Ivanova Part 39 of ---(WIP)

Address criticisms to [xazqrten@cox.net]


******************************

   It was time to get the show on the road. Barry Kelly walked out on the 
stage in front of his audience.

   “You may have noticed that our band isn’t here this evening. I gave them 
the day off. There won’t be a monologue either. This evening, we are going to 
do things a bit differently. My only guest this evening is Susan Ivanova-
Wayne, you know her as Susan Ivanova. She is new to the recording business, 
but I think you will enjoy the efforts of her and her band. Without further 
adieu, ladies and gentlemen, I present Susan Ivanova-Wayne and her band, Dave 
Eiser and his Play Around Boys.”

   The haunting sound of a panpipe solo was heard coming from behind the 
curtain that was covering the back three-fourths of the stage. Slowly, the 
main lights were lowered and the stage curtain was pulled aside. A single 
spotlight illuminated Susan. She was sitting on a stool playing the panpipes. 
Slowly her band and the other hired musicians joined in on the song.

   The first song finished and, without hesitation, the second one started. 
Susan picked up an acoustic guitar and started to play. The audience was 
silent. 

   One of the things Susan had insisted on was that the applause signs be 
turned off for the duration of the show.

   The third song followed the second one with no break between them. It was 
if she and her band had played a three-song medley. At the conclusion of the 
third song, Susan walked to the side of the stage where Kelly’s desk and couch 
were set up and took a seat.

   “Was that a satisfactory opening?”

   Kelly shook his head yes. “It was outstanding, Susan. Ladies and gentlemen, 
this is Susan Ivanova-Wayne. She surfaced on the music scene a very short time 
ago, but already she has music sales that are the envy of any recording 
artist.”

   Susan waited for Kelly to continue. 

   “How did you get started in music, Susan?”

   “I started piano lessons when I was three years old.”

   “Three years old?”

   “Yes. I learned to read music before I learned the alphabet, the Russian 
alphabet.”

   “I take it you were a child prodigy?”

   “Yes. But, I never got to do anything with it. My mother was a telepath and 
she kept moving me around to stay a step ahead of the Psi Corps.”

   “Then, how did you get started recording for money?”

   “That was a total accident. I strayed into a music store the day after my 
bandleader had corralled me into singing in a club. I realized I missed music; 
so, my husband and I visited a music store looking for an instrument that I 
could play for fun. The store owner thought I had some talent; so, he 
convinced me to do some recording in the store and then he got together with a 
talent agent and the rest is, so to speak, history.”

   “You were looking for an instrument to play for fun and stumbled into a 
recording career.”

   “Not exactly. The story happened the way I told it, but I don’t have a 
recording career. I have a day job that comes first. The music is only a 
sideline and that’s only as long as it doesn’t interfere with my day job.”

   “Can you play us some more of your music?”

   In response, Susan picked up a flute that she had put on the table in front 
of her and began to play.

******************************

   Twenty minutes later, Susan sat down on the couch again. Kelly was amazed 
that the music she and her band were playing wasn’t a rehash of the music she 
already had released. Unlike most artists, she didn’t rely on ‘hits’ to carry 
her. She was very prolific.

   “You said your mother was a telepath.”

   “Yes. She didn’t become an active telepath until her late twenties. It’s 
not unheard of, but it’s highly unusual. All the high-powered telepaths 
manifested before they were teen-agers.”

   “And you?”

   “I’m thirty-six years old. I didn’t become an active telepath until a few 
months ago. I’ve never before heard of someone my age or older manifesting his 
or her psi abilities at such an advanced age. My ability should have remained 
dormant for the remainder of my life.”

   “But it didn’t. How strong are you?”

   “I don’t really know. I’ve never been tested and Psi Corps is gone.”

   “I was supplied some bits and pieces from your upcoming autobiography. May 
I ask some questions about parts of it?”

   “Ask away.”

   “Did you really throw a man out of a third story window?”

   “Yes. He was a telepath and he tried to do an illegal scan on me. 
Fortunately for him, it happened on Io and there was a swimming pool for him 
to land in. For what it’s worth, I didn’t know there was a pool there. 
Furthermore, I didn’t care; I was trying to kill him. God knows I broke enough 
of his bones in my attempt.”

   Kelly hesitated for a few moments to let Susan’s answer sink into the minds 
of his audience.

   “So the rumor that you didn’t like telepaths wasn’t a rumor?”

   “Oh no. It’s a documented fact.”

   “From the snippets I have from your upcoming autobiography, I gather that 
you weren’t shy about starting and finishing bar brawls.”

   Susan chuckled when she thought about some of the brawls she had taken part 
in. “Guilty as charged, Mr. Kelly. I was quite a bit younger then,” she 
replied with a laugh.

   “You have survived many firefights. Any thoughts about that?”

   Susan wasn’t smiling now. She got a thoughtful look on her face. “I 
remember exactly how many friends and acquaintances I’ve lost in firefights. I 
have an eidetic memory and I remember each and every one as if it happened 
today. Sometimes, I wonder who was the most fortunate, they or I. At least 
they don’t have to live with the memories.”

   Susan fought down the emotions that were surfacing. Before Kelly could ask 
another question, she got up and walked back to the stool on the stage. She 
motioned for the band to not join in this song. Without hesitation, she took 
up the acoustic guitar and began to play. The song was very haunting and the 
lyrics she sang were causing most of the audience to have to struggle to keep 
from crying. It was a long sad song and Susan made it up as she sang.

