Chapter 2

Orders

It was nice waking up in my own bed. I looked over at my wonderful wife. She was lying with her eyes open, looking at me. We hugged and kissed our good morning kisses, then, we got out our Franklin Bibles and propped up in bed and did our Bible study. I was just about to pray when the Franklin Bible phone rang. I clicked on the speaker phone so Lona could hear, too.

"Hello, Boss. Can't I get any rest? I just got back from the Columbian Jungle," I said after I checked the Caller ID and saw it was Robert Boland, the Deputy CIA Director. I knew something big was coming up. I don't remember ever getting a call from him.

If you weren't so popular among our agents, I would leave you alone," Robert said. Then, in a more serious tone he continued, "We have a major problem. We have you on a 0800 flight to Washington D.C. on Delta flight number 1864. Be on it. You will be reporting directly to me when you get here.

"Sorry, Boss. I made a choice on the way home. I will never take another mission without my wife beside me," I said.

"That's not going to happen," Robert said.

"Then, I hereby turn in my resignation. My wife and I are a CIAm," I replied.

Before he could respond my wife said, "Robert, you can do the same with me."

There was a pause for about five seconds. I thought he was going to grant us our resignations when suddenly we heard a short intake of air and he said, "Very well, I will purchase a ticket for Lona, too."

I looked at the clock on my dresser. It was 0600. I responded, "We will try. We have to get through airport security."

"When you get to the airport, ask for David Helium. He will walk you through security."

"What do we pack?" Lona asked.

"Nothing. Just get on the plane. We will have your wardrobes." Robert answered.

"We haven't been on a mission like this. What is it about?" I asked, hoping to get an idea.

"It is top secret. I can't tell you any more. I have to go. I will see you here." Robert said, and hung up.

We both got on our knees by the bed and I prayed for our new mission to be successful. I sure was glad I took a shower last night. I called a cab. I had a funny feeling we were going away for the big one. Robert never called either of us. I had only seen him on TV. We always had our own wardrobe. This was the first time we were told our wardrobes would be provided for us. We were going to take our essentials bag.

We were just walking out the door when the cab arrived. "Take us to the airport -- Delta Airlines." I said.

Man, this must be some kind of important case we are going on. We walked up to the Delta Airlines counter and David Helium was waiting on us. He took us through his office and out to the tarmac.

There in front of us was a Concord. It had no Delta markings.

"I did not know Delta had a Concord." I said, in an amazed tone.

"It was in San Francisco. It is a charter for Delta executives. It will leave as soon as you are belted in. You two must be some kind of high up mucky mucks. The only one I ever saw on this plane was the President of Delta. He called me personally to tell me your names." David said, fishing for information.

"Maybe we are his new body guards." I decided to give him the gossip he was looking for. Who knows? Maybe we are.

As soon as we sat down in the plush executive reclining chairs, the stewardess asked, "Would you two like some coffee?"

"Yes, thank you," we both said together, realizing we did not have any breakfast this morning.

One smell of the coffee told me that it was not the normal airline coffee.

"One thing is for sure. This is not normal airline coffee, honey," I said as I took a sip.

"Yes. Even Starbucks could learn a lesson from where this came from." Lona said as she took her first sip.

We sipped our coffee in silence while we wondered what was in store for us. We have been on several very tough cases. We both have been close to death several times. We have been distracted by emotions that could have put us in danger, but by God's grace, we have survived.

"We should get out our Franklin Bibles and do our reading. It might be hard to do much more than our daily Bible reading in the days to come," Lona suggested.

"I agree. I think we are in for a lot of action," I answered.

We got out our Franklin Bibles to get caught up on our reading through the Bible in a year. I was surprised how fast the flight passed. The Concord truly was a fast plane. It was only 1000 hours Pacific Time when we landed.

We stepped off the Concord at Andrews Air Force Base. When we walked down the stairs, there was Robert Boland. He led us straight to his SUV. As soon as were inside and the chauffer started driving, Robert started filling us in.

"Listen you two. We had an RQ-170 drone that was flying on a mission over the border of Iraq and Iran. The controller said he was in full control of it when he suddenly lost control. He said it was like someone else was controlling it. All he could do was watch it fly away into Iran.

We have GPS numbers of where if landed, but where it is now we don't know. I have the clothes that you will need to blend in while you are in Iran. Your wardrobes will obviously be Russian.

We have an Anton-Impulse VIKING-2292 fully equipped for you. It is a Russian all terrain vehicle registered in Iran and has Iranian plates. It is like a Hummer on steroids. It has a Russian GPS. You will be pulling a trailer full of guns. Both will be equipped with anti-thief remote locks. You will both have Russian ID's.

We have several Russian credit cards with unlimited credit amounts for each of you."

"Oh, goody! I see a big shopping trip coming," Lona said.

"I always have wanted to have an unlimited bank account to buy you anything you wanted," I said, and this was enough to send me and her off in a fit of giggles.

Robert seemed irritated at our interruption but continued as if he had memorized and rehearsed what he was saying, "You each will be given Iranian passports. You will be given a letter giving you authorization to sell and buy guns anywhere in Iran. It is written and signed by a high-up Iranian Revolutionary Guard Commander.

There is also a pass to pass through the guard stations anywhere in Iran. It will also get you out and in the border checkpoints in Iran. It will be better though if you can get in before using them. The Russian who had it was caught selling guns to Al Qaeda in Iraq.

Your papers are mostly his, except for the ID. You will be an arms dealer from Moscow. I am told you are both fluent in Russian and Iranian. You will fly to our air field in Kuwait. They will fly you by helicopter to Al Hut," Robert said as we sat in the SUV.

"Do you have all the specks and the manual for the Anton-Impulse? I have seen one, but never had the honor of driving one," I asked, trying to think of things that were going to help us succeed.

"You will have an hour and a half to listen to the CD's on that and all the information you will need for the mission during your flight over to Kuwait," Robert answered.

"Man, are you off your rocker? It is 6,700 miles. There is no way we are going to reach Kuwait in an hour and a half!" I exclaimed, I seriously thought Robert was having a breakdown.

He just looked at me, then at Lona. He smiled, pointed out the window and said, "Oh yeah!"

We looked out the window in the direction he was pointing. We had pulled up beside an SR-71 BLACKBIRD, unequivocally the fastest plane in the world.

"Robert, I thought all the SR-71's were put in mothballs. It still will not get to Kuwait in a hour and a half." I said as I looked at the plane.

"This airplane is the only one still working. It has been modified. The space that was once used for spy equipment is now used for fuel. The engines have been modified and strengthened to make it faster for missions like this.