Free Trial By Fire by Harold Coyle

the contrary. My colonel has instructed me to advise you that it would be his pleasure to meet with you at noon, if that time is suitable for you. He will provide you with a summary of the past twelve hours and actions being taken by the Mexican Army to deal with the current crisis.”
    Pausing for dramatic effect before responding, Jan informed the captain that it would be a pleasure to meet with his colonel at noon. After a few pleasantries, they both hung up. Jan, excited by the manner in which the morning was developing, smiled and leaned over, pumping her right arm up and down and shouting, “Yes, yes.” Fame and fortune, she knew, belonged to the lucky.
    Once she was off the phone, Jan roused her crew, informing them of the news and getting them ready to go out into the street to shoot whatever they came across. There was no sense, she thought, of wasting the valuable time before her interview with the colonel. Next she called World News Network, her employer. When she informed them that she was still in Mexico City and had been contacted by people who claimed to be in charge, they were all ears. Though WNN already had two camera crews and a full production team, with direct feed capabilities, preparing to fly in from Dallas, Jan knew it would be hours before they were there and longer before they were ready to start covering the story. With some deft negotiating, she managed to get them to agree that she would be their chief correspondent in Mexico for the duration of the current crisis, with the right to edit her own material before beaming it back to Washington.
    With that settled, Jan called back to Juan to check on his progress. His news, presented in a rather unconvincing manner, was discouraging.
    According to him, he was unable to contact anyone who knew what was going on. “Everything is in chaos, Senorita Fields. Everyone is very uncooperative. No one knows who’s in charge.”
    Without hesitation, Jan fired back. “Then I guess we need to go down to-the government offices and find someone who is in charge.”
    “No! No! We can’t do that, Senorita Fields. This is a coup, a revolution.
    There may be trouble. That is no place for a woman to be.”
    Juan’s last comment tripped a harsh response. “Listen, mister, that’s what I’m paying you for. Either you take me down there and do your job, or kiss your commission, and your reputation, goodbye.”
    There was a moment’s pause while Juan pondered his choices. Jan wondered which threat was more damaging, the loss of money or the loss of prestige. Not that it mattered much to her. All that mattered right then was getting a story, any story, shot and on the air.
    Finally, Juan answered, “Si, yes. I will take you. But we must discuss my salary. Things have changed. This is now a very dangerous time, senorita. You understand.”
    Softening her tone, Jan responded. “Yes, Juan, I understand. What would be fair pay for a man of your talents in the current crisis?”
    Feeling that he had regained a measure of control, Juan pondered the question out loud. “Well, things could become dangerous. They say government troops are all over and that other government police officials across the country are being arrested. There could be fighting.”
    Jan listened, responding with, “I see,” and “Ah-huh,” as Juan built a case for a higher salary. When he was finished, Jan repeated her question.
    With
    the confidence of a man who knew she would never agree to such an outrageous sum, Juan demanded double his current fees. What he had not realized was that Jan was prepared to pay four times the current fee.
    Without hesitation, she agreed to double his fee, told him to meet her in the lobby of her hotel in thirty minutes, and hung up before he had the chance to say another word.
    Prepared for scenes of chaos and open fighting, Jan was somewhat disappointed as they drove through the deserted streets of the city with her tiny crew consisting of Juan, a cameraman,