by Parker James
Mitch and Anya were both greatly relieved at the news that their daughter was okay, and no longer having that burden their minds were fully diverted to the screen before them, garnering their undivided attention. While they wouldn’t have any input in the decisions that were made, they most certainly would bear witness to the utter destruction of the world as they knew it.
And yet it continued. All of those red lines rising, each and every one representing a nuclear warhead carrying multiple payloads. Technology had advanced quickly over the preceding decades and the destructive power of the nuclear weapons contained within those warheads was unimaginable. The total destruction of North and South Korea months earlier had been testament to that. No longer was one single missile able to obliterate an entire city; one single missile had the ability to eliminate multiple cities. Over time the destructive power of nuclear weapons had only increased, making their initial use over a century earlier at Hiroshima and Nagasaki pale in comparison with today’s weaponry. Knowing this, for the last fifty years the United States and its allies invested heavily in the advancement and production of anti-ballistic missile systems, the only hope being to prevent the weapons from ever finding their targets in the first place. Specifically, automated drone and anti-ballistic missile intercept systems had been developed. The nuclear genie had long been out of the bottle, and even those considered “rogue” nations had nuclear arsenals available to them that one would simply shudder at the thought. President Andrews, Generals’ McCreary and Meehan, and all of the Joint Chiefs had many discussions on the subject, eventually bringing the anti-ballistic drone fleet up to 30,000 units, with the hope of obliterating any warheads directed at the United States high in the atmosphere before their destructive power could ever be unleashed. 10,000 drone units had been distributed to allied nations while 15,000 were specifically dedicated to the protection of the United States while the other 5,000 would be kept in reserve. But there were holes in the system as there inevitably always are. Nuclear missiles launched from nearby locations had no need for an arcing ballistic missile; they could simply be deployed at low-altitude below the radar signature and find their intended targets completely undetected. Should any nuclear weapons be launched in close proximity to the United States by other nations’ submarine fleets, little if any warning would be given. All of these factors were taken into consideration as President Andrews questioned General Meehan at NORAD.
“How much time do you think we have, General, if we’re targeted?”
“Half an hour at most, Mr. President, that is unless of course we’re targeted by submarines off our coasts. If that happens, we’ll only have a matter of minutes.”
“Do you think our adversaries would be bold enough to do that if we get dragged into this mess?”
“I do, sir. Most definitely our population centers and offensive military installations with nuclear capabilities will be targeted.” Those in the control room saw one of Meehan’s aides approach him and whisper in his ear, to which Meehan said, “First wave of defensive stealth drones have been launched on both sides of the Atlantic and Pacific; 3,000 units and gaining altitude.”
President Andrews asked Meehan again even more firmly now, “General, can we be completely certain that we’ll be targeted?”
“Ninety-nine percent certainty, sir. If Europe is hit, which we’ll know first barring any offshore launches against us, then the answer is yes, Mr. President, most definitely.”
“And the bunkers?”
“Possible. The only thing working in our favor is that our enemies know if they target our bunker sites then we’ll respond in like kind out of necessity despite our prior transmissions indicating neutrality. We’ll simply have to as a deterrent. Other nations will target us regardless; we can only hope to minimize the level of damage by intercepting as many missiles as possible.”
Andrews turned to Professor Enghult, whose mind seemed to be processing information almost as one would imagine a computer would.
“Professor Enghult, can our bunker systems withstand a direct nuclear hit if they’re targeted?”
Enghult’s response surprised the President. Sir, I haven’t disclosed this up until now, but the specifications indicated in our initial designs were modified during the construction phase. I directed that the bunkers be overbuilt, so yes, I’m fairly certain that they can withstand a very close hit unless the missiles land directly on top of any individual bunker on a ground impact.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes sir, I am.”
Under any other circumstances Andrews would have been furious with Enghult for not being informed of this earlier, but at the moment it almost seemed a Godsend. The President continued questioning those around him, his eyes never leaving the monitor displaying the big-board at NORAD which continued to track sporadic ballistic missile launches.
“General Meehan, have our nuclear plants been directed to go into automatic shutdown mode?”
”Affirmative, Mr. President.”
“And our Naval Fleet?”
“Well distributed throughout the world and continuing in stealth mode as ordered. All vessels have been advised to receive coded transmissions only and are not to respond unless absolutely necessary, otherwise they run the risk of giving away their location and becoming potential targets for those inclined.”
“General, send out a coded message to the entire Naval Fleet advising them of the current situation in Asia. Continue to send out updates as they develop for as long as possible.”
Meehan’s aide went about the task of advising the Naval Fleet as Andrews then asked, “Are all of our bunker sites currently locked down?”
“They are, Mr. President. Also, the Vice President and Secretaries of State’s flight has been redirected to an alternate bunker site located in West Virginia and recently arrived safely.”
