Chapter 53
“He seems to have settled down. He’s flying straight down that valley with nowhere else to go. It makes following him easy. I wonder if he doesn’t know we are still here.”
“I don’t know, Captain. I don’t think this is over yet. I just hope that fighter arrives soon.”
“What is the latest update on him?”
“About one minute. That crop duster should still be over the mountains when he gets here.”
“This is Air Traffic Control. There is an F-15 interceptor just behind you and he has you and the crop duster in sight. Pull up and out of the way.”
Flight 34 pulled up as a missile flew by under the plane toward the crop duster. Two seconds later there was a bright light and explosion ahead of the plane as the missile impacted the crop duster.
“This is Red Dog. I have shot down the crop duster Flight 34 was following.
“This is NSS. Can you give us a quick recap of where we are?
Deputy Director Collins looked at the monitor NSS was tied into and said,
“Three of the four planes are down, two in the mountains and one just short of Azusa. One of our fighters is headed to Burbank airport for refueling and one is lingering along the mountains, but will have to land for fuel at Ontario in less than five minutes. We have no clue on the location of the fourth plane. If he stays low over the mountains, we won’t catch him on radar. We have alerted all the police departments to look for him and call in immediately. If he is on about the same schedule as the other three, we are concerned he can spray a large area before the interceptors can take off again and get him.”
“What about the third plane? How much of Azusa got sprayed? Where is the plane down?”
“He crashed just short of the town. We are securing the area and rushing military emergency teams in, but we are not sure what we are dealing with and if the emergency teams will be protected. We are issuing instructions for everyone to stay indoors with all the media, but the city is still asleep at this time.”
All the kids fell asleep in the dune buggy as John drove the last hour. Fighting his drooping eyelids, John spotted a barn up ahead, and thought I’ve been on rock and hardpan for ten miles now with my lights out. There’s no way they can be following. We need to get some sleep to keep going. If we hide the dune buggy in that old abandoned barn, we should be safe and be able to get some sleep. John pulled up to the barn, slid open the door and pulled in the dunebuggy. I’m surprised the door worked so good in this abandoned barn, he thought, but I’m too tired to care. Cody woke up when John turned off the dune buggy.
“Where are we?” he asked John, rubbing his eyes.
“We have to get some sleep,” said John. “I found this old abandoned barn and I have been driving on rock and hardpan for 10 miles. I don’t know how they could follow us. Let’s get a couple hours rest and then decide what to do.”
“Works for me. I have to go to the bathroom.”
“Don’t wake the girls. Just let them sleep.”
“I’ll be right back.”
Cody left the barn and walked over to a tree. As he started to unzip his pants he felt the flash drive in his pocket. I wonder if I should hide this, he thought. Sarah has one with her. Maybe they should be separated. I need a good place to hide it.
After he finished he noticed a box on legs. As he walked over to it he heard a humming sound. I think this is a bee hive, and all the bees are in for the night. Cody crawled under the hive and found a ledge to lay the flash drive on. This will be a good place he thought. No one will look for it when the bees are buzzing around in the daytime. Cody went back in the barn, saw everyone lying on some hay bales, laid down beside Sarah and promptly fell back asleep.
Joseph followed the trail left by the dune buggy fairly easily for the first hour and then started getting into rock and hardpan. There is absolutely no way to follow this trail, especially at night, he thought. We need to stop until daylight.
Chapter 54
Jack West was trying to console his wife.
“There is nothing else I can tell you. Take wet towels and put them under the doors and tape the windows. Even if our area is sprayed, it will evaporate in 24 hours and after another 12 hours the gas should be gone.”
“Can’t you just come home?”
“Even if they didn’t need me here, it wouldn’t be safe. I could get sprayed. There is no way to protect yourself while driving. I want to talk to the kids, just in case.”
“Austin woke up. Talk to him while I get the others up.”
“Austin. How’s my little man.”
“I’m good, Daddy. Why are you calling so early? Are you coming home for the July 4th picnic?”
“Ahh.. Austin. I might not be home for a couple days. You need to be the man of the house and help Mommy. Can you do that for me?”
“Yes, Daddy. What are you doing? Why can’t you come home?”
How much do I tell him, thought Jack?
“There are some bad men in planes we are trying to find that want to hurt people?”
“Why can’t you find them? I thought you had radar. Remember you took me to that air traffic control place. It was fun.”
“These are small planes, Austin. They are flying low and the radar can’t find them.”
“Don’t they have Lo-jack like we have in our car? You said they can find our car if someone takes it. Planes are expensive. Why wouldn’t they have Lo-jack?”
Jack’s mind started racing. We never checked that. Is it possible?
“Austin, I have to go now. I love you. I’ll call back when I can.”
Jack ran back into the control room and frantically went through his notes looking for Henry Jones’ phone number. He looked down and saw a note that the El Centro Police had been trying to call him. I don’t believe this he thought. He grabbed an outside line and called Henry Jones house in Visalia.
“Henry, this is Homeland Security.”
“I’ve been trying to call you. Why haven’t you shot down my other plane? You know I don’t want it back. I’ll never trust it after having that nerve stuff in it. I would rather get the insurance money.”
