“So what’ll happen to him?”
“Not sure just yet. We’ll let the A.G. handle it.”
After a slight knock on the door, a young woman walked in. “You rang, sir? Can I get you something?”
“Yes. Do you have any more really hot coffee back there? This is cold.”
She gathered his and Cammy’s coffee mugs and said, “I’ll be right back. And would you like more croissants or anything else?”
Jay looked at Cammy who shook her head. “Just coffee would be great. With a little cream and sugar. Thanks.”
The woman left, and the vice president resumed his report. “Now for the bad news.”
“Do I want to hear this?” Cammy asked.
“It doesn’t concern you, but it’s certainly got Washington all riled up. Remember we talked about Franklin Thorne, the secretary of Homeland Security, and how he had the job of leaning on the other defense contractors to get their missile defense systems up and running?”
“Yes, but I heard he was out of town or something. I mean, nobody knew where he was for a while, right?”
“That’s because he killed himself.”
“What?” Cammy shrieked.
“At least it looks that way. They found his body over in Rock Creek Park near Pierce Mill.”
“You mean where Tilden crosses Beach Drive? I know where that is. It’s all forests in there. How did they ever find him?”
“Somebody was out with his dogs. Dogs found the body.”
“Oh no! But why? Why did he do it?”
“Well, here’s the incredible part. The president said they’re now searching his files, his emails, phone records, bank records, everything.”
“And?”
“And, by the way, keep this to yourself, we haven’t released anything yet.”
“No problem.” Cammy said, leaning closer to Jay.
“The bank records show that at one point he was down so low they wondered how he made his house payment. But then he suddenly was getting infusions of cash.”
“From where?”
“Not sure yet. Looks like regular payments may have been made into his local account from some offshore bank.”
“That’s weird.”
“You better believe it’s weird. They’re talking to his wife now and a whole lot of other people, including Sterling Dynamics.”
“Sterling? Why?” Cammy asked.
“It seems there were an awful lot of contacts, emails, calls. Now I know he was supposed to be on top of that airport contract Sterling was developing, but it looks like a much more complicated relationship than just one contract.”
Cammy sat quietly mulling over a possible scenario. “Do you think he was on the take from Sterling? I mean, with more money coming into his account?”
“That’s what we’d like to know.”
“But why would they be paying him?”
“I can think of a whole host of reasons. If they figure out a connection, a bad connection that is, you marry that with what you discovered in Taiwan about their violating the law with their Chinese chips, if that’s what they were, well, I can tell you that Nettar Kooner is going to be in deep shit.”
The military aide suddenly burst through the door. “Sir. Emergency in the cockpit!”
Jay and Cammy both jumped up and raced to the front of the plane.
CHAPTER SEVENTY
ON BOARD THE F-16
“Missile. Imminent threat!”
Hunt heard the automated voice from Air Force Two on his radio. He had just been in contact with the tower in San Francisco and had asked to be left on approach frequency. He had wanted to time his arrival just after Air Force Two landed.
But what the hell was that? It sounded like someone had just fired a missile at the vice president’s plane. The plane that also carried Cameron Talbot. He heard the warning again. Holy shit! What the hell? How much time?
Hunt knew that Air Force Two could detect the ultra violet energy of a launch even if the controller in the tower couldn’t see it on radar. He heard the warning again, “Inbound imminent threat.” Then he heard the pilot shouting, “Mayday Mayday.”
Hunt gave his call sign, “Break break. Air Force Two, this is Phantom One. I am ten miles southeast of airport. Say your position.”
The pilot tried to think. Beads of sweat poured down his forehead as he signaled his co-pilot to release the chaff with the hope that the missile might go off course and target the bits of hot metal rather than the fuselage. But from what he knew of the previous crashes, he doubted it would work.
Shouts of panic were heard from the back of the plane.
“What’s happening?”
“Warning?”
“What warning?”
“Jeez? Are we under attack?”
“Hang on.”
“We’ll go down.”
The officer in the communications center rushed toward the cockpit.
Jay was bracing himself against the cockpit door with his other arm around Cammy. He called to the officer. “Stay back. Order everyone to get down.”
The pilot was about to bank right when he heard the voice from the F-16. The jet that was supposed to land right behind him in San Francisco. Now, there won’t be a landing, only a gigantic explosion. Get a grip, man, you’ve been in combat before. You’ve been painted before. You’ve used evasive moves before. Think, God damn it. Think!
It was all happening at once. The automated voice sounded again, “Missile. Imminent threat.”
He shouted over his shoulder to the vice president, “Sir, we’re under attack. I must take evasive action. You must get down …”
Jay interrupted. “Who was on the radio?”
Cammy cried out, “That was Hunt’s voice. He’s in the F-16. He’s supposed to meet us.”
The pilot looked at his gauges again and tried to answer the question. “Air Force Two. Fifteen miles due west of airport with two minutes, maybe less, to impact.”
“My God!” Jay said, pulling Cammy closer to him in a protective move.
