looked like Gotham City on a bad day.
Peter asked, “Wheeler, can you help light the rooftop? Over.”
Wheeler answered, “Sir, we have our flashlights and will try to show the corners. Sorry, we have nothing else.”
The pilot then said, “Sir, I have their lights in sight. We’ll be fine on approach, but only one bird can land at a time.”
”Roger that. Wheeler, divide your men for two birds, over.”
When the first helicopter landed, Angela got off with one of the Rangers to make space for two EOD airmen with equipment. The second flight did the same thing. The Rangers would help care for any injured people remaining below in the offices.
Locked and Loaded
Fortunately, the military had provided combat air controllers to the city to take charge of the air traffic; even fixed winged aircraft could navigate between buildings along the wide boulevards.
Peter briefed the teams on tactics. The pilots were briefed separately. The EOD would be seated on the edge of the helicopter deck with safety harnesses. One would operate the laser, while the other would wear the goggles. The laser operator, without eye gear, would try to identify the Patriot taxis for the observer and focus the lasers on the target vehicles. When the observer did not say the word “verified” which would represent a Hotwaxed vehicle, it was called a “bogey.” Each bogey would be investigated.
Thunder was instructed to locate a helipad in the center of the city and keep one engine idling at all times. The Little Bird pilots were instructed to fly down specific streets between buildings. The speed and altitude would be adjusted as directed by the EOD team. Dawn was appearing as the aircraft flew to their starting points in the city. Their flight routes were planned and the two teams would work independently. The first search routes were along the main streets through the city that were at most risk. Little Bird One took Michigan Avenue from North Avenue, flying south. Bird Two took LaSalle Street south.
The helicopters flew about two hundred feet above the ground. The observers learned to coordinate effectively. The process was painfully slow as they cruised along the street at no more than twenty miles an hour. Michigan Avenue was relatively clear compared to LaSalle, which had more damage. Several taxis were present as people walked east toward Lake Michigan. Each taxi had to be examined to see if it had Patriot logos. In the first block, they saw several Patriot taxis at work, and all glowed purple. The coating worked remarkably well.
When Little Bird One crossed over the Chicago River, into the heart of downtown, they located their first “bogey.” The observer yelled, “Tally ho! Bogey below.”
Peter responded, “Is the taxi parked or moving?”
”It’s parked sir. At least it’s not moving and appears to be parked on the side.”
Peter instructed, “Roger that, pilot, move to higher altitude and rearward about two blocks.” The early morning sky was still dark.
The helicopter rotated, reversing direction and Peter ordered him to turn right up Wacker Drive. Once they were hidden, the helicopter descended as the two Rangers and two EOD personnel jumped out with their gear.
Peter and the other Ranger jogged ahead, traveling south parallel to Michigan. When they reached a cross street, they turned toward Michigan, stopping at the corner, one hundred meters ahead of the taxi.
On Michigan they started walking, holding their weapons to their sides. Darkness helped. The taxi was located between other abandoned or parked cars. Crouching, they could not see inside the taxi. EOD had remained at the corner, out of sight. No cars were moving and the closest headlights were probably ten blocks away.
Peter asked the other Ranger to cover him while he circled behind, farther down the street. The sky was beginning to brighten slightly with the dawn. Peter moved between cars to the opposite sidewalk and was moving cautiously up the street using architecture for cover as much as possible. When he reached the car, he stepped closer until he could tap the window with his M4 muzzle. The other Ranger was aiming at the driver’s side window. The rear window shattered as an AK rifle took aim at Peter, who instantly fired a volley inside the car. The driver’s window disintegrated in an explosion of glass as the Ranger unloaded half a magazine of ammunition from across the street.
No one was in the front seat, but a dead man in the back appeared to be Middle Eastern. Opening the door, Peter pressed his barrel against the man’s chest as he grabbed his belt and jerked him out of the car. The body was limp, oozing blood with a face shredded by gunfire. Peter whistled and gestured for the EODs. The Ranger pulled the trunk release lever. The reentry warhead and detonation device were inside. They could hear sirens coming in their direction as the EODs went to work disabling the detonator.
