by T I WADE
“Radar coverage is only 500 miles out from the air force base,” stated General Patterson. “The aircraft must have known this and headed at an angle further north than that. This one must have flown over the Bering Sea and then across the Pacific far to the north of Hawaii and then turned directly eastwards, always out of range of our Hawaiian, Alaskan and West Coast radars. These guys certainly know our limits, without our satellite coverage. Sergeant, tell the Hurricane Hunter over Alaska to head into Hawaii to refuel and then take up a position west of Hawaii and directly on the International Dateline. That inbound aircraft will be at least three hours late for our meeting, if it is coming in our direction at all. Sergeant, tell our nearest West Coast base to get into contact and find out who it is.”
“I wonder why they are so late?” asked Carlos.
They found out several minutes later from the air force base that it was indeed Westbrook, and he apologized to the meeting attendees saying that he had had aircraft problems and would be three hours late.
By this time they were also in contact with the aircraft incoming over the Labrador Sea; it carried the three drug CEOs, and they stated they were on time and were flying out of Scotland.
“Rubbish,” commented General Patterson. “I know that route well, I’ve flown from Scotland to Andrews dozens of times and the usual civilian flight lane is at least 200 miles south of their current position, and nobody would be flying so low over the North Atlantic. I see they have already climbed up to a normal cruse altitude of 40,000 feet. Those Gulfstream Vs can sure climb fast. Ten minutes ago he was reported at close to sea level. They must be coming in from somewhere else,” and he began plotting times and ideas onto the map with a red marker and a long ruler. Carlos and Preston joined him.
“The flight over from the first blip northwest of Alaska would take two and a half hours at their current speed,” continued the general talking loudly to himself, “and that blip was registered over three hours ago, which gives them an extra 30 minutes to maybe fly further north and stay well out of our radar range.
“Two thirds of a 6,000 mile range is still 4,000 miles,” suggested Carlos. General, I think you should get a gunship somewhere around the Resolute Bay Airport, Northern Canada, here,” he stated showing the location on the map to the general. There is a complete open sea corridor, which passes right by the airfield, and I bet the jet was flown low through this corridor, which leads directly into the Labrador Sea and where the aircraft is currently. That is about 1,000 miles of low flying, and I bet the pilots have to cut the corner to get into Andrews on their fuel reserves. I bet he has flown only a part of the way at below 5,000 feet.”
Good thinking,” replied General Patterson. I actually did an emergency landing at Resolute, about three years ago and was told by the locals that the runway was due to be extended to 3,000 meters. That could even be their base of operations.”
“Not if that blip on the radar over the Beaufort Sea has anything to do with the same aircraft,” Carlos replied.
“Well, let’s say they thought they were out of range, they were, apart from the Hurricane Tracker, and it’s totally different electronics to monitor wind speed and not your usual every day gas-guzzler fancy jet. They could have kept low for another couple of hundred miles to cut the corner which would get them over the Beaufort Sea in the shortest possible route, then climb while flying through the McClure Strait, descend and fly low through the Viscount Melville and Lancaster Sounds in case the Canadians were tracking them, about 400 miles in distance. Once they got through to the Davis Strait, they might have headed over to Greenland and then think it safe to climb back up to a normal cruise altitude once they are in the middle of nowhere. I have calculated 5,100 miles of which at least 700 to 800 miles was flown at low altitude and I believe, if they are coming from my scenario area, the pilots are going to land on fumes.”
“Not impossible,” commented Carlos.
“I agree,” stated the general and got on two different satellite phones to order other aircraft to refuel and then to deploy further and over Canadian airspace. “Their fancy upgrades won’t distinguish between Canadian aircraft and U.S. aircraft, and we fly the same planes. Maybe we should get pilots with Canadian accents.”
