Brown, Dale - Independent 02 (102 page)

 
          
“We
strengthen and modernize your border patrol units and frontier military units,”
the Vice President told her. “Surveillance aircraft, access to surveillance
radar and aerostat data, modern tactical and transport aircraft and
helicopters, access to fuel and spare parts—it’s a package worth well over a
hundred million a year. In addition we have companies that are eager to help
modernize many of your outlying and coastal airports and port facilities.
Mainly, we will be building a greater bond between our two countries.
Cooperation in border-security operations will certainly lead to cooperative
ventures in many, many other areas—immigration, agriculture, jobs, industrial
expansion . .

 
          
She
got to her feet, picked up the blue plastic folder and tucked it under an arm.
“I believe we both have much to think about, Mr. President, so I will ask to be
excused. I look forward to our next meeting.” There was her radiant, disarming
smile.

 
          
The
Vice President was quickly on his feet. “Dr. Pereira, this issue can’t wait. We
have information that a major smuggling operation is underway right now. The
Border Security Force needs permission now to conduct flight operations along
the Mexican border and to pursue suspect aircraft across the border. We know
your President can authorize these flight operations on his signature for as
long as thirty days.” Martindale motioned to the phone on the coffee table in
the center of the room. “We have an open line and we have requested a
conversation with your President. He has promised to stand by for our call.
With your recommendation I believ e he will give the approval we need.”

 
          
"This
is not the way such negotiations are usually conducted. Mr. Vice President.”
She looked quickly at the President, then back at Martindale. “Allow me to take
your proposal back to my government. This can be in the President’s hands by
tomorrow via special courier. A synopsis with my recommendations will follow
shortly after.”

 
          
“That
may be too late, Dr. Pereira,” Martindale said. “We need aircraft in position,
the shipments may have already begun ...”

 
          
“I
can’t help that, Mr. Vice President. Your proposal must go through channels.
You ought to understand that.”

 
          
“Madame
Ambassador, this is an important matter,” the President cut in. “I understand
the need for protocol, but I’m sure you can understand the need for action.
We’ve made telephone requests of your government in the past—”

 
          
“Mr.
President, a request from a Coast Guard vessel to board a tramp steamer flying
the flag of
Mexico
is one thing,”
Pereira
said. “Overflight of
Mexico
by armed American aircraft is another. This
is not a decision to be made hastily. The President must be properly briefed,
the ministers of interior, justice and the military should all be consulted,
the opposition party leaders must also be notified—”

 
          
“Our
surveillance aircraft are already in the air on both coasts of
Mexico
,” the Vice President said. “We must have
clearance to overfly—”

 
          
“You
have
already
placed your aircraft off
our coasts? Strike aircraft? Just what
have
you done, Mr. Vice President?”

 
          
“The
Border Security Force’s radar surveillance planes, the E2C and P-3B,”
Martindale said.
“Not
strike aircraft.
They are off your

 
          
Gulf
and Pacific coasts, outside your national airspace and far from commercial
flight paths—”

 
          
“My
government wasn’t told of this. It’s certainly damned irregular—”

 
          
“The
aircraft are in international airspace, Doctor,” the President said. “No
official notification is necessary—”

 
          
“With
respect,
Mr. President, this’s not
the point. Any such operation involving
Mexico
should naturally involve informing
Mexico
and getting our input. Launching spy planes
to eavesdrop on my country, preparing to launch attack aircraft against planes
operating in Mexican airspace, even directing one watt of energy across our
borders without our knowledge . . . they are not the acts of a friendly
neighbor. Sending spy planes against
Cuba
or the
Soviet Union
requires no notification—do you put the
Republic
of
Mexico
in the same category with them?”

 
          
“We’re
consulting with you now, Dr. Pereira,” the President said irritably, “and we’re
asking
for your help. We’ll do,
however, what we feel is in our national interest. What our aircraft do in
international airspace is our affair. And as for our radar energy crossing your
borders, well, no nation has been very successful in regulating that. We’d
prefer to conduct this operation with your government’s cooperation, but we’re
capable of proceeding without it.”

 
          
The
President paused, waiting for
Pereira
to answer. When all he got was silence he
added: “Our operation must begin immediately. I’m sorry, but we can’t wait for
you to deliver our proposal. We’ll contact your President directly, without
your assistance.”

 
          
“You
cannot steamroll us like this, sir,”
Pereira
said, her dark eyes flashing. “The
President will consult with me on this matter and I will urge that he
carefully
study the written proposal you
have given me.”

 
          
The
President got to his feet, his fingertips resting on his desk as if anchoring
himself there. “Then it seems we have nothing else to talk about.”

