[b]1101[/b]

"Finally, finally, finally," Loos exclaimed as the pickup truck pulled up. Now his plan was beginning to come together."[i]Lekker[/i]," he said in satisfaction, resting the barrel of his submachine gun over his shoulder as he took another hit from his flask. "This ought to get that [i]teringlijer[/i] out of the building."

Several of Loos' men, the same who had been searching the Palace, opened the tailgate of the truck and none too gently pulled out three men and one woman. Each were handcuffed behind the back and had been gagged. Loos nodded in satisfaction when he saw the first of them was Simon Wainwright, the BBC's field reporter in Valverde. The other three were Wainwright's producer, camera operator, and sound technician. Perfect. Four British journalists.

"Get them on their knees," Loos ordered his men after they had frog-marched them into the middle of the street, just a few yards from the front gate of the embassy. Wainwright and his crew, obviously scared but fairly calm, complied quickly, kneeling down side by side. Two of Loos' men stood behind them, FN FAL rifles trained on the four hostages. "I promise you, this, pal, if this works you'll have a [i]lekker[/i] story," Loos said with a grin.

With that, Loos slung his MPL and walked slowly up to the front gate, hands in the air. Hopefully that gesture and the general nature of the standoff would keep him from getting shot. He leaned slightly over to work the intercom to the Embassy's security room outside the gate, normally used to communicate with the drivers of incoming vehicles. "This is Marten Loos of the anti-government forces," he identified himself. "If you aren't already, you should look out the front gate."

Loos paused to allow the defenders time to look before continuing. "I have here four hostages. British nationals, all of them, journalists from the BBC. You may recognize Simon Wainwright, the others are, uh," -he glanced down at the press cards that had been torn from the necks of the beleaguered newscrew- "Lee Thomson, Ravinder Mathur, and Alice Cooper. Wait, really? That's really her name?" he said, briefly forgetting himself. Loos recovered from his temporary shock and moved on. "What I propose is simple. Augustin Ochoa walks out, alone and unarmed, and surrenders himself into our custody. In return, we release the British into your protection."

"You have fifteen minutes to decide. If I do not see Ochoa by 1120, then you get to explain to your British counterpart how you are responsible for the deaths of four Britons. Tick-tock, Ambassador, tick-tock." Loos thumbed the microphone, then backed away from the embassy slowly. His men took ready position, thumbing off the safeties on their weapons. It never hurt to be prepared.