Holding the book in her hand and the light still in her mouth, she ran her other hand over the oddly shaped bag that struck her as something purposeful, not random in shape. She pulled it open. It had straps and buckles protruding. She released the book and grabbed the bag and searched it with both hands. When she discovered its purpose, her body froze. She collapsed on the bag, hugged it, and almost cried with joy.
Quickly she snatched up the book, ran back to Bashir, and shined the light on the Quran so he could see it. She placed it on his chest. He raised his head and showed a flicker of appreciation. His shaking had stopped and he appeared at peace.
Her stopwatch read six minutes, leaving eighteen minutes to ground zero. Converting knots to statute miles, she calculated the distance to be thirty-one miles at this point. Not much time. She must move fast.
With the flashlight she examined the port side door. It turned out to be two doors: one for cabin entrance and another for cargo. The cabin door opened from left to right making it impossible to open against the airstream outside. The cargo door opened from right to left. Once unlocked and pushed out a few inches, the wind would catch it and slam it open maybe ripping it off its hinges.
Seventeen minutes to go.
Ashley ran to the rear and grabbed the bag–a standard Ram Air parachute with a reserve chute attached. Years ago, during flight training, she had made one jump under controlled conditions. It scared the crap out of her then. She knew it won't get any better this time, but the alternative was unacceptable. Ashley put the flashlight in her mouth again and studied the only thing that stood between her and certain death. At the center of the chute container, a small tag caught her eye. It read 'descending canapé–minimum deployment 3500'. It took her two minutes to figure out the harness design, strap it over her shoulders, and buckle the reserve chute pressed across her belly. She cinched all the connections.
Fourteen minutes, now.
One last check. She moved forward to the cockpit. The altimeter read 6700 AGL–above ground level. Right where it should be. She headed back, hesitating briefly to check on Bashir. Strangely, in the dim light, she saw him smile at her. No time to figure that one out.
Twelve minutes left.
She moved to the portside cargo door secured in place with a locked lever. To open the door she had to turn a screw assembly, swing it aside, and lift the lever out of its cradle. All manner of dire results flashed through her mind. What if the maelstrom sucked her out of the plane and knocked her unconscious? If she cleared the door she might collide with the tail assembly? What if the force of the wind threw her back into the plane?
Ten minutes.
Ashley turned the screw, a giant wing-nut affair, and shoved it down out-of-the-way. Then she gripped both hands on the lever. The door parted two inches from its frame, and then slammed open against the fuselage, catapulting Ashley Kohen into the cold dark void five thousand feet above the bleak Nevada desert.
SEVENTY-THREE
AT THE FAA COMMAND CENTER Alex Borkowski forgot his nagging arthritic right hip when he learned of the airborne nuclear bomb approaching Las Vegas. He shut down McCarran airport, then ordered the Los Angeles and Salt Lake City Centers to reroute or ground all flights.
Nellis AFB lookouts reported a huge fireball over the Nevada test site at 1:32 a.m. Nevada time: 4:32 a.m. EST. The Air Force observers were not alone. The American News Network, ANN, started getting reports from the field about a big explosion out west.
The President had already initiated a National Security Council (NSC) meeting. While there was notable confusion, mostly because of the time zone changes, President Graham Steward learned the details of the imminent disaster thirty minutes before it happened. Starting with the Nellis AFB Commander and ending with the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, his control and command structure functioned as the system was designed to do. He wanted to assure the NSC no significant loss of life had occurred and that he would rank this incident as Top Secret.
The primary members of the NSC gathered at 5:15 that morning in the Cabinet Room of the White House. Present were the Vice President, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, the Secretaries of Defense, State and Treasury, plus Margret Madden, National Security Adviser, Edmond Pruitt, the President’s Chief of Staff and Leo Adornetto, Director of National Intelligence.
President Steward waited until everyone settled down. "I know this is an early hour, but I want to brief you on an incident that has happened out in the Nevada desert. A small nuclear bomb was harmlessly detonated in a remote location with no loss of life. It occurred over a restricted area of our Nellis Air Force Base bombing range many miles north of Las Vegas. I wanted you to know this before the media started churning out their usual speculations and predictions of Armageddon." Steward eyed the council members arrayed before him, and noted Leo Adornetto squirming in his chair. "Some of you know a few days ago I appointed a Special Unit Strike Force to investigate a possible infiltration of a terrorist armed with some kind of nuclear weapon out west. I'm not happy with their performance, but at least no collateral damage has occurred.”
"Amen to that," said the Vice President nodding his head. Others around the table uttered similar approvals.
Leo Adornetto, unable to remain quiet, put his hand up and spoke, "Mr. President, there might be a little more to this incident then you’ve been told."
The President ignored the comment. "All of this could have been avoided, if the Strike Force had acted sooner. Unfortunately, I became aware of this terrorist plot too late."
Adornetto tried again. "But Mr. President..."
Steward cut him off. "I'll get to you in a moment, Leo."
The Director of National Intelligence clasped his hands in front of him, and gritted his teeth.
