Razing Beijing: A Thriller Read Free Page B

its propeller blades motionless, the competition will
rake our ass over the coals. For Christ’s sake, this is our maiden flight! We
simply cannot afford to cancel that fly-by.”
    Inviting the congressman and press to the inaugural flight
was Cole’s brainchild. Stuart was on record as calling the fly-by a stunt, pure
public relations—and who out there really cared if an airplane looked or
sounded a little unusual? Data already proved that the engine went far toward
meeting the world’s carbon emission and noise restrictions. Whatever compelled
his boss to rub the government’s back by inviting the congressman, Stuart
hadn’t a clue. He viewed politics as sort of a study in lost motion and never
understood Cole’s obsession with it.
    The problem here was that his personal distaste for
publicity was butting against Cole’s disregard for technical detail. Cole
always did prefer dealing with issues of ‘the bigger picture,’ often at the
exclusion of everything and everyone else, as even his daughter Sandy had
confided.
    “What is it?”
    “You do know Sandy’s on board.”
    Cole sat bolt upright as if an electric current had
stiffened his spine. “Are you saying, do you mean...are you saying people’s
lives are at risk? Is that what this is about?”
    Stuart knew there was no way Cole would override a
declaration that the flight was unsafe. Cole knew it also, and he seemed to be
bracing himself for the outcome.
    “I was only guessing you haven’t taken the time to get her
opinion either.”
    “ ‘Either.’ What are you trying to imply?”
    “Look, I’ve got a daughter myself. I’m not trying to imply
anything. I was only pointing out that Vickers has thoroughly briefed Sandy and
the flight crew on our decision. My understanding is that she fully supports
it, and Sandy’s every bit as good an engineer, even at her age—”
    “I already know how good an employee my own daughter is. I
don’t need a lecture from you about Sandra.”
    “Okay. I’m telling you as clearly as I know how that the
odds of something breaking are high. A controlled in-flight shutdown of that
engine might well turn out to be a lot less dramatic to have to explain than the
alternative.”
    Cole said nothing.
    “Postpone the rest of the flight. It’s not too late to simply
shut the thing down.”
    “Actually, it is becoming academic.” The chief executive
glanced at his watch. “It’s my understanding we don’t actually have to cancel
much of anything.”
    Stuart instantly realized the score. Cole had arrived while
he was being interviewed, still angry over Stuart’s cancellation decision and
had probably made a scene. At that point it became too great an opportunity for
someone not to pipe up with an alternative—like merely throttling the engine
back, and proceeding with a modified flight test plan.
    “I’m going to support your decision,” Stuart said. “Just
don’t be standing too close when the plane taxis up and the propellers stop
turning.”
    “Well, of course not.” Cole frowned, his curiosity getting
the better of him. “Why not?”
    “Because you’ll block the cameras rushing in to record the
gallons of hot, steaming oil pouring out all over the tarmac.”
    Cole stood up from the table. “That’s a chance I’m willing
to take.”

3
    WHILE ONE IS FLYING at eight-tenths the speed of sound, the earth thirty-nine thousand feet below
appears deceptively stationary, rendering one less distraction for pilots of
the Dassault Falcon who were closely shadowing movement and snapping
photographs of the larger jet. Conditions for the flight test had been nearly
perfect in every respect due to a high-pressure system pushing down from
British Columbia. Las Vegas was visible in the distance mired in ground-hugging
haze, its stark angular shapes out of place in the vast landscape. On the edge
of the horizon was the narrow turquoise of Lake Mead.
    The flight crew inside the test aircraft had little
interest in the