Scott gave Master Chief Slocum an overview of their situation, and then described the ambush and gunfight in Pensacola and the bomb-induced crash landing at Cherry Point. While Dalton and Slocum had coffee and discussed security details for the Lear, Jackie requested Flight Level 390 and then eased the corporate jet up to its cruising altitude. Once the power was set and everything was stabilized, she used the cockpit-mounted Global Flitefone to call Merrick Hamilton at her hotel to reaffirm their morning meeting in Denver.
Passing north of Cape Girardeau, Missouri, ackie looked to her right and studied the bustling city of St. Louis. The stainless steel Gateway Arch was easily visible in the bright morning sunshine. She responded to a radio frequency change for Kansas City Center and then turned to Scott when Slocum returned to his seat.
"You haven't said much about the refresher course in that — what do you call it — a pogo jet?" she teased.
He quietly laughed. "There isn't much to say."
"Did everything go okay?"
"It went great — no problem."
"Seriously."
"It's like riding a bicycle and all the other cliches that—"
"Except if you fall over in a Harrier, you're roasted in a giant fireball."
"Well," Scott said as he turned to her and peered over the top rim of his sunglasses, "you certainly have a way with words."
"Since I have to fly in the back, I'd like to know if you're comfortable in the front. Yes or no?"
"Very comfortable. How about you?"
"Truthfully?"
"Of course."
"It scared the hell out of me."
"If it's any consolation, I felt the same way my first couple of flights in it — the intimidation factor."
"The refresher flights?"
"No." Scott smiled broadly. "When I first transitioned into the beast, back in my other life."
When Hartwell Prost reentered the president's office, conversation ceased and all eyes turned to him. He calmly sat down and placed a sheet of paper on the table.
President Macklin turned to his most trusted adviser. "Bad news?"
"Actually, it's breaking news on two fronts."
"Let's have it."
"Our sources in China, both U.S. agents and our Chinese operatives, have irrefutable evidence that the China Xinjiang Airlines plane that went down in the Yellow Sea was full of political activists and prominent members of dissident groups."
Everyone in the room seemed to freeze momentarily. "Beijing's increasingly insecure leadership is taking a severe toll on all of the opposition groups and the individual critics of Liu Fan-ding's regime. Others out of favor include nine former leaders in the Chinese Democracy Party and more than a dozen members of the Falun Gong Buddhist spiritual movement. They died in the crash, along with many other human-rights critics. Our people in Beijing say the situation hasn't been this bad since Tiananmen Square."
"It may well be the beginning of a new crackdown," Pete Adair suggested. "Sounds like the Party could be returning to its old ways."
"He's right," Les Chalmers said. "As we know, the Chinese have no desire to think or act like Western society. They have long been governed by absolutist rule. Their contempt for Western contact and influence dates back to the nineteenth century."
Prost nodded in agreement.
Chalmers shifted in his chair. "If Liu Fan-ding is concernedparanoid — about the stability of his regime, he may have given the order to terminate the rapidly expanding free-enterprise system in China. We've already seen many Chinese entrepreneurs leave the country while it's still possible. They fear that at some point Liu Fan-ding will lump them together with the activists and dissidents."
Prost acknowledged the general. "True, and the historical record of China and her dictators doesn't indicate a yearning for a free-market society. What we're seeing may be a plan to end the enterprise experiment with a concerted effort to combine enforced political loyalty with military expansionism — always a recipe for disaster."
Prost scribbled a note to himself. The two pilots and the flight attendants were sacrificial lambs for the good of the masses.
The president had a question. "How can they be certain about the passengers aboard the Chinese airliner that crashed — their identities?"
"Many of the bodies were recovered and positively identified. Some of China's most notorious and vocal political dissidents and activists were on the airliner. A number of the recovered bodies were in handcuffs — the ones who had been in the laogai slave labor camps."
"What about the manifest?" Adair asked. "Were the passengers listed by their real names?"
"Every one of them. Beijing claims the political prisoners were being sent to a new government facility when the airliner was attacked by an unidentified weapon."
"Incredible," Adair said. "They're very creative."
Prost fixed his gaze on the president. "To make the accident scenario even more convincing to the general public, Beijing has repeatedly broadcast the tapes of the frantic pilots talking with the air traffic controllers."
Maria couldn't resist. "Hartwell, what do you think?"
"Quite frankly, this was a typical Chinese ruse to divert attention from their questionable activities."
"Their probable ties to the other crashes?" she suggested.
Prost nodded. "In one smooth operation, Beijing muddled their involvement in the mysterious-crashes question, and the powers that be eliminated some well-known voices of opposition. It's a chill wind of repression known as 'killing the chicken to scare the monkey.'"
Before anyone could react, Prost announced the second piece of breaking news. "On another subject, the FBI has discovered a secret skunk-works laboratory near San Clemente, California. The research facility has recently been abandoned, but Jim Ebersole thinks he has evidence that ties the Red Chinese directly to the laboratory and the people who worked there."
The president looked bewildered. "Chinese — what kind of lab?"
"According to Ebersole, they were working on a prototype high-energy laser weapon system."
"They? Whom are you talking about?"
"From what the FBI has discovered, the Chinese recruited seven of our best and brightest scientists and engineers, plus a Russian engineer. All of them but the Russian, Dr. Vasiliy Kalenkov, have been associated with Boeing or its airborne laser team of Lockheed Martin and TRW. In fact, their secret research laboratory is not far from the TRW Capistrano Test Site."
Hartwell slid his papers into his briefcase and closed it. "Two of the recruits had previously been involved in developing high-power microwave and laser-based weapons at the Air Force Research Laboratory's Directed Energy Directorate at the Eden Research Site."
The president slowly removed his glasses. "I assume these people are tied to the string of crashes?"
"It would appear so. Six of the treasonous recruits have died mysterious deaths in the past two weeks and the other two are missing."
Hearing the Black Hawk VIP helicopter come to life, Hartwell reached for his cap. "Sir, I must excuse myself. Ebersole is waiting to give me a thorough briefing at the FBI Crisis Center."
"Get back to me as soon as you can," Macklin said.
"Yes, sir. Mr. President, I think it would be prudent to have our secretary of state fly to Beijing ASAP and personally visit with President Liu Fan-ding. In my opinion, he's on the edge of the precipice, and I think Secretary Shannon needs to visit with him in person."
"That would add some leverage," Macklin said, and looked at the world map on the wall. "We have to make damn sure Liu Fan-ding and his cronies understand the consequences of their actions."
Pete Adair spoke in a clear voice. "The tougher we are on China, the more quickly they get into compliance."
"I know, but we have to be very careful. We're already spread thin with the goings on in the campaign on terrorism."