A Glint In Time (History and Time)

by Frank J. Derfler

  Willy only nodded. This wasn't what he had anticipated. But, he was both a horse trader and a poker player. He steepled his fingers to slightly hide his face.

  Jack Lee nodded back. He was appearing to be every inch the reasonable man. Willy was sure that Lee could play a fool or a psychotic equally well. "You know the political landscape as well as I do, Senator. That's why you're here now. The present administration is well entrenched. The Patriot Act is on its last legs. Before the election of 2012, the excesses of the past administration must be purged. So, I'll see your deal and raise you."

  Willy moved his right hand in a move that clearly said, "Come ahead."

  "Your brother is healthy and in recent years he has been well cared for. He claims that he now understands that he can't ever talk about whatever it was that caused him to be put away as a threat to national security. I don't know what it was and I surely do not want to know what it was. But, if we turn him over to you, then it will be up to both of you to guarantee his behavior. He can't come back to Washington. Take him to Montana and set him up with one of those agricultural companies you are close to. He writes no books, he gives no interviews; he doesn't even write a letter to an editor or author a blog on the Internet. He maintains total silence. And, we will hold both of you accountable for his behavior."

  Willy tilted his head and shrugged. "Deal." he said.

  Lee looked him in the eye, "And, how do you sweeten the pot?"

  In a few short sentences Willy explained how it had come to his knowledge that the Japanese were working on a top secret weapon project on the island of Hokkaido. He listed far fewer details than he had originally planned on giving, but he gave enough to make it seem like he had come in with a fair trade in mind.

  Lee listened politely, made notes, and asked enough questions to let Willy understand that Lee knew Willy was holding back. Willy got the unpleasant feeling that if Lee wanted more information, he would come back to Willy to get it.

  Willy stopped talking and Lee sat silently for a moment. "Are you going back to Montana soon?" he asked.

  "Yes, tomorrow morning." Lee appeared to be counting.

  "I'd say that your brother should arrive in Great Falls in about three days. It could be four. He'll probably come in on a flight from New York. Someone will call you and ask you to meet a flight.You should make some preparations. He will be a little disoriented, maybe depressed, maybe angry. If there is someplace private you can take him for a while, it would be best for both of you."

  "We have a family house in the mountains." Willy said.

  "That would be just the thing." With that, Lee shook Willy's hand and showed him out the door of his office. An escort, a burly man in a dark suit, was waiting in the outer office to take him out of the building.

  OUR FLYING CLUB

  Wednesday, June 8, 201 1

  0830 Eastern

  TCA Headquarters

  Homestead ARB, Florida

  * * *

  Excerpt from the Personal Narrative

  of Colonel Jose Valenzuela

  Recorded July 2015

  UNCLASSIFIED

  ". . . . . Wow. My own Jet!"

  * * *

  Jose knocked on General Arthurs' office door, heard "Come in", opened the door, crossed the carpet, and snapped the general a salute. "Good morning, Sir."

  Arthurs returned the salute casually. "Good morning, Jose. How did your education progress yesterday?"

  I'm still drinking it all in, General. But, it sounds like a great job. I'm happy, thrilled, scared, and alert. I don't even know what I don't know, but it looks like General Landry and Doctor Wirtz really have me setup."

  "Good. I like the scared and alert part. We just don't know where the shit will come from, Jose. But, on a much brighter note, I am about to give you every boy's dream.

  And I don't mean my secretary. My wife made sure that Mrs. Marsh is happily married and typically pregnant. So, it's not her. Let's go for a ride."

  It was a short drive down the base road to a hangar near base operations. They parked in a spot that said "General Officers Only" and walked up to the hangar. "That's about the only perk left." Arthurs observed about the parking spot.

