Chapter 43

December Twenty-fourth 6:00 p.m. EST December Twenty-fifth 2:00 a.m. local time

Elijah Halper lifted off from the Hatzor Israeli Air Force Base in central Israel. He had always taken a fierce joy in piloting the F-16 Fighting Falcon in the defense of his country, but tonight he knew only grief. In little more than a minute, he had taken the F-16 to eighteen thousand meters. There, he deviated from his flight plan and kicked in the afterburners.

The messages coming in over the radio became increasingly frequent and hostile as he approached the border to Jordan at better than twice the speed of sound. Warning lights came on as his own country's surface to air missile batteries locked onto him and fired. With his newly enhanced reflexes and a body that was nearly impervious to g-forces, he evaded them easily.

More warnings came in over his radio as he passed into Jordanian airspace. Saudi and Jordanian fighters were doing their best to intercept. As he entered Saudi airspace, another light came on indicating that the external fuel pods under his wings were nearly depleted. With a flick of a switch, he dropped them.

For the last few hundred kilometers of his flight, he engaged in a nearly nonstop display of aerial acrobatics such as had never been witnessed before. He dodged and used countermeasures to avoid SAMs, sidewinders and phoenixes. More than a dozen planes followed him, trying to bring him down, but he was able to keep his lead.

When Mecca came into view, he ran his tongue over his teeth. With his fangs retracted, he could barely tell they were there. Lights warning of excessive heat from his high speed flight vied for his attention with low fuel indicators as he aligned the nose of his plane with the dome of the Grand Mosque. Looking down, he could see large fires raging throughout the city.

He now flew straight and true, paying no heed to the missile warnings in his heads up display. Even if one of them found him, kinetic energy would complete his mission. In his last minute of existence, he said a brief prayer and silently apologized to his parents for bringing such shame to the family. Then his life ended in thunder and flame.