'So it wasn't Elliott?'
'Well, sir,' Curtis said, hesitating, his Kansas draw] leaking through, 'we called the Sixth. They had no Lantern Four-Five Fox at all that day They had a fighter drag earliersome tankers escorting F-15s-that flew fairly close to So let airspace on its way to Kadena, but no four-five call sign. Rv lit 9 now, we're checking out some possibilities. Kommandorskiye Center apparently had no flight plan on file for Lantern Four Five Fox. Kommandorskiye was told by Lantern that they would have Kadena Global Command Control relay their flight plan. That's standard procedure for military flight plans.
Meanwhile Kommandorskiye assigned Lantern an identification code and allowed it to continue southward, A few minutes later Kommandorskiye kicked Lantern Out of its airspace because of a malfunctioning identification signal. It was given a heading well clear of Soviet airspace. A half-hour after that Kommandorskiye calls Lantern and says they are seventy miles inside Soviet airspace.
'Inside their airspace?How did that happen?'
'We're not sure but I'm operating under the assumption that Lantern Four-Five is Elliott and his crew. I haven't figured out how he got the fuel-he didn't have nearly enough to fly all the way across the north Pacific Ocean. I should receive some word soon 'Then our game is on-for real,' the President said. He 'Your plan seems to have worked, looked up at Curtis.
General 'Yes, sir. When that Russian Air Defense emergency was called, those B-1s were tying up three quarters of the Soviet fighters in the area. The intelligence ship Lawrence didn't report any fighter activity further south. If it is Elliott, and I'm betting it is, he's got quite a head start.'immediately. If the Russians find Elliott over the Kamchatka peninsula they'll shoot down the Excaliburs for sure.'
'Yes, sir. And if I know those bomber crews they'll put the pedal to the metal getting back here.'
'So that shrewd old bastard made it. 'The President shook his head, still finding it difficult to believe what had happened.
He turned to Hampton. 'Eight A.M Jeff. I want the National Security Advisors, JCS, House Speaker, minority and majority leaders of both houses of Congress and Armed Services Committee chairman of both houses. Request a secure videophone connection with the prime ministers of the NATO countries and the attendance of all available NATO ambassadors. Those who can't meet in the Oval Office will confer via secure videophone.
The President nodded his head decisively 'That's when I will inform them of the strike against the laser complex at Kavaznya. 'He turned to Curtis. 'General, I want you airborne, right away, to direct Elliott's sortie and withdrawal.'
Curtis nodded.saluted his Commander-in-Chief, turned and exited the White House Situation Room. As he did so his step was firmer, his eyes brighter than at any time in the past few months 'Fox. The same as Elliott's… The President absorbed that, then: 'General, recall the B-1s As the Old Dog streaked across the skies of the Kamchatka peninsula in eastern Russia, one of its electronic eyes looked straight ahead and kept the crew of six from crashing into the rugged mountains of the Kamchatka, while other eyes scanned the skies for electromagnetic signals aimed at it, looking for enemies who were looking for them.
It was Dave Luger who controlled the first 'eye'-a beam of radar energy that swept in a forty-five degree cone on either side of the Old Dog's sleek nose. If there was an obstacle along the beam's path it would reflect the radar energy directly back to be displayed on Luger's scope.
The other eyes-the sensors and antennas of the electronic countermeasures sYstem-were mostly computer- controlled. A computer would instantly analyze a signal, identify it, determine its danger level and jam it if necessary. Luger's 'eye' was different. He constantly had to adjust the radar presentation, search the scope for tiny peaks or ridge lines, be able instantly to evaluate the terrain around them and determine a safe altitude….
Luger suppressed a yawn and directed the stream of cool air from a vent right into his face. He had been leaning forward, intently studying the scope, for the past thirty minutes. The parachute he wore felt like a boot resting on each of his kidneys, but he was afraid to take his eyes off the scope to readjust it. He knew the pilots upstairs were blind-all they could see were some jagged peaks in the gray starlit horizon, which just made them all the more nervous.
