Robert Smith - The Planner

“Holly Cow!” he exclaimed. “Synchronised explosions? We’re in shit creek!”

The other fire fighter nodded sternly and kept walking upwards.

* * * *

About this time, a rotund black man ran into the Mayor’s Emergency Management Office inside WTC7. Barry Jennings 160was a civil servant responding as expected by his training, burst into the WTC7 Emergency Management Office but found no one there. Although there was a steaming cup of coffee and papers on the desks; obviously people had just left.

He did not take long to decide that he too would evacuate. Barry took the emergency stairs down from the 20th floor. About half way down, a bomb marked “WTC7-7-1” strapped to a pillar inside the elevator shaft, started to vibrate as it received its computer controlled signal to explode. The cell phone device took just a few microseconds to identify the security code it had received to activate the detonator. The Komatsu-Dresser termite bomb efficiently fulfilled its mission; the stairs two floors below Barry were blown to pieces. He fell back, amazingly unharmed by the blast, but tumbled down the stairs and nearly fell into the gapping hole created by the explosion.

* * * *

Captain Ochre’s eyes widen, “Now there are cell phone calls going out from the aircraft! From 77!”

“How can that happen?” gasped Nicholas.

“It’s from us. I switched on the internal CDMA Transceiver. We’re now acting as a base-station transceiver. The calls are hopping from the planes following us over to our satellite link.”

“Talk English!” snapped Bates.

“The calls are connecting up through our network link!” retorted Ochre. Various jaws were dropping in the Command Room. Ochre punched a few keys. “Ok, I’ve blotted out the calls from 77 and suppressing them. Hopefully there’s no reaction from the ground.” Softly to Planner he added, “After our previous chat about cell phones, I switched it on. Sorry I wasn’t thinking.”

Bates snarled, “I’ll alert the crew management team.”

Planner said quietly with edge, “Crew management? This isn’t part of the plan either…”

Indigo was also indignant, “There shouldn’t be any calls from 77… except my pre-arranged calls. There shouldn’t be anybody onboard!”

Bates sarcastically replied, “Well, we all know that some of you are delicate little flowers… firewalled off from some of life’s harsher realities.”

Planner said cautiously, “So… you’ve loaded some ordinary Joes onto the aircraft?”

Bates said, “Fake stories and legends always unravel; we needed real victims. You should know that. Hey, you wanted better legends…”

Planner said, “And he flight crews?”

“Being managed, yes,” said Bates in a superior tone. This meant that the crew had no idea of the mission they were involved in; a CIA team would have exclusive communication with the flight crew and were following their instructions through an encrypted communication channel.

Planner looked over to Purple, when he responded to Bates, “And tidied up back at base?”

Purple nodded uncertainly.

Indigo interrupted softly but shaking to contain his anger, “Not only more collateral damage but this could upset everything; the manifests, back-story. This is completely reckless.”

Planner reassured him, “Spin it out, Indigo. In the meantime, Bates, I need a word. Colonel Nicholas, can you delay the air force further?”

“Sure,” said Nicholas, cracking his knuckles.

“How?” asked Planner.

“The Commander in Chief will er… be in his car, 161” said Nicholas airily.

Planner and Bates walked out of the control room watched intently by Purple.

* * * *

In Montanna, the state governor, Judy Martz, was on a podium at the start of FEMA State Emergency Managers meeting in Montana where there are about 200 attendees.

“It’s my pleasure to welcome FEMA Director, Joseph Allbaugh, and senior representatives from the emergency management agencies of 47 states, to Montana. For this conference organised by the National Emergency Management Association,” said Martz.

A cell phone started to ring. She peered at the person with offending phone. “The subject for today,” she continued as a pager went off, “is the issue of terrorism and weapons of mass destruction.” Four more cell phone started ringing and along with several pagers. Martz continued genially over the noise, “Not something we know too much about in my State…”

At that point there was a cacophony of cell phones and pagers. A young man raced onto the stage and alerted Martz to the news, who looked shocked. She later declared a state of emergency and an exclusion zone around the conference center, fearing for the lives of the FEMA State Emergency Managers. 162

* * * *

Planner and Bates entered the E4-B’s Small Conference Room.

“So, Bates. Are you going to explain the flight crew management?” said Planner trying, but failing, to achieve a pleasant tone of voice.

“Just a little improvement since we were rather short of flight crew we could trust. The job was delegated to me, if you remember,” said Bates innocently.

“How many other improvements do you have? Faster tower collapses, real victims, your own escape?” needled Planner.

Bates paused momentarily, “You know, that is quite insightful, Robert. But really I wasn’t expecting these improvements to change the plans.”

“Because you’ve run them past the COG?” said Planner in a mocking tone.

“Right… Hey, you’re not forgetting the big picture here, Planner? The time for worrying about collateral damage has long gone,” Bates said expansively.

Colonel Purple burst into the room, angrily, “If you two ladies have finished, we have some unfinished business to attend to.”

Bates smiled and left the room, walking past Purple.

When Planner was close, Purple whispered angrily, “The president is about to do a TV address! He’s a sitting duck! I just heard through security channels that a foriegn TV crew tried to see him earlier; an unscheduled visit! They were let in, nearly got through. They may have been assassins! 163”

“Maybe someone has a plan for a Coup D’etat. Let’s hope we’re not part of it,” sighed Planner.

Purple’s eyes widened!

* * * *

In his impromptu television address from the Emma E. Booker Elementary School, Sarasota, surrounded by kids and teachers, President Bush called for two minutes silence for the dead. However the vast majority of the people that were to die that day were at that time, still alive within in the burning World Trade Center towers.

In the North Tower, a woman stood and waved from the impact point hole. Below her were dozens of faces pressed against the windows on the North Tower.

Meanwhile, evacuation of the South Tower was going smoothly. Thousands of office workers were streaming out of the building including the workers from the 97th floor. They had found a staircase that took them past the impact zone floors. Some in the South Tower also tried to exit onto the roof but, just like the North Tower, found the roof exit doors locked. On the ground floor, fire fighters continued to arrive, strapping on equipment to walk up the 70 floors to the impact zone.

One fire fighter shouted to another above the screech of the fire alarm, “There’s secondary explosions in the north tower.”

The other fire fighter shouted back, “Explosions? You’re sure?”

“That’s what they say,” replied the first. “They’re professionals, aren’t they?”

The second fire fighter shrugged “Right.” He looked up with a grim expression, “Shit.” He tightened up a belt and announced grimly, “Let’s get going, I suppose.”