Operation Hell Gate - Marc Cerasini [13]
Then came the noise of the blast, deafening as the shock wave shattered the windows. The interior of the cabin suddenly mimicked the inside of a dryer running full blast. Papers, cups, cushions, magazines, napkins — anything not nailed down flew about the cabin or was sucked outside.
Jack heard the engines straining to keep the aircraft aloft. Then they cut out and the wheels slammed onto the runway, too hard for the landing gear to support the impact. Tires blew, steel snapped, and the landing gear folded. The burning aircraft teetered to port, then the belly hit the concrete and skidded along, trailing a torrent of hot white sparks.
* * *
9:32:18 P.M. EDT
CTU Headquarters, Los Angeles
Tony's land line warbled. He reached across his desk and grabbed the receiver. "Almeida."
"There's a Marine Corps captain checking in at the security desk and asking to see Ms. Myers. But the Chief of Staff is not responding to my call."
"Nina's in the middle of a video conference with Bill Buchanan from the Seattle office," Tony replied. "I'll be right there."
Tony locked down his computer and headed off to the security desk. On the way, he stopped by Jamey's area and picked up the latest printout on the mysterious memory stick, which he stuffed into the folder under his arm. He glanced at it first, disappointed to find they had discovered next to nothing in the past two hours of "expert analysis."
At the security desk, Tony discovered that not all Marines are created equal. This particular captain had blond hair caught in a ponytail, a killer figure in a dress blue uniform, and clear blue eyes to go with her two silver bars.
"Captain," said Tony, offering her a smile with his hand. "I'm Agent Almeida, head of intelligence here at CTU."
Nearly as tall as Tony, the woman met his openly appraising gaze as she took his hand in a firm grip. "I'm Captain Jessica Schneider. Commander of the Special Weapon Analysis Unit in South Korea."
Her name jarred his memory cells, but the context eluded him. "Welcome to Los Angeles. Come with me and I'll bring you up to speed."
As they moved through the busy command center, Captain Schneider took in the setup while Tony deciphered the ribbons and service pins that adorned her uniform. "First Marine Division," Tony observed. "Looks like you and I ate some of the same dirt."
A half smile crossed her full lips. "You're a jarhead?"
"Ex."
"You're missing all the fun, then."
Tony discerned a slight Texas drawl, another clue he felt was important, but he had yet to make the connection. They arrived at the cyber-analysis section. Tony ran his key card through the lock, opened the door. "We actually have lots of fun here at CTU, too."
Tony offered Captain Schneider a chair, then slid the latest report on the memory stick under her nose. "This is what we've got, so far."
Captain Schneider opened the folder, leafed through it. She lifted two photographs of the object and studied them closely. After a moment, she reached into her pocket and donned delicately framed reading glasses. "And you found this memory stick where?"
"At LAX, this morning," Tony replied. "It was attached to an array of tubes in the hands of a suspected terrorist. The device looked like a shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missile launcher. Unfortunately we lost both the terrorist and the device when the group self-destructed to avoid capture."
Captain Schneider closed the file. "This data stick you recovered is a component in the most advanced handheld anti-aircraft missile launcher developed to date by the hostile regime in North Korea."
Tony was impressed. "You're sure."
"I've seen one before. The launcher, not the memory stick."
"On the DMZ in Korea?"
Captain Schneider's blond ponytail bobbed when she shook her head. "On the Texas/Mexico border. About eight weeks ago, the DEA grabbed a launcher in a narcotics raid. The system is highly advanced. It has been code named Long Tooth by the Pentagon. The launcher has twin firing tubes and a computer programming system that