Sky Masters

by Dale Brown

  "Bandit three now heading southwest, your ten o'clock position, eight

  miles, airspeed one-zero-zero knots, altitude three thousand. Appears to

  be buggin' out." Collins knew that the guys could turn and re-attack

  quickly, but he had no choice-he was too far away to pursue. "All

  right, Basket, I'm staying. Give me a heads-up if he comes back.

  Switching to Guard channel." To his copilot in the Sea Hammer's left

  seat, Collins said, "You got the aircraft." The copilot shook the

  control stick to acknowledge the order, and Collins released the

  controls. "Start an orbit over the area. I'll see if I can find him on

  the FLIR." Collins' copilot climbed to five hundred feet, stabilized,

  then began a slow orbit over the area. Collins activated the AN/AAQ-16

  FLIR, or Forward Looking Infrared, sensor ball, which presented a

  thermal image of the forest below in his helmet-mounted sights. At the

  same time he keyed the microphone button: "Bullet, this is Able

  Zero-Seven on Guard. Bullet, if you read me, give me a tone on Rescue

  one. Over." A few seconds later, Collins heard, "Able Zero-Seven, this

  is Bullet on Guard. I read you loud and clear." The DF directionfinder

  read southwest. The accent was strange, the voice clipped and

  precise-too precise. There was also a lot of background noise. It

  could be his own rotors . . . or it could be someone else. Collins

  said, "Bullet, go to Rescue One and hold down for ten. Over."

  "Able Zero-Seven, I cannot. Land on shoreline. I can see you. Land on

  shoreline."

  "Bullet, go to Rescue One. Over." "Able Zero-Seven, I am injured. I

  cannot work my radio. Land on the shoreline. I am just a few meters

  inland. Hurry. Over." The DF readout still read southwest-but that

  could mean a hundred yards southwest or ten miles southwest. The Navy

  pilot was not following orders because he was panicking-or because it

  wasn't a Navy pilot talking. The term "meters" worried Collins, but

  more military guys were using metric measurements like meters and

  "klicks, " so that wasn't a definite giveaway. On the Guard emergency

  channel, Collins said, "Stand by, Bullet." To his copilot, Collins

  said, "Swing west a few miles. Let's see if we can triangulate this DF

  steer." The MV-22 swung west away from the coastline, keeping as close

  to the treetops as possible. "Able Zero-Seven, this is Bullet, come in.

  Come in, Able." Bowman was groggy but awake. He had a pounding

  headache and completely washed-out vision. He felt paralyzed, and when

  he tried to move, a red-hot wave of pain rolled up and down his back.

  Same for his left arm-it wasn't just his elbow anymore, the entire arm

  felt broken. His wrists were still handcuffed together and the survival

  radio was gone... No, not gone. He could hear faint voices coming from

  somewhere. Fighting through the pain in his back and arm, he scratched

  his fingers across the mud and foliage toward the sound. Just as he

  thought he was going to pass out from the pain, his fingers brushed the

  thick rubber of the short antenna. A spark of hope shot through his

  pain-tortured brain, and he was able to grab the radio and drag it to

  his body. "Stand by, Bullet, " Bowman heard. "Bullet, switch to Rescue

  One, if able. Over."

  "Unable to switch. Help me. Land on the shoreline. I will find you.

  Able... that was the call sign of the Navy rescue choppers on Ranger on

  the day that Bowman was shot down. The PJs finally found him! But who

  was he talking to? There was another Bullet crew member out here? Who

  was he talking to? Miller? Was Cookin' alive? He couldn't believe

  it-Miller had really made it! But he suddenly realized that wasn't

  right. Miller was dead. The voice on the radio didn't sound

  American-it sounded too smooth, too practiced. It had to be Chinese!

  The Chinese were trying to coax the Navy rescue bird into landing. No

  downed aircrewman would ever do that-a downed aircrewman's

  responsibility was to first get himself located, then follow

  instructions from the rescue bird. He was not supposed to issue orders.

  Bowman's radio was set to the Guard channel. On the PRC23D radio, there

  was a four-position rotary dial: full clockwise, toward the side with

  the antenna, was Guard, one click counterclockwise was Off, one more

  click was Rescue One, and one more was Rescue Two. With trembling

  fingers, Bowman depressed the rotary dial and twisted the knob once to

  the Off position; then, with a tremendous effort, twisted the dial to

  Rescue One and depressed a rubber switch on the side of the unit. ...

  The DF readout on radio number one was moving slightly south. "Few more

  miles, " Collins said to his copilot, "and we can plot out his position

  Suddenly, radio number two came alive with a distinctive Piiinng!

  Piiinng! Piiinng! Piiinng! tone. The DF readout on the second channel

  pointed directly east. "I got a tone on Rescue One!" Collins shouted.

  "Coming from the area we just left!"

  "That guy on Guard must be an eavesdropper, " the copilot said. "I

  almost fell for it, too. Follow the DF steer from Rescue One." Collins

  switched from Guard channel to Rescue One. "Bullet on Rescue One, I

  copy your tone. Give me a tone when we fly overhead." They were about

  sixty seconds on the new heading toward the east when Collins said, "I

  think I have something down there. PJs, stand by." In the rear of the

  MV-22 tilt-rotor aircraft were four pararescue jumpers, or PJs, two

  sitting on the port and starboard cargo doors, wearing rappelling gear.

