War of Eagles

FORTY-SIX

The standard Boeing 737–800 landed gently on the long military runway. The pilot reversed the engines and turned toward the terminal complex, a series of low-lying gray buildings at the hub of four radial airstrips. A number of aircraft were moving from hangars toward the different jet ways. There was no question about where to go: General Tam Li had dispatched an honor guard.

Chou Shin was not surprised. It had been necessary for them to circle the field before they were given clearance to land. Obviously, the general was doing something here he did not want others to know about. Chou had used his wireless laptop to track the general’s actions as best as he could during the flight. According to on-site and satellite data collected by the Guoanbu, Taiwan had continued its limited deployment while Tam Li had accelerated his. That would have to be stopped, and quickly. The only way to do that was for Chou to witness the commander’s activities firsthand and report them to the prime minister.

The intelligence director went to the front of the plane as it neared the building. The pilot did not so much finish taxiing as stop. There was no staircase or tunnel by which to exit.

Chou Shin waited until the engines had stopped. “Open the door,” the director told his aide.

The young man bowed slightly, then turned and unlocked the cabin door. Chou stood in the oily heat of the open hatch.

“Who is in command here?” the director asked. He spoke softly to show that he was unconcerned and to make them come to him.

A lieutenant stepped up smartly. “I am in charge of these units.”

“Have them bring us a stairwell,” Chou said.

“Our orders are that you shall remain on the aircraft.”

“Orders from whom?”

“The Security Detachment Office,” the lieutenant replied. “The base is under a condition red alert. Your plane should not even have been permitted to land.”

“Why was it, then?”

“The base commander has override authority,” the lieutenant informed him.

“Your orders are treasonous,” Chou informed him. “We will deploy the emergency exit equipment if we must, but I will leave this aircraft, and I will see base commander General Tam Li.”

“Condition red dictates that we stop any member of your party who attempts to leave the aircraft.”

“You would shoot the director of the Guoanbu?” Chou demanded.

“We would detain you by any means necessary.”

Chou turned to the cockpit. The door was open. The pilots were still going through their postflight checklist. “Get me the minister of defense in Beijing,” he said.

“Sir, we tried communicating with the tower when we landed,” the pilot informed him. “Our radio signals are being blocked.”

Chou turned to his aide. “Cellular phones as well?”

The young man was holding his phone. He looked grim. “There are too many satellite dishes at the base. I cannot get a signal.”

“Will the tower be able to block our Internet uplink?”

“That is very unlikely,” the pilot answered. “Our airborne wireless operates on one point nine gigahertz, which is a privately used frequency. Unless the communications center knows exactly what that frequency is, they cannot block it. Not as long as we have direct line-of-sight access to the satellite.”

“Thank you very much, Captain,” the intelligence director said. He looked back through the door. He was perspiring slightly from the heat. Chou asked his aide for water. He did not want anyone to think he was afraid. As he drank, Chou was surprised to notice two men were approaching with a ladder.

“What are you doing?” Chou asked the lieutenant.

“You will close the door,” the officer replied. “Otherwise, we are prepared to close it for you.”

“We will close the door and leave,” Chou decided suddenly. “You will see to our refueling.”

“I will relay your request to the base commander.”

“That was not a request,” Chou informed him.

“I only take orders from the general,” the lieutenant answered predictably.

Chou regarded him but said nothing. “Close the door,” he told his aide.

The director of the Guoanbu returned to his seat. He opened his own laptop and began composing an E-mail to the prime minister’s office. It would be marked Top Priority, National Security. The heading guaranteed that whoever received it would contact the prime minister immediately, wherever he was.

The pilot got on the public address system. “Director Chou, a fuel truck has been sent from the hangar.”

That was a surprise. Obviously, Tam Li did not want them here. He would probably have the aircraft fueled as slowly as possible. He must believe that by the time Chou was in the air, it would be too late to stop him. It was curious that he was not concerned about E-mail. Perhaps he thought his signals would block it. Tam Li often acted with passion rather than sense.

Chou quickly composed his E-mail as the smell of jet fuel filled the cockpit. After several minutes the pilot came back on the speaker.

“Director Chou, please come to the cockpit,” the captain said. “Something is happening outside.”

Chou set his laptop aside and went to the front. He did not hurry. Panic was its own fuel. He stepped inside and looked out the window. He saw three fire trucks moving along the runway in their direction.

“Obviously, Captain, there is a fire somewhere,” Chou said.

“If so, sir, there would be an alarm,” the pilot replied.

The captain was correct.

“How has the refueling proceeded?” Chou asked.

The captain indicated a gauge. “It has not yet begun.”

Chou felt foolish. Not just because he had overlooked the obvious but because he had underestimated General Tam Li.

“Captain, we need to take off,” Chou said. “You have to get us to a commercial airstrip.”

“Sir, the nearest fields are in Hong Kong or Canton, and we have barely enough fuel to reach either—”

“Take off!” Chou ordered.

“Yes, sir.”

“If these trucks try to block us, go around them or over them, but get us out of here,” he added.

The pilot and copilot immediately began preparing the jet for power-up. Chou sat in the seat beside his aide. Both men buckled their seat belts. The plane rattled as the engines were started in tandem.

“Sir, why would the general give us fuel, then use fire trucks to close off the runway?” Chou’s aide asked.

“I do not believe that is what he is doing,” Chou said ominously. He cast a look out the window. The airmen were all watching the back of the aircraft. After a moment, they were given a signal to withdraw.

Chou undid his belt and jumped from his seat.

“Sir?” said the aide.

“The door!” Chou yelled. “Open it and deploy the emergency slide. We have to get out!”

The aide got up and went to the hatch. Chou stood behind him.

“Stop the engines,” Chou told the pilots. “We’re leaving—”

There was a whooshing sound from the back of the aircraft, like a gas range being ignited. Chou looked back. That was not far from the case. The windows in the center of the aircraft were suddenly filled with a smoky orange glow.

The orderly pulled open the hatch just as the dull light reached the forward section. The young man cried and stepped back as flames whipped over the foot of the doorway and into the cabin.

That was why the general was not worried about E-mailed messages, Chou thought. He knew they would never be sent.

Perhaps.

While the pilot jumped forward to close the hatch, Chou turned and rushed down the aisle. He reached his seat just as the aircraft lost all structural integrity. The fuel that had been set aflame below the aircraft ignited the fuel that remained in the tanks. The tires exploded first, dropping the aircraft to the tarmac a moment before it disintegrated. The fuselage blew open like a holiday firework. Instead of spraying the air with sparkling light, it threw shards of glass, metal, and quick-melted plastic in every direction. The wings were blown from the fuselage. Weighted down by the engines, one on each wing, they hit the asphalt and skidded several dozen yards from the sides. The tail section simply broke off and fell backwards, allowing a fist of flame to shoot from the back of the cabin.

Because the aircraft fuel tanks had been near empty, the blast was contained to the jet and the surrounding airfield. The three fire trucks that had already been en route arrived immediately after the explosion. Foam punched through the black smoke, hissing as it came into contact with fire and superheated metal. Within several minutes the flames had been extinguished. Men in fire-resistant white suits were beginning to move through the wreckage. They used back-mounted fire extinguishers to kill spot fires and search for survivors.

There were none.

There were not even remains that could be easily spotted, let alone identified.

General Tam Li was given an update about the spill and its aftermath. He thanked the fire captain.

Then he called the prime minister to inform him of the tragic crash.