The Fifth Horseman (novel)
Encyclopedia
The Fifth Horseman is a novel (hard cover, paperback, and book on audio cassette
) written by Larry Collins
and Dominique Lapierre
. In a suspenseful novel of terrorist threat, Libya
n leader Gaddafi
holds New York City
hostage with the threat of setting off a hidden nuclear bomb
. The book had such a shocking effect that the French President
cancelled the sale of nuclear reactor
s to Libya, even though it was meant for peaceful purposes. Paramount Pictures
, which was planning to make a film based on the book, dropped the idea in the fear that some fanatics would try to emulate the scenario in real life. However the authors indicate that the events could eventually happen.
A related book, with much the same plot and even the same jokes, "Is New York Burning?" examines the same scenario, except exchange George W. Bush
for Jimmy Carter
, exchange Osama bin Laden
for Muammar al-Gaddafi, and 2005 for 1980.
at Cadarache. That was until Kamal was ready to enforce the vow. French police subsequently arrested Kamal, Whalid, and their sister Laila and deported them to Beirut so as not to jeopardize politics of nuclear energy. When the police questioned Whalid's French wife, she committed suicide. Kamal and their mother exploited the event for Whalid and she bid them to help Gaddafi in Libya.
Laila, in disguise, personally delivers the written threat by Gaddafi to the White House
, with instructions on how to retrieve technical designs as proof from an airport locker. The President (resembling Jimmy Carter in age, religiosity, Navy service, etc.) and his team agonize over the bomb design and the threat to the final assessment by the Department of Energy
that it is a three megaton H-bomb.
The nuclear search team NEST
is activated, travelling on Starlifter cargo plane
from Nevada to McGuire Air Force Base
, New Jersey. Meanwhile, combined teams of New York City police and FBI, including New York police
detective Angelo Rocchia and FBI agent Mike Rand, conduct shoe-leather field research
on the incoming shipment, the false and stolen documents, and the three terrorists, moving ever closer to the truth in a logical progression, to look for "a barrel of chlorine gas
."
It looks bleak for NEST. Its equipment can only look so far down from the air and only so far up from the street. Even a water bed
could neutralize the radioactive emissions of the bomb. Also, other terrorists help to confuse NEST, by attaching plutonium pellets to the legs of pigeons and setting them loose.
It also looks bleak for New York City, whose mayor, Abe Stern, was summoned to the White House under false pretenses and told face-to-face by the President of the nuclear threat. Not only is evacuation ruled out by Gaddafi, but some fallout shelter
s are loaded with junk, susceptible to flooding, or badly stocked with no supplies or rotten supplies. New York City's air raid sirens were literally falling down. New York City did have a good radio-TV public address system
for the mayor, but it was unmistakably clear that up to eight million people in and around the city would die of burns, blast, flying debris, or radiation, and New England
would get the fallout immediately after. New York City officials contemplate evacuation plans but scrap them because few people have cars and train operators cannot be counted on to work in a crisis.
Israel's military leaders do not trust the President during this crisis. Israel almost successfully launches its own nuclear strike against Libya, using F4 Phantoms and their plutonium atom bombs, and an electronic countermeasures
plane, until the French ambassador warns Israel that the Soviets will launch a nuclear strike against Israel unless they desist. Begin horrifically deduces that the President asked the Soviets to keep Israel in line, and backs down. Begin will not vacate the West Bank settlements as demanded by Gaddafi: in fact, the Israeli Army could mutiny if ordered to vacate the settlements.
