Return of Our Country

by David M Burke

  The extraction was a complicated endeavor which called for trucks to leave the compound and rendezvous with other trucks that were disguised to blend in with local traffic. The two small cargo planes had been taken out of another tunnel and were being loaded. The first helicopter that landed had come in full of large parachutes designed to allow the planes to drop their cargo so the gold could be dropped from the sky to teams waiting on the ground.

  Helicopters were bouncing back and forth to designated locations along the river. Some of the gold would be extracted on the waterways.

  Krieger asked, “What’s the casualty count?” Krieger knew Briggs’ team had run into a PKC Russian belt fired machine gun.

  “Four KIA, another two expectant (not going to make it) and five wounded. They’re all evac’d,” Briggs said, confirming they were all off the base.

  Krieger nodded. Briggs turned to take care of his tasks at hand.

  Krieger watched all the activity and thought to himself, as long as most of this gold makes it stateside, we’ll be good.

  Krieger wasn’t aware of the details of how they came up with the exact points to extract the gold, but he knew Adam had been intimately involved in the planning with a special team that used scientific techniques such as shortest route models and multiple comparisons simulation tools specifically designed for military operations. They simulated the possible locations the enemy could respond from, and conducted what was called a multiple factorial response optimization technique to choose the optimal routes and handoff locations to maximize the chances of the most gold getting out of the country the fastest ways possible. But Krieger didn’t need to know that. He needed to get the gold on its routes where the field commanders would follow their individual plans, and he needed to hold the communications blackout as long as he could.

  Krieger had each extraction team briefed on alternate routes to take so they could adjust their course if circumstances dictated. George and Adam wholeheartedly agreed. They understood that with a mission of this size, some of the teams would be faced with unforeseen circumstances, and would have to operate in silence. There was a high likelihood that some would most likely be either in a chase, or get caught and not make it through.

  A few minutes later, Krieger watched as the small transport plane took off with a full load of gold.

  Chapter 60

  Brooks climbed into the newest naval fighter jet and took his position behind Tim, whose radio check was met with, “Check, now let’s get the hell out of here.”

  Brooks had barely escaped with his life. When he got back to the base, Tim was there waiting to take him stateside.

  With a sudden burst, Tim took off. As soon as he was over the open ocean, he took her down to under a thousand feet ceiling.

  Wanting to get out of range, Tim said, “Hold on.”

  He took it past Mach 2 and continued to increase speed. Knowing the pressure exerted at this speed, Tim asked, “You doing alright back there?”

  “I’m fine,” Brooks said. “I’d be better if I’d gotten that globalist bastard Sordid.”

  “Affirmative, he’ll turn up somewhere,” Tim responded from the front.

  “Yeah, he’ll turn up on your radar flying the other way,” Brooks said smartly.

  “What?”

  “The bastard got away, and is most likely flying in the direction of Brussels right now. He may even have The Cleric with him,” Brooks said from the rear seat.

  “What?”

  “He just took off on his private jet, escorted by two fast movers. He put the hit on the vice president. Luckily the vice president got away.”

  Tim immediately processed what he just heard.

  The next thing The Shadow heard was Tim breaking radio silence. “I need an air pocket to the east and patch me through to Mauricio.” The air pocket was the term used to detect and track enemy aerial movement.

  Tim wanted approval before creating an international incident.

  “Sir?” the person on the other end of the radio questioned.

  “You heard me. Get me Mauricio.”

  The connection went through quickly and Tim was patched through to Mauricio.

  Tim asked, “You with Krieger?”

  “Affirmative, but we’re kind of busy right now.”

  Tim could hear all the commotion in the back ground.

  “Tell him we have positive confirmation of the financier of the assassination attempt on the vice president, and he’s getting away. The source says that The Cleric — who attempted to put the Colonel in an early grave back home — is with him.”

  The next voice Tim heard was Krieger’s. After Tim reiterated what he had just told Mauricio, Krieger asked, “He’s flying where?”

  “He’s going east sir.”

  “How do you know The Cleric’s with him.?”

  “Our communications team verified they got together about the same time the vice president landed. We can’t be sure if The Cleric is still with him but we believe he is. It could be a two-fer.”

  That was it, Krieger put it all together. If the Cleric was there before the Vice President landed and the communications team verified that he was with Sordid, he had cause to pursue.

  “What’s your ten?” Krieger asked Tim.

  “I’m heading west. I can turn east.”

  It sounded good but Krieger needed approval for any further escalation, which they both knew would most likely be needed. He wasn’t going to make this call on his own. Since the vice president was on the run, he would need to call someone with authority.

  Tim heard the hesitation and pressed, “Do I pursue?”

  “Affirmative, pursue,” Krieger said. “Demand they land at a nearby base but do not engage. Repeat, do not engage.”

