Lyndy & Jackson

Chapter 10 - 31

Lyndy & Jackson
Chapter 10-31
By; mike hurley

'Runs Like the Wind'

Lieutenant Richie Franklin in NORAD Command, Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado Springs, saw the red flash on his screen; he tapped the flashing icon & it displayed a Canadian 3rd Army M1 tank, it's registration number, year built, Chrysler Corporation Turbine engine, crew roster, fuel reserve, missile shell inventory, nuclear arms negative, turbine engine diagnostics reported normal, interior temperature was 72 degrees, oxygen and co2 levels were normal. Mission; support of Fire Command; west central Alberta. Notes....'deployed under the authority of the White House and Prime Minister of Canada'.

Franklin read the notes section again......
Damn!! I better treat this one with kid gloves!!
The White House & Parliament Hill!! I don't need this type of headache today. His commanding officer, a Canadian Colonel by the name of LeMont, agreed. In his French accent he said; kid gloves, yes Lieutenant!!

He looked at his other screen, a satellite camera had automatically found the beacon coordinates and displayed a high resolution image of the tank facing south, full exterior lighting was on. He counted 4 persons and one down. He moved his curser to an odd looking object and hit zoom, brighten, then clarify, then identify. 3 seconds later the words 'Mountain Lion' appeared, followed by small print; 'body temperature=sub normal, presumed dead'.

The Lieutenant tapped another app and an operator at Cold Base in Alberta answered. Franklin requested a flyover to confirm any threats. He electronically forwarded all the info on his screen. He was playing this one by the book. He sent a coded message to the Destroyer USS Winston Churchill, and put 2 Interceptors on Alert in Idaho. 

NORAD, please confirm; you're requesting a fly over for a tank in Alberta?? Confirmed, yes, a fly over please Captain. Any questions should be directed to your Prime Minister's office.

Stand by........

Seconds later, Franklin heard the Captain say; birds are airborne, Lieutenant!! You can contact the lead cockpit at this frequency......... Good day NORAD.

Two Canadian F-15's roared into the air and lit afterburners @ 1200 ft, and turned west. 6 minutes later they shook the ground as they flew over the M1. The pilots took high resolution photos, and reported no other military threats in the area. All 9 Falco Forts automatically radiod their ID codes, when the lead F-15 queried their identity, status, and mission. The F-15s climbed to 70,000 feet and circled Alberta, on standby for further instructions. The lead pilot looked out his window at his partner 100 feet away and shrugged his shoulders.

Two Mach-3 Interceptors at an Air Force Base in Idaho stood down. The pilots unfastened their seat harnesses and relaxed.

Royal Navy Commander Jaymes White on board the Destroyer, ....USS Winston Churchill, 125 miles off the coast of Alaska monitored the status of the tank flyover. He picked up the horn & informed the Captain, .....of NORAD activity in Alberta. He sipped a cup of tea at his station on the bridge, and glanced at a text from his wife in Hampton, England. She simply wrote: 'missing you ❤️'.  Winston Churchill was given the status of Honorary Citizen of the United States, after his death, by President John F Kennedy. The US Destroyer has always had a Royal Navy Officer assigned to the ships company. Part of Whites duties included monitoring NORAD activity whenever the ship was alongside the US or Canada.

Next, Franklin hit another app & attempted to contact the tank. Seconds later the tank automatically forwarded the call to Rudy's radio. Rudy hit the send button on his radio with blood stained fingers. This is 1st Sergeant Rudolf Sanchez here........

Sgt, this is Lt. Franklin in NORAD, we picked up your beacon, what's your status??

We have a man down, cougar attack and my driver is injured too. Do you need an E-vac?? Um, yes, but we were told choppers are grounded due to forest fires. Stand by please, I'll confirm BlackHawk status. Back in a minute..........