  Collins tracked the warm spot below him with the FLIR. Just before the

  object was directly beneath them, they heard another series of tones on

  Rescue One. The copilot flew past the spot, but Collins continued to

  track the warm spot and hit a button on the AN/AYK-14 mission computer,

  which would store the latitude and longitude of the spot they flew over.

  "Bullet, this is Able Zero-Seven, authenticate Victor-Kilo.

  Victor-Kilo." No response. "Bullet, this is Able, I say again,

  authenticate Victor-Kilo. Over."

  "We're coming up on bingo fuel, " the copilot said, "and the Chinese are

  bound to bring reinforcements. We can't stay..."

  "Once more, then we're outta here, " Collins said. On Rescue One, he

  said, "Bullet, I say again "Bullet . . . authenticates . . . Poppa

  Zero . . . PoppaZero..."

  "He didn't give the whole response, " the copilot said. "Close enough

  for me, " Collins said. "But you don't know..."

  "I'm taking the chance. I've got the aircraft." Collins took the

  controls, gave them a shake to verify transfer of control, then banked

  sharply to the left and lined up on the object he was tracking on the

  FLIR. When he was pointing at it, he moved a switch on the power

  quadrant, which rotated the twin rotor nacelles on the wingtips of the

  MV-22 vertically and transformed the Sea Hammer aircraft from an

  airplane to a helicopter. He maneuvered the big cargo~plane~turned~heli

  copter into a hover, then translated slightly sideways until he found a

  clearing beneath the airplane. On interphone, he said, "PJs, our boy's

  off the nose, about
thirty yards. No complete ID, but I don't see a

  weapon and he's alone. Out." Using their rappelling gear, the PJs edged

  off the Sea Hammer and slid to the ground. Unslinging their rifles,

  they took a bearing from the MV-22 and proceeded toward the subject. A

  few cautious minutes later, they found Bowman. "Able, this is PJ One, I

  got him. Looks like one of our boys." The rescue technician quickly

  searched Bowman for hidden explosives or booby traps as the second PJ

  stood a safe distance away, guarding the area. "Move in position."

  Collins edged the Sea Hammer aircraft forward, and the crewmen in the

  cargo hold lowered a rescue hoist with a forestzpenetrat0r device down

  to the men on the ground. He unfolded the petal-like seats on the

  forest penetrator, lifted Bowman up, and secured him into the seat.

  Bowman had enough strength to wrap his arms around the rescue device and

  do as he was told. "Samar... Samar. Don't forget Samar.. ." Bowman

  told the PJ. It was hard to hear over the roar of the MV-22 overhead,

  but the first PJ caught a snippet of Bowman's words. "He seems to be

  saying Sammy something, " the PJ said on a helmet radio to Collins.

  "There might be someone else nearby."

  "We don't have time to search for anybody else, " Collins' copilot said.

  "We're past bingo already." Collins was using the FL1R scanner to search

  the area around the rescue site. Suddenly he stopped. "I got someone

  else, " he said. "Thirty yards to the right. He's not moving. Check it

  out. Hoist Robby on board." The first PJ on the ground climbed onto

  another seat on the forest penetrator, strapped himself on, then pushed

  Bowman's head down and wrapped his arms around him as the cargo hold

  crew hoisted them up through the foliage. The second PJ began moving

  toward the second object, taking directions from Collins, using the

  gradually brightening morning skies to find cover until he was close

  enough. The crew in the cargo hold of the MV-22 dragged Bowman inside

  and wrapped him in a blanket. One PJ shined a flashlight in his face,

  then compared the face to a sheet of ID-card photographs of downed

  crewmen from the Saratoga. "He matches, " the PJ shouted on interphone.

  "Bowman. Bullet Seven's pilot." Collins let out a sigh of relief.

  "Dammit, I don't believe it. We got one. The other guy might be his

  RIO." The second PJ on the ground reached the body. "He looks like a

  Filipino... wait. He's wearing general's stars. No name tag, but he's

  got two stars on his collar." Collins maneuvered closer to his ground

  crewman. "General's stars... a general? Named Sammy? Sammy... Sa~ar?

