The Weapon
#2 of Fear Trilogy
Setting: Columbia, South Carolina 1988. Height of the Cold War.
David Bombardier, the newly-elected governor of South Carolina made it known to everyone exactly what his opinion of Communism- it sucked to put it politely. This young fox politician was afraid, very afraid that the evil Russkies would one day take over the country and expose the Americans to the evils of Karl Marx's theories, a future he would try very hard to keep from happening. He had throughout his campaign accused of his opponent of being soft on crime, a pawn of the far-left and a closet Communist. So it felt strange that within the first week in the governor's mansion in the capital of Columbia, South Carolina that he was greeted by an eagle wearing a suit and tie about the age of 60.
"Congratulations on your successful gubernatorial campaign in this fine Southern state. I voted for you and I knew that you would win. My name is Gen. William West as good a fighter in the war against the Reds as you will ever find," he said in the kind of gravelly, no-nosense tone that a retired general would speak. For the next half-hour, Bombardier listened to the eagle's patriotic tales from World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War, from which he had lost several fine soldiers. He had earned medals as well as scars from each and every single of his fights. His eyes had been witness toso much fighting and violence but he realized that to keep the country he loved so much free from being tainted by Communism, he would have to fight some more.
Now this America-loving eagle had ran for several posts in his home state, including ten years ago as a secretary of education, where he would hope to undermine the Communist threat which he knew was in all of the classrooms in South Carolina and by extension in the entire country. He knew how Washington worked, having spent some time inside the Beltway- West had retired several years ago from the Army to pursue a career in politics but he still had a soft spot in his heart for the military. And he could sense that in the leftist policies of his opponents, the spectre of evil Communism working to undermine America, in his Senate opponents. Since he was a retired member of the military, he also knew of secrets that the average politician would not have ever known.
"Now, I understand that you and I are two of a kind, we both hate Communism, we both fear it will ruin this great country of ours- and I know the economy here needs something to charge it up. So may I present to you- this," West pulled out a briefcase and opened it, showing plans and blueprints for a hangar meant for storing and creating Air Force jets. "We're building a jet. And not just any kind of jet but a special one that goes so fast no radar can detect it and no other plane can catch it. And we want to build it here but we need the money for this hangar."
A month passed in the gubernatorial mansion where Bombardier and his family lived and twice a week this eagle would come back asking for money and Bombardier, after some initial resistance, gave way. In a year and a half, thanks to an infusion of money from the state, the factory was built and the ribbon-cutting ceremony was going to take place on Jan. 23, 1990. This was to be a great day for the people of South Carolina and Bombardier with his wife and children was there. No one at the factory knew that they weren't just making any kind of jet in addition to the B-52s and F-16s they were already making- only certain factory workers who had also spent time in the military were allowed access to the secret hangar where working around the clock, they constructed the world's fastest jet fighters. The codename for this ambitious project was "the Weapon" and its engineers were sworn to secrecy as to what they were doing in that hangar.
When word came in 1991, that Hussein invaded Kuwait for its massive oil reserves and Bush pledged the Americans to fight Hussein and force him out of Kuwait. The prototype planes, which were officially named F-16s sure enough performed well in Desert Storm and for a while the fox Bombardier and his family were pleased that the money the state spent on that factory was working. So successful was that factory in employing people that it became one of Bombardier's accomplishments as he sought re-election as Governor.
It wasn't until that November that West's true ambitions were made clear- his goal with "the Weapon" was to fly a daring raid into Soviet airspace and attack Moscow directly, which would have proven his hatred of Communism. This was the blackest of black ops, which Bombardier could never divulge to anyone else and probably shouldn't have even heard- the President didn't even hear of this. The raid was to take place on January 1st, 1992 and it would be backed by several U.S. generals all who wanted to defeat Communism once and for all. This would be more than just a mere raid but a takeover by the Americans, which would prove American might to the entire world. The bases in Turkey were all ready for deployment of American fighter-bombers and "the Weapon", the best pilots were trained, everything was ready to go. But West's grand designs, formed over decades of working to destroy Communism hit a snag just a week before their planned raid- because on Christmas Day, 1991, the Soviet Union, the focus of U.S. hatred ceased to exist.
If not for the collapse of the USSR, Bombardier reasoned that the raid would have been successful. Deep in his heart, he knew that the Russians would strike back and the resulting war could have wiped both countries off the map. But in the fox's mind he knew how close things were to completely being destroyed, the entire world thrown out of whack. Only the collapse of the Soviet Union saved World War III from happening. Only Bombardier and West and a few other high-ranking generals would know of it- the President knew nothing of it and this was a secret that the fox would have to keep with him his entire life, even to his dying days. The old sayings of his college professor who spoke from years of experience dawned on him at that very moment.
"The things that we fear is the Weapon to be held against us".