by T C Miller
“I admit the plan I’m about to lay out for you is so far out there it sounds like some kind of Hollywood movie script. . .But, if it works, it could solve all our problems in one fell swoop.
“What I’m proposing is that we go in for one gigantic score. . .And not just what we need for now. I’m talking about something that is so big it’ll set us up for the rest of our lives. I mean, if we’re gonna be dead men anyway, what do we have to lose, right?”
The others moved to the edge of their seats and looked to Rick for their salvation.
***
CHAPTER 7
SECURITY POLICE COMMAND POST
MATHER AIR FORCE BASE, CA
ONE HOUR AFTER ATTACK
“All right, people, let’s settle down so we can get this meeting going. Where’s Lieutenant Baxter?” Bart posed the question to the five section chiefs and two guests seated around one end of the conference table.”
“Still on his honeymoon at Lake Tahoe,” Chief Master Sergeant Tony Russo, Operations NCOIC stated. “Not supposed to be back ‘til tomorrow.”
“I thought it was today. . .Okay, whatever. . .let’s move on. I want to thank Captain Clark from Intel for joining us, as well as Captain Brown from Bomb Wing security.
“Nobody likes being thrown out of bed by a recall, including me. . .Especially when it’s the real thing. I’ve been studying the initial reports, so I’ll start with a recap. . .Feel free to jump in if you have anything to add. . .You get a radio call, step away from the table to answer it, understood?”
Heads nodded and he continued, “Boss has a Command Post meeting at 0730, so we need to get all our ducks in a row. . .Don’t want him blind-sided. What I get from the reports is that a small band of tangos did what everybody figured was nearly impossible. . .The wrong people are now in control of thermonuclear weapons and have hostages to boot. . .Which puts not just us, but the whole Sacramento area squarely behind the eight-ball.
“They used a multipronged, well-planned maneuver that isolated key parts of the base while creating maximum confusion. Diversionary actions at the O Club and base housing sent backup units clear across base while we were investigating and clearing a traffic accident at the front gate. . .That one appears to be a drunk driver and may or may not have been their doing. . .Only time’ll tell.
“We do know they started fires at two power transformer stations and two switching substations. . .Fire Chief tells me there was clear evidence of arson. Base power grid got knocked off-line, so no pumps meant a lack of water in the hydrant system and made fighting fires a real bear. . .”
“Don’t mean to interrupt, sir. . .” Captain Clark broke in. But what about backup generators?”
“Looks like they knew exactly how to cripple those, too. They’re working now, but not quite at full-capacity. Hospital and Command Posts are back online, as well as the Comm Center. Fire Department pumped water from golf course ponds to put out the fires and CE is doing their best to get everything working again.
“Whoever did this seems to know exactly what they’re doing and the timing of everything is way too precise to be coincidental. . .Which, to my way of thinking, suggests an inside job. It’s the kind of event they cover in Air War College to test senior base leadership. . .Only this time it’s far too real. . .By the way, before I forget to mention it, all records of this event are classified. . .So, make sure you secure your notes.
They nodded.
“Now, to continue. . .The Broken Arrow notification went out as a Flash message. . .First one I’ve seen since Nam. . .Should tell everybody how serious this is. . .Something that we here at the local level already know.
“They woke up POTUS and key members of Congress. They’ll be briefed by the National Security Advisor after we know what the tangos want. It just so happened the SAC Commander was taking his turn in Looking Glass, so they didn’t have to wake him up. He’s still circling on an EC-135 that’s been refueled on the fly. . .They’ll extend the pattern ‘til we know what’s goin’ on.”
“They say how he reacted? Captain Brown asked.
“No, but can’t imagine he’s happy about it. . .Nobody likes something like this happenin’ on their watch, including me. Besides, he’s probably tap-dancin’ on roller skates on an ice rink trying to run down the EAB checklists. . .It’s got forty-two action items on it. Speaking of action items, DOE called a SAFEHAVEN and pulled all its couriers in.
