Jesse's Starship (16 page)

“I just don’t know who I can trust.”

“Did Carl ever report back to you on what he found out from the Seal Commander who sent the kidnap team?”

“As a matter of fact, he didn’t.”

“Would you issue an order for the Seals to report to Fort Gordon, Georgia for parachute training? Tell them that an inspector will be arriving in a scout helicopter to evaluate their readiness.”

“I can’t order that directly but I’m sure Branton can do it.”

“Let me know when they’re going to arrive and I’ll meet them there.”

“What are you planning?”

“We have some names; we need to act on what we know.”

“Mike, I understand that you’ve been somewhat heavy handed with the ones you’ve encountered.”

“Mr. President, if you think you can talk them into submission, you’re as good as dead. I also know if someone is trying to kill you, your chance of survival goes down quickly if you allow them to walk away. I’m surprised they haven’t attempted to free the Chiefs; they have demonstrated they have no problem taking active steps to remove anyone standing in their way.”

“Even they wouldn’t attempt that.”

“Watch what happens when Branton is taken out.”

“We’ll see.”

• • •

Mike ended the call and looked out at the field around his helicopter. He looked at a topography map and decided to move south and fly toward New Orleans. He lifted the chopper and looked up in the sky. He focused to the North and West. The sky was clear and he moved the helicopter from side to side. He saw a flash in the sky to the West of the Army Base. He activated the air radar and saw two blips to the west. He shut the radar down and decided going South was out of the question. He moved the scout toward the fence surrounding the base and hit full throttle. The small helicopter turned north and accelerated to a hundred and fifty miles an hour toward interstate 30. The Little Bird was capable of flying a hundred and eighty five miles an hour but the extra fuel load slowed it down.

He flew low over the cars for six miles and arrived at an overpass. Mike slowed the helicopter down and moved down the embankment and under the bridge. He set it to hover and waited. Three minutes later he heard the roar of jet engines pass overhead. He moved slightly forward and saw two Air Force Eagles blow by at high speed. Mike eased back under the bridge and hovered above the swamp ten feet under the scout. He knew the jets would be able to track a heat signature but with the huge number of cars on the interstate, it was next to impossible to pull out the scout’s heat signature from the cars under it.

• • •

“Sir, we lost sight of the scout.”

“How?”

“You told us to not violate the air space above Red River. We had to wait for him to lift and clear their airspace before we moved in. He activated his air radar for a moment and I’m sure he saw us. He moved up on the interstate and we lost him in the heat signatures from the cars.”

“He can’t be far.”

“Wherever he is; he’s not showing up on our systems and Red River is requesting us to identify ourselves and state what we’re doing.”

The man stared cursing and said, “How much fuel do you have?”

“Not enough to draw this out. We have to leave here now and move away from Red River. We’re going to have to head back to base quickly or our Wing Commander is going to ask some questions we’ll have difficulty answering.”

“Get out of there.”

The two Eagles turned and gained altitude quickly. They accelerated west and disappeared. The man started yelling expletives and wondered just how lucky one satellite jockey could be.

• • •

Mike waited twenty minutes and knew the Eagles had to be gone. They had to come from Dyes Air Force Base and they had roared by overhead on afterburners. He moved the scout out from under the bridge and activated the radar; the Eagles no longer appeared on the display. He moved down the channel cut by a wide creek flowing under the bridge. He stayed low and after forty minutes he turned and flew across the Mississippi Delta and moved north toward Alabama. He avoided all the military bases and stayed on the deck below radar coverage. He crossed the Alabama state line close to Dothan and stayed away from Fort Benning. He flew low just outside Lagrange, Georgia and moved overland over Reynolds and Thomaston. He dialed a number on his shortwave handset and heard a woman’s voice answer, “Hello.”

“Janet, this is Mike Sanders.”

“Mike, it’s been a long time.”

“Do you still live on that farm in Lizella, Georgia?”

“I do, why do you ask?”

