Battle Born

by Dale Brown

  "I ... I do not know what to do," Sung said.

  "Listen to me, Colonel," Samson said. "You must stop Minister Kim or General An from launching any more missiles against China. I have special aircraft in the vicinity, heavy stealth bombers that are armed with highly effective weapons that can destroy the MCRC. Their mission is to destroy any ballistic missiles launched by either Korea or China, but they can attack heavily defended ground targets as well. They successfully attacked the Chinese armored brigades and caused them to turn back.

  "I have authorization to attack the Master Control and Reporting Center with any weapon in my control to try to stop any more missile launches. If I don't get a response, Colonel, I will have no choice but to attack. You must try to stop Minister Kim any way you can. Do you understand?"

  But the line had gone dead-Samson didn't know how long he had been talking to no one.

  What could he do? He had some of the world's most potent weapons at his fingertips, but he was powerless. He could not do ... "*

  He couldn't do anything . . , but the Megafortresses could.

  Terrill Samson called up a digital map of Osan Air Base in Korea and studied it. It had been well over four years since he'd visited Osan, but he didn't think it had changed that much.

  It was in a remote corner of the base, far from the runway, far from Seventh Air Force headquarters. There were no other structures nearby except for a plain two-story military-drab building, surrounded by a tall barbed-wire fence. Zooming in, he could see a lone tree about fifty yards in front of the building.

  That was it. He had heard of the famous lone cherry tree, the rumors that it was the most heavily targeted tree in the world. They said the North Koreans had targeted ten thousand bombs, rockets, and missiles on that cherry tree-because a hundred feet below it, under layers of soil, rock, steel, and Kevlar armor and suspended on shock absorbers, was the Osan Master Control and Reporting Center, the military heart of Korea. Terrill Samson rolled a set of electronic cross hairs on that cherry tree and ordered the computer to mensurate its exact geographical coordinates and elevation.

  Now there was going to be one more weapon targeted against that little tree.

  ABOARD THE EB-1C MEGAFORTRESS BOMBERS

  THAT SAME TIME

  Fortresses One and Three, you've got bandits at five o'clock, fifty miles, angels . . , shit, angels forty-five, speed seven hundred knots and closing fast. 'Flash Dance radar . . , damn, it's a pair of MiG-3Is," Dave Luger shouted. "Notch left, Fortress One. We'll try to break that Foxhound's pulse-Doppler radar lock . . ." But before the two Megafortress bombers could even begin to make any defensive maneuvers, they got a verbal "Rocket launch detection" warning through their intercom systems. "I'm picking up ballistic missile launches-from Korea!" John Long shouted. "Korea is launching missiles!"

  "Rebecca . . , those fighters . . . I'm staying with you in case they-"

  "Go after those missiles, Rinc! Nail those bitches!" Rebecca shouted. She knew she could not use afterburners for fear of igniting a fire in her engine compartments, and because she could not sweep her wings past thirty-four degrees, she would not have enough speed to make steep pursuit climbs. "I'm heading out to the Grand Island*. I'll be all right!"

  The two undamaged Megafortress bombers advanced their throttles to full afterburner and maneuvered to intercept the missiles. With fuel more than half burned off and all but a few Wolverine missiles expended, the Megafortresses climbed skyward like angels from hell.

  "Good maneuver, Annie," Dave Luger said. "Little more right . . , little higher ..."

  "You've got about fifteen seconds, David!" Annie Dewey shouted. She had the Megafortress climbing at ten thousand feet per minute, aiming the nose at an expanse of stars she guessed the Korean missiles would fly toward. "Airspeed's down to four hundred . . , three-fifty . . ."

  "Missile one away . . , launcher rotating . . , missile two away . . , missile three away!" Annie swept the wings forward as she slowed, trying to decrease her stall speed as much as possible until she saw the third Lancelot missile race ahead on a column of fire. She immediately shoved the nose down and swept the wings back to regain speed-just two more seconds and they would have had to fight off a full stall.

  Rinc and John were able to punch out four Lancelot missiles-one while a missile was still below them, and three in the tail-chase aspect. But Rinc wasn't thinking about the success or failure of this attack-all he could think about was leaving Rebecca with two MiG-31 Foxhounds closing in on her . . .

