A NATION HEALING - BOOK III The Second Civil War (The Second Civil War - BOOK III 1)

by Marshall Huffman

  “We are pretty darn sure we have tracked an old submarine into the Gulf of Mexico. It has tucked itself up close to the Cuban coast. We think the Russians may have sold it to some other country.”

  “And?”

  “And it could be carrying nuclear cruise missiles.”

  “Why would they do such a thing?”

  “My guess, and it is only a guess, would be if they intend to launch missiles toward the US and make it appear that they came from Cuba. They would shoot and then slip out into international waters,” the Admiral told the President.

  “What our options?”

  “Inform Cuba of our suspicions and see if they will let us send in helicopters to sink it or force it to the surface.”

  “I doubt they will believe us. They will probably think it is some ploy.”

  “Sir, if they don’t let us and the sub does fire, they are going to look like accomplices.”

  “It is worth a try. I will let General Ascot know as well. He may have another suggestion. In the meantime if they are going to use cruise missiles, get as much in the air as you can to try to intercept them in case we run out of time,” the President said.

  “Yes sir. I will issue the orders immediately. We will be free to engage the minute they launch?” he asked.

  “Absolutely. The second you detect a missile, all bets are off. Do whatever you have to keep them from reaching our shores,” Jason said.

  After hanging up, he immediately called General Ascot and brought him up to speed on the situation. The General agreed we needed to get everything in the air. He wanted to make sure as many ships were at sea in the area as well. He would have Admiral Swanson get every available ship headed to the Gulf of Mexico.

  “My only fear is that we may have discovered this too late. If Key West had been allocated the money to upgrade our listening array, we would have known the instant they came into the Gulf,” Ascot bemoaned.

  “Now we just have to keep this from happening. I have called the President of Cuba but he is deemed to be unavailable.”

  “Then we have to assume they already know about the plans or they would have detected the submarines so close to their shores,” Ascot replied

  “I’m not sure it’s because they know or they are simply thumbing their noses at us. No matter what it takes, if those missiles are launched, Cuba will not stand in our way,” Jason said forcefully.

  “I am in total agreement,” Ascot replied.

  ****

  Captain Suhair could only wait at this point. He was on station. The missiles had been fed the coordinates and all systems were ready for the launch. He looked at the targets once again. Atlanta and New York City. What good would this do? Yes, they would kill millions of Americans but he had seen what America can do when attacked.

  Did he want to be responsible for the death of millions? How would it affect the entire world? Radiation, world opinion, and condemnation should be considered and yet here he was, just a few miles from America with two deadly nuclear weapons aimed down their throats. Would he be remembered as a hero in Iraq or a hated villain by the rest of the world. He decided to pray for guidance. He was about to make the biggest decision in his entire life.

  ****

  “Mr. President, Cuba’s President is on the line.”

  “Excellent. Put him right through.”

  A second later Raúl Castro was speaking with President Jason.

  “Thank you for taking my call Mr. President,” Jason said.

  “Yes. This call is concerning?”

  “Sir. We have tracked an older submarine into the Gulf. It is currently in the area of Maria La Gorda. We believe the Russians have sold the ship to another country. It is very near your coast. We also believe that it carries nuclear missiles,” Jason informed him.

  “We know of no such situation. Why would it come into Cuban waters?”

  “Sir. If they launch missiles at the US it will initially appear that Cuba may be responsible,” Jason said, stopping to let it sink in.

  Several seconds passed before Castro replied.

  “You think they are trying to lay the blame for an international crisis at the doorsteps of Cuba?”

  “Mr. President, it certainly looks that way. You know as well as I that if the US is attacked, retaliation will commence immediately. We do not want to see it come to that.”

  “Yes, well this is all a..a..what is the word?”

  “Supposition?” Jason offered.

  “Maybe. A guess?” Castro said.

  “It is our best military deduction,” Jason replied.

  “We will look into it from our end. I will get back to you President Jason.”

  “Sir, we would like to unite in a joint venture with Cuba. With your permission, we would like to assist in investigating the situation,” Jason said.

  “I doubt that will be acceptable. I will talk it over and call again later,” Castro insisted.

  “We may not have that kind of time. I am sure the last thing Cuba needs is to be implicated as a coconspirator in a plot to kill millions of Americans and potential start a nuclear war.”

  “We have nothing to do with this. I will call with our answer,” Castro said and hung up.

  Jason just looked at the phone.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  HAVANA, CUBA

  “Is the submarine where the Americans said it was?” Castro asked.

  “Si.”

  “And I was told nothing?”

  “It was better for you not to know. We only allowed them to use our waters. We did not ask what for.”

  “Them?”

  “Si. Two submarines.”

  “They are in our waters. They have nuclear missiles that in all likelihood they intend to shoot at the Americans and you think that is alright?”

  “Mr. President, what they do is not our concern.”

  “You damn fool. They are in our waters. Any missile fired will be presumed to have come from Cuba,” the President screamed.

  “But we do no...”

