The Noble Mercenary

by Patrick John Donahoe

  “Nose down slightly, slow down, follow the drone, and fire again,” ordered Serena.

  Pieces of shrapnel from the damaged drone flew past Ian’s F-4. A small piece of the drone’s rudder bounced off the F-4’s left wing.

  “Yeehah!” Ian let out a cowboy yell. “That was fantastic!”

  “We’ve been hit!” Jacques yelled into the intercom. He looked at Louise, who turned to Herman, and said, “Press the self-destruct. We have to eliminate any crash forensics while we have some control over the craft.”

  Herman growled a low guttural growl, and invoked the self-immolation mode. The sky lit up as the drone burned brighter than a flare, until cinders fell down from the sky like black snowflakes.

  Surprised, Serena yanked the heat and low level light sensor goggles from her eyes. “Are they trying to blind me!” she yelled.

  “Are you OK?” Ian asked.

  “Just barely. They must have built in an ability to incinerate the craft in case of mission failure.”

  “I put a few slugs into the target, but nothing that could set the thing on fire like that. I’m going to circle the area, and see if anything larger than a sunflower seed fell to the ground.”

  “I’ve recorded the time and location of the drone’s destruction. We’ll have a team scour the area below for debris, but you’re right, we won’t find much.”

  Jacques was relieved to realize the drone had been destroyed. He watched all the sensors register ‘no input,’ removed his headset and tactical gloves, leaned back in his chair, and looked at Louise.

  Without missing a beat, she began saving all the data on the flight recorder to Blu-ray DVD. When the recorder ‘beeped,’ she pulled the flight recorder and DVD from the console without comment. Both devices contained all the basic flight data, all of Jacques’ maneuvers annotated with latitude, longitude, time, course, speed, altitude, camera recordings, stealth mode status, temperature, and all the conversations between the three operators. The Baron and the three of them would analyze, and reanalyze, the data in the coming days. The Baron would question how the unknown jet managed to find, track, and kill the drone, and expect them to devise techniques to counter the drone’s vulnerability on the next mission.

  “Let’s take it all down,” said Herman, who had already placed nylon mesh bags on top of the consoles.

  Having assisted Herman and Louise with setting up the equipment, and discussed the dismantling, Jacques began pulling cables. Louise inserted the flight recorder into its custom water and fire proof packing container, and locked the container with its electronic combination. She placed the DVD recorder in its own special casing. The three of them working together were able to wordlessly breakdown, and stuff, all the components in the bags in eleven minutes. Each of them carried two full mesh bags, and their personal duffle bags to the top deck of the freighter. Jacques carried the two bulkiest and heaviest bags containing the LCD monitors.

  They found a mild rainstorm with medium winds on the top deck, good cover for them to return to the yacht. They wouldn’t have to wait for the next Key Hole spy satellite blind period.

  Louise instructed the crewman guarding the hatch to the top deck to lower the RHIB and take them back to the yacht. She radioed the yacht and ordered the Captain to close in on the freighter so the transfer would take minimum time and distance. The rainstorm was the break they needed after an incomplete mission. Herman and Jacques gathered up the lead weights and chains which had been prepositioned on deck, and began fastening them to the mesh equipment bags. Louise noted their current latitude and longitude on her GPS as Herman and Jacques lifted up each bag and tossed it over the side. The freighter’s crew had already dismantled the launch skids and control antenna, and tossed them overboard. There would be no evidence the three of them had ever been onboard.

  Ian turned back towards Osan Air Base and increased his altitude to comply with air space regulations. A mild rainstorm had begun. “We’re lucky we shot the drone down before the rain started.”

  “Sometimes luck is on our side,” Serena replied.

  Ian had been surprised by the ferocity of the drone’s incendiary explosion. His attack could not have been that devastating to the aircraft unless it was rigged to self-immolate if its mission was compromised. It reminded him of the movies where a car falls off a cliff and explodes in a huge fireball, only because the special effects techs blew the car up with TNT for the ‘wow’ factor.

