by James Rosone
The next camera images were from a news drone that had flown in to the blast zone. The images were horrific. Bodies were strewn across the streets, crumpled against the sides of buildings and generally thrown around like rag dolls. Nearly every building was on fire. Streams of injured people were rushing out of the burning buildings. One injured woman in a business suit was carrying her severed arm with her, probably too delirious to realize that there was no way to reattach her appendage. A mother was seen cradling her young son in her arms, tears streaming down her face…he was obviously dead.
As the President sat there watching the images, he slowly sat forward in his chair in shock…thoughts raced through his mind.
“How could they have gotten a nuclear bomb into New York? What am I to do now?” he wondered.
“Mr. President, if they were able to sneak a nuclear weapon into New York Harbor, they could have smuggled in other bombs the same way,” National Security Advisor Mike Williams said with genuine fear and concern in his voice.
Mike felt like he had completely failed his President and the country. Despite his best efforts to try and protect the country, he had been unsuccessful; a nuclear bomb had destroyed the most iconic American city. Millions of people were either dead or would be dying. He closed his eyes for a moment and when he opened them, a fire was lit from the inside. He was determined to not let this happen again. Whatever it took to win this war, he would make it happen.
The President, still reeling from the images being shown on the TV, turned to the Director for Homeland Security and said, “Director Perez, I want every ship and shipping container in our ports searched immediately for a nuke. I do not care how many resources you need, or what needs to happen, get this done yesterday. Do you understand?”
“Yes, Mr. President. I will see to it immediately. I’ve already been in contact with the director of FEMA and the Red Cross; both organizations are mobilizing their people to New York as we speak,” responded Director Perez. He was also in shock; as the images of New York continued to play, the sum total of the human tragedy before him was completely overwhelming.
The President’s Chief of Staff turned to Henry and said, “Mr. President, the Secretary of Defense, Secretary Wise, and General Branson are in the Situation Room along with the Joint Chiefs; they are insisting that you join them immediately.”
“Tell them we are on our way,” the President said as he stood up and began to follow Monty into the hall.
As the President walked down the hallway to the Situation Room, his mind was racing with thoughts of what to do next. The President wanted to keep this war conventional; however, he had also warned the Islamic Republic that any further use of nuclear weapons against Israel or the United States would result in an immediate and severe reprisal.
“This war is quickly spiraling out of control,” he thought.
As the President entered the Situation Room, the group lost no time in getting down to business.
“Mr. President, we are still assessing the blast site to determine if it originated from the Islamic Republic,” Eric Clarke said as the President took his seat at the head of the table.
“If this traces back to the Islamic Republic, then I am going to ask for permission to use nuclear weapons,” General Branson asserted, slamming his fist on the table.
“Everyone, calm down,” urged the President. “We are all in a state of shock right now. The last thing we need to do is overreact. I assure you, General, if this traces back to the Islamic Republic, we are going to hit them hard. In the meantime, we need to identify with certainty where this bomb originated from, ensure there are no other immediate nuclear threats, and begin to assist the people of New York and New Jersey.”
The group seemed to take a collective deep breath. The President continued, “In the meantime, General Branson, I want our strategic bombers armed with nukes and ready to get airborne immediately if so ordered. I also want our ballistic missile submarines to move to their global launch sites immediately. We need to be prepared in case this is a coordinated attack.”
“I will send the order out immediately, Sir. We should have some information about the origins of the New York bomb within the hour,” responded General Branson.
Jorge Perez informed the group, “The FEMA Director said they are initiating their contingency plans, establishing dozens of emergency aid camps outside of New York City for people to flee to. However, it will be hours (if not a full day), before their full resources are in place.” The Director of Homeland Security was starting to feel completely overwhelmed in his position. It had been four days since he had slept in his own bed or even seen his wife and kids. Lately, he had been catching cat naps on the couch in his office, running from one disaster to another. Now a nuclear bomb had gone off in New York City…he was at his breaking point. Of course, he could not let his staff or anyone else see that; he needed to be the image of stoic strength. Inside, he just wanted to curl up in a ball and cry. He took a deep breath and steadied himself to face the next challenge and ensure his country survived the trials being thrown at it.
*******
Elsewhere throughout the country, the American people had been celebrating the first major victory of the war in Israel when they were suddenly rocked to the core by the images of a mushroom cloud over New York Harbor. People gathered in coffee shops and each other’s homes, silently watching the news and allowing themselves to be overwhelmed by the sheer destruction of New York and Jersey City. Virtually nothing was left standing in lower Manhattan. This was the second time that the World Trade Center had been destroyed. Dozens of skyscrapers and buildings all across the city were on fire, and others had sustained massive damage.
The indomitable spirit of the American people was bruised, but it could not be crushed. Heroes rose up to help those in need. In 2039, the DHS, DoD and FEMA had all planned for several mass casualty scenarios; now those strategies were being put to action. An army of volunteers donned HAZMAT suits and headed towards the blast site. The doctors, nurses and EMTs that arrived triaged the injured and the dead into different levels of required care; the casualties and the wounded were transferred to nearby airports or airfields, and then flown to predetermined hospitals or mortuaries for further care.
