had to be signed in by the ranking federal police officer so that they could keep their side arms.
El Rey squinted out the windows on the eastern side of the terminal at the hangars in the near distance and the broad expanse of tarmac between the terminal and the government planes grouped there. A military helicopter sat squarely in the middle of the restricted area set aside for arriving dignitary aircraft, as well as the Mexican President’s Boeing 757 whenever he was traveling internationally.
“Tell me again about the security here,” he said, estimating the distance from the VIP area to the terminal.
“It was decided that the Chinese would land here instead of Santa Lucia, which was discarded even though it’s only twenty miles away,” Briones started, referring to the military base north of Mexico City. “The Chinese dismissed it out-of-hand because of the danger of a surface-to-air missile strike on the chopper ride into the city. Even if there was a helicopter convoy, it posed too great a threat.”
“I agree. Too many areas a chopper could be picked off.” El Rey nodded as he continued surveying the runways and maintenance hangars.
“The Chinese will arrive around nine a.m. and stay aboard the plane until a chopper arrives to transport the leader to the Congress building. Patrols will be constant on the access roads and the perimeter road, and there will be hundreds of police and military troops in the neighborhood to the south. Which isn’t considered to be a huge risk due to how low the buildings are, as well as virtually no line of sight to the aircraft once it’s in final position.”
“I’ll still want to go through the neighborhood,” El Rey said.
“The army will have snipers on the rooftops of the nearest structure. They’ll also be occupying the entire line of buildings that front onto the road that runs along the south side, which will be closed that morning until the Chinese have taken off again.”
“Fine. What about this terminal?”
“We’ll have snipers distributed on the roof, as well as the roofs of the nearby hangars, and we’ll search the hangars early that morning, and then sentries will watch the area until the Chinese leave. It’ll be buttoned up tight.”
“Tell me about the helicopter.”
“Your advice about the maintenance concerns was taken to heart, and they’ll have a crew of mechanics and observers going over every inch of the chopper that morning to ensure no tampering has occurred. It’s a fully armored beast that can withstand any sort of rifle fire. Anything short of a direct hit by a surface-to-air missile won’t affect it.”
“What about the flight path of the chopper to the Congress hall?” Cruz asked.
“It will be decided five minutes before takeoff. One of six routes that will skirt the populated sections of town, to the extent they can. So anyone planning to try to shoot it down, or at it, en route, will have to be psychic.”
“What about the buildings across the runway?” El Rey asked.
“That, over there, is Terminal One. One of the largest passenger terminals on the continent. And the hangars over there” – Briones pointed at a distant row of buildings, and everyone had to struggle to make them out through the haze of pollution – “will get the same treatment as the nearer ones; although both they, and the terminal, are too far away to pose a threat. Still, they’ll have a few snipers on the roof, just in case.”
El Rey surveyed the surroundings and shook his head. “What are we missing? I can feel it in my bones. There has to be a weakness in all this we aren’t seeing. He’s a shooter, so he’ll likely use a gun to pull this off.”
“Agreed, but not here. Look around you. How would he get a rifle in here? The security is designed to prevent exactly that, and it’ll be stepped up to an insane level for twenty-four hours prior. There are easier ways to do this than to try to crack the most fortified area in town,” Cruz said.
“Yes, but this would be the most unexpected. If I was going to try to take the Chinese leader out, there would really be only two choices: here, or when he’s in front of the Congress, once the chopper lands. Those are his two most vulnerable spots. The only times he’ll be exposed outdoors. So that makes it pretty easy,” the assassin said. “That’s where the hit will take place. They’re sweeping the hall for bombs,