Rape Day Wednesday Read online

  "Here Jimmy" as June returns the letter to him.

  "Do you want to stay with us tonight," replied Margaret.

  "No, I need to be alone," said Jimmy.

  "Well, our door is always open to you."

  "Thanks," he replied.

  "I will be across the street at The Crown HoteloHhhh. I called them before I left Mallorca and booked a room. But, most likely I will be holding up the bar tonight."

  "Anyway, thank you for the offer" as Jimmy gave both Frank and Margaret a group hug and "I'll see you in the morning."

  *****

  At the insistence of Margaret, Frank walked down the street to The Crown Hotel to have a drink with is old friend in Henry's Bar.

  "Hey old man," replied Frank as he sat down at the bar stool next to Jimmy.

  "Hi Frank," said Jimmy.

  Jimmy looks at the bartender, "give him whatever he wants."

  "I'll have a pint of Carlsberg," replied Frank.

  "Margaret insisted that I check upon you."

  "Thanks Frank, she's a good girl and sometimes I need all the help I can get."

  "I've been sitting here all night, asking myself why she insisted on going to that terrible place."

  "I was doing that at 9:00 AM, this morning," says Frank.

  As Jimmy looks at Frank, he says, "I can't for the life of me understand why she did it. I know she was a humanitarian and after she became a nurse, she loved helping people in hospitals."

  "I don't know," replied Jimmy…"I just don't know."

  "It's great that people like Mary want to help people, but it's another thing to go to a place like Somalia or Sudan, or any of those other terrible places."

  After about an hour of talking, then, there came a tap on Jimmy's shoulder and a female voice said, "have you two characters, decided what you're going to do yet."

  "No, Margaret, we are just trying to understand why Mary went to that place."

  "To help people," said Margaret.

  "Maybe that's what you two should do, help them out."

  Frank and Jimmy looked at each other again as Margaret continues to talk.

  Jimmy turns his attention to Margaret and he asks her, "What would you like to drink Margaret?"

  "Half a Carlsberg," she replied. "I am driving."

  Jimmy motioned for the bartender to come over, "she would like a half Carlsberg please."

  "Half a Carlsberg coming up," says the bartender as he reached for a glass.

  Margaret continues talking, "The Somalia lady gave you everything she had in just trying to get help for her little village," replies Margaret.

  "I know one dollar isn't much on our standards, but guys, it was the world to her and that's all she had. Sometimes money isn't everything."

  "You guys just made $25 million dollars for saving King Abdul Barri, a few months ago in Egypt."

  "You know guys;" replies Margaret, "a little charity work goes a long way. If you went down there and knocked off the asshole. It would go a long way in advertising the Air Rescue's name, let alone, scare the shit out of some of the other ding-a-lings running around in the country."

  "Man, I love it when she talks dirty, don't you Frank."

  "Yep," replies Frank.

  Rap! As Margaret slaps Jimmy on the shoulder…"asshole," she replies.

  Ha, ha, ha, ha, laughs both Frank and Jimmy.

  "What do you think Frank?"

  "I think it’s a damn good idea."

  "She's right about the Egyptian money. We were paid handsomely by the King for saving him and there is enough surplus money that we could theoretically fund several of these missions."

  "Global Rescuer is already in the area, a big plus and I bet there are several other commandos who would be glad to help."

  "The Somalia lady told us they show up every Wednesday, so we need to watch the village and find out when they come in and how many."

  "I suspect it's only a truck load or maybe two. That way, the general controls the adventure for the troops."

  "Skyspy," replies Frank.

  "Yep Skyspy," says Jimmy.

  Jimmy continues, "Five commandos dropped off a mile from the village in the early morning hours before daylight would do it. They could infiltrate the village and hide amongst the huts, knocked off the general and his troops when they drive into the village and get picked up by helicopter."

  "That would work," comments Frank.

  Frank jumps in the conversation, "you will need overhead gunship coverage and maybe a puff to support the attack and if the main troops are outside of the village, and in the open, we can nail them too."

  "Sounds like a plan to me," replies Jimmy.

