CHAPTER 12 – PAYBACK’S A BITCH!
U.S. marines boarding an assault transport aircraft on an aircraft carrier.
16:10 (Western Europe Time)
Monday, January 15, 1996 ‘C’
Air control bridge of the U.S.S. NEPTUNE
Sailing off the island of Cyprus, Eastern Mediterranean
Captain (Navy) Nicola Scaldi, Commander Air Group (CAG), was sitting in his command chair on the air control bridge of the NEPTUNE when one of his air controllers pivoted his seat to look at him.
‘’Sir, we have an unannounced friendly aircraft on approach asking for us to light up our TACAN beacon for thirty seconds, so that it could guide itself to a landing.’’
‘’But we are not waiting for any aircraft arrival today. What type of aircraft is it and are you sure that it is a friendly?’’
‘’It squawked the right I.F.F. code, sir, and it is identifying itself as a Douglas C-90 carrying cargo for our embarked marines.’’
‘’A C-90?! Hell, that will certainly be the first time that one of them will land on one of our carriers: the ATLAS is one big beast. Very well, light up our TACAN beacon as requested. Mister Crossley, have the runway and the area adjacent to it completely cleared, so that this C-90 can land there. In the meantime, I will call the admiral to advise him about this surprise visitor.’’
‘’Understood, sir!’’
Using the ship’s telephone attached to the left armrest of his command chair, Scaldi called first the C.I.C., where someone told him that Rear Admiral Benson was forward, on the navigation bridge. So, Scaldi called that bridge, situated at the bow and next to the ship’s runway, and got Benson on the line.
‘’Sir, this is Scaldi. You may be interested to know that a previously unannounced Douglas C-90 VSTOL{22} heavy cargo aircraft is on approach and will land on our carrier with some cargo destined for our marines.’’
‘’A C-90?! Hell, that will be a first, truly. Can it really land safely on the NEPTUNE, Nick?’’
‘’It can, sir: it can either land vertically or do a short landing with a run of less than 500 feet. It could then even do a short takeoff, especially with our extra-long runway.’’
‘’Damn! I should get pictures taken of this for the benefit of our ship’s photo album. I am going to warn our ship photographer and Colonel Wilkinson of this. I am also going to go down on the flight deck: I would really like to see the inside of this C-90.’’
‘’I will also be on the flight deck for the same reason, sir. It should be in sight in a few minutes.’’
‘’Then, see you on the flight deck, Nick.’’ said Benson before putting down the receiver and looking at the helmsman. ‘’Turn us into the wind and go to maximum speed, Petty Officer Farmer: we have a big, heavy bird coming in.’’
‘’Turning into the wind and going to maximum speed, aye, Captain!’’
Benson’s next task was to call the ship’s photographer, a grizzled chief petty officer who had taken pictures in many war zones during his career, and Lieutenant Colonel Paul Wilkinson, to warn them to go up on the flight deck at once. With that done, Benson then left the navigation bridge and used one of its two elevators to go down to the flight deck. He however removed first his service cap before stepping out of the bow superstructure tower: wearing any hat in a forty-plus knot wind was the best way to lose it in seconds. He also grabbed a pair of ear defenders and a safety helmet, dozens of which were stored next to the hatch leading out to the flight deck. The flight deck or an aircraft carrier was always a place where one had to be cautious and alert, especially when flight operations were occurring. It was also a noisy environment, making ear defenders a necessity rather than an option. Once out, he found himself very near the bow end of the 440-meter-long runway, which ran along the starboard side of the ship and measured 35 meters in width. A few minutes later, he was joined on the vast expanse by Scaldi, Lieutenant Colonel Wilkinson, Major Walker and CPO2 Mason, who had also brought with him a sailor carrying a big video camera mounted on tripod, to supplement his own still camera.
‘’Aah, a good idea, that camera, Chief Mason.’’
‘’Well, if this is really the first time that a C-90 will land on an aircraft carrier, then that moment should be recorded for posterity, sir.’’
‘’True! I wonder what it is carrying for you, Colonel, to be worth landing such a big bird on my ship.’’
‘’Uh, I don’t know anything about that C-90, Admiral. Is it very big?’’
Benson smiled to himself as he mentally pictured the incoming cargo plane.
