by A J Newman
We are fitting the Alabama with three of the largest rail guns ever made and a host of smaller ones. The smallest one fires a flechette round about the size of a 30 mm round and contains slugs the size of a .22 caliber bullet. It contains five hundred of them and can fire one every five seconds. They spread out like a shotgun pattern, but the spread covers a 20-foot diameter circle at five miles.
We hope to get that down to a shot ever second within a month. The gun will handle much more, but the feed system won’t keep up.”
“So you’re firing ball bearings at airplanes and missiles at a rate of fire that sweeps the air of anything.”
“Yep, it makes Swiss cheese out of everything in its path. A steel ball traveling that fast goes through an inch thick piece of steel like a knife through butter.”
“Holy crap Gus, why didn’t I know about this?”
“Hell, no one knew about it. The Admiral didn’t know about the GEN II or GEN III mini rail guns. The developers didn’t want the crooked USA to get them but didn’t trust us either. We found out about them right after your plane went down.”
“So how many ball bearing factories do we have?”
“We are only using ball bearings to test the guns. We have five factories making round steel pellets and larger slugs. The medium railguns will shoot large darts that weigh about 10 pounds. We have a factory making thousands of them a week.”
“What happens when one of these rounds hits a ship?”
“It depends on what it hits. If it hits the hull, it blows a hole straight through and out the other side. The hole gets larger as it travels through the layers of the ship. If it hits the fuel tanks or ammo storage, it sets off secondary explosions. At 20 miles, we can get 9 out of ten hits on a ship as small as 100 feet long.”
“Damn, how large a projectile can the large ones shoot?”
“We are testing 200-300 pound slugs and hope to get up to a 1,000 pound one by years end.”
“Sounds like Star Wars crap to me. I can see why they targeted the research center, but how did they know that it existed?”
“One of the scientists disappeared a few weeks ago, and we think that he was sympathetic to the old USA.”
“Does he have the knowledge to help them build similar weapons?”
“No. He was a low-level guy working on projectile design.”
“Gus, wait a sec, what goes up must come down. We don’t want these little asteroids hitting friendlies or civilians.”
“That’s a big concern.”
“Well, what other news do you have for me about who attacked us?”
✪
Chapter 2
More Tall Tales
Smyrna, Tennessee
2048
The Smyrna Regional Hospital
Smyrna, Tennessee
Josh knew that he was the luckiest reporter on the face of the earth. Well, being shot twice during the assassination attempt on John was not exactly lucky, but having unlimited access to John and Scott Harris, the first and fourth presidents of the ISA was a reporter’s dream. Throw in getting married to John’s daughter, Jenn, and he had to pinch himself every few minutes to make sure it wasn’t a dream. He lay in the hospital bed almost in a daze as he reflected on who was in the room and how much he loved Jenn.
“Josh? Josh, are you all right? Son, wake up!”
“I’m sorry sir; I looked over at Jenn and was in awe at how beautiful she is.”
Jenn heard him, walked over and kissed him on the forehead.
Beth said, “Jenn, he is so romantic and adores you. You’d better keep him, and keep him away from bullets.”
Josh had taken a bullet in the ass trying to protect Jenn and then was caught in a crossfire in a last ditch attempt to kill John. He had taken bullets for two of the Harris family. Jenn had received a minor flesh wound in the arm, but John was untouched, yet again.
“Take that keeping bullets thing away from me very seriously. Now, after I get out of the hospital, I want to get training on firearms and military stuff.”
John laughed and replied, “Anyone who wants to be trained on military stuff needs to keep to writing. Now let’s get back to me talking, you recording, and taking notes on my adventures.”
Scott laughed and said, “The Adventures of John Harris’ will probably be made into a damn movie like the “Trip” was. Hell, that may even be your epitaph for your real, or should I say your next grave marker. Here lies John Harris, a legend in his own mind.”
“Smart ass, go back to being President and get your ass out of here. This boy needs to finish writing my story. We’re only up to 2022, and he has 26 more years’ worth of adventure to write. My adoring fans have been waiting for this for decades.”
Beth threw a magazine at John and said, “It’s time for us to head out to lunch and let Josh rest some. Come on John; let’s go. Do I need to find someone with a hatpin to deflate your head enough to get you through the door?”
“Smart ass.”
As soon as John, Beth, and Scott left the room, Jenn climbed in bed with Josh and laid her head on his chest. They had trouble getting comfortable as Jenn’s arm was in a sling, and Josh’s wounds were still painful. Love will find a way.
“Jenn, I was serious about taking the military training. Your family is always in the thick end of any conflict, and I do not want to be a liability that has to be protected. Besides, if someone is aiming the business end of a gun at me, I’d like to have some vague idea what I am doing. That’s right, isn’t it? I mean about the bullet thingy coming out of the hole in the business end?”