  "Me too," says Frank.

  Margaret is standing there laughing… ha, ha, ha, ha…"see guys; it takes a woman to get you off your ass."

  Ha, ha, ha, ha, laughs Frank and Jimmy.

  "Come on husband of mine, I am taking you home."

  "The boss has spoken," says Frank.

  "I am going to bed myself," replies Jimmy. "I think we have our work cut out for us."

  "Goodnight everybody," says Jimmy.

  "Goodnight" as Frank and Margaret walked out the hotel door.

  *****

  By the time Air Rescue's office had opened the next morning, the telephone wouldn't stop ringing. Frank had put out the word throughout Air Rescue from his home office last night that a team was being put together for a secret mission. By the time Jimmy arrived in the office, two other commandos, whom Jimmy has worked with on previous missions, had already volunteered.

  "Hi Jimmy," replied June as he walked into Air Rescue's office.

  "Hi June! Is Frank in his office?"

  "Yes, he is, replied June….Go on in, he's waiting for you."

  "Hi Frank."

  "Hi Jimmy."

  "I wanted to stop by the office and say goodbye, before I catch my plane back to Mallorca."

  "Okay, my friend, here's the latest information. I put out a notice last night and Ralph and Roy have already volunteered. Global Rescuer is currently at the Farasan Islands in the Red Sea and heading South towards Somalia. They should be in position off the Coast of Cadale, Somalia in about three days and should have Skyspy up and flying over Coato in two days. I was thinking last night that it would be nice to send in a Puff, but I think three fast attacks can do the same amount of damage. So, I think three fast attacks will be your back up. If there is a need for more firepower, Global Rescuer has four Gunrunner robot aircraft available."

  "That sounds good to me Frank. Are the gunships, the updated fast attacks with the Galting guns mounted under the fuselage?"

  "Yes, that's correct," replies Frank. "That's the new version with 360 degree gun rotation and that means the fast attack can hold cannon fire on a single target and with three fast attacks, that'll be nine Gatling guns. So, we really don't need a Puff. But, just to be safe, I'll setup an airstrip in the area where we can land and refuel a Puff, if we think we need one."

  "Okay Frank."

  Puff - is a two engine fixed wing aircraft gunship that carries five Gatling guns that are capable of firing 4,000 rounds a minute per gun?

  "Where do you want the team to meet up with the ship?" Jimmy asked.

  "Captain Cork suggested Mogadishu and I have been studying the maps and I agree with him. So, you and the team will fly into the airport in Mogadishu and Global Rescuer will send in a helicopter to pick you guys up."

  "When do you want everybody in Mogadishu?"

  "The Captain suggested that we let Global Rescuer look at the target on Wednesday. If they can confirm everything in the letter, then he is suggesting next Saturday with the mission being executed on that following Wednesday. This is the same thing, I have told Roy and Ralph."

  "Sounds good to me, I'll be in Mogadishu next Saturday. That gives me an opportunity to do some work around the villa this weekend."

  "Okay Jimmy, by the time you get to Global Rescuer, they will have more data on the area fro
m Skyspy. I think Thunderbrit is also going to scout the area around the village for a possible landing place to drop you guys off."

  "Okay Frank, anything else."

  "No Jimmy, except you take care."

  "Okay Frank as Jimmy gives him a hug. Give my love to Margaret and I'll see you two after the mission."

  "Roger Jimmy, take care."

  "Bye June" as Jimmy walks out the office door.

  "Bye Jimmy," she replied…"take care."

  *****

  Just as soon as Jimmy left the Air Rescue Office, Frank was back on the Satellite phone with Captain Cork outlining the mission to the village of Coato in southern Somalia that Jimmy and Frank had worked out in The Crown Hotel last night. Frank passed on to the Captain, how mission essential it was to get Global Rescuer into position to fly a Skyspy to the village of Coato on Wednesday. The Captain reported to Frank that Global Rescuer was currently in the Red Sea heading south towards the Gulf of Aden and could be within a 100 miles of the town of Berbera, Somalia by the afternoon. The Captain indicated to Frank that it was possible with modifications to fly the Skyspy aircraft the 1200 mile round trip distance needed to accomplish the first stage of the mission on Wednesday.

