By the Rivers of Babylon by Nelson DeMille

Forming jigs, to guide the assemblers, arched over, under and around the fuselage and wings. In front of him, the huge Concorde sat on metal scaffolding. He began walking briskly across the concrete floor. With the Arab's ancient character flaw, he soared on the wings of hope and rose from the depths of despair to the most dangerous peaks of overconfidence. Salameh knew that his fate was no longer in his own hands nor, he suspected, in the hands of Allah. At least one other countryman avoided his darting eyes. Inside the plant, additional rows of fluorescent lights flickered on, momentarily startling the Algerian. Buses began lining up to take the Aérospatiale workers to their homes in St. A flight of metallic blue Mirages floated over the airfield in a V-formation. Outside the plant, the airport lights were coming on.

The late afternoon sun streamed in dusty, moted shafts through the six-story-high windows and suffused the badly heated plant with a warm golden glow that contrasted with Salameh's breath fog. Around him, other immigrant French-speaking Algerians seemed to move with an unreal balletlike slowness as they marked time in anticipation of the bell that would signal the end of their work shift.

He stood, slightly bowed, in the middle of the huge Aérospatiale plant, unsure of his next step. Nuri Salameh, apprentice electrician, patted the oversized pockets of his white coveralls again. Millions of bodies broken, buried alive, burned to death, but never has anyone been able to succeed in breaking the spirit of the Jewish people. No matter how strong, brutal, and ruthless the forces against us may be-here we are. And we will never agree to a peaceful settlement. Without our consent, the other Arabs can do nothing. Whatever the price, we will continue the struggle. The world has been using us and has forgotten us. The prospect of triggering a third world war doesn't bother us. And it is right for Europe and America to be warned now that there will be no peace…. I wish to thank Captain Thomas Block for his invaluable technical assistance and Bernard Geis and his staff at Bernard Geis Associates, particularly Judith Shafran and Jessie Crawford, for their superb editorial guidance. My wife, Ellen, who took a bigger chance This book is dedicated to Bernard Geis, who took a chance

By the Rivers of Babylon by Nelson DeMille