  Holy shit, that might be General Samar, the fucking Vice President! Get

  him on board! Hurry!" ABOARD THE USS RANGER, IN THE PHILIPPINE SEA

  MONDAY, 3 OCTOBER 1994, 0600 HOURS MANILA TIME The Philippine national

  anthem played in the background. The television transmission showed a

  sign written in English, Tagalog, and Chinese, telling the viewer to

  stand by for an important message from the Philippine government. After

  two minutes, the scene dissolved, to be replaced by the grim face of

  Second Vice President General Jose Trujillo Samar. Most of his hair was

  burned off, and one eye was swollen shuthe had refused to wear any

  bandages, however, because he was afraid his countrymen might not

  recognize him, and because he wanted all the world to see what the

  Chinese military had done to him. He was wearing his uniform, freshly

  cleaned and starched, which hid a tightly wrapped separated shoulder and

  burns across most of his upper torso. "My fellow Filipinos and all

  others who can hear my voice. I am Jose Samar, Second Vice President of

  the Republic of the Philippines. I am speaking to you from a control

  room aboard the American aircraft carrier USS Ranger, which is en route

  to Guam after being viciously attacked by Chinese warplanes three days

  ago. This message is being broadcast to you at six o'clock A.M. on the

  third of October, Manila time, via Philippine TV channels two and three,

  on the Voice of America, the British Broadcasting Channel shortwave

  channel seventeen, and on other international radio and television

  channels. "As you can see, 1 am injured but alive. I was rescued on the

  second of October from the island of Mindanao by American Marines

  shortly after being attacked and nearly killed by patrols from the

  People's Republic of China. The Chinese patrols killed several of my

  militiamen while we were engaged in rescue operations, trying to save

  the life of an American Navy pilot shot down by Chinese fighter planes

  several days ago. "I am speaking to you today to tell you that, as the

  governor of the Commonwealth of Mindanao and Second Vice President of

  the Republic of the Philippines, that the People's Republic of China is

  engaged in a full-scale military invasion of my country. Do not be

  deceived by stories of cooperation with the Philippine government. The

  Chinese are believed to have murdered President Arturo Mikaso. Chinese

  warships have taken the Commonwealth cities of Puerto Princesa,

  Zamboanga, Cotabato, and Cagayan de Oro, and they are preparing to

  launch an all-out assault on the Commonwealth of Mindanao capital city

  of Davao. The Chinese are not liberators, nor are they assisting any

  legitimate Philippine government officials. They are invaders. They

  are moving large-scale military forces into my country with the intent

  of permanently occupying and annexing the Philippines. The Chinese

  invaders have attacked and killed Philippine citizens and have also

  attacked unarmed American reconnaissance planes. "1 am hereby urging all

  nations to impose economic and political sanctions on the People's

  Republic of China for their illegal invasion, and to do everything in

  their power to help remove all Chinese military forces from my country.

  As Second Vice President and the only legitimate government leader of

  the Philippines, I hereby proclaim all incursions into the Philippines

  by the People's Republic of China to be illegal, and I formally order

  the People's Republic of China to remove all personnel, warships, and

  aircraft from our territories immediately. "My authority may be

  challenged by the Communist government in Manila, led by the murderer

  Daniel Teguina. Teguina has called me a traitor and a rebel, but it was

  he who conspired to assassinate President Mikaso, allow the Chinese Army

  to invade the country, and take power for himself behind the brutal arm

  of the Red Chinese. His allegations are unfounded, but only the Supreme

  Court and the Parliament of the Republic of the Philippines can decide

  our guilt or innocence. "But in the Commonwealth of Mindanao my

  authority is absolute, and I am still in command despite my injuries. My

  militia forces have denied the Chinese complete access to Cotabato

  Airport, we have continually routed them from the Cabagan, Davao, and

  Pulangi river valleys, and we have prepared a strong defense and a few

  surprises for them in Davao if they try to invade us there. This will

  be the greatest battle in Philippine history since World War Two. But

  we cannot hold
off the Chinese hordes alone. "I am therefore formally

  requesting military and economic assistance from the government of the

  United States in helping me to repel the Chinese invaders. I hereby

  authorize the American government full overflight, landing rights, and

  sailing rights into all Philippine and Commonwealth territories, and

  hereby grant full authority to conduct military, security, safety, and

  other operations in my country. I also authorize the President of the

  United States and his designated representatives, civil and military, to

  act with full presidential authority in the Commonwealth of Mindanao,

  including full authority for all defense matters, and I order my state

  militia to obey all orders of the President of the United States or his

  theater commanders as if those orders were my own. If I die of my

  injuries or am killed by hostile forces, my orders here stated will

  remain in force until my state is returned to peace, with all foreign

  powers removed. "I hope that all loyal Filipinos hear my words. These

  are my standing orders to all loyal Filipinos: "All active, reserve,

  national guard, inactive reserve, and former militia members under the

  age of sixty are ordered to active duty immediately. Report only to a

  district or city militia commander; do not report to a federal, National

  People's Party, or New People's Army official, or to anyone you do not

  know personally. If it is not possible to contact a militia commander,

  attempt to travel to Davao and report to a militia outpost. "To all

  other citizens of Mindanao: Do not report for work. Do not surrender

  your weapons to anyone under any circumstances; keep them hidden. Report

  movements of Chinese or New People's Army troops, or anyone you suspect

  of aiding or informing to the Chinese or NPA, to a militia member known

  to you. My militiamen will attempt to contact all residents of Davao,

  Samal, Panabo, Santo Tomas, and other towns on the Davao Gulf and take

  your women and children out of any known battle areas. "If your town is

  under attack or is threatened, move toward the coast as quickly as you

  can. Do not move toward Davao, as you might move into the middle of a

  battle area, trapped between opposing forces. Avoid Chinese or NPA