Lieutenant Robert Phelps, or Ensign Robert Phillips as he was currently known,
was aboard the aircraft carrier USS Coral Sea on a secret and special mission
with many intricate facets. He was there to find and terminate three or more
terrorists and terrorist sympathizers that were there to sabotage the current
mission. He was also there to facilitate the main operation, the rescue of five
downed Navy pilots being held by a terrorist group or cell. These pilots were
being held deep in the desert of North Africa and protected by several groups of
fighters, mostly Russian design, MIG-29 and MIG-31, piloted by better than the
average pilots. These terrorists had collected a great deal of funds from many
sources including drug dealers, and had used these funds to locate and train
pilots and soldiers from countries all over the world. They also had used these
funds to secure a place to hold these US Navy pilots and get the additional
protection of one or more countries in North Africa.
The main operation was a very difficult one at best, but with the addition of
terrorists aboard the carrier, this was not acceptable. The lieutenant thought
to himself as to how he got into this mess. The President assigned him this
two-fold mission personally, but only a few other personnel in the military
even knew of his existence, mission and real identity. He was wearing the uniform
of a lieutenant in the US Navy, but had been mis-identified as Ensign Robert
Phillips when he arrived the same time as this ensign's baggage and personal
effects. He wondered why no one noted the difference in rank, but probably
because of such a minor officer as Robert Phillips, who rarely was noticed
nor had he distinguished himself in any way in his military service. He had
been following Ensign Phillips as another suspect in the list of possible
terrorist sympathizers. He did not yet know of his whereabouts, but knew
that he had not reported on the carrier as ordered, hence the mis-identification.
The "ensign" was quite a bit older than Robert Phillips, but evidently,
Phillips was just not associated with, friends with or dealt with many people
on the carrier. He guessed that this was a better cover than the one originally
thought out, LT. Robert Phelps, so he did not press the issue.
He just had to identify all of the terrorists before he made his move to eliminate
them, or have them arrested. He could not allow one of them to escape notice and
then be able to sabotage the carrier. He had several suspects, but he was running
out of time. The carrier would soon be in position to mount the operation. Much
discussion was going on between the countries of North Africa and the United States.
Libya was not even contacted, as they have always been supporters of terrorism.
Egypt, Morocco and several others were supporting this terrorist group in Libya
currently, but negotiations could easily result in Libya being alone, which is
what the Navy would prefer. In pursuit of this, there was a special assignment
of two JAG officers assigned to the carrier to give legal advice to the Captain
of the carrier in regards to contact with aircraft from countries other than
Libya in the event of successful negotiations.
LT. Robert Phelps was a pilot of a special new aircraft. This aircraft was a
combination of several designs, it had the close support capabilities of an
A-10 Thunderbolt, but also the air-to-air capabilities of a fighter. It was
a great deal faster than the average fighter and also had the ability to vertically
takeoff and land like a Harrier jump jet aircraft. It had not been completely
tested yet, but it was his project. He was currently checking out this aircraft
when a lieutenant approached him.
"Are you looking for something?" asked the lieutenant.
"I am checking out my aircraft here before the mission," replied Phelps.
"This is your aircraft?" asked the lieutenant.
"Yes it is. You are Lieutenant Roberts with the JAG office are you not?"
"Yes, how did you know that?" asked Roberts.
"Let's just say that I may not be exactly what I appear to be. I need the services
of your office. I have orders, directly from the President." Phelps took out a
copy of his orders and showed them to Roberts. While Roberts was reading these
orders, he continued. "You are directly ordered, by reading these orders, not to
reveal this information at any time to anyone ever, unless I specifically allow
you to. You cannot discuss these orders with your wife at JAG, or even with Commander
Rabb, nor even the Admiral."
"You have put me into a situation I would rather not be in. How can I keep this
from everyone considering the current situation?" asked Roberts.
"We are all in a situation that we would prefer not to be in. I work directly
for the President and have the authority to do anything we need to do. I chose
you because like most Lieutenants, they are not exactly in the forefront and
can move about freely without much notice. I need your help, your country needs
your help and those five pilots need your help," answered Phelps.
