by Tom Hansen
“What’s going on, Al?” asked Johnny.
Barney had grabbed a pair of binoculars from the chopper and aimed them towards the distant sky. As the sun set below the horizon, he could barely read the writing on each of the plane’s fuselages. “Those are civilian passenger jets. The lower one is Coastal East and the upper one is Bayou.”
“Jackson and Harfield!” exclaimed Sheriff Bonty. “They’ve got control of those planes and they’re flying them over the ranch! We’ve got to get over there and put an end to this. Now!”
“Hold on, Al,” said Tyrus. “If we just rush in they’ll crash those planes. I’m assuming the remotes, jammers and video cameras were installed. They’re most likely using joysticks and I bet they’ve jammed the radar.”
“The radio!” shouted Willy as a thought just occurred. “Ty, you know where they attached the remote receptors in the cockpit. Can you locate the pilots’ frequencies and talk them through disabling the equipment?”
Barney Watkins had thought of that before Willy mentioned it and he was hailing on all frequencies from the Huey’s cockpit.
“No luck. I’ve got the Tampa control tower holding and they too can’t reach either plane. And damn it, their radar is jammed, as is Orlando’s.”
“Oliver has somehow taken control of the communications,” inserted Tyrus. “That was never part of the masterplan. It must be Dulie or Yussef. They’ve intercepted the transmissions and are probably impersonating air traffic controllers!”
“Roy’s got a mini control tower on the roof of his office next to the barn,” stated Bonty. “I’ve seen a satellite dish attached to one corner.”
“So somehow they’ve scrambled communications,” said Tyrus. “If we could disable the satellite, then we should be able to reestablish a connection with the pilots.”
“If they see us they will definitely crash the planes!” replied Bonty with a nervous tone.
“Not necessarily. If they take down the jets, Oliver will have nothing but the USS Halibut left to use as collateral. The two planes appear to be securely under his control, but the Halibut is not yet a given at this time. Would he take that chance?”
“The Halibut has two nukes aimed at Los Angeles and Washington,” replied Ben Smith. “The death toll would be extraordinary!”
“We can’t have another air disaster in Seminole Bend,” said Bonty firmly. “This is my county to protect and I will make the decision. Somehow, someway, we must covertly take out the damn satellite dish and do it before Oliver or Roy even realize it! Then Tyrus can contact the pilots and disconnect the remotes.
With a trace of skepticism, each one nodded in affirmation. Jimmy, Jenny and Tyrone were huddled behind the adults and listening intently. Before Sheriff Bonty could lay out his furtive plan, Jenny took a step forward.
“Me,” she said. “I will do it.” Everyone turned and stared at Jenny.
“What are you talking about?” asked Bonty.
“Roy doesn’t know that I now know you are my real father. He’s always been very protective of me. I can go into his office and disconnect the wiring from the satellite dish.”
“Absolutely not! You, Jimmy and Tyrone are going to take the squad car and go back to my house where you will be safe. The rest of us can get close to the Jackson ranch with the Huey, and then hike to the barn.”
“And then what, Dad? You won’t be able to get to the dish without them knowing it. But I think I can.”
“No, it’s too dangerous!”
“He’s right,” said Tyrone. “I don’t want you hurt.”
“I can do this!” pleaded Jenny, then went up and gave her newly found father a hug. “You have no other good option.”
“I have an idea,” said Barney. “We can sneak into the barn and hold tight with weapons drawn. Then, see if Jenny can get the job done. If not, and she’s in danger, we strike fast and kill the whole lot of them. Besides Oliver and Roy, the only ones in the office will be Sam, Yussef and Governor Daughtry. Only Oliver is trained to use deadly force. We’ll have Ben, Tyrus and me, plus three of the sheriff’s finest. I like our odds!”
“What if Jenny is caught in the crossfire?” asked Jimmy. “I don’t like that risk! Let me go instead!”
“No, Jimmy. I stand a better chance of making this work without raising suspicions. I will take cover if the shooting starts.”
