a er then I hit the intercom to the flight deck. My‘ ords, . were, “‘Let the passengers off. But I want everyb dy i in the cockpit. and the other two stews to stay. plane. Is that clear?” The captain roger-ed that. I this point that my game plan, as you call it, went them, by my count-began their exit, using the! front’ ; airstairs and walking across the concrete to where a bus. was waiting. Holding my bomb attache case, | went out... into the cabin. Right then this guy, middle-aged’ and: executive looking, began to push his way back Gough, the line into the tourist compartment. | tensed; relling myself, “Oh-oh. Here *s the oddball, the * frustrated World oie a ee rt aad oor ean se See DANN A IE ble RON UNS CIE Att B05 ibionee BeIe