  Krieger knew Sordid could be flying to Brussels, but he could also be flying to Turkey or Hungary, where he’d been born. There wasn’t time for him or Mauricio to get any more involved in the details. He knew Tim was once the best pilot in the navy and was flying a state-of-the-art fighter jet with a titanium composite frame and a turbofan engine which would allow Tim to close the distance quickly. In addition, the radar evading technology should buy him some time and allow Tim to be undetected for a few minutes until Krieger could get back to him and give him an answer. If Tim encountered another fighter jet, his abilities, along with the superior maneuverability of his fighter, would give him an advantage.

  Krieger turned to Mauricio. “Get me Senator Madison Dodge.”

  Tim said, “Hold on.” He banked a sharp turn and headed towards his target. The one thing he hadn’t told Krieger was that Sordid was being escorted by two fighter jets.

  Chapter 61

  Madison’s looked at the encrypted number on the screen of her cell phone as she and the president got out of the vehicle. She looked at the president and said, “I’ve got to take this.”

  She stepped several feet away so no one could hear and in a moment her eye contact was all George needed to understand it was part of the ongoing mission. The military team had put together secondary protocol for emergency communications.

  Mauricio and his team had taken every precaution possible to ensure no communication could ever be tracked. Still, just in case somehow there was traceability, they wanted to keep George free and clear, so nothing could ever be traced back to him.

  So as a secondary protocol, in case Adam’s cell phone was cut off or compromised, they had his calls for this mission forwarded to Madison, knowing she would secretly be with the president. In the unlikely scenario where something was traced back to Madison, she could be pardoned by the president.

  George, Hemmele and the others stood there waiting for Madison to go into the building. When Madison’s concerned eyes met George’s and she motioned for him to come over to where they could talk. George knew it wasn’t good.

  M
adison pushed her mute button and said, “It’s Krieger, he…”

  “Secondary protocol?” George said.

  Her lips flattened and she nodded slowly.

  “That means…” George said. He already knew what it meant.

  “I’m afraid so sir.”

  Both of them knew something had happened to Adam and most likely Gabby too, and whoever else was with them. They both knew this call wasn’t about that, it was that Krieger needed something and it must be important and beyond the scope of the mission planning for him to call.

  “What is it?” George asked.

  “He has recorded evidence that Sordid ordered an attempt on the vice president’s life,” Madison said. “And he’s getting away. He’s flying east and there’s a strong likelihood that he’s traveling with The Cleric, who we know flew out of New York yesterday. This is the man we believe to have funded terrorist activity domestically and... Krieger has ordered pursuit on his plane and wants to know if…”

  “Active pursuit of an international terrorist?” George asked, using wording he wanted alignment on from Madison.

  “Affirmative sir. Active pursuit of a terrorist suspected of just orchestrating an attempt on the vice president’s life.” Madison also chose her words carefully so they had agreement on the reason they’d give the international community.

  George knew Krieger wasn’t calling for diplomatic suggestions. He was calling because he suspected force would be needed, and wanted authorization before committing an international incident.

  Smart man, I’d do the same thing.

  George knew Sordid would go underground and be hidden away for years. He also understood that the globalist families had furnished him with enough black gold of his own to fund continued deep state operations and terrorism for years to come. George also had seen evidence that he was the one who’d funded the assault on them at the Mountain House when George’s family had almost been killed. This chance wasn’t going to come along again any time soon. With the recordings they now had tying Sordid to the attempted assassination on the vice president, that was enough reason to continue pursuit.

  “Where are they at?” George asked.

  “Still over international waters,” Madison said, “but not for long.”

  George nodded. He would leave it up to Krieger. If it could be handled without force than good, if not, then so be it. He wasn’t going to let this opportunity slip through his hands.

  Madison took her phone off mute and relayed a go-ahead to Krieger. Then she disconnected. Out of hearing distance from the others, George and Madison hoped they’d get some good news from Adam and Gabby soon.

  Then, as Madison gazed off into the flat desert, her eyes were inquisitively drawn to some kind of equipment in the distance. This apparatus wasn’t like any satellite communications network she’d ever seen.

  * * *

  Madison and George turned and walked towards the small group waiting for them.

  Hemmele, moving with a purpose, led the way into the building. In mission planning, Dr. Hemmele had filled Krieger, Adam and George in on this technology. This particular building and what it did was so top secret that every person had above top-secret clearance, and some presidents never even knew it existed. The team inside had just been debriefed on the president visiting them. They were told they were going to have an opportunity to play a pivotal role in a mission that was underway to save the country. This small group was all given an option to stay, or they could leave and not be involved. To a person, every single one of them wanted to do anything they could do to save the country. They would soon understand what that would be.

  When Hemmele, Madison, George and the others entered the control room, a hush interrupted their surge of activity. Dr. Hemmele took a familiar place at a control center. He made a quick announcement and began giving directives. This was where he was in his element.

  Madison asked, “What does GD stand for?”

