Free Final Vector by Allan Leverone

resumes.
    "Thanks to my contact--excuse me, my deceased ex- contact--at the Pentagon, Mr. Nelson W. Michaels, we have in our possession all the information we need in order to intercept this delivery. We know when the missiles are being shipped to the base in Texas; we know the exact route that will be taken by the truck carrying the missiles; we know how many men are going to be handling the delivery; we even know their names and ranks and what they look like."
    Tony traced with one finger an area outlined on the map in red marker and trained his intense stare on Joe-Bob Warren. "What are we looking at here?"
    Joe-Bob returned Andretti's stare unblinkingly. "Well, unless I miss my guess, that's where we're going to take the missiles away from the United States Army and make them our own."
    Tony smiled and nodded, and as he did, Dimitrios cleared his throat.
    "What is it?" Tony asked.
    "Ah, I'm sure you would have thought of this," Dimitrios stammered, "but don't they ship those missiles in pieces? We might be able to hijack certain portions of the Stingers, but they won't do us any good without all the parts, right?"
    "Normally, yes, that is true," Tony answered. His men were sharp, for soft, spoiled Westerners at least, and he appreciated that.
    "In this case, though, the missiles are being shipped in one nearly complete little package. This particular transport vehicle will contain everything necessary to fire Stinger missiles with the exception of the guidance system, without which the missiles are useless."
    Dimitrios shook his head. "So my question remains un-changed: What good will they be to us if they have almost everything we need?"
    Now Tony actually chuckled. "I said the missiles are useless without the guidance system. I didn't say we don't have the guidance system. A couple of years ago a similar military transport vehicle was hijacked while driving a similar route between Tucson and Fort Bliss. Would anyone care to speculate as to what that truck was carrying?"
    A buzz of anticipation filled the room.
    "We have the guidance system for the Stinger missiles already,"
    Joe-Bob said wonderingly.
    "Bingo, as you Americans like to say."
    Jackie piped up, his normally high-pitched voice rising a couple of octaves. "So we're going to use these Stinger missiles to shoot down an airplane?"
    "That is exactly correct," Tony answered. "But not just any airplane. The president is flying into Logan International Airport in Boston very early next Sunday morning. We will be removing him from office. Permanently."
    "The president? The president of what?"
    "What do you think?"
    Stunned silence filled the room as the significance of Tony's statement began to sink in.
    "The president of the United States?" Joe-Bob whispered.
    "We're going to shoot down Air Force One?"
    Tony's eyes glittered like hard black diamonds as he turned his cool smile on his small band of revolutionaries--the group that was about to change the course of history. "That is correct.
    President Cartwright is scheduled to celebrate the reopening of a historic church in Boston. I have learned that he will be flying into the airport around 5:00 a.m. next Sunday in order to arrive at the church in time to attend a sunrise service. He is then scheduled to lunch in the city with some of his major political contributors before flying back to Washington in early afternoon.
    "Of course, as we now know, he will do none of those things, because he will be dead, lying at the bottom of a smoking hole in the ground just shy of Logan Airport. With a little bit of luck, perhaps people in the city will be killed as well, but that remains to be seen."
    Chaos erupted and then died down immediately when Tony held up a hand to silence his men.
    Brian shook his head. "But how will we know where the plane is going to be and when to fire the missile? It's a big sky out there."
    Tony smiled again. "We'll know because we're going to tell the pilot where we want him to go."

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