The Age of the Jackal
Chapter 1. Colorado Springs, United States of America
[During the Second Wave, after Atlanta was lost, the citizens of Colorado Springs built the Security Wall. It was conceived of in the days when it looked like the massive casualties and social collapse that we had seen in Asia and Africa were finally coming to America. It is also a fitting metaphor for the reaction of the United States to the Plague. Even today, a decade after the last cases were identified, some of the Wall remains. The fortified entrance gates across Interstate 25 are gone and most sections of the Wall have been torn down to make way for homes and businesses. However, there are still sections of grey concrete cutting across the landscape. These crumbling concrete slabs are evidence of what one community did to protect itself and how America as a whole reacted to the Plague: dig in, fortify the borders and pray. It was this reaction that led to the formation of the North American Air Patrol (NAAP; pronounced nape). It was the NAAP, and one of the men who was part of it, that brought me to Colorado Springs. I went there to meet Michael Solomon, formerly a captain in the US Air Force and the first NAAP pilot to shoot down a civilian airliner. We sat in the backyard of his home. His wife tended to their small vegetable garden while we talked. Immediately before the Plague, Captain Solomon was flying drug interdiction missions over the Gulf of Mexico.]
Where were you stationed when you first heard of the Plague?
At the time I was with the 122nd Fighter Squadron. We were flying out of Biloxi, performing narcotics interdiction missions over the Gulf for the DEA [Drug Enforcement Agency] and the Coast Guard. Basically, we’d look for suspicious ships and aircraft, then relay that information to law enforcement. As for how I found out, it was like most other people, from the news. I probably saw something on Fox right around the time of the first major outbreaks in China. It didn’t really register. I had the normal day-to-day to worry about. My wife had just lost her job. One of our cars had kicked the bucket, so I was trying to figure out how to pay for a new one. We had a new President coming in who was promising more military cut-backs to help get us out of the fiscal hole that previous administrations had put us in, so even my job didn’t seem a hundred percent. There was also the possibility of another deployment to the Middle East. I had zero desire to go back to that part of the world.
We didn’t get any sort of official alert until a couple of months after the First Wave started. As I recall, we were alerted right around the time China used its nukes.
We were told to start looking for boats that might be carrying refugees from Central America. These orders were actually redundant, at least as far as my squadron was concerned. We were already reporting most vessels we saw due to our participation in interdiction missions. I guess that’s reflective of what was happening in those early days of the First Wave. Not many people knew what was going on. Or if they did, they didn’t know what to do about it.
As for the NAAP, I doubt that our initial orders had much to do with its implementation. In the sense that having the military start to participate in efforts to stop the spread of the Plague to the US, yeah, I guess. But, I don’t think there was a direct line from being told to keep an eye on things to being told to shoot down airliners.
When did you join the NAAP?
My unit received orders near the end of May, a couple of weeks after the first NAAP patrols were in the air. I had actually just touched down after a DEA mission when we received the orders. My squadron had twenty-four hours to move from Biloxi to Edwards [Air Force Base]. I was debriefed from the mission I had just flown, then went right into a series of briefings about the move and what our NAAP mission would be like. I can tell you that there were more than a few guys who were not happy with what we were being ordered to do.
Did that lead to any problems?
Well, there was a lot of bitching. Four or five of the pilots didn’t want to have anything to do with a mission that could result in us shooting down aircraft that were full of people just trying to get away from the Plague. I didn’t agree with them. After Hong Kong and Shanghai were nuked, it was obvious we were in an unprecedented situation. I didn’t like the idea of having to threaten civilians; but I certainly understood why we had to do it.
Besides, I had convinced myself that any plane approaching the US would respond to our challenge by turning around. Who would want to go up against an F-15 in a 747?
What were the rules of engagement? What were you supposed to do when approached by a civilian airliner?
The basic concept was simple enough. We were already aware of people fleeing China, Vietnam and South Korea. There were even reports of people trying to get out of North Korea on rafts. Any place the Plague had been discovered, those who could leave were trying to get the heck out. Also, the evacuation of US forces and civilians from Asia and Africa was underway. That was further incentive for people to leave. If America is running for the hills, then the hills are the place to be. If I were in that situation, it’s what I would’ve done.
By the time I had my orders to join NAAP, there were already outbreaks in Japan that had been traced back to flights from China and Korea. It was no surprise that air travel was a primary vector for the Plague. From what I understand, studies going back to the mid-twentieth century had predicted that airplanes would rapidly spread any disease around the globe. Before the Plague, there were millions of people in the air every day. While substantial resources had been expended to secure air travel from attacks by terrorists, there was nothing in place to monitor the health of every air traveler. How could there be?
