by Bryan Murray
“He seemed plenty nervous, Peter and if he wasn’t for real, he sure put on an academy award performance!”
Davies was clearly concerned. “Like finding a needle in a haystack, Jake. We’ll just have to intensify our efforts and hope we can batten down the hatches. Did this guy know who was running the show?”
“No, I asked if it was a Muslim or an American, but he didn’t know.”
“Not good news, Jake, let’s stay in touch, bye.” he rang off.
After explaining the same information to Director Grover, the reaction of the CIA was very similar to that of the FBI. Almost helplessness and hoping for a miracle. Jake was not expecting the latter to happen any time soon.
He looked across at Sarah and Steve. “If any of this leaks out, we’ve got mass hysteria on our hands. Every location where a Death Dart missile capability is in place, people will be running around paranoid, like chickens with their heads cut off, wondering if they will be the ones to get hit!”
“Correct,” Sarah replied. “And we don’t even know what form this ‘event’ will take!”
Steve had heard enough for one day. “I don’t know about you guys, but I need some sleep!”
Jake and Sarah nodded in agreement. “Good idea!”
CHAPTER 22
The next morning Jake, Steve and Sarah were up early and after a quick breakfast they walked over to the SUV in the parking lot ready to drive into the plant for the busy day ahead.
Jake unlocked the car, Steve jumped in the passenger seat and as Sarah opened the back door, she suddenly let out a howl of anguish. “Oh, my God!” she screamed.
Jake looked over his shoulder and his face was in shock when he saw the body, covered in blood, draped across one of the back seats. There was no mistaking the grey hoodie and the face of the man from the cemetery, only this time he had a bullet hole through the middle of his forehead.
Sarah quickly regained her composure. “I take it this was the guy, Jake?”
Jake nodded. “No doubt about it,” he was thinking fast. “And the fact that someone killed him confirms that he was caught spilling the beans to me in the cemetery!”
“And what’s scary is they also knew where to dump the body!” Sarah added.
“So, what do we do now?” Steve asked.
Jake was thinking fast. “We need to get this guy to the FBI office, get a facial ID and also a recent profile of his movements. It would be nice to know who he is and more important still where he’s been travelling lately. Then they can let the grieving family know.”
“Good idea, let’s bring Peter Davies up to speed and get him to take this body off our hands ASAP, we’ve got other things to do.”
“Will do.” Jake roared off the parking lot. Already the day was off to a bad start.”
* * *
The FBI technicians were extremely diligent and within the hour they had an ID on the man from the cemetery and also an immigration scan to show that he had apparently been on vacation in the Emirates just a couple of weeks previously.
Sarah was very familiar with the game plan of the terrorists. “So, they would have flown him into the Emirates, then after he cleared immigration, whisked him by chopper to the indoctrination center in the mountains, and then flown him back into the Emirates when he was ready so that he could return into the US without even being challenged, to hook up with his cell!”
Jake almost felt sorry for the dead guy. “Exactly, maybe they didn’t do as good a job of brainwashing him as they thought, because he was clearly having second thoughts about his involvement in this caper when we met in the cemetery.”
They drove off from the FBI offices for another day of second guessing on the Winston Plant.
* * *
Out on the plant, Ben was busy back at work, inspecting an order for four Death Darts that were scheduled for testing later in the week for the Royal Jordanian Air Force. There had been some technical problems on the landing gear and he and Sandy Volchek were busy trying to solve the problem.
Out at the Beta test site, the pilot training was in full swing with Isaac and his instructors holding training classes as usual with the multi-national pilots under their supervision. The three - four module mobile control units on site were all being used.
Isaac was in the first control module, putting the four Jordanian pilots through their paces and in the second module, Andy was working with one American pilot, one Brit and two Israeli pilots, giving them their first taste of target acquisition technology.
The crew of the third module were a group of multi-nationals from Europe, also being given final training by Trevor, Andy’s assistant.
CHAPTER 23
In the JOD camp, General Al-Amabakhu was now considerably less concerned following confirmation from Al-Bikari that the spy in their midst had now been terminated. He particularly liked the touch of leaving the body in the car of the American security consultants.
He was also pleased to hear that the long range microphone set up to monitor the conversation with the American Harrigan in the cemetery, had not divulged any critical information concerning the JOD’s plans.
In fact, the general gave a wry smile when he realized that if anything, the information that the informant had given to this Harrigan, had only helped to confuse and stress the Americans even more.
He then approved the continuation of the mission with special instructions to his team to treat the American Harrigan and his team with extreme prejudice if their paths crossed in the next few days.
CHAPTER 24
Joseph was having lunch in Tel Aviv when he received a call.
“Hi, Joseph, how are things?” it was Jake on the line.
“Hi, Jake, pretty quiet after we rescued the engineer. I don’t think that JOD were too happy with the body count, but we have had no retaliation at this end. How about you?”
“Well, it’s a strange cat and mouse game at this end, Joseph.”
