Chapter 6
THE OPPOSITION
Control USA was busy. Expansion was not coming as fast as promised. Their Asian partners were being very careful. So far only a few of the available business properties were usable for Control. Missions were underway in Baton Rouge, Tampa, Miami, and two in Las Cruces and Rimrock, NM. They needed more trained units. Fortunately Control Europe sent them two additional teams to help in New Mexico.
The news would soon be filled with new attacks in the USA. All of them would be blamed on jihadist groups. They were a wonderful scapegoat for Control activities. Jihadists were useful to Control. The Chinese and Russians used them too. As long as they would do what they were tasked. Control loved the terrorism popping up all over the world. It was one of the reasons they worked with the Russians and Chinese. Both countries were assimilating bits of Control tactics and ideology, adapting it to their own use. All with the encouragement of Control. Control was very aware of the ambitions of both countries and knew they had two tigers by the tail.
Pride, ambition, and self conceit were three factors that Control was adept in manipulating. Bribes in cash and technology helped.
THE HOME TEAM
Jake consulted his oracle. The hand held phone wasn't impressive, but the calculations were. A pale Jake informed William,"There is a eighty-five percent chance that we will be attacked by three stinger missiles outside of Las Cruces New Mexico."
"Three? You have the exact number and missile type too?" William fought his inner loss of control. "How long before we reach Cruces?"
Jake typed in the last question. "This phone has GPS and a few other Center goodies. About ninety minutes."
"We have less than ninety minutes before we get attacked? How about potential solutions?"
Jake typed. "Like I said, we can avoid the attack, find and prepare an effective defense, or attack them first. As far as defenses. None, that I-." He stopped, turning a more sickly white. William heard a gargled "Wait-" and watched Jake grab his head with both hands and go rigid against the back of the passenger plane seat. William turned white and reached for Jake.
Jake came out of it in less than a second. His color was back. He gave William a ferocious warrior glare. The savage grin said he had an answer. "We can defend. And there is a possible attack too. You'll like that one."
"How?"
"My growing abilities. The part of my mind filled with new information, almost a second mind, informs me that I can displace objects and provide both defense and offense simultaneously, maybe, if I'm strong enough."
"How are you going to do that?
"It is unbelievable,"Jake told him the bare bones of the process, adding, "The conceptualization is perfect. There is no guarantee this attack will happen. It is only probability. Theory is not a guarantee. There is a fifteen percent chance nothing will happen.".
"Can anything go wrong?"
"Yup, Anything can go wrong. The attack might happen. I might go bonkers. I might be too weak. My plan might fail. My abilities might not work at all." You name anything than might go wrong and it could happen. Jake was not encouraging. Jake was unnaturally cheerful as he explained what might happen.
"That isn't cheering me up, little buddy. What do the probabilities say?"
"Ninety percent chance my imagined plan will work"
"That's a little better. Thanks."
"We'll see what happens. Worst case? We are dead. Probably not, though."
"Cheer me up. What's the best case."
"Nothing happens, naturally."
"No. Dammit. For me. Is there anything for me to do?"
"Not this time. Sit back and enjoy the ride. It might be our last."
THE OPPOSITION
Sigrid's European coordination of the invasion of the Center Battle facility was a complete disappointment. It wasn't his fault or any failure by the teams he trained. Control grudgingly admitted Intel had inexplicably blown it.
When the teams arrived, and began the assault, they discovered why entry into the facility was so easy. There were no set traps. The facility was empty. There was no way it could have been a battle Center. Yet Intel had confirmed it was. The were pictures, dammit. He knew it was a troop and equipment location.It was a huge space, granted, but it was clean. It wasn't before. The pictures proved it.
The Battle Center was an empty building now. The building was being prepared for simple commercial manufacturing. Sigrid's teams expertly explored the building from top to bottom. All the entrances and exits were exactly what and where his own Intelligence team told him. None of the reported activity, materiel or people were present. It was a vacant building. How could they empty it that fast, he could not imagine.
