Chapter 11 – June 1981
Interlude – 1
Former U.S. Air Force pilot Mitchell Gant sweated during his daily run in the wilds of the Kenai Peninsula of Alaska. He was a solitary man, having never married or had children. He was haunted by his actions during the Viet Nam war. He was particularly haunted by actions taken to rescue him after he was shot down after a bombing run while flying an A-4 Skyhawk in the North.
After being captured by North Vietnamese soldiers, he was in the process of being rescued by U.S. Army helicopters when another A-4 dropped napalm nearby. A little Vietnamese girl had been watching the battle too closely, she was immolated by the bomb. The image of her burning alive haunted his nights, and his days.
Retreating from the world, Gant sought refuge for his tortured soul in the Alaskan wilderness. Today was like many others. Gant ran himself to exhaustion in an effort to purge himself of the images that haunted him. He eschewed mass media. He would later, after taking care of any chores that needed to be done that day, immerse himself in a book from the vast library he kept in his cabin. Anything to distract his brain from the horrors he had committed, and seen committed, in his life.
Interlude – 2
SIS officer Kenneth Aubrey sat quietly at his desk in Century House perusing the latest satellite images from Bilyarsk Air Base in Soviet Russia. His current task was to monitor the development of a new Soviet fighter/interceptor being developed by Mikoyan-Gurevich.
He was frustrated by the conflicting information he was being provided by the human intelligence division and the satellite imagery divisions of SIS. Early in the project the intelligence division had reported that some unusual technologies were being developed for the new MiG; sustained hypersonic flight, highly advanced avionics including a potential thought controlled weapon system, and radar avoidance technologies.
The intelligence division had discounted the reports as rumors or disinformation spread by the KGB. This was supported by the satellite imagery that only showed that the new MiG was to be a variant of the venerable MiG-25. The imagery also showed that a Tu-154 was often visiting the air base, but that was discounted as that aircraft was a very common type in the Soviet Union.
So, Aubrey contented himself with what was being provided for him as he prepared his periodic report on the development of the new MiG, knowing that nothing particularly unusual was being developed out of Bilyarsk.