DEADLY DILEMMA by Dan Stratman (story read aloud .txt) 📗

qualify her surprising statement. “Well, I used to. It’s been years since my dad taught me to fly helicopters at the flight school.”

“It’ll come back to you. It’s just like riding a bicycle, right?” Lance said hopefully.

Cyndi rolled her eyes at his naively optimistic comment. She scanned the instrument panel looking for anything familiar. “I’ve never flown something this modern.”

Special Operation forces were always first in line at getting the latest technology upgrades before the rest of the grunts in the military.

The center pedestal between the seats was loaded with radios and electronics. The pedestal extended forward then up, splitting the bubble canopy. Large glass cockpit displays, and a plethora of buttons and switches, filled the space. Everything a trained pilot needed to successfully carry out their mission was there.

Cyndi had learned to fly helicopters in an antiquated trainer years ago. She had no idea where to start to get this bird flyable. She carefully scanned the cockpit, reading the labels next to each switch and button. Slowly, she began to make sense out of the futuristic cockpit.

First, she turned on the battery. The screens flickered then displayed the flight instruments. Next, she engaged the starter, fuel, and ignition. The Rolls-Royce turboshaft engine coughed to life. The rotors began to spin. Thirty seconds later the helicopter was ready for flight.

Cyndi didn’t even bother trying to figure out the complex navigation systems. All aircraft are required to have an old-fashioned magnetic compass installed, regardless of the fancy avionics on board. She knew the base was west of their location. Cyndi checked her watch. The afternoon sun in the southwest sky, combined with the trusty compass, would be enough to get them headed in the right direction. Hopefully, they would end up somewhere in the vicinity of Cheyenne. If Cyndi flew high enough, picking out the city from the snow-covered prairie should be easy. Using her knowledge of the roads in town, she could then steer the helicopter toward Warren AFB.

She nudged Lance. “I’m going to have my hands full trying to fly this thing. I need you to be my copilot. Can you do it?”

“Absolutely,” Lance shot back with a confident grin on his face. “I didn’t watch Top Gun twenty-seven times for volleyball tips. I’ve wanted to be a pilot ever since I joined the Air Force.” He looked like a kid eagerly waiting to open his first Christmas present. Lance couldn’t contain himself. He started pushing buttons and flipping switches.

“Okay, Ice Man, take it easy. Put on your headset. I’ll tell you what I want you to do.”

They donned their headsets and did a check of the intercom.

Lance saluted Cyndi. “Ready for takeoff, Captain. Fly this thing like you stole it!”

“Hang on to something,” Cyndi warned.

She brought the engine up to full speed. Cyndi gradually pulled up on the collective. The weight on the skids lessened, then they broke ground. Strong winds caused the craft to drift perilously close to the other helicopter. Cyndi overreacted, yanking the cyclic left. The helicopter tilted sideways, bringing the tips of the rotors perilously close to the ground. She overcorrected again, this time causing the craft to bounce up and down on the helipad like a novice on a pogo stick.

Lance latched on to the doorframe with a death grip to keep from being tossed out.

Cyndi cut the power to settle the helicopter down on the pad—and the butterflies in her stomach.

They both grabbed their seat belts and strapped in tightly.

Cyndi increased power and lifted off again. The aircraft wobbled around in the sky but steadily gained altitude. Once they’d reached five hundred feet, she nudged the helicopter forward and headed west.

They were so overjoyed to be going home, the frigid air swirling around in the open cockpit didn’t bother them in the least.

“The nightmare is over. We did it,” Lance said jubilantly as he fist-bumped Cyndi. “If I never see another Minuteman missile again, it’ll be too soon.”

Cyndi took one final look back at Alpha One. Her sterling record as a missileer had earned her the honor of being chosen the first commander of the new site by General McNeil. She had been expected to represent all missileers and the Global Strike Command in its mission to provide America with a safe, secure, and lethal nuclear option.

She thought about her duty as a missileer, shook her head, and let out a heavy sigh. “We can’t leave.”

Lance jerked back. “What?”

“We have to go back.”

“Are you crazy?”

“Ten live nuclear warheads are sitting out in the open on an unsecured Minuteman missile. Anyone driving by could see that. If that gets out on social media, the whole world will know. Including the bad guys.”

Lance nodded knowingly. “You’re right. Regardless of what happens next, we’re still missileers. We never compromise the security of a nuclear weapon.”

“We have to destroy any possible access to the missile.”

“How?”

Cyndi pointed. “Look out your door.”

Chapter Forty-One

Two Hellfire missiles hung off the left pylon.

“An intruder could easily get through the opening in the fence and take the elevator down or get to the warheads from above,” Cyndi said. “We have to eliminate both options before we leave.”

Cyndi swung the helicopter around to the east. The sun was at her back, providing perfect conditions to attack the site.

“I’ll get us set up for a shot, you figure out how to launch the missiles,” she instructed Lance.

“Time out,” Lance said loudly. “You want me to shoot a missile…at a thermonuclear missile? In case you missed that part in missileer school, those things make one hell of a big bang.”

“I’m not going to aim for the missile, I’m going to aim for the ground around the silo. The explosion should rain so much dirt down on the opening, it would be impossible to get to the warheads. I’ll take out the building next, cutting off access by the elevator.”

Lance crossed his arms defiantly. “After that takeoff, you want me to believe you can steer this helicopter so precisely that the missile will hit the