   Barry Kelly watched and listened, realizing he was hearing a really 
talented singer/songwriter literally create something out of nothing.

   Almost fifteen minutes later, Susan ended the song. Behind her, Dave Eiser 
and the band were having difficulty hiding their reactions to her music. He 
knew she was simply pouring her very real feelings into the song.

   Susan turned around and said, “Okay, fellows, let’s play something a bit 
less somber.”

******************************

   Barry Kelly asked, “May I ask a few questions about the civil war and the 
attack on the Zeus?”

   “Surely,” replied Susan. “Ask away.”

   “You were the second in command?”

   “Yes. After General Haig was killed, Captain Sheridan became the leader by 
default. I didn’t have much choice, since I supported him.”

   “Wasn’t that dangerous?”

   “Since there was a shoot to kill on sight order issued for us, I suppose 
you could say it was a bit hazardous to be one of us. But, you have to 
remember that after we broke with Earth, Babylon 5 was a stand-alone entity; 
so, getting to us wasn’t that easy. ”

   “What’s the story about your encounter with Clark’s advanced destroyer 
fleet?”

   “Well, there were thirty of them. I only had twenty-four whitestars. There 
were no regular Earthforce starships involved in that confrontation. They 
would have been massacred by the advanced weapons the new destroyers were 
carrying.”

   “But not the whitestars?”

   “We were outnumbered and outgunned, not an enviable situation to be in.”

   “But you won?”

   “We destroyed them, but we lost fifteen whitestars in the process, 
including my own. I’m not sure killing more than twenty thousand men and women 
while losing five-eighths of your forces is winning, except in the ‘last man 
standing’ definition of the word; however, I suppose that’s the only one that 
counts in those kinds of situations.” 

   It was obvious to Kelly that Susan wasn’t happy with these questions, even 
though she answered them without hesitation. “After your forces defeated 
Clark’s and he committed suicide, Captain Sheridan surrendered to Earthforce 
and returned control of Earth Alliance to it’s rightful elected leaders. Why 
didn’t you just take over?”

   Susan got a hurt look on her face. “We had just destroyed one ruthless 
bastard. We had no desire to take his place. We were never about personal 
power. We swore an oath to the Earth Alliance constitution and by default to 
it’s population, which includes you, the audience, and everyone else living on 
Earth and in its colonies and protectorates. All we did was remain faithful to 
that oath. It was our job.”

******************************

   It was almost the end of the show when Susan looked at the audience and 
said, “My day job is Commander in Chief of the Department of Design and 
Procurement. As such, I hold the rank of Lieutenant General in Earthforce. 
Before I took the assignment, I was commanding officer of the EAS Ares, the 
largest most powerful starship ever built by Earth. I’d like to share some of 
my philosophy of life, so to speak.”

   Susan turned to the large video projection screen and said, “This video was 
recorded onboard EAS Ares just before we went into combat at Babylon 5, 
recently.”

   In the video, Susan says, "Today we learn just how well the new tactics, we 
have been practicing for the last fifteen months work. I expect everyone to do 
his job to the best of his ability. If we had five more ships
like the Ares, we might have a snowball's chance in hell on a hot summer's day 
of getting out of this alive. There is only Draal and we between the Drakh and 
the station; we will let them know they have been in a fight. We are 
expendable gentlemen, but I won't waste our lives. There are a quarter-million 
beings on Babylon 5, we are nineteen hundred-seventy one; the numbers say the 
station is more valuable. You have your orders, do it!"

   Silently, her department heads, division officers, and leading chiefs, 
filed out of the briefing room.

   "Captain. We have everyone back aboard," said Commander Patrick Owens, 
Ares’ XO.

   In the video, Susan pushed a button on an intercom box mounted on the wall 
and says, "CIC, this is the captain; plot a course that puts us directly 
opposite Epsilon III, between Babylon 5 and the jumpgate, one thousand 
kilometers from the station. When you have the course plotted, get us underway 
at best speed - captain out.” 

   "Did you have to tell them that we wouldn't be surviving this conflict, 
captain?"

   "No, I didn't, Pat, but I feel they have a right to know what we’re dying 
for. It’s a small reward for the price we’ll pay for our career choices."

   The video ended; then Susan addressed the audience. “As you saw in the 
video, I have one philosophy, ‘never give up and never back down except to 
establish a more advantageous position to win with the fewest losses possible…
any way you can’. It has always worked for me.”

   When Susan and her band finally quit, Barry Kelly and his producers saw 
that they had a show slightly more than three hours in length.

******************************

   After the show, when Susan was talking with her band and members of the 
audience, Kelly approached her and asked, “Do you suppose that you might be 
available for another appearance on my show, Susan?”

   “Sure. I just can’t promise when.”

   Susan found herself signing autographs and enjoying it. Her security detail 
kept the paparazzi away from her and she departed after a half-hour of 
autograph signing and conversing with fans. 

   Later, she would wonder about the thing called celebrity and why anyone 
would want it. It would never occur to her that her question was a result of 
having made a lifetime career out of hiding in plain sight.

******************************  

   Major Brown took another sip of his drink and watched the large viewscreen. 
It was normally given to showing sports, but this evening it was showing “The 
Late Show” with Barry Kelly. The featured guest was Susan Ivanova-Wayne, 
better known to Major Brown as General Wayne.

   Brown was nibbling from a bowl of munchies that was sitting on the table in 
front of him. Sharing the table with him were two of his hired pilots. There 
were ten other tables in the room and they all had at least one occupant. 
There was a low buzz of various conversations at some of the tables.

