“Let’s call your parents. Maybe they will have another idea.”
Chapter 56
The pilot of SWA 65 called Air Traffic Control to request permission to descend.
“Permission to descend? We have your location and can now pick up the crop duster on radar since he’s out of the mountains. There is nothing else you can do.”
“Actually there is. I wonder how he would like flying through the wingtip vortices from a 737?”
“Victor, you’re a pilot. What exactly is he talking about?”
Victor said, “Heavy planes like a 737 put out a strong vortex off the ends of their wings, especially when flying slow. That is why they have to space out planes when they land, so the vortex has time to dissipate. If the 737 were to fly just in front of the crop duster and he flew through the vortex, it could flip him around so he would lose all control. It definitely could work.”
“SWA you are cleared to descend on VFR. We are keeping all traffic away from you. Don’t run into him.”
“That won’t be a problem. He’ll want to stay away from me.”
SWA 65 descended to just in front of the crop duster, extended his flaps and landing gear, and started banking back and forth.
Ali started laughing to himself. After all this I made it, and I’m the least experienced pilot. I’ve been spraying for 5 minutes now. What does that pilot think he’s doing? Does he think he’s going to scare me out of the air by waving his wings?
Officer Johnson had been standing outside his patrol car on a hill in Altadena for 15 minutes. I can’t believe I’m sitting here looking for a crop dusting plane in the dark. And if I see it, all I’m supposed to do is report and get out of the way so the Army can come in. Why don’t they issue us protective gear for a gas attack? As he continued to scan the sky, he spotted SWA 65 in an emergency descent, with his gear down and landing lights on. What’s that plane doing! It looks like he’s trying to land, but there’s no airport here. He’s weaving all around. Then he spotted the crop duster just behind SWA 65. I can’t believe it. There’s the crop duster. He frantically keyed his radio.
“This is Officer Johnson. I have the crop duster in sight just south of the 210 freeway. He is right behind an airliner that looks like it’s in trouble.”
“Johnson, just report what you see.”
The dispatcher called Homeland Security.
“I have an officer with eyes on the crop duster. I am patching him through.”
Victor said to the group, “We have a patrol officer with eyes on the crop duster. He’s going on speaker.”
Officer Johnson continued to report as the staff huddled listening mesmerized to his narrative.
“The jet is weaving all over the sky, but it looks deliberate. He doesn’t seem to be crashing. The crop duster is just behind him and it looks like there is something coming out behind his plane.”
“Hold on. The crop duster just flipped upside down. Now he’s starting to spin. It looks like he’s going down. He crashed. The airliner is now flying straight. Boy, this is exciting. I’ve never seen anything like this.”
“Victor, cut him off. NSS did you hear that? The fourth plane is down.”
They heard NSS from the monitor.
“Do we know how much the fourth plane sprayed?”
“If he started spraying when he hit the populated areas, about 6 miles.”
“We have Army decontamination crews on the way. This will be bad, but it could have been a lot worse. Where are we on getting that flash drive?”
Chapter 57
The SEAL team was examining the area where the kids threw the locator.
“Can you tell which tracks were theirs?”
“The dune buggy headed East from here followed by three jeeps.”
“You can tell all that by looking at tracks. What about all the other tracks?”
“These are more recent. The edges are sharper because they haven’t eroded yet and they are on top of the other tracks. The jeeps have a smaller track and the dune buggy has sand tires.”
“Sorry I asked. Can you follow them from the Hummer?”
“I could follow these tracks from the helicopter. Why did we send it back?”
“Because we follow orders from officers that don’t spend enough time in the field.”
Chapter 58
Jose knocked softly and then walked in his boss’s office.
“Manuel, It’s Joseph” As he held out the phone.
“Joseph. We have been somewhat disappointed watching the news. Your plans did not go through as expected. I hope you aren’t calling with more bad news,” said Manuel.
“We’ve had our problems, but the mission is still a success. We have killed many Americans.”
“Not nearly as many as you should have. Are you calling to inform me how badly you have performed?”
“Actually we have another problem,” said Joseph, “We found out the kids made a copy of the hard drive on the computer. The computer is burned up, but we are concerned the kids still have the flash drive.”
“I thought you were going to kill the kids after shooting down the helicopter.”
“We stopped chasing the kids to set up the extraction for the pilots. We found out later about the existence of the flash drive.”
“Where are the kids now?” asked Manuel.
“We’ve lost them. They jumped a ravine with their dune buggy and we lost a jeep and my best man trying to follow. I had to circle the ravine and I am now two hours behind them and having trouble following their trial.”
“You’ve been a major disappointment, Joseph. We handed this operation to you with all the details worked out. All you had to do was execute it and you have failed miserably. And now you inform us that there is a flash drive out there with potentially harmful information on it. Keep going the way the kids went. I’ll try to get you more information.”
Manuel hung up the phone and turned to Jose.