  Arthurs had to talk to a security post through a two-way intercom mounted outside the door and then enter a passcode into the electronic lock. Once inside the hangar, Jose saw that it was crowded with aircraft. There was a Lear carrying the emblem of the Immigration Customs Enforcement Agency, a helicopter from the Border Patrol, two Army versions of the Beechcraft King Air loaded with specialized electronic intelligence antennas, and two white T-38 Talon supersonic Air Force trainers. Arthurs led the way to the two T-38s jammed into the back of the hangar. "Which one do you want?" he asked.

  Jose didn't know how to respond.

  "We've been told that we need to be able to get to Washington DC on a moment's notice. We can request a ride from the Special Air Mission folks out of Andrews, but in a real crunch it would be hard to get a priority. So, we have some support aircraft. Although they're wearing Air Force colors, these are really two F-5Fs from Taiwan. The Taiwanese are upgrading, so we ran these through a depot level overhaul in Taiwan, replaced the radar with a fuel tank, and had them painted USAF colors. Any crew chief would

  recognize the F-5 wing and the internal gun, but to most folks they look like any of the T-38s flown by the Air Force, NASA, and about ten other countries. On a good day you can make it from Nevada to here or to Washington without stopping. Although you'll usually want to stop at Eglin, Moody, or Barksdale to get gas if you're going west against the winds."

  "I get my own jet?"Jose was able to say in a strangled voice.

  "Well, we get our own jets" Arthurs said. "I've got one too. There is a downside. You never have an excuse and you never should probably have more than one little bitty drink in any one hour period. You're always on call. You can keep it at Nellis. They have F-5s and can maintain it. Oh, you will also have a detachment of the Nellis Aero Club at the Boulder City Airport.There is a Diamond DA-40, confiscated by the drug enforcement guys, waiting for you there. I understand that several of your Army warrant officers are lined up to fly it. That's how you're supposed to get from Boulder City to Nellis in a hurry. It's about a twenty mile flight.You'll be on approach for Nellis about seven minutes after you take off from Boulder City."

  "How do I get current?"Jose asked. He hadn't flown a T-38 in a dozen years and he'd never been in the fighter version, the F-5.

  "There are a couple of guys in the Air Reserve unit here who are instructors. They'll check you out. Fuel management and weight and balance are the tricky parts because the nose is so light without the radar. The gun acts as ballast.

  You'll need a current altitude chamber ride and ejection seat training, but you can do all that here. Without the radar it's a pretty simple airplane. The biggest problem is navigation, so we put a GPS in the panel."

  "My own jet."Jose ran a hand over the smooth wing of the bird that first caught his eye. It was love at first sight.

  Jose spent each of the next seven days in some kind of training, orientation, and planning. He got his flight physical and aircrew training done, flew the F-5 on the weekend along with instructors, worked at memorizing the names and backgrounds of all of the people he would have working with him at Boulder City, talked history and physics with Wirtz and Landry, and made operational plans with Arthurs. Sally briefed him on the reports and paperwork expected of a commander, but assured him that she would back him up with daily video conferences. His personal training included a firearms refresher, security briefing, and instructions on the use of a secure encrypted cell phone.

  On the next Wednesday, Jose again reported to General Arthurs. He was wearing a desert brown flight suite and had a personal equipment bag over his left shoulder."We're getting ready to go, Sir. Bill is going to fly to Vegas commercially. I'll take General Landry with me in the jet. I sold my car here. It was nothing I was attached to."

 
"And, you do have your own jet."Arthurs laughed. "Let Landry fly for a while. He's a good stick and he's got lots of stories about flying F-4s.When do you want to do the facility commissioning ceremony?"

  "I was thinking in about a week. That will give us time to get the people organized in Nevada, get the initial mission briefings out of the way, and setup some roles and duties."

  "Sounds good. I'll fly out for it. I'll talk to you on the video call in the morning. Hey, you're on Pacific time. We'd better reset the morning briefing or you'll be up at 5AM every day."

  "Your wife took care of that, Sir.You'll brief at 10AM local. I think she has you scheduled into the gym every morning at 8AM from now on."Arthurs groaned and gave him a salute that told him he was dismissed.