‘’Big? It can land vertically with more than twenty tons of cargo, including any type of army vehicle you could think of, except for tanks. However, I never actually got close to one, so I am really anxious to visit it once it will have landed.’’
CPO2 Mason, who was using the zoom lens of his still camera to look around the sky, suddenly pointed out in the direction of the stern.
‘’THERE, AT OUR SIX O’CLOCK! I SEE AN AIRCRAFT APPROACHING IN THE DISTANCE.’’
‘’Yes! Sailor, you might start filming now: I would like to have the whole approach recorded.’’
‘’Yes sir!’’
Standing as a group next to the low bow structure housing an aircraft tractors garage, so that it could partially protect them from the strong relative wind, the five men watched, fascinated, as the small dot in the sky progressively turned into a big cargo aircraft. The noise of its powerful engines also was becoming quite audible. Wilkinson then noticed something unusual about the approaching aircraft.
‘’Hey, it has eight propellers: four over the wings and four others under the wings.’’
‘’That is how the C-90 manages to be able to land vertically, Colonel. Those eight propellers can pivot to the vertical, allowing the C-90 to turn itself into a kind of giant helicopter.’’
‘’What a sight it is!’’ said to himself Scaldi, who was admiring the fine lines of the C-90’s fuselage. He then saw the eight propellers, which were contained inside ducts, and their engines pivot upwards by 45 degrees.
‘’The pilot is now going into short landing mode. I was told once that, in that mode, the C-90 could land in as little as 500 feet.’’
‘’Really?’’ replied Wilkinson in disbelief. By then, the noise from the C-90’s eight turboprop engines was becoming very loud and the five men could even feel the vibrations caused by those engines. Benson, a qualified naval aviator, watched intently how the incoming pilot was handling his big aircraft on what had to be his first approach to a carrier landing. Up to now, that pilot was acting like a pro, following a near-perfect glide path down towards the runway. Its 24 main wheels soon touched down on the deck at the level of Arresting Wire Number three, some 120 meters beyond the stern edge of the runway, while going barely faster than the battle carrier. For a Navy pilot landing in a fighter-bomber, that would have qualified as a very good landing. Benson nearly applauded as the pilot of the C-90 instantly put his propellers in reverse mode, bringing the heavy cargo aircraft to a full stop well before the bow end of the runway.
‘’Nice landing! Maybe I should get a special certificate prepared for this pilot. What a splendid beast this C-90 is. Well, let’s go see what it has brought for us, gentlemen.’’
With the sailor manning the video camera staying where he was and continuing to film, Benson started walking towards the Douglas C-90, followed by Scaldi, Wilkinson and Walker, as a deck crew team was running to secure the aircraft with blocks and chains. As they were getting close to the front left side door of the C-90, someone inside opened it, revealing it to be of the airstairs{23} type. That someone turned out to be a young and very pretty female Air Force specialist, who came to attention and saluted when Benson climbed aboard.
‘’Welcome aboard, sir!’’
‘’Thank you, Airman! Where is the pilot? I would like to congratulate him on his first carrier landing.’’
‘’The pilot is still upstairs, in the cockpit, sir. That spiral staircase will lead you to the cockpit and upper cabin, sir.’’
‘’I am going to check out what this aircraft brought us, Admiral.’’ said Wilkinson, making Benson nod.
‘’Go right ahead, Colonel.’’
‘’I am going upstairs with you, Admiral.’’ said in turn Scaldi as Wilkinson and Walker were led towards the cargo cabin by the Air Force specialist. Followed by CPO2 Mason, the two Navy officers climbed gingerly the spiral staircase, arriving in a small passenger cabin containing fifteen airline-type seats. However, those seats were empty, so Benson went to the forward door giving access to the cockpit, finding it open. Looking inside, he saw the pilot and copilot of the C-90 exchanging a happy handshake, with the copilot speaking to the pilot, a young woman.
‘’That was a hell of a nice landing for a first carrier landing, General. It was a true pleasure to fly with you.’’
The word ‘General’ and the youthful appearance of the female pilot made Benson stop dead in his tracks as he swore mentally to himself.
‘No! Not her?!’