The goal was to recover the injured and have them moved to their final triage points within 24 hours, before the HAZMAT suits would need to be cycled out for new ones. This would quickly disperse the wounded away from the epicenter to less overloaded facilities. If this could be accomplished, there was a higher likelihood more individuals could be saved. As aircraft landed in the predetermined cities, hundreds of police, EMTs and firefighters (who had pre-volunteered to assist in a national emergency) would board the aircraft for the return flight where they would be needed most providing an immediate influx of emergency personnel. In the days following the disaster, civilians who had been displaced by the attack would also start to be dispersed to pre-determined refugee centers where they could be housed and taken care of until they could return or leave to stay with family.
A Caliph’s Dilemma
Day Twenty-Two
20 December 2040 – 0040 hours
Islamic Republic
Command Bunker under Riyadh
The Command Bunker that the leader of the Islamic Republic had moved the government to was developed by a famous Chinese engineer who had also developed similar bunkers for the leaders of China. It was a honeycomb of various living quarters, meeting rooms and work spaces designed to sustain and support a government or run a war several hundred feet below the surface. It also had multiple escape tunnels to ensure the occupants could exit when the crisis had passed. Caliph Mohammed and his senior staff had been quite comfortable staying there since the beginning of the war; and now that the Chinese were entering the conflict, he believed that the Americans would capitulate soon.
Mohammed sat in his war room, reading over the various field reports from General Abdullah Muhammed, his overall military com
mander in Jordan. The Command Bunker incorporated the latest in technology and communications systems, so the Caliph could effectively communicate with the outside world and continue to manage his armed forces from safety. Between the surveillance videos from the drones and the reports from Abdullah, he ascertained that the majority of his forces in Israel had either been destroyed or surrendered. The General estimated that they lost close to 400,000 soldiers in a single day. Of course, there were still close to 90,000 troops fighting in Southern Israel and General Abdullah had 300,000 troops in Amman. Another 1.2 million more reinforcements still in-route.
“Caliph Mohammed, General Abdullah is requesting permission to withdraw all IR forces from Israel and to consolidate them near Amman under the cover of our laser defense network,” General Rafik Hamza said, not sure how the Caliph would respond in light of the destruction of so many soldiers in the Jordan Valley and the loss of Jerusalem.
“Do you agree with the General’s assessment that he should withdraw his forces?” asked the Caliph, his voice dripping with disappointment and sarcasm.
General Hamza did not like to be talked down to; he resented the acid tone of the Caliph. It was his order to advance all their forces into the Jordan Valley, but this had made them too tempting of a target, and his men had been slaughtered by massive air raids. As far as General Hamza was concerned, this military catastrophe was entirely the Caliph’s fault.
“If he is allowed to withdraw his forces back to Amman, then he will be able to establish a defensive line until additional reinforcements from Iran and Iraq are able to move to the front. He is trying to buy time while ensuring the Americans are not able to launch an offensive and capture Amman,” General Hamza replied, clearly annoyed at having sound military advice being dismissed or questioned.
“This is a disgrace, General…an outrage. Nearly a decade of training, modernization and hundreds of billions spent on our military and in one day, our entire attacking force was wiped out. They didn’t even have to use nuclear weapons to do it!” raged the Caliph.
“If you will recall, my Caliph, you ordered General Abdullah to send all of our forces into the Jordan Valley to push past Jerusalem. General Abdullah’s original attacks may have been slower than we liked, but he was grinding the Israeli and American armies into the dirt prior to sending the entire army in.”
“Do not try to blame this catastrophe on me, General Hamza. I have provided everything the Army said you needed to win, and then some. We had Jerusalem; we nearly had Tel Aviv. Now our army is destroyed,” Caliph Abbas asserted, leaning back in his chair, exacerbated.
“All is not lost, Caliph. This is just a setback, and once our reinforcements from Iran and Iraq start to arrive, they will be able to resume the attack. There are 1.2 million additional troops on the way, along with another three million civilian volunteers. The Russians still have forces in Turkey and once they join the war, they will assist us in Israel. My Caliph, we lost a battle, but not the war,” the General reassured, trying to make certain that the situation could be turned around in time.
The General continued, saying, “I would also like to point out that we just launched our offensive in North Africa to push the American Marines into the Ocean. The Navy is also setting up hundreds of small motor boats with Exocet missiles to conduct hit and run attacks on the American supply lines, and once the Russians join, the American supply routes through the Mediterranean will be cut.” General Hamza was confident that he could regain the initiative and trust with the Caliph.
“We also have the first of Allah’s Swords about to be delivered to the Americans; we may be able to force them to capitulate to our demands as well,” General Rafi interjected.
Caliph Mohammed knew General Hamza and Rafi were correct and the smart move to make right now was to pull his forces back to Amman and regroup while they waited for reinforcements. The Russians were about to enter the war, and the Chinese had an expeditionary force on the way. Once the Russian and Chinese arrived, the IR’s fortunes would change. They just needed to stay the course.
