Dale Brown - Sky Masters

“Nothing, ” the driver said. Underneath the blue uniform, he wore a T-shirt with palm trees on it, khaki shorts, and white tennis socks; he replaced the spit-shined shoes with tennis shoes. He looked like a tourist from any number of Asian or European countries. Gripping the .45 in his right hand, he glanced nervously at his watch, leaned through the dividing window between the compartments, and said, “I know your embassy tracks all its vehicles by microtransmitter, so I will not stay any longer. I have a message from Second Vice President General Samar. “Samar!” O’Day exclaimed. “Is he still alive? Is he in hiding…?” Samar had disappeared the day Mikaso had been killed. It had been assumed Samar was dead, too. “Silence, ” the man said; then, realizing he might have sounded too demanding, added, “Please.” Then, “General Samar requests help from your government to relieve Davao on the island of Mindanao. He is resisting the Chinese invaders but cannot hold on for much longer-Puerto Princesa and Zamboanga have fallen, and Cotabato and Davao will be next… “If Samar wants help, ” O’Day told the man, “he had better stop playing hide-and-seek and take control of the government. The non-Communist citizens will follow him, but everyone thinks he’s dead…”

“He may be dead if you do not help, ” the agent said. “We need more than just…”

“Silence. I have stayed too long already. Listen carefully. General Samar says that the Ranger carrier battle group will be attacked by Chinese air forces from Zamboanga if they attempt to enter the Celebes Sea.”

“What? How in hell do you know that ?” “General Samar is on Mindanao, organizing his people and his resistance forces. He is carefully monitoring the Chinese military’s movements and communications, and he concludes that on the first of October-Revolution Day-Admiral Yin Po L’un’s forces will attack any foreign military forces that attempt to pass near Mindanao.”

“But that’s crazy, ” O’Day’s aide said. “The Chinese wouldn’t be stupid enough to attack an American carrier. . “I will not debate you. The General has risked his life to bring this information to you-in exchange, he officially requests military and humanitarian aid from the United States. Please help. Contact him at this number immediately. Do not alert your embassy by radio or telephone; there are spies everywhere.” The man reached down and hit the button to unlock the trunk. “Your guard will awaken in ten to fifteen minutes; he will release you then. Do not attempt to follow r” Please help my people.” The man raised the dividing glass screen, stepped out of the car, and ran as fast as he could away from the hotel; they saw him throw the gun into a ditch before he ran out of sight. minutes; he will release you then. Do not attempt to follow me. Please help my people.” The man raised the dividing glass screen, stepped out of the car, and ran as fast as he could away from the hotel; they saw him throw the gun into a ditch before he ran out of sight. ANDERSEN AIR FORCE BASE, GUAM 30 SEPTEMBER 1994, 2331 HOURS LOCAL (29 SEPTEMBER, 0931 WASHINGTON TIME) hey had kept the landing lights off until seconds before Ttouc~~own. The only lights on around the entire base were the runway-end identifier lights and blue taxiway lightsall “ball park” lights on the parking ramps, exterior lights, and streetlights near the runway were out. Looking from the cockpit, the entire northern part of the island of Guam appeared as dark and as deserted as the thousands of miles of ocean they had just crossed. The aircraft, as black as the tropical night sky from which it descended, used the runway closest to the parking area and did not touch down until nearly halfway down the two-milelong runway at Andersen Air Force Base so it would spend as little time as possible exposed to view while taxiing. At the end of the runway, it taxied rapidly across the wide north ramp to a row of large hangars and pulled straight into the first one. The hangar doors were closed behind it seconds later as the engines were shut down. Security patrols began an immediate sweep of the area, using dogs and lightintensifying night-vision equipment to search for intruders. The interior of the huge hangar brightly illuminated the M1 ii sleek, bat-shaped outline of the B-2 Black Knight stealth bomber. Maintenance crews checked the aircraft and immediately began opening inspection and access panels. A few moments later the belly hatch swung open and three men climbed down the access ladder. As Major Henry Cobb, Lieutenant Colonel Patrick McLanahan, and Brigadier General John Ormack emerged from the huge black bomber, General Elliott, General Stone, Jon Masters, and Colonel Fusco were there to greet them. “Good to see you guys, Elliott said, shaking each of their hands and handing each of them a beer. “We’re damned glad to be here, ” Cobb exclaimed. “My butt is wondering if my legs have been cut off.” All three aviators looked completely exhausted and thoroughly rumpled, but their smiles were genuine as Elliott made introductions all around. The formalities of every military flight still had to be accomplished, so Elliott and the others waited patiently as Cobb and McLanahan completed their postflight walkaround inspection of the bomber and sat down with several aircraft-maintenance technicians to explain the few glitches found during flight. Afterward they were taken to a conference room at the command post, where sandwiches, more beer, and several other members of Stone’s staff were waiting to greet them. “I must say, this is a pretty impressive showing, ” Rat Stone said after the three crew members were settled down. “Deploying a B-2 from South Dakota to Guam with only three hours’ notice, then flying nonstop all the way. So what’s it like to spend nearly seventeen hours straight in a stealth bomber?”

