His leg had healed for the most part and he no longer needed the brace. It had taken two surgeries to repair the torn ligaments in his knee from the kick so accurately placed by the American pig who had disrupted his life. The American would one day pay for that mistake.
The aircraft began a rapid descent and Omar closed his eyes trying to relax. He calculated distance and speed of the aircraft in an attempt to calm his nerves and after a few minutes determined they were somewhere in Florida. His hosts seemed to go out of their way to keep their guest in the dark as to his location and destination, but Omar had studied many things in his life, and after catching brief glimpses of landmarks upon his arrival in the U.S., he knew they had been keeping him somewhere in Northern Virginia.
Having knowledge of aircraft and their individual performance characteristics he was able to easily determine the general area over which they were currently flying. If he had to guess his destination, he would say Central Florida. Perhaps Orlando. They would not have begun their descent if they were to travel further south.
His flight training had prepared him for a role in the attacks of September 11, but since he was to be in the second wave, he never had the opportunity for martyrdom.
The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration had denied him paradise by landing every single aircraft in the air as soon as the motives of the terrorists were realized. He was able to escape detection in the mass exodus of passengers and then secured other means of transportation through Canada and eventually to Afghanistan. He had been very busy since.
His last operation, prior to his capture, had also involved aircraft, but of a different type and size.
It was possible to purchase through the internet most of the materials necessary to construct a rudimentary ‘smart bomb.’ The tools necessary included a radio control aircraft, basically a fancy toy, a telemetry device with a very small camera and transmitter, and virtual reality goggles commonly used for computer gaming. Semtex, a very light and powerful explosive was also used, but of course, that could not be obtained through the internet.
The radio controlled aircraft was fitted with the camera mounted onto a gimbal. This gimbal was controlled by the same type of servo motors the control surfaces of the model used for its flight controls. The gimbal responded to sensors mounted on the virtual reality goggles so that whatever direction the helmet was turned, the gimbal would respond likewise, enabling the pilot to have a cockpit view from the aircraft. The telemetry unit the camera attached to fed live video in real time to the virtual reality goggles and since the aircraft had a range of up to six miles from the transmitter it could be flown beyond visual range of the pilot.
The first use of the system became Omar’s responsibility and he chose what he considered a lucrative target. The Americans were using Kandahar Airfield as a base of operations in the south, finding its close proximity to the mountain passes to the north and Pakistan to the east perfectly suited for operations against the Taliban and its Al Qaeda affiliations. Overcrowded and difficult to defend, the base was irresistible to Omar. Since the radio controlled aircraft was electric and smaller than two meters, it was impossible to detect via radar and nearly silent.
Omar brought the aircraft into the mountains just to the north of the airfield and from behind an outcropping hidden from view of the base, launched the aircraft by hand and flew it the mile south, over the fence without detection, and in to the open doors of a mess hall at lunch time, detonating the Semtex just inside the doorway killing anyone within fifteen meters. Thirty four of the American Marines had been killed and another twenty-two injured.
It had worked with deadly precision.
The Citation touched down as full dawn broke over the horizon and when the agent to his right closed his window shade, Omar caught a glimpse of the word ‘McCoy’ on the main terminal building before his view was completely blocked.
He grinned to himself. Orlando International Airport. His calculations had been correct.
They removed the shackles from the seat, then secured the chains binding his wrists to his ankles and with one agent in front and the other behind, marched him through the cabin and down the short steps of the aircraft.
A nondescript van sat idling five meters away and they guided him toward it as the side doors of the vehicle opened. He was helped inside, seated on an uncomfortable bench, his shackles removed again from the chains and attached to secure rings mounted to the wall of the van. It was then he noticed the man sitting in the rear of the compartment, his face obscured by gloom. As the van pulled away from the tarmac, the rising sun shone through the window, illuminating the man’s face for an instant.
“You!” Omar spoke for the first time all morning.
The man chuckled.
47
January 19, 2010 9:45 a.m.
Orange Park, Florida
Jake and Maddy were discussing their illuminating night with Teri in the lab at 9:45 a.m. when the front door buzzer sounded and Jake said, “Yes? May I help you?”
“General Breckenridge,” is all the voice said, and Jake looked at Teri who shrugged.
“Come in, sir,” Teri said and she buzzed the lock, allowing The General to enter.
He strode in with a contingent of personnel, some in uniform and others in civilian attire. Eleven men total and one woman. Jake’s good mood turned foul in an instant.
“General, what’s going on?” Jake asked.
“Time for you to put our generous funding to work, Doctor,” The General said. “We need some information and I believe your equipment will provide us with it.”
“What information?”
“That is classified and I suspect one of your new employees is lacking a security clearance. I cannot discuss it with her present. Would you ask her to leave or give her the day off. She will not be needed.”
“General, there is nothing in this computer system she has not seen and I can’t imagine what you would need in the files. Exactly what information would warrant all this?” Jake asked, indicating the scattered personnel in his lab.