An Army Colonel walked into the room and immediately began to move towards General Hamza. Once he reached the General, he whispered something in his ear; General Hamza started to smile and his eyes began to light up.
“General, I assume you have received some good news? Please share it with us,” Mohammed Abbas commanded.
“I believe we should turn on Al-Jazeera. The first of Allah’s Swords has been successfully delivered to New York City.”
As the TV was turned on, the council members watched as the scene unfolded. The various images showed the vast destruction of New York. The widespread devastation of the city was made complete with the obvious absence of the Statute of Liberty and the World Trade Center. Images of mangled bodies strewn along the streets flashed across the screen; throngs of wounded tried to flee the city as many more were practically piled on top of each other at overcrowded emergency rooms.
Dozens and dozens of military helicopters could be seen ferrying people from the more damaged areas of the city to numerous triage locations and regional airports. The skies were abuzz with military aircraft. Fires could be seen burning out of control in several of the boroughs and Jersey City and blazes also plagued numerous container ships and other large ships that had been in the various harbors and piers. It was a picture of complete and utter destruction.
General Hamza smiled. Then, picking up his tablet, he decided to lose no time, and started sending out additional orders. “Colonel, send word to all of our radar stations and laser defense centers to be prepared for the Americans’ response. They will most likely attack us with nuclear missiles.”
Mohammed Abbas looked at the images in awe and a bit of fear. If their nuclear bomb could do this amount of damage, how much damage would the Americans inflict on the Islamic Republic with their much larger nuclear arsenal? The Islamic Republic still had close to 400 nuclear weapons; however, none of the warheads compared in size to the American, Russian or Chinese city killers (the 300 to 500 kiloton range and higher). After longing for this moment for so long, Mohammed began to wonder if attacking an American city directly with a nuclear weapon was the best way to bring terror to America.
They were supposed to coordinate the bomb going off with the second bomb quickly to follow. “They must have had to move up the timetable for some reason,” thought Mohammed Abbas. The genie was out of the bottle now; it was too late to go back. Looking at Talal bin Abdulaziz, the Foreign Minister, he ordered, “I need you to contact the American government immediately. We need to make our demand to them immediately before they launch a counterattack.”
Talal looked at Mohammed Abbas for a second before responding, “I will start on that immediately. Please give me a couple of minutes to make a few phone calls.” Talal picked his tablet up and then dialed a phone number he had that was to be the official number used for the two governments to communicate with.
As the phone began to ring, Talal was trying to think about what to say – “This is the Presidential switchboard, how may I direct your call?” asked a man’s voice.
“This is Talal bin Abdulaziz, the Islamic Republic’s Foreign Minister. I have the rest of the Islamic Council with me. We would like to speak to President Stein.”
“Please hold one minute.”
The Phone Rings
Day Twenty-One
19 December 2040, 45 minutes post nuclear detonation
The HIVE, Situation Room
As President Stein, his cabinet and advisors were trying to determine if the nuclear bomb originated from the Islamic Republic and what their response would be, an aide interrupted the discussion to announce the IR Foreign Minister and Caliph Mohammed were on the phone and would like to speak with the President. The room suddenly fell silent and all eyes turned to the President.
“Please put them through. We have a lot to discuss,” said the President, eyes ablaze with fury.
“Mr. President, this is Talal
bin Abdulaziz, the Foreign Minister for the Islamic Republic. I also have Mohammed Abbas, our Caliph, and General Rafik Hamza on the line with us. We wish to discuss a matter of great urgency with you.” Back at the Command Bunker in Riyadh, Talal looked nervously back and forth from General Hamza to Caliph Mohammed. However, the anxious thoughts he was having did not translate into his voice; in a feat of great acting, he sounded as confident as any great number of dictators delivering a monologue to a brainwashed crowd.
President Stein believed the IR was either calling to claim this attack or to try and assure the Americans they had nothing to do with it. In either case, the President was about to ensure Caliph Mohammed knew his only choice was to surrender and end this war.
“This is President Stein. Please go ahead with whatever it is you wish to discuss; then I have something I would like to say since we have everyone on the line talking.”
Mohammed had rehearsed this conversation in his mind hundreds of times. Now he was talking directly to the President of the United States and about to make the ultimate demand.
“Mr. President, this is Caliph Mohammed. For over one hundred years the West has propped up dictators in the Middle East and waged countless wars over our oil. America has led most of these aggressions against the Middle East, and we hold America accountable for the millions of people who have died at the expense of Western interventions in the lands of the Prophet.”
“Today, the first of many of Allah’s Swords was delivered to America with the destruction of New York City. If America does not begin an immediate ceasefire and withdraw of all military forces from the Middle East and North Africa, and surrender the Jewish State to the Islamic Republic, then additional nuclear bombs will be detonated in American cities,” announced Caliph Mohammed with a steady and commanding voice.