  “Putting on those night and heat goggles was a stroke of genius, Serena. I would never have been able to shoot the drone down without your guidance.”

  “I got the idea when I was flying P-3 Ops to figure out which yacht and freighter were involved in the attack. I put together the sensor clues, using the small amount of heat and light the drone gave off to determine its location,” Serena replied.

  “You saved a lot of lives today.”

  “So did you. I wasn’t expecting the explosion though. I still have yellow and blue spots on my retinas from the flash. They destroyed their own aircraft so we couldn’t determine its origin.”

  “That’s what I figure, too. Are we going to stick around for the debris search?” Ian asked.

  “We should be involved for the first day. We may be able to find something obvious. I want to instruct the Air Catastrophe Team on how to search and what to do with any debris they find.”

  “Roger that,” Ian replied, as he adjusted the F-4’s airspeed and glide path for touchdown on the runway.

  As soon as Jacques, Louise, and Herman were back aboard the yacht, Louise, still soaking wet from the RHIB boat transfer in the rain, went into the main stateroom, removed a blank plate from the front of the desktop computer, then pushed the hard drive into the slot, without hooking it up. She placed the waterproof case in the desk drawer. She removed the DVD from its waterproof package and put it in a DVD case for the movie, Wizard of Oz, and placed the DVD case in the DVD cabinet beneath the flat panel TV in the main stateroom. “You can throw the waterproof packaging overboard,” she told Jacques.

  “Hiding in plain sight,” Jacques commented.

  “Safest place on the boat,” Louise answered. “Even safer than the hidden compartments on the yacht, which contain nothing, so if a narcotics team started searching for drugs, they would be deeply disappointed. But, we won’t give them an excuse to search for something as pedestrian as drugs.”

  Thirty Four

  The baron listened intently to the CNN news commentator.

  “An unknown aircraft from North Korea flew into South Korea this evening. Its flight path indicated an apparent attempted aerial strike somewhere in South Korea, probably Seoul. Although South Korea and North Korea have been theoretically at war for the past 60 years, they have both formally declared war on each other over this incident. Both countries’ troops, tanks, and artillery are lined up along both sides of the DMZ at the 38th parallel in preparation for war. Fighter aircraft from North and South are patrolling the DMZ, awaiting orders to attack. The UN Security Council has been called in for an emergency session to intervene in this crisis. Fortunately, an American Navy aircraft on routine training patrol stumbled upon the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, or UAV, and shot it down in a ball of flame before it reached its intended target. The South Korean Army has hundreds of personnel out searching for debris from the crash. More details will follow as we receive them.”

  “On to a multiple car crash in . . .”

  The Baron smiled at the havoc his experiment was causing, but was displeased that an American aircraft was able to ‘stumble upon’ his prize stealth aircraft and shoot it down. What vulnerability have I missed in the design, he wondered.

  During the day, Jacques, Louise and Herman wrote a trip report for the Baron on the desktop computer in the galley. Herman typed as all three huddled around the computer, while Jacques and Louise filled in details. Louise insisted on a factual account, but none of the three wanted to take any blame for not hitting the target. They emphasized the s
uccessful launch, flight and use of stealth to make the flight path appear to originate from North Korea and proceed into South Korea. Each complemented the others in the report for doing exceptional jobs. Once the three were satisfied with their report, Herman encrypted the file, recorded it to a flash drive, then deleted the original file from the computer.

  Jacques spent a leisurely ride back to Shanghai on the yacht except for the evenings, when Jacques enjoyed Louise’s company in his bunk. She seemed more relaxed, and into an intimate relationship, rather than just nervous sexual energy now that the mission was over, even though it had not been a total success.

  “Do you enjoy my company?” Louise asked, sprawled out on her back with her long shapely legs lying across Jacques’ torso.

  “Of course I do, you’re a beautiful, intelligent, talented woman.”

  “I needed that,” she rolled onto her side and faced Jacques, “the Baron will be displeased with us.”

