Omar felt uneasy until he overheard the same conversation about the gate numbers with the young woman. He was checked in. He had his boarding pass and the flight was on time. That was all he needed to know. He spotted the sign that directed him to the restroom. He waited in a short line for a cubicle and, when he closed the door behind him, he withdrew the vial containing the virus. He noted the time and without a second’s pause for thought, injected the deadly virus into his body, whispering ‘Allahu Akbar’, as he pressed the plunger down.
As instructed, he flushed out the vial with a small bottle of bleach he had been given and then wrapped them both in toilet paper. He deposited the package in a bin as he exited the restroom. Next stop was security, where he breezed through without so much as a search. His US passport was working perfectly. Without it, he felt sure that his skin color would have elicited a body search.
Omar proceeded directly to the gate on his boarding pass where the plane was already filling up. He kept his eyes down and again was surprised at just how efficiently the line was moving. He spotted the young woman from check-in sitting nearby. He wondered why she wasn’t boarding but was quickly interrupted when the check-in agent called him forward.
“Mr. Perez?” he said, recognizing Omar and taking his boarding pass. “First aisle, second row on your right, window seat,” he said with a smile.
Omar stepped on board and avoided eye contact with anyone, just kept his head down and his eyes to himself.
“Excuse me,” he said, climbing over two men who were occupying the seats next to him. Both had their eyes closed as though they were sleeping. He wondered if they were jihadists like him. He doubted it. There were only supposed to be a few on each plane. It was still early in the morning and not surprisingly, most people would be trying to catch some more sleep. He sat down, buckled his seat belt and, as instructed, he closed his eyes like everyone around him and tried to get some sleep.
Chapter 79
A small town at the Southern tip of Greenland, Narsarsuaq, had a lot to thank the US for. Its very existence in modern times had been a result of the US building a refueling station to transport aircraft from the US to Europe during the Second World War. Over four thousand American service men had been stationed there at its peak, assisting over ten thousand aircraft to make their transatlantic journeys. Even into the cold war years, Narsarsuaq and Bluie West One, the US name for the base, retained its strategic importance.
By 1958, the US had closed the base and moved most of its personnel to Thule Air Base on the eastern coast. However, benefiting from the legacy of the US airfield, the town of Narsarsuaq had grown, albeit not dramatically, but enough to offer a living to a small number of inhabitants who benefited from a flourishing tourist trade. The town (and its small airport) provided easy access to the southern tip of the glacier that covered over 80 % of the world’s largest island.
Almost sixty years later, the inhabitants were once again thanking the United States. The impromptu visit by a collection of fighters from across the different branches of the US military, accompanied by the significant support crew required to maintain and prep them had led to a bustling few days in the small town. The collection represented just about every fighter currently flying and due in service across the USAF, Marines and US Navy.
The official reason given for the impromptu visit was a fault experienced on one of the transport aircraft that happened to be carrying the majority of spare parts for the accompanying fighters. They were therefore all required to land. The ultimate destination was alleged to be a number of trade shows and air shows across Europe. However, a quick search would have revealed that no air show or trade show was due to see a US Marine F-35 Lightning fighter of which there were two sitting on the Narsarsuaq runway.
Whatever the reason, it was an impressive display of the US forces’ flying power and was bringing back fond memories to many of the older inhabitants in town.
After two days of relative inactivity, the airfield had burst into life. The various crews that would prep each of the aircraft were busy preparing the planes for their pilots. As varied as the fighter types, the maintenance crews were from squadrons based all around the world. Few had met any of their counterparts before, nor would they ever see them again. Similarly, hardly a pilot amongst the fighter pilots had ever met any of the colleagues they were about to fly with.
The man who had been tasked with commanding the operation had described the groups of men as an amalgam of strangers, crew, pilots and aircraft, all passing in the night. There would be very few personnel in attendance who would even remember the event a year from then, some probably would wonder in a week whether it had actually taken place. However, for the Commander, Major General Howard Carter, it was a day he would remember for the rest of his life. For the first time in ten years, he would be behind the controls of a fighter plane. That would not be the reason he’d never forget. Despite having been drafted in from every corner of the world, from different branches of the US Military, and despite having never met one another before, on paper, not one of the pilots had one thing in common. Unless and until you dug a little deeper. Each of the fighter pilots at Narsarsuaq had lost a mother, brother, father, sister, wife, son or daughter on September 11, 2001.
The first two planes to take to the runway were a USAF F-22 Raptor and a US Navy FA18 Super Hornet. The Raptor pilot had lost his twin sister in the North Tower and had joined the Air Force a week later. The Navy Pilot had lost his father on American Airlines Flight 11 travelling from Boston to Los Angeles. Four years later, on his seventeenth birthday, he had walked into the naval recruiting office.
Both fighters leapt into the sky and headed east.
“Harry?” said Major General Howard Carter on connecting his call to Secretary of Defense Harry Carson. “Birds one and two are airborne.”
“Thanks for the update,” replied Harry somberly.
“Just remember, Harry, this is for Jackie,” he said, remembering his wife who had died in the South Tower.
“For Jackie,” agreed Harry, a tear welling in his eye, as he remembered his own sister fondly. And many, many others.
Too many, thought Harry to himself.
“God bless America,” said Howard to his brother-in-law, trying to regain his composure.
“God bless America,” said Harry. Never had he meant it more.
Chapter 80
Nick was stunned at how easily he had walked into the terminal. The anticipated additional security had not materialized. He approached the United Airlines check-in line, having barely seen a security officer and certainly none that appeared to have been advised of a potential terrorist in the area. His bookings for Munich-bound flights had obviously worked.
The line for the check-in was surprisingly short but he noted the large number of check-in desks being used for the flight. The staff were moving through passengers quickly, meaning the build-up was minimal. Unfortunately, not minimal enough as Nick spotted Larbi when a passenger in front of him moved, unblocking his view of the passengers in front.
Nick checked his booking. He had a business class booking. He just had to hope that Larbi hadn’t been afforded the same luxury. He had no issue with sitting near Larbi; it was Larbi sitting near him that Nick was worried about. Larbi was a mountain warrior. Airports, airplanes and technology in general were all new to him. There would be a significant risk that Larbi would look to Nick for help if he knew Nick was there.