The Fifth Flight of 9-11

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Presents this

Smashwords Edition of

The Fifth Flight

By Jerry M. Young

On the Fifth Flight of 9-11,

Pam Elder is in the crosshairs of three terrorists.

Chris Hansen, a U.S. Navy SEAL, helps her stay just ahead of them

until they reach Seattle. It's a battle of wits and strategy

to the exciting skirmish in a lonely, abandoned meadow

of the Pacific Northwest.

Copyright 2015 Jerry M. Young

Thank you for downloading

The Fifth Flight..

This novel was written by a Mormon and deals with

issues that reach deeply into the souls of all who cherish freedom.

Can we find peace in a world full of enemies

obsessed with global domination?

Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance of the characters and circumstances in The Fifth Flight to anyone, living or dead, is purely coincidental. Respectfully we remind you that The Fifth Flight is the copyrighted property of the author and may not be reproduced, scanned, or distributed for any commercial or non-commercial use without permission from the author. Quotes used in reviews are excepted. However, no alteration of content is allowed. If you enjoy this book, invite your friends to download their own copies.

Dedication

To all who willingly place their lives

and sacred honor to protect us from our enemies,

both foreign and domestic.

The Fifth Flight

Table of Contents

Title

Table of Contents

Cast of Characters

Chapter_1_Tape_Delay

Chapter 2 -- Grounded

Chapter 3 -- Travelling Companions

Chapter 4 -- Talking Points

Chapter 5 -- A Side Trip

Chapter 6 -- We'll All Go

Chapter 7 -- Beginning to Work

Chapter 8 -- Gathering Place

Chapter 9 -- Truckers Payback

Chapter 10 -- Rude Awakening

About the Author

More Books by Jerry M. Young

(Back to ToC)

Cast of Characters

In order of Appearance

Richard Biggars -- Wash. D.C. Chief of Staff to Harry Ascot, Member of the U.S. House of Representatives.

Duane Sabbah -- Rep. Ascot's Chief Field Officer in Seattle.

Congressman Harry Ascot.

Pam Elder -- Senior Legislative Staff Member to Rep. Ascot.

Ralph Morrison -- Duane Sabbah's friend -- soon changes name to Aariz al Mahdi.

Aariz al Mahdi -- Convert to Islam. Becomes radical. Plans massive, detailed attack on aircraft manufacturing facilities in Seattle.

Mohamed Attah -- Historic figure in September 11th attack.

Abdul Sabbah -- Duane Sabbah's father.

Chris Hansen -- A U.S. Navy SEAL, recovering from his wounds.

Nabib al Ibbish -- Leader of a three-man Muslim group assigned to the Fifth Flight and to help Aariz al Mahdi.

Babbar Jarrah -- Youngest of Muslim group on Fifth Flight.

Haji Aswan -- Smallest of Muslim group on Fifth Flight.

Adele Hansen -- Chris Hansen's sister -- soon to be married in the Bellevue LDS Temple.

Jenny Staff member of Rep. Ascot's D.C. office.

Ibrim Islamic contact in Chicago for the Foundation that helps the poorest children of Palestine.

Matt Fuller -- Former Navy SEAL and close friend to Chris Hansen.

Nadia Fuller -- Matt's wife, former Muslim.

Jamie Fuller -- Matt's adopted daughter, sister to Nadia Fuller Her formal name is Jamilah Fuller.

Eddie Fuller -- Toddler son of Matt and Nadia.

Tipper -- The Fuller's family dog

Burt Jones -- Deputy Sheriff in Yellowstone County, Montana, close friend to Matt and Nadia Fuller.

George Putnam -- TV repairman in Billings, Montana; close friends with Matt and Nadia Fuller.

Clive Evans -- Owner-Operator of an 18 wheel truck. He's an old friend from the teams..

Bonnie Evans -- Wife of Clive Evans, solid, middle-aged woman.

J.D. Ryan -- Owner/Operator of J.D.'s Truck Haven, a truck stop in Spokane Valley, Washington.