   “She’s our target, gents,” said Brown in a low whisper.

   The men watched the remainder of the show in silence and then left.

******************************

    It was Thursday morning and Major Brown was sitting alone eating 
breakfast. He was pleased at how easy it had been to set up the sequence of 
events that would result in the elimination of President Luchenko and General 
Wayne. It had been too easy. He was beginning to have doubts about the whole 
plan. His man a young corporal who worked in the maintenance crew of Susan’s 
aircraft would alert them when she took off from Stockton and would also 
inform him of how her plane was armed.

   He had already made up his mind that if she took off with a full combat 
load of missiles, or any combat ready escorts, he would scrap the project. As 
it was, he and his crew wouldn’t have to be airborne until well after Susan 
departed Stockton. He was pleased that they were able to use a landing field 
that was only a hundred and fifty kilometers from the TGS exercise. It meant 
that he could delay the final decision to go with his plan until the last 
possible minute.

******************************
   
   It was afternoon in Earthdome and General Leftcourt was watching a 
recording of Susan’s appearance on the ‘The Barry Kelly Late Show’. She was 
wearing civilian clothing and she looked like a million credits. She had 
fielded the questions she had been asked, up to that point, with charm and 
truthfulness. She hadn’t hesitated with her answers for even a moment. He 
would never admit it to anyone, but he would be proud to call her his daughter.

   He considered the ‘TOP SECRET’ report he had read before starting to watch 
the video and worried. She was going to play target Friday morning, and he 
didn’t like it one bit. He had been present when Manuel had made his 
confessions at Stockton, but this brought home the ramifications of those 
confessions like a baseball bat to the face. Earthforce Intelligence was going 
to attempt to assassinate both President Luchenko and Susan Friday morning.

   Since the President knew about the attempt and Susan had a plan to deal 
with it, he decided it would be in the interest of his best health to let the 
scenario run its course.

******************************

   Susan looked at Colonel Josh Dane and Lieutenant Colonel Ken Burns. “It’s 
very simple gentlemen, you are going to help me spring a trap on eight or nine 
would-be assassins.”

   “What do you have in mind, General Wayne?” asked Burns who was commanding 
officer of Air Electronic Warfare Squadron Six.

   “I’m flying down to the TGS exercise range tomorrow to fight with the 
latest class of students. I’m going to be carrying President Luchenko as a 
passenger in my second seat. After the exercises are over, I’m flying back to 
Stockton with her. I expect to be hit sometime after I finish the exercises 
with the students. I want you to have one of your AEW-328 units to accompany 
the AWACS on the trip. I want you to stay so close to the AWACS that a 
fighter’s radar can’t detect you as two targets. When I give the order, I want 
you to orbit out from the AWACS to a distance of about eight or ten 
kilometers. Between your music units and those carried be the AWACS, I expect 
that the attackers will find their search and track radars to be rather 
useless. With some effort, you can make life tough on their infrared 
detector/tracking systems. Also, I know you can cause their missile CPA 
(closest point of approach, proximity) detector/detonators to function 
prematurely.”

   Burns looked at Dane. “If we synchronize our systems with yours, General 
Wayne, we can jam the intruders while allowing you and the AWACS to track 
those same intruders. We’ll have to do some prep work, but you flew your 
fighter down; so, it won’t take very long. Since you must have missed 
breakfast in order to get here this early, you and Colonel Dane can get a bite 
to eat and I’ll get my people busy on the aircraft.”

******************************

   Susan had finished eating and was taking her time on a cup of coffee.

   “I like your plan, General Wayne. If all goes well, they won’t really know 
what hit them. I suffered under Clark’s regime and I’m willing to bet that 
these guys were Clark supporters.”

   “That may be, colonel, but I have no way of knowing. If you’re correct, it 
may mean that some of them willingly killed innocent civilians.”

   “Maybe they are going to finally get what’s coming to them.”

******************************

   Susan looked at Colonel Larry Farms. “What I need, Colonel Farms, is a 
corporate jet standing by to transport a VIP back to Stockton tomorrow 
morning. I’ll be leaving her here while I fly down to the TGS exercise area.”

   “May I ask who she is?”

   Susan hesitated for a moment then replied, “President Luchenko. No one is 
to know she is coming or that she is here.”

   “Why are you leaving her here?”

   “I expect to get the opportunity to do full scale combat testing on your 
new gun.” Susan held up her hand to forestall any questions. “If you have 
enough ammunition on hand, I like to have your people load out my fighter with 
the new long range stuff. Leave room for five hundred rounds of practice 
ammunition. I’ll have that loaded in Stockton, just before I take off.”

   “I don’t suppose there is any way we can monitor this combat test, is 
there?”

   “I’ll have an AWACS monitoring everything; so, we’ll have to see. I 
strongly suggest you have your dispensary prepare to receive a badly wounded 
pilot.”

   “I assume that may be you.”

   “Hopefully not, but call it a contingency plan of sorts.”

   “It’ll take about thirty minutes to outfit your plane. Let me buy you an 
early lunch. Our galley is pretty good.”

******************************

   Susan was ready to climb into her fighter and depart, but she waited a few 
minutes to be briefed on what had been loaded into her weapon system.

   “General Wayne, this is Sergeant Major Jeffery Homes, our resident military 
weapons expert.”

   “What have you done to my airplane, sergeant major?”