Rand and Rocchia make progress: first, checking bills of lading from the harbor, and questioning longshoremen about unusual activity. Further checking determines a discrepancy between what was listed on the manifest and what actually made it to the destination. Rand and Rocchia check the rental vehicle involved and discover it was rented with a stolen driver's license. The pickpocketing victim, Mr. Gerald Putman, reviewing photographs, identifies Carmen, a Colombian whose large breasts help distract her victims. Rocchia makes up a criminal incident to get an Italian woman to tell her where Carmen lives. Capturing her and her associate Pedro Torres leads them to a Jewish document forger, Benny Muscowitz. Rocchia's aggressive manner makes Benny finally invoke his right against self-incrimination
, but Rand is able, without giving too many details about the Israeli crisis, to encourage Benny to talk. A French nuclear scientist who worked in Libya, Paul-Henri de Serre, turned out to be an art thief whom the Libyans set up. Paul-Henri identifies Whalid and Kamal and the French fax the records of Whalid, Kamal, and Laila to the CIA. A short time later, Rand and Rocchia arrest Nabil Suleiman, who was wanted by Israel for a terrorist attack, and threaten to deport him, for lack of a U.S. visa, directly into the custody of a Mossad
agent waiting outside, unless he becomes a witness in the case. Nabil is able to identify Laila and Kamal based on the French photos. Further questioning of New York citizens establishes that the same rental truck was in the location in question at the time in question.
The President has briefed the Rapid Deployment Force, in transit to Lebanon, with options to invade the West Bank.
Rocchia is very upset when he asks a nuclear technician what he is carrying and the technician honestly indicates, "Geiger counter". He feels betrayed that the FBI would be told, but not the New York City police like himself. Rocchia's superior manages to calm him down. Rocchia had delivered good leads, he wants to take his daughter with Down's syndrome far north from the city. Rocchia is free to go, on the condition that he remain silent. He tries to ask the Catholic school for children with disabilities for permission to take her "to see relatives". The nun accedes, but in the meantime, Rocchia has to look at dozens of other children, all with disabilities, who will be incinerated if the bomb goes off. She does not see Rocchia any more when she returns with the daughter and his car is gone.
The President consults his advisors again. One finally says that during the oil embargo and the Iranian hostage crisis
, when the Europeans wavered, it was Israel that had stood by the United States. Also simultaneously, a crucial deadline passes and the nuclear bomb does not explode. Now some distance safely away from the bomb, Whalid finally tells his brother Kamal, he did not build the bomb to incinerate New York City residents, he did it to make Libya parallel with Israel, the Soviets, France, China, Britain, and America. Whalid had fed the wrong tape deliberately to the computer while his brother and sister had been working on the antenna on the roof. Whalid, in self defense
, tries to shoot his brother and misses, Kamal breaks Whalid's trachea with an expert martial arts maneuver, causing Whalid to slowly suffocate to death. Kamal grabs the detonation checklist and Laila and drives back to the bomb to detonate it manually by himself.
The President makes a decision. He is not merely the President of people in New York City: he is the President of all Americans, and America is being bullied to invade an ally. This is an act of war, not just a crime. Finally, he orders two nuclear submarines
to position their SLBMs on Libya, and orders his admiral to launch them unless the bomb is found and defused, or unless Gaddafi extends his latest ultimatum.
Gaddafi reports that the President's acceptance of the original terms is not acceptable. One of Gaddafi's own ministers protests, America has capitulated. Gaddafi replies that the Americans are stalling for time. The President finally levies his nuclear threat. Gaddafi is the only cool head as the minister panics.
Meanwhile, a suspicious neighbor hears the gunshot and calls police, who identify Whalid based on a tattoo. The New York City police and FBI absolutely know who they are looking for. Kamal gets out of the car and tells Laila to drive to Montreal. He then steals an ambulance to finish his drive to the bomb. Rand and Rocchia hear about the ambulance on the radio, see it, and chase it. Rocchia cautiously enters the building where Kamal is with the bomb. "Police! Don't move!" Kamal expertly fires a succession of shots from an automatic pistol
. Rocchia drops to the floor, safe, but silently. Rand tries to enter the building, thinking Rocchia is wounded. Rocchia can't warn Rand because he'd betray his position. Rand ultimately becomes Kamal's target, fatally wounded, but Rocchia is able to kill Kamal with two shots.
The nuclear scientists review their options. After determining that the case is safe to open, they choose ultraviolet radiation to burn out the microprocessor, and New York is safe.