Reluctantly, Sheriff Bonty nodded his approval. “Jimmy, Jenny and Tyrone, take the squad car and park it off the main road in the ditch near the entrance to the Jackson ranch. From there it will be a fifteen-minute walk up to the house, but wait until I call you on the car radio. I will have a walkie-talkie and when we are all in place in the barn, I’ll give you the signal to get moving. Jimmy and Tyrone, wait in the car for further instructions, okay?”
Barney and Ben buckled into the Huey’s cockpit and fired up the rotors, while Tyrus, Willy, Johnny and Sheriff Bonty strapped themselves into their seats. The chopper lifted off the football field and headed in a northwesterly direction. They would circle the ranch out of Sam’s and Yussef’s line of vision, and land in a field next to the swamp. If all went as planned, they would avoid interference from a hungry alligator or a lost Brahman bull grazing on a nighttime snack in the pasture.
Jimmy drove the sheriff’s car with Jenny riding in the passenger seat. Tyrone was behind the cage in the backseat. Jenny’s foot accidently tapped on a hard metal object attached to the bottom of the front seat with Velcro. While Jimmy was adjusting the mirrors and trying to figure out how to work the radio, Jenny unbuttoned her blue jeans to loosen up the fit, slipped the object into her pants and then re-buttoned. Jimmy was too busy to notice.
Jimmy slid the automatic transmission into gear and drove off. Jenny bit her lip, trying to hold back a smile of relief. She now felt much safer. She was packing a Beretta M418 pocket pistol in her pants.
CHAPTER 95
Monday, March 15, 1982
8:00 p.m.
“O liver Harfield on line two for the president,” said the White House operator to Gordon Brubaker. The Chief of Staff slid the phone in front of Donald Layman. Line two was blinking.
“It’s Harfield,” said Brubaker. The president picked up the receiver and pushed the blinking button.
“This is the president. Go ahead Harfield.”
“You grounded the planes, Mr. President. Big mistake. There is a Coastal East jet and a Bayou jet full of taxpaying citizens doing parade laps at 4,000 feet above my head. They have no radar, no flight controls and most importantly, no way to call anyone except me. And to top that off, I just got off the phone with Admiral Inman. Seems the USS Halibut has just left the Puget Sound and is in Pacific waters with one nuclear warhead aimed at Los Angeles and one aimed right about where you are sitting in your comfortable chair. So let’s talk expediency for a moment, if you don’t mind.”
“You’re a stupid fool, Harfield!” shouted President Layman into the phone. The War Room became very silent.
“Excuse me, sir, but I didn’t ask for your opinion. Now just shut your trap and listen to me. Due to your lack of love for the people of your country, many who cast votes to put you in the White House, you have now placed them in monumental peril. However, I’m giving you one last chance to do the right thing and save what little grace you have going for you. I’ve given you the routing and account numbers. I said you had until midnight, but now that you’ve taken evasive action, you will make the call right now to transfer one billion dollars from the US Treasury. It’s eight o’clock. That transfer must be complete by eight-thirty or it will be raining human beings once again from the moonlit Florida skies.”
“Oliver, stop this nonsense right now and I will give you and your cronies a full pardon. If you don’t, you realize I will put full military priority on hunting you down and killing you. No trials to waste time and money. Just a bullet or two that will shatter your face into tiny bits!”
“You’re down to twenty-nine minutes, Mr. President. Go
od bye.”
The president hung up and looked at his Secretary of Defense. “Carlyle, what’s the word from Bo Yardly? Where is he?”
“He’s approaching the Puget Sound as we speak, but if the Halibut made it to sea he won’t be able to stop him. Bo’s flying a fighter jet and his ammunition won’t be able to penetrate ocean water enough to do any damage beyond twenty feet. We’ve deployed every ship we have from San Diego, Hawaii and Alaska to find the Halibut, but they are too far away. Admiral Inman put all our sailors who were stationed in Kitsap on shore leave for three days, so trying to find a chaser fleet up there has become next to impossible, sir.”
“What about our west coast missile bases?”
“They are ready and on standby with orders to seek and destroy the nuclear missiles if they are launched. But Admiral Inman has somehow found a way to scramble data and cloak the submarine.”
“Speak English, Carlyle. What does that mean?”