  After the Captain hung up the telephone with Frank, he studied his map of Somalia and located the Village in Coato. The Captain determined that the distance from Berbera to Mogadishu was over 579 miles one way and a long distance for Skyspy to fly. So the Captain decided he needed to discuss the project with the Skyspy operators and aircraft maintenance troops.

  The Captain called a meeting at 11:00 AM in the battle room with Skpspy operators and aircraft maintenance to discuss flying a Skyspy aircraft 1200 miles round trip.

  At 11:00 AM, the Captain walked over to the meeting room, next door to the Captains position in the battle room where several operators and maintenance personnel had assembled around a table.

  "Okay guys, here’s the situation, we need to fly a Skyspy aircraft about 1200 miles round trip and have it stay over the target several hours. This is probably the longest distance we have ever flown this aircraft."

  "No problem Captain, replied the maintenance troop, we'll install the external fuel tanks which should give us a 2500 to 3000 mile range."

  "How long with the install take," inquires the Captain?

  "We can have two Skyspy's ready to fly in a few hours," replied the maintenance man.

  "Okay," says the Captain.

  The Captain turns to the operators…"What about navigation?"

  "Captain, we fly auto pilot on most flights. We will load in the GPS location into the onboard computer and the aircraft will fly itself automatically to the target. When it reaches the GPS address assigned, the aircraft will call home, saying it's on target. Then, we will command it to take pictures for X- number of hours and then call home for further instructions."

  "Okay," replies the Captain.

  "Maintenance, I want you to install the external tanks on two Skyspy's as we may have to fly multi-missions to provide good intelligence for this mission."

  "Okay," says the maintenance troop.

  "Operators, start researching the Village of Coato in Southern Somalia. The village is north-west of Mogadishu and close to a place called Baidoa."

  "Roger Captain."

  "Is this mission to support Jimmy," inquires the operator.

  "Yes," says the Captain, "how did you know? I only talked to Frank this morning."

  "News travels fast Captain. We all know about Mary's death. We have been getting calls, since last night regarding her and Jimmy and some of us knew Mary."

  "Consider it done Captain," states the Operator.

  "Yes, Captain," replies the maintenance troop, "consider it done."

  "Okay guys, let's get to work. We need to have one or two Skyspy's up early Wednesday morning and over the target."

  "Roger, they all replied as the meeting broke up."

  *****

  It's 4:00 AM, Wednesday morning and Global Rescuer is about 75 miles off the coast of Berbera, heading east towards the horn of Somalia. Maintenance has just pushed the modified Skyspy into the elevator to go up to the flight deck.

  Once the elevator reached the flight deck, the operator started up the engine.

  Vroom, Vroom, Vroom goes the engine as the operator starts up Skyspy. Putt, putt, putt, putt, putt goes the engine as the aircraft sits there for a few minutes, warming up. Then, the operator accelerated the engine and rowed the aircraft off the elevator under its own engine power and taxied the aircraft to the back of the ship.

  As Skyspy reaches the end of the taxi lane, it turned onto the runway and dropped its tail hook. The launch officer hooked the tail hook to the deck latch and looked over the aircraft. The launch officer walked away from the aircraft and signaled the operator that everybody had cleared the aircraft. The operator revved up the engine until enough thrust was generated to break the tail hook connection and the aircraft accelerated down the runway and into the air.

  The operator programmed the flight computer with the latitude and longitude coordinates (3 degrees 0' 12.1824" by 43 degrees 49' 47.8416) of the village of Coato and hit enter. The on-board computer determined its current position and calculated the difference and plotted a course to its target. The operator switched from remote control to autopilot and the aircraft started heading south.

  Several hours later, the Captain shows up in the Battle Room after breakfast.

  "Good morning, Captain," says the Skyspy operator who has been waiting for the Captain, along with the maintenance, radar and communications personnel in their daily morning report.

  "Good morning everybody," he replies.

  "Did you sleep well last night?"