“That’s good news,” Andrews said relieved.
As much as it pained the President to make certain that the bunkers were locked down knowing that others could still be saved, even though small in number compared to those who would be lost should the United States be attacked, he somehow felt as if he was handing out death sentences, but it had to be done and was the lesser of two evils. He decided as the Conyers’ had some time earlier to concentrate on those who could be saved as opposed to those who undoubtedly would be lost. He put it out of his mind for now as best he could, and if he survived perhaps one day it would return to haunt him, but it was a decision that had to be made and now wasn’t the time to ponder future regrets. Momentarily lost in his thoughts, the President’s heart leapt as he suddenly saw several hundred red lines disappear from the monitor, specifically those missiles that had been launched from central China.
“General Meehan, are the Chinese destroying the missiles that they’ve already launched?”
“No, Mr. President. The missiles destroyed reflect the warring parties deploying their own defensive systems. There seems to have been perhaps a 30% interception rate.”
As Meehan spoke, red circular patterns now began emerging on the screen indicating ballistic nuclear weapons finding their targets on the war fronts in southern China against the Indians and Pakistanis as well as the Russian front in the Mongolian Region. Andrews was completely mortified, knowing what those red patterns truly meant for those on the ground.
“General Meehan,” he asked, resigned to what he’d just witnessed, “do we have confirmation of nuclear detonations in those regions?”
“We do, sir, our satellites are picking them up now. Without a doubt casualties are in the millions.”
Suddenly hundreds upon hundreds of new red lines appeared indicating massive numbers of nuclear missiles being launched; thousands in-fact. Andrews, his voice withering asked Meehan, “Do we have any indication of where those additional missiles were launched from?”
“From where, Mr. President?” Meehan replied distantly, “From everywhere.”
Andrews’ heart sank as he fell back i
nto his chair and saw more and more red circular patterns appear on the monitor. It was the worst-case-scenario; their nightmares come to life despite everything they’d done to avoid it - global nuclear war.
Episode 11: “Darkness Falls”
* * *
General McCreary remained silent, watching as events escalated beyond the point of no return. Up until this point President Andrews had been in complete control of the situation, yet at this juncture immediate action had to be taken on the part of the United States and its allies, even if just for the sake of self-preservation. By now well over 2,500 ballistic missiles had been launched on the Asian Continent alone. McCreary gave the President a moment to collect himself, but having lived and breathed this scenario for well over a decade now, having been born and bred in the military environment he knew what additional actions needed to be taken immediately and in a dramatic sense. Giving President Andrews a little more time as Meehan at NORAD awaited further orders, McCreary was going to voice his opinion and recommend a course of action. Many contingency plans had been made over the prior years according to various scenarios, but the situation still remained fluid. Before the General was able to voice his opinion President Andrews spoke.
“General Meehan,” the President said with conviction, “Launch all of our remaining anti-ballistic missiles and intercept drones including the reserve fleet.”
Now General Phillip H. McCreary would be heard regardless of the repercussions. Having been just as silent as Meehan was as he too awaited further orders, he knew that launching the entire reserve fleet was a critical mistake and its retention would be crucial to the future survival of the United States no matter what form that might take. The fact that a global nuclear holocaust was upon the entire world as they knew it was an undeniable fact; the missiles were already in the air and well on their way to their intended targets. It would only be a matter of minutes for those in Asia and Europe, but the United States thankfully had a little more time due to its distance from the other nuclear powers.
“Mr. President,” McCreary said firmly, “If I may?”
Andrews respected McCreary greatly, which was why he had insisted upon keeping him on as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs when he was first inaugurated slightly over three years earlier. McCreary had been privileged to all of the knowledge, information, and preparations for this possible outcome for well over a decade now, indeed during the prior two administrations as well. And so the President, although he too from a military background was intelligent enough to know that McCreary’s opinions should and must be heard; he didn’t want to make a critical mistake that would be irreversible to say the least. And in that vein President Andrews replied to McCreary firmly yet simply.
“Yes, General McCreary, you may.”
First McCreary turned to the monitor and addressed General James (Jim) Meehan at NORAD.
“Jim, how many birds are we currently tracking?”
“3,200 worldwide through satellite imagery, but the numbers are changing by the minute,” Meehan responded.
“Are there indications of any birds headed our way yet?”
“172 inter-continental ballistic missiles launched from our friends in the Middle East have been deployed within the last two minutes and are approaching the Atlantic, without a doubt headed in our direction.”
Despite his station as Commander-in-Chief, President Andrews listened intently without interruption and hearing of this new development let out an audible gasp, yet by the same token allowed McCreary to continue his line of questioning. The President sensed, in fact knew McCreary did indeed have a plan and determined to only interject if and when he felt the need. So now the President became the observer as McCreary went to work.