An idea had been formed by the time the first Gulfstream came in and landed at Andrews two hours later. Mo and Lee Wang were to be hidden inside the hangar in a locked broom cupboard, wear captured Red Army uniforms, and have several other sets of captured Chinese civilian clothing available to try to blend in with the guards with whatever they were wearing.
The Gulfstream, which could carry a maximum of twenty people, including pilots and necessary crew changes, was directed into the hangar, the doors closed and three small cameras connected to old television screens in the ops center showed the goings on. Mo had his satellite phone on pulse and was quickly told that three men wore business suits, four men wore white coats and looked Chinese and ten men, who also looked Chinese, wore civilian clothes, and were armed with AK 47s. The three men in suits looked around the large hangar carefully while ordering the armed men to guard the doors. They were certainly looking for cameras and immediately saw two cameras, modern, normal, non-working cameras which had been placed there years earlier. Orders were given, there was no sound from the hangar, and ladders were moved and the cameras smashed.
“I’m going out there to knock on their door and ruin their party,” stated General Patterson angrily. “These SOBs come into a U.S. Air Force base and start destroying defunct equipment. It’s time to find out who they think is running the country.” And he headed out signaling two guards to follow him.
“This ought to be fun to watch,” stated Preston as Carlos got on the phone to Lee.
“Lee, our friend is heading to the door to give you your chance to move into the hangar. Wear your white coats; confirm white coats, Lee?” Carlos asked.
“We are changing into our white coats, Carlos,” Lee replied.
“I’ll tell you when the general is outside the main hangar door, Lee,” Carlos continued. Two thirty-year-old black and white cameras had been placed outside the hangar to view goings on there and both Preston and Carlos watched as General Patterson, with only the two guards a few steps behind walked up to the closed large doors and hit one hard with his fist.
The smaller door next to the hangar was opened by one of the men wearing a suit, and he walked out to talk to the general. The general by-passed the man and tried to walk inside the hangar. Here he was stopped by two of the men holding AK 47s. Immediately the two guards behind the General aimed and pointed their M-4s at the two men inside the door, and men on both sides of the door could be seen shouting for backup. Preston and Carlos could see both inside and outside the hangar and saw all the visitors looking at the confrontation by the side door.
“Lee, Mo, head towards the rear of the aircraft,” ordered Carlos into his phone. “There is nobody looking in your direction. The rear aircraft door is wide open and the steps are down; two pilots left the aircraft and are walking towards the door where the argument is happening. I think the aircraft is empty.”
It didn’t take them long to see Lee and Mo walk over and climb into the aircraft. The argument was still going on, and they could see that it was getting pretty heated. Several more air force guards arrived in a couple of jeeps and were brandishing machine guns directly at the doorway. General Patterson looked angry and now there were hundreds of air force soldiers running around the hangar to cordon it off.
“Mo, look where I showed you. Unscrew the bulb above the word “Transponder,” now look for the Transponder control switch, it should be right above the bulb location,” Carlos stated into his phone.
“Carlos, Carlos, there is a hole where the transponder switch used to be. The bulb socket is also empty. I think they have removed the transponder system,” Mo answered at the same time giving Lee directions.
“Crap! They are not stupid,” Carlos replied. “Mo, look for any parts
that you recognize. Something that has Chinese markings on it! Also get Lee to take the photos of the flight control systems with the camera. We need something that proves that there are working Chinese parts in that aircraft. You have less than a minute before the general will run out of ideas. There are soldiers ready at the side door and waiting for you.”
“In the passenger compartment, there is a Chinese anti-radar jamming device,” said Mo. “I remember seeing the same on the Z-10 helicopters being built in Harbin. I don’t think there is any other equipment, except for the jamming device strapped to a seat.”
Carlos and Preston watched the standoff at the door. The whole flight of visitors still had their faces turned towards the door. Finally a radio was asked for inside the hangar. One of the armed men walked to the door with a modern handheld walkie-talkie, and the man with the suit began talking into it. Carlos assumed that the president, in the White House, was being called.
