Honorable Enemies

Chapter 1

The morning sunlight glinted off the water as the large, smooth ocean swells peaked into steep sets of waves. Theresa Garney slowed the descending helicopter while she watched a line of surfers paddle their distinctively colored boards out beyond the crests of breaking waves. With powerful strokes, the majority of the surfers propelled themselves to the prime position where the largest rollers were forming.

Once in place, they paddled swiftly toward shore to attain the speed they needed to catch the momentum of the wave. After the surfers had topped the crest of a huge breaker, they rose first to a kneeling position, then popped upright and coasted down the towering face of the wave until it went flat near the shoreline.

Theresa Louise Garney, who enjoyed surfing and scuba diving on her days off, studied the daring windsurfers further offshore before she shifted her gaze to the experienced surfers closer to the beach. The trim, athletic young pilot knew that only the best surfed diagonally toward the shore at Waimea Bay, especially under heavy surf conditions.

The hordes of spectators sprawled on the beach casually glanced up at the first sound of the colorful JetRanger. They were accustomed to having the "Sky Nine" helo film various surfing contests, along with other sporting events around the island. Many of the local sun-worshipers, who religiously watched Theresa's airborne reports on television, happily waved at the Channel 9 helicopter.

The blue-eyed brunette with the pixie haircut and impish smile was a popular island celebrity who was highly respected for having saved the life of a tourist who had been swept out to sea.

Fighting high winds and choppy waves, she had lowered the JetRanger's landing skids into the ocean next to the stricken swimmer. The exhausted man wrapped his arms and legs around the metal frame, clinging in desperation while Theresa carefully flew him to the safety of the beach and his grateful family. After the incident, she became the official ambassador of goodwill for the television station.

Theresa lowered the collective-pitch lever and maneuvered the helicopter closer to the breaking waves. Cliff Ackerman, the station's wizened veteran cameraman, continued to film the darkly tanned surfers while she skillfully flew sideways for a better camera angle.

Theresa placed the nimble JetRanger in a stationary hover while her cameraman panned the beach from the modified camera port.

The powerful rotor blade downwash whipped the surface of the ocean into a frothy gale, sending sheets of spray up through the tail rotor. She eased the helo back to keep the mist from floating over the surfers.

Finally, Theresa pressed the intercom button. "Have you got enough, Cliff?"

"Yeah, almost. I'd like to move up and away from the breakers so I can get a panoramic effect."

"Okay, here we go."

With the dexterity of a thoracic surgeon, she worked the cyclic-pitch lever, tail-rotor control pedals, and collective-pitch lever to execute a coordinated climb while the Sky Nine helicopter moved sideways. Theresa was a seat-of-the-pants natural, whether she was at the controls of a helicopter or an aerobatic biplane.

Ackerman let the video camera swing along the coastline and then leaned inside. "That's a wrap."

"Okay."

Canting the nose down, Theresa smoothly added power to accelerate. "Do you want to check Makaha before we head back?"

The world-famous four-meter waves that sometimes formed along Makaha Beach could propel expert surfers for over half a mile.

"Why not?" He popped a fresh stick of cinnamon gum in his mouth. "I've got a feeling that this is gonna be a slow news day."

Climbing to 4,400 feet to clear the Waianae Mountains, Theresa adjusted her headset and increased the volume on the mobile radio, selected the discrete switch, then raised the edge of her boom mike to her mouth.

"Sky Nine to base."

The instant response surprised. her.

"Sky Nine," blurted the familiar female voice, "we've been trying to contact you. Where are you?"

Theresa looked down to her left and then glanced at the runway paralleling the shoreline on the right. "Sky Nine is a mile west of Waialua, just crossing the coast east of Dillingham Field."

"Stand by."

The radio remained silent for a few seconds.

"We don't have all of the information yet," the excited dispatcher continued, "but there's been some type of mass shooting at Pearl Harbor — actually, it happened at the Arizona Memorial about fifteen to twenty minutes ago."

"Sky Nine copies, and we're en route." Theresa glanced at Kaala Peak and then out toward Ford Island. "We should be there in approximately ten to twelve minutes if we can get priority handling from approach control."

Another pause followed the acknowledgment.

"Sky Nine, it looks like we'll be ready to go live — they want live coverage as soon as you're on the scene."

"We're set to transmit. Sky Nine out." Theresa turned to Ackerman and pressed the intercom switch. "Cliff, did you catch that?"

"Yeah. You want me to monitor base while you talk with approach?"

She nodded her thanks and quickly tuned the VHF radio to Honolulu Approach Control on 119.1 megahertz. She was about to press the transmit button when two Hawaiian Air National Guard F-15 Eagles streaked over the JetRanger, then snapped into punishing knife-edge turns. The fighters emitted streaks of grayish-white vapor from their wingtips as they rapidly decelerated.