   “As ordered, we left room for five hundred rounds of practice ammunition. 
The remainder is HVAP-5E-30. You won’t find it listed in any supply database. 
It’s a high-velocity armor-piercing type five-explosive, thirty-millimeter 
munition. We loaded your weapon system with seven thousand rounds of it. Your 
firing rate for standard practice ammunition is forty-eight hundred rounds per 
minute. For safety reasons, the firing rate for the advanced ammunition is 
twelve hundred rounds per minute. Any faster than that and the barrels of the 
gun, despite their heavier construction and liquid cooling system, would 
weaken from heat and explode.”

   Susan looked amused. “So, it can be dangerous for me as well as my 
opponent. Something to keep in mind when I’m tempted to get carried away.”

   “Oh yes, general, the recoil will jar your teeth to the roots. I strongly 
suggest you use a mouthpiece.”

   “Thank you, Sergeant Major Homes. That last item is nice to know before I 
actually shoot the gun. You forgot to tell me about that when you gave it to 
me, Colonel Farms.”

   Shrugging his shoulders, Farms replied, “An honest error on my part, 
General Wayne.”

   Susan gave Farms a ‘yeah, sure’ look then climbed into the cockpit of her 
aircraft.

   As Susan taxied down the taxiway, Homes looked at Farms. “She’s going to 
kill someone, isn’t she, colonel?”

   Farms looked at Homes and hesitated as several different expressions 
crossed his face, then he said quietly, “I’m afraid so.”

   Before he walked away, Sergeant Major Homes said, “We programmed her 
systems to record everything her sensors detect once she enables the advanced 
ammunition. Even if the plane gets shot out of the air, we can recover that 
data, colonel. I thought you would want that.”

   “That’s why you’re a sergeant major, Jeffery; you take very good care of 
me. Give my thanks to your men for their efforts.”

   Homes walked away, and Farms walked to his car. He thought to himself, 
[He’s a damned good man. I wonder what I could offer him that would make him 
pull his request for retirement.]

******************************

   As Susan’s aircraft accelerated down the runway she was thinking, [Damn, I 
wish I’d test fired some of the advanced ammunition. Oh, well, I need a new 
mouthpiece anyway.]

   As her aircraft gained altitude, Susan turned south toward the Top Gun 
School.

******************************

   Susan, still wearing her flight suit, looked at the TGS students. “How many 
of you have ever been in actual combat? I mean the type where someone is 
trying their best to kill you.”

   Four students raised their hands. Susan said, “You four follow me. Major 
Lucas, I also want you, LtCol. Pelt, and the other instructors to listen to 
what I have to say.”

   Susan led them to a conference room that had a large map of the local 
operations/training area mounted on the wall.

   “Grab a cup of coffee and a seat, gentlemen. I have a job for you and I 
want your undivided attention.”

   Thirty minutes later, Susan finished briefing the pilots and answering 
questions concerning what she required and expected from them. “Repeat after 
me, we stay out of the outlined operation area and we shoot down any aircraft 
trying to fly out of that area.”

   The pilots, instructors and students, repeated the indicated words.

   “Until tomorrow morning, gentlemen. Don’t disappoint me.”

******************************

   After Susan departed, the instructors and students looked at one another. 
Major Logan Jones, a former student and now a new instructor, said, “She’s a 
big woman. She’s as tall as I am.”

   “And a damned sight better looking, too,” replied Major Lucas.

   “Gents. Tomorrow may be graduation for our four students here,” commented 
LtCol. Pelt.

******************************
 
Onboard Whitestar 172:
  
   Susan looked Alyt Gregan in the eyes and said, “I’ll designate the targets, 
Alyt Gregan. After I designate them, I will, if I deem it necessary, give you 
the order to fire. You will destroy the designated targets. Do you have a 
problem with that?”

   “Let me make sure I understand, General Wayne. You want me to move my ship 
to an altitude of fifty kilometers above the TGS exercise area and await 
signals from your AWACS that will give my weapons console operator a complete 
picture of the training area and surrounding area that extends thirty 
kilometers outside that area in three directions – those being north, east and 
south. At some point, the display on our weapons console will change and the 
targets will be presented as red icons that look like an equilateral triangle 
with the bottom side missing. When you give the order, we are to destroy the 
designated targets.”

   “That’s the whole enchilada, Alyt Gregan.”

   “That means I’ll be killing Humans.”

   “Not true, Alyt Gregan. I’ll be doing the killing. You will simply be my 
weapon of choice.”

   “No disrespect meant, general, but I’m uncomfortable with this scenario.”

   “Call Delenn. You need to be reminded of your present chain of command.”

   “Communications, contact Entil’zha Delenn.”

   “I’m going to get some tea, Alyt Gregan. Call me when you have Delenn on 
the line.”

******************************

   Alyt Gregan contacted Anla’shok headquarters and managed to gain access to 
Delenn’s adjutant, but even after explaining his situation, he wasn’t 
satisfied with the response he received. The adjutant finally passed Alyt 
Gregan’s request to Delenn.

   Susan had been notified that Delenn was being called and returned to the 
Whitestar 172’s bridge.

   Delenn’s image appeared on the display. “You have a problem with your 
present assignment, Alyt Gregan?”

    Alyt Gregan explained his misgivings to her. “I have a problem shooting 
down Earthforce aircraft on their own planet, Entil’zha.”