  "Yep," I sure did.

  "How are we doing this morning guys? Did Skyspy get off, okay?"

  "Yes, Captain, Skyspy left at 4:00 AM per your instructions and it's been flying now for about three hours. It should report in very soon that it's over the target."

  "Okay, good," says Captain.

  "Maintenance! Any problems installing the extra tank?"

  "No Captain, we picked the two biggest tanks we had in stock and installed them in two aircraft per your instructions. We think Skyspy should be able to stay five to six hours over the target and still have enough gas to fly to us, whatever our location."

  "Radar! Nothing Captain."

  "Comm's! Nothing Captain."

  "Good," replies the Captain.

  "Now I am going to warn all of you. You may not like some of the pictures we may get this morning. There is a very good chance the lady operators maybe sicken from the pictures, if everything that Frank told me on the Satellite-phone is true, they’re pretty bad"

  "Okay Captain," we understand.

  From the back of the room, "Captain, Skyspy has just reported in, it's over the target, awaiting instructions."

  "Roger," yells the Captain.

  "Okay Captain, the operator has instructed Skyspy to slow down to a good slow cruising speed and fly in a circle. Once it's flying in a circle, it will turn on the TV / video cameras. We should be getting TV pictures of the village, anytime soon."

  "Got TV pictures coming in Captain," yells the operator.

  "Roger! Send them to my overhead display."

  "Roger Captain…pictures are on their way."

  "Okay Captain, Your pictures look pretty good so I am going back to my section, reports the operator."

  "Roger," replies the Captain "and thanks."

  Several hours pass and nothing, no activity. A few villagers can be seen walking around, but no real activity, the village seems to be a ghost town.

  It's now 9:30 AM in the morning, and trucks can be seen coming along the road to the village.

  "Captain! We have military trucks coming into the village."

  "Roger, I see them," replies the Captain.

  The trucks stop in the village and from Skyspy, they can see troops jumping off the trucks and going
from hut to hut dragging out women. All the women are lined up and then the soldiers seem to be picking out one female each and proceeding to rape them.

  Some of the female operators are now wandering over to the Captain's position.

  "Captain! This is sickening….Disgusting."

  "Those poor women, especially the young girls; what they are doing to them is disgusting…..Sickening."

  "Captain! This is despicable," exclaimed another operator. "Some of these young girls are being raped by more than one soldier. It's despicable," she replied.

  "Despicable," yelled another operator.

  By this time, a group has gathered to watch the TV pictures.

  "I agree," states the Captain.

  "Okay, everybody, we have seen enough? Is anybody in any doubt about what is going on in this village as the Captain looks around?"

  The Captain leans forward and picks up the remote and turns off the TV.

  "Okay Skyspy operators, I need to know the time when the troops leave the village and which way they go."

  "Roger Captain."

  Okay, everybody as the Captain speaks to the group of operators around his position, "I'll be contacting Frank in England to report that we have confirmed the letter is true about the rapes and I think we are going to be on a mission very soon. Plans are for Jimmy and the team to meet up with Global Rescuer on Saturday for a mission next Wednesday."

  It's now 11:10 AM, "Captain, the trucks are leaving the village."

  "Roger," reports the Captain.

  "Skyspy Operator! Command Skyspy to follow them," demands the Captain. "I want to see if they link up the larger force."

  "Roger Captain."

  It's now 11:30 AM, "Captain, the trucks have linked up with another larger convoy of troops."

  "Now we are talking," declares the Captain…"Take pictures of them."

  "Roger!"

  The Captain grabs his remote and turns on his display.

  "Skyspy operator, I see them, and they are out in the open."

  "They sure and the hell are Captain, it would be a duck shoot."

  "Roger!" Okay says the Captain to himself; these guys are dumber than I thought.

  As the convoy moves off, "tell Skyspy to follow them to see where they go."

  "Roger Captain."

  At 12:00 noon, "Captain! The troops are entering a fortified village."

  "Roger, I see it," replies the Captain. "That must be their home."

  "Okay Skyspy, take some pictures of the fortified village and command Skyspy to return home."