He banked the plane to the left, and began the descent toward his target, the United States Capitol Building. He pushed forward on the throttle of the Stratoliner, bringing it to 225 MPH, almost its maximum speed.
The new pilot then put the nose of the plane at a forty five-degree angle and dove toward the Capitol Dome.
***
Roger Burman, a 31-year-old tour guide, had just stopped his group of 40 visitors in the middle of the Capitol Dome. He walked to one edge of the floor and whispered. All of his group heard him, as he demonstrated the famous whispering effect, whereby a person could hear a softly spoken word from certain spots under the dome louder than the sound of a person speaking next to him. This phenomenon was caused by an architectural anomaly in the dome, which bounced sounds as if in a canyon. The crowd gave him polite applause, appreciating his able demonstration.
In the final moments of their lives, Burman and his group looked up as they heard a sudden ear-splitting roar. They saw an approaching hurricane of marble, glass, metal, and fire.
The ruptured fuel tanks of the Stratoliner spilled aviation gas in all directions. The gas that didn’t explode swept down every hallway, staircase, and crevice in the building, resulting in a scorching fire.
The Capitol Dome had been cut in half. The remaining half tottered, drunkenly seeking to join the rubble. In ten minutes, it did.
Fire departments from miles around responded to the alarm. Every one of the hose engines came up against the same problem. The four degree temperature froze the water almost as soon as it left the nozzle. The columns of water that reached their destination did little to douse the fire, serving instead to create a terrifying winter ice sculpture of the once proud building.
The United States Capitol Building was a smoking ruin.
Chapter 65
“Plane Crashes into US Capitol Dome - Deliberate Act Suspected”
The New York Times
Friday, January 31, 1941
By James Pearson
A commercial flight that had just taken off from Washington-Hoover Airport in Arlington, Virginia crashed into the Capitol Building yesterday morning at 8:15 AM. The aircraft was a Boeing 307 Stratoliner, one of the newest commercial jetliners to be put in service.
According to eyewitnesses, the plane suddenly began a sharp descent as it approached the building, and struck in the middle of the west side of the dome at a 45-degree angle. Half of the dome collapsed immediately, and the other half fell in less than 10 minutes. Fire swept through the building, aided by a large amount of aviation fuel that spilled from its ruptured tanks. Firefighting efforts were hampered by the frigid temperature of four degrees Fahrenheit, which froze the water from the fire hoses.
According to government sources, no distress call was sent from the aircraft prior to the crash. Because of the lack of any distress signals a deliberate act has not been ruled out, according to government sources.
96 people lost their lives, and over 300 injuries were reported, many critical. Because Congress was in recess at the time, only four Congressmen and two Senators were killed. Their names have not yet been released as of the date of this publication, pending notification to their families. Had Congress been in full session, the government would have been changed in an instant.
Details of voice recordings between the plane and the tower at Hoover have not been released, pending further investigation.
Chapter 66
Bill Donovan, our new unofficial boss, along with Buster, Jack and I, boarded an Army C-47 Skytrain, the military version of the DC-3, at Mitchell Field at 8 AM on the morning of January 31, 1941. Our destination was the War Department in Washington DC. The subject of the meeting hardly needed an announcement. We were to discuss and analyze the destruction of the Capitol Building. Donovan didn’t tell us why we would meet at the War Department, but I thought this was a good choice. Nobody knows if the crash was a deliberate act of war, but what little evidence we had pointed that way.
During the flight we found it difficult to talk to one another because of the noise from the C-47’s engines, so we all busied ourselves with a briefing book that Donovan had given to each of us. In the book, details of the Stratoliner that crashed were laid out, as well as information about the architecture of the Capitol Building. I noticed that the Boeing 307 was the first commercial aircraft to have a pressurized cabin, enabling it to fly at higher altitudes. That feature wasn’t needed for yesterday’s flight, I thought.
