The first EB-52 Megafortress battleship that would lead the attack carried longer-range standoff weapons, including four Russian Kh-27 antiradar missiles in the forward bomb bay, eight Kh-15 long-range inertially guided missiles on the rotary launcher in the aft bomb bay, four R-60 heat-seeking air-to-air missiles on each external pylon, and two FlightHawk unmanned combat aircraft on wing pylons—unfortunately, the FlightHawks did not carry any weapons of their own. The second EB-52 Megafortress battleship carried a rotary launcher in the rear of the bomb bay that held sixteen one-thousand-pound unguided bombs in eight two-round clips, with inflatable parachutes attached to each one to allow them to be released from low altitude if necessary. The slant racks in the forward bomb bay held thirty-six five-hundred-pound unguided cluster munitions in six rounds of six bombs; and the external weapon pylons held two Kh-27 antiradar missiles plus four R-60 heat-seeking missiles on each pylon.

Even though the Russian guided weapons were state-of- the-art, they couldn’t interface well with the Megafortress. The antiradar missiles were programmed on the ground to detect and attack any height-finder radar, an integral part of a surface-to-air missile or fighter ground-controlled intercept radar; the air-to-air missiles’ seeker was caged straight ahead and would only report if a bright enough heat source crossed its path—they would never know if it locked on or hit its target. The inertially guided missiles had to be programmed with a target on the ground before takeoff, and then their guidance systems had to be aligned on the ground before takeoff—and their accuracy couldn’t be updated while in flight.

Patrick took the king on a quick tour of the AL-52 Dragon. Workers from Sky Masters Inc., including Jon Masters himself, were still poring over it, adjusting components and voltages while a laptop computer measured magnetic fields and predicted power yields and safety margins. “A truly impressive weapon, Dr. Masters,” Sanusi said after he had been introduced.

“I wish I could take all the credit for it,” Jon said. He motioned inside the belly of the AL-52 just as a little girl emerged, covered in grease and dirt but wearing a big smile. “Your Majesty, may I present Dr. Kelsey Duffield of Nevada, my partner and chief engineer of this particular weapon system. Dr. Duffield, may I present the king of the United Kingdom of Libya, His Majesty, Muhammad as-Sanusi.”

“Jon, for Christ’s sake!” Patrick gasped. “Pardon me, Your Highness, but. . . Jeez, Jon, you brought Kelsey Duffield ... to Libya?”

“I couldn’t keep her away, Patrick,” Jon said. “If you’re going to yell at me, stand in line—Kelsey’s mom isn’t done chewing on me yet. Patrick, this is Dr. Kelsey Duffield, our new partner; Kelsey, Brigadier-General Patrick McLanahan, retired, our v.p. in charge of operations.”

“Pleased to meet you, General,” Kelsey said, giving Patrick a big hug and a kiss. “Don’t worry about Dr. Wendy, sir—we’ll get her back for you and Bradley.” She gave Sanusi a little-girl curtsy, then went back inside the Dragon’s fuselage and back to work.