"I do not know even if I should salute you," retorted Roberts.
"Do not even attempt to do that. I need to remain anonymous," replied Phelps.
"The orders only show that my rank is classified, but one can conclude that
I am a lot higher than a lieutenant. To keep to the main point though, there
are at least three terrorists aboard this ship. You can confer with the
commander on this point, just do not let on where you got it. I can arrange
for a message to be sent through JAG to verify this from the President. I have
been able to confirm this fact since my arrival, but not yet known if there
are more. I need your assistance in searching through personnel records to
find if there are more. I have their plans in general. They plan to cripple
the elevators and the catapult systems to prevent the launching of the aircraft,
so their friends, the Libyans can attack the carrier without fighter cover."
"What could we do then?" asked Roberts.
"That is where this aircraft can be helpful. It has vertical takeoff ability.
This is why it close to that elevator and the way out. My people are aboard the
ship, the special forces detail that will go ashore to retrieve the pilots
work for me."
"Okay sir. I mean Lieutenant. I will get on this immediately. How can we contact
each other?"
"I will always be pretty close to this aircraft, my people guard it, so you can
contact me by asking one of them or seeing me here."
LT. Roberts proceeded to the JAG office on board the carrier to use the computer
and to consult with the Commander. LT. Phelps continued his search of the ship
for signs of tampering with the systems that will be sabotaged. During this search,
Phelps noticed one of the suspects working on an elevator circuit. It seemed that
their plan was already in motion, but he could not understand this because the
carrier was out of range of Libyan aircraft. He then thought that his intelligence
was way off and some other country was now involved. The carrier was somewhere off
the coast of Tunisia, not yet in range of the aircraft at the terrorist base, but
in range of any aircraft from Tunisia or Morocco. He hoped that negotiations had
resulted in these countries refusing to assist the terrorists.
"Hey you there! Get away from that equipment!" yelled Phelps.
The man turned, Phelps recognized him as one of the terrorists, both of them proceeded
to draw their weapons, Phelps was much faster. Phelps fired, attempting to only wound
him, but the terrorist moved quickly just before he fired. The round entered his chest
and he went down to the ground. The shot got the attention of marines on board the
carrier. A group of marines arrived quickly to find Phelps leaning over the body of
the terrorist.
"Don't move!" yelled a marine with a M-16 assault rifle pointed at him.
Phelps put his 9mm pistol down on the floor. The marine directed him to lie on his
stomach and put his hands behind his head. He was cuffed and taken to the brig and
put into a cell. He refused to answer any of the questions posed to him. The
Captain, followed by the two JAG officers came into the brig to also question him.
"Okay Phillips, why did you murder that Petty Officer?" asked the Captain.
"Actually the name is Phelps, and I am a Lieutenant, not an Ensign. One would think
that at least the Captain would know that much," replied Phelps.
"You are not going to help your case by acting so smart mouthed!" returned the Captain.
"You will get orders pertaining to this situation. When they arrive I recommend that you follow them explicitly," Phelps continued.
"We did just get orders. They state that terrorists are aboard this ship!" yelled Commander Rabb. "Are you one of them?"
"The man that is dead is one of them," returned Phelps.
"That's ridiculous, this Petty Office has been aboard this carrier for more than a year and a half," the Captain stated.
"You are an idiot! You have not even looked at the body," Phelps replied.
"That's enough of your attitude Ensign Phillips!" ordered the Captain.
"See, did I not tell you? Commander, have the Captain identify the body, he does know Petty Officer Johnson, but the body is not him. My people found three bodies belonging to members of this carrier," Phelps told Rabb.
"Captain, perhaps we should at least look at the body," suggested Rabb.
"It is just over here sir," one of the marines added.
The Captain went over to the body bag, opened it up and saw that the man was not in fact Petty Officer Johnson. "Okay, so it is not Johnson. This still does not prove anything. You will be held here until we have time to convene an investigation, like when we return to port. Gunny, do not let him out for anything or anybody," ordered the Captain.
"You are making a big mistake! There are several terrorists on this ship and they are going to sabotage equipment to make it impossible to launch aircraft. At least for heaven's sake, launch some aircraft for CAP, before something happens," pleaded Phelps.