“We can’t track the Halibut’s exact location. If he was able to scramble the sub’s global positioning coordinates, he may have found a way to do that with the nukes, too. We just don’t know. The only way to verify the sub’s exact location would be with sonar.”
“We can’t evacuate LA and Washington in twenty-five minutes,” the president stated as he glanced at every person in the room. After a few seconds of deep thought, he slammed his palm on the table and briskly stood up. “Gordon, transfer the ransom money now! Do it quickly. I’m going back to the Oval Office.”
At 8:25 p.m., the money had been routed to an unknown, untraceable offshore account. Oliver received confirmation of the transfer when the phone in Roy’s office rang and the voice on the other end said one word: “Done.”
Oliver hung up the phone and got on the radio to Admiral Inman. “Launch now, Admiral. The money’s in the bank.”
Roy walked over to the staircase leading up to his makeshift control tower and yelled his orders to Sam and Yussef. “Fly those metal birds over Lake Okeechobee and crash them. I don’t want dead bodies littering up my beautiful ranch, got that?”
CHAPTER 96
Monday, March 15, 1982
8:45 p.m.
“D addy, are you in here?” asked Jenny as she opened the door to Roy’s office. Everyone inside froze, including Sam and Yussef who were about to engage in a fun little game of Bloody Red Baron with the Coastal East and Bayou jets.
Roy hustled over to the door to try and keep Jenny from going any further, but she had entered and was nodding and smiling at the entire group. Oliver was fit to be tied.
“Jenny, I’ve told you that my office is off limits, so now go on back to the house,” ordered Roy.
“But Dad, I’ve got some really good news to tell you,” said Jenny, but then paused and took a step toward the man sitting in the corner of the room. “Hey, you’re Governor Daughtry, aren’t you? It’s a pleasure to meet you sir!” The governor stood up and Jenny extended her arm and shook hands with him.
“Jenny, we’re really busy here,” interrupted Roy. “Your good news will just have to wait for an hour or so until we’re finished. Now scoot on back to the house.”
“Sure, Dad. Will do.” Roy turned his back and walked to the door to let Jenny out, but Jenny didn’t follow. Instead she headed for the staircase and just before taking the first step she looked up to the second floor and said, “Hey, what’s up here? Wow, this is like a cool observation deck. Can I take a peek?” Jenny hastened up the steps before Roy could stop her, then stopped at the landing and stared at Sam and Yussef. They had halted their fun and games and were now sitting straight up trying to block Jenny’s view of the control panel.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” said Jenny. “Who are you?”
“Jenny, get down here!” howled Roy. “Now, young lady!”
Jenny noticed the cable coming through the glass wall that was attached to the satellite dish. It ran from the roof to the floor and into a splitter, then branched off into two cables, one running downstairs and the other to the computer where Sam and Yussef were sitting. Jenny had taken a pair of spring loaded wire cutters from Sheriff Bonty’s squad car before leaving and they were in her left pocket. She slowly slipped her hand into the pocket, carefully removed the tool and opened the vise grip with her thumb. The gun was out of sight and held in place by her waistband, but there was a noticeable bulge pressing on her blouse and she was worried someone would see it. Jenny glanced down the stairs where Roy was standing with both hands firmly perched on his waist, his red face about to burst into flames.
“Okay, coming, Dad.” Jenny turned to descend the steps backwards so her left hand was on the left side rail. She was pretty sure Roy couldn’t see her arms as she twisted her body in an awkward angle that prevented a clear view. The cable was a foot away, easily within reach, but the only way her idea would work would be if Sam and Yussef weren’t watching her. Just before taking the first step, Jenny pointed to the dark sky and asked, “Hey, look at those planes up there. Wonder what they’re doing so close together.” Both Sam and Yussef looked through the ceiling glass, and then realized they needed to grab the joysticks or the jets would collide right on top of them. Both turned back to the computer screen.
As Jenny took the first step down, she reached out with her left hand, placed the open vise grip blades over the cable and squeezed with every bit of strength she could muster. With the massive adrenaline pumping through her bloodstream, she could have cut through a steel pipe, if need be!
