Nexus - 0221 - New Times Magazine-pages

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· he sun crept above the black outline of the Atlas mountains in the east, gradually bathing the base with soft diffused light. Dew sparkled on the neat line~of-parlced Northrop F5 aircraft, most painted in desert camouflage and bearing the bright Tred and green roundels of the Moroccan Air Force. Only two aircraft were dif­ ferent. Painted grey with subdued! American markings, both were advanced "Tiger" ver­ sions of the F5: the first a two-seat F5F, and the second a single-seat F5E. Permanently based at Alconhury in England, the Tigers were part of the crack American "Aggressor" squadron normally used to train NATO Air Force piLOts in combat techniques with dissimilar aircraft. Supersonic and very manoeuvrable, the F5 Tiger had similar performance characteristics to the Russian MiG-21 Interceptor. Because of its unusual 'role of 'surprising' NATO forces in mock attacks, only the Aggressor squadron had easy access to airspace over nearly all European countries. making it iinvaluable for covert special operations activities. Julia Long watched from a distance as Otto Jewell finished his pre-flight checks on the two-seat Tiger. Satisfied. Otto climbed into the front cockpit and strapped himself in, completely ignoring the air force captain in the seat behind him. With a faint whine that slowly turned to a roar, both Tigers started engines and edged their way out of the liJ1e of parked aircraft, turning on the taxiway towards the active runway. Julia lit a cigarette and watched as the two fighters waddled along, weighed down with drop-tanks under their bellies and wings. There was a long flight ahead and both Tigers were carrying maximum fuel. Juddering slightly under braking" both aircraft lined up side by side on the runway threshold and wem to one-hundred-per-cent cold thrust. As the leader dropped his white­ gloved hand, both released their brakes in unison and selected afterburners. Julia heard me mufflcd thunder as the afterburners lit, sending the two fighters hurtiJng down the run­ way. Julia Long stood motionless, watching the bright pink glow from the afterburners fade slowly as the Tigers climbed away from her to the north. Only then. at exactly 5.48 am Greenwich Mean Time on the morning of 16th April 1984, did she fmally [turn and wille slOWly back into th-e officers' mess. The conditioning had gone well. In less than a week, Otto had been transformed from a 41-year-old oilman into a 27-year-old member of the RAF. and then converted into a patriotic 27-year-old member of US Special Operations-aliliJe events beyond that age being ruthlessly suppressed by electromagnetically-induced, drug-reinforced, post-hyp­ notic suggestion. There was no question of Otto Jewell being a 'zombie', however. He was a fully-conscious human being with a chronological age of 41 years, but with the memory and reaction times of a 27-year-old. Julia Long considered the new Otto a marked improvement over the old. Where before conditioning Otto had been slightly hesitant, he was now supremely con­ fident. As with all terrorists manufactured by special operations, Otto believed he was invincible and that nothing could go wrong with his mission. Where in India Otto had been overweight. he was now trim enough to slide easily into a Northrop Tiger. The intense stress induced by sustained exposure ItO ELF electromagnetic fields and visual­ input, burned! off weight faster than the most drastic diet ever devised by the medical fr1l­ ternity. In all, Otto had shed nearly 30 pounds. virtually without moving a muscle. With his greying hair now dyed jet-black to match his own perception of himself as a 27-year­ old. "Mike-Alpha-Delta-3" was indeed a new man. After finishing her breakfMt, Julia left the officers' mess and walked slowly back to her room to pack her ~gs. Her {lrd~rs were clear: once Mike-Alpha-Delta-3 WllJ!i on his way, 24·NEXUS AUGUST -SEPTEMBER 1994