“Shut up,” Jack interrupted. “Do you know where the plane is? We can’t find it!”
“Of course I know. We’ve been tracking it. I put a cell phone with GPS in it years ago. Don’t you think that was a good idea? My wife thought it was a good idea. Cathy, didn’t you think that was a good idea?”
“Stop,” yelled Jack. “Tell me the location right now!”
“Of course, all you had to do was ask. It’s over Altadena heading due south. I can e-mail you the link to the tracking from the phone.”
Jack gave Henry his e-mail address and had the link within seconds. He opened it and could track the exact location of the fourth plane coming into Pasadena.
“Stay on the line,” Jack yelled into the phone and he ran over to the center control and yelled out, “I’ve got the location of the fourth plane.”
Everyone looked at him in disbelief as he bent over and yelled into the speaker phone.
“The fourth plane is near Pasadena, heading for San Marino. Is there anyone close? I am sending everyone the exact coordinates.”
“This is Iceman. I’m refueling at Burbank. I could be there is about 15 minutes.”
“This is Red Dog, I’m on final approach at Ontario and close to flaming out. I could never make it until I refuel. I have to land.”
“I can’t believe this,” said Deputy Director Collins, “He could kill millions of people in the next 15 minutes.”
“This is SWA 65. I’m just above him. I have him in sight.”
Chapter 55
Long’s Car
“I am so tired. I can’t believe we met with them until 4:00 a.m.”
“I’m exhausted too, but look what we accomplished. It was a great meeting.”
/> “I know. I just want to get home and crawl into bed. We have a big day planned with the kids for the Fourth of July.”
“I’m going to turn on the news to make sure I stay awake.”
Mr. Long turned on the news while his wife reclined her seat to try to nap on the way home. After a few minutes he was startled by the announcement coming from the radio.
“Breaking News. This is not a drill. Los Angeles is under a terrorist attack. Areas are being sprayed with a biological weapon from stolen crop dusting planes. Stay indoors. If you spot a crop dusting plane, call 911 immediately and stay indoors. Get into a structure and seal the windows and doors. Try to tape up any cracks. We will keep you updated as we get further information. A plane has been spotted near the foothills between Pasadena and San Marino. If you are in that area, get indoors immediately and stay indoors. We will keep repeating this information and add to it as we get details.”
Mr. Long shook his wife’s shoulder and yelled,
“Honey, wake up. LA’s under attack. You need to call the kids.”
She was startled awake.
“What did you say?”
Mr. Long pointed at the radio.
“Listen. LA is under attack with biological weapons from planes and they are in the area near our house. Get the kid’s or Cindy on the phone. They have to stay indoors and seal up the house.”
Mrs. Long frantically dialed her phone.
“I can’t believe this is happening and our kids are with a babysitter. Come on Cindy, answer the phone.”
Cindy didn’t answer.
“I’m trying Aaron’s cell phone and the house phone. Come on someone, answer the phone.”
On the third try on Cindy’s cell phone, they heard a sleepy hello.
“Cindy, wake up. It’s Mrs. Long. Are you awake?”
Cindy answered groggily, “Yeah, I’m awake. What time is it?”
“Cindy, listen. LA is under a terrorist attack and they are in our area. They are spraying a biological weapon from crop dusting planes. Grab the kids and get to our bedroom. We had new doors and windows put in and it is the tightest room in the house. There is duct tape in the pantry. Take it and some garbage bags and seal yourselves in the master bedroom. Hurry, we don’t know how much time you have.”
“Where are you guys?”
“We’re still coming home, Cindy. We can’t get there for a while. You need to take care of this. Hurry!”
Cindy ran into Aaron’s room and shook him awake.
“Aaron, wake up.”
She kept shaking him until he said,
“What! What’s wrong,” as he sat up in bed.
“Aaron, your parents are still in LA. They just called me. We are under a terrorist attack. Grab your brother and sister and go in your parent’s room. I’ll meet you there. Hurry. Are you awake?”
“Yeah, yeah I’m awake.”
Aaron bolted out of bed and ran for his sister’s room while Cindy hurried to the pantry. She quickly grabbed a roll of garbage bags and several rolls of duct tape. As she ran for the bedroom Aaron was ahead of her carrying his still asleep little brother in his arms. When she got into the bedroom she saw Nancy already in the room lying on the bed where Aaron threw her.
Cindy was frantic. “Aaron quick, we need to seal up all the openings in this room. The terrorists are spraying the area with a biological weapon. We need to seal all the cracks.”
Aaron grabbed a roll of duct tape and started working on the door while Cindy taped the windows. When they got done they looked around at several higher windows and two heating ducts out of reach over their heads.”
“Aaron, we need a ladder.”
He looked at her, his jaw slack.
“We keep the ladders in the garage, not the bedrooms. We just sealed up the door.”
“Maybe we have time to get it.”
Just then, they heard a plane overhead. Cindy and Aaron looked at each other wide eyed and turned white.
“Aaron, get on my shoulders. See if you can reach the ducts.”
As Aaron got on her shoulders he realized he was not even close.