  Jose wasn't out of the office five minutes when Ted heard the unique warble of the secure voice telephone on his credenza. Since everyone who called him on this system usually had a lot more rank than he carried, he answered like a first year Air Force Academy Cadet. "Major General Arthurs, Sir."

  "General, this is the Chairman's exec, Jack Peterson." Peterson was a one star general who sat at the right hand of the Chairman and had access to Chairman's inner thoughts. . . preferably before the Chairman even thought them.

  "How are things in Washington, Jack?"

  "All I know is that the Chairman wants you up here to take a briefing. I have no idea from who or what it's about."

  Ted thought that the exec seemed a little put out that he was excluded from something.

  "What was the weather like when you walked into the Pentagon this morning?" Ted asked. At the same time he touched an icon on his computer screen and pulled up a weather map for the pre-entered route from Homestead to Andrews. His question was really a delaying tactic while he got a good picture of the weather. The words he heard on the phone confirmed what he saw on the screen. "Severe clear." the Chairman's exec said.

  "Okay, I should be walking into your five-sided building in about four hours. Can you setup this mysterious briefing for about 1400 or 1500?"

  "Consider it done."

  "Thanks, Jack." Ted said and ended the call. Ted knew that if he hadn't had one more star than Peterson, the Executive Officer to the Chairman would have simply hung up on him. The Chairman had once told Ted that they had given him two stars so he could at least get through on the phone. Ted often suspected it was true.

  Ted raised his voice, "Missus Marsh?".

  "Yes, General?" she replied from the outer office.

  "Please call base operations and have them pull out my jet. Ask maintenance control to have a crew chief check it out for a departure in forty five minutes. Do you know where Sally is?"

  "If you touch that special icon on your screen you'll see that she is in her office." was the reply. Ted knew that he could see the location of every person in the building right on his screen, but it made him uncomfortable. It was like snooping. He picked up the phone and dialed two digits.

  When she answered, he said, "Hey, Sal. I need to get changed into a flight suite and run up to DC. I know that you can't resist me in my flight suite.Want to come over to the office?" He heard Sally chuckle and say, "Fighter pilots." Then, she hung up the phone.

  Instead of getting changed right away, he clicked through a program that filed a flight plan with the FAA. He asked for direct routing and the program computed his route, time, and fuel burn. The direct route was a little over 900 miles, so he should have time and fuel to spare. The longest part of the trip might be driving in the car getting from Andrews to the Pentagon. As he finished the flight plan request, Sally entered his office.

  "Hey," he said. "The Puzzle Palace called. Somebody has something they want to talk about and they want to do it face-to-face."

  "Something that they don't trust to the best encryption equipment that money can buy?" she replied.

  "Is that spoken as an electrical engineer or an Air Force wife?" he asked as he took off his low quarter shoes. .

  "You're flying yourself, of course?" she asked while ignoring his question.

  "That's why it's there." he replied. He pulled his desert camouflage pattern ABU wheeled deployment bag out of the closet, pulled his flight boots out of the bag, and threw in his low quarter shoes.

  Sally enjoyed flying in light private aviation airplanes with Ted, but she wasn't thrilled about him flying that white jet alone. He tried to convince her that because of its power and two closely spaced engines it was actually safer than a private aircraft, but to her it was a motorcycle that flew and was every bit as dangerous as the motorcycle she had gotten him to sell more than a dozen years ago.

  "Do you have everything you need in there?" she asked. "Well," he replied, "not everything."

  "When you get back safely flyboy, then you'll get everything you need."

  "Now, that's a promise I'll make you keep." he said. "Drive me to the hangar?" He raised his voice again, "Oh, Missus Marsh, can you get me a car at Andrews?"

  "Already done. Just let Andrews approach control know that you aren't some second lieutenant lost on a training flight and they should park you by the car." Sally grinned at him. He had known that his secretary and his wife would be in collusion. In fact, he counted on it.