"Well," Cliff drawled with his usual trace of sarcasm, "the Air Force is out burnin' up those tax dollars."

Ignoring the remark, Theresa kept an eye on the jets and keyed her radio transmit button. "Honolulu Approach, Sky Nine with a request."

"Sky Nine, squawk three-three-four-six," the radar controller shot back in a crisply detached tone.

"Thirty-three-forty-six," Theresa replied while she switched her radar transponder code to the appropriate setting.

Cliff Ackerman pointed to the Air Guard fighters. "The jet jockeys are slowin' and closing on us."

She nodded nonchalantly, but a warning bell was going off in her mind. Something wasn't right, and the controller had seemed unusually strained, almost hostile.

"Sky Nine is in radar contact," the staccato voice said, then went on in the same crisp fashion. "Sky Nine is hereby directed to fly to and land at Barbers Point. I repeat, you are instructed to proceed directly to Barbers Point and land."

An ominous feeling sent a chill down her spine. Except in the event of a declared emergency, Theresa knew that FAA regulations required that she comply with ATC instructions in an area in which air traffic control is exercised. However, she questioned if they could order her to land at the naval air station. She breathed slowly and forced herself to be calm. "On whose authority?"

"On the authority of the Honolulu Police Department and the Federal Aviation Administration."

Theresa and Cliff exchanged disbelieving looks. Even though she was wearing dark-green aviator sunglasses, he could see the concern etched on her face.

"Sky Nine, do you copy."

Theresa glanced at the McDonnell Douglas F-1Ss and jabbed the transmit button. "Sky Nine copies," she answered with aplomb, "but I want an explanation about the fighters, and why I'm being forced to land at Barbers Point."

Her earphones remained silent.

Ackerman selected intercom. "You been skippin' out on your parkin' tickets?" he nervously asked.

Before she could answer, the approach controller issued new directions. "Sky Nine, contact Barbers Point Tower on onethree-two-point-six-five."

Now is not the time to argue. "Thirty-two-sixty-five," she said evenly, eliminating the first number since all VHF frequencies began with the number one.

"Cliff, give the station a call."

He snorted and shook his head in disgust. "They aren't gonna believe this."

"Something tells me they will."

Selecting the tower frequency for the Barbers Point Naval Air Station, Theresa reminded herself that she was a seasoned professional pilot. Besides, they would be on the ground soon and the mystery would be solved.

Ackerman gazed at the intimidating F-15s while the pilots let the sleek fighters drift apart.

"Sky Nine to base," he said hastily while he watched the landing gear extend from the flight leader's Eagle, then saw the wheels drop out of his wingman's aircraft. "Do you copy, base?"

The dispatcher's reply had been interrupted. " — ave received reports that a helicopter was involved in the shooting. Stand by."

Theresa made a slight course correction and waited to call the naval air station tower.

"Base — base to Sky Nine," the voice sputtered, then slowed after a moment. "The police have just arrived, and from what I understand, a helicopter fired guns at a Pearl Harbor cruise ship. They're saying — wait a second — they just said that the ship was full of Japanese tourists."

The woman paused while someone in the background spoke to her. "I've just been told… that witnesses claim it was our Channel Nine helicopter."

Stunned by the absurdity of the allegation, Theresa Garney arched her eyebrow and gave her cameraman a long look. Cliff Ackerman was incredulous, and it showed in his blank stare.

He laughed under his breath and then keyed his mike. "You might explain to the HPD that Sky Nine is not equipped with guns."

"They're right here," the mobile radio operator warned. "You might want to speak to them in person."

Theresa flashed Ackerman a disapproving frown and then started a slow descent. "Barbers Point Tower, Sky Nine is with you, fifteen north, negative ATIS." The JetRanger was not equipped with a UHF radio that could receive the Automatic Terminal Information Service.

"Sky Nine, Barbers Point Tower," the gravelly voice responded. "You're cleared to land on the numbers for runway one-one, next to the security vehicles. Winds are two-one-zero at eight. Altimeter two-niner-niner-one."

Theresa acknowledged the landing clearance and pushed the intercom button. "Cliff, what the hell is going on? Who would use a helo to gun down people on a tour of Pearl Harbor?"

"Someone with a vendetta and a sick mind," he answered uncomfortably, "who knows how to fly a helicopter."

She scanned the runways at Barbers Point. "Where do you figure our double is now?"

He thought for a moment, then gave her one of his infectious smiles. "I don't have a clue, but I can tell you one thing for damn sure."

Theresa gave him a knowing look. "We're in trouble."

He opened another stick of gum. "That's right, and we're gonna be the center of attention in Honolulu."

Her glance slid to Ackerman and then to the fighters as the pilots added power and retracted their wheels.

"No doubt," she agreed with a hint of irritation in her voice, "but the station's ratings will go up, and you know that's all that matters in this business."