第24节

ch all ten wingmen had gathered to be

briefed by Baxter, the Flight Ops Exec, navref Gary was positioned

halfway along the top edge of a shaded rectangle which, on the ground,

was fifty miles square. This was the primary search area.

Somewhere within it were two Skyriders - either whole or in pieces.

The first task of the air patrols launched by The Lady was to discover

where the planes had come down. Having done that, they were then

required to establish the fate of the five people known to have been

aboard. If they were not lying dead in the wreckage, they must be

presumed to be alive and proceeding westwards on foot. If so, the

flight-section was required to make a major effort to discover their

present whereabouts and assist in their recovery.

This was the reason, continued Baxter, why four sets of ski attachments

- which would allow the Skyhawks to land and take-off from snow - had

been fabricated by the engineers during the 'journey north from designs

supplied over the video-link by Houston/GC.

Gus White asked the question that was on everyone's mind. 'Are we

working to a time limit on this, sir?"

'Nope. We're here for as long as it takes,' replied 'Baxter.

It sounded ominous. Since nobody wanted to be out here in the first

place, it meant the rest of the crew would be constantly on their

backs, pressurizing them to get the job done so that everyone could get

home in time for New Year.

But there was more. Baxter had concluded the briefing by applying

another turn of the screw. Whilst in the search area, and on the

outward and return legs they were also to record the position and size

of any Mute settlements and take note of the level of over-ground

activity. But they were not, repeat not, under any circumstances to

attack any ground targets - even if they came under fire from the

ground - without first obtaining specific authorization to do so from

Hartmann himself.

The only situation in which the use of weapons might be sanctioned

would be to cover a landing to investigate clearly identified wreckage

or to evacuate survivors. Gee whizz. thanks a bunch, sir...

Picking the mutinous undercurrent from his ten pilots, Baxter

privately questioned the wisdom of 'nonaggressive' patrols but got no

joy from Hartmann. The wagon-train commander shared his reservations

but he had been given clear and precise instructions by CINC-TRAIN who,

in turn, were acting on orders emanating from the Oval Office.

Karlstrom, the Operational Director of AMEXICO was the prime mover

behind the search for Steve and his companions but the signals were

prefixed with 'Eagle One'; the President-General's code-name. The

acronym AMEXICO never appeared on any video-screen or hard copy and

this 'invisibility' was one reason why, over the centuries, the

organization's existence had been successfully concealed from all but a

chosen few.

From the moment that Kelso had broadcast his covert May-Day signal and

alerted the organization to what had taken place at Long Point,

AMEXICO's sophisticated intercept system had been monitoring the range

of radio frequencies utilized by the stolen Skyriders.

During the brief exchange with Kelso via the airborne signals unit

there had not been time to query the fuel state of the two aircraft.

Kelso had been instructed to fake engine trouble, providing him with a

valid excuse to change course, flying around Lake Michigan instead of

across it. With Cadillac locked in the cargo hold, Brickman would be

obliged to follow. A lot depended on how well Kelso stage-managed

events but he was to try and land in Iowa, as close to the Mississippi

as possible.

It was only after contact with Long Point had been restored that

Karlstrom learned the aircraft had taken off without being refuelled.

By then it was impossible to contact Kelso and modify the arrangements

without risking blowing his cover.

The rapidly-emptying fuel tanks had provided him with an even better