Chapter 17

"Colonel ... Sir. You're awfully low."

"Oh Gawd, that stinks."

"Sir?"

"S-T-I-N-K-S ... stinks ... Lieutenant ... stinks." There was the sound of retching ... and more than a little beating and banging ... then a very loud bang and a huge sigh of relief. "RDO ... I have jettisoned the canopy..."

"Sir ... are you declaring an emergency?"

"Not now, I'm not. I'm fine, Lieutenant ... the aircraft is behaving ... it's going to need a really really really good wash ... and a new canopy. As long as that stink isn't toxic or highly acidic I'll make it back. AD Actual to AD flight. Any one else get splashed with that shit?"

There were assurances that everyone was ok.

"RDO ... Commanding General, please. I'll wait."

"Johnny?"

"General ... we need to alert DC ... let's go private." Private was a prearranged signal between the Colonel and the Base Commander. Channels were changed ... scramble put in effect. A few words were spoken conforming to protocol. ID numbers exchanged and the conversation began.

"Sir, some manner of effluent was dropped or dumped on F-22 aircraft assigned to Hickam on or about 2005. The very vileness of the effluent precludes accidental discharge and the accuracy of the attack predicts a new delivery system. To survive I had to ... Oh, sorry Colonel Hansen ... flight command pilot, Hickam, Hawaii. To reiterate I had to descend to less than 500 feet and jettison the canopy. It still stinks in here but I can breathe. I assume the aircraft is salvageable but it's going to take some extensive white suit cleaning. Sir ... this is Biowarfare at its worst."

Meanwhile, a blue green cloud was descending from altitude ... dispersed enough to cover the four aircraft flight.

"Break!!"

At the shout, training took over: Two craft broke right two broke left ... realizing the cloud was flat and thin the aircraft pilots climbed around it.

"Sir ... that crap is heading for Hawaii." That little tidbit was from his wingman.

Back on the horn, Col. Hansen apologized. He admitted he'd nearly gone down ... with the Raptor on the very edge of stalling out, the wild maneuver almost put him ... and the $150 million dollar aircraft ... in the Pacific Ocean and far ... FAR ... out of the range of rescue helicopters. He admitted to the General ... and therefore, to the Pentagon ... that he didn't know how he'd kept the craft out of the water ... his wing concurred ... a miracle.

Over the radio, the REMF's at the Pentagon insisted that the element leader, a Lt.Col., make a reciprocal and check the ocean surface ... the man on the spot was the way it was put. The Navy was sending up a tanker ... just in case.