Without the terrain-avoidance computer, it was his radar against the mountains. When the scope was clear he would direct a shallow descent until terrain appeared, then climb again until it disappeared. It was like terrain- avoidance in the G- and H-model B-52s-except there was no TV screen for the pilots to watch, no terrain-avoidance trace that gave the pilots an exact picture of the disasters waiting for them. He was their eyes now.
At the moment Luger was watching one particular reflection on his SITUATION scope. It had a range of thirty miles, but for some reason he hadn't seen this large ridge line until it was much closer. Quickly he pressed the interphone button under his left boot.
'High terrain, thirteen miles, twelve o'clock.'
Elliott and Ormack both sat up, and Ormack instinctively pushed on the throttles, preparing to pull the Old Dog's nose skyward. 'Thirteen miles,' he asked. 'How come you didn't see it before?'
'Climb first, ask questions later, Colonel.
Ormack gritted his teeth and pulled back on the yoke as soon as he noted a definite increase in airspeed, added five hundred feet to the Old Dog's altitude and leveled off.
'Clear of terrain for thirty miles,' Luger reported. Ormack reengaged the low-altitude autopilot and Elliott checked the switch positions.
'I repeat, why the hell didn't you see that terrain earlier, Ormack asked. 'The most critical phase of this mission so far and you're asleep down there-' 'That's bullshit, Colonel,' McLanahan said.
'There's a dozen reasons reasons why terrain won't show until it's closer in, snow, trees, fog.
It sure as hell isn't because anyone's sleeping down here. Maybe you ought to come down here for a while, Colonel, and you keep this hunk of metal out of the dirt-' 'Enough. 'Elliott told them. He had been quiet ever since aded the S.A-2 missile but was furious now. He glared across at Ormack. 'This is no goddamn time for squabbling.'cockpit, he said, 'John, what the hell is it?Those guys down there sure as hell aren't sleeping and you know it.'
'Ah ormack rubbed his eyes, stared straight ahead 'I'm sorry, I guess into the inky blackness all around them.
He took a deep breath and tried to rub the kink I'm just beat of his left shoulder. 'I guess I've been on the edge ever out since-' lanced over at Elliott. The general was slumped forward He g in his seat, his hands looped over the control yoke, his head awkwardly dangling to one side.
s right 'General. 'He reached across and shook Elliott shoulder. No response. 'Angelina looked forward around 'Pereira. Get up here.
her seat and saw Elliott's limp body. She began to unfasten the buckles around her chest and crotch.
'What happened?'
'The general. He's out cold, Pat. 'Ormack disengaged the low-level autopilot and started a slow climb, leveling off at five thousand feet, reengaged the autopilot, unfastened his straps and leaned across to help Elliott.fasten his Not until he was far enough over to Elliott to un chest straps did he smell it-the thick, cloying stench of dried blood. The overpowering scent forced his eyes down to Elliott's right leg. The general's fatigue pants from the knee down oozed a crusty red film. His boots stuck to the floor when Ormack tried to move the leg.
The general's face made pale look healthy.me, began to breathe again Ormack shouted the general's name when he saw Elliott's eyes flutter open. Eyes that looked at the instrument panel and somehow found the radar altimeter indicator 'We're… we're too high, John 'Never mind that, General. 'Angelina crawled forward with some web straps cut from her walk around oxygen bottle harness. 'Lie back,' she said, and turned to Ormack. 'We're going to have to tie a tourniquet around that leg. 'Ormack nodded. 'General, lie still. We're going to lift your leg up so we can tie this around your knee.'
'Won't hurt a bit, Angelina,' Elliott said, smiling weakly at his gunnery specialist. 'I haven't felt anything in this damn leg for three hours.'
Ormack and Pereira carefully pulled Elliott's leg up and across the throttle quadrant. Angelina then wrapped the web strap around Elliott's leg beneath the knee and pulled it tight as she could. When she had finished Elliott's leg looked less than half its normal diameter.
'I should have been more realistic about the leg-' 'Don't apologize,' Angelina asked. 'Sometimes the pain 4, just takes over, no matter how hard you try to fight it.'
'You sound like you're speaking from experience.'