   “You are on detached duty as Susan’s flagship. She is your superior 
officer. You are required to follow all of her orders, whatever they may be – 
even if she orders you to fire upon a warcruiser. Do you understand, Alyt 
Gregan? You belong to her until you and your ship are relieved.”

   “Yes, Entil’zha Delenn.”

   Susan stepped into viewer range and said, “Thank you, Delenn. I believe 
Charley gave you an explanation of the situation here. Tomorrow, I’m supposed 
to be giving President Luchenko a ride down to the Top Gun School and let her 
experience the exercises they employ in their training. We have very good 
reason to believe that a group of former Clark supporters are going to try and 
shoot us down. I have a surprise planned for them and Whitestar 172 and its 
weapons are going to be my ace in the hole, so to speak.”

   “Charles did indeed explain things. I hope you are successful. I hate to 
lose good friends. Take care, Susan.”

   Susan saluted Delenn and watched her image fade, as the circuit was broken.

   “Any other questions, Alyt Gregan?”

   “Not anymore, General Wayne. Just tell me exactly what you want me to do.”

******************************
   
   Susan continued to put on her flight suit. “Madam President, I’ve made some 
plans of my own. Instead of a substitute, you will actually board my aircraft 
and we will fly out of here.”

   “We will?” asked President Luchenko. “I was told that you would be using 
one of your pilots-in- training to replace me.”

   “That was the original plan, but it has a major flaw.”

   “And that is?”

   “I suspect that at least one of my plane crew may be on the payroll of 
Major Brown, the Earthforce Intelligence agent heading up this situation.”

   “Oh. Won’t this be a bit too dangerous for me?”

   “Not at all. I would never compromise your safety. You will get the ride of 
your life then you will be put somewhere safe, until after I see to the 
destruction of Major Brown and his cronies. We could have them arrested, but 
we have absolutely no evidence that would stand up in court. After I have them 
destroyed, it becomes a moot point.”

   “After you have them destroyed?”

   “He has his plan; I have mine.”

   “Let’s get this show on the road, General Wayne.”

******************************

   Susan and President Luchenko got out of the command car and walked toward 
her plane. A few selected journalists were being allowed to photograph the 
President climbing into the aircraft. She had stopped for pictures and even 
answered a few questions about why she was making the flight. No one could be 
mistaken that the real President Luchenko had boarded Susan’s fighter. Susan 
had made sure of that. The reporters watched as the last of five hundred 
practice rounds were loaded into the aircraft’s primary weapon system.

   The reporters were still taking pictures and video footage as the fighter 
taxied away from the hangar and toward the taxiway to the end of the runway.

******************************

   “Why did it get smooth so suddenly?” asked President Luchenko.

   “We passed through the sound barrier, Madam President. I’m betting they 
heard the boom back at the airport. I’ve changed our heading. We’re going to 
land at a weapons testing facility that belongs to me in a few minutes. There 
is a corporate jet waiting to return you to Stockton. There are secret service 
personnel on board to escort you. When you get back to Stockton, you will be 
whisked aboard your aircraft without anyone being the wiser. When I signal 
that it’s all over, your aircraft will depart on the next leg of your trip.”

   “You seem to have it all covered.”

   “Did you seriously think I’d do anything to endanger you?”

   “No. The thought never occurred to me. I was only curious as to how you 
were going to get me out of your plane. How are you going to handle Major 
Brown and his boys?”

   “My whitestar is going to destroy them if they show up. I will transmit the 
order and that will be the end of that assassination attempt. I don’t plan to 
shoot it out with eight or nine opponents.”

   “The whitestar is an Interstellar Alliance starship. Won’t that create a 
situation?”

   “Not at all. Delenn has assigned it to me, and she explicitly told the alyt 
that if I should order him to do so, he was to even fire at a warcruiser. 
While it is assigned to me, the whitestar alyt and crew answer only to me. In 
other words, it is an Earth Alliance asset, commanded by me, until she 
officially reassigns it.”

   “You do seem to wield a lot of power.”

   “Not really. I do what’s necessary to uphold my oath to the constitution.”

   Luchenko didn’t reply. Instead, she thought to herself, [Yes, you do.]

******************************
    
   Susan landed and taxied into a hanger as instructed by the control tower. 
Her fighter had no sooner come to a halt than a crew of weapons personnel 
pushed a load/unload cart under the fuselage of the aircraft. 

   President Luchenko waited until personnel assisted her in climbing down 
from the cockpit. She looked up at Susan and said, “Good luck, General Wayne.” 
Then she looked at the munitions cart and asked, “What are they doing? I 
thought the ammunition was loaded in Stockton.”

   “It was, ma’am, but that was for show. We’re replacing the practice rounds 
with the real McCoy.”

   “Oh.”

   Colonel Larry Farms then escorted her to a waiting staff car.

   “Tell me, Colonel Farms. What’s your part in this little charade?” asked 
Luchenko.

   “My boys developed the upgrades for the cannon General Wayne has mounted in 
her aircraft. The aircraft itself is possibly the finest close-support 
aircraft ever built on Earth by anyone. It can even be adapted to operate in 
an atmosphere devoid of oxygen, Madam President. With some of the newer 
materials available today, it’s probably possible to increase its 
survivability while reducing its curb weight. That would make it possible to 
increase its combat weapons load. Think about it, ma’am; it’s a tried and 
proven design. There is an old cliché that applies to this aircraft. If it 
ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Then, if that isn’t enough, you can get a first 
class weapons platform for a bargain price. It’s budget friendly – so to 
speak.”

