8The C-5 Galaxy cargo jet boomed and echoed its way south along the East coast. He and Ivy weren’t the only ones aboard the massive plane. Three VH-60N White Hawks, including theirs, had been loaded aboard the Galaxy after having their rotor blades folded back along the tail. The vertical rear rotor also had to be folded down, but otherwise the massive jet swallowed the three helicopters whole. That hadn’t even begun to fill the cavernous interior. Their crews, plus a ground team with their service truck, plus seven vehicles for the Presidential Motorcade and all of their personnel were aboard as well.
The upstairs seating, which spanned the rear third of the plane above the cargo deck, wasn’t even full. He could tell the old hands: most of them were asleep before takeoff. He’d heard that