"I am not listening to some Ensign in the laundry!" yelled the Captain. "I am the Captain of this ship."
"It would be a good idea to have some aircraft in the air," suggested Rabb.
"We always have aircraft in the air," responded the Captain.
His executive officer had just come into the brig and inserted, "Actually we do not sir!"
"What?" yelled the Captain.
"Yes sir, we received orders from you to bring all the aircraft back, clear the upper deck for some maintenance that was needed and wait for further orders," replied Commander Roland, his executive officer.
"Get those aircraft in the air!" ordered the Captain. "Who gave you those orders?"
"A Lieutenant Commander Rawlings, sir," replied Roland.
"We don't have a Rawlings on board! Get those aircraft in the air!" the Captain ordered.
The XO grabbed the phone to call the control room, but found that the phone was not working. "Phones are out!" exclaimed Roland.
"It has started! Are there any aircraft approaching?" asked Phelps.
"Yes, there is a large formation flying over Tunisia," answered Roland.
"What are you answering him for? He is an Ensign in laundry! And your full of good news! Get up to the control room now!" ordered the Captain.
The XO left in a hurry. "Just who do you think you are?" asked the Captain of Phelps.
"I am a Lieutenant. I am a pilot. That new aircraft that is on board is mine. I designed it and it may be the only aircraft you will be able to launch, now that you have allowed the decks to be cleared and the Combat Air Patrol to be grounded!" yelled Phelps.
"I don't care. You are staying here!" returned the Captain.
Just as the Captain started to leave, an explosion rocked the ship. It was followed by another and yet another. The lights flickered as the power plant went down and emergency lights came on.
"Let me outta here now!" yelled Phelps.
The three officers, the Captain and two JAG officers left. LT. Roberts gave a look at Phelps, but he gave him a thumbs up to signify to keep following the orders he had given to him. Roberts did not like it. The three went up to the control room and found out that the elevators had been sabotaged, with two aircraft stuck on them, also blocking the use of the flight deck. The catapults were also damaged, meaning that they could not launch any aircraft anyway. The Captain was curious when Phelps mentioned the aircraft. Commander Rabb went with him to the hanger deck. The Captain approached the aircraft and started to pull off the cover that was concealing the aircraft. A marine tried to prevent him.
"I am sorry sir. No one is allowed to access this aircraft. Lieutenant Phelps, the pilot is the only one allowed in the aircraft," stated the Marine guard.
"Are you saying that a Lieutenant can order the Captain of a ship?" asked the Captain.
"No sir!" replied the Marine, coming to attention.
The Captain continued to remove the cover. "This aircraft has vertical takeoff like a Harrier," announced the Captain. "Could you fly this Rabb?"
"Most defintely!" replied Rabb.
He climbed into the cockpit, but found to his horror that the control did not respond and a small panel had the words, ‘Access Denied!' blinking in the center. "It appears that we need the Lieutenant to access these controls," Rabb said.
"Marine, go get that Ensign out of the brig!" ordered the Captain.
"Sir? Your orders for the Marine in the brig was, ‘do not let him out for anything or anybody', so they will probably need to have you order it yourself, and the phones are out," Rabb informed him.
"Okay, stay here, I will get him," the Captain replied.
The Captain quickly left to go back to the brig to get Phelps. He ordered the Marine to let him out. Phelps continued to protest that he was a Lieutenant. By now the Captain was really on edge. On their way back up, two more explosions rocked the ship. They finally got back to the aircraft.
"Okay, enter the access codes so Rabb can fly it!" ordered the Captain.
"No!" Phelps replied.
"You are already in trouble, now you are adding to the charges?" Rabb asked, using his height to intimidate Phelps.
"It requires a special helmet. This helmet reads you eye pattern as the access code, and has a special Head Up Display built into the helmet. It also reads from sensors in the helmet to allow some commands to be given by the pilot without moving his hands. You could never pilot this aircraft even with access codes and the helmet. The seat is also form fitted to one pilot and has a system to reduce G forces and their effects on the pilot. I AM the only one that can fly this aircraft, and this aircraft is the only one that can save this ship. So back off!" yelled Phelps. "Now, get out of my way!"
