The only official who negotiated with the hijackers was an airport employee, though it was just another ploy for time. He found ridiculous excuses for the hijackers, but they believed him. He claimed that Turkey refused to receive the plane but that Iran agreed on condition the petrol tank was filled to the brim. Instead, the hijackers demanded to go to Israel, and ordered that the ground crew fill the plane’s tank in only their underwear.
As this went on, the special task force had arrived from Russia and were lying on the roof of the plane, waiting for the orders to start the operation. They impatiently waited for their commanders’ order as it continually rained.
They received the order to go ahead only after Tina, with a grenade in her hand, appeared in the plane hatch. She’d asked Gega for the grenade.
“It’s not real,” he told her, so weak he was unable to smile anymore.
“I know,” said Tina, kissing Gega as she took the grenade and headed for the hatch.
Seeing a girl with a grenade, the authorities decided it was time to act and their operation was over in seven minutes. They let gas off inside the plane and then simply threw both the hijackers and the remaining passengers out onto the ground. They were taken to the airport, where government officials and KGB generals waited. A high-ranking official kicked Soso. He fell to the ground and was kicked again for the First Secretary to see. It was too good a chance for him to miss.
It was still raining in Tbilisi and word had reached the Georgian capital that the students had failed to hijack the airplane.
The Rendezvous
Opinions in Tbilisi and the rest of country were divided over what happened. Many people were deeply shocked, even though no one was sure of the details. The media and the authorities immediately started a campaign to push public opinion in their favour. Before a full investigation began, the government set out to present the plane hijackers as monsters and bandits. It was a necessary step, as there was a strong anti-Soviet mood at that time and some voices began to defend and justify the actions of the hijackers. To shift opinion, the government unleashed a propaganda campaign on television. It also resorted to old Bolshevik methods: staff meetings were held in all institutions and organizations, where workers and employees denounced the incident and adopted resolutions demanding severe punishment for the traitors. The intent was to make the impending harsh verdict appear as the will of the people and not the authorities. Few imagined the court would be as ruthless as they were, but others were aware that the government would not be lenient in order to make an example of the hijackers and send a message.
There was little attempt by investigators to collect evidence in the case. The Soviet court was only interested in a decision, not facts or arguments. But still, certain issues had to be discussed. For instance, the Central Committee spent a long time looking into who was to be blamed for being the head of this terrorist group. Several options were investigated, including the hijackers’ parents. But their final choice proved best suited for their goals. The monk, Father Tevdore, was charged with being the head of the gang and was arrested two weeks after the hijack attempt. The fact that he even wasn’t even there for the incident didn’t mean anything to the investigation and the government. The main thing for the government was that a monk, a representative of the Church, would be declared as the head of the plot at the court hearing. They could then use the hearing to clearly demonstrate to the public how anyone’s interest in religion ends.
From the day of the unsuccessful hijacking, Tevdore had zealously prayed for those who perished and those who survived. He never thought of hiding. When he was arrested, the KGB and the police found him at the snow-covered monastery.
“You are under arrest!” they told the monk.
He only smiled at the words. One of the eager KGB men decided that the smile was an insult. So he rigorously addressed the smiling monk for the others to hear:
“What are you laughing at?”
Father Tevdore didn’t reply, but pointed, with his right hand at one of the monastery rooms. “I’ve got books and my belongings in there. I’ll take them.”
“You aren’t going to need them,” advised another officer.
As he was taken through the monastery yard, the monk thought back to the last day he saw Dato. He now had his friend constantly in his prayers…
The monk was taken directly to the KGB jail and immediately interrogated. The room with the waiting investigator was in the lowest part of the building, so they made Father Tevdore walk for a very long time through long, underground corridors. As soon as he was brought into the room he felt fatigued.
At first, he wondered if the man inside was an investigator at all. The man’s first words weren’t like those of an investigator’s question.
“Those bastards probably hurt your feelings the most.”
“Sorry, but I don’t understand you.”
“I don’t understand leaving the organizer out of it, either.”
“I was never their leader, I was their confessor.”
“What difference does it make whether you were their confessor or personal priest, if they’ve named you as their leader?”
“Astonishing.”
“That’s exactly what surprises me. How could they deliberately leave you, the boss, out of it?”
“Sorry, but I really don’t understand you.”
“I’ve already told you, I don’t get it either. What’s the point in leaving the leader behind? You put a lot of effort into it, prepared everything and when at the end, those bastards decided to go without you.”
“I never intended to go anywhere.”
“That doesn’t matter. The bastards should’ve told you something, you were still the mastermind behind the gang.”
“I am a monk.”
“That’s what I am telling you too, that you are a monk and they cheated you. That’s why they really have to answer before you, to say the least.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You’ve got to demand an answer from them. They’ve wronged you, in every way.”
“I already told you, I didn’t intend to go anywhere and they knew it perfectly well. Besides, why should they have told me when they were going to fly?”
“Come on, when you do something for which you may be executed, you should at least keep a plan, no?”
“Whose execution do you mean?”
“Everybody who deserves to be shot.”
“They didn’t kill anyone.”
“They slaughtered half of the plane, so many innocent passengers are dead.”
“But they haven’t killed anyone.”
“Did I kill those people, then?”
“I didn’t say that, but you know that they didn’t shoot at the passengers.”
“Are you dumb or what? You sent them on this mission. You should at least know what they’ve done.”
“I didn’t send anyone anywhere. I was, and am, categorically against any kind of violence.”
“The hijacking was planned at your monastery and we have plenty of evidence to prove it.”
“Impossible.”
“We also thought it impossible that you’d plan such a thing, especially at a monastery. Maybe you’re going to say they never came to see you there, either?”
“I don’t deny that. They often came to my monastery.”
“Then why did they come to see you at such a distance, aren’t there enough churches in Tbilisi?”