  “No. I do not want to hear it. This was a stupid mistake. I want those subs out of our waters immediately. No, before immediately,” he shouted, “Go get out of here. Get them gone.”

  “Mr. President it is too late. They are departing in ten minutes. We cannot even reach them in time.”

  “You idiot. You have quite possibly caused the death of Cuba,” Castro said picking up the phone and dialing President Jason.

  ****

  “Mr. President. I have just discovered that there are two such submarines in our water. We did not authorize them to be here and are in the process of trying to raise them. I do not know how long we have but I wanted to let you know immediately. Cuba will do everything in its power to stop these intruders even if it means sinking them.”

  “Where is the other submarine?”

  “In the Jagua Bank. Near the nuclear reactor station near the city of Juragua. They have slipped inside our territorial waters it appears.”

  “I must go. We will discuss this at a later time. I need to take action immediately.”

  “But we are..”

  “Goodbye and thank you,” Jason said hanging up.

  Immediately Defcon-five was placed in motion and General Ascot informed of the developments. Choppers and planes were already on the way to the area. Cuba’s airspace was not even a consideration. If Cuba fired on any of our aircraft we would immediately retaliate in full force.

  ****

  “Captain Hafsa. It is time to break radio silence,” his number two informed him.

  He had been dreading the moment. The message would be either proceed or abandon the mission.

  “Flash the signal we are ready,” he told his number two.

  It was no longer in his hands.

  “Sir,” the second in command said handing him the communique. He opened it and looked down at the note.

  باشرت – PROCEED

  He took a deep breath and said, “Prepare t
o fire missiles on my command.”

  ****

  Just a few miles away to the west, the Captain of the Qudsai was just being handed his orders. He looked at them, and much like Captain Hafsh, he realized what this would mean. It would be the end of the world as he knew it.

  He read it once more, hoping it would change but the bold PROCEED stared back at him.

  “All stations, prepare to launch on my mark,” he said over the loud speaker.

  The crews, excited by the upcoming event but having no idea that they were about to fire at the United States went about their job of making the missiles ready for launch.

  A minute later the report that all was ready came back to the Captain. This was madness he thought.

  “On my..”

  It was the last thing the Captain ever uttered. The ASROC missile slammed into the submarine. The explosion destroyed the integrity of the sub and scattered the pieces of the boat over a half mile area.

  ****

  The two cruise missiles burst out of the surface from the Qahira. Captain Hafsa had hoped they would not fire but they went as planned. Now all he could do was to get out of the waters and as far away from Cuba and the United States as he could.

  “All ahead 110 percent power. Come right to 088 degrees. Rig for deep dive,” he commanded.

  He could feel the ship coming to life as the reactor control rods retracted and power built. He willed the sub to move faster. Fifteen knots. Eighteen knots. Twenty-one knots. He watched as it continued to build.

  “Depth to the bottom?”

  “Three hundred meters.”

  “Excellent take us down to one hundred and fifty meters,” he ordered.

  “Sir, contacts. Multiple. From all sides. Closing fast.”

  He sighed. He knew it was all over. Maybe it was for the best. How would he live with the weight of millions of lives on his shoulders?

  “Sir, missiles in the water. Oh...”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  The joint effort of the United States and the American Republic was in full swing. Helicopters, planes and ships were covering as much of the coastline as possible.

  Radar picked up the two subsonic cruise missiles tracking to the north as they headed over Cuba. Immediately the information was relayed to every aircraft and ship. The trajectory was quickly worked out and realized at least one was headed toward Washington and the other probably New York City.

  Every available aircraft instantly deviated toward the known flight path. As the first missile passed over the Florida Keys interceptors vectored toward the missile. The one advantage they had was its speed. Traveling less than Mach .8 they would have time to shoot it down. The real problem would be destroying it without detonating the nuclear warhead.

  Three airplanes spotted it as it traversed over the Everglades. They immediately attacked it with cannon fire. One of the planes had managed to get behind it and emptied round after round into the missile. It exploded in a huge ball of fire, tumbling to the earth below. Everyone held their breath, waiting for the warhead to explode but nothing happened.

  One down and one to go. It appeared the one heading toward New York was still on target. Planes filled the air in search of the elusive missile.

  The missile had reached Jacksonville, Florida before it was finally spotted. A swarm of fighters swooped down and finally brought it down. Luck was with them as it tumbled into the waters just off the coast of Amelia Island. It landed in the shallow waters of Fernandina Beach.

  ****

  For the second time the American Republic and the United States had joined together to deter an outside aggressor. Both leaders felt that it was a good basis for building trust and for the two countries to continue to stand together against any outside antagonist.

  As a result, they signed a formal mutual Assured Defense Agreement. While the independent states were somewhat of a puzzlement, they decided that it was in their own best interest to include them in the agreement.

  ****

  “I guess we dodged the bullet on that one,” the President said.

  “Too damn close if you ask me. The things were already inbound,” VP Foley said.

  “Obviously we need to improve our listening stations,” McMillian said.

