forty-nine

From a few miles out it was evident in the clear, early-morning sunlight that the area encompassing the city and base of Altus was considerable. Though it was level, with little natural cover such as woodland or dead ground, making a search in the short time they had available was going to be tough.

Dave Proust had brought Ruth and Vaslik in from the north-east, pointing out the Wichita Mountains on one side and Quartz Mountain on the other. “They’re the only hills we’ll see from here on,” he told them. “The rest is flat as a pancake.”

“That’s not good,” Ruth commented, eyeing the distant air base and surrounding terrain. Flat was both good and bad; it helped them see farther from the sky, but it also gave Malak plenty of time to see them coming and take evasive action. Either way, they had a commanding view of the problem they faced if Brasher wasn’t able to narrow down the location and scope of the area known as Freedom Field very soon.

“I can’t go in too close.” Dave’s voice floated into their earphones. “Brasher got me special clearance, but we won’t be able to overfly the base. We’ll have to turn soon and follow the perimeter at a distance and hope we see something.”

Just then Brasher’s voice sounded in their ears.

“Okay, I got it. Freedom Field is a designated area of two acres situated a mile and a half to the northeast of Altus Air Base. That’s where the president will be going, so we estimate your search area will be somewhere outside that location.” He read out the coordinates and Dave made a note before beginning to turn on a course that would bring them round in a wide approach to begin their sweep. “You should be aware that the SWAT jump team is ready to go and there’s now another team on the ground awaiting instructions. We’re relying on you guys to give us a heads-up on Malak’s position, but I’ve had instructions that if you don’t respond with solid information by ten minutes before the designated jump time, both teams will go in. That being the case, I suggest you be ready to leave the area and give them a clear run.”

“Got that.” Dave turned his head towards Ruth and Vaslik with a faint look of puzzlement. “Care to tell us why there’s a ground team as well?”

“We got word from the MPs at Fort Sill,” Brasher said. “They found the car the two gunmen had used. It contained a thousand rounds of ammunition and packaging from three sets of army combat uniforms and boots. Another thing: a local store owner had his car stolen during the night not half a mile away from where the car was found. A neighbour saw it being driven west out of town with three men inside.”

There was a silence, eventually broken by Vaslik. “Three more. We have to assume they’re armed.”

“I think we can bet on it. I just wish I knew what with. If they’ve gotten rocket launchers like the men in Alva, it’ll be bad. My bet is they’re in the Altus area already. It’s only fifty miles on a straight road and they had several hours to get here.”

Brasher disconnected and Dave waved a hand towards an area in front of them and slightly to their left. “On my map there’s a small lake out there somewhere. That’s where the coordinates will take us. If our guy is in position, he’ll be where he can watch the action.”

“And upwind, presumably,” said Ruth. “He won’t want to get caught in his own spray. Can you check the current wind direction?”

“Good point—and yes, I can.” He busied himself on the radio and spoke to the control tower at Altus, and was given the latest report for the area. He thanked the person on the other end with a shake of his head and disconnected. “It’s blowing southwest towards the base but changeable. Ain’t that convenient? The tower also said I should leave the area immediately or be forced to land. He didn’t sound as if he was messing around; authorisation overruled. I’d better pull out before they send an armed ship to investigate.”

“Does that mean the president’s already in the area?” Ruth asked.

“If not, he’s real close.” He checked his watch. It was 10:30 a.m. “They must have brought the programme forward. We don’t have long. I’ll tune to the local police network for a heads-up.”

He pressed a preset button and their headphones were filled with bursts of static and a relay of voices, contracted sentences, and, to the outsider, the unintelligible and mostly unexciting terminology of law-enforcement professionals.

Dave took the helicopter on a wider curve away from the base, keeping the general area around the lake within sight. Not that there was much to see. The terrain looked devoid of landmarks save for a few scattered shrubs and trees and the rigid line of a road running from north to south. The road itself looked almost empty, with little signs of moving traffic and only a heavy haulage truck being loaded at a barn to one side. Ruth concluded that if Malak was hiding out here, he’d found a good point of concealment.

“This whole area would have been checked by security, wouldn’t it?” she asked.

“Sure would,” Dave confirmed. “They’d have had a Secret Service advance team here for about a week, with more flown in once word came in about Malak’s threat. They’d have checked and rechecked buildings and trees for at least a couple of miles out in case of a sniper attack, even without a direct threat. With Malak, they’d have doubled the precautions. Like those guys.” He was pointing down at two military patrol vehicles at the side of a small farm, with several men in uniform moving around the buildings.

Ruth looked at Vaslik, who was shaking his head. The magnitude of the task they faced was suddenly right there in front of them. They could comb this open countryside for hours without seeing Malak and Chadwick, and be none the wiser until the drones were in the air and heading for the base.

“I don’t get it,” she said. “Why would Malak choose to attack a small area with only a few people present? To make an impact he’d surely go for the main event—the base with the personnel, the parachute display team, and the president all in one area.”

Vaslik nodded. “You’re right. We could spend all day checking the countryside out beyond the base and all the time he’s right inside our search perimeter.”

Ruth said, “He must be close to Freedom Field itself. The last place anybody would look.”

“Except the Secret Service detail.”

“But what’s to see?” She nodded out at the flat fields below. “He’s somewhere under cover—he must be.” Her stomach tightened at the thought that right now Malak could already be close to where the president would be standing very shortly. And if the reports from Fort Sill were correct, he now had three extra men to help him. “He’s playing safe,” she said. “If he misses with the drones over the base, he and his men will be right up close where nobody expects it, to make an armed assault on Freedom Field itself.”

Then a voice burst through on the radio, shrill with panic. “I’ve got reports of automatic gunfire between the base and the city of Altus! Two people down, possibly more. I say, automatic gunfire! We need assistance! This is not a drill. I repeat, not a drill!”