The line was open direct to CPDLC and the captain. The president could make a decision from the other side of the world and one second later it would be carried out — one way or the other.
There would be no going back.
“THIRTY SECONDS….”
Schmitzer watched the Iranian airbus drop to one hundred feet with the Phantom II’s still at its wingtips. “HARD RIGHT!” At least he would not be a big target. With any luck the terrorist pilot would not be adept enough to make the fine adjustments to hit the ship. Instead of the huge side of the ship sitting there like a beached whale, he would be one-tenth the target turned off to the side and headed straight for the airbus. With any luck he would not need to fire the RIM-162. His hope would be that the maneuver would catch the pilot off guard and he would overshoot the USS George H.W. Bush and end up in the water.
He would watch the airbus closely. It would be a decision measured in microseconds. Thousands would live or die based upon that instant in time. He kissed the silver cross that hung around his neck given to him by his late wife and prayed he would make the right decision.
“TEN SECONDS….”
The president was as pale as a ghost.
He heard nothing. All those around him had become so much like the chattering of birds. He was suffering his own personal hell. Robinson tapped him on the shoulder. “Mr. President?”
He shrugged it off. “I am OK.”
“We will not stand down!” echoed the general’s voice over the speaker. The screens showed the images of the airbus, the Phantom II’s, the Super Hornets all racing at blinding speed for the USS George H.W. Bush. Hundreds of jets and helicopters filled the skies as far as one could see.
“YOU WILL STAND DOWN OR YOUR MEN WILL DIE!”
FIVE… FOUR… THREE…..”
General Hanbal gave the order to his Phantom II’s.
“ABORT!”
“TWO….”
Schmitzer watched the Phantom II’s pull away at the last possible second. The IAF 645 would collide in one second….
Time stood still.
Would the IAF 645 strike the ship? Would the president give the order? He could see the lone bearded face sitting in the pilot’s seat. There was a commotion in the cabin. Naked terror filled their faces. Poor devils. No matter how this turns out they are all dead. The airbus was a trifle high — slightly to the left… but not enough….
“ONE….”
Thousands of lives hung in the balance on three words….
The president gave the order. “TAKE’M OUT!”
The message was relayed round the globe through CENTCOM to Bishop I.
“Affirmative.”
The WHSR cabinet held its breath.
“Target destroyed…. ”
Pause
“No damage to the USS George H.W. Bush.”
“Well done Bishop I. Return to home plate.”
“Roger that.”
Chapter Seventeen
Khalilullah 'Abd al-Wahhab had harsh words as he addressed the UN Assembly while General Hanbal sat at their table in the audience.
“I address you today while our people are in mourning for their loved ones. At this very moment our streets run red with the blood of our people. The United States of America attacked one of our commercial aircraft Iran Air Flight 645 and murdered 256 passengers, 105 innocent women and children.
“There are those who would argue that terrorists were aboard, however we arrived on the scene with our aircraft and were fully prepared to deal with the hijacking in our own way. The Zionists unfortunately arrived before our forces and had already determined that they were going to shoot down the innocent hostages in order to protect their precious war vessel.
“They showed irresponsible behavior at the very least and proceeded without consulting our country. Let us consider alternative action that could have been taken. They could have evacuated the ship. This is a simple thing. If the aircraft carrier was abandoned, there would have been no reason for the terrorists to proceed. They had plenty of time to do this. Was it even considered? I doubt it. They must have reasoned that none of their own citizens were aboard and therefore the lives of Muslims were of little consequence.”
He paced the floor as though in deep contemplation and returned to the podium. “Let’s consider another alternative. They could have attempted to communicate with the terrorists and solved the entire dilemma diplomatically. Oh yes, they say they made an attempt. I imagine they did, but it was a feeble attempt, a token attempt. Did they really believe they were not listening — that it was a communications breakdown? A child could have calculated that they were listening and not responding. Some discussion was in order I would say. Did they even think about any of this? No! I say no!”
He banged on the podium with his fist. “‘They do not respond so let’s shoot them down and then go our merry way. It is of little consequence; after all, they are only Iranians.’”
Khalilullah 'Abd al-Wahhab ranted on for an hour and the Western World was not impressed. CNN broadcast the first five minutes and then broke away for a commercial and never came back. The entire event was broadcast live on the internet as it happened and it was quite clear to any sane thinking person what had occurred. Unlike the 26.6 second Zapruder 8 mm grainy footage of the Kennedy assassination in which there was but limited footage, this was one of the most documented events in history. Someone had calculated that nearly nine hundred recordings were made that day: some from jets, helicopters and others by crewmen from the Fifth Fleet. The loop footage recorded from the deck of the USS George H. W. Bush was broadcast night and day as it was the most frightening of all. To see the huge airbus coming at the camera at mach .5 and the Phantom II’s pulling away was damning in every way. It appeared that the Phantom’s were escorting the IRA 645 directly into the side of the carrier and then pulled away in order to save their own necks. When all hope was gone the AIM-9X Sidewinder appeared out of nowhere and saved the day. It was a spectacular fireball that exploded fifty yards off the bow and the debris landed on the ship and it took nearly an hour for the crew to put out the fire.
All this made little difference. If Khalilullah 'Abd al-Wahhab made sense to some then the North Koreans were wizards of logic. Chin Ho, the foreign minister of North Korea summed it up. “The Americans should be ashamed of this dastardly act. There were so many ways to resolve this and then to resort to their typical cowboy shoot’m up behavior simply because they had the power to do so, is unconscionable. North Korea officially condemns the manner in which the USA handled what could have been something much more positive.”
Robinson watched all this on the uplink from his Citation CJ3 on its way to meet with Harazi for a goodwill chat. His mind wandered as he watched the parade of diplomats as they give their spin on the IRA 645 incident three days before.
His father complained of shortness of breath and refused to visit a doctor. Robinson was much the same when it came to keeping up with his health. He was in excellent health and all that talk about regular check-ups was a con game that enriched the pockets of the medical profession. At least that was the way his father viewed it and experts pretty much agreed that most of it was pointless. Dad told stories of his friends who would go in for a minor ache or pain and end up with weeks of tests costing thousands of dollars and then receive a clean bill of health. It was little wonder the insurance company’s premiums were so high when the medical profession operated in this manner.