“I’m making a trip and need a place to crash for a couple of days. Would you mind if I land at your pad.”

“Not at all; when will you arrive?”

“In about ten minutes. I’m flying a small helicopter and thought I’d land it next to the barn.”

“My, you have your own helicopter. Your farm must really be successful.”

“Yeah, sorta. I’ll tell you about it in a few.”

“I look forward to seeing you.”

Janet Drummond walked to her back porch and looked over the tall pecan orchard next to the clearing the barn was located. She didn’t hear anything until suddenly there it was. The scout Helicopter came in over the pecan trees and move quickly down to the clearing. The helicopter flew over close to the barn and landed on the north side in the barn’s shadow. Janet saw the helicopter was the smallest attack chopper in the service and the machine guns were not covered. She walked out and met Mike as he stepped out of the helicopter, “What have you done now?”

“What? No hello or anything.”

Janet shook her head, “Hello, Mike; how’s Tilly? Now what in the hell have you done?”

“She’s hiding out in the desert to avoid being killed by hit squads sent by the military.”

Janet smiled and then saw Mike wasn’t smiling. Her eyes narrowed and she said, “You’re serious?”

“There have been two attempts to kill both of us. Why don’t we go inside and I’ll tell you what’s going on.”

They turned and started moving toward the house. Mike started talking and Janet wondered what her former Commander had gotten himself in to.

• • •

Jameson looked up from the communications panel and saw Mamba walking toward him. His nervousness increased and hoped he hadn’t made a mistake. The tall black man looked at Jameson and wondered if pulling him in was a mistake. So far, the only one that appeared to really believe his organization existed was that cursed satellite operator; the President was not acting any differently than normal.

Mamba was about five feet ten inches tall and carried himself with a grace that gave him an air of danger. He was dangerous and could kill faster than one could imagine. He knew about the Black Mamba name given to him by those that feared him; he kind of liked it. However, no one would dare use it to his face. “Where did he go?”

“I’ve used every radar in the region and nothing has turned up.”

“He couldn’t just disappear.”

“Sir, that scout helicopter is one of the most remarkable aircraft ever developed. It’s got stealth technology to make it almost impossible to detect from the air and it can fly six inches off the ground at speeds over a hundred and fifty miles an hour. It has an enlarged fuel cell and can fly fifteen hundred miles on one tank. It’s armed to the teeth and is the perfect helicopter to use if one wants to be hidden.”

“You know where he was; you should be able to narrow down the search.”

“Sir, he just refueled at Red River. He could be anywhere from South Dakota to Acapulco, Mexico. Without satellites, we’re forced to search with radar and that helicopter can easily fly under their coverage.”

“He was headed east when he stopped at Red River. Perhaps you should narrow the search to that region.”

Jameson sighed, “He went to Red River because he suspected that no one at that base would be in our organization. I know him and he is brilliant. Red River doesn’t get the rising stars in the Army; it should have been closed two times now and no one in their right mind would want to be assigned to a base ranked that far down the list. He assumed we would not have someone there and he was right.”

“How did you locate him there?”

“One of my former subordinates set the refueling up. I had the information passed to me and we launched the Eagles to eliminate him an hour before his scheduled arrival.”

“Why did you have them return to base?”

Jameson knew this was the question that could get him killed. “Are we ready to come out into the open, Sir?”

“Not yet.”

“The helicopter arrived an hour and a half later than the scheduled time. The Eagles could not violate Red River’s air space without being reported to their base’s air controller. They were down on fuel and only had enough to make a couple of passes at the helicopter when it cleared Red River’s air space. They lost track of it before they could come in and hit it with a missile.”

“How is that possible!?!”

Jameson shook his head, “He took the helicopter directly over Interstate 30 and his heat signature was blended in with the traffic on the interstate. His heat signature is small without the added heat from traffic and he disappeared from the jet’s tracking systems. He left the highway at some point and landed the helicopter under a bridge, a large tree, or some other natural object that prevented it from being seen from the air. The Eagles were already late reporting back to their base and I decided we didn’t need those pilots brought in for questioning. We might need them in the future.”