  "We missed two missiles!" Patrick McLanahan shouted over the virtual cockpit circuit. "We missed two! Takedown, Takedown, you copy?"

  "We copy loud and clear, Fortress," the crew of the U.S. Navy NK-135 "Cobra Spear" aircraft radioed back. The NK-135 was an airborne laser flying laboratory run by the U.S. Navy's Air Weapons Research Center at China Lake, California. "Takedown has the strays in sight, and we're getting the lassos ready. Stand by."

  "Takedown" was the code name of the original Lancelot antiballistic missile program begun by the U.S. Navy. The first missile-targeting lasers were mounted on a modified Boeing 707 airliner, the NK-135, for testing. In addition, the original Lancelot missiles-not modified Air Force AGM-69A short-range attack missiles, but modified Navy AIM-54 Phoenix air-to-air missiles-were mounted on P-3 Orion patrol aircraft. The program was never completed, but the aircraft and weapons were still in the inventory-and now they were going to be put to good use.

  As the Korean ballistic missiles rose through the atmosphere, the NK-135 Cobra Spear aircraft locked onto them with their laser radar. Since the Navy's LADAR was mounted on an airliner instead of a strategic bomber, it had much more power and much longer range than the LADAR mounted on the EB-1 Megafortresses. As soon as the ballistic missiles were detected, the tracking information was passed to the P-3 Orion, and it released four ABM-54 missiles from wing hardpoints.

  The first operational launch of the Navy's ABM-54 antiballistic missile missile was a success-two Nodong-1 missiles targeted for Beijing were intercepted and destroyed.

  As soon as the last Lancelot missile blasted clear, Rinc lowered the Megafortress's nose and turned toward the incoming Chinese MiG-31 Foxhounds.

  "Arm up the Scorpions, Long Dong," he shouted. "We've got to get to them before they attack!"

  But before the two Megafortress bombers could even begin to make defensive maneuvers, the MiGs had opened fire with long-range R-33 radar-guided missiles. "Missile launch! Amos missiles in the air! They fired from about forty miles away . . . Two more missiles in the air! They targeted both you guys. Fortress Three, break right!"

  "Rebecca!" Rinc shouted on interplane.

  "Get the hell out of here, Rodeo!" Rebecca shouted. "I'm maneuvering as best I can! Get going!" Rinc had no choice but to execute a steep turning dive for the ground.

  The one not-so-cool thing about the Megafortress's laser radar system was that it showed everything in stark, cold detail-including their time to die. The LADAR tracked the big R-33 Amos missiles with ease, even projected their flight path and time to intercept, which, at their speed, was in about seventy seconds. No matter how tight they turned, how fast they flew, or how low they went, the R-33 stayed right with them—their projected flight path line always intersected the middle of the screen.

  "Kill those sons of bitches, Long Dong!" Rinc shouted. Long quickly armed up the AIM-120 Scorpion AMRAAM missiles, and as soon as the R-33 missiles got within twenty miles, he fired two against each missile, then two at each MiG-31 when they got within range seconds later . . .

  . . , but even though the R-33 missiles were big targets, they maneuvered quickly and were too fast for the AIMs, which were designed for aircraft less than half their speed. All of the Scorpions fired against the R-33s missed. Their last chance was the Scorpion missiles fired against the Foxhounds themselves-if they hit, or if the MiG-31s were forced to turn away and break radar lock with the bombers, the R-33 missiles would simply fly their last assigned he
ading and turn on their onboard radars. If they saw a target, they would kill it-if not, they would self-destruct. It was their only . . .

  Suddenly, a tremendous globe of brilliant silvery light appeared in the sky above Rinc and John, then disappeared-it went away so fast that they thought they imagined it. Rinc made another hard jink to the left and pumped out more active decoys to try to lure the R-33 missiles away-and this time it worked. The R-33s continued on their last course and exploded harmlessly several miles away.

  "Rebecca! Are you all right?" Rinc shouted.

  "We're okay!" Rebecca replied. "The R-33s missed! They stopped guiding on us! What happened?"

  "Hey, you know, these Lancelot missiles make fine air-to-air missiles too," Dave Luger radioed from Fortress Two. "And that last one just happened to have a plasma-yield warhead on it. Wonder where you go when you get hit by a plasma-yield explosion?"

