“Jennifer here, just off-loading.”
“Is the boss there?” continued the general.
“Boss here, Pete,” answered the base commander at Seymour Johnson.
“How many battle-experienced guys can you find me?”
“You’ve taken a company already. I reckon I can give you another 300. They could be kitted out by midnight.”
“Roger that. Get them ready,” continued the general. “I need Jennifer to refuel and bring a company of 100 men back here ASAP. I need to get to Hill. Get a jeep, or some transport over to Pope’s place. I know they have tons more men. Tell the boss there what we’re up to. I need maximum fighting numbers ASAP. I need to get as many as possible up to Mr. McGuire’s place in the next 24 hours.”
“How many are you looking for?” the base commander came back.
“I need 180 for a party here and then as many as we can carry in over seven days with four of our big girls working 24/7. I think about 10,000 will do. Go and visit with our Marine buddies at Le Lejeune and get numbers. Billy Johnson will be in charge. He must be in radio contact with you by tomorrow. Also, get two sets of crew aboard each 130. I want nonstop action for a week. Out.” The general went back to the front of the room and thought before he spoke.
“Okay. My plan of action is this: I’m leaving for China tonight,” he explained. “I’m taking Mother Goose and Ghost Rider. Mother Goose will refuel Ghost Rider over the Bering Strait from Anchorage into northern Japan. Carlos, will the phone you have for me work?”
“You and I will be able to talk as well as if you were on your old cell phone,” replied Carlos. “If you activate your transponder for three minutes, I believe I can view it through their system and patch it into our system. It will take Lee and me all night to work on our satellite, but I think it will work. Remember, the enemy in Nanjing will see you as much as we can, but they will scratch their heads trying to figure out what type of aircraft is flying in the middle of nowhere for three minutes at a time. I think you should turn on your transponder only once or twice. I have a repaired cell phone for General Johnson and a fourth one will be repaired by morning. I will give you all the direct numbers. Who shall I give the fourth one to?”
“I want to take all you have,” answered the general. “I am going to need at least six working units to distribute around the world. Carlos, can you fix your own and make it work? Buck said you could. That will give me three and yours could be your base’s communications from now on when I need to talk to you.” The general turned back to the group.
“Let me continue. My mission is to flatten their headquarters. Then I’m going into Beijing. If they respond with fighters and shoot us down, I will disappear from view. But I believe I will be able to use my transponder once the Zedong Electronics building or headquarters is history because that should cancel out their global communications worldwide.
“I want to see if I can talk to the leader of China—hopefully by radio before I go in. I must make sure that they are in the same position as we are. Then, and with help from their airports and fuel, I want to get to Moscow. If the Chinese are friendly, they will help me. I want to do the same in Moscow, and I will carry all their military radio frequencies with me on board. If I survive through Russia and they are friendly, I want to stop at our base in Turkey. From there I can see what condition our troops are in and where they are situated. From Turkey, I’m heading to Baghdad and then into Ramstein to see if our European troops are okay. From Ramstein, I’m heading over to our base in the Azores and with a bit of luck will get back into McGuire before I miss the Super Bowl.”
“I’ve worked it out that a week’s nonstop flying will get me around the world and I hope that you guys are not communists by the time I get back. Mother Goose can get fuel out of a rock and we will have transponders on and communications to keep me informed throughout the journey.
“Everyone, I want it known to all active personnel, that if the insurgents arrive in this country on civilian aircraft, I want every jet they fly in on commandeered without damage. Those jets can be turned around in hours and we have dozens of out-of-work Stratotanker and Galaxy pilots at McGuire that can fly these birds into Turkey, Korea, Iraq, and hopefully Kabul to get our troops out—800 per aircraft. I’m hoping we can get them safely back on U.S. soil, or at the least, into Europe and then shipped back to the United States. The attackers can only come in on big aircraft and big ships. We know that some aircraft are incoming from somewhere tomorrow. My plan is to have our attack forces closer to New York’s JFK, but where?” he thought.
“Teterboro Airport in New Jersey,” suggested both Buck and Mike Mallory, who both knew New York well.
“Of course,” nodded the general. “Thanks guys. What are the distances?” Buck nodded to the Southwest captain to continue.
“La Guardia is the closest, about 12 miles. I’d say Newark is about the same but to the south, and JFK is the furthest at about 20 miles.”
“Let’s set up our main base of attack there, then. I want at least 10,000 men in the area within two weeks, which, we understand is when their big attack will commence. Many soldiers can walk in from McGuire if necessary. It would only take them a day, but we must do it undercover. I don’t want them to get wind of our movements. I’ll try and get relayed from Andrews into McGuire when I leave here and give Billy Johnson his orders.”
The general looked back over at the communications team. “Carlos, work on scrambling their communications, and get Lee Wang’s help to figure out their plan of action. I’m going to assume any electronic parts will be coming in with their engineers to repair the airports and harbors, and our own Air Force engineers can wear their clothes if necessary, even go undercover and complete the Chinese mission. I believe that we must keep control of our three airports, have troops in the surrounding terminals, and be ready for the big one. If they want to repair the harbor cranes, then they are bringing in troops by sea.
“On my way out of here, I will send a plane into Norfolk and tell Vice Admiral Rogers to get whatever he has floating up to New York harbor, stay in the Long Island Sound, and prepare for an attack. Questions?” There were none.
“Ok, recap. Captain Mallory, John, Pam, Barbara, Maggie and Will Smart—commandeer whatever you need to start supplying the local population with food after the attack. I’ll get you a C-130 down here as soon as I can. Remember, Lady Dandy can carry some weight. Move outwards as fast as you can and send word to civilians in the surrounding states. Go as far north as those farmers you met in Maryland and then work across. I’ll leave the planning up to you.”
“Preston, Carlos, Martie, Buck, and Lee—you are all heading up to McGuire once the fight here is finished. We need your firepower. Lee, does your wife know the building in Nanjing?”