  INTELLIGENCE WARNING

  Wednesday, June 15, 201 1

  1400 Eastern

  The Pentagon

  Washington, DC

  * * *

  Excerpt from the Personal Narrative

  of Major General Ted Arthurs (USAF Ret)

  Recorded July 2015

  CLASSIFIED TOP SECRET /TA

  ". . . . . the intelligence community did good work for us, even if they didn't know why. We kept them out beyond arm's reach because we didn't want them getting curious. Honestly, I think the not-knowing kept them more engaged than if they had been fully briefed on the activities of The Project."

  * * *

  His flight into Andrews from Homestead was fast and beautiful. Because Andrews approach control took him on a straight in approach on runway 01 left, he practically never had to even change the airplane's heading more than a few degrees after he made his left turn out of Homestead. He taxied to the west ramp, left the jet outside a hangar, completed some paperwork for the transient aircraft handling crew, and pulled out his bag. In the hangar bathroom he changed into a civilian shirt, tie, jacket, and slacks from his bag. He was in a government car on the way to the Pentagon just a few minutes after landing.

  At the Pentagon he knew the drill. He asked the driver to drop him at the bus entrance. There, he was able to check his bag without the hassle of having it inspected. He walked through security with practically nothing but his billfold in his pocket and his access badge around his neck. Experience had proven that it was the easiest way to get into the building.

  When he entered the JCS area he found Brigadier General Peterson sitting at his desk, guarding the entrance to the Chairman's office space. "They'll be here in a few minutes." Peterson said. "Do you mind waiting in conference room C?"

  The conference room was small and the chairs were comfortable, so Arthurs was just on the edge of a snooze when the door opened. He rose to his feet. Peterson escorted two men. They were dressed in off-the-rack suits with no pattern in the fabric favored by mid-level bureaucrats. "Gentlemen, this man is authorized to take your briefing." was all Peterson said. He turned and closed the door on the way out.

  Ted stood and smiled, but he didn't offer his hand. "The last time we did this it was with Mathew, Mark, and Luke. So I guess this time I'm John. Does that make you Cain and Able?"

  Both men smiled. "Actually", the older one said, "our names really are Jan and Michael. " Michael was about forty-five and somehow looked like a used car salesman. Jan looked like, and probably was, a PhD in a non-scientific area

  who opted for government service instead of working his way through the treadmill of a university career.

  "A pleasure." Ted said. He wasn't about to give them any lead into who he was
or why he was interested in their information. He wasn't going to shake hands and give them some skin cells for a DNA sample either. "Thank you for coming over." he said.

  The older one started, "The intelligence tasking from the President is to report any indications we find of experimentation with the Bose-Einstein Condensate outside of traditional academia or any experimentation anywhere at high levels of power."

  Arthurs nodded. He had received this kind of briefing twice before. Both times they involved companies looking for new semiconductor materials and manufacturing techniques using the Condensate at zero degrees Kelvin. This time, he was a bit concerned that they had somehow tripped on the Project's new backup facility in Nevada.

  "Under this protocol we are to report what we find, but without revealing sources."

  Arthurs nodded again. This was a new twist. The intelligence sources before had been pretty much open, this one must be sensitive. The older visitor mirrored the nod Arthurs gave him and sat back. He gestured at the younger man to proceed. The kid, he must have been 25, opened a book and slid it across the table. Arthurs saw what looked to him like a Google Earth map. Arthurs kept his hands in his lap and tried to not even breathe on the book.

  "This is the island of Hokkaido in Northern Japan." The kid took a pen from his pocket and used it as a pointer and turned a page. On this road, outside of the town of Tobetsu, there is a mountain top radar site that was built by the US Army right after World War II." He turned the page to pictures of the radar site. These new photos had excellent quality.

  "Within the last six months, crews from the regional power company have installed new power feeders directly from the nuclear power plant in the north of the Island. These are big feeders. They are much larger than are needed by the radar site. They terminate in a new power substation that was built on the site."