As our plane descended for a landing, Donovan ordered the pilot to fly over the Capitol wreckage, which was still smoldering. He had cleared this maneuver with the Army Air Corps, which had been on high alert since the incident. As I looked down at the remains of our beautiful Capitol Building, I was glad that I hadn’t yet had breakfast. I could see the flashing lights of emergency vehicles in what looked to be a five-mile radius around the ruin.
After our plane taxied to the terminal, the pilot turned the roaring engines off. Bill Donovan used the silence to talk to Buster.
“So, Buster, are you impressed with the briefing book that we slapped together so fast?”
“Yes, I am, Bill,” said Buster. “Do you mind if I make a couple of suggestions?”
“Please do so.”
“I recommend that books like these have a cover with the name of the recipient, and a large statement saying ‘Eyes Only.’ The book should be hand delivered to each recipient, and taken back as soon as the person reads it. You don’t want this stuff floating around.”
“Buster, my favorite spook from the 21st Century, you’re a good guy to have around. Your suggestion is duly noted, and will now become policy.”
A car picked us up at the terminal and took us to the War Department at 21st and C Street. The department would move to Arlington, Virginia in a few months.
Two armed Marines escorted us to the office of Henry L. Stimson, Secretary of War. We sat around a large conference table with Stimson at the head. The early morning sun cast an annoying bright glare on the polished mahogany. I hoped the war plans were better thought out than the office plans.
Donovan introduced us to Stimson, who walked around the table and gave us each a warm handshake. He seemed calm and courteous. This was either an act or the guy had a solid spine, I figured. The situation in the world, especially after recent events, made a stressful environment for a man called Secretary of War.
Stimson returned to the head of the table.
“Bill Donovan has told me all about you folks, especially the part about your supposedly having traveled here from another time, from the year 2016, as I recall.”
I couldn’t help but notice a smirk on Stimson’s face, probably unintentional, but there nevertheless. This is what we expected, but it was more polite than most. Time travelers are used to hearing things like, “You expect me to believe this crap?” or “Are you out of your minds?” As I said, standard stuff for time travelers. We were used to it. But so far, Stimson registered only a smirk. Off to a good start.
Donovan nodded to me and said, “Mr. Secretary, I’ll ask Admiral Patterson to start.”
I expected him to refer to his fellow spy, Buster, but Donovan, being a former military man, deferred to my rank.
I began with a variation of my standard time traveler hose down of the unbeliever.
“Mr. Secretary, yes it’s true. Jack, Buster, and I have traveled here on F-18 Hornet jets from the year 2016. We hit a wormhole, or time portal, in the sky and found ourselves in October, 1940. Now here we are, over three months later, in 1941. You probably find it unbelievable, and I don’t blame you. We find it unbelievable (an essential point to make to a non-time traveler). But it happened, it’s real, and here we are, from 75 years into the future. For the time being, sir, I recommend that you accept my words as a working hypothesis.”
“If hard-nosed Bill Donovan accepts this story, who am I to disagree,” said Stimson. “I take your recommendation, admiral. I shall at least suspend my disbelief. But
I do want to clear the air about something. You have achieved a high military rank – admiral – and yet you’re a woman. I express no disapproval whatsoever, but I just wanted to discuss that briefly.”
Because of my mixed racial background and my fair skin, people often don’t know that I’m African American. I figured it was time to make that fact known.
“Of course, Mr. Secretary, and thank you for asking me to bring this into the open. Where I came from, the year 2016, I was qualified to command a carrier task force, known as a strike group in my time. I was soon to take such a command. I’m the former commanding officer of a cruiser and an aircraft carrier. Now if we look back 75 years into the past from now, in the year 1866, people of my color would have just emerged from slavery. Yes, I may be fair skinned but I’m African American, or colored as I would be known today. Even now, in 1941, I’m not qualified to serve in a regular armed forces unit, because the military is not racially integrated. Maybe I could fly for the Tuskegee Airmen, but they probably wouldn’t have me because I’m a woman. So yes, Jack, Buster and I come from a different time. Hell, this handsome white boy over here is my husband.”
Everybody broke out in laughter, which is what I intended. A bit of levity can move things forward.
