“Everything looks good to me,” Daren said.
“Me, too,” Rebecca acknowledged. On her commlink she said, “Bobcat Four-one, this is Alpha, safety check complete, you appear to be in takeoff configuration. Have a good one.” To Daren she added, “ ‘Bobcat’ is our unit call sign; the tankers start with ‘four.’ “
“Four-one copies, thanks,” the pilot replied.
“You always use the commlink, even talking to aircraft?” Daren asked.
“The commlink is not just a cell phone — it can tie in to many different radio frequencies, satellite communications, computer networks, about a dozen different systems,” Rebecca said. “It’s secure and pretty good quality, so we use it all the time. They’re working on an even smaller version.”
Rebecca started to drive around the KC-135, turning to the left side so they’d be in full view of the pilot. “So do the tankers here get the usual taskings from all the services,” Daren asked, “or do we just get taskings from—?” He stopped short, his mouth gaping open in utter surprise.
Because directly in front of the KC-135R, in the hammerhead aircraft-inspection ramp, were two B-1B Lancer supersonic bombers. They had appeared completely out of nowhere! “What… in… hell…?”
“What?”
“What do you mean, ‘what’? Where did those bombers come from?”
“You mean to tell me you didn’t notice them when we drove up here?” Rebecca asked, totally serious.
“Don’t bullshit me, Rebecca!”
“All right, all right,” Rebecca relented. “Let’s do this last-chance, and then I’ll explain everything.”
Daren was absolutely speechless — but his astonishment was nowhere near complete. The first thing he noticed was that the swing-wings of the B-1s were not fully extended. “They don’t look like they’re in takeoff configuration,” he said.
“With these planes they are,” Rebecca said. “Our bombers usually keep the wings back for all phases of flight.”
“But how can they do that?”
“Mission-adaptive technology,” she replied. “The whole fuselage is a lift-producing surface and flight control. C’mon, let’s finish this, and I’ll fill you in.” They did a last-chance inspection of both bombers. As soon as they were done, the bombers were airborne, followed by the tanker. In less than five minutes, the airfield was completely quiet again. Rebecca drove around to the hammerhead parking area. “Let’s step outside.”
“Rebecca, how did those bombers get there?” Daren asked excitedly as he followed her out of the Suburban. “And how… when… shit, Rebecca, what’s going on here?”
“You’re about to find out.” At that moment Daren felt a slight rumble under his feet.
And the entire section of aircraft-parking ramp under their feet started to descend!
“You actually built an underground air base?” Mace asked incredulously. Two huge sections of the hammerhead parking area were actually aircraft elevators, like the ones on an aircraft carrier but a few times larger. He stared wide-eyed as several feet of concrete, rock, armor, dirt, and steel passed overhead, followed by banks of overhead lights. Six stories below they could see men and equipment scurrying around. “This is amazing!”
“It’s an amazing engineering project,” Rebecca said. “There are eight of these elevators — two on each end of the runway and four in the mass parking area. We have a solar-charged backup system that can operate the elevators and air-circulation system in case the commercial power goes out. We can seal the interior against chemical or biological attack, and it can withstand anything but a direct hit with a nuclear weapon. We have accommodations for over a thousand men and women down here, plus twenty aircraft. We have twelve assigned here now.”
Once the large elevator — which Daren thought looked like a moving city block — reached the bottom, they drove off into a parking area and stepped out so he could see the complex on foot. It was truly impressive. Except for the echo, it looked and felt like any military flight line at night, illuminated only by artificial light. The complex was enormous, stretching out seemingly to infinity. “I… I can’t believe this,” Daren gasped. “It doesn’t feel like we’re underground at all, but when I remind myself that we are, it doesn’t seem real. How in the world can the air stay fresh enough to breathe?”
“It’s a completely passive air-circulation system,” Rebecca said. “Air from the surface vents up from the surrounding mountains through natural crevices and tunnels in the rock. We didn’t have to drill one hole to get the ventilation system running. The hot air from here is cooled and dispersed enough through the mountains that the exhaust can’t be detected from a satellite, so the bad guys can’t guess how many planes we’re launching. The complex is naturally conditioned to a temperature of fifty-five degrees and fifty percent humidity, which is almost ideal for living and working and uses about as much power as a standard four-story office building.”
“Nice — if you enjoy living like a mole,” Daren said dryly.
“Get used to it. Your squadron is based down here,” Rebecca said.
“Down here? I’m confused. You keep more tankers down here?”
“Yes, we can if we need to.” They had stopped at one of the B-1 bombers, which looked as if it had just returned from a mission. “But you don’t belong to the tanker squadron. You’re the new squadron commander of the One-eleventh Attack Wing.”
Daren Mace broke into a wide grin. “A B-1 squadron!” he exclaimed. “Very cool.”
“Not just a B-1 wing,” Rebecca said. They piled into an electric golf cart and drove down the aircraft taxiway. Even though brilliantly lit from above, the planes emerged from the vastness of the underground chamber like beasts appearing through a thick fog.
“This is incredible, simply incredible,” Daren said, still shaking his head in amazement. “You know, you’ve just made me an extremely happy man, Rebecca.”
“You weren’t happy being a tanker commander?”
“No offense to the tanker toads, but I’ve always been a fast-mover, and I’m happy to be one now,” Daren admitted. “I’ve always loved the Bones.”
“Then you’ll be really happy with the Vampires,” Rebecca said.
“Vampires? You named these ‘Vampire,’ too, like the RF-111Gs?”
“These are what the RF-111s aspired to be,” Rebecca said. “You won’t believe what they can do.”
“Then let’s go have a look. I assume I’ll be cleared to go in the plane?”
“You’re checked in, and your security clearance has been entered. If there’s a problem, the sky cops will stop you,” Rebecca said.
Mace was like a kid in a toy store as he stepped toward the sleek aircraft. The Security Forces officer asked to see Daren’s line badge, and Daren took a few moments to talk with the young airman.
Rebecca nodded to Daren as they reached the plane. “The security units are also part of your squadron,” she pointed out. “I’m happy you stopped to talk to the young troops. Crew dogs are usually too busy to talk with the junior enlisted guys.”
“I have to admit, I’m guilty of that, too,” Daren said. “But I’m just sightseeing here — he’s the one on duty.” Daren looked over the bomber. “I see a few changes right away: a much smaller vertical stabilizer, no horizontal stabilizer, and no gust-load alleviator vanes.”