“Phantom One. I’ll be there in about a minute.” Hunt lit his after burners and went super sonic.
“What?”
“What’s he doing?”
“What’s going on?”
“Mayday Mayday,” the pilot repeated.
“Air Force Two, repeat your position,” the tower called.
“Remain on course,” Hunt shouted. “ETA one minute. Will perform E-DIRCM maneuver and deploy laser.”
“What the hell?” the vice president said, trying to steady himself while he held Cammy in a tight grip. “What’s that mean?” he demanded.
The pilot tried to keep his hands from shaking as he replied, “It means ‘Escort-Directed Infra-Red Counter-Measure.”
“In English,” Jay demanded.
“He’s going ballistic. I mean he’s flying fast to get to our position. Then he’s going to fly right underneath us, and it sounds like he’s going to try some laser gimmick he’s got on board.”
“Oh no!” Cammy shouted. “He could be killed. We could all … Oh my God!”
“Can he do that?” Jay exclaimed as the automated voice repeated, “Missile. Imminent threat.”
“I don’t know,” the pilot said in a shaky voice, “But look out there,” he nodded toward the right cockpit window. Jay and Cammy leaned in to stare at a far away object that looked like it was closing in. Fast. “That’s not a missile. That’s an F-16.”
As Hunt closed the distance to Air Force Two, he cut the burners and flew his fighter plane as close to the 757 as he possibly could. Matching its speed, he ducked just underneath the tail with the American flag and the numbers 80002 emblazoned on it. He figured he now had thirty seconds, maybe less. He reached over to release the laser.
Nothing happened.
CHAPTER SEVENTY-ONE
SAN FRANCISCO
“Where the hell are those bastards?” the FBI agent asked as his car careened down Arguello Street
.
“Wish I knew,” the other agent said. “At least the local police are helping us all over town. I hear they’ve sent units to every section of every Chinatown.”
“Yeah. That report said they were questioning everybody from guys running restaurants on Grant Avenue to those old men who play chess in Portsmouth Square.”
“Trouble is, that community can be pretty tight, you know?”
“Yeah, but in this case, they’d better cooperate. We’ve got every federal agent, policeman, Coast Guard patrol and God knows who else on this case right now.”
“Can you believe that these guys just might be the ones shooting down our airplanes? I mean, can you believe this report?”
“It’s phenomenal if it’s true. I mean, if it’s guys from here in our own country.”
His cell phone rang. “Adelman here … What? … Under attack? … Air Force Two? … Holy mother of pearl! … But wait … They’ve got defensive measures … yeah … chaff … may not work? … Evasive maneuvers? … Can they do that with a big plane? … Jesus Christ!”
He slapped the phone shut and said to his partner, “Radio our other units. Looks like those boys have staged another attack.”
“At Air Force Two?” the other agent almost shouted. “I can’t believe this. The veep is about the land at SFO, and those guys are taking him down?”
“Yes. They could crash any minute,” the first agent cried out in a shaky voice. “That call was from our contact in the tower.”
“But if those missiles don’t show up on radar, how would they know?”
“Air Force Two has a panel display that shows up if it’s under attack in any way. It senses things even if you can’t see ’em,” He called to his partner as he raced down another roadway.
“What can they do?”
“Say a prayer.”
CHAPTER SEVENTY-TWO
NORTH OF GUANGZHOU
“Ready the first ballistic missile launcher,” General Zhang Li barked into the telephone. He turned to Colonel Tsao, “This is a great day for China. A day that will be remembered for generations to come. A day that will begin the reunification of our great country with all its people.”
He pressed the phone tighter to his ear as he strained to hear the other party over background noise. “Say again? Yes, right after the missiles are launched, we will move in the amphibious assault. Are you ready?”
“Nobody is ready!” a voice boomed from across the hangar. “Put down that phone, and put your hands up!”
The general jerked his head around to see a dozen men in uniform with guns drawn advancing across the wide expanse of concrete flooring. Their boots kicked up a cloud of dust as they moved closer to his command center. He held onto the phone and called out, “What are you doing? Our attacks are about to begin.”
“There will be no attacks,” the man in charge said, rushing forward.
The general bellowed into the phone, “I said ready the first ballistic missile launcher.”
Colonel Tsao began trembling as the first officer pushed him aside and grabbed the phone from the general’s hand. Zhang Li tried to draw his gun, but four other officers were quicker. They surrounded him and the colonel as their leader stared at the phone and then listened as the party on the other end was repeating the last command.
“Stop! There will be no launch. Do you hear me? No launch. I have my orders from the Central Committee in Beijing. No launch. You will cease the military exercises at once. Is that clear?”
He waited a long moment. “I want your name and rank. Name and rank of every person in your division. Is that clear?” He waited again. Then he nodded. “You have been misled. You will not stage any further attacks. In fact, you will report to your commanding officer … no, not General Zhang Li. He is no longer in command of anything. You will report my orders to your commander on site, and he will report to me. Is that clear?” He gave further instructions and slammed the phone down on the makeshift desk.
