Castle Bravo

by Karna Small Bodman

  “Here. Have some salsa,” Hunt offered, shaking her out of her reverie. This was ridiculous. She was fantasizing about the man and he was sitting across from her. Get a grip, grab a taco and just be patient. After all, they had all night, didn’t they?

  Hunt had left his cell phone on the kitchen counter and when it chimed, he muttered, “Damn,” and reached over to see who was calling. “Gotta take this one, Cam.”

  “No problem,” she said, spooning some salsa and sour cream onto her taco.

  “Oh Jesus,” Hunt exclaimed into the phone. “Are you sure? Photos? YouTube? So we were right all along.”

  CHAPTER FORTY-THREE

  THE WHITE HOUSE

  “Good Morning, Samantha. Welcome back,” her admin assistant said. “Classified papers are in your safe, your inbox is kind of, well, over flowing. The most important summons is from Cosgrove for a meeting at eight in the Sit Room. It’s on top. And the reports on that nuclear mess in Kazakhstan are all over Facebook and YouTube. The optics are really awful. Oh, and there’s fresh coffee.”

  Samantha hung her navy blazer on the coat rack just inside the door, glanced at her desk and said, “Pictures are that bad, huh? I saw a few news reports when I got up. Can you believe all those mobs screaming for food and the soldiers trying to hold them back? My God, it looked like those student riots in Tehran some time back.”

  “It just means that you were right all along about the effects of a blast like that. Everybody’s talking about it. Legislative Affairs says they’re going to try to get some additional funding to harden the electricity grid. Guess they finally paid attention to your memos. Anyway, glad to have you back. Nothing works right in this office when you’re away. Shilling’s off on some tangent about a new chemical readiness program. We’ve announced how we’re putting our own sanctions on Kazakhstan. Well, I’m sure you saw all of that when you were in Houston. And Angela stopped by to see when you’d be getting back. We got to talking, and she told me that Max Federman has been after her again.” Joan made a face like a four-year-old refusing to eat spinach. “I think that makes four White House staffers that he’s hit on. So far that I know of. He thinks that just because of his exalted position, or whatever he calls it, every woman is going to succumb to his perceived charm.”

  “The old ‘power being the ultimate aphrodisiac’ certainly doesn’t apply to that guy,” Samantha said. “One of these days he’s going to get sued.”

  “Or bounced outta here.” Joan turned, “Sure you don’t want some coffee?”

  “Come to think of it, coffee would be great. I’d get it, but it looks like I’d better get through this stuff before the Sit Room meeting.” She glanced at her watch. She’d have forty-five minutes to speed through a stack that took three days to accumulate. She opened the safe, took out the folders, and began to dig in. She read through the latest intel on a series of threats discovered by an agent in Pakistan, the arrest and interrogation of a woman caught with explosives in the Short Hills Mall in New Jersey, an item about someone trying to sell a scud missile on eBay. Then she read an exchange between Ken Cosgrove and Congresswoman Betty Barton about the need for expanded missile defense systems in the face of new worldwide threats. He had told her about our picking up that the Chinese are considering developing EMP weapons to neutralize the 7th fleet in case China ever wants to attack Taiwan. That fleet is the one that would normally come to Taiwan’s aid. But Barton stuck to her position that a biological attack was much more likely, and she wanted to concentrate funds in that area. As Samantha read the words, it seemed like she was watching a verbal tennis game and it was way beyond Love All.

  “Here’s your coffee,” Joan said. “And oh, I almost forgot, you’ve had three calls from Tripp Adams. Said to tell you he’s back in town.” She lowered her voice and murmured in a sympathetic tone, “Then again, I remember you said you never wanted to see him again. Anyway, just wanted you to know he called.” She turned and went back to her desk.