Immediately, the computer screens went blank and Sam blurted out, “Hey, what the hell?!” Yussef turned and shot an evil glance at Jenny as she was trying to hide the wire cutters in her palm. But the tool slipped out of her hand and fell down the stairs landing at Roy’s feet. Oliver heard the commotion and pulled out his handgun. He pushed the stunned Roy out of the way and aimed the weapon at the back of Jenny’s head.
“You have exactly five seconds to come down these steps and place your hands in the air, or I will shatter your skull bones into tiny fragments!” Jenny took two steps and jumped down, then raised her arms in the air. If looks could kill, Oliver and Roy would need no weapons.
From the observation deck, Sam shouted down to Roy and Oliver, “We’ve lost our remote control functions and our communication lock. The pilots will be able to hail a control tower now if they realize it.”
Oliver shouted back up to Sam and Yussef, “What about their cockpit radars? Are they still jammed?”
“Yes, and there’s no way for the pilots or the air traffic control centers to unjam them. Also, they won’t have any way to steer their aircraft unless they remove the remote controller. They are now locked into the holding pattern we gave them. When they run out of fuel, they’ll crash right on top of us.”
“Then we need to get out now. The money’s been transferred and the Halibut will take care of LA and Washington. America will be cleaning up that mess for quite some time. It’s time we start living our life of luxury on our own private island. We can be there in about two hours.” Oliver put the barrel of his gun on Jenny’s forehead and said to Roy, “You want me to do it, or would you like the honors?”
Jenny’s frightened expression gave way to tears, and she looked pleadingly at the man who had pretended to be her father. Roy wiped the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand, then said to Oliver, “Don’t. Let’s just cuff her to the stairs and leave. When the planes come crashing down, she most likely won’t survive anyway. And even if she does, she has no idea where we’re going. Just don’t shoot her in front of me, Oliver.”
Just then, the door slammed inward and two boys were aiming Smith and Wesson .38 Special revolvers at Oliver. Jimmy and Tyrone had never given one thought to staying put in the sheriff’s car and had followed Jenny without her knowing.
“Drop the gun, Mr. Harfield,” ordered Jimmy. Oliver quickly assessed the situation and could tell by the way both boys were holding their weapons they had no idea how to use them. Roy didn’t
have to assess, he knew the boys were basketball stars, not gunslingers. Oliver lowered the gun to his side, but held it firmly in his hand, finger ready on the trigger. Jenny reached in her pants and pulled out the Beretta M418, then jammed the barrel into the back of Oliver’s skull. Governor Daughtry backed deep into the corner, searching for something on the counter to protect himself. Sam and Yussef peered down from the second level.
Everyone waiting in the barn had seen the boys approach the office and knew something bad was about to happen. Johnny Murphree told the others to hold tight while he would try to stop the boys from going any further. He dashed to the office entryway, but was too late. When the boys pulled out their weapons, Johnny ducked down and crawled forward so he wouldn’t be seen through the window.
Oliver’s skilled training and experience was no match for the three kids. Reaching back with his left arm, he grabbed Jenny’s waist and spun her around in front of him so fast that the Beretta flew out of her hand. The boys just moved their pistols hopelessly in all directions. Oliver then aimed his revolver and fired two shots. Jimmy fell to his knees, then his chest heaved forward and his face slammed into the floor. Tyrone staggered backwards a few feet, then his legs gave way beneath him and his head smashed into the ground outside the doorway. Jenny screamed while Roy ran to Jimmy and cradled him in his arms. When Johnny saw Tyrone hit the ground he sprang to cover him. Oliver fired one more shot that entered Johnny’s skull in the temple, and he collapsed on top of Tyrone.
“No!” screamed Tyrus as he witnessed Tyrone’s head hit the ground and Johnny’s mad dash effort to save him. Sheriff Bonty had heard his daughter’s scream and he, Tyrus and Willy sprinted to the scene, weapons drawn, but stopped suddenly when they saw Oliver in the doorway clutching Jenny from behind with a gun to her head.
“Stop right there or she dies!” shouted Oliver. Sam and Yussef had scampered down the steps and were standing directly behind Oliver. Governor Daughtry had lifted Roy up from Jimmy’s bloody body and he was consoling him in the back of the pack. Roy was just starting to come to his senses.