This time it was Lieutenant McMahon interrupting, “I know this is gonna sound kinda dumb, sir, and I’ve heard the word before, but what exactly is a SAFEHAVEN?. . .And what couriers are you talking about? Like UPS or FEDEX?”
Bart suppressed a smile. “No, not exactly. . .Department of Energy is responsible for securely transporting nuclear material around the country. They use disguised semis that are guarded by agents in nondescript vans. When there’s a problem like this, they order them to report to the nearest secure facility, usually a military base. . .So, it’s called a SAFEHAVEN.”
“Makes sense.”
“Sense is the only thing that works when you’re dealin’ with nukes. Anyway, thirty-eight of them were on the road yesterday and now they’re all behind secure fences and locked gates that are double-guarded.
“Thank you, sir. I’m still getting used to security jargon.”
“No problem. . .Always a good idea to ask if you don’t know something. . .Now, let’s see, where are those other items,” he mumbled as he shuffled through his notes. “There it is. . .NSA’s sending two people over from their San Francisco office to help. Apparently there’s a piece of their comm equipment on board the bomber. . ..Should be here within the hour.”
Lieutenant McMahon interrupted again, “Excuse me, sir. Why would the NSA have equipment on an Air Force plane. . .Just curious.”
“And you know the old cliche about what curiosity did to the cat, right? Whatever it is, it’s classified way above our level. Short answer is, I have no idea and it was never mentioned here, got it?”
“My lips are sealed, sir.”
“Good. . .A secure comm unit from Tinker left Oklahoma about ten minutes ago. They’ll pick up some Intel experts on the way and be here in about five hours. FBI’s sending an Anti-Terrorist team from Quantico, along with the Pentagon security team that designed most of the Alert Pad alarm systems.
“It’ll take about six hours for all of them to arrive, but I want to stress something. . .They’re only coming to advise us. Technically, our base commander and staff’ll still be in charge. Although, most of us know that outside agencies tend to want to stick their noses in wherever and whenever they can and that’s where I see a potential problem.
“Chain of command tends to get a lot longer in situations like this. Too many of them running around looking for something to justify their existence and next thing you know, they’ll be forming committees to decide what brand of coffee to serve in the Command Post.”
First Lieutenant Jim Branson, an Individual Mobilization Augmentee Reservist spoke up for the first time, “Speaking of extra help, sir. . .I’m only here for my one day a month Inactive Duty Training. . .Think you might need me longer than today?”
“Good question, Lieutenant. . .Quick answer is we have no idea how long this might go on. . .But it sure would be nice to have your expertise. . .And I know I can trust you. . .You could help run things here while we’re in the field. Can you be here longer or will your full-time job call you back?”
“I’m a Sacramento police officer. . .And they have to let me be here if you need me. . .It’s Federal law. I can either do a few more IDT’s or request man-days.”
“Sounds good either way. Let me know if there’s anything I need to sign.
“Yes, sir. I’ll contact Senior Master Sergeant Miller, the Base IMA Administrator. . .He’ll take care of it, no matter what.”
“Great, now let’s go over a few security concerns. . .I’ve been trying to put myself in the tango’s shoes to figure out what their next move might be because,
quite frankly, something just doesn’t add up here. Take a look at their security layout and you’ll see what I mean.”
Bart pointed to the diagrams he’d drawn of the Alert Pad and the terrorists’ present position. “They haven’t even tried to include tankers in their perimeter, which seems a mite strange. Besides taking over the entire Alert Pad with their alarm sensors, all they really did was lock down one BUFF.”
“You think they’re planning to escape in it?” Captain Clark asked.
“Don’t hardly think so. If they know our procedures as well as they seem to, they’d have to know we’d never let that plane take off. Too much chance they’d head for San Francisco, or LA.”
“And yet, like you said, they seem to be concentrating mostly on that one bomber for some reason. . .” Clark noted.
“Now you see what I’m trying to say. They could’ve taken over the entire perimeter. . .Controlled three B-52s and three KC-135 tankers. . .Wouldn’t be that hard to do. They’d have a double whammy. . .Bunch of nuclear weapons and enough jet fuel to light up half of Sacramento.