  Did she want to see him again? Absolutely not. After those three terrible days in Houston, dealing with the funeral, the old friends of her dad’s telling her over and over again what a great guy he was and how he died “way too young,” her determination to cut all ties with Tripp was reinforced. How could she spend time with the man she felt bore the brunt of the responsibility for her father’s death? Sure, Jake might have had a heart attack, but if he had been here or in Houston or most anywhere in the states, she was certain he could have had immediate care. And besides, the pacemaker wouldn’t have failed here. It just would not have happened. No, she couldn’t face Tripp again. As she had said when he called with the awful news, she didn’t want to see him. Not now. Not ever.

  She finished the coffee, hoping the caffeine fix would give her some sort of a lift. She could sure use one today. She tossed the files back into the safe, picked up her leather folder and blazer and headed down the two flights of stairs to the Situation Room.

  “Good morning, Samantha,” the NSC advisor said, looking up from his place at the head of the conference table. “Awfully sorry about your dad, but we’re glad to have you back.” She nodded and slipped into one of the leather swivel chairs. Hunt Daniels was there along with a woman she had never met, but figured was the famous Dr. Cameron Talbot. She reached across the table to introduce herself.

  “Samantha Reid.”

  “I’m Cammy Talbot. Good to meet you,” the blond woman said.

  “The Cameron Talbot,” Samantha said with a welcoming smile. “I’ve heard so much about you and your work. Glad to have you on board.”

  “Please. It’s just Cammy, but thanks.”

  Samantha realized she felt some sort of bond right away. She liked Cammy. There was something about her open, friendly look that made you want to forget that she was a noted Ph.D. and someone the press had called a “Savior” when she not only knocked down a missile headed for New Delhi some time ago, but also engineered a new, crazy way to protect airliners from attack that looked like something out of a SciFi film.

  “Shall we get started here?” Ken Cosgrove said, nodding to a Sit Room staffer who flicked on one of the screens. Cammy saw images of hordes of people screaming at soldiers holding bayonets. They were facing off in streets where cars and buses stood still like silent sentries monitoring the action. The only moving vehicles were the jeeps filled with troops.

  “These videos were evidently taken by some of Kazakhstan’s soldiers flown in to restore order in Atyrau. That’s the city along the Caspian that was affected by the EMP. Other villages were knocked out as well, of course, but the biggest problem is in the city where the people were more dependent on electricity, transportation, cell towers and all the rest. These pictures were uploaded to YouTube, and now they’re all over the world. We’re trying to assess just how far the pulse went, but as you can see, the chaos looks to be pretty widespread. There’s no telling how long it will take to install new systems there. They have to start from scratch, as you all know. Could be months or even a year.”

  “How could the blast’s result extend such a distance?” Samantha asked. “I mean, I’ve read the Kazaks put out that statement about a very small device and how it was a mistake. If it really were so small, I know about line-of-sight effects, but I’m not completely sure why it goes so far.”

  Cammy answered. “You see, it’s like this. When a nuclear weapon goes off many miles up, think about a huge phased-array antennae in the sky that radiates the pulse to the ground. Then the fireball heats the field and you get a current like a geo-magnetic storm. Consider EMP as a radio frequency, a high frequency pulse that covers a wide range of frequencies. Where you have telephone lines, water pipes, they can all pick them up and project them like an antenna too. So any electronics that we turn on would be affected. And not just affected, but fried. Ruined. See what I mean.”

  “I’ve got it now,” Samantha said. “When people get too technical around here I sometimes think I need sub-titles. But you’ve exp
lained it. So, thanks.” She turned to Ken. “Have you seen anything new from the government in Astana?”

  “As you said, their president keeps saying it was all a big mistake. Human error. That sort of nonsense. He keeps stonewalling on inspections, and as the vice president previewed the other day, we’ve slapped some sanctions on their top people, and we’ve got State trying to get Britain, Germany, Russia and China to sign on,” Ken explained. “Russia’s got a bit of a problem. On the one hand they’re furious with Kazakhstan for developing a nuke in the first place. But there are millions of ethnic Russians living in the country, and they’re hesitating about placing any major sanctions. I think they’ll look at it as a menu of options though and agree to freeze some assets of individuals they don’t like anyway. As for the Chinese, no cooperation at all.” Another image was flashed onto the screen. It was a map of the eastern half of Kazakhstan. “China shares a huge border with the Kazaks, have a lot of trade with them, but the biggest problem is China’s thirst for oil, and they’re not about to take an action against one of their major suppliers. So they’ll be no help at all. In fact, they’ll sabotage us when this comes before the UN next week.”