“Jim, any indication of missile launches off our coastline?”
“None detected as of yet. If they’re launched through submarines we can anticipate them unloading their entire payload. We can’t detect the location of the stealth subs themselves, but our sonar listening posts will be able to pick up the missile launches immediately and we’ll be able to take those subs out after the fact. They know that and also know it’s a suicide mission on their part. We won’t be able to stop the missiles as the birds themselves will already be in the air and most below our radar signature. We’ll have little chance of stopping them, if any at all,” Meehan responded.
“Jim, I’m going to issue you a flurry of orders and if we have any indication of launches off of our coast and lose communication, I want you to take over command and do whatever you think is necessary at your discretion. Is that understood?”
“Understood, General.”
“But also understand this. You are to strictly follow the President’s orders and launch no, repeat, no offensive nuclear weapons under any circumstances. If we’re targeted off our coast I want those subs taken out with conventional weapons only. That just might stop any other subs also ordered to launch; they just might second guess those orders knowing it also means their own certain demise.”
“Any birds headed our way from the Pacific?” McCreary then asked.
“Trajectories from Asia too early to tell, Phil. We’re picking up multiple launches from Russia, India, and Pakistan as well. Whether they’re going to duke it out between themselves or spread it around is an unknown. We’ll know a little bit more as we continue to track them, however, the Japanese have already launched their entire drone intercept fleet, 300 in all. I suspect they anticipate a number of missiles coming their way from the Russians; they’ve had poor relations for centuries.”
McCreary continued his questioning.
“Jim, give me a timeframe to impact on the Asian continent.”
“Five minutes at most.”
Just as Meehan finished these words McCreary saw an aide run up to him on the monitor and whispered in his ear.
“Ok,” Meehan responded. Meehan again turned to face the monitor. “Phil, sonar systems picking up missile launches off the Indian coast in the Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal. Best guess, Chinese submarine missile launches against India and Pakistan. Tracking 3400 plus missile launches in total now.”
“Ok then, here’s what I want you to do. We have 3,000 drone units in the air already. I want 2,000 headed over the Pacific and Atlantic immediately. Any ICBM’s headed our way I want caught at the halfway point when they’re in the stratosphere so that any nuclear fallout is minimized. Launch all 12,000 remaining drones in our intercept fleet immediately but until given further orders I want you to keep the 5,000 unit reserve fleet intact.”
McCreary didn’t need to ask Meehan if he understood, these were direct orders from a superior officer and Meehan would follow them. But by McCreary issuing these orders he himself directly contradicted the President’s previous orders to launch the reserve fleet and looked over at the President who was about to interject. McCreary continued to speak and in so doing stopped President Andrews before he could question the General overriding his orders as McCreary’s reasoning and following words were an explanation of sorts. He was speaking to Meehan but also specifically to President Andrews, knowing what was in his mind.
“Jim, if too many of those nukes detonate we’re going to lose all satellite communication and imagery for God knows how long. Those remaining 5,000 drones are shielded against EMP pulses and radiation. They’ll end up being our only means of communication between the bunker sites, Naval Fleet, and our allies as well as further protection and reconnaissance if we’re targeted a second time. Even if and when our satellites do come back on-line we’ll have limited communications and imagery at best. There’ll be too much debris in the atmosphere for them to penetrate on any significant basis for months, if not longer.”
President Andrews suddenly understood why McCreary wanted to keep those 5,000 anti-ballistic reserve drones intact, and only for that reason alone held himself at bay. McCreary certainly had a plan and the President was going along with it until indicated otherwise. So again Andrews let him continue withou
t interruption. Knowing time was short General McCreary continued to bark out orders to Meehan at NORAD.
“Jim, notify our allies to launch their drone fleets immediately and target anything headed their way. I want those drones at sufficient altitude to intercept and minimize any fallout. If you have indications that our satellites are being targeted I want 70% of them moved to higher orbit and out of range of any missiles. Let the chafe loose and send them the codes to automatically re-align to their original orbit on a staggered basis starting in one months’ time. You already have the recognition codes for the drones. If we’re hit I want you to send out one drone each day to the primary bunker site until we’re certain that they’re able to withstand the EMP damage and radiation.”
McCreary then turned to the President and with the highest degree of respect and dignity the President deserved he asked,
“Mr. President, Sir. Is there anything you wish to add?”
President Andrews responded simply.
“No, General McCreary. Please continue.”
Truly General McCreary thought all of those in the room were indispensable, yet he’d never given himself any credit whatsoever for his own role in the grand scheme of things, nor did he currently. But everyone else in the room realized it. McCreary was silent, momentarily contemplating what more could possibly be done when again the President spoke.
