Scammed

By Jacques Evans

A former air force pilot, a retired marine and a disabled ex-army doctor team up to uncover a scam artist—the current occupant of the White House. When the miscreant behind the greatest Ponzi scheme in history was exposed, Bernie Madoff's name was plastered on the front page of every newspaper in the country and heard on television ad nauseam. But nary a sound was heard about the occupant of the White House—there was a total media blackout of the president's forged birth certificate. Some journalists were threatened that their careers would end if they raised the subject. The only coverage of the investigation was on the Internet and that was sparse. At every opportunity, the president's supporters tried to present the issue as a far out conspiracy theory—but that was just another scam.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jacques Evans
• Release date: Nov 17, 2014
• ISBN: 9781311521316

Jacques Evans

Jacques Evans retired from the U.S. Air Force and is a life member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. He has worked on numerous aerospace projects and spent years at Cape Kennedy as a member of the Apollo team. He is the author of action/adventure novels. His favorite novelists are Nevil Shute and Patrick O'Brian.

Book preview

Scammed

by

Jacques Evans

It's easier to fool people than to convince them that they have been fooled.

Samuel Clemens, American author and humorist (1835 - 1910)

Smashwords Edition

Copyright 2014 Jacques Evans

All rights reserved.

Also by Jacques Evans

Scammed

Fraser's Run

Mizrahi's Prison

Kuchma's Dictum

South of Cayenne

Flight to Dungavel

The Betty G's Gold

The Mannerheim Line

The Czar's Last Soldier

Von Weizsacker's Diary

Last Bridge to Baghdad

Last Flight of the Blue Goose

This book is for personal use only. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means without the prior written consent of the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a newspaper, magazine or journal article.

This is a work of fiction. All similarities between characters and persons living or dead are purely coincidental.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 ~ 1960

Chapter 2 ~ 1960 - 1961

Chapter 3 ~ 1961

Chapter 4 ~ 1961 - 2012

Chapter 5 ~ 1955 - 2012

Chapter 6 ~ 2013

Chapter 7 ~ 2013

Chapter 8 ~ 2013

Chapter 9 ~ 2013

Chapter 10 ~ 2013

Chapter 11 ~ 2013

Chapter 12 ~ 2013

Chapter 13 ~ 2013 - 2014

Chapter 14 ~ 2014

Chapter 15 ~ 2014

Chapter 16 ~ 2014

Chapter 17 ~ 2014

Chapter 1 ~ 1960

Josh Hunter turned off the runway and taxied toward a parking spot next to the terminal at Dhahran. He placed the nosewheel on the white line then retarded the throttles and let the C-54 slowly coast to a stop. After receiving the ground crewman's cut engine signal, Josh set the parking brake then called for the checklist. While waiting on the ramp for the crew bus, he watched as his only passenger was picked up by a limousine Josh recognized as belonging to the Saudi royal family. The crew bus arrived just as parts from the drilling rigs were offloaded and piled into a waiting truck. Dhahran was the center of Saudi Arabia's oil industry and the base for the Arabian American Oil Company's (ARAMCO) fleet of airplanes. Oil was discovered in the Dhahran area in the nineteen thirties and ARAMCO was formed as a subsidiary of Standard Oil. Dhahran has served as the company's headquarters since its founding.

Josh Hunter had been flying for ARAMCO for four years. The C-54 he was flying, tail number 009, was purchased as surplus from the United States Air Force. The interior was bare bones and had few amenities for passengers. Josh mainly flew cargo but on occasion carried passengers. Oddly enough, he flew the same airplane when he was on active duty with the USAF's 8th Troop Carrier Squadron.

Josh was anxious to return to his quarters at ARAMCO's residential compound in Dhahran as was his copilot and flight engineer. The Aviation Department had a baseball game scheduled that evening against a team from Well Number 7. Cecil Morrison, the C-54's engineer, was scheduled to pitch while Ed Hennessey, the copilot, was the team's catcher. Josh usually played left field but occasionally played first base. The team from Well Number 7 was leading the league—the Aviation Department was one game behind. While the crew bus was heading to the residential compound Josh turned to Cecil, I've got fifty bucks riding on your arm tonight.

Better worry about getting some hits—I'm going for a no-hitter tonight.

I've heard that song before. If you throw low and inside you may have a shot, Ed Hennessey replied.

Does anybody know why we flew the gal in the burka and her baby to Mombasa? Cecil asked.

We were scheduled to pick up some cargo from a prospecting crew in Mombasa—the local probably finagled a free ride from the brass, Josh replied.