  “Getting down to our own worries,” Hunt interjected. “It’s one thing for the Kazaks to get into a pissing match with the Russians over nuclear power. The real threat now is that since the world knows they’ve got this weapon and what it can do, I’m afraid it’ll create a bidding war for any number of terrorist groups and other countries who will try to buy these things. If the Kazaks have any more that is. Then it’s world-wide pandemonium.”

  “So, not only do we have to stop the Kazaks from developing any more weapons,” Ken said, “we’ve got to increase our defenses on the off chance they do sell something to somebody. Not that they need the money, but corruption is so rampant in that part of the world, who knows who would sell what to whom?”

  “And that brings us to Dr. Talbot,” Hunt said. “Your turn, Cam.”

  “Well, as Hunt knows, I just got back from a trip to our California facility where they’ve been working on the advance Airborne Laser. And while I believe it’s a great weapon to have in our arsenal, besides the budget cuts, the other problem is one of distance. The plane carrying it has to be within a range of several hundred kilometers of a launch, and who knows where an attack could be coming? Of course, we have our ground-based interceptors arrayed out at Vandenberg Air Force Base in Santa Barbara that are linked to radar and satellites in Fort Greely, Alaska. Denmark operates the radar systems in Greenland, and we’re all tied together. But still. Most of these systems, even the Aegis on board our ships are designed to destroy a missile in the boost phase or, at last resort, the re-entry phase. But with this new situation, I’m trying to put together a system we could use to prevent the launch of a missile in the first place.”

  “How could you do that?” Samantha asked.

  “We’re not sure yet, but I’ve got several teams working on a whole host of ideas. Everything from jamming GPS systems to new radar viruses.”

  “How soon can you test them?” Ken asked, making several notes.

  “We’re on a crash course with all of it,” Cammy replied. “But it could be months.”

  “We may not have months,” Ken said.

  Samantha eyed him suspiciously. “Are you saying that you think there is some sort of imminent threat here? To us or to our troops overseas or something?” she asked with growing concern.

  “No actionable intelligence. Just a real sense of urgency,” he said firmly.

  “I wish the Hill had that same sense,” Hunt said.

  “In your dreams,” Cammy replied. “We know all too well how hard it is to even get an earmark for a special project these days. But don’t worry about the money. At this point, we’re on it. And if I get my way, we’ll figure out some new systems that won’t break the bank.”

  “Speaking of breaking the bank,” Samantha said, “Looking at those pictures coming out of Atyrau and then comparing what they rely on and what we rely on, I shudder to think about the chaos such an attack would inflict on one of our cities. We’d all be living like the Amish.”

  “Yeah,” Hunt said. “But at least those people know how to survive. The question is, do we?”

  CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR

  ATYRAU, KAZAKHSTAN

  “I know plan,” Nurlan called out, storming into the apartment. He was hauling in bags of rice, salted beef, and several bottles of water. “Zhanar? Pete? Come here. I tell you. Plan bad. Very very bad.” He set the bags on the table as Pete and Zhanar tumbled out of the bedroom looking slightly guilty. Her long dark hair was tousled, her blouse was buttoned the wrong way, and Pete was trying to zip up his khakis while simultaneously looking nonchalant. It wasn’t working.

  Nurlan stared first at his sister and then at his friend. “So. You are … you are … you are what?”

  Zhanar would not meet his stern gaze. Pete was momentarily speechless. He reached for a bottle of water and said, “Hey this stuff is great. Thanks for getting it. We ran out last night.”