Sergeant Williams -- Police Officer in Spokane in charge of investigating disturbance at J.D.'s Truck Haven.

Ellen Whitney -- Receptionist at Rep. Ascot's office in Seattle;

Jamal Kahn -- Stuttering reporter. Narrator of the video. He's Pashto (Pashtun) out of Turkey. Has in with Turkish money that has been laundered so Ascot can accept it. Constantly pressuring Ascot to push Arab funding.

Anthony Edwards -- Senior Agent In Charge of the Seattle FBI office.

Parker Whittaker -- FBI Agent.

Paul Stewart -- FBI Agent.

George Walker -- FBI Agent.

Other Details:

HR-93 -- Proposed bill by Congressman Harry Ascot to force Israeli government to re-open Madrassa (Muslim) schools in Israel.

Box Car -- The Fuller's motor home.

Al-Qaeda -- Well known terrorist organization.

Qur'ān -- Considered to be sacred scripture by Muslims.

The Gathering in Mogadishu -- Location of radical Muslim meeting, Focal place where video was shot.

Burqa -- Dress for woman in public covering from head to toe..

Halāl -- Islamic word for permissible or allowed.

Fard -- Islamic word for compulsory.

Mustahabb -- Islamic word for recommended.

Makruh -- Islamic word for disliked.

Haran -- Islamic word for forbidden.

Mubah -- Islamic word for permissible or allowed to define morality or human action in Islam.

(Back to ToC)

The Fifth Flight

By Jerry M. Young

Chapter 1 -- Tape Delay

Monday, September 10, 2001 -- 9:35 p.m. Eastern Time

Richard Biggers, chief of staff to Congressman Harry Ascot, sat at his desk searching for an excuse to not watch the video tape he held in his hand. He stared again at the Arabic script scrawled across the cassette's spine. It annoyed him that it was not in English and he didn't know what it was about. Ten days ago he promised Duane Sabbah, from Ascot's office in Seattle, he would watch it and earlier that day he had again promised to watch it. In spite of Duane's frantic tone Biggers just couldn't see the big deal about it. Then he simply caved in. Better to keep peace in the family, he thought with a sigh.

He reached up, slipped the tape into the player and waited for the picture to come up on the monitor.

Okay, Sabbah, let's see what got your tail in a knot, he actually muttered out loud -- with no one around.

Then all the thoughts he'd had about the tape returned. What good would it do? Duane wants to watch it together. But Ascot's in Seattle, so is Duane. And the tape is out here. So am I. The only way the three of us can watch it together is if I fly out to Seattle. He shook his head and said, No! Then he muttered, I'm too busy. he smiled, and I've got me a date with one foxy lady tomorrow night. His brain released extraordinary thoughts of her and he shook his head again. No way am I going out there to watch home movies -- not even with the boss. After that thought he smiled at his solution.

I'll send Pam.

He settled back and stared at the screen. From the beginning it was dumb. Whoever shot the video had to be one rank amateur. The picture bounced around from one guy to another and in-between -- mostly in-between. They all had on what Biggers called night shirts and they all had beards, scruffy looking beards. Some had their heads wrapped with cloth and others a boxy looking cap.

It began with crowd shots that lasted too long. Then in the distance Richard could see the top of a pickup approaching. Its driver leaned on the horn and the mob parted like the Red Sea before Moses. A man stepped out and everyone shouted enthusiastically. Some fired their weapons into the afternoon sky. The guy smiled and waved at them.

He looked familiar but Biggers couldn't place his face from memory. He was taller than most of the others. His beard was long and pointed at the ends with streaks of gray running through it. Someone gestured toward the tent's opening and with respect they made way for him to enter first. Then Biggers smiled at what he thought looked like a scrum to see who could get inside next and thus stay close to the action.