Then, he saw the nickname printed on the flying helmet of the pilot: Lady Hawk. He thus came to rigid attention and saluted, surprising Scaldi and Mason, who still couldn’t see inside the cockpit.
‘’General!’’
The female pilot smiled and returned his salute, then removed her helmet, revealing neck-long reddish-brown hair and a young angelic face with blue eyes.
‘’Sorry for not announcing myself in advance, Admiral Benson but, if you didn’t know about my coming, then the enemy could not know either. The present situation calls for absolute discretion…until we start unleashing hell of course.’’
By now, Scaldi and Mason finally saw who the pilot was and also came to rigid attention to salute. Ingrid returned their salutes as well before speaking to Benson.
‘’Admiral, I have brought with me a total of 32 tons of cargo, most of it special anti-tank ammunition for the marines of the 1st Battalion, along with stocks of highly-classified photo-maps and individual instruction booklets about enemy military equipment, uniforms and ranks, also for the marines. This aircraft will take off once that cargo will have been unloaded and stored away. As for me, I am afraid that you will be stuck with me being aboard for the next few days…or weeks. As of now, your ship is becoming the official advanced headquarters location of Operation PAYBACK. Just let me grab my personal kit and my secure briefcase and I will then follow you to your Combat Information Center.’’
‘’Then, let me call in a sailor, who will bring your kit to our V.I.P. quarters, General.’’
‘’Nah, don’t bother with your sailor, Admiral: I believe in the ‘one man, one kit’ principle. I will carry my own stuff, thank you.’’
Scaldi and Mason couldn’t help exchange bemused looks then: a five-star general who insisted on carrying her own luggage? On his part, Benson got back his balance quickly and smiled down to Ingrid, whom he dominated by twelve centimeters.
‘’General, I went up to the cockpit to congratulate the pilot for an excellent carrier landing. Was this your first landing on a carrier?’’
‘’Nope! Don’t forget that I am a qualified test pilot and an astronaut, command-level. I followed a qualification course to certify as a carrier-capable pilot decades ago, while I was still flying on a daily basis aircraft prototypes, and have since flown many different aircraft types on carrier landings when new models entered service. As they say, rank has its privileges! Well, with this said, let’s go down! By the way, I brought with me a team of six military pathologists. They are in the lower nose cabin. They will also need personal quarters.’’
‘’Pathologists, General?’’ said Benson, surprised. Ingrid answered him in a most sober tone.
‘’Part of Operation PAYBACK will be to find and retrieve the bodies of our diplomats and their dependents from our embassy in Yerevan, who tried to get to safety in a road convoy four days ago. The American public does not know yet about this, but 48 of our people were massacred by Caucasian soldiers outside of Yerevan.’’
‘’But why does our public not know yet about that, General?’’
‘’Because we don’t want to see the Caucasians make those bodies disappear before we could retrieve them, Admiral. In fact, retrieving those dead Americans will be our top priority and I intend to have a search team leave this carrier tonight at the latest. The faster we act, the better our chances to retrieve those bodies. I will be able to give you and your command staff more details about Operation PAYBACK once I will have dropped off my personal kit.’’
‘’Then, follow me, General.’’
Going down the spiral staircase behind Benson, Ingrid then made him enter the nose passenger cabin, where they met with four men and two women wearing the uniforms of Navy medical officers and busy collecting pieces of luggage from a baggage locker. Ingrid pointed at the older officer, a navy commander with gray hair and wearing spectacles.
‘’Admiral Benson, let me present you Commander George Stewart, Chief Pathologist at the Bethesda Navy Hospital. He is the leader of the team of pathologists I brought with me from Washington.’’
‘’Pleased to meet you, Commander Stewart.’’ said Benson while shaking hands with the chief pathologist. ‘’I wish that we could have met in happier circumstances.’’
‘’Me too, Admiral! Hopefully, we will soon be able to establish and prove to the World what happened to our unfortunate diplomats in Armenia.’’ replied Stewart before quickly presenting the five other members of his team to Benson, who also shook hands with them. Before they all left the plane, Ingrid briefly rerouted Benson and Scaldi to the entrance of the vast cargo cabin of the C-90, which measured 24 meters in length, four meters in width at the floor and 4.1 meters in height. That cabin proved to be nearly filled with pallets of crates and boxes, which Lieutenant Colonel Wilkinson and Major Walker were in the process of inspecting when Ingrid, Benson and Scaldi entered the hold.