  Nurlan shouted at Pete. “Look you! You dishonor my sister? I bring you my country. I help you with job. We work on groups. But you come here and you take Zhanar?” He lunged toward Pete who backed away and held up his hands in mock surrender.

  “Wait. Wait. Please wait. It’s not what you think.”

  “No? How you know what I think?” Nurlan said, inching closer to him. “She good girl. Best girl. Only sister.”

  “I know. Believe me, I know.”

  Zhanar rushed to Pete’s side. “Nurlan, listen to me. It’s all right. It’s not his fault. I know what I’m doing.”

  “You not know,” Nurlan bellowed.

  “Yes, I do,” she countered. “I’ve been living on my own for a long time while you’ve been studying in the states. I’ve taken care of myself. I’ve saved myself for …”

  “For what?” Nurlan countered. “For him? Man who will leave you?”

  “Who says I’ll leave her?” Pete said. “I … uh … Nurlan listen to me. The first time I saw her, that first time in the airport, I thought she was the prettiest girl I had ever seen.”

  “Better than California girls?” Nurlan challenged.

  Pete put his arm around Zhanar and proclaimed, “Much better. We’ve been together for weeks now. Holed up here.”

  “And remember, when the trouble hit, Pete saved my life,” she said. “You can’t forget that.”

  “He save other woman too, but he not take other woman,” Nurlan said disparagingly.

  “No,” Pete said. “Of course I didn’t take other women. I don’t want other women. I only want Zhanar.” He pulled her closer to him.

  “For how long?” Nurlan asked.

  “For as long as she wants me,” Pete answered.

  Nurlan looked at his sister and furrowed his brow. “What he mean? You think American will marry a Kazak?”

  “Why not?” she asked, gazing up at Pete with a questioning look.

  Pete hesitated and took a gulp of water.

  “You see?” Nurlan said. “He not take you away. He use you.”

  “No! You’re wrong,” Pete said, and then he blurted out, “I’ve been thinking about this, about her, about us, ever since I got here. I don’t have it all worked out. I mean I still have to finish school, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want her with me. Look, let’s all just simmer down and remain calm. I … uh … I love her,” he murmured, holding a chair for Zhanar.

  Nurlan let out a long sigh and reluctantly sat down at the table. “We see. We talk this later.”

  Zhanar sat down and said, “When you came in, I heard you say something about a plan. A bad plan. What were you talking about?”

  Nurlan sat back and rubbed his eyes. “It been long day. Too long. President’s man was back with final orders. I said before we told put new weapon together. We do that. Man say all is ready to load all on transport plane, and plane takes us …”

&n
bsp; “Wait a minute,” Zhanar interrupted. “Us? The Plane takes us? You mean they’re making you go with the bomb?”

  “Yes. They say I best on computers. All know that.”

  “But where are you going?” Pete asked. “What are they going to do with the bomb?”

  “It all big secret but I find out. Transport flies to base in China on coast.”

  “Where?” they both said in unison.

  “Base outside Shanghai by East China Sea.”

  “Why China?” Zhanar asked. “China and Kazakhstan are friends.

  “That’s why China. Some China people work with us. We land there. Take bomb off plane and put on special boat. Agent there getting boat for us.”

  “Then what?” Pete asked.

  “This is really secret part,” Nurlan said. “We sail across Pacific to California.”

  “California?” Pete stammered. “They’re going to attack California? They can’t do that.”

  “Not all California. Man say we send up weapon from boat high again. Like before. He say no kill people. He say president wants bomb only knock out San Francisco like other bomb knock out Atyrau.”

  “Oh no!” Pete said, jumping up and knocking his chair back on the linoleum floor. “That would destroy the city. Nothing would work just like nothing works here. Why in God’s name would they want to do that? It makes no sense. No sense at all.”

  “I think same. Man says he just gets order from president. He says United States punishing our country for bomb test. He says government there stopping our money, our trade, lots things. He says president wants teach Americans lesson.”