The cameraman forgot to turn off the camera and the screen had shots of bodies and arms and feet and heads and the top of the tent as well as elbows and big noses. Whoever was filming this episode had merged into the scrum and finally earned himself a place along the far side of the tent, close to one of the big lights they had scattered around the sides at random locations. One big light ended up right over the cameraman's shoulder and it made the men nearest him appear washed out. But the men forming the second and third tiers stood out in great detail. Those farther away simply added to the indistinguishable character of the crowd. Attention focused on those at the far end of the tent where the tall guy now stood with a few leaders next to him.

One of the leaders spoke in a loud voice and everyone found a place to settle down. Once there was an unruly crowd, now the men formed into organized ranks, row after row, filling the interior of the tent. One moment they held their hands before their faces and spoke in unison. Then they all kneeled in place and made solemn gestures, prostrating themselves to the ground, their faces against the prayer rugs under them.

Biggers had never seen such a thing before. He assumed it was what Muslims did while honoring the ritual of prayer that unified them. At the end of the series of gestures they listened to someone speaking from a place near the dignitaries. No one spoke while he spoke. All attention was given to him. All received the solemn message presented to them.

Richard Biggers had never witnessed Prayer before -- as practiced by Muslims. For a moment he was impressed by its quality and the unity that held the men in place. There was a sense of purpose that could be felt even in this poorly shot video. And even though he could not understand a single word of what was being said, he felt the transition of an unruly mob into a group of dedicated men following a single cause.

It left Biggers fearful and filled with questions that for him would remain unanswered.

From that moment the Congressional aide felt dulled by the images playing out on the small screen. First one dignitary spoke and the group reacted politely. Then the guest of honor spoke and the men in that tent began to react with increasingly aggressive gestures. At times their faces contorted in anguish. Then they filled the interior of that tent with shouts of defiance and anger. And before he finished, the men were pumping their fists into the air with shouts that Biggers could clearly understand.

Allah Hu Akbar! God is Great.

When the honored guest was finished, another speaker was introduced. This one spoke words in an Arabic dialect but was hesitant in his speech. Sometimes one or the other of the leaders filled in with words the younger man didn't seem to have. Still the crowd acknowledged his presentation with encouragement. They especially cheered when he presented charts and maps and photographs of buildings and streets and manufacturing facilities.

I've seen these places -- some of them maybe, Biggers thought. But he could not fully identify where they were nor could he understand why these men were so excited to see this presentation and encourage the speaker to go on and on.

When he was finished, it was the tall one who spoke again and actually gave the younger one a manly embrace.

Afterwards there were more speakers who found their own ways to excite the crowd. And the sameness of the scenarios caused Biggers to lose interest in the film.

What irritated him most at this stage was the introduction of a running explanation of what had happened. The voice came across in English but it was soft in tone, almost as a whisper. Biggers thought of it as an inexperienced reporter covering a serious golf tournament. But it also was an irritating voice, not just because it was so quiet, the man spoke with a stutter.

Th-th-th-that's the l-l-l-leader of one of the t-t-t-teams, he said and continued until Biggers gave up trying to understand what they were saying.

He didn't stop the tape. He just let it run while he allowed his thoughts to drift to the pile of work in front of him. When sounds drew his attention back to the screen he could see a bit of chaos and the men seemed confused.

Amateur, Biggers muttered, wondering and confused by what was happening. He admitted with a guess that he could understand less than half of what was going on. I'm supposed to watch this cruddy thing?

It bothered him to waste time watching something that made little or no sense, so his natural reaction was to allow his attention to drift again from the monitor down to the pile of work on his desk.

Hmmm. This goes in the trash. The next paper he would deal with in the morning. The magazine he would look at when -- and if -- he had a chance. Ohhh, two good articles on military spending. Nah. Not now.

Then shouting came from the monitor causing Biggers to look back at the screen. Everyone on camera milled around. One guy brandished a Kalashnikov rifle in the air.

Biggers frowned and returned to more important matters. From the next paper he extracted the date, time and place of a briefing he needed to attend. Soon without realizing how long he'd been focusing on his personal paperwork, he heard the sound of shots coming from the TV monitor.