That leaves Laila. Not surprisingly, she is eager to get to Canada, she is speeding ever so slightly. A police car gives chase, Laila manages to almost lose the police car, but she hits a stretch of black ice
, she loses control, crashes in the opposite lane, and the car's gas tank explodes, burning her alive. "What ever got into her?" the officer asks. "All I had her for was seven miles over the limit."
By the end of the story, Libya's east coast has nuclear-armed SCUDs
facing Israel, both countries facing "the prospect of mutual suicide
."
Most notably, the ending (after the bomb is discovered) is not the same. Gaddafi is never sent the telegram quoting the Quran, nor does the President state that he "will not get away with this". Instead, the crisis is concluded with Carter inviting both Gaddafi and Begin to Camp David
in secret to seek a final solution to the Palestinian question. In the last scene, Rocchia is informed of this quietly, and remarks on the absurdity of risking the lives of six million people for this to happen. Furthermore, Laila, instead of being killed, is arrested by the police and sentenced to life imprisonment.
Compact Cassette
The Compact Cassette, often referred to as audio cassette, cassette tape, cassette, or simply tape, is a magnetic tape sound recording format. It was designed originally for dictation, but improvements in fidelity led the Compact Cassette to supplant the Stereo 8-track cartridge and reel-to-reel...
) written by Larry Collins
Larry Collins (writer)
Larry Collins, born John Lawrence Collins Jr., , was an American writer.-Life:...
and Dominique Lapierre
Dominique Lapierre
Dominique Lapierre is a French author.-Life:Dominique Lapierre was born in Châtelaillon-Plage, Charente-Maritime, France. At the age of thirteen, he traveled to America with his father who was a diplomat...
. In a suspenseful novel of terrorist threat, Libya
Libya
Libya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
n leader Gaddafi
Muammar al-Gaddafi
Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar Gaddafi or "September 1942" 20 October 2011), commonly known as Muammar Gaddafi or Colonel Gaddafi, was the official ruler of the Libyan Arab Republic from 1969 to 1977 and then the "Brother Leader" of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya from 1977 to 2011.He seized power in a...
holds New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
hostage with the threat of setting off a hidden nuclear bomb
Nuclear weapon
A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission or a combination of fission and fusion. Both reactions release vast quantities of energy from relatively small amounts of matter. The first fission bomb test released the same amount...
. The book had such a shocking effect that the French President
President of the French Republic
The President of the French Republic colloquially referred to in English as the President of France, is France's elected Head of State....
cancelled the sale of nuclear reactor
Nuclear reactor
A nuclear reactor is a device to initiate and control a sustained nuclear chain reaction. Most commonly they are used for generating electricity and for the propulsion of ships. Usually heat from nuclear fission is passed to a working fluid , which runs through turbines that power either ship's...
s to Libya, even though it was meant for peaceful purposes. Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
, which was planning to make a film based on the book, dropped the idea in the fear that some fanatics would try to emulate the scenario in real life. However the authors indicate that the events could eventually happen.
A related book, with much the same plot and even the same jokes, "Is New York Burning?" examines the same scenario, except exchange George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
for Jimmy Carter
Jimmy Carter
James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office...
, exchange Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden was the founder of the militant Islamist organization Al-Qaeda, the jihadist organization responsible for the September 11 attacks on the United States and numerous other mass-casualty attacks against civilian and military targets...
for Muammar al-Gaddafi, and 2005 for 1980.
Plot
The bomb and Kamal Dajani arrive in New York City by freighter. The bomb was built by his brother Whalid, a nuclear scientist, in Libya. Although Whalid and Kamal made a Muslim vow on pain of death to avenge their father's loss of their West Bank home, Whalid had originally dedicated his life to peaceful nuclear energyNuclear power
Nuclear power is the use of sustained nuclear fission to generate heat and electricity. Nuclear power plants provide about 6% of the world's energy and 13–14% of the world's electricity, with the U.S., France, and Japan together accounting for about 50% of nuclear generated electricity...
at Cadarache. That was until Kamal was ready to enforce the vow. French police subsequently arrested Kamal, Whalid, and their sister Laila and deported them to Beirut so as not to jeopardize politics of nuclear energy. When the police questioned Whalid's French wife, she committed suicide. Kamal and their mother exploited the event for Whalid and she bid them to help Gaddafi in Libya.