His men handcuffed both General Zhang Li and Colonel Tsao and began to push them out of the building. The leader checked his watch and called after them, “Get them in the truck, we don’t have much time.”
CHAPTER SEVENTY-THREE
ON BOARD THE F-16
“It won’t deploy!”
Hunt tried again. He was endeavoring to keep his jet flying right under and aft of Air Force Two with just enough space between them to avoid a collision. At least that’s what he thought he was doing. But he could hardly focus on flying when he was trying so hard to get the damn laser to activate.
“Why won’t it start?” Cammy cried out from the back of the cockpit. She leaned closer to the pilot and said, “Can he hear me?”
The pilot turned up the volume and nodded to her. She crouched down in the space between the two pilots and shouted into the radio. “Hunt. It’s me. Tell me what you’re doing.”
He only said a few words when the automated voice interrupted, “Missile. Imminent threat.”
“It’s following us,” the pilot exclaimed. “The chaff isn’t working. I knew it wouldn’t. We only have about twenty seconds.”
“Please!” Cammy shouted. “Let me talk to him.” She gave some instructions, and there were a few seconds of silence. She knew the missile was closing in. She wracked her brain and suddenly she shouted, “Double check the circuit breakers. Look for the one that’s collared.”
“I see it. I see it,” Hunt exclaimed.
“It was disarmed for the actual test. Push it in. Push it in,” she commanded and then she held her breath.
Hunt pulled off the collar and shoved in the breaker. Suddenly, a series of bright lights lit up the sky as the laser sent out short bursts in a wide 360-degree arc.
The missile was seconds away from impact when one of the laser beams blinded the photo cell. “Bank right,” Cammy shouted. “Bank right.”
The pilot took her advice. As the plane shifted sharply to the right, Cammy and Jay dropped to the floor and held on.
There were more shouts from the crew and other passengers in back. The communications officer once again ordered, “Down, everybody down and hold on.”
The missile kept flying on its original course, sailing off just left of the plane as Cammy shouted, “It’ll reach its end game and detonate on its own.” The pilot and co-pilot stared, dumbfounded, into space. After another moment, the pilot turned on the intercom. “All clear. All clear. Threat has been neutralized. Sorry about that, folks. Prepare for landing.”
The members of the press pool were quiet for only a few seconds as they raised from their crouched position, heaved collective breaths and suddenly all started jabbering at once.”
“What the hell. We’re alive!”
“Incredible!”
“Did you see those lights?”
“What were they?”
“Was that an F-16 with us?”
“Anyone get pictures?”
“I was shot at in Afghanistan, but never felt anything like this.”
“My producer will go ape-shit over this lead.”
“Hey guys,” the female reporter from Fox News shouted, “I’m thanking God for this one.”
“Him and that pilot, whatever the hell he did.”
“No, I think it was that F-16. See, he’s peeling off.”
“What did he do?”
“He might have saved our lives along with the vice president of the United States.”
Air Force Two circled the airport and finally made a smooth landing as adrenaline still coursed through the pilot’s veins. When he applied the brakes and the plane came to a stop, he took a deep breath and called behind him, “You still there, Doctor Talbot?”
Cammy was now strapped into a jump seat just outside the cockpit. The vice president was seated in the communications center just behind her. “All here and accounted for, major. Great flying.”
“Incredible save!” the pilot said, turning around and giving Cammy the thumbs up. “This’ll be one
for the record books. That was amazing. Absolutely amazing.” He unstrapped his belt, got up and called out again, “Mr. Vice President? Are you all right, sir?”
Jay got up, came forward and said to the pilots, “Thanks to you two.” He turned to Cammy, took her arm and eased her up out of the seat. “And as for you, young lady, he put his arm around her and nudged her chin up so he could look into her eyes. “You are unbelievable! You saved our lives. All of us.”
“Hunt did it,” she murmured. She still couldn’t believe that Hunt Daniels had flown his F-16, maneuvered it, kept pace with them and managed to deploy the laser, all at the same time. But the most important thing in her mind was the fact that he had risked his life to save her. He didn’t have to fly that close. He didn’t have to rely on an untested counter measure, at least one untested in a live attack situation. No, he didn’t have to do any of it. And yet he had come to their rescue.
Jay leaned down to brush her lips with his, but she pulled away. He looked into her eyes, those beautiful eyes the color of a robin’s egg. There were questions there. What did she want? What was she feeling? Was she still tense and upset about their near death experience? Anyone would be, and yet she seemed strangely calm. “What is it, Cammy? What’s wrong?”
“Nothing’s wrong,” she said with a smile. “In fact, I just figured out what would be exactly right.” She gently pushed his arms down and turned toward the door where one of the flight attendants was beginning to open it. She saw the long white stairway being wheeled into position. She said to Jay, “After you. And thanks for everything. It’s been quite a ride.”
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