I wonder why she didn't bring the baby back—that looked like a royal family limo that dropped her off and picked her up, Ed added.

You're paid to be my switch flipper and handle the radios not to keep track of the royals. I need to protect my fifty bucks so don't let anybody steal on you tonight.

In turn, the crew bus dropped each crewmember off—they changed clothes then met again at the ballfield. Cecil was on his way to a no-hitter when in the seventh inning the Aviation Department shortstop fumbled a ground ball. By the end of the inning the score was tied. Finally, in the bottom of the ninth inning, Ed got on base and Josh drove him in—the Aviation Department eked out a win by one run.

In the months that followed, rumors circulated that ARAMCO was going to phase down the Aviation Department and replace all four-engine, propeller driven aircraft with one Boeing 707. Even though Josh had four years of seniority, he was far down on the seniority ladder. Cecil and Ed were relative newcomers with less than three years of service. Their outlook for continued employment with the oil company was grim. Many Aviation Department employees had over twenty years of seniority. Some even worked for ARAMCO in 1940 when four Italian bombers attacked the oil refineries in Dhahran and the British Protectorate of Bahrain. As their prospects for continued employment were non-existent, they were all air force reservists and applied for active duty—their applications were denied.

After ARAMCO sold their four-engine, propeller driven aircraft Josh, Ed and Cecil were out of a job. To ease their pain, they were given generous separation packages. A small non-scheduled carrier based in Miami, Cabot Air Transport, bought the C-54 they usually flew. Cabot Air Transport hired Josh and his crew to ferry the plane to their base at Miami International Airport. ARAMCO arranged for their dependents to be flown back to the States aboard a USAF Military Air Transport Service (MATS) Super Constellation that flew a regular run from Charleston, South Carolina to Dhahran several times a month.

Josh thought it strange that a civilian Cabot Air Transport navigator and radio operator arrived at Dhahran aboard a MATS Constellation. Along with the two additional crewmembers, Josh took-off on the ferry flight to Miami. The flight was uneventful—he was surprised the Cabot crewmembers were among the best he ever flew with. After they landed in Miami, the tower directed Josh to a parking spot at the Eastern Airlines side of the airport.

They were met by a Cabot employee who drove alongside the C-54 in a yellow, flight line Jeep. Josh was informed the plane was going in the hangar for an acceptance check and that Eastern performed Cabot Air's heavy maintenance. The Cabot navigator and radio operator said their goodbyes then headed for the parking lot. The remaining crewmembers loaded their bags in the Jeep then climbed aboard. They drove across the field then parked in front of a one-story, cinder block building near the end of the runway. The nondescript building needed a coat of paint. An air conditioner protruded from each window and a small, wooden sign above the door read 'Cabot Air Transport, Inc.'

After they passed the desk at the entrance, they were led past a warren of rooms separated by a narrow aisle. They walked to the end of the aisle and entered an office. The room contained a desk that had a conference table butted up against it and three piles of stackable chairs. Other than ugly furniture, a wall map and two florescent light fixtures, the office was bare. Their escort gave their names to a gray haired man seated at the desk, Have a seat. I'm Jimmy Carson and I need to hire a pilot, copilot and engineer for our new C-54 if any of you are interested.

We're interested but none of us ever heard of Cabot Air Transport—we'd have to know more about the airline, Mr. Carson, Josh replied.

Carson rose and turned the window air conditioner to high, Cabot Air Transport was started by an airmail pilot named Hank Cabot. He used to fly the mail between Newark and Pittsburgh for Larsen Air Service in the thirties. Hank died a few years back and I took over. We own one C-47 and a C-54, the one you ferried, we lease other airplanes as the need arises.

What would you expect us to fly? Ed asked.

We haul what freight we can and bid on government contracts so you'll be flying our planes unless something unusual happens.

Does Eastern do all your maintenance? Cecil asked.

Our mechanics handle flight line maintenance and Eastern does our heavy maintenance—you'll be flying machines maintained to airline standards. Cabot is a non-sched so you'll spend a lot of time on standby.

What do your routes look like? Josh asked.

"We fly all over the world—now about your salaries. ARAMCO was paying you top dollar for serving overseas and we can't match it. Each of you will be taking a 20% cut if you sign on. Before you say anything our pay scale is exactly the same as Eastern Airlines. If there are any hairy routes, and from time to time we get some, you'll get the bonus prescribed by the contract for the number of days you're enroute. The bonus is usually between $500