The conversation was quite long and Carlos smiled, noticing that the phone used was a very modern communications device. The general was given the phone, and he listened for several seconds to the planned conversation with the president. The suited man seemed to be smiling. The walkie-talkie was then given to the general who listened and then nodded. Afterwards harsh words were spoken to the suited man by General Patterson, whose smile quickly disappeared, and a scowl took its place.
“Mo and Lee are leaving the aircraft and walking towards the side offices,” Preston told Carlos.
“Mo, head straight towards the door, do not stop, do not look at the other men, they are beginning to turn towards you.” He then spoke into the second phone in his other hand. “Sergeant Perry, two Chinese men in white coming your way. Go in and get them when I say so. Remember, if asked they were coming in to help with refueling
Preston and Mo watched as Mo and Lee walked across a half empty hangar in full sight and finally reached the door which would shield them from all the eyes in the hangar. They had just walked through the doors when it seemed that one of the Chinese engineers, who flew in with the aircraft, shouted out something. Several of the armed men ran towards the door Mo and Lee had just gone through. Mo and Lee had twenty yards to walk to get to the side exit door on the outer wall.
“Perry, enter now, get our men out of there, but don’t, for heaven’s sake, use your weapons. Go!”
This time no camera was in place, and Carlos and Preston could only watch as three armed men ran through the same door Mo and Lee had first walked into. There was also a mad rush by everybody in the hangar for the same door.
With relief, the two in the ops room watched as Mo and Le were escorted by Sergeant Perry out of the outer hangar door, and several soldiers barred the door so that nobody else could exit. Sergeant Perry left last and the door was closed behind him.
Fifteen minutes later, and still having to wait an hour for the second aircraft, which was now over Missouri, General Patterson, Mo, Lee, Carlos, Preston and Sergeant Perry met in the Ops Room.
“OK, that man has the weirdest idea that he thinks he is in control of the United States of America. All threats and no action! That darn fat cat!” said General Patterson, now cooled off from his confrontation with the man in the suit. “The president told me that I was to be barred from the Capitol Hill meeting, on orders from this twit, Bill Bowers. Mo, Lee what did you see? The film, from the old camera is being developed as we speak and will be ready in 30 minutes.”
Mo dug into his pocket. “I have retrieved two fuses, and this little arming device I found sticking out from under the left pilot’s seat. I have seen it before and designed a bomb arming device much like this one twenty years ago.”
“A bomb!?” asked several together.
“A bomb in the Gulfstream?” asked the general.
“Yes, a small but powerful device fitted under one of the pilot chairs. About three ounces of C4 would turn the cockpit and that jet into confetti at any altitude. This device was designed to work on a walkie-talkie, or satellite phone frequency.”
“So, if we stole their aircraft, they could destroy any evidence inside the electronics?” Carlos asked.
“Correct, I think,” replied Mo.
“Glad they didn’t arm the 747s the same way,” added Preston.
“So they certainly don’t want us to get inside their aircraft. Carlos, did you see if they wanted to inspect the aircraft once Mo and Lee left?” asked the general.
“It didn’t seem so,” Carlos replied. “I don’t think anybody saw them close enough to think about it. The pilots disappeared into the second office where we had set up refreshments and still haven’t come out. The engineers went about refueling and only the three men in suits stood around discussing what had happened. Nobody has entered the aircraft since Mo and Lee left and most are in the refreshments room. That jet is certainly thirsty; they are still pumping fuel in.”
“What else do you have Mo? Lee?” General Patterson asked.
“Three small light fuses and the main fuse for the light in the toilet. They will have to use the toilet in the dark on their way home,” Mo replied.
“Important parts of the aircraft,” stated Carlos smiling.
“They are,” added Lee. “These minute fuses are among hundreds which would have died aboard every aircraft in the world. These small parts would not have made the aircraft crash, but thousands of these were installed in all modern moving machines and, guess who produced them?”