"As I was saying, if we had captured this jihadist only a few hours earlier, none of this would have happened. As you know, we have spent much political capital and billions of dollars to beef up our national defenses. If the word got out about this breach, the public would become alarmed. We would have a lot of questions to answer. Since no real harm has been done, I consider this matter closed. For purposes of national security, I declare this matter Top Secret as defined by law."
Adornetto no longer remained silent. "Mr. President that means no one will know the tremendous success we have accomplished."
"I think you mean tremendous failure, Mr. Adornetto."
"No, sir. I have been involved in this case from the beginning. The intelligence community has worked as a team and saved our country from a catastrophic event far greater than the 9-11 attack."
"That's nonsense. A terrorist has successfully exploded an atomic bomb on American soil. That is hardly an accomplishment I want aired in the public arena."
"That's not supported by the facts, sir."
President Steward's face reddened, his eyes grew hard, "Mr. Adornetto, may I remind you violation of any information classified as top secret carries with it fines and imprisonment. Do you understand me?"
Silence prevailed. Everyone around the table bowed their heads and glanced over at Adornetto. Finally he answered, "Yes, sir. I understand you completely."
"Good. Now if you all will excuse me, I am scheduled to speak to the nation." Everyone stood as the President left the Cabinet Room.
SEVENTY-FOUR
BEFORE THE SUN CAST LONG SHADOWS across the east coast, the airways sizzled with un-substantiated claims and speculations, led by a popular TV news show host of the American National Network
“Good morning. This is Tom Neumann broadcasting to you from our ANN newsroom in the nation’s capital. At this hour reports of a strange happening are pouring into our newsroom. Only a few hours ago something occurred in the desert regions of Nevada that have many observers wondering if the United States Government has broken the long-standing Nuclear Test Ban Treaty signed nearly fifty years ago. Our correspondent Mindy Logan is live at the scene. Mindy, what can you tell us about this event?”
&
nbsp; A young blue-eyed woman with blond hair and high cheekbones appeared on a split screen with streetlights glowing in the background. “Nothing official yet, Tom, but I'm hearing from sources that a large explosion occurred shortly after 1:30 this morning. Witnesses in North Las Vegas say they heard a distant explosion and saw a red glow low in the night sky earlier this morning. Over that horizon behind me.”
“Thank you Mindy for that live report. Joining me is the former head of the Government Accountability Office, Daniel Santana. Daniel what can you tell us about this strange sighting?”
A dark haired middle-aged man with a carefully crafted beard stared straight ahead. “As you know, the Test Site has been off-limits for many years. Only authorized personnel are allowed on-site. I can't speculate, but if an atomic bomb exploded last night it was either top secret or possibly a terror attack gone awry.”
“A terrorist attack of this magnitude, Daniel, would be a serious threat to national security. Could you elaborate on that point?”
Daniel shifted his position. “Nuclear testing ended years ago. It would take an act of Congress to reauthorize testing. No such act has been approved. That means only an unauthorized detonation occurred or something is going on the public should know about.”
“That's an intriguing idea. Thank you Daniel Santana for your thoughts. Moving on, we are following events that occurred early this morning in Nevada. I want to bring in our panel for an assessment. Joining me is Gabriel Lloyd, a former State Department official, Zoey Chapman, a national security analyst with the Hawkins Institute, and Gavin Taylor, president and CEO of Global International Studies. Zoey, I'll start with you. There are indications that a bomb has exploded. What do you make of this?”
The screen split into four windows. A woman with tightly curled gray hair spoke. “I'm disturbed that we have not heard from the military. This incident has occurred in restricted areas under their jurisdiction. The public has a right to know what's going on. Are Americans in imminent danger from a foreign power or does this signal a change in our policy dealing with nuclear proliferation?”
Gavin Taylor interrupted. “I disagree. If the military is performing exercises in the desert, there is no reason to believe it poses any threat to Americans. In fact, this might be the government's way of showing we mean business when it comes to national defense.”
Tom Neumann turned to Gabriel Lloyd sitting across from him in the studio. “Gabriel, do you think there is a link to terrorism?”
Gabriel shook his head. “No. Acquisition of a nuclear weapon is far too sophisticated for the terror operations at large today. Even if they got such a weapon, creating a delivery system would be difficult, if not impossible.”
Neumann faced the camera. “I want to thank my guests for their informed opinions.” The camera angle changed and he turned his head. “Here in our studios, Bryant Smith has a special report for us.”
A slim gray haired man stood in front of a giant map of southeast Nevada. “Thank you, Tom. As you can see the test site covers almost 1,400 square miles. Based on what we know,” he pointed to the map, “the explosion was about here, in the middle of this vast area. The fact that there are no towns anywhere near suggest this was a planned experiment.”
“Thank you Bryant. That's good information for our viewers. I've just been handed breaking news. The President will address the nation on this mysterious explosion in the southwest. Our White House correspondent Rina Nankato is standing by to report on President Graham Steward's forthcoming appearance. What do we know, Rina, about the President's sudden decision to speak to the country?”
