This was definitely not standard Air Force traffic pattern discipline, but when you were trying to save the life of the president, all safety regulations went right out the window.
“Air Force One, this is Lobo One. You are instructed to proceed immediately to Andrews AFB, Maryland. Do not, I repeat, do not land at this location. Comply immediately.”
The pilot heard the F-15 pilot’s warning in his headset — in a matter of seconds, he’d either have the massive jet safely on the runway, or he’d have a Sidewinder missile or two blowing his engines apart.
“Lobo, we have the president of the United States on board! Do not engage! Do not engage!” He rolled wings-level, now just a few hundred feet from the end of the runway. He watched as the second F-15 roared by, going vertical as soon as it cleared the 747’s nose. He knew both F-15s would quickly move to an attack position to his rear.
“Air Force One, do not land at this location! Go around and return to Andrews! This is your last warning!”
“Come on, baby, get us on the ground!” As the massive 747 roared over the runway’s threshold, the pilot saw a streak of light off to his left — something he’d seen before.
In combat.
It was a MANPAD — man-portable air defense weapon. A short-range, shoulder-fired surface-to-air missile.
But it wasn’t targeting him.
The Kentucky Guard troops were firing at the fighters!
As the 747 touched down on the runway, the pilot watched the missile streak skyward and saw a stream of flares erupt from one of the F-15s as it tried to trick the infrared homing missile into following one of the incredibly bright flares instead of the heat signature of his engines.
But it was too late.
The missile detonated in the tailpipe of one of the F-15’s engines, erupting into a huge fireball in the sky as the fighter exploded.
The 747 pilot extended the spoilers, activated the thrust reversers, and stood on the brakes to bring the huge plane to a stop as quickly as he could. The straps dug into his shoulders as he was pushed forward by the force of the rapid deceleration… Would it be enough? He had to stop the plane quickly to allow time for the president to get off the aircraft and make it to safety before the second F-15 had a chance to attack.
And it would attack.
The warnings had been clear. And, since his wingman had just been blown out of the sky, Colonel Jepperson knew the Eagle Driver would be out for blood.
He keyed his mic. “General Metzger, as soon as the aircraft comes to a stop, you’ll need to exit immediately. The crew will configure the escape ramp. You’ll need to take the president away from the aircraft as quickly as possible!”
“Copy, Colonel!” came the reply in his headset.
“Come on… Stop… Stop… Stop!” The brakes were smoking — just seconds from bursting into flame — as the 747 screeched to a halt. “Egress egress egress! Everybody out! Go go go!”
Jessie was the first down the inflatable ramp, followed immediately by General Metzger, who had his arms wrapped around the president’s chest as they both slid down the ramp.
National Guard troops grabbed all three of them and dragged them to the nearest building as 20mm cannon shells from the remaining F-15 stitched Air Force One from tail to nose.
A few seconds later, all that remained of Air Force One were smoldering pieces of twisted wreckage blown hundreds of feet into the air as a massive explosion lit the nighttime sky.
CHAPTER 74
The rat had chewed its way through the thin casing wall and was sticking its head through the hole it had made. Its nose twitched as it sniffed the air.
It looked completely normal.
Just a rat.
Cautiously, it crawled out of the casing, its body slick with fluid. Its small, beady eyes took in its surroundings, and it nervously eyed the three people in biosuits staring at it through the thick Plexiglas wall.
Carolyn was amazed it was the same creature they’d seen earlier — the snarling beast that had nearly broken out of a locked ammo box, the same beast that had bitten Sergeant Wilson and transformed him into… well, a bad dream. It looked so small now. So normal.
The other casing began to deform as the humanoid within it pressed against the thin walls, stretching them past the breaking point.
An arm suddenly protruded from the torn casing, stretching, flexing its fingers.
The rat raised itself on its haunches and watched as its companion slowly emerged from its cocoon.
The being that had once been Sergeant Wilson gripped the edges of the tear it had made in the casing and pulled apart an opening large enough for it to crawl through.
The naked form of a man slowly stood, stretching his arms above his head as a normal person would do after getting out of bed. His body was slick with the greasy fluid now spilling from the inside of the casing and pooling on the floor of the containment room. Facing away from the Plexiglas wall, he held his hands in front of his face, looking at each one, admiring them as if for the first time.
He turned.
What stood before them was Sergeant Wilson — what had been Sergeant Wilson. All his features were as they had been before he’d been transformed into a terrible, mutated killing machine. And then it spoke.
“General? General Rammes?”
Rammes didn’t respond, dumbfounded by what he was hearing through the overhead speaker.
It couldn’t be.
The thing he’d witnessed in the contamination chamber less than twelve hours before was now… normal?
“General? What happened? Why am I in…” Sergeant Wilson said, suddenly confused.
“Soldier, what’s your name?” Rammes asked.
“Sir?”
“What’s your name, soldier!”
“My name is Randy Wilson, Staff Sergeant, United States Army. Sir, you know who I am! Why am I in here?”
Rammes turned to Carolyn. “Is it him?”
“I… I don’t know.” She honestly wasn’t sure what to say, or what to think. She, like General Rammes, couldn’t believe what she was seeing. Could it be over, as Garrett had suggested? Could the mutations have run their course?
“Ms. Ridenour? Colonel Hoffman? Can you please tell me what’s going on here? Why am I in this room?”
“Sergeant, do you remember anything that happened?” Garrett asked.
“What happened? I was… I was trying to… The rat. I was trying to see if the rat—” He stopped when he saw the rat sitting on its haunches, looking at him. “Jesus… I remember. But it wasn’t a rat. It was bigger and—”
“Sergeant, something happened to you when you were in the chamber with the rat,” Carolyn said. “It attacked you.”
“Yes… I remember…”
“Do you remember anything that happened after it attacked you?”
“Yes. I remember.”
Carolyn continued. “You were changed, Sergeant.”
“My God. I remember. But how am I…” He glanced at the rat. “It’s back to normal! It’s okay! I’m okay, too, right?”
“We don’t know yet, Sergeant.” She turned to the general and switched off her mic so her voice couldn’t be heard in the containment chamber. “General, we need to keep him in there. We’re not sure what changes have occurred in him, and there’s still no explanation for the extra mass in his brain. Or in the rat’s brain, for that matter.”