For the first time since this began, the Secret Service agents around me began to relax. They put away their weapons and sighed and sagged into their seats. "WOULD SOMEBODY PLEASE TELL ME WHAT IS GOING ON!?", I demanded.
An agent came out from a compartment in the front and stepped in front of me. "Sir, a short while ago, at 8:44, a plane crashed into the World Trade Center, the North Tower, where President Bush is. A short while later another one hit the South Tower."
Memories from my first life came rushing back to me. I think every American who was alive that day remembers where they were and what they were doing when they learned the horror of what was happening. When the news began hitting the airwaves at about 8:50 I was just pulling into the parking lot at Lefleur Homes, and thinking that it was a small plane, a Cessna or Piper. I sat there listening to it for a minute, and I remembered that back during World War II a B-25 had flown into the Empire State Building. That couldn't happen anymore, though. Modern planes had radar and all sorts of navigational aids. Then, a few minutes later the news of the second hit, and that they were airliners, not little planes, meant it was terrorism, not accidents.
I remember afterwards sitting in my office listening to the radio all day in shock and disbelief. I got nothing at all accomplished. I was so shocked by it all that a day later I apologized to my brother-in-law Gabriel, my boss in sales at the time, for not getting anything done the day before, even though he had already told me he hadn't gotten anything done either. None of us did that day. Around lunchtime, one of my fellow adjunct teachers over at MVCC drove over and told me classes were shut down for the day, and I didn't have to teach that night. We were both stunned, and we both mentioned that it must have been like when our parents heard on the radio that Pearl Harbor had been bombed. It was the closest thing anybody could come up with.
I stared at the guy for a second, both in shock and trying to hide my lack of shock. "What?!"
"Sir, two airliners, jets as big as this one, have slammed into the Twin Towers in New York. The President is trapped in them." Then he held his hand to the earbud in his ear. "What ... say again ... Oh, sweet Jesus!" He looked up in horror at us. "Another one just took out the Pentagon!"
The other guys just stared at each other, white faced. "Where are we going?", I asked.
The guy who was listening to his earbud seemed to be in charge. "Sir, that is classified information."
"Excuse me?", I asked incredulously.
"Sir, where you are at a time like this is classified."
"Who the hell am I going to tell?", I demanded. "I'm on the plane with you! Now, where are we going?" I looked out the window but simply saw white clouds below us, and occasional glimpses of blue.
"Sir, that is classified. We will stay here and then land at an undisclosed location."
Unbelievable! The mind set of these people! "Well, mister, you can damn well disclose it to me! I'm the Vice President. I need to know!"
"No, sir, that is not in the ops plan."
"Jesus Christ!", I muttered to myself. This was ridiculous! I stood up and brushed past him and headed towards the cockpit.
"Sir, sir! You can't ... STOP!", he demanded.
I was grabbed from behind by the Secret Service agent, who dragged me back. "I DEMAND TO SEE THE PILOT!", I roared.
An Air Force type noticed me being dragged back towards my seat, and grabbed a phone and began speaking into it. Moments after I was pushed down into my seat, an Air Force colonel showed up in shirt sleeves. He stared at us for a second and said, "Mister Vice President, I'm Colonel North. I'm the pilot. You asked to see me?"
The lead agent said, "Colonel, this does not concern you. You need to return to the cockpit and proceed with the mission as authorized."
"Colonel! I demand to know those orders!", I told him.
"Colonel North, you are to continue the mission.", said the agent.
The colonel took one look at them and then at me, and said, "Like hell. Let that man up now, or so help me God I'll ... I'll ... just let him up! Unless you've suddenly learned how to fly an airplane, I'm in charge here!"
Hands left me, and I shrugged loose. "Colonel, are you aware of what is occurring in New York and Washington?"
"Yes sir, I am."
"Do you recognize me as the Vice President of the United States of America?"
"Of course, Mister Buckman. What can I do for you?", he replied.
"Where are we currently and what is our course? We need to get back to Washington immediately!"
"Colonel, this is a classified mission and you cannot reveal our destination!", ordered the lead Secret Service agent.
"Good Lord!", muttered the pilot. "I can't tell other people, you twit! I can certainly tell the people on the plane!" To me he said, "Sir, we are currently over the Atlantic Ocean, about 75 miles east of Jacksonville, and circling to hold position. We will maintain position here for another two hours and then we will be heading towards Omaha. We will be landing at Offut Air Force Base."
"Colonel, you may consider yourself under arrest at this time.", said the lead agent.
Colonel North simply rolled his eyes and muttered in disbelief. I shook my head in disgust and said, "Thank you. Now, Colonel, I am countermanding those orders. We need to get back to Washington immediately. Put us into Andrews as soon as possible, please."
Everybody's eyes popped open at that. North replied, "Sir, despite what this fool thinks, there is a very good reason to keep you away from Washington in case of an attack."
I nodded in agreement. "Colonel, that would be very true in the case of either a conventional or special weapons attack. However, nobody capable of such an attack would be using airliners as a weapon. This is terrorism of some sort, and you know it. Now, are you aware that the President is currently in the Twin Towers?" Colonel North was part of the 89th Airlift Wing, the wing assigned to do flight duties for bigwigs in D.C., including the President; he would know where the President was. He nodded. "Then he is either already dead or is about to die."
There was a collective gasp at that from everyone around me. "Sir, you don't know what you're saying!", said North.
"Colonel, what is your degree in? Engineering? How much fuel does an airliner carry? How many tons of avgas have been splashed into those buildings? What temperature will those buildings be burning at? It is simple physics. Those buildings will not survive."
The pilot had a horrified look of comprehension on his face and slowly nodded. "And when the temperature gets high enough, the structural steel..."
I finished for him. "The structural steel will soften and lose strength and the building will collapse."
"Colonel, I am ordering you to continue the mission! President Bush will be rescued and will be able to alter these orders at that time.", ordered the lead agent.
Just at that moment somebody yelled out, "It's gone! One of the towers collapsed!"