“Cat and mouse?”
“Yes, we heard from an informant, who was later murdered by the terrorists, that JOD and Al-Qaeda could be planning something big for 9/11 and it has something to do with the Death Dart. Problem is, we don’t know what they have in mind or where it will take place. Any ideas your end?”
Joseph thought for a moment. “We have no intel from our informants over here, Jake, but what I can do is intensify our feedback from the area of the encampment where we rescued the engineer. See if that yields anything.”
“Well, that’s a start, thanks, Joseph. I’ll let you know if anything happens at this end. Bye.” he hung up.
As Jake put the phone down, Roddy walked into the office. He looked refreshed after his trip back from Tel Aviv.
“Morning, guys, how’s everything?”
Jake smiled. “Hi, Roddy. I suppose Doug’s already filled you in on what’s been happening here?”
“Yes, he told me about the informant who was later murdered. Did he tell you much?”
Jake shook his head negatively. “Not really. He knew that something was going down but he didn’t know what or where.”
“Damn, that would have been useful information to have. So, what’s happening now?”
Sarah explained. “Well, we’ve got the FBI and the CIA checking all locations where the Death Darts are either in action on a regular basis or just in storage, to check that the security is tight.”
“And what’s the feedback so far?”
“Looks pretty good,” Jake replied. “Especially here where it looks solid enough to continue with business as usual.”
Roddy heaved a sigh of relief. “Thank God for that, because we’ve brought back a butt load of inquiries from customers for mega business on the Death Dart. In fact, that’s where I’m heading now, to sit down with Sandy and look at forward factory loading. If you’ll excuse me, please keep me posted, okay?”
“No problem.” Jake replied as Roddy rushed out.
Sarah looked at Jake and smiled. “Now there’s one busy
dude!”
Jake was in agreement. “Exactly and imagine how quickly his world will come tumbling down if anything bad goes down with the Death Dart!”
“Doesn’t bear thinking about!”
* * *
It was September tenth and out on the plant, Ben was doing his final checks on two armed drones that were being pushed out onto the tarmac for final missile firing tests on the Alpha test range. The customer was in Europe.
In view of the armaments involved, excluding warheads, when the client’s pilots were given their attack training on the target range, the Alpha test site was the further away of the two sites from the main plant. It was also surrounded by high security fencing, both for privacy and safety purposes with armed security guards all around the location.
Standard routine was that after the Death Darts were pushed out onto the main plant runway, Ben would check them out visually and then using his laptop, he would contact Central Launch Control to obtain the confidential launch codes for each drone that he would then relay to the launch control instructor in the four-unit control module on the site. Then each pilot station could immediately acquire control of a particular drone and proceed to launch.
Very shortly afterwards, when the drones were in the air. Ben would arrive at the Alpha test site to put the nervous pilots through their paces, all the way to a missile launch and with the proximity of the site to the ultimate target range, both Ben and the pilots could then observe their handy work.
On that day the test flights were a huge success and the missile launches went to plan with a spectacular hit on both an inflated building target as well as a moving car on a track, all simulating an enemy village.
After successfully hitting the target, the two drones returned safely to the main plant for final check-up before shipment to one more satisfied client.
* * *
In the privacy of his office, Roddy received a call on his cell phone. All the display showed was ‘Private Caller’. He looked around to ensure he was alone before answering.
“Hello, this is Roddy?”
He listened for a moment and then he whispered into the phone. “Yes, we’re ready to go. You’ve got the money so get the team moving as soon as you can, bye.”
He clicked off the phone and walked over to the window of his office, looking out at the main runway where the two Death Darts had just returned from their final test flight. He looked out pensively. “I hope all this works!”
CHAPTER 25
After lunch that day, when Andy returned to the main plant after his morning pilot training session at the Beta test site, Jake popped his head around the door of Andy’s office.
Andy looked up from his computer and smiled. “Hi, Jake, still chasing shadows?”
Jake smiled. “Tell me about it. Can you spare me a minute?”
Andy nodded. “Sure, pull up a chair.”
Jake grabbed a chair and sat down. “I know how busy you’ve been while we were in Tel Aviv and also after we got back, so I wanted to bring you up to speed.”
“Go ahead?”
“Well, as you can imagine, when those bastards grabbed Ben, all hell broke loose!”
Andy was listening attentively. “Tell me about it. Isaac and I almost had a coronary. You have no idea how important that guy is to Winston and to think of him not being here to teach us, chase us, look after us, was unthinkable!”
Jake smiled. “I’m with you there, Andy, I just wanted to let you know what transpired since we got back.”
“I’m listening?”
Jake then told him about the informant and his subsequent murder and then he explained his concerns about what might happen the next day - September 11th!
Andy took it all in. “So, you think these bastards may be either thinking of sabotaging Death Darts around the world or trying to hack into the targeting software?”
Jake realized that he was talking to an amazingly intelligent young man.
“Well, it seems like that, Andy, that’s why we’ve got the FBI and CIA involved to double-check the security wherever the Death Darts may be located!”