“But here’s our bottom line, sir, and I know I speak for Jack and Buster as well. We’re Americans, no matter what year we’re from. Our country is in trouble, and we’re here to help.”
Wow. I didn’t expect the reaction that I got. Everybody in the room stood and applauded. Jack always tells me that I’m good with the spoken word. Maybe I got it right. I meant it.
“Admiral Patterson,” said Stimson, “I feel embarrassed for the time we live in. When I see an accomplished person like you, I find it ridiculous that we’re still mired in the past. You are a remarkable woman, and Franklin Roosevelt agrees. You made quite an impression on him, as you’re now making on me. And thank you for your patriotism. We’re going to need it.”
***
“Folks,” said Stimson,” it’s time for us to address the growing crisis before us. To point out the obvious, in November of last year the Empire State Building was destroyed, and yesterday the Capitol Building was attacked and demolished. I say attacked, because we have no other explanation for it. The world is at war, and everybody expects that the United States will be a part of it eventually. But the Empire State Building and the Capitol Building incidents have us confused, quite confused. We do have some new evidence that is interesting, however. It’s interesting but we’re still confused. I’ll ask Bill Donovan to bring everybody up to date.”
Donovan stood.
“We’ve been looking for some patterns, some similarities between the Empire State Building and the Capitol attacks. The Empire State Building was attacked with pre-planted bombs as we know. The Capitol was hit by a commercial airliner. So far, nothing in common. We’ve ignored the leaflets we found, because crazy people always hand out leaflets after a disaster. But we have found a couple of similarities that have us baffled. Of the eight men arrested after the Empire State Building attack, we found that all of them are from the Middle East and speak Arabic. They speak Arabic, but they’re not saying anything. I don’t know if this is anything meaningful, but I want you to hear a recording that the control tower made of a conversation before the Stratoliner crashed.”
Donovan walked over to a bulky instrument on a table against a wall. He plugged the electric cord into a socket. He then hit what I guess was a “play” button.
“Ali, Ali...(static)” followed by words that sounded Arabic.
“Holy shit!” yelled Buster.
“Here’s what the guy is saying: ‘Ali, Ali, point the nose down harder. Now push the throttle as we were trained.’ ”
“Now here’s what Ali, presumably the pilot, is saying, over and over again:” ‘Allahu Akhbar, Allahu Akhbar.’ Count it. The guy says it six times before the crash. It means ‘God is Great,’ and is a phrase of choice among terrorist suicide bombers.”
“Buster,” said Donovan, “I didn’t know you spoke Arabic.”
“It didn’t seem important until now.”
“Can somebody please put this all together?” said Secretary Stimson.
Donovan, Jack, and I all nodded toward Buster.
“We don’t have all the facts yet, but I’m going to go out on a limb, a limb that I think is pretty solid. What we have here is a case of Islamic terrorism, two big incidents of extreme jihad or holy war. It’s not conclusive evidence, but it’s two dots, two big dots. And I also think we have a third.”
“Dots?” asked both Donovan and Stimson.
“It’s a term from our time used in both law enforcement and espionage. A dot is an incident of something. When you connect it to another dot you start to see a pattern. I wouldn’t want prosecute a case in a court of law with this information, but forget the lawyer part of me. The spook in me says we’ve got three gigantic dots.
“Agent Atkins, Akhbar, Buster, whatever your name is,” said Stimson, “please explain the things you’ve just talked about. Islamist terrorism? Jihad? I thought we’d be talking about German, Japanese, or maybe some anarchist groups today. You’ve opened up something I need to know more about. I think I speak for Bill Donovan as well.”
Donovan nodded his head vigorously.
Buster stood and rubbed his face.
“Gentlemen, where Ashley, Jack, and I come from, the year 2016, America’s biggest foreign policy problems aren’t with other countries. It’s not just America’s problem; it’s a problem for every peace loving nation on earth. Radical Islam is an interpretation of the Koran by people who take the flowery language of the seventh century and convert it into a call to violent action. In 2016, jihad is a way of life for vast numbers of people around the world. The word means ‘struggle,’ but it’s interpreted by a lot of radicals to mean ‘kill non-Muslims.’ ”
“But you’re talking about 2016,” said Stimson, “what about now?”
