“They’re just poor rabble-rousers,” said Chastain. “Poverty’s the problem with all of these people.”
“No one is poor in Brunei,” said Kelly.
“And they have the Megafortress,” added Jed. “It is not a weapon we’d want in terrorists’ hands.”
“Absolutely not,” said the president. “At the minimum, we want to take it back or destroy it.”
“And the maximum?” asked Chastain.
“The maximum is what we’re here to discuss,” the president told him.
Chapter 46
The new orders came just as they were boarding the planes. Dog pulled Danny aside on the apron near the hangar a few feet from the MC-17. Danny’s men — along with two small scout helicopters and Dreamland’s mobile command trailer — were already aboard Dreamland’s version of the versatile McDonnell Douglas cargo plane.
“Brunei’s going all to hell,” Dog told him. ‘The Megafortress is at the International Airport in the capital. Mack Smith can’t be located at the moment. The president wants to make sure the terrorists don’t operate the aircraft.”
“We going to blow it up?” asked Danny.
“It may come to that, depending on the situation,” said Dog. “There’s been some contact with Prince bin Awg, who’s asked for the aircraft to be preserved if not recovered. The president wants us to scope out the situation and destroy the plane only if necessary. I’d like to see exactly what’s going on.”
“What about Deci Gordon?”
“He’s hiding with some people outside the capital. He called into our center a while ago. He seems okay for now. I’ve spoken to Breanna by phone,” Dog added. “She’s in Tokyo. She’ll be joining us in the Philippines.”
Dog explained that, rather than going to Brunei International Airport as they had planned, the Megafortresses and MC-17 would land at a Philippines airfield, using it as a temporary base.
“I’ll take Pennsylvania and do a survey of Brunei as soon as we arrive,” continued Dog. “We’ll check the oil platform we were going to use as the LADS base, double-checking that it’s okay. If possible, we’ll operate the helicopters out of there.”
“I don’t know if that’s going to work,” said Danny. “The platform doesn’t have a dedicated helipad.”
“Then we may have to improvise. You told me the structure of the building had been designed for a landing deck, it just wasn’t installed.”
“The plans say that. We’ll have to get in and check it before we can land.”
“Then that’s what we’ll do.”
“If we’re going to get people off the island, we should land directly at the airfield,” said Danny.
“Not until we know what the situation is,” Dog told him. “And I doubt we could hold it with just the Whiplash team”
“Where’s the navy?” asked Danny.
“There’s a carrier group several days away. They won’t be offshore and in a position to conduct operations until the end of next week. This has caught everyone by surprise, including us.
“We’ll get some satellite intelligence over to the MC-17 via the Dreamland network,” added Dog. “It’s daytime over there right now. By the time we get over there with the travel time and time change, it’ll be late at night.”
“Understood,” said Danny. “We’ll try to sleep on the flight over”
Dog was piloting Pennsylvania, an AWACS-equipped radar version of the EB-52, which was also carrying two Flighthawk U/MF-3s strapped to her wings. The robot planes would be piloted by Zen, who was already in his specially adapted seat on the Flighthawk control deck on the Megafortress’s lower level. The area had once been used by the B-52’s offensive team; Zen sat roughly where the navigator would have had his post before the aircraft was overhauled.
Kevin McNamara, Dog’s copilot, was going through the preflight checklists with the help of the computer when Dog slipped into the driver’s seat next to him.
“Welcome aboard, Colonel,” said McNamara. “We’re just about ready to give these turbines a twist and see what they can do.”
Across from the Pennsylvania sat the Indianapolis, getting a last minute check from the ground crew. The “Indy “ — like the “Penn,” named after a famous battleship — was an almost mirror image of the Pennsylvania, with a long snout and a slight bulge for her radar gear about midship. Indy had not yet seen action, but the man at the helm, Major Merce Alou, was a veteran of several Dreamland deployments. The two Flighthawk pilots — Starship and Kick, who would each control one U/MF-3 — had done themselves proud over the South China Sea and Taiwan barely a month before.
Dog glanced across at the other plane’s lit cockpit and saw Major Alou. He gave him a thumbs-up and got one in return.
“Let’s get this show on the road,” he told McNamara, punching up the computer screen that controlled the engine start.
Chapter 47
Sahurah watched quietly as the brothers brought the limp bodies to the shaded area at the side of the sultan’s compound, composing them respectfully.
Commander Besar was brought up last. The blast that had killed him had struck him in the back and neck, nearly severing his head from his body. The men who set him down were grim-faced; one appeared to be near tears. Sahurah considered scolding them, for surely Besar was now at bliss in Paradise.
If so great a sinner as Besar could find peace, why could Sahurah not?
“Cars!” said one of the men near the front of the compound, relaying the word from a lookout.
Sahurah left the others to care for the bodies and went out to the front. Three vehicles came up the drive. The first and last were filled with heavily armed men, crammed four across, front and back.
The middle car contained the imam and the Saudi. The imam pushed open the door and got out with a smile. “You have done well, Sahurah. So well!” he shouted, and he clasped Sahurah to his chest.
“The brothers have done their duty,” said Sahurah.
“And you remain humble!”
The imam seemed to be chiding him. But did the Prophet not direct a believer to know his proper place, to master overweening pride? If the great patriarchs, if the rulers and teachers had not boasted, how could such as Sahurah?
“We have not found the sultan,” reported Sahurah. “He escaped from the compound during the fighting.”
“A small matter in the context,” said the imam, waving his hand. “The capital is ours. Within a few days, we will control the entire country. The future is great, Sahurah”
“Yes”
“More work remains,” said the imam. “But we must give praise to Allah for the triumphs so far.”
“Yes” Sahurah saw now that he had denied the Lord his just thanks, and felt ashamed.
“I have heard that an American was taken prisoner at the airport,” said the commander.
“I was not aware of that,” said Sahurah. “My work has been here”
“Yes. It would be good if you were to take charge of him. He may prove valuable in the future. He was the head of the sultan’s air force.”
“I will look into it immediately.”
“There are anti-aircraft missiles there,” added the commander. “A crew has been sent from Malaysia to train our people to use them. You should select some of your best men to learn. There may be a counter-attack.”
“Understood.”
“We will have control of the nation very shortly,” said the commander. “Very shortly.”