  “What about Cuba?” Foley asked.

  “I’m not sure what action to take if any. Obviously someone knew the subs were there. They found them too darn quick."

  "Yes, too quick,” MacMillan replied.

  “I don’t think Raúl knew. If he did, he is a darn fine actor. I think one of his military heads knew and figured it would be better if the President didn’t know about it,” Jason rejoined.

  “What I really want to know is who bought the submarines. Obviously the Russians sold them. We know the Chinese didn’t purchase them. They have as good as or better than the Russians,” MacMillan said.

  “Let’s find out. Someone is going to pay the price for an unprovoked attack on this country,” Jason responded.

  “I will get with Admiral Swanson and maybe she and Admiral Greenfield can find out. We could go in and raise the subs I suppose but Cuba may get their dander up a bit.”

  “That is the least of my worries,” the President replied.

  ****

  The two nations were coming to grips with rebuilding their war torn countries. While the death toll continued to climb as new bodies were found, it had tapered off considerably.

  By their combined efforts, they had saved millions and millions of lives. The search for the responsible party would continue but was neither nation's priority.

  President Jason now focused on how to utilize Congress to help get the nation back on its feet. A series of meetings ensued with the top members of Congress and while the gatherings were often spirited, they continued to make progress with each successive conference.

  It was quickly realized by President Jason that Health Services would need to be included in the leadership circle. He chose Doctor Lenore Bartlett to head up the Medical Chief position.

  ****

  “You have all had a chance to meet and discuss concerns with our new Supreme Court Chief, Garret Mann. Garret is going to throw out some of his thoughts about the current system so I’m turning it over to him. Garret lay them on the table,” Jason said.

  “First, it is a real privilege to be among such a distinguished group.”

  “No sucking up. We can take it,” Beau said, smiling

  “Oooh, tough group. The President warned me. Okay, here is what I am thinking at present. Our courts are bogged down to such an extent that often really important cases get shoved along or pleaded to save time. So it seems to become more effective we need to free up more time for the courts to do the real work. I think tort lawsuits that are frivolous should be handled differently. I propose that we hold the plaintiff’s attorney financially responsible for these types of lawsuits. For example, an attorney is approached by a citizen who has been sitting in the back of a pickup truck. The truck hits a bump and he falls out. They decide since there is no warning sticker on the truck, they will sue the truck company. The initial court fee to file the suit would be the responsibility of the attorney. A minimum percent of what they are asking for would be the fee. It they lose the case, the attorneys lose the fee plus have to pay the defendant's legal fees. Now when someone is dumb enough to spill hot liquid on them, they stand a chance of losing a large sum of money as well. It would also cost the attorney a large chunk of money as well. That would put an end to lawyers who run around looking for companies to sue.

  I intend to put a stop to lawsuits that are caused by people too dumb to be responsible for their own actions. Even if they did win, it would be a comparative award suit. If the plaintiff is more than 51 percent negligent in the eyes of the court, they would get no monetary award,” he told them.

  “Can we do that? I mean doesn’t that give corporations the upper hand?”

  “There are times when corporations are certainly negligen
t and should be held accountable. What I am talking about are the ambulance chasers that look for every little thing they can find as an excuse to file a lawsuit.”

  “I like the idea but I think that is going to be really tough to enforce. I mean, I can see some legitimate cases never getting to trial,” Mary replied.

  “No more than the frivolous ones we have now backlogging our courts. It is just a rough plan and I will continue to define the parameters but I wanted to get it on the table, as the President said.”

  “Can you give me another example?. I just want to make sure I understand what you would consider frivolous,” Dr. Churchman asked.

  “Sure, here is one that involved a school football coach recently. The coach suspended two star players from the team when he learned that they had been smoking dope. He talked to several different classmates and confirmed the story. He asked the boys point blank and they said that they had been experimenting with a few different drugs. He kicked them off the team for the rest of the season,” Garrett said.

  “What’s the problem?,” Dr. Churchman asked.

  “The parents of one of the players said that it would ruin his son's chances at getting a scholarship to a major university and eventually could cause him to fail to be drafted into pro football. He found an attorney that would take the case, so they sued.”

  “How could they know what would happen? He could get hurt, he could get stoned and kill someone driving. Why would the courts even take up such a case?”

  “Because you have the right to sue. Simple as that. That is what I intend to do away with. As it is, the school board, not wanting to spend the money on a trial, made the coach return them to the squad. He refused and they fired him. Now we have a suit against the school board for wrongful dismissal.”

  “That’s just nuts,” Mary interjected.

  “As we say, ‘I rest my case’." Which brought a chuckle from all of them.

  “Boy, and I thought I had my work cut out for me,” Dr. Churchman bemoaned.

  “The rebuild of the system will take a long time but we need to start immediately. Another issue high on my list is regarding inmates that get better treatment and privileges in jail that they had before they were arrested. I intend to take the country clubs out of the system. The government is not obligated to pay for them to learn how to beat the system and it is a terrible financial drain on the taxpayers,” he said forcefully.