“Instead, they concentrated on that one bomber. . .Like it’s special or something. Of course, it could also mean they’re a lot smaller force than we think. . .Or they’re not planning on staying that long.”
“Not being in security, I’m not quite sure I understand, sir,” a puzzled Captain Clark interrupted again.
“Well, it’s like this. . .They can’t be on guard twenty-four hours a day without having enough men to split into shifts. And a small force is easier to control and more nimble. . .It could somehow escape right out from under our noses.
“Notice how they chose the bomber closest to the fence? Base perimeter road’s on the other side. . .Few hundred yards beyond that it’s scrub land and river. . .Kind of a stretch, but all they’d need is a diversion of some kind and they’d be gone faster’n a scalded hound.”
The captain nodded. “But they’d have to be fools to try that. . .Everything’s sewn up tight. . .I mean, a flea couldn’t get out of there.”
“That’s how it looks on the surface. . .But I see some real problems here. We’re responding as fast as we can, but it may not be fast enough. Attackers got the jump on us, no doubt about that.
“Only mistake they made was thinking Post 7 would be easy to take out. Lost two of their people, thanks to one tough security policewoman and a skilled shift supervisor. . .And that might have put a crimp in their plans. . .’though I’m not even sure about that. They either had the flexibility to shrink the area they captured or they never intended to take more than one plane.
Bart leaned far back in his chair and stretched his lanky frame. “No, if I had to guess, I’d say this is gonna be a hit and run raid. . .They’ll get what they came for and be gone faster’n ice cream at a church social. It’s a gut feeling, but my gut’s right more often than not. . .Thoughts?”
Captain Morgan raised one finger. “Hard to argue with that, sir. . .So how do you want to handle it?”
“Not my call, Captain. . .All we do is offer suggestions to Colonel Hadler. . .He’ll pass them on during the Base Staff Meeting and the Base Commander makes the final decision.
“For now, let’s review our setup to make sure we’re ready to go, whatever he decides. We’ve already gone to THREATCON Charlie, since an attack has occurred and we’re keeping the reason classified. . .Don’t want wild rumors flying all over the place. Tell off-base people, especially the press, that we’re in exercise mode until further notice.”
Master Sergeant Bill Dobson spoke up, “Problem with that, sir, is we didn’t announce it. . .Press releases are usually put out way in advance of any exercise.”
“Good point. Maybe a press release announcing a surprise inspection might help keep things calmer.”
“I’ll put something together that Colonel Hadler can take to the staff meeting,” Hobson answered. “Something needs to happen, since civilians are sure to notice long lines forming at the gates.”
“Another good point, and you’re right. . .Press release might help stall questions. . .On the other hand, it won’t be long before the media picks up on all the activity. Get another release ready saying we suffered a power problem that resulted in some small fires.”
“Base Public Affairs is supposed to do that, sir.”
“Civilians know our job’s making sure the base is secure and we want them to feel that way. . .Which means they don’t need to know about this event. What they do want to hear is the world’s not gonna blow up in their face. Any hint there’s a problem and all hell’ll break lose. Besides, protesters gathering at the front gate would draw manpower away from other ops. We need to get control of the Alert Pad back. That’ll solve just about everything.”
***
CHAPTER 8
JASON’S GAME ROOM
THREE WEEKS BEFORE THE ATTACK
“Let me ask you all a simple question. . .What has this country done for you?” The group looked back and forth at each other, not sure where Rick was headed with the query.
“You’ve all given a big piece of yourself to public service and what have you gotten in return? Gratitude? Hell no! Respect?. . .Not a chance. When it comes right down to it, you don’t owe anybody a damn thing and that includes your families. You got wives who ask for way too much far too often. Your teenagers laugh at you behind your back. . .Sometimes right to your face. So tell me, why should you bust your butts for them?. . .I say let’s go for one big score and disappear forever.”
“Uh, we tried that, remember?” Jason answered. “Look where it got us.”