“This helicopter sounds like something we could use.”

“Unfortunately, it’s only as good as the one flying it. I don’t know of many that could use it as effectively as Major Sanders.”

“You sound like you admire him. Educate me; how did he learn so much about flying a helicopter?”

Jameson now knew this dangerous man was not a reader. The answer to his question was in the computer. “He was a helicopter pilot in the Iraq war before he joined the satellite division. He was decorated three times and was considered the most skilled pilot in his unit.”

Mamba stared at Jameson and saw his fear, although he tried to hide it; he could sense it. “I’ll inform the Medusa of this. He has to show up somewhere and then we’ll end this.”

“Yes Sir; I’ll continue to look for him.”

“By the way.”

“Yes Sir.”

“We found our sniper.”

“Where?”

“He was frozen to death on top of the building where he was taking the shot. His rifle was missing and he was stripped naked and left to die. He appeared to have kept his mouth shut.”

“Do we know who killed him?”

“We suspect it was that Major. Government employees would not deliberately kill anyone. It appears that Major doesn’t have a problem with it.”

“He kept the faith, Sir.”

The Mamba laughed, “It’s easy to have faith when your family is the price for lack of it. Keep me informed of what you find.”

“Yes Sir.”

Jameson went back to his panel and wondered how he had ever agreed to work with this nest of vipers. He knew Mike would find the maps he placed at the bottom of the stack. No one should lose their wife for being a warrior. His wife had cancer and he couldn’t be with her in her most desperate hour of need. Soon, there would be no one to punish for any of his failures. He thought about that as he looked at the radar reports from the military bases on the East Coast.

• • •

Kyle Williams looked at General Branton and saw his anger. The General had been held incommunicado for weeks and he was furious. “Get over it, General.”

“Go pound sand!”

“You need to stop acting like an ignoranus.”

“A what?”

“Ignoranus, someone who’s stupid and an asshole. The President has asked me to discuss putting you back in command of the Joint Chiefs.”

“I won’t do it.”

“General, are you aware there is a secret organization within the Military that is plotting to overthrow the government of the United States?” Branton stared at Kyle and his disbelief was obvious. The car they were in was surrounded by an electric field that prevented any eavesdropping. It had rolled off the assembly line and was immediately taken to the White House where the President’s brother had installed the device. “I’m going to play a recording of my predecessor and I’d like you to tell me what you think.” Kyle pushed the play button on a recorder and Branton sneered, “Nothing is going to change my mind. An hour later, Branton sat in stunned silence as the car drove around Washington. “Are you part of this conspiracy, General?”

Branton sighed heavily, “If I were, I’d never admit it to you. However, for what it’s worth, I’m not.”

“We have it confirmed from two sources that you’re not.”

“I really find this difficult to believe.”

“I want you to read these reports about two attacks made on the Major you had brought in to question.” Branton took the folder and read through the details of the attacks and the follow up investigations. Branton read through the files in detail and then read them again. He looked at Kyle, who said, “The Major was almost attacked by two Air Force Eagles from Dyes Air Force Base when he refueled at Red River Army Ordinance Center.” Kyle stared at Branton, “Are you going to do your duty to prevent this from happening?”

“I really don’t have a choice. I’ve sworn to defend the Constitution. However, if that Major’s family was put in danger for working against them, my family will also be in harm’s way.”

“We’ll do all we can to protect them. We’ve moved them quietly and they understand it has to do with something you’re being asked to do.”

“How can they be safe if this organization is as widespread as these reports indicate?”

“They’ve been secretly taken to the Augusta National Golf Course in Georgia and are living in one of the cabins there. The course is closed for winter maintenance and they have been given new identities. They’re part of the crew working on the course. They can go out in Augusta to shop and live normally until this entire thing is over. We’ve changed their appearance and you wouldn’t recognize them if they stood in front of you.”

“How did you manage to do that? Even the President can’t get on that course.”