‘’I also brought with me 32 tons of extra ammunition for the marines, including M881 Tandem HEAT and M885 HEAT-CS rounds for their 90mm recoilless guns and more 60mm grenades for their rifle-mounted grenade launchers, plus four tons of specially-produced classified photo-maps of Armenia and of the Caucasus and individual training booklets to help teach to our marines the various equipment, uniforms and ranks of the Armenia, Azeri and Caucasian armies. If you could have your crew store away safely that ammunition and bring those maps and booklets to the marines’ storage areas, Admiral.’’
‘’Of course, General.’’ said Benson before turning to face his C.A.G.
‘’Nick, take charge of that cargo and coordinate with Colonel Wilkinson about where to put it.’’
With Wilkinson and Walker having joined her small group and saluting her with shock and surprise evident on their faces, Ingrid returned their salutes but kept a sober expression.
‘’Colonel Wilkinson, your battalion, like the NEPTUNE, is now part of Operation PAYBACK, while the advanced headquarters of the operation, led by me, will be on the NEPTUNE. I will soon brief all of you about Operation PAYBACK but know right away that I will want one of your rifle companies to start getting ready for a combat search and rescue mission within Armenia tonight. I intend your marines to fly to the area of Yerevan aboard PELICAN assault transports and to find and retrieve the bodies of our diplomats and their dependents murdered by Caucasian soldiers. Please select right now which company you will send out, so that they could start preparing at once for their mission. Have them also take the necessary photo-maps from the stocks I brought with me.’’
‘’Yes, General! I am going to send my Bravo Company on that mission: it is commanded by my most combat-seasoned company commander, with solid platoon commanders under him as well.’’
‘’Excellent! I will see you and your senior officers at the command briefing I will call as soon as I have dropped my kit off in my temporary quarters. Dismissed!’’
Both Wilkinson and Walker saluted Ingrid again before walking away with Nicola Scaldi to discuss the storage of the pallets brought by the C-90. Only then did Ingrid leave the aircraft with Rear Admiral Benson.
16:31 (Western Europe Time)
V.I.P. quarters, port side, Platform Deck
U.S.S. NEPTUNE
‘’Here you are, General, your new temporary home on the U.S.S. NEPTUNE: V.I.P. Cabin Number Two, Frame 308, Platform Deck level. My own cabin is next door, to your left.’’
Ingrid took a moment to visually embrace her cabin, or at least the part that was visible to her, as there evidently were portions of her suite that she could not see from the entrance door area. The section she was in now was obviously the work and lounge areas and measured a good twenty square meters of deck surface.
‘’Not bad at all, Admiral! I would have been content with a bunk bed, a work desk, a sink, a toilet and a shower stall.’’
Benson smiled in appreciation at her remark: she was definitely living up to her reputation as an unusually frugal senior officer.
‘’You know what, General? I have met a number of admirals in the past who complained about getting cabins even larger than this, whining either about the absence of a private dining room or about the lack of lush carpets.’’
In return, Ingrid gave him a dubious look.
‘’They did? If they would have complained to me, I would have relieved them of command on the spot for caring too much about themselves and not enough about their own crew. I once had to deal with such a navy commander, a rear admiral, while I was commanding the Palestine Interposition Task Force in 1953: I relieved him of command for insubordination and I can tell you that his crew was happy to see him go.’’
‘’Wow! Could I ask who that rear admiral was, General?’’
‘’You certainly can, as that asshole has left the Navy some forty years ago: it was Rear Admiral Felt.’’
‘’Oh! Him! I knew him from reputation, when I was still a very young Navy ensign at Annapolis Academy. A few of my teachers there had served under him and used him as an example on how not to be a good navy commander.’’
‘’Believe me, Admiral, he richly deserved to be booted out of the Navy: he was a martinet and a tyrant of the worst kind. Unfortunately, he was not the only senior commander I met who deserved to be sacked. Only a year ago, I had a navy captain court-martialed for gross abuse and negligence. The bastard had screamed at his junior officers that, if he caught them sleeping more than four and a half hours per day, he would find extra tasks for them to do. Because of those poor officers being dead tired, their destroyer collided with a cargo ship in full daylight and clear weather, causing the deaths of seven sailors{24}.’’