His eyes snapped up and he saw men rushing toward someplace behind the cameraman -- probably to the main opening of the tent. The voice in English shouted, Int-t-t-truders! They're s-s-spying on us.

Within seconds more gunshots popped away. And for a moment the screen went to black. It came up again and the cameraman was outside. By this time it was dark but the digital camera still captured reasonably good images. Some of the men on his left shot at something or someone on his right. Others ran in that direction. In the distance Biggers could see the faint shape and movement of a helicopter -- no, two helicopters. One of them landed some distance away. The second one flew directly overhead. Flashes came from the side of the second chopper. And one of the guards near the camera fell, blood from a wound pumping into the evening air. Then another fell and then two more. The picture went to black again for a second.

When it came back up there were two men standing to one side of the cameraman. They held surface-to-air missile launchers on their shoulders. First one fired and then the other. Instantly the screen filled with bursts of light. Billowing clouds of smoke, vapor and dust followed. Beyond that Biggers could make out missile tails streaking toward the gunship. It exploded and fell in a heap of blazing, whirling trash. Men around him shouted. That lasted only a few seconds before the other helicopter dove over their heads with five more men nearby going down. It passed over one more time and three others fell to the dust.

The camera went black again and came up close to a large boulder. A hand from one side came into view and pointed to chip marks made by bullets. On the far side of the stone the camera zoomed in on dark spots in the dirt. First Biggers heard victory shouts and then the camera moved up to men yelling and dancing.

The camera focused on the ground again -- the dark spots -- reported by the announcer as B-b-b-blood of the I-I-I-Infid-d-dels. The picture juggled around badly but then steadied on a Leatherman tool with its blade unfolded. A hand reached past the camera's lens and picked it up. It was stained with blood. The voice came up again.

S-s-s-souvenir! I g-g-got m-m-me a s-s-souvenir!

The video recorded the final flames of the burning helicopter as the men in their robes danced around in victory, shooting in the air and into the flames while shouting, Allah! Allah Hu Akbar!

God! God is Great!

And then it was over.

Richard Biggers touched the rewind button on his remote and reached for his phone. He dialed a long-distance number.

Duane? I just finished the tape. Before Duane could answer, Biggers spoke again. Just what are we going to do with it?

Well I told you. Ascot needs to see it.

And then?

Then we take it around. Lot's of people here -- and out there! They all need to see it.

Biggers felt apprehensive, wanting big time to put the brakes on it right now. But before he could speak, Duane asked him a question he could not answer.

You see the Americans?

No.

They were right there, plain as day.

So? I guess I missed them. Who could tell? They all had beards.

Yeah. One of the speakers was American. His beard was trimmed. And I guess you couldn't see the other one. He was the one narrating in English.

That made Biggers smile. It also made him wish he'd paid closer attention to the movie. For a moment he was tempted to put himself on the next plane to Seattle. But that feeling passed without much effort. There was no way he would miss his date.

Look Duane. I've seen it. You can show it to the boss. I'll send it out on the next flight, first thing in the morning.

You're not going to bring it?

No. I'm sending Pam. You can pick her up when she gets there. I'll give you her flight number and arrival time tomorrow.

Richard, Duane said, you need to be here with the boss. It's important.

So tell me about it and I'll give you my opinion in a conference call.

Not over the phone.

You're kidding.

I've never been so serious in my life.

Biggers hesitated longer than normal but held firmly to his decision. At this point he just didn't like someone on the staff telling him what to do.

Pam will bring the tape. Call me as soon as the boss sees it.

Biggers touched a second line and that automatically ended his conversation with Duane. Then he punched the speed-dial button for Congressman Ascot's home.

Sorry to bother you, Congressman.

That's all right,: the Congressman said in a tired, gravely voice. What's going on?

Biggers briefly sketched what had happened and told his boss what he was planning to do.

Well, if you're sending Pam out here, have her bring everything on HR 93.