“Joseph has turned out to be more incompetent than we feared. Still some of our objectives have been met. As long as we stay undiscovered, we can still meet our goals. Do we know what he stored on the laptop that could possibly be traced to us?”
“I’m not sure, there is no way for me to determine what he might have put on the laptop.” said Jose. “Joseph has lost his credibility. Asking him would be pointless. We need to recover that flash drive.”
“We need to get our crews in the area on alert and looking for those kids. Contact the Meth cookers also. They’re in that area. Our crews can stage from their compound. Don’t we have another source in Homeland Security?”
Jose had a sly grin on his face. “We have a sleeper that we have been saving.”
“It’s time to use him. We need to find that flash drive before they do.”
“The sleeper is actually a female,” said Jose. “I’ll use the emergency contact and bring her up to speed. I’m not sure she is in a department that can help us at this time.”
Chapter 59
The SEALS were staring down into the ravine at the still smoldering wreckage of the jeep. One had rappelled down into the ravine, climbed up the other wall with equipment and was calling back on the radio.
“What happened here?”
“The dune buggy jumped from there and was able to clear the ravine. One of the jeeps tried to follow and crashed into the wall at high speed. The other jeeps stayed here and then left going both north and south. The dune buggy landed badly on the sand and rolled. They were able to right it and they took off going east again.”
“Is there anyway to get the Hummers over the ravine without going around?”
“Not without the helicopter.”
“Let’s go. Follow the jeep trail. This is going to cost us another hour.”
Clyde woke up with a splitting headache. I’ve got to stop drinking so much at night, he sa
id to himself. If this wasn’t such a desolate place out here with nothing to do, maybe I wouldn’t. He looked over and saw the alert flashing on his E-Mail. I better check this. Our boss can get mad when we don’t check in. Fred walked in as he read the E-Mail.
“Anything important?” Fred inquired.”
“No. They want us to be on the lookout for four kids in a dune buggy. They say it’s important that they find them and to contact them immediately if we see them.”
“Everything’s important to them. Let’s get breakfast.”
Sarah woke up in the barn and tried to figure out where she was. She felt someone and realized it was Cody lying against her. Sarah managed to slide out from beside Cody without waking him. I really need to go to the bathroom she thought and started exploring the barn. She found a somewhat dirty but functional bathroom behind the first door she came to. This will do. I even have running water to wash some dirt off. After a couple minutes she emerged with her face washed and clean hands. Well that makes me feel better, she thought. I wonder what this place is. As she wandered around she saw a lot of stainless steel tanks and other equipment. I wonder if this is a dairy, she thought. She heard John stirring.
“John, what is this place?” she questioned.
John woke up still exhausted and stared at the ceiling, “It’s an old abandoned barn I found last night. Everyone was asleep and I was about ready to fall asleep driving so I pulled in here.”
“John, this isn’t abandoned. It looks like it on the outside, but the inside is full of equipment and tanks and has a working bathroom.”
John bolted upright.
“What!! I thought it was abandoned. Is there anyone around?”
“I haven’t seen anyone yet, but I haven’t been outside.”
John and Sarah ran over to the door, slid it open a few inches and peered out.
“All I see is an abandoned farm house,” said Sarah.
“Me too,” said John. “But maybe the farmhouse just looks abandoned like this barn does from the outside. Someone has to be using this barn with all this equipment.”
Fred was looking out the window toward the barn while eating breakfast and saw the door move.
“Clyde, the door to the barn just moved. Look at it.”
“What are you talking about? We’re the only ones here,” he said as he peered out the window. “Hey, that door was closed all the way.”
“I told you. Someone’s out there.”
“Grab the guns. We gotta check this out,” said Clyde concerned.
They grabbed shotguns, ran out to the barn and snuck in a back door.
Sarah and John ran over to Ellen and Cody. John shook Cody by the shoulder. “Cody, wake up. We need to talk.”
“What!” said Cody, “Can’t I sleep some more,” and tried to roll over.
“No, Cody. Wake up now.”
“OK, OK. Where are we?”
“We’re in a barn.”
“Oh yeah, the abandoned barn you found last night.”
“Except, it’s not abandoned, someone’s using it” said John. “It’s full of tanks and equipment.”
Cody started wandering around looking at the equipment.
“This equipment looks familiar”, said Cody. “I’ve seen this before. I did a paper on this. This is a Meth-Amphetamine lab.”
Clyde and Fred overheard Cody as they quietly entered the barn through the back door,
Well, well,” said Clyde, “the boy is well informed.” He pointed a shotgun at the kids.
All the kids backed up from Clyde and Fred staring at their shotguns.
“Just keep going,” said Clyde. “Back yourselves into that room.”
Clyde went over and locked the door once the kids were in the storeroom.
“Stand guard,” he said to Fred. “These are the kids the boss is looking for. I need to call him.”