  "To plasma hell, I hope," Rinc said. "Hey, Fortress

  Zero, can we escort Fortress One out of here now? We'll all be running on fumes pretty soon."

  "Not quite yet," General Terrill Samson's voice broke in. "This is Genesis. Check your targeting displays. I've got one more target for you guys to attack . . , and may God have mercy on my soul for doing this."

  "None .., of .., them?" Minister of National Defense Kim gasped. "None of them hit their targets?"

  "None of them even began reentry toward their targets," Colonel Sung, the senior controller in the Master Control and Reporting Center at Osan, said. "They all either reported malfunctions .., or the telemetry simply ceased."

  "How is this possible?" Kim shouted. "How can this happen?" He was almost crazed with blinding anger, but he forced himself to be calm. "I want a second salvo readied immediately!" he shouted. "This time I want it doubled! I want every target on the original list targeted with two warheads! No . . , no, better make it three."

  "Three? Three nuclear warheads on every target?"

  "If they are malfunctioning or sabotaged, we need at least three to ensure the targets are destroyed once and for all!" he cried out. "Now get to work! Put three . . , no, four, four missiles on every target! Do it! Now!"

  "Sir!" a technician shouted. "Enemy aircraft inbound! Patriot and Hawk batteries are responding!"

  Kim dashed over to a radar screen, one of the old-fashioned twenty-four-inch cathode-ray tube displays--the old vacuum-tube radar displays were less vulnerable to EMP effects, so some were still in use in the M£RC. Several blips appeared on the screen with data blocks beside them indicating speed and altitude. "Fast-moving target inbound from the southwest at very low altitude, range seventy miles. They are not maneuvering . . , they are coming straight in."

  "Then it will be that much easier to destroy them," Kim said. "Commit every available unit on-"

  "Sir! More targets inbound from the southeast! Very low altitude, six hundred knots, range sixty miles."

  "It's a massive Chinese attack," Kim shouted. "Get those ballistic missiles launched now, General! Get them-"

  "Sir! More inbound targets, slow-moving, low altitude ... I have another target, high altitude, sixty miles to the east, four hundred knots."

  "A command or surveillance aircraft," General An said. "Possibly directing the attack."

  "No-they are American attack aircraft, Minister!" Colonel Sung shouted.

  "What are you talking about, Colonel?"

  "I received a phone call from Lieutenant General Terrill Samson," Sung said. "He is the commander of the United States Air Force's secret air weapons center. I know of him. He told me that he had stealth bombers in the area armed with special weapons that were capable of destroying both ballistic missiles and the MCRC. He warned me that his aircraft will attack if they do not get a response from us."

  "What in blazes were you doing on a telephone in the middle of a battle?" Kim Kun-mo shouted. "I can have you shot for that!"

  "You've been fooled, Colonel," General An said. "That call could have come from anyone. The Chinese certainly can look up an American general's name and base of assignment and make up a tale like that."

  "I know that, sir," Sung said. "But he also told me that his bombers attacked the Chinese armored forces and caused them to retreat."

  "What? The Chinese are in retreat?"

  "It must be verified," Sung said, "but I think we should wait on our second missile attack until it can be verified."

  "Nonsense!" Kim shouted. "We are not stopping any attack to verify anything, especially not based on information you received on an unauthorized, unsecure telephone call!"

  "Sir, he also told me that his bombers carry weapons that can destroy ballistic missiles in flight, and that his orders were to use them against missiles fired from either Korea or China . . ."

  "Ridiculous! I've never heard of anything like that before!" ' "He also said that-"

  "Colonel, you are relieved of command," Minister of National Defense Kim said. "Get out of my command center. General An, designate a new senior controller, and proceed with the launch immediately! Security, escort this gullible, incompetent officer out of here!"

  "Sir, he said that his bombers have weapons that can destroy the MCRC," Sung shouted as two security guards stepped over to him and reached for his arms. "If we do not establish contact with his aircraft, we will be destroyed!"

  "Get him out of here!"

  The two guards grabbed Sung's arms, but he twisted away, grabbed a rifle that was slung from one of the guards' shoulders, turned, and aimed it at Kim. "I won't let you kill us all, you maniac!" he shouted, and pulled the trigger.

