Unbeknownst to the world the lone MiG-21 Fishbed (NATO moniker) was well into American Airspace, over Galveston, Texas, to be more specific. It was 1970, a gentler, more hazed time, and the socialist hippies who would be in power in Washington, D.C., in the near future were, at present, down on the beach, toking up big-time on the quiet barrier island in their re-creation of last year's--1969's--Woodstock, penned "Woodstork: One Strange Bird". They littered the beach with empty cans and fast-food containers and it really was quite ugly--most West End businesses, in fact, had closed down and boarded up their stores prior to the event, fully aware of the seedy nature of this "clientelle".
The MiG was coming in from Cuba, piloted by Fidel Castro's unheralded half-wit brother, Fredo Castro. He had planned to hit Miami but he'd unknowingly gotten lost and was actually en route to Houston. Nonetheless, the radar-jamming device the Russian Elves' Works had come up with in Moscow was working beautifully. This was supposed to be a dry run to test the device prior to its installation in ICBMs and various craft of mass destruction for the upcoming communist invasion of America.
But Fredo had bribed his ground crew with rum and cigars to strap on a full-blown 10 megaton yield Hydrogen bomb to the fast little MiG. He wanted to impress his brother Fidel and figured this was a sure winner. "I'm smart," Fredo often said, "Not stupid, like Fidel always says. I'll show him I can do the family business."
Texas Air National Guard pilot George Walker Bush was startled awake by his Native Texan sixth sense, and sat bolt upright in his spindly Officers' quarters bed at Ellington Field that afternoon. It was a much needed cat nap cut brutally short following his earlier flight over the Gulf with the 147th Fighter Wing. He knew that his country needed him--and right now.......
He threw on his flight suit and g-suit and was out the door and onto the tarmac inside of five minutes. His highly modified Convair F-102 Delta Dagger was being fueled up and checked by his loyal crew, headed by Tech Sergeant Chen, prior to being towed back to the hangar.
"Hold that bird, Sergeant!" the young Lieutenant said.
"What up, Chief?" Chen asked.
"No time again. Load her up with Aim-4s--radar and heat seeking--and make sure she's topped off."
"You're getting a strong message again, aren't you?" Chen noted, and got to work. "If it's as serious as what you picked up in Tangiers, then I ain't asking any questions. Good luck, Lieutenant."
George went through his pre-flight quickly and soundly as the canopy slowly glided down and sealed tightly to the sleek airframe of the jet. He talked to the tower and requested his squadron be alerted but that he had to go, and go NOW.
The men in the tower of course knew of the Lieutenant's famed precognition and had been given orders to let the pilot act on them with no inhibitions, and this issued directly from the president. So they cleared him post-haste, fearing the wrath of one Richard M. Nixon, sure; but much more fearsome to these fine men was what would happen to their country if Lieutenant Bush was not cleared and given full support. After the "incident" in Tangiers, all questioning of the man had been officially put to rest.
Cleared for takeoff by the tower, Lieutenant Bush pushed the throttle of the turbojet full forward, igniting the afterburner. A good pilot tapped for Instructor duty, he was long over any trepidation of flying a jet that has a higher accident and pilot mortality rating than even the AV-8, the American version of the British Harrier jumpjet, an especially dangerous jet to fly for its inherent slow speed capability and requirements for its intended role: to hover. Such heavy mass at zero airspeed is deathly vulnerable with an engine hiccup, much less a full-blown failure.
The F-102 Special Designate "G.W." cleared the ground and the Lieutenant retracted the landing gear and flew straight to where his gut told him to go: Galveston Island. Something terrible was afoot there; he sensed it. He engaged his weapons systems and was good to go, ready to light the candles and pull the trigger. He had the green light.........
No comments:
Post a Comment