Two police cars stopped down the street when they saw armed soldiers at the taxi. Tires squealed as the lead car skidded to a stop nearly colliding with the other car. Officers jumped to cover behind their cars with weapons drawn yelling, “Police! Drop your weapons and step away from the car.”
Peter ordered the men to keep working, shouting back, “Back off! We’re National Guard in support of the FBI.”
All the police officers were obviously tense. One repeated, “I say again, drop your weapons!”
Peter insisted, “We’re not dropping anything! This is a nuclear bomb here and we’re making it safe. So back off!” His M4 was set for automatic fire, still pointed at the ground, but he was prepared to use force if the police were too stupid to back down. The EOD team was sweating profusely as the standoff continued.
An officer crouched behind his car, remaining low as he used the radio for instructions. The EOD team remained at their job. “Safe!” The airman crawled back out of the trunk. Peter could see his sweat in the dim light. He told his men to get all their equipment and standby. Using his radio, he called for the Little Bird One to come to their location.
Peter walked toward the police cars as they continued to point their handguns. He yelled, “Officers, this car is a nuclear bomb. We’re under orders from the President. There are four more around the city and we have no more time for discussion. Take charge of this car and keep it guarded! The car must not be touched; it’s still a live warhead. I repeat a live warhead!”
As Peter finished instructing the police, they continued to point their guns in his direction, which he ignored. The police were helpless, since most of the command structure had been obliterated. When the Little Bird arrived, the police knew they were outgunned.
Peter ordered his men aboard the helicopter, which moved ahead of the police vehicles in low hover. Its rotor blades were barely above the car roofs. As the team rose to observation altitude, the police were standing in their same positions looking at them.
At one hundred feet of altitude, they resumed their hunt down Michigan Avenue. The radio squawked, “Striker One, This is Striker Two, over.”
“Go ahead Two, this is One, over.”
Peter Two said, “Sir, we have located and disabled one car on LaSalle Street, no occupants, over.”
“Good work Two. Did you secure the location? Are the police in custody of the nuke? Over.”
“Yes sir, all is secure. The street’s a mess and the car was pinned in. Police were everywhere when we arrived. They now have custody, over.”
“Good, resume search, we have three more to find.”
The process was tedious. At the end of Lasalle Street, Striker Two turned onto State Street and began a search moving opposite their original direction. Within a few minutes, they had discovered a second suspect taxi among considerable rubble from building facades that had fallen. They were able to set the Bird down on the roof of a parking garage two blocks away. Once again, the mix of Rangers and EOD were moving fast to the scene.
Little Bird One reached the end of the high-rise area and turned one hundred eighty degrees up Wabash Avenue, when the radio blared, “Striker One, this is Striker Two, over!”
&nbs
p; Gunfire was recognizable in the background. Peter answered, “Two this is One, over.”
“Sir we’ve got bad guys behind rubble with automatic weapons. Request assistance, over.”
He asked for coordinates and instructed Little Bird One’s pilot to land nearby. Peter and the other Ranger in his flight were on the ground in less than forty-five seconds. Gunfire was audible as Peter ordered the pilot to a safe location. The Rangers ran toward the gunfire. The fight was raging on West LaSalle Street in front of the Federal Reserve Bank. The taxi was parked in the middle of the street with muzzle flashes from within the stacks of broken concrete and twisted rebar.
Peter found Stokes across from the taxi, pinned down without much cover.
Stokes said, “Sir, we were trying to get to the taxi when all hell broke loose.”
“Understand Captain. How many are there?”
“I believe two, well protected, sir.”
Peter said, “Okay, you, pointing to one of the Rangers, take right. I’ll take left; Captain, you two lay down suppressing fire. Here are two more magazines. Let’s go!”
The Rangers bolted across the street while the two remaining fired automatic bursts toward the enemy. Their suppressive fire forced the gunmen to keep down. The attacking men ran fast and the terrorists fired back, ineffectively. The Ranger on the other side tried moving between covered