by BobA. Troutt
***
An agent ran in to the control tower, “Walker, we have tried to locate where the call originated, but we came up with thirty-seven different cities across the US.”
“What, can you narrow it down?” I asked.
“I don’t know,” replied the agent. “He has some kind of scrambler on the lines. I’ll do my best.”
“Get to it,” I demanded. “Time is running out. How much time do we have before it lands? Have the background checks been run on the employees? Did they turn up any with police records with explosive charges or anyone with military demolition training?”
“We’re working on it, sir,” the agent replied.
“Walker, what do you make of it?” asked Grant.
“I don’t really know,” I replied. “But it doesn’t look good. He may decide to crash the plane into the airport?”
“I’ll evacuate the building,” said Grant.
“Go for it,” agreed Walker. “Make sure all incoming and outgoing flights have been canceled. Reroute all incoming planes to nearby airports and ground all other flights, now! I want this airport to be a ghost town.”
The phone rang; we paused for a second and then answered it.
“Has my money reached Nashville yet?” asked the voice.
“It should be there shortly,” I replied. “What is it you really want? Can we negotiate?”
Click went the phone as an agent came running in.
“Walker, I believe the phone line he is calling from is through micro fiber sensor adaptors used by the military. I’m sure that’s creating the mixed calls,” he said.
“Can you break into the homing device?” I questioned.
“I don’t know. I’ll try; it’s going to take some time,” said the agent.
“We don’t have time,” I shouted. “Just do what you can, but hurry.”
“Okay, men, we have our first break. He has military training in detonation. That should help narrow down the employee applications. Would somebody please make a fresh cup of coffee?” he suggested. “It’s time I talk to the pilot.”
“Flight 407 this is air traffic control.”
“Come in control tower.”
“We have a code red, possible bomb onboard linked to terrorism. I’m turning you over to Agent Walker of the FBI.”
I explained the situation to the pilot. I asked the pilot to send the co-pilot into the cabin area to see exactly who was on the plane. The co-pilot made a quick scan of the plane, returned to the cockpit and told the pilot the passenger list faxed in from Charleston was correct. The pilot told me that everything had been quiet and there was nothing out of the ordinary. There had been no demands.