Chapter 104
A long range shot is much more difficult than shown in most movies. The truth is that even a shot of five hundred yards would need to be carried out by an expert to have much chance of success.
Karim had been trained in Afghanistan where he was able to hone his skills against the better armed Russian adversary. Over there, he had used what seemed now to have been an ancient Russian made sniper rifle. Now he was in the U.S. he was able to do much better.
He had joined a target shooting club and competed in six hundred yard matches regularly. To disguise his proficiency he made sure he only won occasionally, by pulling his last shot. Observers thought this to be just pure nerves. Karim knew that he could easily win every match he entered.
Karim had been in New Hampshire since he was sent to the U.S. three years earlier. Employment was not a problem, and he had found a job waiting on tables in an Indian restaurant.
His only contact with his former life was by coded email.
Most were mundane, but today there was one of utmost importance in his inbox. There was a brief email with a poor quality digital picture file as an attachment, together with a name and address.
Chapter 105
"What have you got for me Horatio?" directed President Connolly to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs.
"Mister President, we have a plan" said Nelson "it is risky in the early stages, but it has a high probability of success."
"Out with it man, we are running out of time here!"
"Yes Sir." Horatio opened his folder and summarized the written notes "the plan calls for us to fly a helo fitted with radiation scanning equipment from our carrier in the Gulf, the Ronald Reagan. It will issue a mayday call and use engine trouble as an excuse to land in Saudi Arabia. We do not expect any trouble with this part. We already have a similar but smaller chopper in country for use at our embassy there. It is in an enclosed hanger at Riyadh airport."
"We do the old switcheroo?" suggested President Connolly.
"Yes Sir. The plan is to do mock repairs and switch helicopters then fly the other chopper back to the carrier. They look similar enough, so there should be no issue here. We then remark our chopper in Red Crescent livery and then do a mock mercy flight and overfly the Pashwari Palace doing a low level scanning run for radiation signature."
"I like it Horatio. What do we do with the chopper after that?"
"We will deliver a real patient to the hospital, then hightail it back to the hanger and re-paint the helo back to U.S. military colors. A ferry run a week later will return it to the carrier."
"Approved. Get it done. Have you got a plan if there a positive scan?" asked the President with excitement.
"We do Mister President. If we confirm alpha radiation and the presence of a nuclear weapon at the palace we have a plan for an attack. We would have a B-2 stealth bomber already on station at maximum altitude avoiding Saudi radar. They would be on stand-by waiting on an order from you Sir. If they receive a go order, they would release a laser guided bomb from very high altitude. We have ground assets already in area who can target a laser designator at the correct place in the palace. Our smart bomb would detonate and destroy the nuclear weapon, but would probably also destroy most of the palace as collateral damage. We expect that there would be enough fallout from the explosion to look like there was actually a dirty bomb explosion at the palace. Our involvement would be masked and there would be nothing to tie this to us. We could initiate a press campaign pointing at terrorists. We come out smelling like a rose."
"Congratulations Horatio. That is probably the most brilliant plan I have ever heard. How soon can you do it?"
"The bomber can be on station inside two hours. The helicopter is fuelled and ready to leave the Ronald Reagan. Do I have your authority to go ahead with the plan Mister President?"
"Get on with it. But I must approve the bomb release. Report the scan result to me as soon as you get it."
Chapter 106
Karim immediately called the restaurant and explained he was unwell and needed a few days off. Then he packed his van with his tools of trade. He stopped at the nearby Pheasant Lane Mall for a few supplies. Then he drove all the way to Washington D.C. only stopping for gas and the occasional snack. Air travel was out of the question.
There are a myriad of cheap motels on the outskirts of the Capital, and Karim was soon settled into the end room of a flea trap. Not much, but still much better accommodation than he was used to during his time in Afghanistan.
The photograph provided to him was not of the best quality, but he was sure he would still be able to recognize his prey.
He found the apartment block quite easily from a city map.
Karim drove around the area a few times trying to find a good spot to park. There was no parking allowed in the same block as the apartment, but he was able to get a spot three blocks down on the other side of the street. From the driver side of the car, he did have a view of the entrance to the apartment block some five hundred yards away.
He got into the back of the van, which was fitted with window tinting that acted like a one way mirror. Inside were a sturdy table and a stool. Karim sat down and removed the spotting scope he used while he was shooting, and set up the small tripod on the bench. Beside the tripod, he placed the photograph of his target for quick reference.
He sat down and focused the telescope on the entrance to the building. This scope was easy to move around and had a larger field of view and depth of field than his rifle scope, so it was easier to check out the whole scene. Karim expected the target to enter via underground parking. His chance for a shot would be when he cleared his mailbox.
Beside the table was a long narrow case attached to the legs of the table with elastic straps. He undid the straps, opened the gun case and set it on the table. Next he assembled a front rest for the rifle from inside another case, and placed a heavy sandbag with a molded v in the rear about eighteen inches behind the rest. The rifle was placed with the forend of the stock on the rest, and the butt securely riding in the v of the sandbag. This setup was known as benchrest shooting, and allowed for supreme rifle accuracy. For competitions in this type of shooting, there was a moving "honesty" card behind the target so that the shots could be counted since five shots almost down the one hole were that uncommon.
Karim’s rifle had been custom made by a competition gunsmith and had cost nearly four thousand dollars. The stock was fashioned from a fiberglass molding strengthened with carbon fiber. The BAT custom bolt action was made from stainless steel, as was the Hart barrel. Sitting atop the rifle was a March fifty power telescopic sight. With this sight, during practice he could regularly see bullet holes on his target at six hundred yards. The barrels on this rifle were interchangeable, and for this distance, Karim had pre-fitted one. It was in 6mm/284, a custom cartridge with lots of stopping power.
The rifle had been setup for point of aim at six hundred yards with no wind. His target was a little closer than this, so he made the mental calculation to aim two inches lower than he wanted bullet impact, this would not be a problem. However, the wind would be the issue. On the shooting range it was easy to calculate the wind drift due to the wind indicators at set distances. These were small weather vanes with a bright yellow streamer running on a precision bearing that instantly responded to the slight changes in direction and intensity of the wind. Here in the real world he would have to guess. It would have been much easier back in Afghanistan. There would surely have been washing hanging over the balconies on a building, or smoke from a fireplace for him to get an idea of the wind flow.