The face of an attractive Asian woman standing in front of the White House flashed on the screen. “It was announced a few minutes ago the President will address the nation. He will make a short statement and will not take questions from the press at this time. Sources close to the President say he’s been thoroughly briefed, and is in control of the situation.”
“Have you heard any talk about this being linked to a possible terrorist threat, Rina?”
“Right now there is no confirmation that this development is connected to terror activity, but no one is ruling out that possibility.”
“Thank you, Rina. It will be interesting to find out what the President has to say about a subject that is on everybody's mind. The fact that he's speaking directly to the country and not dealing with the subject in a White House Press Conference underscores the importance he must place on this strange occurrence.” Neumann paused. “Here is the President of the United States.”
A full-length podium with the President's Seal filled the screen backed by four American flags. President Graham Steward stepped up, faced the camera and assumed a serious expression.
“Good morning my fellow Americans. Today I come before you not to spread an alarm, but to spread the word that America is strong. America is safe.
“Safe from all those who might think we are not ready to defend ourselves, if defense is needed.
“Safe from those who would do us harm, if harm is intended.
“Safe from the insidious forces that lurk within and without our borders, if these forces underestimate our resolve.
“Safe because we value every citizen of this great country and can and will protect them with the most powerful military force in the history of the world.
“Because we have the duty to purge ourselves of the dark forces that stand ready to invade our way of life–our family values and basic freedoms earned by the blood, sweat, and tears of our forefathers and the sacrifices of our brave men and women of the armed forces. We resolve to remain the shining example of what the rights of men and women mean to society at large, I can assure you, all is right in the America we love.
“I can tell you this because our constant vigilance demands that we never fall behind in the endless struggle to maintain our defenses. That vigilance was demonstrated early this morning in the vast deserts of the great state of Nevada where a top secret experiment was conducted. An experiment that furthers our constant research into a strong military presence in the greatest nation on the globe: the United States of America.
“I know there are those among us who would speculate with theories of conspiracies. Let me assure you our goal is to preserve the freedoms we cherish and preserve the security of the nation. God bless all of you and God bless America.”
The President remained standing, his head high and displayed a thumbs up gesture. The camera pulled back and a commercial for sexual enhancement flashed on the screen.
SEVENTY-FIVE
THE GROUND CAME UP FAST. She hit hard. A sharp pain seized her left leg when her body struck the packed soil. It jolted her. A gust of air filled the grounded parachute, dragging her across the rough desert surface. Ashley yanked on the cords trying to pull the yellow nylon canopy flat, but the chute skittered across the land dragging her like a fallen rider caught in the stirrup of a runaway horse. Ashley grappled with the harness buckle, but couldn't break it loose. Seconds later her movement across the rough ground stopped.
In the dark Ashley fought to free herself. She felt blood on her right hand cut by the parachute cords. It made the buckle on the harness slippery. When it gave way, she rolled free and lay motionless on her right side. In the dim moonlight she saw the parachute snagged on a stand of prickly pear cactus, portions still billowing in the wind.
The smoky clouds parted showing a splendid array of stars scattered across the sky. Her breathing slowed and her heartbeat tumbled back to something close to normal.
Suddenly a blinding flash of light stuck her eyes. She covered them with her bloody hand. A thunderous roar assaulted her ears, then a gush of searing hot air knocked her flat. When the shock wave passed, she rolled forward facing the horizon. A ball of flame grew like a fiery fountain shooting out of the ground unfolding upwards–a magnificent and horrifying sight of deadly fireworks. Then the glow faded, and finally evaporated leaving a smudge of graying smoke, trailing off into the dista
nce. She had witnessed what should have been her death.
Ashley became aware of the cold desert soil beneath her and countless pricks of pain and soreness. Her left ankle throbbed, announcing a new serious injury.
She tried to sit and look at her leg, but the effort taxed what little strength she had. She fell back on the ground hitting her head. That brought back the persistent ach she had lived with this long day and night. Staring at the sky Ashley saw tiny star lights begin to spin in circles. She lost track of her place in time and space. As darkness drifted over her, she thought of her mother and of Walter.
CAPTAIN MIKE PORTER pulled himself into the cockpit of the aging Kiowa reconnaissance helicopter. Much like the aircraft he was about to fly, he had been around a long time, starting with the first Iraq war. Today his gray hair still stood in a close-cropped buzz cut, but his airman's uniform fit a bit tighter than it used to. The sun, still below the horizon, cast a hint of daylight across the shrouded land. Not enough light for Mike to see his instruments clearly, but he didn't need to see them. He knew them like a doctor knows his surgical procedures. The copter fired up, and the twin blades began beating the air, producing that familiar pounding sound. He checked with the base tower, than lifted off, veering north into the Nevada desert.
His mission was to fly a pattern over the terrain north from Nellis AFB to restricted area R4807-B while searching for any anomalies. When he approached ground zero he would check for elevated radioactivity levels and report his findings. As he climbed to an altitude of a thousand feet, he glanced over his shoulder at the lights of North Las Vegas. He always marveled at how abrupt civilization ended and the ancient desert claimed the land.
The Seventh Message Page 32