“I do not have that answer for you, Mr. Carmichael. However, someone is making a move on Turkey. We fully believe it to be ISIS, and with that in mind we pulled the trigger on Cyprus. We didn’t want to give them an enclave on the island. Wouldn’t you agree?”
“So, you’ve been preparing for this since 2016?” Carmichael asked, ignoring the question.
“That is correct, but that should be no surprise. I’m sure your Pentagon has similar plans for similar operations. Actually, didn’t they used to call this the ‘War Plans’ division?”
“Yes, they did.”
“So you see Mr. Carmichael, we simply launched an operation for a plan we developed several years ago. We’ve steadily, though gradually, increased our forces on Cyprus. As we’ve increased our presence there, the Turks have diminished theirs due to their involvement with both the Kurds and ISIS. With their depleted forces plus the relatively small area of the island the Turks occupy, we were able to make quick work of the entire operation.”
“So it would seem, thank you, General Costas. I will pass this on to the President.”
XXV
“SAM Two-One-Four, Leopard Three-Five. You are ordered to proceed directly to Batman air base and land immediately.”
“Leopard Three-Five, SAM Two-One-Four. That’s a negative. We are a US Air Force flight enroute to Andrews Air Force Base and cannot divert.”
“SAM Two-One-Four, Leopard Three-Five. Negative. You are ordered to land immediately at Batman air base.”
“Sue, check and see what we have available for any friendlies nearby,” Colonel Bob ‘Mac’ McKenzie said to his copilot, Lieutenant Colonel Susan Marshall. “We’re supposed to have some fighters on call.”
“Roger that. Squawking 7500 now. Any idea what’s going on?”
“You know as much as I do,” Mac replied.
“SAM Two-One-Four, Leopard Three-Five. Look out your port and starboard windows.”
“Sue, I’ve got two F-16s on my side.”
“I’ve got two more over here, and they’re serious about this — both of them are fully armed.”
“SAM Two-One-Four, this is Al-Asad control. I have you squawking 7500. What is the nature of your emergency?”
“Control, we’ve been intercepted by a flight of Turkish Air Force F-16s and ordered to land at Batman air base.”
“Roger that. How much time do you have? I have a pair of Strike Eagles and another pair of Raptors up but they’re both a ways out from you. The Raptors will get their first. They’re ten minutes out on supercruise. Call sign Gamecock Two-Two and Two-Three.”
“Mac, Al Asad has two Raptors, ten minutes out. Can we stall that long? They have a pair of Strike Eagles on the way as well but the Raptors will get here first.”
“I don’t know. Normally, at this altitude we could easily stall for close to fifteen minutes.”
“SAM Two-One-Four, Leopard Three-Five. Begin your descent now,” came the order from the lead F-16 as a stream of tracers shot out across the front of the C-32A aircraft.
“I don’t think we have ten minutes, Sue. I’ll let the Secretaries know. You have the aircraft. Take your time. Help is on the way.”
“I have the aircraft. Beginning descent.”
“Leopard Three-Five, SAM Two-One-Four. Can Batman handle this aircraft?” Colonel Marshall asked, trying to stall as much as possible.
“SAM Two-One-Four, Batman has plenty of room for you. Get her on the ground, now!” came the order.
“Mr. Secretary, where’s Secretary Johnson?” Colonel McKenzie asked as he ran into the defense secretary in the stateroom.
“She’s back in the conference room. Why, what’s up?”
“Just follow me and I’ll explain,” McKenzie replied.
“Madam Secretary, Mr. Secretary, we might have a problem. We’ve been intercepted by four Turkish F-16s and ordered to land at Batman airbase.”
“What? Turkey’s our ally,” Secretary Johnson replied.
“Yes, they are, so I’m not exactly sure of what’s going on, but they clearly mean for us to land.”
“I was wondering. I thought I saw a streak of lightning out there but wasn’t sure in the dark.”
“That wasn’t lightning, ma’am. Those were tracers fired across our flight path.”
“What? They were shooting at us?” Johnson asked.
“No, it’s like a shot across the bow of a ship, letting everyone know they mean business,” Secretary Axelsson interrupted.
“We have a pair of Raptors inbound,” Mac added. “They should be here in ten to fifteen minutes. In the meantime, we are descending as if to land. Let’s get strapped in. I’ll head to the rear and let everyone know what’s going on.”
“Do we need to worry about any classified information?” Johnson asked Colonel McKenzie.
“At this point, I think we’ll be okay. The Raptors should be here in plenty of time. We’ve started our descent as if to land so hopefully those guys out there will believe we’re following their instructions. Once the Raptors get here, we’ll be fine, Madam Secretary. I’ll head to the rear and let everyone else know what’s going on.”
“Good idea, we’ll head back there with you,” Johnson replied.
“Leopard Zero-Six, Dragon One-One,” came the call from the Turkish airborne radar craft to the Leopard F-16 squadron lead. “We have a pair of solid contacts at thirty-five north, forty-two east, course three-four-two, speed Mach 2.2, angels 22. Then we might have another pair but hard to tell as we can’t get real fix on them. See if there’s anything at thirty-four north, forty east, course zero-one-four, speed Mach 2.0. These guys mean business.”
“Dragon One-One, Leopard Zero-Six. We’ll check ‘em both out.”
“Roger that, Leopard Zero-Six.”
“Leopard Zero-Six, Dragon One-One. I’m showing a slower aircraft trailing behind your bogies. Must be a tanker for the fast movers.”
“Roger that Dragon One-One. We’ll take care of that one, too.”
“Dragon One-One, Leopard Zero-Six. Where are the bandits? I’m not picking them up on radar.”
“Leopard Zero-Six, can’t be certain but they’re last bearing appeared to be two-three-three from your position, still angels 22, and moving very fast. Range is about forty-five kilometers.”
“Gamecock Two-Two, Asad control. You’ve got company,” the Asad radar operator advised the lead F-22 Raptor. “Looks to be seven bogies headed your way, angels 25. Should be at your three o’clock in forty-five seconds.”
“Asad control. Weapons free?” Gamecock Two-Two asked.
“Negative, Gamecock. Not until we know these are bandits.”
“Copy that, control.”
“Gamecock Two-Two, looks like we have a couple more bogies breaking off for Texaco. Range to Texaco is still one-three-seven miles.”
“Texaco, you copy that.”
“Asad control, Texaco. We copied that. Bogies one-three-seven miles out. What’s their bearing? You round up an escort for us or do we need to break off?”
“Scrambling four Eagles now, Texaco. Bearing zero-three-three degrees. You’ll be fine.”
“Lancer Three-One, Asad control. You’ve got seven more bogies headed your way, repeat seven bogies,” control advised the Strike Eagle lead. “Range two-five miles bearing two-eight-six, angels 21. They’re coming in fast.”
“Control, Lancer Three-One. Copy that. Seven bogies in bound, range two-five miles, at ten o’clock, angels 21. Weapons status?”
“Lancer, weapons hold.”
“Roger that, weapons hold.”
“Gamecock Two-Two, Lancer Three-One. Can you two help SAM Two-One-Four? We’ll hang back and guard your six.”