Jefferson … and reinforcements, should the need arise over Bangkok.
“Uh … there’s something else, Admiral. Something kind of screwy.”
“What is it?”
“This just came through from Bangkok, sir.” Gilmore handed the admiral
a teletype sheet. “Just been decoded.”
He read the message.
UNCONFIRMED REPORT TWO WESTERN PRISONERS, ONE MALE, ONE FEMALE, ARRIVED
U FENG MIDDAY YESTERDAY. HELD IN BUILDING NEAR FUEL DUMP.
REPORT BROUGHT TO DOI CHIANG DAO BY KAREN GIRL NAMED PHYA NIN. WOULD
DISCOUNT, BUT MESSENGER CLAIMS KNOWLEDGE OF SOMEONE NAMED BATMAN, U.S.S.
JEFFERSON, PLEASE ADVISE.
Two prisoners! Magruder knew immediately that it was Bayerly and
Pamela Drake.
He felt cold as he scanned the message a second time. Held near the
fuel dump … and the fuel storage tanks on the east side of the U Feng
perimeter would be among the first targets hit by Thunderbird.
Magruder felt as though he were balanced on a knife’s edge. Jefferson
had almost thirty planes in the air or ready for launch, aircraft with a
destination five hundred miles north and with fuel in short supply. The
alpha strike could not be kept waiting, not for two people who might or
might not be Westerners, hostages of General Hsiao.
On the other hand, one of those hostages was a civilian, a well-known
American news correspondent.
The other was an officer under his command, Lieutenant Commander
Bayerly.
Magruder had heard the stories about Bayerly, about the tragic death of
Admiral Fitzroy’s daughter and the scandal surrounding the aviator who
had been with her when she died. He knew that when a cloud like that
attached itself to a Naval officer, that man’s career was all but
finished.
But Bayerly was a member of Jefferson’s air wing, CO of VF-97. More
than once in the past, Admiral Magruder had been forced to make
difficult decisions regarding Jefferson personnel. Not going in to
rescue Batman and Malibu the week before had been such a decision, one
forced on him by the politics of the situation.
Here was a situation where carrying on with the mission meant killing
one of Jefferson’s own.
Damn it all! Bright Lightning could not be aborted. The Thais had
already been brought in, and to back out now would leave them hanging.
To go on …
“First,” Magruder snapped. “Raise Colonel Caruso on the Chosin. I want
to get in touch with the Marine Recon team heading for U Feng. Second,
get me General Duong, That Military Staff Command. Third, I want
confirmation on this from Batman Wayne. See if he trusts this woman.
Fourth …” He hesitated. “Fourth, get down to CIC and have CAG make a
signal to ninety-nine aircraft. Bright Lightning is on hold until we
get this resolved. Got it?”
“Got it, sir!”
“Then get on it!”
“Aye, aye, sir.” Gilmore whirled and rushed out the door.
Magruder couldn’t cancel Bright Lightning, but he could delay it … a
very little. It would mean diverting the alpha strike aircraft to bingo
fields in Thailand rather than recovering them aboard the carrier, but
that possibility had been considered from the beginning since fuel was
such a critical factor.
And the delay might give them a chance to get the Marines in. A
twenty-man Marine Recon force was already en route toward U Feng aboard
one of Chosin’s transport helos. Slower than the aircraft of the alpha
strike, the Marine Super Stallion had taken off almost two hours earlier
and was over central Thailand by now. The force’s mission was to
support That ground operations and to provide ground spotting and laser
designation for the Navy attack aircraft.
But perhaps their mission could be changed to include a rescue.
Magruder hoped so. It was damned chancy tampering with the mission
planning at this late hour, but none of the alternatives was attractive.
0634 hours, 21 January
U Feng
General Hsiao stood at the window of his office, hands clasped behind
his back, looking out at the jungle as his aide delivered the report.
“Go on.”
“All radio contact has been lost with Colonel Kriangsak, sir, both with
his headquarters at the Americana Hotel and with the troop column tasked
with seizing the government complex in Bangkok. There are wild rumors