“Radical Islam, or Islamism, got its biggest push in 1928 with the founding of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt,” said Buster. “Islamism is a combination of religion and politics. A believer doesn’t see a distinction. Religion is the state, and the state is religion. I don’t recall reading much about serious acts of terror in the 1940s, other than the Nazis and militarist Japanese, but even those aren’t acts of terror, a political action designed to inflict fear in people to change their behavior.”
“Has anyone tried to negotiate with them to see what they want?” asked Donovan.
“Two problems,” said Buster. “First, there is seldom anybody to negotiate with. It’s not a government with a foreign minister. It’s a group of radicals who often act freelance, meaning they perform random acts of violence. The second problem is what they want, and that’s a big problem. Take Hitler, for example. He wants land and power over other countries. The same with Japan. Islamists want one thing: infidels (that’s us) either convert to their religion or we must die. It’s pretty tough to come to a middle ground of agreement on that one.”
“Could it be Germany or Japan that’s recruiting these radicals to do their bidding?” asked Stimson.
“That’s not impossible, but it’s unlikely. We know from our history that radical Islamists cooperated with Hitler, but for only one reason; their fanatical hatred of Jews. Radical Muslims seek a caliphate, a state controlled by Islam. That is their goal, and their view is long range. So we want to know if the Empire State Building and the Capitol Building could have had German or Japanese backing. My guess, and it’s an educated guess, is that’s an unlikely scenario. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but a new enemy may have just appeared here in 1941, an enemy that’s already declared war, an enemy that just wants to kill and inflict fear, an enemy without a political position we can negotiate.”
“Okay, Buster,” said Donovan, “You’ve described two dots, the Empire State Building and the Capitol Building. What’s the third dot?”
>
“The third dot is the way the Capitol Building was attacked. I know that we’ve told you folks about a tragedy called 9/11. It was an attack by Islamist radicals on four targets: the World Trade Center, two gigantic skyscrapers in New York City; the Pentagon, the future building of the Department of Defense, which is what the War Department will become; and an aborted attack on some other site here in Washington. These attacks all had one thing in common: commercial airliners loaded with fuel, flown by suicide pilots. Ashley, Jack, and myself all thought the same thing when we heard about the Capitol Building attack. Dot number three.
“Well,” said Donovan, “we’re about to have lunch in a half hour, but I’m not sure I have an appetite. Do you have any recommendations, Buster?”
“Yes, I do, General Bill. I have to get inside. I need to go under cover. I speak Arabic as well as I speak English. I need to meet the people who bombed the Empire State Building, not as an interrogator, but as one of them, a jihadi.”
Donovan stared at Buster. I noticed Donovan wipe some perspiration off his brow.
“Buster,” said Donovan, “do you have any idea how you could pull something like that off?”
Jack and I cracked up laughing. Donovan and Stimson stared at us.
“Gentlemen,” I said, “you don’t know Buster.”
“Well, folks, it’s time for lunch. We may be the War Department, but we take our peacetime pleasures seriously, especially among distinguished guests.”
We walked down the hall and into the dining room for lunch.
Chapter 67
After lunch we returned to Secretary Stimson’s office. He wanted to know more. I couldn’t blame him?
“My friends,” said Stimson, “this morning we covered a lot of ground, amazing and startling ground. But I would like to focus on something that has me somewhat confused. Well, not somewhat confused, baffled. Ever since you arrived here last year in 1940, you have told many people in leadership, not the least of whom is President Roosevelt, that you’re time travelers, come here from the year 2016. You’ve also said that our future is your past, so that you’re able to predict things because they happened already. That’s all quite logical if one accepts the premise of time travel. But I want to hear further about how your knowledge of our future became upset. In other words, if the Empire State Building and the Capitol attack never happened from your view of history, how can any of your predictions hold out the truth?”
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