“And how did that go?” he asked.
“So far so good. And then there was the software problem.”
Andy looked confused. “You’re losing me, Jake?”
Jake explained. “You see, Andy, once the armed Death Dart is launched and assigned a target, it’s probably the most lethal unmanned armament on the planet. You can’t detect it coming, you can’t see it and that sucker is travelling at the speed of sound, so the only option left is to try and send it off target!”
Andy was now seeing the picture clearly. “I know what you’re saying, Jake, but that is virtually impossible to do. I know, because I designed the software with Isaac and Sharon!”
Jake continued. “I know that, Andy, which is why at least for tomorrow, when this thing may or may not go down, would you do me a big favor?”
“Sure, what?”
“Let me stick to you like glue! For two reasons. First of all to protect you and secondly, if anything goes down, I haven’t a clue how to act defensively as far as the Death Dart is concerned.”
Andy smiled. “Jeez, never had a bodyguard before. No problem,” he was thinking out loud. “Just thinking about what you just said though, Jake. If for some reason these bad guys manage to sabotage, or God forbid, even snag a Death Dart, and assuming that the 1000:1 shot of them also having a pilot to fly it is a prospect, there’s one thing that Isaac, Sharon and I have been working on that could come in handy.”
Jake was immediately interested. “And what’s that?”
Andy explained in layman’s terms. “It’s a software package that once authorized for use by the CEO, can zero in on any active flight data and without the pilot even knowing, take over the flight and targeting plan. This was designed in case a pilot becomes incapacitated in mid-flight, you know, has a heart attack, hit by enemy fire, etc. The idea was to enable the mission to continue or be canceled, but at our choice!”
Jake was incredulous. “That’s a hell of an idea and has this been proven in a live scenario, Andy?”
Andy took a deep breath. “Not on a live flight, but on the flight simulator at the Beta test site. We were working on it while you guys were busy in Israel.”
“And has Ben signed off on the technology yet?”
“Not yet. As a matter of fact, we haven’t had time to discuss what we did last week with him, he’s been so busy!”
Jake grinned. “Well, Andy, let’s hope we never have to try out this software, but it’s good to know,” he got up to leave. “So you don’t mind me acting as your shadow tomorrow?”
“No, be my guest. I’ll try to leave things free in case we do have to react in some way, but having seen the security here in Tullahoma, I’ll be very surprised!”
“Great, what time do you get in?” Jake asked.
“Seven Thirty am.”
“I’ll be there, thanks, Andy.” Jake left.
* * *
Back in their office, Jake, Sarah and Steve were comparing notes. Jake was the first to speak. “I’ve just had a very interesting chat with Andy.”
Sarah was curious. “And?”
“I brought him up to speed and he’s aware of the two possible terrorist scenarios,”
“You mean sabotage as many as they can or screw with the targeting?” Steve inquired.
“Exactly, he was also very sceptical about anyone having the intelligence to try and steal an armed drone, let alone know how to fly the damned thing or hit a target!”
Sarah was in agreement. “Yes, it’s a bit of a long shot when you think of it, guys!”
Jake nodded affirmatively. “But give the guy credit, he didn’t rule out the possibility completely.”
“So, what were his thoughts?”
“Well, first of all, this young guy is a mega brain. He’s smarter than the three of us put together three times over. That was when he told me what he and this guy Is
aac with their assistant Sharon have been working on. Clever stuff that Ben hasn’t had the time to check out since he got back.”
“What kind of clever stuff?” Sarah inquired.
“It all arose out of those boffins brainstorming what they would do if one of the drone pilots became incapacitated in the middle of a mission.”
“Incapacitated?” Steve looked confused.
“Yeah, got sick, had a heart attack, got shot by enemy fire, you name it. In that event what would happen to the mission?”
“Good question!”
“Exactly, so these guys designed a software package that once it is fed the launch code of the current mission, it can take over control of the drone without the original pilot, who may be passed out for some reason, even realizing!” he continued. “There’s just one snag, it hasn’t been proved in a live situation, just in flight simulation.”
“Well, that’s a start,” Sarah replied “And the rest of your discussions?”
“That was about hacking into the guidance and targeting software.”
“What did he say?”
“He didn’t think it would be possible, which is good news.”
“How can he be sure?” Sarah asked.
“Because he’s the guy who designed the software! Believe me, Sarah, this young guy is on a different planet when it comes to smarts and he’s very much a loyal company man!”
Steve was still concerned. “Well, that’s good to know!”
They packed up and left the office, still apprehensive about what may lie ahead the following day.
* * *
In his elegant house on the outskirts of town, Roddy was strangely quiet that evening as he toyed with the dinner that his lovely wife Maria had fixed for them.
“Not hungry, darling?” she inquired gently.
Roddy snapped out of his reverie. “No, its fine, honey. It’s just that I’ve got a lot on my mind at the moment and this damned jet lag isn’t helping.”