   “You do a very good commercial for the system, Colonel Farms. How does 
General Wayne feel about it?”

   “She likes it, ma’am. She says it’s a lot of bang for the buck.”

   “Buck?”

   “A really old slang term for money, ma’am.”

   “Oh.”

   “The jet waiting for you is manned by your secret service people.”

   “So General Wayne told me. I just hope what she has planned works out well.”

   “It will, ma’am. Did she tell you what she has planned?”

   “She said it included her whitestar.”

   “There are going to be some very surprised people today. Then, they will be 
very dead. Good riddance to bad trash.”

   “You have a way with words, Colonel Farms.”

   “Thank you, ma’am.”

******************************

   Luchenko boarded the corporate jet. She was stunned to see her husband 
waiting for her. “How did you get here?”

   “As soon as you went with General Wayne, I was driven to the other end of 
the airport and brought aboard this aircraft. We landed about twenty-five 
minutes after we took off. You will note that your personal bodyguards are 
also here.”

   “She thought of everything. I feel right at home.”

   Her husband looked out of one of the small windows. “I believe that’s her 
taking off now.”

   President Luchenko looked out the same window. “It’s her. I don’t envy her 
what’s coming in a few hours.”

   “I wouldn’t worry about her, sweetheart. I’d say a prayer for those who are 
planning to assassinate you and her.”

   “I only hope they reap their just rewards.”

******************************

   As per habit, Susan refueled just before entering the exercise area. She 
also contacted the AWACS and ECM aircrafts and synchronized her sensors and 
communications equipment with them. She learned that the students’ aircrafts 
had already been synchronized. It would allow them to use their 
communications, target acquisition and tracking, and ATDS (airborne tactical 
data systems) unencumbered by the ECM aircraft’s jamming efforts. 

   Privately, Susan had no intention of allowing the situation to degrade into 
a shooting match between her, the students, and the assassins. If things 
worked as planned, Whitestar 172 would destroy the assassins quickly and 
efficiently.

******************************.

   Major Brown and his associates were conducting preflight inspections of 
their aircraft. The only one not there was the test pilot who was flying the 
second F-400 prototype. 

   As they finished their inspections, the F-400 landed and taxied up to their 
position.

   After climbing out of his aircraft, the F-400 pilot asked, “What’s the 
word, Major Brown?”

   “We’re waiting for the call from my man at Stockton. He’s a member of 
General Wayne’s plane crew.”

   “How much did this cost?” inquired the pilot.

   “Nothing. It seems that his father was on one of the advanced destroyers 
that Wayne’s whitestar squadron destroyed during the civil war.”

   “Best motivator I can think of, revenge.”

******************************

   Susan had been airborne about half an hour when Major Brown received his 
call. As he listened to the caller, his associates noticed a smile spread 
across his face.

   “She and President Luchenko are on their way. The President posed for 
pictures and answered reporters questions just before they too off. There’s no 
doubt about it, and she’s only carrying five hundred rounds of Type ‘A’ 
practice ammunition. I’m thinking she’s going to make a run on the practice 
range for President Luchenko. If she does that, she will be totally 
defenseless.”

   “Sounds almost too good to be true,” said another pilot.

   “Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth fellows. Every once in a while things 
actually go as planned.”

******************************
   
   Susan and the students had completed their scheduled exercises and she was 
flying low and slow to make anyone observing her aircraft think she was 
conducting canyon excursions for President Luchenko. She even made two low 
passes over the ground target area to simulate strafing runs. If she figured 
it correctly, Major Brown and his associates would think she was now 
completely unarmed.

   It didn’t take long for her to receive a transmission from the AWACS that 
nine unidentified aircraft had entered the exercise area and were headed in 
her general direction. At the same time, her tracking display changed and nine 
red symbols appeared on it. They overlaid the video display from her onboard 
tracking sensor package.

   She gained altitude and turned onto an intercept course toward the nine 
bogeys.

  “Eagle Eye, this is Ice Queen. Tell your friends onboard Music Man One that 
I want all of you to think of black balls.”

  “Roger, Ice Queen.”

   Susan faced the front of her cockpit and let down her mental barriers. She 
saw the black balls and disregarded them. She put her fighter on autopilot and 
relaxed completely. In a minute, she could hear the thoughts of the invaders. 
A few seconds after that, she isolated Major Brown’s thoughts. She read his 
thoughts and saw her position from his viewpoint. Using that as a reverse 
reference, she marked the red symbol that was his aircraft.

   # Alyt Gregan, are you ready?# Susan asked on a circuit dedicated to 
communications with Whitestar 172.

   #We are tracking the denoted targets, General Wayne. I see that one of them 
has a blue box around it.#

   #That’s Major Brown’s fighter. He’s the clown who set this up, Alyt Gregan. 
Destroy the other eight aircraft. He belongs to me.#

   #Yes sir, General Wayne!#

******************************

   Major Brown was about to issue orders for the attack to begin when the 
other eight aircraft accompanying him began to explode in brilliant flashes of 
light, burning fuel, and detonating ordinance. In less than ten seconds, he 
found himself alone, facing Susan at a distance of fifteen kilometers.

   {Good morning, Major Brown. You intended to experience a surprise this 
morning. I’m sorry it’s not the surprise you expected. I hope you aren’t 
disappointed.}

   Major Brown ‘heard’ Susan’s voice in his head. He was instantly filled with 
dread and terror.