  “He probably will be, but he shouldn’t be. We did our best. There must be some exploitable flaw in the drone. Something in the design that neither the Baron nor Herman anticipated.”

  “Or, whoever attacked the drone was really lucky, or had some inside information,” Louise replied.

  “Well, I’m sure patrol aircraft fly along the DMZ constantly, so maybe the attack was a one in a million shot. All I know is we did our best to get our drone to its destination, so that’s good enough for me.”

  “Me too,” Louise said and she curled up in Jacques’ arms.

  Jacques knew the Baron would be displeased with them, but it served no purpose to worry Louise unnecessarily.

  As they approached the port of Shanghai, Jacques and Louise sat in two lounge chairs near the bow. Louise said, “I hope you don’t think you’ll have the benefit of all of my attentions when we return to work.”

  Trying to appear nonchalant, Jacques responded, “I hadn’t thought much about it.”

  “Well, don’t. Back home we’re a platonic working team. Besides, I have a friend at home.”

  “A platonic friend?”

  “No, we’re very un-platonic.”

  “I see.” Jacques leaned back in his chair. “Are you worried about the reception we’re going to get from the Baron?”

  “I won’t lie, yes, but we did meet all of his objectives except one. So he should be pleased. Even he called this mission an experiment. Experiments teach us new things.”

  “You didn’t want to kill hundreds of people, maybe thousands, anyway, did you?”

  “The Baron and his associates are goal oriented individuals. A few deaths to accomplish their goals are acceptable.”

  “I asked, if you, personally, wanted to kill hundreds of innocent people.”

  “I would rather not kill anyone, but I was hoping to become an Associate.”

  “Do you think they’ll bring you into their inner circle?” Jacques asked.

  “No, I’m not interested in being one of his first echelon associates, but I would like to obtain the benefits of being an integral part of his association. I understand the leaders are all rich powerful men.”

  “What benefits can he offer me more than a good job flying drones?”

  “For you, maybe a daughter, position, and power,” Louise replied.

  Jacques sat up in his chair. “You can’t be serious.”

  “She’s not getting any younger, and it’s obvious she’s interested in you.”

  “This is Katherine we’re talking about?”

  “Don’t play dumb with me,” Louise chided.

  “Maybe I did notice, but I need this job. I can’t let family intrigue foul it up for me. An employee should never dip his pen into company ink.”

  “Smart man.”

  “I heard his association is called the Select. Can you tell me anything about the Select?”

  “Not much. Even though my mother’s father was a member, my father was never brought in. I got this job because of my skills.”

  Jacques gave Louise an incredulous look.

  Louise looked away from Jacques. “The Baron may have given me some consideration because of my maternal grandfather. . . but, I’m not an insider.”

  “He must trust you enough to let you work this mission. You’re a part of their big plans. We almost killed hundreds of people.”

  “You keep saying that, but how could crashing a drone into a building kill hundreds of people? A few might die from the crash . . . and a few more injuries, but not hundreds dead. We were just supposed to create an international incident, with an incursion into South Korean airspace from North Korea.”

  “Don’t you know what the payload was?”

  “There was no payload,” Louise said.

  “You’re wrong. The payload was Sarin.”

  “How do you know that?”

  “The Baron told me in confidence,” Jacques replied.

  “And you were OK with that?”

  “No . . . but, by the time he told me it was too late to back out.”

  “So you went ahead, anyway?” asked Louise.

  “Yes, I thought he was testing me . . . my loyalty . . . to see how far I would go.”

  “Did Herman know about the payload?”

  “I don’t think so.”

  “I see. You weren’t supposed to tell me, were you?” Louise reached out and put her hand on Jacques’ arm.

  “No, and we can’t tell Herman either. He may become too upset.”

  Louise grabbed Jacques’ well-muscled arm and squeezed it hard. “You don’t think I’m upset?”

  “I do, and I’m glad. I trust you to keep my confidence.”

