“Holy shit, indeed,” Hail agreed.
Renner had a huge smile on his face.
Hail looked around the room and everyone had the exact same smile. Hail realized that he was smiling as well.
“You did it,” Kara told him. “You really did it.”
“I can’t believe you had any doubts,” Hail responded with a degree of cockiness.
As the sound of the blast faded, a voice came over the mission room speakers. Hail recognized it as Dallas Stone, who was in the ship’s security office.
“Marshall, Prince’s radar has detected a fast moving aircraft approaching our position.”
“Do we have an ID on it?” Hail asked.
“Checking now, but it is supersonic and flying low. That would constitute an attack profile.”
The crew’s joy dissipated quickly and the room quieted down so Hail could talk to Stone.
There was a moment of silence and then Stone came back on the speaker.
“It’s ICAO designator ping is showing as United States military…”
A beat and then Stone continued, “Designator F35. I’m cross checking that ICAO code now.”
A moment later, “Its ICAO ping says it is a United States F-35 Lightning Two. Range of seventy-five miles and heading straight for us.”
Hail looked at Kara for a moment and she shrugged.
“Activate the railgun,” Hail told Dallas.
“Wait,” Kara said, placing her hand on Hail’s shoulder. I need to tell you something.”
“And what would that be?” Hail asked her, even though he already knew her secret and therefore understood the intentions of the inbound jet.
Kara looked him directly in the eyes and said, “The United States has a backup plan in case you were not successful in your mission.”
“And what would that be?” Hail asked in a calm and controlled tone.
“That jet is flying a single sortie to blow up the warehouse, if you failed to do so. It’s not coming for you, so you can put your big gun away.”
Kara thought that Hail looked angry, but not as angry as she would have expected.
He said, “Do you realize how dangerous that is? It’s dangerous for everyone.”
“I understand,” Kara said, but Hail didn’t believe her.
“We could have shot this asshole out of the sky before he ever made a pass on the warehouse.”
“I understand,” Kara said. She moved her eyes away from Hail’s and back to the screen that showed the burning warehouse.
Hail asked her, “If this is a backup plan, then why hasn’t this guy turned around and gone home?”
Kara looked back up at Hail and looked perplexed, as if she hadn’t thought of that fact.
“I don’t know. Maybe he hasn’t got the word yet.”
“Then maybe you should get on the horn with your boss and make sure this guy gets called off before he wakes up every radar and anti-aircraft battery in North Korea. I don’t know if you realize it, but we are pretty exposed right here in the middle of the Sea of Japan.”
Hail handed Kara his phone.
“We don’t have time for you to go up to the top deck. Use my phone,” Hail told her.
Washington, D.C. ― The White House Situation Room
Pepper’s phone went off and he saw it was a call coming from Hail’s phone and he answered it.
“This is Pepper,” he said.
“This is Kara,” a concerned voice said.
“Great job, Kara. We just saw the warehouse blow. A really great job.”
“If you just saw it blow, then why is our jet still headed toward North Korea?”
Pepper was confused.
“There is no jet headed for North Korea. As soon as the General saw the explosion, he called Naval Operations and told them to scrub the mission.”
“Well, Hail’s radar shows an F-35 inbound and it is not turning back. If I hadn’t told Hail what it was, he may have taken it down.”
“He has the armaments to do that?” Pepper asked, truly surprised.
“That’s not the point,” Kara said angrily. “The point is you need to get this guy turned back around before he wakes up all of North Korea.”
“I’m on it,” Pepper said and hung up the phone.
He turned toward the General, who was also on his cell phone.
The General cupped the bottom half of his phone and told Pepper, “It looks like we might have a rogue pilot on our hands.”
“Shit,” was all Pepper could think to say.
They both looked across the room at the President, who was shaking hands and basking in the glory of the mission. At least for the moment, she looked very happy.
Over the Sea of Japan ― on the F-35C Lightning II Jet Aircraft
Lieutenant Commander Foster Nolan was crazy. At least that’s what the men in his squadron thought of him. And to be honest with himself, he understood that his men thought he was crazy. But he also felt that there was nothing crazy about just doing his job.
Even though he had already been notified that the target had been neutralized, there was certainly no reason not to take a look-see. The F-35 was the one of the fastest and most advanced jet fighters in the world. A quick in and out should not be a problem. Dart in and verify that the target was totally destroyed and then run for the ocean. Unless, of course he found other targets of strategic value during his confirmation pass. If that were the case and he thought it was in America’s best interest to cut loose, then that action should not slow him down in the least. With the exception of China, the North Koreans had not been a friend or ally to any nation. So he didn’t have an issue getting a little payback for his country and his own brother.
The Lieutenant Commander’s radio squawked to life.
“Lieutenant Commander, you are directed to immediately turn around and return to the carrier. I repeat, you are ordered to turn around and return to the ship, immediately. That is a direct order. Is that understood?”
Foster Nolan reached over and flipped off the radio. In military speak, “that is a direct order” still left some wiggle room. Many a pilot had received orders, yet stayed a bit longer and had still kept their stripes. This would just be one of those missions. He might get called out onto the carpet, but he had a rock solid record and one little indiscretion shouldn’t bring down the house. And then there were the practical aspects of the mission. After all, how much could they actually see from outer space? For all they knew, a sewer plant had a gas build up and had then ignited. A chemical factory had mixed Tank A with the wrong Tank C and Tank B had exploded. Witnessing a blast from outer space was like watching a hockey game on TV. You never saw the puck. Foster would check it out and make sure that the warehouse that he was supposed to destroy had indeed been fully neutralized or else he would finish the job and maybe even find a secondary target of value.
Sea of Japan ― on the cargo ship Hail Nucleus
Dallas Stone’s voice came over the mission center speakers.
“The F-35 is turning west. If it maintains its current course, it will be over the North Korean mainland in a little under five minutes.”
“Gage, please patch my phone into the speakers so we can all hear.” Hail asked his friend.
Renner did some computer voodoo and Kara’s private conversation with Pepper became public. Hail held out his hand and Kara placed his phone in it.
“This is Hail,” he began, talking to the microphones in the room. “What the hell is going on with your F-35. Are you guy’s crazy? This moron jet pilot is going to bring a whole shitload of heat down on us, and for absolutely no reason.” Hail was mad and his tone did nothing to disguise that fact.
In contrast, Pepper’s tone was contrite.
“We know. It would appear that we’re having a possible communications problem with our Navy pilot, or there may an issue that’s out of our control.”