“Smart ass, but yes, my darling I agree. Let’s start with pistol training.”
Beth pulled a Kel-Tec P38T from God knows where, took the magazine out and jacked the slide back to empty the chamber.
“Now this is a cleared pistol. Here, take it.”
Josh pulled his arm from around her and took the pistol. Jenn proceeded to take him through a dry firing exercise and everything he needed to know that could be taught, from bed. She then loaded the pistol and said, “Now put this in your arm sling and keep it handy.”
“Do you know something that I don’t know?”
“Yes, once word gets out that you are joining the Harris family you will have a target on your back. Hell, the USA already has a bounty for you dead or alive. We all carry guns every minute of the day. Better to have a gun and not need it, than not have a gun when you do need it. Remember, when seconds matter, the police are only moments away.”
“What about when the nurses give me a bath?”
Jenn laughed and said, “I saw that good looking nurse looking at you this morning. I’ll be taking personal care of your baths from now on.”
“Back to your Dad’s story. Is all of it true? A lot of it sounds a bit farfetched.”
“Everything he tells you is true. He just doesn’t tell you the whole story. He and mom almost broke up over that woman that he was sleeping with up in Wyoming. She knows that he lost his memory and didn’t know better, but it was a bitter pill to swallow.
He didn’t tell you how much he enjoyed killing those dirt bags. He would stand off several hundred yards and put a bullet in their heads. I think he enjoyed watching their heads explode.”
“I can’t blame your mom for being hurt. I’d die if the same thing happened to us. I also see how John could develop a passion for killing these thugs and criminals.”
“He also won’t tell you what he does with people who abuse kids.”
“I can only imagine the special kind of hell he unleashes on them.”
“Cutting their balls and other appendages off is just the start. He threw one on a fire that had raped and mutilated little children. So yes, what he tells you is true; he just won’t tell you the whole story.
This country fell apart for over ten years, the thugs, criminals, and perverts ran amuck until the PCS, Pacific Coast States, and the ISA took back all of the country not occupied by the USA. Hell, this crap still g
oes on in half of the old USA. We get refugees from the north central states with horrible stories of depravity.”
Changing the conversation, Josh said, “Jenn, I love you, and we need to start planning our lives together. Where are we going to live?”
“I own a small farm between Smyrna and Murfreesboro where we can start if you are okay with it. That will give us time to decide.”
“That sounds great.”
***
Later that evening John snuck into the room after Jenn went home to freshen up.
“Come on kid, get your recorder and pencil ready. I want to cover the rest of the trip to Mobile, the retaliation and my resignation from the presidency.”
“What the fuck. When did you resign?”
“One thing at a time, please. Now after the flight back Gus had learned where the Iranians…”
✪
Chapter 3
Mobile
Mobile, Alabama
2022
Above the ruins of
Mobile, Alabama
The jet circled above Mobile for several minutes. There is a circular bay where the beautiful city once existed. There were ruins radiating out for a mile before one could identify what remained of buildings. A little further out there were bridges, large buildings and many burned, toppled trees and homes. The city had disappeared. Beth cried the entire flight around the perimeter and said several prayers.
“John, promise me that you will bring these cowards to justice.”
“Darling we will hunt them down and kill every last one of them.”
The jet landed at Mobile Regional Airport while its F18 escorts flew on to the USS GW Bush.”
“Sorry folks, but no one will greet you here. We are keeping everyone indoors until the Military says that they are finished testing the entire area for radiation, and it’s safe. Load up into the Humvees, and we’ll head over to the Compound.”
The large blast doors opened, and the Humvee traveled down a tunnel to the vehicle staging area over 1oo feet underground. When they turned the last corner and entered the main parking area, bright lights came on, and a band started playing “Hail to the Chief.”
Standing in front of them were all of their friends and family. Beth ran over to Kristie and Randy, gave them hugs and took little Jenn in her arms.
Jenn looked at Beth and shouted, “Momma, momma!”
“You didn’t forget me. Did you?”
John finished shaking hands, hugging his family and then just held Jenn for a while.
Ann, John’s ex-wife, the Mayor of Mobile, came over to welcome him back and said, “Y’all need to take some time with your family now because we have a “John’s Alive” dinner at 7:00 sharp. I lost the pool on when you’d return by 2 months.”
“Who won?”
“Bob and by the way, we got married two weeks ago!”
“Congratulations.”
✪
Chapter 4
Life Goes On.
Mobile
2022
The Compound
The dinner was almost overwhelming for John and Beth, especially as they thought about those who would never be there again. All of their friends and comrades, except the teams in the Northwest, were there to honor John and Beth. John saw his family and thought about his mom and dad. John had always assumed that his parents were dead. He had not tried to search for them.
