Read Online Olympus Device 1: The Olympus Device by Joe Nobody - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Joe Nobody
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a training unit. Staffed with experienced combat pilots and equipped with F-16 Fighting Falcon (block-30) aircraft, the outfit occasionally was tasked with performing missions for Homeland Security as part of Operation Noble Eagle.
Since hijacked aircraft had been used to attack the World Trade Centers on September 11, 2001, the US and Canadian Air Forces have been tasked with providing air patrols over major American cities, successfully executing over 400 missions since the terrorist attack.
A “Red” scramble was a pilot’s worst nightmare. Noble Eagle missions almost always involved an unknown civilian aircraft, often a commercial jetliner filled with hundreds of passengers. Every pilot dreaded the day when he would be asked to execute “the order,” a command to shoot down such a plane full of innocents.
As they approached the ir aircraft, Chamberlin’s mind was heavy with the concern. He’d personally flown several of these missions, praying each time that he wouldn’t have to execute the order, but knowing he would if he had to. The logic was simple – killing 200 in the air might save thousands on the ground. The lesser of two evils. But that didn’t make the prospect any easier on his blossoming stomach ulcer.
The two Falcons were an a nt mound of activity. Live, air-to-air missiles were being loaded under each wing by the ordnance specialist while the crew chiefs and other maintenance personnel checked every detail of the warplanes.
Each of the pilots performed a quick visual inspection of his aircraft’s exterior and then climbed aboard. The two jet fighters were rolling across the runway a few minutes later. Colonel Chamberlin, flying lead, began receiving his mission briefing as he neared the end of the runway.
As the controller’s voice sounded in his ear, the Falcon’s flight computers were receiving streams of data containing potential vectors, codes , and other necessary information regarding the potential target. The two interceptors were immediately cleared for takeoff, their powerful GE F-110 engines roaring to life.
While the F-16 was nearing the end of its service life, it was still a potent multi-role aircraft. Simple, nimble, and capable of hosting a variety of weapons, the Falcon was still a frontline aircraft for several of America’s allies. They were more than capable of handling anything that could cross into American airspace.
The intercept orders received by Colonel Chamberlin we re a mixed bag. The airmen were hunting a single-passenger private aircraft, and that was both good and bad news. The pilots were relieved that the order wouldn’t come into play during this mission, at least not involving hundreds of lives. The problem was this tango, or target, would be difficult to find.
Small, low, slow moving airplanes weren’t the intended foe for the Falcon’s modern avionics. Chamberlin’s bird was built to hunt other jet aircraft and engage them at great distances - if at all possible. In case a standoff missile intercept didn’t bring down the adversary, he was ready for a supersonic dogfight. None of these tactics would be effective against a small propeller-driven aircraft.
The colonel knew his radar would be practically worthless in acquiring the target. He also understood that the maximum speed of his quarry was less than the Falcon’s stall speed, and that could be a serious handicap.
A crop duster , he mused. Now why are they scrambling warplanes to hunt a crop duster?
The vector he’d been given pointed east, northeast. The target ’s last known position had been College Station. A possible scenario popped into the pilot’s mind, and it chilled his soul.
Long ago, he’d attended one of the seemingly endless security briefings so common after 9/11. Texas A&M University maintained one of the largest, deadliest collections of biological samples in the world. Ebola, Yellow Fever, several variety of plague, smallpox and other infectious agents were stored
Since hijacked aircraft had been used to attack the World Trade Centers on September 11, 2001, the US and Canadian Air Forces have been tasked with providing air patrols over major American cities, successfully executing over 400 missions since the terrorist attack.
A “Red” scramble was a pilot’s worst nightmare. Noble Eagle missions almost always involved an unknown civilian aircraft, often a commercial jetliner filled with hundreds of passengers. Every pilot dreaded the day when he would be asked to execute “the order,” a command to shoot down such a plane full of innocents.
As they approached the ir aircraft, Chamberlin’s mind was heavy with the concern. He’d personally flown several of these missions, praying each time that he wouldn’t have to execute the order, but knowing he would if he had to. The logic was simple – killing 200 in the air might save thousands on the ground. The lesser of two evils. But that didn’t make the prospect any easier on his blossoming stomach ulcer.
The two Falcons were an a nt mound of activity. Live, air-to-air missiles were being loaded under each wing by the ordnance specialist while the crew chiefs and other maintenance personnel checked every detail of the warplanes.
Each of the pilots performed a quick visual inspection of his aircraft’s exterior and then climbed aboard. The two jet fighters were rolling across the runway a few minutes later. Colonel Chamberlin, flying lead, began receiving his mission briefing as he neared the end of the runway.
As the controller’s voice sounded in his ear, the Falcon’s flight computers were receiving streams of data containing potential vectors, codes , and other necessary information regarding the potential target. The two interceptors were immediately cleared for takeoff, their powerful GE F-110 engines roaring to life.
While the F-16 was nearing the end of its service life, it was still a potent multi-role aircraft. Simple, nimble, and capable of hosting a variety of weapons, the Falcon was still a frontline aircraft for several of America’s allies. They were more than capable of handling anything that could cross into American airspace.
The intercept orders received by Colonel Chamberlin we re a mixed bag. The airmen were hunting a single-passenger private aircraft, and that was both good and bad news. The pilots were relieved that the order wouldn’t come into play during this mission, at least not involving hundreds of lives. The problem was this tango, or target, would be difficult to find.
Small, low, slow moving airplanes weren’t the intended foe for the Falcon’s modern avionics. Chamberlin’s bird was built to hunt other jet aircraft and engage them at great distances - if at all possible. In case a standoff missile intercept didn’t bring down the adversary, he was ready for a supersonic dogfight. None of these tactics would be effective against a small propeller-driven aircraft.
The colonel knew his radar would be practically worthless in acquiring the target. He also understood that the maximum speed of his quarry was less than the Falcon’s stall speed, and that could be a serious handicap.
A crop duster , he mused. Now why are they scrambling warplanes to hunt a crop duster?
The vector he’d been given pointed east, northeast. The target ’s last known position had been College Station. A possible scenario popped into the pilot’s mind, and it chilled his soul.
Long ago, he’d attended one of the seemingly endless security briefings so common after 9/11. Texas A&M University maintained one of the largest, deadliest collections of biological samples in the world. Ebola, Yellow Fever, several variety of plague, smallpox and other infectious agents were stored
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