“The information is not in your computer system,” the General said. “Yet.”
“Yet? What do you mean by that?”
“Just what it sounds like. We will be using your machine to gather information and then we will need to form a database of that information.”
Jake was about to ask another question when one of the civilians approached and, listening to something being said in the earpiece the man wore, told the General, “He’s here.”
“Tell them to wait, the area is not secure yet. Doctor Townsend, either ask the young lady to leave or we will escort her out.”
“You have no right to tell me…” Jake started, but Maddy said, “It’s all right, Jake. I’ll go.”
“No—it’s not all right,” he protested. “I need you here, today. We have major problems to work out, and I need all my employees.”
“What problems?” the General asked, concerned.
“Well, for one, the sensors were damaged during the incident yesterday and I haven’t been able to evaluate how badly yet. We were in the process of doing that before you arrived.”
“And the other?”
“The cooling system may have been damaged,” Jake lied, “and we have not had a chance to evaluate that either.”
“Anything else?” the General asked, sarcastically. “Yesterday, when you demonstrated the capability of this—machine, I was under the impression it was fully functional.”
“Well, sir, it was fully functional. Until yesterday. I explained the incident we had to you, I was under the impression you understood the situation. And may I also add you have a tendency to barge in here whenever you feel like it, unannounced. May I suggest that in the future, you make your plans clear to me so that I may adjust my schedule accordingly. We might be able to avoid inconveniencing each other.”
Jake thought the General was going to shoot him right there.
“How long?” the
General asked.
“A day, maybe two. I won’t be able to tell until I actually get into it.”
“You have two days.”
“Two days or what?” Jake asked.
“You have two days to get this system up and running or I will come in here and shut you down.”
The General signaled his people, turned and walked out with his little posse following on his heels.
As soon as the door closed behind them, Jake motioned for Maddy and Teri to follow him into the women’s restroom.
“I would bet my life there are more bugs in this building,” Jake whispered.
Teri nodded.
“We need to find them. Now. Especially any video cameras. Audio bugs we can fool, but video will be difficult. I don’t want them to see Andee is fully functional. I’ll start on the console. Maddy you take the chair and the area around it. Teri, I don’t think they’ll be in here or the kitchen. They need to be able to view the work area so concentrate on the perimeter walls and duct work around the main lab. Don’t discuss anything about our plans for the day while we are in here. Got it?”
Teri and Maddy nodded and they set out.
Jake found a listening device within fifteen minutes and Teri located the video camera in the frame of the picture shortly after that. Maddy was not having any luck. Jake came over to help her and they both found another listening device, seeing it at the same time. It had been attached to one of the sensors on the chair.
They searched for another hour, but found nothing else.
“Let’s get lunch and get out of here for a while,” Jake said.
At the Mexican restaurant, Jake and Maddy told Teri what needed to be done and surprisingly she took it all in stride.
“I think we should stick together today as much as practical,” Jake said. “If they went to such great lengths to keep an eye on us at the lab, I can pretty much guarantee our cell phones are tapped along with our houses and landlines. If you need to use your cell phone, try and remember that someone is probably listening, ok?”
Teri and Maddy nodded.
“What should we do about Mrs. Lucas?” Teri asked.
“I was thinking about her too,” Jake said, “and this is what I came up with.”
He told them both his plan and they smiled in agreement.
Jake said, “We need to pick up Bodey soon, so let’s go to my place on the way to the airport. I need to grab a few things for later.”
Jake paid the tab, tipped the waitress, and they drove in Maddy’s car to Jake’s house where they picked up a few things then went straight to Jacksonville International Airport and waited for Bodey to arrive.
48
January 19, 2010 1:00 p.m.
Orange Park, Florida
Peter had never seen the General so angry.
He was glad some of the heat was off him, but it was very uncharacteristic for the General to lose it. Peter kept looking back on this whole mission with Encephalographic Systems and couldn’t help thinking one thing after another had gone wrong. He wasn’t superstitious, but if he didn’t think too hard about it, he could see how someone would believe the whole thing was jinxed.
“What the hell are we going to do with the prisoner?” the General raged. “I’ve got to have a place to keep him under wraps until the day after tomorrow. Any of you have any suggestions?”
Peter watched the group and he could tell they all felt like he did. The General was not a well liked man. He also rarely made such a mistake as the one he made today and frankly, Peter could tell the General didn’t know how to handle it. No one in the room was willing to offer any suggestions at this point, at least not until they were sure the General wasn’t going to try and blame this mess on someone other than himself.
As if on cue the General said, “Nobody has any ideas? All right, since I messed this up, I guess I’ll have to fix it.”
“General, if I may,” Peter said.
General Breckenridge nodded.