   {You will put your aircraft on autopilot and fly a racetrack pattern ten 
kilometers long and two kilometers wide, Major Brown.}

   Against his will, he soon found his aircraft flying the indicated pattern. 
He continued to fly the pattern for a full fifteen minutes. He knew she was 
scanning him, but there was nothing he could do about it. In desperation, he 
though out loud, [None of this is admissible in court.]

   {That’s irrelevant, major. You won’t be leaving the area alive. You won’t 
get a third chance to kill me. Your miserable crap stops here.}

   Major Brown felt as if his blood had turned to ice water. He felt cold, 
very cold. Uncontrollable fear gripped him. Susan smiled as she ‘observed’ his 
reactions.

   Major Brown started to become drowsy before he became aware that his fear 
had receded. His eyes were getting to be impossible to control. Finally, 
without being aware of it, he disengaged his autopilot. As imagined fatigue, 
complete relaxation, and finally, sleep overcame him, he was unaware that his 
aircraft had started a slow starboard roll. Minutes later, he crashed into the 
desert floor and never knew it.

   Susan changed course to intercept the tanker aircraft. At the same time, 
she sent the students and instructors who had been her backup home to the TGS 
airfield. She thanked the AWACS and ECM crews for their support and dismissed 
them. Then she refueled and returned to Stockton, having never actually, 
personally, fired a shot in anger. If given the chance, the dead assassins 
would most likely have disputed this evaluation of the scenario.

******************************
 
   Onboard the AWACS, the primary sensor operator asked the 
communicator, “What in hell just happened? He just flew his plane into the 
ground.”

   “I don’t know, and I don’t want to know. I’m willing to leave well enough 
alone. Maybe the recorder in his plane will give the investigators an answer, 
if he had a recorder onboard and it was running.”

******************************

In the TGS main briefing room:

   “Major Lucas, what happened up there?” asked Lt. Jake Mares.

   “I’m only guessing, but I think the first eight aircraft were destroyed by 
General Wayne’s whitestar. I honestly don’t have a clue about the last one,” 
replied Lucas.

   “She’s a telepath, Lt. Mares. Maybe she convinced the pilot that flying his 
plane into the ground at more than seven hundred kilometers per hour was an 
exceptionally good idea,” offered LtCol. Pelt.

   “Now, that is scary,” remarked Mares.

   “You won’t get any argument from me, Mr. Mares,” replied Pelt.

******************************

   Susan climbed out of her aircraft. Agent Francis Shaw was waiting for her.

   “Where is President Luchenko, General Wayne?”

   “Have you checked aboard her plane? She should already be aboard. I bet 
they’re waiting for you.”

   “What happened?”

   “There was no attempted assassination; however, some pilots were practicing 
some fancy flying in the exercise area just before I departed it. There was 
some kind of accident. Several planes and their pilots were lost. That’s all I 
know.”

   Agent Shaw turned and walked toward a waiting staff car. Susan watched her 
go. Then she turned her attention to her plane captain. “Where is Corporal 
Evans?”

   “I sent him to early lunch, sir. May I ask why?”

   “When he returns from lunch, escort him to base security. Agent Baar, just 
the person I want to see. You heard what I just said?”

   “Yes, sir.”

   “You will arrest Corporal Evans for conspiracy to assassinate the President 
of the Earth Alliance and me. See me in my office; I’ll give you what you need 
to start a quiet investigation.”

******************************

   Susan was sitting in her office mulling over the things that had transpired 
since she had returned to Earth. She was irritated by the results of those 
thoughts. Her irritation spiked when her phone rang and CJCS was on the other 
end of the line.

   “What can I do for you, general?” she asked of the image on her viewscreen.

   “What happened at the TGS?”

   “There was an accident. Several aircraft were destroyed and their pilots 
were killed.”

   “Did you know any of them?”

   “I met their leader once. He didn’t care for me.”

   “I see. President Luchenko?”

   “On her way to a fundraiser, I believe. She flew out of Stockton just after 
I returned from the TGS exercises.”

   “We’ll be investigating the accident and making a statement to the press. I 
assume that you don’t really know what caused it.”

   “No sir. I don’t. I was under the impression that they were trying some 
fancy aerial maneuvers.”

   “I’ll let you know after I get the particulars. Enjoy your visit to your 
outlying commands.”

   “I will. Charles is going to accompany me.”

   “Have a nice trip, Susan.”

   “I’ll consider that a direct order, sir.”

******************************


   General Manuel Sanchez hadn’t yet heard from Major Brown about his attempt 
to assassinate President Luchenko and Susan Ivanova-Wayne. He didn’t even 
think of her as a flag officer. He was extremely angry because she had managed 
to spirit her husband beyond his reach and she would be coming after him. That 
he knew as sure as the sun would come up tomorrow. She had promised both Major 
Brown and him as much to their faces.

  The voice of the reporter cut through his thoughts. “It was reported from 
Earhtforce headquarters just ten minutes ago that there has been a terrible 
multi-plane accident over the desert in southwestern North America where the 
famed Top Gun School holds its aerial exercises. The statement issued by the 
PAO office indicates that as many as nine aircraft were involved in the 
massive accident. The statement said that an investigation is being launched 
to determine who was involved since the maneuvers that were being practiced 
were not authorized. We have some video that is just now being released in a 
feed from the PAO office. We are going to Jess Dupro our reporter at 
Earthforce headquarters. Are you on the line, Jess?”

   “I’m here, Rob, with the Earthforce PAO, Colonel Jake Carns. Colonel Carns, 
we are looking at the video your office is supplying. Is there anything else 
you can offer us at this time? What we’re seeing looks like almost a dozen 
crash sites.”