  Louise loosened her grip, but kept her hand on Jacques’s arm, “Thank you . . . You must beware of Katherine. She is her father’s daughter, and she can be dangerous.”

  “How so?”

  “She became attached to our previous drone pilot. She had his attention for a while, but then he wanted to move on. Perhaps, he found out what the Baron was really up to, but regardless he disappeared rather mysteriously. Unless the Baron really needs you, she might seek revenge for any slight.”

  “I’ll try to keep my distance.”

  “Keep your distance and try to stay needed.” Louise leaned in, pulled Jacques toward her, and gave him a deep sexy kiss. “You may not be able to do either. Besides, I’m not usually a jealous woman, but in your case I might make an exception.” Louise winked at Jacques and kissed him again, hard.

  Thirty Five

  Jacques, louise, and Herman dreaded having to explain themselves to the Baron. As soon as they were granted entrance into his office, they could tell by his expression he was disappointed in their partially successful mission. The Baron was ready for them, with one of his henchmen standing in the right corner of the room by the minibar. Four chairs were set up in front of his desk. Katherine occupied the one to the far left. Without any casual greeting, the Baron pointed to the three empty chairs, and said, “Sit.”

  Jacques decided it was best to only speak when spoken to. The henchman played with a pistol, a .45-caliber, obviously to intimidate them.

  “I’m very disappointed in your failure to complete the mission,” the Baron said, and lit the end of a very large, probably Cuban cigar. He took two puffs and blew the smoke across the desk at his captive audience. Looking up toward the ceiling, he took another puff and blew a perfect smoke ring. He was creating as much tension in the room as possible. “I want to know how a fighter plane was able to down my stealth drone. Which one of you can explain that to me?” He gave each of them a cold hard stare.

  “Sir, we did everything humanly possible to avoid detection and the fighter plane attack. Somehow the pilot was able to be in the right place at the right time,” Louise offered, her voice steady, but on the verge of breaking.

  “Were you piloting the drone?” the Baron inquired, a hard edge to his voice.

  Jacques replied, “No sir, I was.” He decided staying up front would be a better defense
than letting Louise and Herman answer all the questions.

  “Can you explain to me how a fighter plane was able to shoot down a stealth drone?”

  “No sir, the plane seemed to almost be looking for us. Perhaps, he was on patrol on the DMZ, and was given a heads up from his command to look for us.”

  “Where would his command get that information?”

  “Well sir, our intention was to make the flight path appear to have originated in North Korea. They would have put a lot of chatter on the radio when it showed up on their surveillance.”

  “I see. Go on.”

  “Well, I’m sure the Americans and South Koreans monitor everything the North Koreans say on their radios.”

  “Who was in charge of operating the stealth controls?”

  Herman hesitated to respond, but after an awkward silence, he said, “I was, sir.”

  “What happened?”

  “We flew the craft from the freighter to North Korean air space, near Wonson, under maximum stealth controls, then we headed the aircraft south, and turned the stealth capabilities ‘off’ to establish its origin in North Korea.” Herman swallowed hard, perspiration began to trickle down his forehead and across his nose. His nervousness was obvious to everyone in the room.

  “Go on,” the Baron urged.

  “Once the drone was across the DMZ, an American fighter appeared out of nowhere. Before he could attack, we turned the stealth back ‘on,’ but he seemed to be able to follow us anyway.”

  “What evasive action did you take,” the Baron directed his question at Jacques, with menace in his eyes.

  “I did a barrel roll, figuring there was no way he could follow our position in a roll under stealth conditions.”

  “I’ve studied the flight recorder data several times. Why did you do two barrel rolls in succession?”

  Jacques remained cool and replied, “It was just a gut reaction, one roll should have been sufficient, but I was on a roll,” Jacques chuckled at the pun, but no one else responded. “I don’t know sir, like I say, it was just gut reaction. The fighter pilot shouldn’t have been able to follow one, much less two rolls.” Jacques replied in a matter-of-fact manner, and shrugged his shoulders trying to appear as puzzled as anyone else in the room.