‘’Believe me, General: you will never see such things happen on my ship.’’ replied Benson while shaking his head in disgust. Ingrid in turn gently patted his left shoulder.
‘’I know and I believe you, Admiral Benson: I personally pushed for you to get this command at sea after reading your service file.’’
‘’You did, General?’’ said Benson, stunned.
‘’Yes, I did! Well, give me just one minute to drop my things off in my bedroom…er, sleeping cabin, then I will go with you to your command conference room.’’
Walking across the office-cum-lounge area, Ingrid pulled open a curtain and stepped inside a small but comfortable bedroom containing a captain’s bed, a large closet, a chair, a chest of drawers and a night table next to the bed that supported a telephone and a lamp. Unceremoniously dropping next to the bed her kit bag and suitcase, she took a second to inspect visually the small bathroom adjacent to the bedroom, finding in it a full-sized bathtub, a sink and a toilet. Quite satisfied, she walked back into the lounge, carrying her secure briefcase and a map-carrying tube.
‘’I’m ready, Admiral! Is your conference room very far?’’
‘’Not at all, General! In fact, we are next to the Combat Information Center, where the conference room is.’’
‘’Once there, I will list to you the officers I want to brief.’’
The C.I.C. proved quite close indeed from her cabin, as Ingrid had to walk no more than ten paces before arriving at the conference room, situated in the air operations section of the C.I.C. There, Ingrid quickly wrote a list of the people she wanted to see at her briefing and gave it to Benson. As the latter used the P.A. system of the ship to call in the officers on that list, Ingrid used that time to extract a few maps and photo-maps from their carrying tube and then pin them on a corkboard hooked to a wall. She also took out of her briefcase a small booklet and two files, putting them on the large conference table. She was about to ask a question to Benson but didn’t, seeing at the last moment that a photocopier stood in one corner of the conference room. She was producing enough copies of her files for the briefing participants by the time Benson completed his ship-wide address. Looking at her, he showed dismay at seeing her do what he believed a simple sailor could have done.
‘’General, you should have asked for one of my sailors to do that job. You are a five-star general!’’
‘’And? Does that make me incapable of doing manual work, Admiral? This way, I am certain that no extra, unneeded copies will be done, as those files are highly classified. But don’t worry: my own staff at the Pentagon has by now learned my little quirks. It took them a few months before they stopped pulling their hair out, though.’’
Benson couldn’t help briefly laugh at that.
‘’General, you are one unusual fish, I must say.’’
She in turn gave him a malicious smile.
‘’Of course I am! How many seventy-year-old women do you know who could still attract the eyes of twenty-year-old men?’’
‘’Er, not one, I must say. In fact, you probably would win a beauty contest against the women of my crew, or those who are part of the marine battalion we have aboard.’’
‘’That battalion has female marines in its ranks? I like that! I have always been a strong proponent of equality and integration. Well, I am now ready here: we just need to wait for the others before I brief you all on Operation PAYBACK.’’
The first officers to answer Benson’s call showed up a mere minute later, having been present at the time in the adjacent C.I.C., while the last ones arrived ten minutes later. Ingrid, standing at one end of the table, looked around at the mix of navy and marine officers present, seeing with satisfaction that CPO2 Mason was also sitting at the table: he may have been the lowest ranking person in the room now, but he was actually an important actor for the operation Ingrid had in mind.