Top level people were re-examining all the data gathered and trying to figure out what happened. Sigrid didn't care. He got credit for what turned out to be a final practice, and nothing more, for the teams. He got credit. That was all that mattered. The team's coordination and smooth reconnaissance pleased him. The exercise went better than expected. He did wonder how the multiple teams might have done in a firefight.
The failure puzzled him too, but was not a concern. Not his concern.After reporting back to Control they told him where Jake was and where he was headed. Control determined the best take down method and sent Sigrid and his team to New Mexico.
North of Las Cruces in the White Sands near Alamogordo, Sigrid had his promised opportunity from Control to take down Jake. It still burned him that every time he got close, Jake escaped.
He wasn't overly enamored with Control's plan, but telling Control their plan sucked, from his point of view, wasn't an option either. Not if he wanted to stay a leader, have a team, or just stay alive. Control was all about top down obedience.
Sigrid recognized what he really wanted was a face to face confrontation. Still, dead was dead. He figured that would have to be enough. He was glad he wasn't charged with another kidnapping try. Killing Jake was the way to go. It was what Sigrid wanted. It was what he needed to happen. Control confirmed that his nemesis was on board the private flight to Albuquerque and should be overhead in less than
two hours.
His men were prepared. Their experience made this mission an easy one. It should be a simple matter to shoot down the passenger jet with Stinger rockets. For private planes, even jets, there was no real defense to any unexpected missile strike. His team had used a variety of Stinger missiles. This one was the simplest. These old missiles had been adapted to use newer, more powerful batteries and a few other working adaptions required to keep the weapons functioning.
In a pinch, the Stinger assemblies could even be adapted to use car batteries. The team initially had four FIM-92 A Stinger missiles, generally called the Stinger Basic. This was still overkill to Sigrid's mind. It was clear Control wanted Jake dead. Redundancy was a good idea, he had to admit. Teams did experiencefailures with the Stinger, even the latest models had their failures. He knew of one team that had the rocket explode upon firing, taking out the team. Other teams had experienced battery pack failures or Battery Coolant Unit problems.
That wasn't going to happen on his watch. These missiles had been inspected several times and the mechanisms tested. The Stingers were also carefully wrapped to keep the sand from getting into the works. Only one had seemed likely to cause a problem. The rechargeable battery kept failing, despite replacing it, so that one was left behind. Three missiles should be enough. Sigrid would have been happier with the more recent, flexible versions of the Stinger, the more he thought about it, but he got what Control gave. It was up to him, as team leader, to make it work.
This version of the Stinger was among the first ones manufactured. They were over twenty years old. Normal operation used two man teams to handle the 22lb. missile and launch it. The entire unit ran 33.5 lbs. That was fine for his six man team. They had practiced the set up and firing procedures several times.
Right now his winter camouflaged unit was relaxing, waiting, under camouf
lage tents, all the equipment matched the white sands around them. Sigrid's research showed there were rare inspections of the White sands, so he didn't take any chances. He was also cautious about the nearby Army base. They stayed on the National Monument side of the White Sands area. The Sand looked like snow from a distance. So did they.
Once the Plane was nearly over head his team would jump into action. Practice showed they could launch quickly and most likely catch the plane within a couple of miles. They knew the cruising speed and height would be compatible and within the limits of the weapon. Having trackers on their victims throughout their trip through Louisiana helped. The plane had a tracker too. One team of watchers had checked on them periodically on every step of their journey. Sigrid liked the Intel coup. He liked having the advantage.
Sigrid monitored the GPS. It was time. He alerted the men. His teams swiftly sprang into action. They were up and ready to fire in only a few minutes. The rapid efficiency pleased Sigrid. His team told him "ready" as each pair of men loaded, and were set for the strike. Sigrid checked the data, and mentally counted down, watching the clock, finally giving the order. "Fire".
The three rockets sped skyward.