“Zedong Electronics!” stated Carlos and Preston together. Mo and Lee nodded.
Twenty minutes later, and the second aircraft on final approach, the developed film was handed to the men in the ops room. Lee shot over 20 photos of every inch of the flight control systems, and every corner of the flight cockpit. He even took three pictures inside the passenger compartment, and Mo Wang immediately described what Lee was trying to get on film.
“See there! Tied to the seat, a recently installed radar jamming system, the same installed on the Z-10 helicopters,” stated Mo. “I watched in Harbin while several of the helicopters had their final assembly completed. The staff at the factory was very helpful and explained every detail to me. I had never seen such small electronic boxes and so much equipment going into such small spaces.”
“So we now have proof that they have Chinese parts and even bombs aboard these aircraft,” stated General Patterson. “Also, they can jam all our air force and civilian radar following them; but we will know when their jamming devices do this, so I must get our web up before they leave and we can follow their direction when our radars are jammed. I will get the two Hurricane Hunters on the outbound route Carlos suggested and if they are jammed as well, which I think their equipment can do, at least we will have weather equipment to follow them as well as a destination area to find them.”
The other parts Mo had removed were also Chinese, although he didn’t know what they were for; General Patterson hoped that Mo hadn’t actually disabled the whole aircraft. Only time would tell.
The second Gulfstream headed into the same hangar, and three more refueling tankers followed it. A flight of three helicopters was ready to transfer all invited personnel to Capitol Hill and the general, who hadn’t planned, or expected to be at the meeting, told everyone to get airborne before the others came out of the hangar. Nobody seemed to care that the president had been made to wait three extra hours for the meeting.
Unseen by the men in the hangar, Preston, Carlos Mo and Lee were flown out, minutes after the second jet had disappeared behind closed doors. General Patterson had much to do before they returned.
Again, they all dressed in suits and planned to act as concerned American citizens; the four headed into the meeting room and chatted to the others already there. Preston remembered a dozen of the congressmen and senators from before New Year’s Eve, long-standing men of authority. Several other familiar faces were also there—Mike Mallory, Michael Roebels, and, of course Barbara, Martie, and Sally, and, then he saw Jennifer and Pam
Wallace who must have had flown in separately from North Carolina; they were standing next to Joe and David, also suitably attired for the meeting. There were several other faces he didn’t know.
Everyone was asked to head into the chamber. This time Preston was surprised that Mo Wang was included. Mo wasn’t even a U.S. citizen.
Once everybody was seated, the president entered and walked directly to the podium where he usually delivered his speeches.
“Thank you all for coming. Before our guests arrive, I wanted to inform you there are sixteen current members of the House, seven members of the Senate and forty-two prospective people who I would like see as members of Congress in the near future. One friend is here purely as an advisor to me, on matters pertaining to our second meeting here today. I need to hear from our current members, how we can go about re-forming the Congress into two working bodies within a month of today. Our population and occupied land have decreased in size; we need to adjust the sizes of the House and Senate to accurately represent our reduced population, and they will implement necessary laws to govern the country. I plan to step down as president as soon as law and order are restored, but would still like my old senate seat back, and continue as an active member of the United States Senate. It will be up to us, here in this room, to elect a new president when the time comes. First, we have to finish what our enemy started on New Year’s Eve and make sure that our country is safe, and can grow and prosper in peace and harmony for the next decades to come. This, I feel is close at hand.”
For twenty minutes there was a question and answer session from the still active members of Congress, suggesting what should take place in the near future and the meeting was recorded. Nobody else had the authority to speak.
The president received a note and put his hand up for silence. “Our friends have arrived, and we will start our second meeting after a short break for refreshments. Many of you do not know why this second meeting is scheduled, but I want you to make up your own minds up about what our next guests are going to demand. Everybody in this room will vote on whether we should give these men priority over and above the current programs for survival and growth that we have in place in our country. The voting will be held anonymously. Thank you.”