Laila, in disguise, personally delivers the written threat by Gaddafi to the White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
, with instructions on how to retrieve technical designs as proof from an airport locker. The President (resembling Jimmy Carter in age, religiosity, Navy service, etc.) and his team agonize over the bomb design and the threat to the final assessment by the Department of Energy
United States Department of Energy
The United States Department of Energy is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government concerned with the United States' policies regarding energy and safety in handling nuclear material...
that it is a three megaton H-bomb.
The nuclear search team NEST
NEST
NEST is an abbreviation for one of the following:*The Nuclear Emergency Support Team, a team "prepared to respond immediately to any type of radiological accident or incident anywhere in the world"....
is activated, travelling on Starlifter cargo plane
Cargo airline
Cargo airlines are airlines dedicated to the transport of cargo. Some cargo airlines are divisions or subsidiaries of larger passenger airlines.-Logistics:...
from Nevada to McGuire Air Force Base
McGuire Air Force Base
JB MDL McGuire is a United States Air Force base located approximately south-southeast of Trenton, New Jersey. McGuire is under the jurisdiction of the USAF Air Mobility Command...
, New Jersey. Meanwhile, combined teams of New York City police and FBI, including New York police
New York Police
New York Police may refer to:*New York City Police Department *New York State Police *Port Authority Police Department...
detective Angelo Rocchia and FBI agent Mike Rand, conduct shoe-leather field research
Field research
Field research is the collection of raw data in natural settings. It helps to reveal the habits and habitats of various organisms present in their natural surroundings...
on the incoming shipment, the false and stolen documents, and the three terrorists, moving ever closer to the truth in a logical progression, to look for "a barrel of chlorine gas
Chlorine
Chlorine is the chemical element with atomic number 17 and symbol Cl. It is the second lightest halogen, found in the periodic table in group 17. The element forms diatomic molecules under standard conditions, called dichlorine...
."
It looks bleak for NEST. Its equipment can only look so far down from the air and only so far up from the street. Even a water bed
Waterbed
A waterbed, water mattress, or flotation mattress is a bed or mattress filled with water. Waterbeds intended for medical therapies appear in various reports through the 19th century...
could neutralize the radioactive emissions of the bomb. Also, other terrorists help to confuse NEST, by attaching plutonium pellets to the legs of pigeons and setting them loose.
It also looks bleak for New York City, whose mayor, Abe Stern, was summoned to the White House under false pretenses and told face-to-face by the President of the nuclear threat. Not only is evacuation ruled out by Gaddafi, but some fallout shelter
Fallout shelter
A fallout shelter is an enclosed space specially designed to protect occupants from radioactive debris or fallout resulting from a nuclear explosion. Many such shelters were constructed as civil defense measures during the Cold War....
s are loaded with junk, susceptible to flooding, or badly stocked with no supplies or rotten supplies. New York City's air raid sirens were literally falling down. New York City did have a good radio-TV public address system
Public address
A public address system is an electronic amplification system with a mixer, amplifier and loudspeakers, used to reinforce a sound source, e.g., a person giving a speech, a DJ playing prerecorded music, and distributing the sound throughout a venue or building.Simple PA systems are often used in...
for the mayor, but it was unmistakably clear that up to eight million people in and around the city would die of burns, blast, flying debris, or radiation, and New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
would get the fallout immediately after. New York City officials contemplate evacuation plans but scrap them because few people have cars and train operators cannot be counted on to work in a crisis.