“Cindy, I can’t reach like this.”
Cindy looked up,
“Let’s try this. We do it in cheerleading. You stand on my shoulders and if we still can’t reach I put your feet in my hands and push you up. You can keep your balance by keeping your hands on the wall. When you get stable, put your forehead against the wall so you can use both hands for the duct tape.”
As Cindy and Aaron were frantically trying to seal the ducts and higher windows the phone rang. Nancy walked over, picked up the phone and said Hello.
“Nancy, this is Mom. Where are you?”
“Mommy, we are all in your bedroom and Cindy and Aaron sealed up the windows and doors with duct tape. Now Aaron is standing on Cindy’s hands to reach the ducts. When are you coming home?”
“Nancy, ask Cindy if they are OK.”
“Cindy, Mom wants to know if you are OK.” Nancy yelled at she held up the phone.
“Nancy, tell your mom we will finish sealing the cracks in a couple minutes. We are working fast because we heard a plane fly over us.”
Nancy related the message then said to Cindy, “Mom says she needs to talk to you when you are done. She will try to stay on the line, but if we lose her to try calling back as soon as you can.”
“OK Nancy. Tell her I will call her back as soon as I can.”
Cindy and Aaron finished taping all the ducts and windows and looked back and inspected their work.
“I think we got it, Aaron. Do you see any other areas?”
“No, it looks good to me.”
“Mom’s still waiting,” said Nancy as she handed the phone to Cindy.
“Mrs. Long, we have everything taped up. What do we do now?”
“Cindy, they keep trying to get us more information, but they don’t know much yet. Turn on the TV and they will keep you up to date. I am not sure we will be allowed in the area and I am worried the phone circuits will get tied up. If we can’t get back to you, keep calm and follow the instructions they give you. We trust you Cindy. Do what you need to.”
“OK Mrs. Long. I’ll try to stay in touch. I think I left my cell phone in the guest room. You can only call us on the house phone. Mrs. Long. Can you hear me?” I think I lost her, she muttered to herself.
They noticed Tommy looking out the window and crying.
“What’s wrong, Tommy,” she asked as Cindy and Aaron ran over.
Tommy pointed to the neighbor’s.
“Look at King.”
They looked over and saw the neighbor’s dog lying in the yard with its tongue hanging out and not moving. They then noticed several squirrels lying in the grass and not moving.
“Come on, Tommy. Let’s go back and watch TV. There is nothing more to see out here.”
“Will King be OK?” asked Tommy tearfully.
Cindy looked at Aaron and he shook his head not knowing what to say to Tommy.
Tommy asked,
“Can we watch cartoons on TV?”
“That would be good. They just keep saying the same stuff over and over on the news anyway. I’ll find some cartoons.”
When the little kids were settled in Aaron turned to Cindy.
“How long can we last with the room sealed up? Won’t we run out of oxygen?”
“That’s a good question, Aaron. It’s a big room but at some point we’re going to be in trouble.”
He said, “I think my dad’s laptop is in here. Maybe we can find out.”
Aaron looked up how long the oxygen will last in a room on goggle. As he and Cindy studied the information Cindy said,
“It’s a little complicated because we breathe out carbon dioxide and use the oxygen. Normally the oxygen percentage in air is about 21% and the carbon dioxide almost zero. As we breathe the oxygen level goes down and the c
arbon dioxide level goes up. At some point we start having problems from the carbon dioxide. As far as I can tell, with the size of this room we should have more than a day. After that we are in big trouble.”
“I just thought of another problem. It’s getting hot outside.”
“I’m sure we can survive being a little hot, Aaron.”
“Not that. The Air Conditioning. What happens to the vents we taped up when the AC turns on. It will pull air from the other parts of the house and blow it into this room. I don’t think the tape can handle the pressure.”
Cindy looked up at the vents and at the plastic held on with duct tape.
“You’re right. I don’t think the tape can handle it. We need to turn off the AC. Where’s the thermostat?”
“It’s downstairs and it’s one of those complicated ones. You have to press several buttons to turn it off or it will go into one of those automatic cycles and turn on.”
“Do you know how to turn it off?”
“Yeah, I had to program it. My dad said it was too complicated and gave up. Cindy it’s getting hot. The AC could turn on at any time.”
“Aaron it’s all the way downstairs. There could be gas in the house by now. We know it’s outside. It killed your neighbor’s dog.”
“I think I could make it down and back while holding my breath.”
“And push all the buttons?”
Aaron thought for a minute.
“Yeah, I could make it.”
“I think I should do it,” said Cindy
“Can you hold your breath very long?”
“No, not really.”
“I can. I like to see how far I can swim underwater. Besides, you have to press some buttons and then after it responds press some more. I could never teach you without being at the thermostat. I’m going to have to go.”
“Aaron, I can’t let you. What if something happens?”
“Cindy think. If there is gas in the house and the AC turns on and blows the plastic off we all die. Look at the dog next door. If there is no gas in the house yet, I’ll be fine.”
“But if there is gas in the house it could kill you.”
“Cindy, we don’t have a choice. If there is gas and the AC turns on we all die. There is no way the plastic will hold.”