W. Griffin - By Order of the President

And now I'm supposed to go back in there and tell him, "Sorry, a little problem has come up"?

The first thing he's going to do is order an evacuation of Center City and go on television to tell the people there is a genuine threat of an airliner crashing into the Liberty Bell.

"Sir, are you still there?" Castillo asked.

"Hang on a minute, Charley, while I think," Secretary Hall said.

He looked at Sergeant Betty Schneider again.

"You believe this Philadelphia connection, Sergeant?"

"Yes, sir. It seems to fit."

"I'm going back in the mayor's office and tell him and Commissioner Kellogg that I have to go back to Washington immediately," Hall said, carefully. "To the White House."

She nodded.

"Tom, have them get the airplane ready," Hall ordered.

McGuire turned his back and spoke softly into a microphone in the lapel of his jacket.

"Inasmuch as I still believe the situation is under control, that we will be able to neutralize the airplane, I am not going to tell the mayor of this development," Hall said. He let that sink in a moment. "Sergeant, I would like an escort to the airport. I have to get there as quickly as possible."

"I'll be happy to give you an escort, Mr. Secretary," Betty Schneider said.

"If on the way to the airport, Sergeant, I told you I thought it would be helpful if you went to Washington with me, what would your reaction be? Please take a moment to think over your answer."

Betty Schneider pursed her lips and exhaled audibly.

"You understand, I think, what I'm asking, and why," Hall added.

She nodded.

"Major Castillo does have a way of upsetting the apple cart, doesn't he?" she asked, softly. "Just when you think things are under control, up he pops."

Joel Isaacson chuckled.

"Mr. Secretary," Sergeant Schneider said. "My orders from Chief Inspector Kramer are to provide you with any support you asked for. If you asked me to go with you to Washington, I'm sure I would go."

"Thank you," Secretary Hall said.

He put the secure telephone to his ear again.

"Charley?"

"Yes, sir?"

"You don't know where in Costa Rica?"

"No, sir. But according to Colonel Torine there are only two airports in the country that'll take a 727: hold one, sir."

"Now what?" Hall snapped, impatiently.

"Sir, Mr: my friend tells me that he is working on a positive location and should have it shortly. He said to tell you he's doing the very best he can."

"Tell him thank you," Hall said, and then went on: "Charley, I'm on my way to the White House. Stay close by the phone. I strongly suspect that our boss is going to want to talk to you."

"Sir, I was about to head for Costa Rica."

"And while you're doing that, you'll be out of touch?"

"It's about seven hundred miles from here. Figure an hour and a half in the air and thirty minutes to shut down the radio here and get to the airport. I'll be out of touch for a little over two hours, sir."

"You really think you have to go there yourself? Can't we get the CIA or Meade to find the airplane for us?"

"I think it would be best if I went myself, sir."

Yeah, and so do I. When the CIA learns that based on flawed information from them, Gray Fox is about to violate the sacred territory of Suriname and neutralize – probably blow up – a perfectly legitimate airplane, Langley's first reaction is going to be denial, and, way down the pike, taking action – maybe – to fix the problem.

"Get back in touch as soon as you can."

"Yes, sir. Of course."

Secretary Hall put the handset back in its cradle.

"Miller, I want you to come with us," he ordered.

"Yes, sir."

Hall started for the door to the mayor's office.

"I won't be long," he said.

[TWO]

Penthouse "B"

The Grande Cozumel Beach and Golf Resort

Cozumel, Mexico

1022 10 June 2005

"Okay, Sherman, get General McNab again," Castillo ordered.

Five seconds later, Sherman reported, "The link is down, Major."

"Oh, shit!" Castillo said. "Get Bragg and see if they know why."

"Already working on it, sir," Sherman said, and almost immediately, "I'm getting some green LEDs on General McNab, Major: Okay, sir, we're all up."

"General McNab, please," Castillo said into the headset.

"And now what, Major Castillo?" McNab himself answered.

"General, we have confirmation of what I told you before. It's now almost certain that the stolen airplane has been repainted with the color scheme of Costa Rican Air Transport, which regularly flies into Philadelphia with flowers from Costa Rica, and they intend to:"

"You did say," McNab interrupted, "did you not, Major, 'flies into Philadelphia with flowers from Costa Rica'?"

"Yes, sir, that's what I said. Flowers grown in Costa Rica and sold in supermarkets in the States. They go through customs in Tampa:"

"How convenient for General Naylor and CentCom. They can just hop in a couple of Humvees, drive over to Tampa International, and neutralize it there."

"Please, sir, let me finish."

"Why not?"

"Where they can top off the tanks and then file a flight plan-a domestic flight plan-to Philadelphia."

"And how are they going to explain to the customs people in Tampa why they are carrying so much fuel in U.S. Army fuel bladders?"

"I don't know, sir," Castillo confessed.

"What was Secretary Hall's reaction to this fascinating scenario? You did tell him?"

"Yes, sir. He told me he's on his way to Washington. To the White House."

"And?"

"That's all, sir."

"You probably won't have a security clearance much longer so I probably shouldn't be telling you this, but, for auld lang syne, with warm memories of happier times, I will. I have received further orders from General Naylor. I am immediately to proceed to a field near Kwakoegron, Suriname, there to hold myself in readiness to neutralize an Air Suriname 727 when ordered to do so. In compliance with these orders, I am presently, I would estimate, about forty or fifty miles south of Hurlburt Field, over the Gulf of Mexico."

"Yes, sir."

"Keep in touch, Charley. McNab out."

"It would appear, Charley," Alex Pevsner said as Castillo laid the headset on the table, "that no one seems willing to call off the plan to neutralize the wrong airplane in Suriname."

"Once something like that is started, it's hard to call it off," Castillo said. "The only one who can overrule General Naylor is the secretary of defense. He's not going to take what I think over the

"Especially since the source of your information is an infamous Russian criminal?" Pevsner asked.

"Secretary Hall doesn't feel that way," Castillo said. "You heard what he said. And he's going to see the president:"

"And you think the president, looking at NSA photographs of an Air Suriname 727 on the field at Zandery, and with confirmation from a CIA man on the ground, is liable to decide that-how did that general describe you earlier?-'an Army officer assigned to Special Operations at Central Command'-is right and they're wrong? Especially since he knows I'm the source of your information?"

"When I get on the radio and say, 'I'm in Zippity Do Dah, Costa Rica'-or wherever the hell it is-'looking at the airplane,' they're going to have to pay attention." He touched Sergeant Sherman's shoulder. "Pack it up, Sergeant. We're going to Costa Rica."

"Hold it a minute, Castillo," Colonel Torine said. "Before you shut down the link. What if I got on there to General McFadden and tell him I think-I'm sure-you're right?" He paused, and added, "We go back a long way."

Castillo met his eyes.

"The most probable thing that would happen if we contacted anybody at MacDill would be that you would be ordered to place me under arrest and bring me to MacDill. I don't want to put you in that spot. But thank you, sir." He paused, and added, "Colonel, I think the best thing for you to do is escape from this drunk-out-of-his-mind-with-authority-he-doesn't-have lunatic, go to the airport, and hop on a commercial flight to Tampa."