Israel's military leaders do not trust the President during this crisis. Israel almost successfully launches its own nuclear strike against Libya, using F4 Phantoms and their plutonium atom bombs, and an electronic countermeasures
Electronic countermeasures
An electronic countermeasure is an electrical or electronic device designed to trick or deceive radar, sonar or other detection systems, like infrared or lasers. It may be used both offensively and defensively to deny targeting information to an enemy...
plane, until the French ambassador warns Israel that the Soviets will launch a nuclear strike against Israel unless they desist. Begin horrifically deduces that the President asked the Soviets to keep Israel in line, and backs down. Begin will not vacate the West Bank settlements as demanded by Gaddafi: in fact, the Israeli Army could mutiny if ordered to vacate the settlements.
Rand and Rocchia make progress: first, checking bills of lading from the harbor, and questioning longshoremen about unusual activity. Further checking determines a discrepancy between what was listed on the manifest and what actually made it to the destination. Rand and Rocchia check the rental vehicle involved and discover it was rented with a stolen driver's license. The pickpocketing victim, Mr. Gerald Putman, reviewing photographs, identifies Carmen, a Colombian whose large breasts help distract her victims. Rocchia makes up a criminal incident to get an Italian woman to tell her where Carmen lives. Capturing her and her associate Pedro Torres leads them to a Jewish document forger, Benny Muscowitz. Rocchia's aggressive manner makes Benny finally invoke his right against self-incrimination
Right to silence
The right to remain silent is a legal right of any person. This right is recognized, explicitly or by convention, in many of the world's legal systems....
, but Rand is able, without giving too many details about the Israeli crisis, to encourage Benny to talk. A French nuclear scientist who worked in Libya, Paul-Henri de Serre, turned out to be an art thief whom the Libyans set up. Paul-Henri identifies Whalid and Kamal and the French fax the records of Whalid, Kamal, and Laila to the CIA. A short time later, Rand and Rocchia arrest Nabil Suleiman, who was wanted by Israel for a terrorist attack, and threaten to deport him, for lack of a U.S. visa, directly into the custody of a Mossad
Mossad
The Mossad , short for HaMossad leModi'in uleTafkidim Meyuchadim , is the national intelligence agency of Israel....
agent waiting outside, unless he becomes a witness in the case. Nabil is able to identify Laila and Kamal based on the French photos. Further questioning of New York citizens establishes that the same rental truck was in the location in question at the time in question.
The President has briefed the Rapid Deployment Force, in transit to Lebanon, with options to invade the West Bank.
Rocchia is very upset when he asks a nuclear technician what he is carrying and the technician honestly indicates, "Geiger counter". He feels betrayed that the FBI would be told, but not the New York City police like himself. Rocchia's superior manages to calm him down. Rocchia had delivered good leads, he wants to take his daughter with Down's syndrome far north from the city. Rocchia is free to go, on the condition that he remain silent. He tries to ask the Catholic school for children with disabilities for permission to take her "to see relatives". The nun accedes, but in the meantime, Rocchia has to look at dozens of other children, all with disabilities, who will be incinerated if the bomb goes off. She does not see Rocchia any more when she returns with the daughter and his car is gone.
The President consults his advisors again. One finally says that during the oil embargo and the Iranian hostage crisis
Iran hostage crisis
The Iran hostage crisis was a diplomatic crisis between Iran and the United States where 52 Americans were held hostage for 444 days from November 4, 1979 to January 20, 1981, after a group of Islamist students and militants took over the American Embassy in Tehran in support of the Iranian...
, when the Europeans wavered, it was Israel that had stood by the United States. Also simultaneously, a crucial deadline passes and the nuclear bomb does not explode. Now some distance safely away from the bomb, Whalid finally tells his brother Kamal, he did not build the bomb to incinerate New York City residents, he did it to make Libya parallel with Israel, the Soviets, France, China, Britain, and America. Whalid had fed the wrong tape deliberately to the computer while his brother and sister had been working on the antenna on the roof. Whalid, in self defense
Self-defense
Self-defense, self-defence or private defense is a countermeasure that involves defending oneself, one's property or the well-being of another from physical harm. The use of the right of self-defense as a legal justification for the use of force in times of danger is available in many...
, tries to shoot his brother and misses, Kamal breaks Whalid's trachea with an expert martial arts maneuver, causing Whalid to slowly suffocate to death. Kamal grabs the detonation checklist and Laila and drives back to the bomb to detonate it manually by himself.