 
          
“Except,”
the Vice President put in, “without
Mexico
’s cooperation we will be forced to explain
to the world the reason for our increased surveillance of the region. This
includes the fact that a major international drug trafficker has not only
illegally entered Mexico but has set up a business in the heart of Mexico,
financed by illicit drug money and all under the auspices of the Mexican
government—”

 
          
“That’s
a
lie.
”

 
          
Martindale
ignored her lapse from diplomatic jargon, almost welcomed it . . . “And he has
obviously paid off government officials all across the country, leaving and
entering the country at will with drugs, foreign currency and foreign
criminals. I can tell you the

 
          
Republic
of
Mexico
even sends him warplanes to repair. He not
only uses his contacts in the government to purchase spare parts, weapons and
fuel for his drug shipments, he uses those warplanes as escort aircraft for his
drug shipments—all courtesy of the Mexican government—”

 
          
“You
would actually tell lies to get our cooperation, Mr. President?”

 
          
“He’s
telling the truth, Madame Ambassador.”

 
          
“One
of Gonzalez Gachez’s henchmen, an American citizen wanted in this country for
drug trafficking and conspiracy, was recently seized in Ciudad del Carmen,” the
Vice President said.
Pereira
was about to protest that action as well but Martindale didn’t give her
the chance. “He gave information for what he hoped would be immunity and
protection. He told us about Colonel Agusto Salazar’s operation in
Mexico
, where it has surfaced from
Haiti
. An American grand jury handed down an
indictment against Salazar, based on his testimony and evidence collected in
connection with the recent raids on Border Security Force installations. When
Secretary Chapman contacted your foreign ministry for assistance in capturing
Salazar in Ciudad del Carmen we were told that Salazar was protected by the
government
because he was a government
defense contractor.
”

 
          
“Once
again, Dr. Pereira,” the President said, “will you help us?”

 
          
Pereira
paused, returning the powerful stare of the
President of the
United States
. She took a breath, averted her eyes and
moved back to the sofa beside the telephone . . .

 
          
Over
the
Turks
Island
Passage, Turks and
Caicos Islands
,

 
          
West Indies

 
          
That Evening

 
          
“Nassau
Flight Following, Nassau Flight Following, this is Carmen del Sol Flight
seven-seven-victor, over CABAL intersection, Alpha eight-six, at
zero-four-one-one Zulu, altitude one-niner thousand feet, expecting point CROOK
at zero-five-two zero Zulu. Weather report follows: IMC above and below,
temperature forty degrees Fahrenheit uncorrected, estimated winds from the
north at thirty gusting to forty-five, occasional light to moderate chop.
Over.” There was a long loud hiss on the high-frequency radio band when the
pilot completed his mandatory overwater flight-following position report. Then
a half-British, half-Jamaican-accented voice replied: “Carmen del Sol Flight
seven-seven victor, Nassau Flight Following copies all. You are still very weak
but readable.
Contact
Nassau
Center
on frequently one-two-four point seven at
CROOK intersection. Have a safe flight.” The voice melted into the eerie hisses
and pops of long-range radio.

 
          
“Roger,
Nassau
. Thank you. Out.” The pilot put the mike
back in its holder—likely it was the last time he would use it for the entire
trip. This was the big one. They carried one thousand kilograms of cocaine
destined for the
Turks
and Caicos Islands
,
a small island nation north of
Haiti
, and the
Bahamas
. Their plane, a Cessna Caravan high-wing
single-engine cargo plane, was not at nineteen thousand feet as they
reported—it was at five hundred feet above the water, and had been there now
for the past thirty minutes. Which was the reason for the bad transmission
quality—with the high-frequency radio antenna mounted on the plane’s belly,
they were firing most of the transmitter’s energy right into the sea.

 
          
From
the very beginning the pilots knew this flight would be a bitch. Each had
gotten only a few hours’ sleep during the last twenty- four hours, and they
still had at least six hours of flying to go. The Caravan’s autopilot was not
working, which meant that the plane had to be hand-flown, and in the tricky
winds and turbulence of a passing
Caribbean
storm, it was a nightmare come true.

 
          
They
had stayed on flight plan course from
Uribia
,
Colombia
, across the
Caribbean Sea
up the
Windward Passage
between
Cuba
and
Haiti
into the
Turks and Caicos Islands
chain, with a planned stop in
Nassau
. But instead of going directly to Nassau
from their present position they would detour under surveillance radars on
Caicos Island and make two two-hundred-fifty-kilo drops along the ridge of tiny
islands south of East Caicos Point. They would then head northwest, make
another two-hundred-fifty-kilo drop south of
Mayaguana
Island
in the
Bahamas
, head further west and pick up their flight
plan near
Crooked
Island
.