The Hijacked Skies
When the image of a Boeing 767 slamming into the North Tower of the World Trade Center flashed across television screens worldwide as breaking news, the place thrown into the greatest panic was not the White House. It was the North American Aerospace Defense Command.
As its name implied, NORAD was a joint U.S.-Canadian aerospace defense organization tasked with monitoring and controlling the skies over North America. Established in 1958, it was an old and powerful military institution with correspondingly vast authority. A month earlier, intelligence warning of a large-scale hijacking attack had already reached NORAD and the upper echelons of the U.S. military.
At approximately 8:30 a.m. on September 11, NORAD received word from American Airlines that Flight 11, registration N334AA, bound from Boston to Los Angeles, had deviated from its assigned route. When controllers attempted to contact the aircraft, they heard not the familiar voice of the pilot but that of an unfamiliar man who delivered a chilling message: “We have hijacked the planes. Stay quiet and everything will be fine.”
NORAD immediately recognized that the hijacking attack they had been warned about was underway. They ordered the nearest Air Force base to scramble fighters. The base launched its aircraft faster than any training exercise, and the fighters—F-16s, fully armed and on heightened alert—raced toward American Airlines Flight 11.
By the time the interceptors reached New York, all they could see was the World Trade Center tower belching black smoke and red flame.
“Oh my God!”
Major Herbert Fleming, flight leader of the hastily scrambled F-16 formation, could not hide his shock. Even a veteran combat pilot like him had never witnessed a passenger jet deliberately flown into the tallest building in New York.
> Mobius 2, Mobius 2. This is Warship.
“Mobius 2, go ahead.”
The formation was not alone. An AWACS aircraft, call sign Warship, had also launched. The normally unflappable operator’s voice was now urgent.
> We have another hijacked airliner! Designating on radar. United Airlines Flight 175 has left its route and is heading for New York. High probability of intentional impact on a building. Weapons free! Stop it at all costs!
“Mobius 2, roger.”
Hearing that a second hijacked airliner was inbound, Herbert forced his shock aside and tightened his grip on the stick.
“Mobius flight, this isn’t over yet!”
The hijackers were nothing like ordinary plane thieves. Warship’s latest transmission confirmed the high likelihood of another building strike and granted weapons release. At that moment, a clear alarm sounded.
> United 175 acquired! AWACS has visual. United 175 has already entered New York airspace. Nose is pointed directly at the World Trade Center.
“United 175, United 175, this is the United States Air Force. You have left your assigned route. Turn immediately toward the nearest airport!”
The Mobius formation pushed their throttles to the limit and broadcast on the common frequency. There was no reply.
“Damn it!”
The airliner kept accelerating. Even when the fighters closed to within a few dozen meters and performed threatening maneuvers, the hijackers only wobbled slightly before stubbornly holding course. The moment for decision had arrived.
“We’ll strafe the right engine with the gun.”
Instead of the simpler option of a missile, Herbert chose the cannon. He could not bring himself to fire a missile at an airliner full of innocent passengers.
GUNS! GUNS! GUNS!
The signal for cannon fire flashed across the formation net. The 20mm M61A1 Vulcan mounted on Herbert’s F-16 spat yellow flame.
“Hah!”
Yoo Jae-won, who had been glued to the television, jumped. The picture was shaking violently. The F-16 formation was approaching from north of New York City, and the camera had to zoom in as far as possible to capture them. Without image stabilization, even slight movement made the frame lurch. On that zoomed-in view, the tiny specks were the scrambled U.S. Air Force F-16s.
Nothing like this had happened in his previous life. At the same time, a blue-bodied passenger jet was visible, flying low and fast. Its much larger size made it stand out clearly. The sudden appearance of the United Airlines airliner felt completely wrong. Airliners cruised at high altitude, yet the one on screen was skimming the rooftops.
The F-16s closed rapidly on the United jet, performing threatening passes so close that both aircraft were in danger. Even so, the airliner’s deadly course toward the World Trade Center did not change. Then the yellow flame erupted.
By the time the United jet had shrunk to the size of a pinky finger on screen, 20mm rounds were slamming into its right wing. The engine exploded in a long tongue of flame. Firing a missile into a fuselage full of innocent passengers had been unthinkable. The only option had been to destroy the wing and engine and force a crash landing. Yet the Boeing 767’s legendary stability proved true. The cannon shells destroyed the right engine, but losing one engine did not fatally compromise the aircraft. Trailing fire from its right wing, United Flight 175 continued straight toward the South Tower.
