The computer’s being in charge was standard procedure at this point in a Special Task Order operation, which involved just getting the bird in the general area of the target. Shales didn’t mind being copilot for the moment. He was having trouble concentrating today. He kept thinking about his prior assignment.
The one NIOS had gotten so wrong.
He recalled the intel about the chemicals for Moreno’s IED — the nitromethane, the diesel fuel, the fertilizer — that were going to reduce the oil company’s headquarters in Miami to a smoking crater. The intel about Moreno’s vicious attacks on America, calling for violent assaults on citizens. The intel about the activist’s reconnaissance of the embassies in Mexico and Costa Rica, planning to blow them to kingdom come too.
They’d been so sure…
And they’d been so wrong.
Wrong about avoiding collateral damage too. De la Rua and the guard.
The primary point of the Long-Range Rifle program at NIOS was to minimize, ideally eliminate, collateral, which was impossible to do when you fired missiles.
And the first time it had been tried in an actual mission, what had happened?
Innocents dead.
Shales had hovered the UAV craft perfectly over the waters of Clifton Bay in the Bahamas, sighted through the leaves of a tree outside with a clear infrared and radar vision of Moreno, double-confirmed it was he, compensated for wind and elevation and fired shots only when the task was standing alone in front of the window.
Shales knew in his heart that only Moreno would die.
But there was that one little matter that had never occurred to him, to anyone: the window.
Who could have thought that the glass would be so lethal?
Wasn’t his fault…But if he believed that, if he believed he was innocent of any wrongdoing, then why had he been in the john last night puking?
Just a bit of the flu, honey…No, no, I’m okay.
And why was he having more and more trouble sleeping?
Why was he more and more preoccupied, agitated, heartsick?
Curiously, while drone operators are perhaps the safest of all combat troops physically, they have among the highest rates of depression and post-traumatic stress in the military and national security services. Sitting at a video console in Colorado or New York City, killing someone six thousand miles away and then collecting the kids at gymnastics or football practice, having dinner and sitting down to watch Dancing with the Stars in your suburban den was disorienting beyond belief.
Especially when your fellow soldiers were hunkered down in the desert or getting blown to pieces by IEDs.
All right, Airman, he told himself, as he’d been doing lately, concentrate. You’re on a mission. An STO mission.
He scanned the five computer monitors before him. The one in front, black background filled with green lines, boxes and type, was a composite of typical aircraft controls: artificial horizon, airspeed, ground speed, heading, nav-com, GPS, fuel and engine status. Above that was a traditional terrain map, like a Rand McNally. An information monitor — weather, messages and other communications reports — was to the upper left.
Below that was a screen that he could switch from regular to synthetic aperture radar. To the right, at eye level, was a high-definition video view of whatever the camera in the drone was seeing, presently daylight, though night vision was, of course, an option.
The view now was dun-colored desert passing underneath.
Though slowly. Drones are not F-16s.
A separate metal panel, below the monitors, was weapons control. It did not have any fancy screens but was black and functional and scuffed.
In many drone missions around the world, especially combat zones, the crew consists of a pilot and a sensor operator. But at NIOS the UAVs were flown solo. This was Metzger’s idea; no one knew exactly what was behind it. Some thought it was to limit the number of people who knew about the STO program and therefore minimize the risk of security leaks.
Shales believed, however, the reason was this: The NIOS director appreciated the emotional toll that these missions took and wanted to subject as few people as possible to the stress of STO killings. Employees had been known to snap. And that could have far-ranging consequences, for them, their families…and for the program too, of course.
Barry Shales scanned the readouts. He hit a button and noted several other lights pop on.
He spoke into the stalk mike, “UAV Three Nine Seven to Texas Center.”
Instantly: “Go ahead, Three Nine Seven.”
“Weapons systems green.”
“Roger.”
He sat back and was stung by another thought. Metzger had told him that somebody was “looking into” the Moreno task. He’d asked for details but his boss had smiled dismissively and said it was just a technicality. Everything was being taken care of. He had people taking precautions. He didn’t need to worry. Shales wasn’t satisfied. Any smile from Metzger aroused suspicion.
Shales himself had felt a burst of the same searing rage that he, that everybody, knew was the NIOS director’s nemesis. Who was looking into the matter? The police, Congress, the FBI?
And then, the kicker, Metzger told him that he too should take some precautions.
“Like what?”
“Just remember that it’d be better if there was less…well, ‘evidence’ is such a stark word. But you get my meaning.”
And Shales decided at that moment not to wipe the phone issued to him as Don Bruns. The data — and the emails and texts to and from Metzger — were encrypted, but Shales decided it would be a prudent idea for the evidence not to disappear. He also printed out dozens of documents and smuggled them out of NIOS.
Insurance.
And the fact he’d felt compelled to take those precautions made him think: Hell, maybe it was time to quit this crazy business. Shales was thirty-nine, he had a degree from the Air Force Academy and a postgrad in engineering and poli-sci. He could go anywhere.
Or could he?
With a résumé like his?
Besides, the idea of no longer helping defend his country was almost unbearable.
But how do I help my country by accidentally killing a famous journalist and hardworking guard while I’m on a mission to assassinate an unpleasant but innocent loudmouth? What about—
“Texas Center to Three Nine Seven.”
Like flipping a switch. Barry Shales was all go. “Three Nine Seven.”
“You are ten minutes to target.”
The operation command center near Fort Hood knew exactly where his drone was.
“Copy.”
“Visual conditions?”
A glance to the monitor at the right. “A little haze but pretty good.”
“Be advised, Three Nine Seven, eyes on the ground report that the task is alone in target structure. Individual who arrived an hour ago has left.”
The task…
“Roger, Texas Center. I’m taking the aircraft,” Shales said, disconnecting the autopilot. “Approaching Lucio Blanco International airspace.”
Reynosa’s airport.
“Friendly nation ATC has been advised of your flight route.”
“Roger. Descending to two thousand feet. EAD on.”
The engine audio deflectors would reduce the decibel level of the drone’s engine to about one-tenth of the regular sound. These could only be used for a short period of time, though, because they tended to make the engines overheat and there was a power loss, which could be dangerous in rough weather. Now, though, the sky was clear and virtually no wind would trouble the craft.