“The first ten aren’t too bad, sir, ” Ormack replied with a tired grin. “Henry made the takeoff and the first two refuelings, but I was too wired to sleep. We switched just past Hawaii. When we got out of radio range of Hawaii, it was absolute murder to stay awake until the next refueling-near Wake Island, as it so happens. The last four hours were the worsttoo keyed up to sleep, too tired to concentrate, having to make those timing orbits so we wouldn’t land too early and get our pictures taken by the Chinese spy satellites. I’m too old for these butt-busting missions.”

“Well, you did good, ” Elliott said. “You landed right on time-the Chinese bird should be passing overhead right about now. Unless there’s a sub out there we haven’t found yet, we may have pulled this off-deploying a stealth bomber seven thousand miles in total secrecy. How’s the bomber look?”

“Everything’s in the green, ” McLanahan said. “We brought spares for most of the critical components, and we have the computerized blueprints on the PACER SKY mod installation.” He turned to Jon Masters and said, “The system was working like a charm, Doctor Masters. We were able to monitor some of the Ranger battle group clear as day. The NIRTSats found a few Chinese ships operating in the Celebes, but I don’t think there’s going to be a problem with them as long as we stay clear of them.”

“That’s exactly what we intend to do, ” Stone said. “We got a cryptic but urgent report from the State Department that the Chinese Navy might try something against the fleet if we move into the Celebes Sea, so except for the RC-135 overflight-and he’s been instructed to stay at extreme sensor range from any Chinese vessels-we’re staying well away. “Well, the RC was still a few hours from on-station, but he should have the Chinese ships’ position from the NIRTSat-he shouldn’t have any problem staying out of the way. I recorded the NIRTSat transmissions, and we can download it from the memory banks right away.” McLanahan stifled a big yawn, finished the rest of his beer, then added, “Rather, you can. I’ve got to get some sleep.” ABOARD THE RC-135x RADAR RECONNAISSANCE PLANE OVER THE CELEBES SEA, SOUTHERN PHILIPPINES SATURDAY, 1 OCTOBER 1994, 0121 HOURS LOCAL (30 SEPTEMBER, 1221 EASTERN TIME) From thirty thousand feet, the radar aboard the RC-135X radar reconnaissance aircraft could pick out the dense clusters of islands, atolls, and coral reefs of the Sulu Archipelago. At the very tip of the peninsula was the area that most of the ten radar operators on the RC- 135 reconnaissance aircraft were concentrating on. In the center of the converted Boeing 707 airliner was the command station, where Colonel Rachel Blanchard and her deputy, Captain Samuel Fruntz, sat poring over a stack of four-color charts. “Look at this, ” Fruntz remarked, pointing at the tip of the Zamboanga peninsula. “Not very subtle, are they? A whole line of vessels stretching from the North Balabac Strait to Zamboanga.” He compared the image to another chart. “Checks right on with that NIRTSat printout we received from Andersen. That PACER SKY satellite is far out.” Blanchard looked at her younger deputy and rolled her eyes. Fruntz, Blanchard thought, was another “techie” who believed that, whatever the newest technology was, it had to be better than any of the “older” technology, even if the older technology was only a few years old. Blanchard had been in the reconnaissance business for twelve years, mostly as pilot or copilot flying EC- and RC- 135 aircraft for the Strategic Air Command-this was only her second tour as recce section commander-and she had been dismayed at the new emphasis on space-based reconnaissance systems, or “gadgets” as she called them. Even the latest high-tech satellites had serious limitations that only well-equipped planes like the RC- 135 or the newer EC-18s could overcome. Blanchard had flown or seen just about every one of the sixty different iterations of the C- 135 special mission I reconnaissance/intelligence-gathering aircraft. The RC-135X, nicknamed “Rivet Joint, ” was the latest and best of the older RCseries aircraft; the newer series was designated EC- 18 and was a hundred times more cosmic than even the RC- models. Rivet Joint had been designed to map out precise locations of coastal enemy air-defense sites for targeting by Short-Range Attack Missiles or cruise missiles that armored long-range bomber aircraft. By combining sensitive radiation sensors with powerful radar and infrared images, one Rivet Joint aircraft could update three thousand miles of coastal air-defense sites in one day. Blanchard used to fly reconnaissance missions in conjunction with SR-7 1 Blackbird spy planes-the SR-7 1 would fly “Radar four reports surface contact, ” one of the radar operators suddenly called out. “Slow velocity… now showing ten knots, heading westbound.”