Sometimes Magruder, patriot that he was, felt deeply ashamed for his
country.
CHAPTER 22
Friday, 6 November 1604 hours (Zulu +3)
ACN Satellite transmission Medium shot of a large, imposing, white
building surrounded by trees. UN troops, wearing bulky flak-jackets and
blue helmets, are everywhere in evidence. Cut to medium close-up of
Boychenko, speaking earnestly with a U.S. Navy captain and an enlisted
woman.
“In the historic city of Yalta today, the chaotic disintegration of the
Russian Federation took yet another step into anarchy, as Russian naval
forces in the Crimea refused to go along with General Sergei Boychenko’s
plan to turn the region over to UN forces.”
Cut to long shot of Russian soldiers moving cautiously along a street,
using abandoned vehicles or fallen rubble for cover. Cut to blurry view
of a jet aircraft streaking overhead, then back to another long shot of
soldiers in the street. Two men drag a wounded comrade to shelter.
“The mutiny has precipitated sharp fighting between army units loyal to
Boychenko, and naval infantry and air force units under the command of
Vice-Admiral Nikolai Dmitriev. Casualties are reported to be heavy.
“Dmitriev has declared Boychenko to be a rebel in the employ of
antigovernment forces and has assumed full command of all military units
in the Crimea, this in the wake of the attempted assassination of
Boychenko during UN ceremonies here yesterday morning. Authorities
believe that attempt was probably instigated by Dmitriev, though
spokesmen for the Black Sea Fleet’s commander deny it.”
Medium shot of UN soldiers near the White Palace. Cut to a view of the
wreckage of a large helicopter on the palace grounds.
“In the meantime, some one hundred UN personnel, including a contingent
from the U.S. Navy’s Jefferson battle group, now steaming offshore, have
been trapped in Yalta by the rapidly escalating hostilities. All flights
out of the area have been canceled, and military helicopters have been
grounded. Dmitriev has threatened to shoot down any foreign aircraft in
the region, fearing, perhaps, Boychenko’s escape.”
Cut to long shot of an older Russian woman with a small child, huddled
against the side of a building. Zoom in on her age-wrinkled face as she
stares apprehensively up at the sky. Cut to medium shot of a wood-frame
house burning, then to several long shots of civilians in small,
desolate groups. Some look fearful, some angry. Most look bewildered or
simply numb. Cut to tight close-up of the first woman’s face. She is
crying.
“For the people of Yalta, and the entire Crimea, the war goes on. .. and
the killing. .. and it doesn’t really seem to matter who is fighting
whom.
“For ACN, this is Pamela Drake, reporting live from Yalta.”
2135 hours (Zulu +3)
Tomcat 216 The Black Sea Dixie held his Tomcat, his new Tomcat, steady
at five hundred feet, a sea-skimming altitude that would put him in a
vulnerable spot if the Russians jumped him but that might give him and
the seven other Tomcats flying in an extended formation with him a
critical few more minutes of evasion from Russian radar. It was fully
dark, with sunset having taken place four hours earlier, the sky partly
cloudy, and the new moon just two days away. He couldn’t see the water
flashing beneath his F-14’s belly, couldn’t see anything, really, except
the mingled cool green-yellow glows of his cockpit instrumentation
lights, his vertical and horizontal display indicator screens, and his
HUD.
His pulse was pounding; he could feel it in his throat, against the
collar of his flight suit. It felt good being on a full op again,
instead of flying racecourse ovals over featureless spots of ocean on
CAP.
Cat Garrity was riding backseat with him again, and that felt good as
well.
“Coming up on the way point, Dix,” Cat told him over the ICS. “We have
unknown aircraft in the vicinity, at two-seven-oh to three-three-five.
No sign that they’ve noticed us yet.”
“Rog. Maybe they can’t see in the dark, huh?”
“Don’t count on it. Our Prowler friends can only jam them so much. When
they get close enough, they’ll see us.”
Two separate flights of EA-6 Prowler ECM aircraft had departed from the