As he neared the troops, there was an order screamed by Captain Wong and every one of the 200 men stood at attention and saluted. He very nearly saluted back with an American salute, but thought the best of it and waved a reply to the salute as if he was a civilian head of state, and continued walking to the engineers.
The engineers saw his approach and immediately all stood still and bowed as he arrived. The major, totally puzzled at what his men must have told these people, pointed to Captain Wong and signaled to him to come and talk to him. They moved away as the entire 300-person invading Chinese force stood at attention.
“What the hell did you tell these Charlies?” the major asked.
“I was a little lost as to what to say to these guys, but thought of something that would really scare these Chinese soldiers to make them totally under my control. I told their commanders and their chief engineer as they exited, that you, the Supreme Commander, flew in an hour ago straight from China to see how the landing was going to be handled. I told them that your special jet has been hidden from view in one of the far hangars in case we are attacked, and that you are going to return to China once the two aircraft have taken off. That made all the pilots jittery and I told them to clean up their aircraft and expect company. All became as scared as rats, and then suddenly I was in total control.
“Sir, just act out the scene and I believe we will have these guys refueled and out of here within a couple of hours. I showed him that there were no large fuel tanks anywhere around JFK, which the engineers seemed worried about, but I told them we should have enough fuel out of the mobile tankers my men have pushed forward with the bulldozers. I’m going to get more men to see if there are any more fuel tankers stationed at the other terminals. These birds need about 60,000 gallons each and we are pretty close right now.”
“Tell their soldiers to create a defensive position by the entrance to the Van Wyck Highway and let them freeze to death for an hour,” replied the major. “Also ask them if they have brought the supply of extra cell phones with them. They need to bring them into the terminal building to keep warm, as well as any electrical parts, which can’t handle cold conditions. I will go back and watch from the terminal windows. Give me two men in the captured clothing to act as my bodyguard and then tell all the engineers that if they do a good job I will give them some gifts before I leave for China. And don’t salute me, soldier, now bow and go!”
“May I suggest you inspect the guard, sir? It might look a little more real,” Captain Wong replied, bowing and running off to the engineers. He quickly spoke to them and then shouted to the engineers in Chinese to pull the tanker trucks up one at a time to both aircraft.
The major then acted like he was God. He walked around the aircraft as two men ran up to protect him. He whispered the plan to them and they acted like they were protecting the president. He got to the troops and they all saluted. The commanders did not look at him, but stared over his head, as did all the troops. He did a quick look at the front row of both groups and then walked back to the terminal as the two small forklifts each brought a pallet of products.
An unoccupied exit door was opened by two other plain-clothes men in the terminal, and the pallets were lifted into the terminal and pushed into the building as far as the forklifts could reach. They went back and returned with two more pallets, the major noticing that the troops were now being deployed between the vehicles and the entrance to the Expressway and out of the way. Captain Wong returned to say that the troops had no more communication devices, apart from small military communication radios, and that they were beginning to ask questions.
For an hour, the fueling went on using both electrical generators and pumps underneath the aircraft wings as one by one the trucks were pushed into position by the bulldozers and the large generators pumped in 500 gallons a minute. It would take them at least two hours to pump more than 60,000 gallons into each aircraft.
Another ten pallets of equipment arrived on the two forklifts and were placed in the terminal, soldiers moving the pallets out of the way once the driver’s backs were turned. They made a hole in the furniture mountain and placed the pallets in a secure place away from the ambush zone. Pallet after pallet was dropped onto the runway area and the forklifts moved them into the second, unused terminal next to theirs. Meanwhile, another six tankers had been located and were being driven and pushed into place by the dozers.
One of the army commanders walked up to Captain Wong and started gesturing with his hands. Wong angrily gestured back, whispered in the man’s ear, and then the man smiled and walked back to his troops a happy man.
The major inside the terminal called General Allen. “Allen Key,” he stated on the phone.
“Well, Patterson, how are things going?” replied the general.
“You wouldn’t believe it, sir, but Captain Wong, one of our Chinese-American pilots, told the visitors that the Zedong Electronics’ Supreme Commander had secretly flown in an hour ago, and I went out in captured clothes and a fancy long coat I had picked up in the shop here with my face covered, and I inspected their flipping guard.”
“Sounds like your man needs a commendation, Patterson. What is the scoop on the aircraft?”
“Two 747-400ERs, and one is a transporter. Shall we take her? My assumption is that she could return again with a belly full of electrical goods that we could desperately need on her next trip. They have off-loaded 62 pallets of electrical parts and goods so far, sir.”
“A hard decision,” replied the general. “If we just take one, we have to make it look like an accident out at sea. If we take both of them, then we just commandeer them and fly them into McGuire once we have released some of the fuel load. I’m three hours out of Elmendorf, bound for Misawa in Northern Japan. I think your idea is best. Hopefully, we can get another load out of her when she returns.”
“Is that your final decision, Allen Key?” the major asked. “They are about to complete refueling.”
“Yes, let the transporter go, but don’t get on the aircraft yourself. I don’t want the crew to think their Supreme Commander just went down into the drink. Good luck, lad. Call me when you are done and I will call up McGuire for you and get the troops airborne. Two hundred soldiers, you say? Their flight time is about 20 minutes and I’ll tell them to go into your location low, three minutes after the second jumbo jet is airborne.”
The major quickly got his men together and told them what he was going to do with the engineers—they would take them prisoner as they walked through the closed black curtain on the walkway into the terminal.
He told two of the men to make sure that a distance was put between each man somehow. He got one group of three of his pilots together and told them to follow him out to the aircraft.
The last tankers were in place and the major walked towards the aircraft with the American pilots, dressed in captured clothing in tow. Captain Wong had headed out a minute or so earlier and was waiting for the major’s move. He signaled his accomplice, Captain Chong to come over to him and they both ran over and bowed to the Supreme Commander. The American troops, who were dressed in the captured clothing of the termination squads, and were standing around guarding the engineers working the refueling, immediately stood at attention while carefully watching for problems, their guns at the ready. The three men at the bottom of the stairs stopped and talked.
“Captain Chong, you are taking over this baby,” Patterson explained, pointing at the passenger 747. “We will get you in control. Your plan is to complain about some sort of minor fuel problem about an hour out from the coast. Lose height, and tell the transporter to carry on. After an hour of messing around at low altitude, fake a sea accident—scream or something. Once you are out of radar sight of the second aircraft and their pilots who think you have ditched, head for McGuire at below 500 feet and put her down there as soon as your fuel is down to a safe landing weight. Captain Wong, you will be with me. Tell the engineers when the aircraft engines start up to get ready to meet me. Tell them I’ve decided not to go on this aircraft, but will fly back in my own jet. I want to separate the engineers from the troops before our guys arrive.”