Phelps gave some orders to Marines nearby, they rushed away. Several crew arrived just then. The Captain saw this Lieutenant giving orders to several other officers, including a Marine Colonel and a navy Commander. Rabb and the Captain just looked at each other with a puzzled look. Phelps saw to the arming and fueling of the aircraft and had equipment and aircraft moved out of the way to allow exit out the side of the carrier where the elevator was stuck in the down position affording a platform for the aircraft to takeoff.
Marines arrived with three prisoners, the terrorists that had been identified by Phelps.
"Here they are sir!" stated a Marine.
"Execute them!" ordered Phelps.
The Marine Gunnery Sergeant took out his 9mm Baretta and shot the three prisoners in the forehead. The Marines took them to the elevator and threw them off the ship.
"You can't do that!" Rabb tried to protest.
"Not only CAN I do that, I just did!" answered Phelps. "Now that they are dead, perhaps you can repair those elevators and the catapult and get some aircraft in the air. I will hold them off for as long as I can. You are fortunate that this aircraft has this many missiles and cannon shells. Now, go to the control room and watch the show. Those who are about the die, salute you!" retorted Phelps sarcastically.
Phelps got into the aircraft, taxied through the hanger deck to the elevator. It rose in the air and veered away toward the coast of Tunisia. The aircraft had been refueling in Tunisia and began to turn towards the carrier. Not all of the aircraft were refueled, so Phelps first attacked the ground station. This prevented any further aircraft from arriving and getting fuel. This would eliminate the chance of them reaching the carrier. He now had to deal with the remaining aircraft that were headed towards the carrier.
Back on the carrier, the crew were frantically attempting to repair the damage. The carrier was ordered by the Captain to head out to sea to make it harder for the enemy aircraft to reach them. Commander Rabb mentioned that it would make it harder for Phelps to get back on the carrier.
"He's on his own!" answered the Captain.
From the control room, they watched the aircraft on the radar twisting and turning trying to avoid Phelps. The radar operators reported that Phelps aircraft was traveling a lot faster than the enemy aircraft. One by one enemy aircraft disappeared from the radar scope. Phelps was able to keep them so busy trying to get away that they had forgotten the carrier. Unknown to him though another group of aircraft came from another direction and headed directly for the carrier. By this time though the crew had succeeded in getting the elevator to work and had aircraft on the deck to takeoff. The catapult was not working, so the aircraft had to takeoff without it by starting further back on the deck. Two aircraft took off from the carrier. When these two aircraft took off, the enemy aircraft veered away, thinking that the attempts to sabotage the carrier had failed.
Finally the carrier had repaired most of the damage. Phelps returned to the carrier with little or no fuel left. He landed rather hard, not using the vertical takeoff capabilities. The deck crew approached the aircraft, but Phelps did not open the canopy. They then noticed the canopy had a large hole in the side and Phelps was slumped over and not moving. The canopy was opened and Phelps was taken out of the aircraft and brought to the infirmary. There was a section of his helmet missing and a large gash in the side of his head. A cannon shell evidently had penetrated his canopy and just grazed the side of his head.
The Captain came in with Commander Rabb and said, "When he wakes up, put him back into the brig!"
"Captain! Don't you think that is just a little severe given the circumstances of his saving our lives just now?" asked Rabb.
"Don't you think the murder of four people on this ship is just a little severe?" asked the Captain.
"Granted, that was a bit out of the ordinary. But, he still deserves the benefit of the doubt," Rabb said.
Phelps awoke to have heard the discussion and replied, "You will soon be receiving orders to the contrary."
Just as the Captain was about the answer him, he was handed an important dispatch from Washington. It was his orders to cooperate with the Lieutenant, and that he was the one in command of the operation to go ashore and rescue the downed Navy pilots.
TO BE CONTINUED
This Page was created with Notepad
by Barry Stephen Nieuport
on 05 July 2003
Revised On Saturday 06 July, 2003 00:59 EST/EDT