“This is not good,” said John. “If they are drug dealers, there is no way they can let us go after we have seen them and their operation. We’ve got to get out of here.”
They started inspecting the storeroom.
“This room was built like a bank vault,” said Cody. “The walls are concrete, the door is steel, there are no windows and the ceiling is concrete. Who builds a room like this?”
“Someone that wants to keep their drugs secure,” said John dejectedly. “The only way out of this room is that steel door.”
“Manuel, the meth cooker, Clyde is on the phone. He said he has the kids.”
Manuel took the phone.
“Tell me what you have, Clyde.”
“We came out to the barn and found these four kids in a dune buggy, two boys and two girls. The boys have kind of long surfer hair and are about 14 and 16. The girls are blonde with long hair and about the same age. I took a picture with my cell phone and I’m sending it to you.”
“Where are the kids now?”
“I locked them in a store room,” said Clyde.
“Is it secure?”
“Very. It’s the one your men built with the concrete walls and steel door. They are locked in with the double deadbolts fastened.”
“Good job,” said Manuel. “I’m glad there is someone in my organization that can do something right. I’m going to have someone there in less than an hour. He needs to get something from those kids and then I have other plans for them.”
“Jose, get Joseph on the radio and tell him where the Meth lab is. Have him get the flash drive, but don’t hurt the kids. I have other plans for them.”
One of the SEALS was sitting in the Hummer watching their tracker.
His buddy said, “Do you really think he can track them over this rock and hardpan?
“I’ve seen him do amazing things. I have no idea what he sees. The problem is how slow it is. He spends most of his time out of the Hummer. We are never going to catch them at this speed.”
“Joseph, this is Jose. We have done your work again. The kids are locked in a store room at one of our facilities, 20 miles to the east of you. I’m texting you the exact location. Go to the facility and talk to Clyde. He will give you the kids. Get the flash drive and check it to make sure it’s the right one. They have detection gear there. Search the kids to make sure they don’t have another one. Destroy the flash drive after you have checked it. Then call me back. Also, don’t hurt the kids. Manuel has special plans for them. Don’t disappoint us again. Any questions?”
“No questions. I’ll be there in 30 minutes.”
Chapter 60
“What’s the latest on the flash drive?”
“The SEAL team is following the tracks, but it’s slow.”
“Can’t you search by air?”
“Search for what. They are trying to hide and could be in a hundred mile by hundred mile area. How do you search that? We just have to wait for the SEAL team to catch up.”
“What’s the causality count up to?”
“We aren’t sure. Pasadena and San Marino were sprayed for several miles. The drift seems to be about a half mile to a mile wide. We have evacuated the area around that and those people seem fine. Within that area we can see dead people lying in the street, but most are still in their houses. We have talked to a few that are still alive. They have sealed up their doors and windows with tape. So far they seem healthy. We just don’t know if they can make it until the gas is not lethal. We have no idea how many people are dead in the area. When we tried to send a team in with level 3 moon suits on, they only lasted five minutes.”
“They only lasted 5 minutes in moon suits?”
“That’s right. Even with bottled air. 5 minutes.”
“What is this stuff? We need that flash drive.”
“Is there any way to help that SEAL team?”
“They are doing what they can. It just isn’t that fast to track something.”
/> Chapter 61
Clyde was waiting outside for Joseph. He got out of his jeep and Clyde showed him into the barn.
“They’re in that storeroom. Here’s the key. Just like I told Manuel.”
Joseph glared at Clyde like he would like to shoot him and snatched the key out of his hand.
Clyde and Fred backed up warily and watched Joseph open the door.
“I really don’t like these people,” Fred whispered to Clyde. “I thought we dealt with bad people with the drug trade. This guy is just plain evil.”
Joseph opened the door and strode into the storeroom. All four kids were cowering against the back wall staring at him. Joseph stopped in front of them and pulled out a knife. He looked at the knife and then back at the kids. “I want the flash drive,” he said calmly, and then started looking at each kid individually in their eyes.
Sarah slowly reached into her pocket, pulled out the flash drive and handed it to Joseph, her eyes frozen on his icy gaze.
Joseph took it, looked it over, and said, “Don’t go anywhere. I need to check this. Then I’ll be back to talk about my friend you killed.”
The kids watched Joseph walk out and close the door, and then they collapsed on the floor.
“We are so screwed,” said Sarah. “When he comes back he’s going to kill us.”
Ellen walked over to the corner, sat down and started sobbing hysterically. John watched her for a minute and then walked over, sat down and put his arm around her. Sarah looked over at Cody and softly asked, “What about the other flash drive?”
He leaned over and whispered, “It’s hidden outside.”
“Should we give it to him?”
“I don’t think so. I don’t think they know about it or he would have asked for both of them. I don’t think they’ll find it outside. Let’s try holding off for now. It might be the only leverage we have to stay alive.”