  Hemmele was focused and didn’t even look up at her when he answered, “It stands for gravity detector.”

  “It’s a gravity detector?” She said it loud enough that a few heads in the room turned momentarily towards her.

  Hemmele gave a few more directions to staff members. Then he answered, “Yes. It’s designed to look out into space and detect gravity.”

  George glanced at Hemmele. He let Madison continue with her questioning. He’d been debriefed at a high level, so he understood top secret gravity detection technology was in existence, though he wanted to know more.

  He listened as she asked, “What are you looking for?”

  “Well if a planet explodes, or a large meteor collides with something, there’s usually a change in a gravitational field, and we can detect those changes,” Hemmele explained. “Without this device, those types of things could never be detected. This technology has been a huge benefit to us because, as you can imagine, we can’t monitor every star and planet in the sky.”

  Hemmele also knew about the fields of black holes and other such phenomenon that the team studied, but he wasn’t going to get into that.

  Madison nodded. “I understand, it makes sense, but I’ve never heard of a gravity detector.”

  Madison saw Hemmele and Dr. Owen exchange a glance. This made her even more curious. “Doctor, why is this device here in Area 51?”

  Hemmele looked at Owen who smiled and said, “You started this,” as if to say he had dug his own hole and it was up to him to dig his way out.

  Hemmele looked at the president before addressing Madison’s question. The president gave no indication of wanting to stifle the conversation.

  Hemmele said, “Well, you see, theoretically, UFOs could be using some kind of device that warps gravity to allow them to accelerate to such great speeds. We also believe they could use this same technology to mask themselves from our technology, so we can’t detect their whereabouts.”

  “UFOs have mastered gravitational fields?” Madison asked.

  Hemmele cleared his throat. “Theoretically.”

  George looked around to see heads within hearing distance turn while others stared straight ahead at their computer screens.

  Madison was quick with another question. “And we’re learning to manipulate gravity?”

  Hemmele almost scoffed and thought to himself. It’s not like we can pick and place items in exact locations

  After that brief thought, Hemmele said, “Hardly. All we’ve been able to do so far is to monitor gravitational fields and to do this, that device you looked at outside,” Hemmele had evidently noticed Gabby looking, “goes on for over a mile just to do that.”

  “This thing is a mile long?” George asked. “Is this the only one of its kind?”

  “Actually, no,” Hemmele said. “We needed to be able to look out into space from every direction across the planet. We had to strategically position a few around the globe to give us the three hundred and sixty degree view we desired.”

  Hemmele quickly began asking some of the other scientists and technicians about settings and readings. It was apparent to Madison that he didn’t want to explain any more, so she let it go.

  Hemmele’s mind focused to the reason for them being here. Krieger had told him how the physical stockpiles of gold in the US had gone from over twenty thousand tons down to its current level of approximately eight thousand tons. In the process, the deep state had taken control of thousands of tons and that was where they’d got some of their untraceable funding. In addition, there was much more gold than that, that never made its rightful way to the vaults after World War II. Hemmele knew the deep state and globalist bankers would continue to drive the country into submission unless those funds were taken back.

  Hemmele was half talking to himself and half to the others when he added, “This will be the first time we try to warp any gravitational fields for mil
itary purposes here on the earth.”

  He kept working, looking at settings, while he added, “And for the sake of the country, this had better work.”

  Chapter 62

  One fighter jet engaging two trained fighter jets was never a good idea.

  Tim had closed the distance on Sordid who now, along with his two escorts, was on the radar and within communication distance. It was the moment of reckoning.

  Tim broke radio silence by identifying himself. “We have reason to believe there is an international terrorist on board who orchestrated an attempt on the vice president of the United States. We are going to redirect you to the nearest US military base. This intercept will follow you. Turn north and our ground communications will talk you in.”

  There was silence.

  Tim and Brooks watched their radar screens. The two jets peeled off. It was a classic move to position themselves to engage. This confirmed their intentions.

  Tim repeated his directive carefully, knowing everything he said was being recorded.

  Sordid’s large jet throttled up. A voice came into Tim’s helmet. It said, “Go to hell. You Americans are so arrogant…”

  Tim spoke to Brooks. “Get ready for a fight, they’re positioning themselves to engage.”

  “Roger that.”

  “We’ve got a score to settle.”

  Tim had won the Top Gun, and taught at the Naval War college and Annapolis, though that had been over a decade ago. He hadn’t been in a real dogfight for twenty years.

  Brooks hadn’t been in a fighter jet for decades before the trip over, and he had never been in a real dog fight. This wasn’t good.

  Originally trained as the person who sat in the back seat while the pilot flew the jet, the position of RIO, or Radar Intercept Officer, was crucial. The RIO watches for targets and serves as another set of eyes for the pilot. Fighter jet teams usually train and stay together for years because, just like great team sports, it takes time to develop the chemistry to make sure the gaps for ACM (Air Combat Maneuvering) are minimized.