“The way I see it is we have three options. First, we can drive him back to Orlando and house him in the facility there until we know Andee is operational. Second, we can find a secluded motel and keep him sequestered in a room while we wait. Or third, we can keep him under wraps at my apartment, which has three bedrooms and would be fairly easy to secure with the contingent of assets we have present. I’m leaning toward the third option myself, since this seems to be the least problematic.”
“All right, Smith, let’s get him moved to your place and secured before I change my mind and send him back to Virginia. Make sure this goes smoothly. I’m putting him in your hands.”
“Yes sir.”
49
January 19, 2010 1:45 p.m.
Orange Park, Florida
Bodey’s flight arrived on time and Jake felt a little luck was on their side for a change.
During the forty five minute ride from the airport to the lab, they briefed Bodey on everything that had happened. He listened without saying a word which was unusual for Bodey, and Jake asked if he was ok.
“Just in awe, my brother, just in awe. I would definitely classify these events as life changing.”
When they arrived at the lab, Bodey removed a gadget from his duffle bag, turned it on and began walking around the lab pointing it at things.
“What are you doing?” Jake asked, but Bodey put a finger to his lips, silencing him.
After a moment the small device made a beeping noise and Bodey crouched down beside a counter top and removed another listening device. He crushed it under his shoe. He searched the rest of the lab and was almost satisfied it was clean when the beeping noise started up again. Bodey looked around the computers and was having a hard time finding anything. He finally pulled out a screwdriver, removed a cover from the back of the CRAY and after a moment, pulled out another device much larger than anything they had seen.
“Those bastards,” he said. He put it on the console and drove the screwdriver threw the center of it, shorting it out. “All right, we’re clean.”
“What is this?” Jake said picking up the black box Bodey had destroyed with the screwdriver.
“This was sending every bit of data the CRAY was processing to whoever planted it. They were eavesdropping on the computer system. What bothers me is the fact they were fiddling around inside my baby. Now I’m mad.”
“Any damage to Andee?” Jake asked.
“Not anything I can see, but I’ll check her out along with everything else while you guys are gone.”
“All right—we’ve got to move if we’re going to make it,” Jake said. “Everybody know their part?”
Nods all around and Teri had a small smile on her face. Maddy looked happy, but a little nervous.
“Let’s go. Teri, you drive your car and Maddy, you’re with me. Wish us luck, Bodey.”
“You won’t need it. Somebody’s looking out for you guys.”
Jake smiled and herded the girls out.
They arrived at St. Vincent’s Medical Center twenty minutes later.
Teri was up first.
While Jake and Maddy waited in Jake’s car, Teri donned her lab coat from school and hung Jake’s stethoscope around her neck.
“How do I look?” Teri asked.
“Like you belong,” Jake said.
Jake and Maddy watched her head for the elevators and waited for their turn.
50
January 19, 2010 2:32 p.m.
Jacksonville, Florida
Teri entered the hospital through the Dillon building and worked her way straight to the second floor.
Having done a rotation in the Radiology Department during her post graduate studies with Jake, she knew as long as she looked like she fit in, no one would even give her a second glance. With her white lab jacket and the stethoscope hanging around her neck, she looked the part she was about to play. The only thing missing was a hospital employee badge, but she had a way around that if asked.
She approached the nurse�
�s station of Two West, and without hesitation, began opening drawers and leafing through files and forms. She pretended to be looking for something and after a few seconds of searching, sighed and closed the drawer she currently had open, moving on to another one.
The receptionist noticed her and said, “What ya’ need honey?”
“Respiratory order forms?” Teri said. “Hi, I’m Cassandra. I’m new in respiratory. Sorry—I thought I could find them without bothering you.”
“No problem, honey. I’m Veronica, but call me Nicky,” the receptionist said.
“Ok, Nicky. God, I feel so lost. This place is huge. I’m used to smaller hospitals.”
“I know what you mean. It took me a week to find my way to this floor without having to ask someone for directions. It seemed like during my first week, I would have to park in a different parking garage every day, and then find my way here from across the world, all while trying not to be late.”
“I know,” Teri whispered, “I keep having to ask for directions. One doctor didn’t even talk. He just glared at me and pointed. Sometimes they can be such assholes.”
“Tell me about it, girlfriend. You don’t have to sit here all day and take it like I do. Dr. Blemish, that man is impossible. He and I go round and round sometimes. If only he would learn how to write legibly, I wouldn’t have to call him all the time. I swear.”
The phone rang and Nicky picked it up, “Two West?” She held up a finger and rolled her eyes at Teri. Teri smiled back at her.
“Hold on, sir,” Nicky said into the phone as she spun in her chair and pulled a chart out of the rack. “No…Mrs. Hancock is scheduled for dialysis today. That’s right…uh…looks like five o’clock. Yep…uh huh…thank you,” and she hung up. “Now, what were we doing?”
“Respiratory order forms?”
Near Death (A Jake Townsend Science Fiction, Action and Adventure, Thriller Series Book 1) Page 18