The tiny F-16s on screen faltered. Their previously crisp maneuvers grew sluggish, and the cannon fire ceased—for a few seconds. Then the closest F-16 opened fire again, this time aiming not at the engine but at the wing itself. Wings contained fuel tanks. A stray round could cause a catastrophic explosion, but the situation was too desperate for such calculations. A brilliant flash lit the sky as a massive fireball erupted from the right wing. Exactly as Jae-won had feared, the fuel tank had detonated.
The United 175, which had maintained stability even with its engine destroyed, now began to shudder violently. The hijackers tried desperately to keep the nose pointed at the South Tower, but with one wing gone, it was impossible. Even veteran pilots would have struggled; these terrorists had no real flight experience, only simulator training. They could not react in time.
“Whoa!”
Jae-won, transfixed by the television, cried out in shock. United Flight 175, missing its right wing, plunged sharply downward. Its impact point was the Hudson River directly in front of the World Trade Center. The massive Boeing 767 struck the water, sending up a huge plume. Vaporized jet fuel ignited in a thunderous secondary explosion.
Thanks to the Air Force’s late but decisive intervention, the South Tower had been spared. The aftermath, however, was devastating. Burning fuel from the exploding wing sprayed across a residential area of Jersey City. Debris from the wreckage in the Hudson rained down on riverside buildings, some of it already on fire. The risk of further blazes was extremely high.
“My God…”
Jae-won had lived through 9/11 once before, but this version was different. CNN replayed the footage of the wing exploding, the plane falling, and the rain of burning fuel again and again. Though CNN was the progressive news network founded by Ted Turner—now a close associate of Jae-won’s—the channel’s sensational coverage was every bit as aggressive as Fox’s. The anchor struggled to speak, yet the visuals were pushed to the limit.
The images were broadcast live around the world.
Ding-ding-ding!
What was different from the past was that the South Tower still stood—and that social media now existed. Jae-won’s Android phone would not stop ringing. Calls and messages poured in from Tiffany, his parents in Korea, Vice Chairman Choi Kang-wook, even his uncle. Official communications arrived as well: from Remington, from Vincent, and urgent reports from the intelligence team. Jae-won quickly replied to his personal contacts, then searched for information on the World Trade Center via the internet and TokTok.
Portal sites including Nextcom and SNS services like TokTok were severely lagging. It was not only the Android phone; even desktop connections were affected.
“What the hell? They still haven’t solved the DDoS problem?”
ID Group’s internet services responded instantly no matter which link he clicked. That was why Jae-won could make the mistake. Fortunately, Yeong-sik had carried out his orders faithfully. After receiving Jae-won’s authorization for drastic measures, he had acted at once. All internet traffic coming from Asia had been cut. Ideally he would have blocked only China with surgical precision, but time was too short for such finesse. Even so, the service degradation was caused by the sheer explosion in user traffic.
Television news could only show fragments. It could not fully satisfy viewers’ curiosity. People kept the TV on while frantically refreshing the internet for more information. New York had the highest smartphone penetration in the world. Over a million Android phones had been sold in the city alone, and iPhone adoption was also substantial. Witnesses near the scene were rapidly spreading real-time updates. The resulting surge in internet usage created traffic comparable to a DDoS attack. While the China-origin DDoS had been stopped by severing the lines, zombie PCs operating inside North America continued to consume bandwidth.
Every fire truck in New York seemed to be on the move. The blaze in Jersey City showed no sign of being contained, and the North Tower, struck by the first plane, was still burning fiercely. All of New York City’s firefighters had been mobilized to rescue people trapped in buildings. While the anchor delivered this report, his voice suddenly grew urgent.
9/11 was not finished. In the previous timeline, there had also been attempted attacks on the Pentagon and the U.S. Capitol. The Pentagon strike had succeeded, causing massive casualties. The plane headed for the Capitol had crashed after passengers fought back. Al-Qaeda would not have changed its strategic targets this time either. Having succeeded with only one strike on the World Trade Center, they would now focus even more intensely on their remaining objectives.
“Secretary Kim!”
Jae-won called Kim Dae-seok through the intercom.
“Yes, Mr. Chairman!”
“I need to go to the office.”
No one on Earth had prepared for 9/11 as thoroughly as Yoo Jae-won. Although the attack was still unfolding, there was no reason to remain at home watching the Pentagon and Capitol developments. It was time to head to the company and execute the countermeasures he had prepared. As soon as he received confirmation that everything was ready, Jae-won departed.