WASHINGTON, D.C
'All right. Let's have it,' the President said, wearily.
General Curtis nodded and continued, pointing to a map of the California coast that was projected on the rear-wall screen in the White House Situation Room. 'Yes, sir. 'He pointed to the Dreamland area. 'As you know, an attack was staged on the project base.
Approximately a dozen individuals were involved.
'Good lord, things are going to hell already. 'He turned to Jack Pledgeman, his press secretary. 'What about the press?'
'They know about it, of course,' Pledgernan told him.
'The Air Force comment was standard 'no comment. 'It's no secret in southern Nevada that Dreamland is a highly classified research area.
Speculation runs rampant, of course, but the press has no inkling of the projects we're conducting there. I'm sure they don't know about the Old Dog or the runway at Groom Lake. The biggest problem, in my estimation, will be the casualties, Eight military and three civilians,' 'Put a clamp on that, too,' the President asked. 'I'll write a letter to the families regarding the sensitivity of the project they were working on and the importance of secrecy. The families must know that their family members were involved in highly classified work for the government. They'll be notified of what happened in due time.
Clear, Wilbur?'
'Yes, sir,' Curtis replied.
'This is not a formerly classified project,' the President emphasized.
'We keep a clamp on things right now. Control of this project starts right here, ' He turned again to Curtis.
'General, what's the status of the Old Dog test team?'
All eyes turned to the Chairman Of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
'Colonel Anderson, the chief operational designer of the Old Dog, was killed in the attack…'The President's shoulders slumped.
'Lewis Campos, the civilian designer of the Scorpio, defensive armament interface and the airmine tail defense system, was also killed.'
'Well, who the hell is flying that B-52?'Secretary of Defense Thomas Preston asked.
'The aircraft commander is now Lieutenant-General Bradley Elliott, the Old Dog project director.
'Elliott?' the President asked. 'How did he get on board?'
'General Elliott was there when the attack started,' Curtis told him.
'When Colonel Anderson was killed he got on board and he and Lieutenant Colonel John Ormack, the crew co-pilot, taxied the bomber out of the hangar and launched it.'
Curtis checked his notes: 'General Elliott's aide, Lieutenant Harold Briggs, reported that Elliott was wounded in the right leg during the attack. All of the other members of the test team are aboard. He also reported that the bomber suffered damage taxiing out of the hangar-lost four feet of the left wingtip and one external fuel tank.
'X g 'Are we in contact with the plane?' the President asked.
'Yes, sir,' Curtis asked. 'So far, only nonsecure U.H.F contact. They launched without any classified code documents.
What we are trying to do right now is code a message to the crew to get them to set a three-digit address code into their satellite transceiver. Once we're hooked up that way, we can transmit instructions.'
'Where are they now?'
'They're orbiting one hundred and twenty miles off the coast of Big Sur at high altitude, as far off the jet airways as possible. Elliott is obviously trying to hide his plane as best he can.'
'Why is he still in the air?' asked Thomas Preston. 'It's loaded down with weaponry, modified to the hilt-it should be back on the ground immediately.'
'I believe General Elliott feels that in broad daylight there's nowhere the plane can land without attracting attention. The Dreamland runway is usable but the hangar was destroyed and there are newspeople all over the place.'
'Any alternate landing sites for the plane?' the President asked.
A, 'There are several possibilities,' Curtis said, 'and the Old Dog still has eight hours of fuel. Two airfields on the Red Flag restricted area are prime sites, although they're not nearly as secure as Dreamland. A few possibilities in Seattle, Washington, and Alaska.'
The President leaned back in his chair. 'We can't send the Old Dog instructions without risking eavesdropping or discovery. Meanwhile, we have two other fully armed bombers on their way to Russia… If Elliott isn't in danger, then he can wait until tonight and land the plane somewhere where it can be concealed. Preferably back in Dreamland or Southern Nevada. 'The President closed his eyes and said to his press secretary: 'Jack. Ideas on how to call this?'
'We'll call it a terrorist attack on a deactivated Air Force research facility. The base was being dismantled by military and civilian workers, a shadowy terrorist group with ties to Qaddafi struck the facility, believing it still to be active.
'We may never know the real truth about where the attackers came from or how they managed to slip through the base defenses,' Curtis said.
'We've established that they were flying an American-made cargo plane, but so far the wreckage has yielded few clues as to its ownership. All of the bodies have been shipped to DIA labs in Washington for dental and fingerprint analysis and examination of personal effects, but whoever the hell organized the attack was damn careful to cover his tracks. There were Caucasians as well as Orientals, and all of them wore American-made clothes. Except for a piece of metal we found, that appears to have come from a Soviet-made bazooka, there's really nothing to suggest, let alone prove, Soviet involvement 'Who else would want to attack that base?' Preston asked.
'I've asked myself the same question, Mr. Secretary, but so far the evidence against the Russians is almost entirely circumstantial-' The President cut him off. 'We'll go with the terrorist story for now and revise it if we have to. 'He turned again to his press secretary.
'Jack, don't forget those letters to the families.
I want them on my desk A.S.A.P' 'Half-hour, Mr. President,' Pledgeman said, and left the room.
From behind closed eyes the President asked, 'Anything else, gentlemen?' No reply. 'Any Soviet reaction?'
'Nothing, Mr. President,' Marshall Brent asked. 'Probably waiting for us to accuse them. I'll be meeting with Karmarov shortly,' The President turned to General Curtis. 'Status of the B-1s, General?'
'Dead on time, sir. They'll be getting their first refueling over Canada right about now.'
The President was silent for a moment. Curtis was positive the President was going to cancel the B-1 sorties when he finally said: 'I'll be upstairs in my office. Keep me advised of their progress every half hour. I'll monitor the mission from there.
'Yes, Mr. President.'
'And get Elliott and his… his Old Dog on the ground.
Have them keep their plane hidden as best as possible. They can wait for a night landing, but that's all. I've got three planes too many flying already.'
'We'll send the Old Dog up to Seattle, sir,' Curtis offered as he headed for the door. 'They've got the room and the right people to disarm it-' 'Disarm it?' the President said. Everyone in the Situation Room froze. 'Disarm it?What the hell is it armed with, General?'
'Sir, General Elliott's plane, if you remember, was a testbed experimental aircraft.it.. - it probably has all of the weaponry the Excaliburs have-the air-to-air missiles, the-' They don't have any nuclear weapons on board, do they, General?' Tom Preston, the Secretary of Defense, asked. 'No one authorized- 'No, sir,' Curtis said quickly. He turned to the President.
'General Elliott's B-52 was conducting tests on the Striker Tv-guided glide bomb. He is probably carrying one