He had the ability to compartmentalize tragic events that would have preyed on lesser men, but John cried when he learned that Sally, Meg, General Stokes and a dozen of his friends and compatriots were murdered, along with an unknowable number of the citizenry, of Mobile.
Several cities including Daphne and Fairhope had been flattened by the enormous wave created by the shockwave from the blast. Mobile was now a smoking hole that had filled and was now an extension of Mobile Bay.
John looked around the table and promised himself that this would never happen again. He would start a campaign to root out and kill all of the remaining Iranian terrorists and any leaders from the USA that had anything to do with the attack or would even think about attacking the ISA ever again.
It would take a few months to put in place, and he would select his team carefully to avoid anyone knowing their true mission. John was no longer going to play by the rules and did not care about collateral damage. Sleep with the enemy; die with the enemy.
***
John knew that someone had to run the country, but damn, this paperwork and running the country was killing him. He longed for the days when he could go hunt down thugs and kill them.
“John. John! Hey, wake up!”
“Damn George you startled me. I guess I was deep in thought.”
“John, we need to bring you up to speed on bills that need your approval or veto, the changes that I implemented in your absence and we need a committee to find a new location for our capital.”
“George, you were interim president. Approve or veto all bills passed in my absence. Go ahead and backdate them if you need to. You know I don’t like the paperwork end of this business. If you think that I would be firmly against any one of them, place the bill in front of me for my approval.”
“The only one giving me heartburn is the bill outlawing all abortions except for medical emergencies, rape, and incest.”
“I am against all abortions, and I know you are, also, so what is the problem?”
“There is still a minority of people who are pro-abortion. I would sign the bill and tell them to move to the USA if they don’t like the rules.”
“So sign it and stop the murder of innocent children. Come on, George, minorities are protected, their wishes do not rule over the majority.”
“Doctors or other people who perform abortions would be arrested.”
“Prisons need doctors. George, murder is against the law. PERIOD. They can move to the USA or PCS, but they can’t get an abortion here. We will provide transportation to the PCS, or to the border with the USA. Damn, we need every person we can get to build a strong country; we shouldn’t be killing babies. America lost over 270 million people in the last two years.”
“You’re preaching to the choir.”
“Do it.”
Hey on another note, several large gangs have reared their ugly heads in Kentucky and Tennessee since the attack on Mobile. They appear to think that we are weak and they want to divide up the ISA before the USA invades.”
“I want all of the Intel on the area around Nashville. I think that we need to move our capital to the area just south of there.”
“Beth would love to go back home?”
“Yes, and I plan to take a large force up there to clean out all of the human garbage, search for a place to build our capital and occupy the area. I will also begin fortifying our border with the USA. They will eventually try a large land-based attack since their other efforts have failed.”
“Damn John, we can’t have the President of the ISA traipsing around the country fighting thugs.”
“You are correct. Set up a flight to the Bush so I can turn the reigns over to you, former Interim, now permanent President.”
“You can’t just quit. The country needs you. Does Beth know?”
“I know it needs me hunting down the people who betrayed their country by dropping nuclear bombs on it. Killing bad guys is just a bonus for me. The country does not need me making laws and pushing paper. I’m telling Beth today, and I’m also taking her with me to Tennessee.”
“Well I’m against this, but President George Washington does have a certain ring to it. I only ask that we have the PCS start a Grand Jury to indict and issue warrants for their arrest. We don’t want to look like a lynch mob.”
“I agree, however, if they resist arrest I’ll shoot them down like the scum they are.”
Smiling, John said, “Oh, by the way, I’m guessing that the old South would roll over in its grave if they knew that their next President was a black man named George Washington.”
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“Probably, but things have changed. Race doesn’t matter after TC and the country owes that change to a man called John Harris who doesn’t see black or white.
“I did my best. What the heck is TC?”
“The Collapse. My staff says it sounds better than the shit hit the fan.
By the way, what the hell will your title be?”
“I don’t know, how about Special Advisor and Pest Exterminator for the President? Hey, I like the shit hit the fan better than lights out, TC or the event.”
Ignoring John, George replied, “Shit John, at least let me make you a General or a Duke or something.”
“I’ll take five-star General of the Army.”
How the hell do we announce this to the country?”
“I’d suggest we clear it with the Admiral first, then announce it to our staff, the Joint Chiefs, and then to the country.”
“I mean what is the reason?”
“We tell them that I did a great job getting the country through a major crisis and now need to focus on cleaning the country of criminals, dirt bags and traitors. That is something at which I am very good.
Plus, I’ll be turning the reigns over to a man who really can take the country forward into the future.”
“Have you told Gus?”
“Nope.”
“Oh crap, he’ll want to go with you.”
***
“Gus, I know that you want to go with me, but you are the Secretary of Defense, and the country can’t lose two major leaders in such a short time frame. Besides you have a wife and kids that need you at home.”
