“I don’t agree with it, and I frankly suspect that much of it stems from your political agenda with the Project 2000 Task Force and Vice President Martindale’s campaign,” he continued. “We don’t need partisan politics interfering with this investigation. I think the little stunt you orchestrated in the Senate to step into the middle of the FBI’s investigation of the San Francisco attack was a cheap, dirty trick to take advantage of the situation to promote your own agenda.”
“Except Cazaux did strike again,” Hardcastle pointed out bluntly.
The President spread his hands and nodded. “Yes, he did,” he drawled. “I thought he’d be long gone, but he’s not, and he’s got to be dealt with. And you offered your technical assistance, which I deeply appreciate.” He picked up Hardcastle’s point paper on the air defense emergency and added angrily, “But showing this report to the press at the same time as handing it to me stinks. The American people see you on TV promoting this plan, and they cling to it because it’s a ‘do-something, do-anything’ move. It makes me question your motivation here, Admiraclass="underline" do you really want to help me solve this crisis or are you just pushing a political agenda?”
“I’m trying to stop Cazaux, Mr. President,” Hardcastle said evenly. “It’s that simple. With all due respect, sir, how you respond to this crisis affects your own political agenda more than how I respond.”
“When I need your advice on politics, Admiral, I’ll ask,” the President snapped. “With all due respect, Admiral, dealing with you is worse than Cazaux — at least that maniac is not on TV every two hours. But let’s get back to what we should do about Cazaux. Dr. Scheer’s staff has outlined your suggestions for me, and although I consider your response dangerous, it could be the only one available to us.”
“I believe it is your only response, Mr. President,” Hardcastle said, “and I’ve encouraged your advisers to just come out and say so. FAA Level One security is the only set of procedures on the civilian side for dealing with this emergency, and it won’t help stop or find Cazaux. Civil and strategic defense is virtually nonexistent in this country. The FAA’s SCATANA procedures basically entail shutting down all but a few major airports and most navigation radio facilities, and we’re still faced with finding and stopping Cazaux.”
“So your solution is to turn security for this crisis over to the military?” Lani Wilkes asked incredulously. She motioned to Hardcastle’s report. “You want to use the military inside the United States for law enforcement?”
“This is no longer a law enforcement question, Judge Wilkes, this is a national defense crisis.”
“You’re wrong, Hardcastle. This is a criminal investigation, and it should be handled like one. Mr. President, there is no doubt whatsoever that this is a serious crisis, but imposing martial law is not the answer.”
“I do not want to impose martial law,” the President said immediately, running his hand through his hair. “Let’s make that real clear right from the get-go.”
“Mr. President, I’ve read Admiral Hardcastle’s proposed plan,” Wilkes said, “and it’s nothing but a reactionary, grandstanding power grab.”
“I couldn’t agree more,” Deputy Attorney General Lowe said. “We don’t need the military to secure the skies and hunt down Henri Cazaux. Mr. President, the Executive Committee on Terrorism is in charge and in control of this situation.”
“Judge Wilkes, Liz, hold on a minute,” the President said evenly. “I brought Hardcastle and the Colonel in here to get their thoughts.” He turned to Hardcastle again. “I was briefed on your proposal, Admiral. It’s pretty severe. Tell me why this isn’t martial law.”
“Mr. President, critics can label this plan whatever they like,” Hardcastle responded. “My objective is simply to defend our major international airports from aerial attack.” “Mr. President, I think the FBI can handle this crisis without having to resort to this extreme military option,” Lowe said, holding up her copy of the plan Hardcastle had proposed to the Secretary of Defense. “You’re talking about surface-to-air missiles, fighters escorting commercial airliners, free-fire zones around major cities and airports…?” She shook her head in disbelief. “Ludicrous. This is not some damned Dale Brown novel, this is real- life.”
“It has to be set up and executed as if this was an overseas American military installation under attack by a foreign hostile military force,” Hardcastle explained. “Sir, the plan presupposes that we want air traffic in this country to continue at the highest possible level of efficiency.”
“That goes without saying, Admiral.”
“Then, sir, it will be easier than taking candy from a baby for Henri Cazaux to attack any airport at will, unless we have a layered, iron-clad defense network around every major U.S. airport. It is absolutely essential that we act to screen air traffic moving in and out of our major airports in case Cazaux slips past our dragnets and tries to attack.”
“I don’t like the sound of this one bit,” the President remarked, wishing like hell that it wasn’t his Administration that had to deal with this shit. Why couldn’t they have just elected his wife? Let her handle it, that’s what he wanted. “But I invited you here because enough people think your plan might have merit during this emergency. What is it you propose, Admiral?”
“Sir, my plan has two major elements,” Hardcastle explained. “First, we control and monitor the movement of every aircraft in the United States, using civilian and military radar systems. Second, we use airborne and ground- based air defense systems to track, identify, and, if necessary, engage any aircraft that is not properly identified or deviates from its proper course.”
“This is the Hammerheads all over again,” Lani Wilkes said with an expression of disgust, as if someone had passed gas. “Another assault on the Bill of Rights, eh, Admiral?”
“Until you catch Cazaux, there is no other way to keep air traffic in this country moving safely, Judge Wilkes.” “You make it sound so sterile, Admiral,” Transportation Secretary Mersky interjected. “Putting every aircraft in the United States on an instrument flight plan? That’ll overload our air traffic controllers. All others can’t fly? That’ll ground hundreds of thousands of planes. And your term ‘engage’ is a polite term for ‘shoot down,’ as in ‘shoot down a commercial airliner’ if it strays too far off course or turns the wrong way on a missed approach in bad weather.” “Admiral Hardcastle, I simply don’t think this plan will work — or if it is implemented, it won’t do any good and will cause more panic and confusion than it will help,” the Vice President added stiffly. “Every plane flying into a major airport in the country has to be escorted by an armed fighter? This has got to be a violation of Constitutional rights.”
“The only way to positively identify a suspect aircraft is to intercept it and check it visually, sir,” Vincenti interjected. “And in many cases, the only way to divert a suspect away from a restricted area is by a fighter intercept. The ground-based air defense systems are a last resort only. Obviously, shooting at a terrorist plane only a few miles from a major airport will still cause massive destruction on the airport, although if it doesn’t hit its intended target then the engagement was a success.
“The intercept must be as far from the intended target and as far from major population centers as possible. A Stinger missile has a range of perhaps one to two miles, and the cannon on an Avenger mobile air defense unit has an effective range of half that. But a terrorist hit by an Avenger cannon or a Stinger missile will more than likely still crash on the airport, although the damage and death it causes should be greatly reduced. Patriot has a maximum range of about sixty miles, the Hawk missile perhaps twenty — this is the minimum range a suspected terrorist should be allowed to approach.”