The orders for our NAAP missions were clear. Intercept any incoming aircraft from overseas. Tell them that US airspace was off-limits and order them to fly somewhere besides the US or Canada. If they didn’t turn back, we had orders to shoot them down. We didn’t have to check with anyone other than our operations control. We had to have the most streamlined command structure possible. Intercepting aircraft might not have much time before a hostile got close enough to land. Under certain circumstances we could engage a hostile at our own discretion.
Hostiles? You mean the refugee planes?
Each one of those planes was essentially a viral bomb heading for America. I thought of them as hostile. So did a lot of other guys. And so did the rules of engagement we operated under. It wasn’t just a [he makes air quotes] “psychological thing.” You know, refer to them using terminology that dehumanizes the target and makes it easier to pull the trigger. They really were hostile. The US made it clear that we were not accepting refugees, unless they came through an offshore quarantine camp. It was no secret that the military was tasked with keeping the country safe. Their attempts to reach America were a direct threat to everyone in the country.
Can you tell me about the Japan Airlines incident?
For the first two weeks or so there were dozens of interceptions along the East and West Coasts. They had all ended with the incoming plane heading for some destination outside of the US. I had flown ten patrols and hadn’t encountered anything other than authorized commercial flights bringing back US citizens or military flights bringing back government personnel. At the time, we still flew in two aircraft teams. I was flying that day with Captain Bill Dale. We were about one hundred klicks [kilometers] off the California coast. Visibility was perfect and we had no scheduled incoming flights. About half-way through our four hour mission, we were alerted by Edwards of an incoming aircraft, fifty klicks north of us and heading towards LA.
I was the flight leader, so I ordered Bill to follow me in. We went in by the book and weapons hot. I didn't expect us to actually use them. Everyone, myself included, assumed that getting a good look at two fully armed F-15Cs would persuade anyone to pay attention.
We came in off his starboard side and took up a parallel flight path. I was about one hundred meters off his wing tip and could see passengers looking out the windows. The plane was a JAL 787. I knew the range of those things and knew it must be running low on fuel.
What did you do to alert the plane to your presence?
Well, the flight crew had been in contact with the ground and we had the frequency they were on. So, I sent out a query. I asked them what their intentions were, how much fuel they had, that sort of thing. The pilot came back saying that his plane was running low on fuel, that he had three hundred and fifty people on board and that his intention was to land at LAX and get help for his passengers. I asked if anyone was sick and he said, “Of course there are sick people. That’s why we’re leaving Japan.” Not that it mattered. Sick or not, no one was getting in. I told him that he had to modify his flight plan immediately, that we would not allow him to penetrate US airspace and that we had authorization to use lethal force if necessary.
Did you contact your higher command at any point?
I’m getting to that. At this point, we were still about eighty klicks out. I contacted Edwards, told them the situation and asked for instructions. The operations officer authorized me to fire a warning shot first and to follow that up with lethal force.
How did you feel?
I didn’t feel anything yet, since I hadn’t done anything. I told Bill to fall back and then I angled in slightly to port and fired a burst from my Vulcan [a 20mm rotary cannon]. The pilot of the 787 started swearing at me in Japanese. I had been stationed in Okinawa for a few months, so I understood enough Japanese to know he was pissed. He then switched to English and started going on about how he had women and children on the plane. He said they would just stay on board, refuel and fly somewhere else.
[pause]
My orders were clear. We knew what the Plague was doing overseas. I mean, the news was carrying reports of massive casualties across Asia. We had seen Hong Kong and Shanghai getting nuked. I knew I had to keep that away from my country and my family. I gave him one more chance to turn away. He had enough fuel to make it to Mexico. He could even have ditched off the coast of Baja. Our Navy was still picking up refugees and dropping them off in Mexico. He didn’t turn.
And that’s when you shot the plane down?
I didn’t have a choice. I told Bill to stay out of it. I told the pilot of the 787 that I was going to shoot the plane down. He was crying. I slid back into the six o’clock position. I was about a kilometer and a half behind him when I fired. I put a single Sparrow [air-to-air missile] into the fuselage right behind the starboard wing root. There was an immediate explosion and the plane started to slew to port. About fifteen meters of fuselage blew away. The flight crew was screaming. The starboard wing buckled and came free. The JAL then started to turn to starboard, since the port engines were running. The plane came apart. I pulled away because I wanted avoid getting hit by any debris, but I could see people getting sucked out of the plane. Some of them were on fire. It was fucking horrible.
[pause]
They gave me the DFC [Distinguished Flying Cross] for it.