“That’s the way it looks on the surface, but if you step back and look at the big picture, there’s a deeper story. We had the right idea and found out we make a pretty damn good team. . .Problem is we didn’t shoot high enough. A few hundred grand?. . .That’s chump change compared to what I’m talking about. . .I say we go for hundreds of millions, instead.”
Bud groaned and let out an exasperated sigh. “Yeah, right, Champ. . .I’m sure the casinos’ll see the error of their ways in busting us. In fact, I bet they’ll feel so bad they’ll get in line to hand over millions to us. . .Probably put us up in high-roller suites while they get it together and offer us a private jet to fly away in!” He paused long enough for an exasperated sigh, “What the hell’s the matter with you, anyway?. . .You gone crazy or something? Must have if you’re talking about robbing the casinos again.”
“Not casinos,” Rick said emphatically. “Or banks, for that matter. They’re small change compared to the nine hundred pound gorilla on the block. . .the federal government.”
Jason spoke for them, “Okay, I’m thinking Bud must be right. . .Did you flip out or something?”
“No, in fact, I’m saner than I’ve ever been. . .and now that I have your undivided attention, let me finish without interruption. There’s a pretty good chance you’ll like what I have to say. . .especially if you keep an open mind, okay?”
Nobody responded, so Rick repeated it, “Okay?”
They slowly nodded.
“Now, how could we go about getting the government’s attention so they’d give up hundreds of millions.?
Again, he paused for effect. “When nuclear weapons are involved. . .That’s when.” He grinned.
He went on before they could voice the shock that was showing on their faces. “First off, does everybody agree to keep whatever is discussed in this room totally secret?”
Their expressions showed they were trying to absorb his words. “No, I mean it. Raise your right hand and swear on your mama’s grave you’ll never reveal anything that’s said here. . .Ever.”
“I don’t know. . .” Bill mumbled.
“I’m not saying you have to commit to it just by being here. . .But take the time to listen to my plan and decide if you want to join in.”
“Well, I am kinda curious. . .Guess there’s no harm in just listening. . .”
“Exactly.”
Hands sl
owly went up.
“Look, I don’t want to beat around the bush, so I’m just gonna come right out and say it. . .I think we should hijack a B-52 on the Alert Pad at Mather and threaten to blow up all the nukes on board unless they pay us an amount with about eight zeros behind it.”
They started to interrupt, so he hurried on. “I know it sounds crazy. . .But I’ve thoroughly researched it and have a plan in which nobody gets hurt and we get away scot-free. . .Just hear me out and if you don’t like it, that’s fine. . .You can back out at any time. But I don’t think you’ll want to. . .once you hear what I have to say.
“Our choices have been whittled down to doing something drastic or dying. . .And I don’t know about you, but I’m not quite ready to bite the big one. . .So, do you want to hear the details?”
“Hold on now, wait just a frickin’ minute.” Bill started to get off the couch and realized he had a plate of pizza on his lap. He settled back with a thud and his face turned crimson. “I spent a big chunk of my life protecting those weapons and now you’re asking me to help steal them?”
“No,” Rick’s reply was calm and firm. “That’d be really stupid, now wouldn’t it?. . .They’d hunt us down to the ends of the earth to get them back. What I’m suggesting is we threaten to blow them up or steal them. . .That alone will get them to pay.
“Besides, what would we do with them if we stole them. . . sell them at a local flea market?. . .I don’t think so. All we have to do is show them we’re capable of getting away with them or setting one off and if there’s the slightest chance we might actually do it, they’ll pay.”
He slowly looked at each man in the room. “Oh, yes, my friends, they’ll pay big time!
“Furthermore, I have a surprise in my plan that let’s us get away nice and clean, right out from under their noses. I have friends who’ll help us disappear to a country with no extradition treaty. Next thing you know, we’re sitting on white sand in the tropics, taking drinks from pretty little topless waitresses.”
“Sure,” this time it was Jason who spoke. “And what about all those armed guards? You think they’re going to let us waltz right in and take them?. . .Gee, maybe they’ll help us load ‘em up. . .Duh! You know they are paid to keep people like us away from those bombs, don’t you?”