   “It looks worse than it is, Rob; however, we are confirming the loss of 
nine aircraft and their pilots. We will be releasing their names after their 
families are notified. I want to strongly reiterate that, as far as can be 
determined, the events leading up to this disaster were not sanctioned or 
authorized in any manner.”

   “Colonel Carns, I’m being told that President Luchenko was in the area when 
the crashes occurred. Could this have been connected with that event?”

   “Absolutely not, Rob. Lt. General Susan Ivanova-Wayne was giving President 
Luchenko a demonstration flight earlier this morning, but they had already 
departed the area well before this mishap. I want to report that President 
Luchenko enjoyed her experience and is already on her way to other 
appointments she has on the western coast of North America.”

   Sanchez listened stunned. He knew for a fact that Major Brown and his hired 
guns piloted those aircraft. He was even willing to concede that headquarters 
was doing an excellent job of disinformation. Obviously, Susan had escaped and 
managed to destroy Major Brown and company. He wondered how. He picked up his 
phone and with one sentence launched his own investigation.

   He was surprised by a knock on his office door. “Come in.”

   “Good morning, Manuel. I see you’re watching the news. It seems that Major 
Brown bit off more than he could chew.”

   Sanchez looked at the telepath. “He wouldn’t let it go. I only hope this 
can’t be traced back here.”

   “Take my word for it, Wayne will have scanned the pilots before she had 
them destroyed. You people just won’t learn. Never screw with a P-12 or, in 
her case, higher level telepath unless you have them under control and on 
sleepers.”

   “I’m willing to let it drop, but somehow, I don’t think she will. This was 
Brown’s second failed effort to take her out.”

   “I’d give you some good advice, but so help me god, I can’t think of any. 
You people let it go too far. You should never have planned to kill her 
husband in the first place. I know him. He is or was as trustworthy as anyone 
you’ll find anywhere. That was your first mistake; your second and even bigger 
mistake was meeting her face to face after you had made your decision. Don’t 
take this personally, Manuel, but I’m going to be scarce from now on around 
Earthforce Intelligence personnel and facilities. I value my health.”

   The telepath hesitated at the doorway. “There is one piece of advice I 
have, but like Brown, I know you won’t heed it.”

   “That would be?”

   “Retire this afternoon and get the hell out of Dodge. Let someone else go 
down with the ship. Your civilian counterpart would serve nicely.”

    Sanchez watched the door close and wished it could be that simple.

******************************

In Susan’s office after lunch:

   Susan hadn’t had sex in several months. All she had were the very vivid 
memories of their previous encounters. She had, on more than one occasion, 
brought herself to orgasm using those memories. 

   She almost felt sorry for her husband, when she thought about what she 
intended to do to him. She wouldn’t kill him, but it would make what she did 
to him on their honeymoon seem like light petting.

   Susan was sitting at her desk when these thoughts entered her mind. Before 
she could think about it, the extremely intense memories of her feelings 
caused an ocean of pleasure wash over her. She hoped no one was watching the 
monitors that were being used as part of her office security. She had 
experienced a very intense orgasm and knew that anyone even with only a 
passing glance at those monitors would realize it. It took almost twenty 
minutes for the feeling to dissipate. 

   Susan was just feeling the last of the ecstasy from her imagined orgasm 
dissipate when Agent Baar requested permission to enter.

   “Come in and close the door, Agent Baar,” said Susan waving Baar to a seat 
on her couch. “Make yourself comfortable.” 

   Fifteen minutes later, Agent Baar looked at Susan and said, “My god! You 
kept all this to yourself.”

   “Of course. The fewer people who knew about it the better chance of success 
it had. If I say so myself, and I do, it worked perfectly. It eliminated the 
threat and the people who perpetrated it.”

   “But you used a whitestar.”

   “Why not? It’s my whitestar. You have enough to dig around and build a case 
against our good corporal. Don’t worry about Earthforce Intelligence. I’ll 
handle them.”

   “You’re driving the bus, General Wayne.”

******************************

Earthforce Headquarters 14 December 2266:

   “What in hell happened at the TGS exercise area last Friday, Tom?” asked an 
exasperated General Gabriel Mendleson. “I got nailed by a reporter on the 
front steps on my way into the building. I had to tell him I couldn’t say 
until we completed our investigation. Jesus Christ! How did we lose nine 
aircraft to a damned practice maneuver?”

   “We didn’t,” replied Leftcourt calmly. “They were shot down.”

   “WHAT!” Mendleson almost screamed. “Shot down! By whom?”

   “Your favorite lieutenant general that’s who,” replied Leftcourt.

   Mendleson’s face turned red as rage filled him. “JUST WHO IN GOD’S NAME 
DOES SHE THINK SHE IS!!!!!” screamed Mendleson.

   “I think you need to call a medic and tranquilize him, Tom, before he has a 
stroke,” offered General Igor Gorski.

   “I think she knows exactly who she is, Gabe, and once I show all of you 
what I have, you’ll understand. As much as it seems otherwise, Susan has 
pursued a course of action that’s in everyone’s best interest, except those 
who planned the aborted assassination attempt on President Luchenko. For what 
it’s worth, the fact that this was an assassination attempt is classified Top 
Secret for the time being.”

   Mendleson couldn’t believe his own ears, but he was waiting for Leftcourt 
to continue.

******************************

END PART 39

part 40

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