The President makes a decision. He is not merely the President of people in New York City: he is the President of all Americans, and America is being bullied to invade an ally. This is an act of war, not just a crime. Finally, he orders two nuclear submarines
Submarine
A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability...
to position their SLBMs on Libya, and orders his admiral to launch them unless the bomb is found and defused, or unless Gaddafi extends his latest ultimatum.
Gaddafi reports that the President's acceptance of the original terms is not acceptable. One of Gaddafi's own ministers protests, America has capitulated. Gaddafi replies that the Americans are stalling for time. The President finally levies his nuclear threat. Gaddafi is the only cool head as the minister panics.
Meanwhile, a suspicious neighbor hears the gunshot and calls police, who identify Whalid based on a tattoo. The New York City police and FBI absolutely know who they are looking for. Kamal gets out of the car and tells Laila to drive to Montreal. He then steals an ambulance to finish his drive to the bomb. Rand and Rocchia hear about the ambulance on the radio, see it, and chase it. Rocchia cautiously enters the building where Kamal is with the bomb. "Police! Don't move!" Kamal expertly fires a succession of shots from an automatic pistol
Semi-automatic self-loading pistol
A semi-automatic pistol is a type of handgun which uses a single chamber and barrel, with a mechanism powered by the previous shot to load a fresh cartridge into the chamber...
. Rocchia drops to the floor, safe, but silently. Rand tries to enter the building, thinking Rocchia is wounded. Rocchia can't warn Rand because he'd betray his position. Rand ultimately becomes Kamal's target, fatally wounded, but Rocchia is able to kill Kamal with two shots.
The nuclear scientists review their options. After determining that the case is safe to open, they choose ultraviolet radiation to burn out the microprocessor, and New York is safe.
That leaves Laila. Not surprisingly, she is eager to get to Canada, she is speeding ever so slightly. A police car gives chase, Laila manages to almost lose the police car, but she hits a stretch of black ice
Black ice
Black ice, sometimes called glare ice or clear ice, refers to a thin coating of glazed ice on a surface.While not truly black, it is virtually transparent, allowing black asphalt/macadam roadways to be seen through it, hence the term "black ice"...
, she loses control, crashes in the opposite lane, and the car's gas tank explodes, burning her alive. "What ever got into her?" the officer asks. "All I had her for was seven miles over the limit."
By the end of the story, Libya's east coast has nuclear-armed SCUDs
Scud
Scud is a series of tactical ballistic missiles developed by the Soviet Union during the Cold War, and exported widely to other countries. The term comes from the NATO reporting name SS-1 Scud which was attached to the missile by Western intelligence agencies...
facing Israel, both countries facing "the prospect of mutual suicide
Mutual assured destruction
Mutual Assured Destruction, or mutually assured destruction , is a doctrine of military strategy and national security policy in which a full-scale use of high-yield weapons of mass destruction by two opposing sides would effectively result in the complete, utter and irrevocable annihilation of...
."
French version
The French version of "The Fifth Horseman", while it follows the same general plot, differs from the English one; certain scenes are deleted (such as the scene where Carter threatens Libya with nuclear retaliation), others are added in, and not everything happens in the same order.Most notably, the ending (after the bomb is discovered) is not the same. Gaddafi is never sent the telegram quoting the Quran, nor does the President state that he "will not get away with this". Instead, the crisis is concluded with Carter inviting both Gaddafi and Begin to Camp David
Camp David
Camp David is the country retreat of the President of the United States and his guests. It is located in low wooded hills about 60 mi north-northwest of Washington, D.C., on the property of Catoctin Mountain Park in unincorporated Frederick County, Maryland, near Thurmont, at an elevation of...
in secret to seek a final solution to the Palestinian question. In the last scene, Rocchia is informed of this quietly, and remarks on the absurdity of risking the lives of six million people for this to happen. Furthermore, Laila, instead of being killed, is arrested by the police and sentenced to life imprisonment.