‘’Welcome to all, ladies and gentlemen! I am General of the Army Ingrid Dows, Commander of the United States Combined Military Forces, and I came on the NEPTUNE in order to command from up close Operation PAYBACK. Most of you probably don’t know this yet but, some four days ago, the staff of our embassy in Yerevan, in Armenia, decided to evacuate their embassy before Azeri forces could reach the city and engulf it in street combat. Due to the fact that the Yerevan airport was closed following Azeri airstrikes, our diplomats decided to leave in a car convoy and drive to the Turkish border with their family dependents. Unfortunately, they met just outside of Yerevan an advancing column of Caucasian tanks and mechanized troops which opened fire on our diplomatic convoy, and this without provocation or warning. Forty-eight of our people, including many children, were murdered by Caucasians, with only seven people surviving by fleeing through the woods. One of those survivors, the embassy’s military attaché, was able to witness Caucasian soldiers killing in cold blood a few wounded Americans asking for help. He and his small group walked for three days before reaching the Turkish border, where they were able to get assistance from the Turks and were brought to our airbase in Incirlik. I was able to speak with him on the phone from the Pentagon and then decided to launch Operation PAYBACK. Right now, the American public still doesn’t know yet about this atrocity committed by the Caucasian forces in Armenia, and for a good reason: we want to find and retrieve the bodies of our murdered diplomats before the Caucasians or Azeris make them disappear. Once we will have found and retrieved their bodies, then I will be able to tell President Perot that he can publicly declare war on the Caucasian Islamic Republic and on Azerbaijan, for committing a war crime and for starting an unprovoked invasion of a country with which the United States had good relations. Tonight, the first phase of Operation PAYBACK, the retrieval of our dead diplomats, will be launched, with one company of the 1st Marine Battalion being air-transported to the known site of the massacre in four PELICAN ‘A’s, where they will photograph the crime scene, retrieve the bodies and bring them to the NEPTUNE, where a pathology team from the Bethesda Hospital will perform autopsies on those bodies. Once that is done, we will have then all the physical proofs needed to take to task the Caucasians and Azeris. Do you have any questions so far? Yes, CPO Mason?’’
‘’I suppose that I will be the one who will photograph that crime scene, General?’’
‘’Exact! You may bring with you another photographer or cameraman if you deem it necessary. In fact, I would encourage you to do so.’’
‘’I will, General!’’
‘’Excellent! Now, I have brought with me a few things, on top of a team of pathologists. My C-90 brought some extra ammunition for our marines, including special anti-tank ammunition meant to defeat the explosive reactive armor kits carried by Azeri and Caucasian tanks. I also brought stocks of classified photo-maps produced especially for this operation. I have pinned to the board behind me one of those maps, so you can see what kind of details are shown on it. I have brought as well 1,400 copies of an equipment and uniforms identification booklet which is meant to inform our marines about the enemy. Now that those preliminary points have been covered, here is what I have in mind for tonight…’’
19:05 (Western Europe Time)
Quarters of the 3rd Platoon, Bravo Company, 1st Marine Battalion
Stern section of the Upper Deck, U.S.S. NEPTUNE
‘’Here, Private Visby: hold on firmly to the top corners of this sheet of map foil and keep it vertical while I peel off the outer layer.’’
‘’Got it, Sergeant!’’ replied Greta, grabbing the large cut sheet of transparent map foil as told by Sergeant Brown. Brown then cautiously peeled off the bottom film, exposing the sticky surface of the foil.
‘’Now, come close to this map on the table but hold it still at the vertical. You must not let the bottom part of the foil touch the map before it is properly aligned, or it will stick at once to it and ruin the map. Once you are near the map, I will grab the two bottom corners of the sticky film and fix them to the map, then we will cautiously and progressively lower the film and glue it to the map.’’
Doing as she was told, Greta managed to do everything right, allowing Jeffrey Brown to cover his photo-map with a waterproof transparent film. Brown then did the last part of the job, which was to cut at angles the corners of the film overlapping the map surface and then fold and stick to the rear of the map the borders of the film. Smiling, he then grabbed the photo-map and proudly raised it so that Greta could appreciate the finished product.
‘’Voilà! We now have our section map ready for field operations. This may all look trivial, Private Visby, but an unprotected map exposed to rain or snow will quickly turn into paper mush without a film of map foil.’’
Brown was starting to fold his map the proper way, so that it could fit into one of his cargo pockets, when 1st Lieutenant Kenneth Gomer shouted out an order to his marines preparing their maps in the platoon’s assembly area.
‘’LISTEN UP, MARINES! WE WILL GO IN TEN MINUTES TO THE BATTALION ASSEMBLY HALL, WHERE WE WILL GET SOME EXTRA GRENADES AND AMMUNITION. HURRY UP WITH THOSE MAPS!’’
‘’Thankfully we are done here.’’ said Brown. ‘’Thanks for helping me, Private Visby. You may now go do a final check of your equipment.’’
‘’You’re welco