  General An raced forward to tackle Kim just as a line of bullets stitched across his back and left side. Sung swung the gun around and aimed it at the launch control console, but he was gunned down by another security guard before he could open fire.

  "Fortress Two is defensive Patriot!" Annie Dewey shouted. They were penetrating from the southwest of Osan, the most heavily defended sector. She suddenly found herself bracketed by two Patriot missile batteries that had opened fire simultaneously.

  "Fortress Two, Fortress Two, be advised, I show a fault on your defensive system," Patrick McLanahan radioed. "Decoy launchers, towed decoys, all jammers are faulted. Get out of there!"

  "We've got two Patriots opened up on us!" David Luger shouted. "We're trying to get away!"

  "Annie, break right, let me have a shot at them!" Rinc shouted on interplane frequency.

  Rinc Seaver and John Long had released all of their Wolverine cruise missiles from maximum range, but they had not hit their targets yet. Seaver started a fast climb. "What are you doing?" John Long asked.

  "Just get a fix on those Patriots, Long Dong!" he shouted.

  Long zoomed the supercockpit display out, and sure enough the laser radar was tracking the inbound Patriot missiles. "Bring it all the way around to the north, Anme," Rinc said. As they watched Annie make her turn, the incoming missiles started a right turn of their own. The missiles flew a ballistic flight path and aimed not for the aircraft itself, but for a "basket" of airspace where they predicted the aircraft to be when they arrived.

  "What in hell are you doing, Seaver?" Long repeated.

  "I'm going to shoot down those Patriots and get them off Annie's tail," Rinc said. "Get a couple Scorpions ready!" The supercockpit display showed Annie's predicted flight path as well as the Patriot missiles' predicted path. As the Patriots turned, Rinc pointed his Megafortress's nose at the intersection of the two flight paths, waited until they were within AIM-120 Scorpion missile range, then shouted, "Shoot! Annie, break left, now!" John Long fired their last four Scorpion missiles at the Patriots.

  Annie turned hard left. At that exact moment, the Patriot missiles had activated their own onboard terminal guidance radar and began tracking. All four Patriots made a direct hit-right on the Scorpion missiles.

  "Got 'em!" John shouted. "Nice going! Now let's get this attack under way and get the hell out of here!"

  "Fortress One, missile
s away," Rebecca said, and Paul Scott launched their last two remaining Lancelot missiles-not at any ballistic missiles, but at the set of coordinates for the Osan Master Control and Reporting Center that he had received from General Samson at HAWC.

  "Fortress Two, missiles away," Dave Luger radioed.

  "Fortress Three, missiles . . ."

  At that moment, they received a MISSILE WARNING advisory on the supercockpit display and a slow-paced deedle deedle deedle warning over the intercom. "Missile tracking and height finder pop-up threat!" John Long shouted. "Looks like an I-Hawk, eleven o'clock, six miles, within lethal range! Hold heading! Hold heading! Missile counting down! Jammers active, towed decoy is alive."

  "Withhold the launch! Withhold!" Rinc shouted. "Let's get out of here before that I-Hawk tags us!"

  "Hold heading, dammit!" Long said. "Twenty seconds and we're outta here! That's an order, Seaver! Hold heading!"

  The rotary launcher had moved the first Lancelot missile into launch position and was counting down to release just as they received a MISSILE LAUNCH indication and a rapid-fire deedledeedledeedle tone. "Missile launch!" Rinc shouted. He looked out the left cockpit window and could see the first Hawk missile, an American-built air defense system, lift off on a column of fire and speed toward them. It looked so close that he thought they had flown right over it, although it was over five miles away.

  The Lancelot missile left the bomb bay, ignited its first-stage motor, and pulled ahead of the Megafortress. "Now! Break right!" Long shouted.

  But it was too late. The Hawk guided unsteadily on the tiny radar cross section of the Megafortress until the Lancelot missile left the bomb bay, and then it guided on that larger target. When the Lancelot was only a thousand yards in front of the bomber, the Hawk hit. The plasma-yield warhead did not detonate, but the nine hundred pounds of solid rocket fuel did . . .