Fly by Wire (2010)

by Larsen, Ward

  "For insurance," Davis reckoned, "in case of a malfunction. Like World Express 801."

  "Yes. Jaber was a clever man. I guess he wanted to prove it to the world before he died. The postmortem showed he had advanced stage cancer -- the primary site couldn't even be determined, but he wouldn't have lasted more than a few weeks."

  "Fatima got to him first. She was a real piece of work."

  "That, she was," Townsend agreed. "She brought it all together. She took over Caliph's system, a potent network of suicide warriors. Then she sold their services to the highest bidder."

  "Profiteering disguised as holy war."

  "Yes. We believe the entire CargoAir consortium was created with this plot in mind. A handful of sovereign wealth fund managers put the company together--roughly five billion dollars that they hoped to turn into fifty times as much."

  "So you know who they are," Davis surmised.

  "Yes."

  Nothing more came, and Davis had to ask, "Do you know where they are?"

  The president took a long look at his watch. "I have a pretty good idea." Instead of expanding on this, he said, "In the end, CargoAir was to aviation what Chernobyl was to clean energy. Our intel people estimate that at least half of those airplanes would have made it to their targets. If you hadn't figured things out, we'd be facing a damned global economic catastrophe."

  "I just paid six bucks a gallon for regular yesterday. I'd say there's been some damage done."

  "Yes, no doubt. But I got briefed a few hours ago -- the refinery repairs are running well ahead of schedule. Worldwide, we should be back to ninety percent production within three months. It's a big hit, but nothing like it could have been."

  "And what about Caliph?"

  "We messed up there. All those pictures of him on the Web -- taunting, just daring us to find him. It was all misdirection, a ploy to throw us off."

  "So he wasn't even involved?"

  "No. But I can tell you that Caliph will never harm us again."

  Davis wasn't sure what that meant, but he took it for fact.

  Townsend smacked a palm on his thigh. "You know what? I forgot the medal. I brought a little token of our appreciation, but it's out in the limo. "The president paused long enough to look around the room. Davis' own I-love-me wall hadn't made it out of the moving boxes yet -- even though they'd been living here for three years. Townsend added, "But I know that kind of thing doesn't mean much to some people."

  Davis caught his drift. "I'll find a spot for it, sir."

  "So will you go back to the NTSB, Jammer?"

  Davis shrugged. "Like I said, right now I've got some higher priorities."

  "Fair enough. But if you ever do go back, you can go anywhere you want. I'll personally see to it."

  "I appreciate that. But if I do go back, I'd probably just prefer to keep the same old job."

  The two locked gazes for a moment. As a career politician, it probably surprised Townsend to see his largesse turned down. But then he nodded and seemed to understand.

  A security man eased between them and tapped his watch. The president stood and Davis followed him to the door. They shook hands and Truett Townsend spoke in an earnest tone, "Jammer, if there's ever anything I can do for you, please let me know."

  "Thanks," Davis said.

  He watched the president and his detail recede down the front steps toward the motorcade. When they were halfway to the street, Davis shouted, "Actually, Mr. President, there is one thing--"

  Ten minutes later Davis again stood on his front porch. This time he watched President Townsend walking arm-in-arm with his daughter toward an armored limo.

  Jen was over the moon, about to arrive at her first high school dance in a presidential motorcade, a touch of style that would be talked about in the halls for a generation. Immediately behind her, Bobby Taylor was wedged in between two of the president's biggest men -- he looked like a toothpick between two oaks. Davis was surprised, though, when he actually rushed forward and pulled open the rear door for Jen. Maybe there was hope for the kid after all.

  After hitting the school drop-off loop, the plan was for one armored limousine and the two burly agents to remain behind and stand watch at the dance. When it ended, the Secret Service would bring the two teenagers home. Safe and sound. Davis watched Jen, Bobby Taylor, and President Townsend climb into the back of the limo. They were all smiling.

  Jammer Davis was smiling.

  Lights began to flash, sirens blared, and a squad of police motorcycles led the way as the motorcade snaked into motion. Davis caught a glimpse of Mrs. Irving peering out her front window. He gave her the queen s wave, then went back to watching the procession as it drew away down the street.

  It was a great visual.

  Coffee cup still in hand, he took a long, hearty sip. Then spit it out on the lawn. "God that's bad!" he muttered. Truett Townsend was either very polite or his taste buds were shot. Davis dumped the remains on a dormant shrub by the front door. He watched the motorcade until the last car was gone, then went inside a satisfied man.

  Moments later, the front porch light came on.

  *

  AUTHOR'S NOTE

  A few words regarding die technical details of this book. The C-500 aircraft, of course, is a creation of my own, yet the idea of a flying wing cargo aircraft has been studied for many years, to include a number of NASA conceptual designs. The inherent aerodynamic efficiency of the flying wing configuration may well lead to the launch of such an aircraft within the decade.

  With regard to certain aircraft systems -- in particular, flight recorder backup power and electrical bus tie-ins -- I have taken some liberties from standing architecture for the sake of simplification. The essence of interplay between these systems, however, I hold to be largely plausible. Any other technical errors or faulty assumptions are my own.

  As to fly-by-wire flight control systems, they are a fact of life. Fly-by-wire technology has been with us for nearly forty years and, by and large, has been beneficial to the safety of flight. But as with any technology, designers and flight safety experts must make an effort to challenge new systems from every conceivable angle--something I hope to have done here.