United States Invaded

by Ira Tabankin

  “Very good Senior Lieutenant. After our final meeting in an hour, the teams will leave for their assignments. Timing is key, our orders say we have to make sure our attacks take place within a short window.”

  The Spetsnaz meet in a United hanger at the far end of runway R 32 at LAX. The captain walks to the front of the room, “Comrades, did any of you every think we’d fly into Los Angles International Airport carrying our own weapons without any worry of anyone checking our airplane or luggage?”

  The group laughs.

  “I’m not going to waste our time repeating our orders, we all know them. Here are the few things I want you to remember:

  “One - I don’t want to hear Russian again until we’re home

  “Two - I don’t want to see any of our uniforms until we’re home

  “Three - Act like Americans, talk like Americans, eat, drink and screw like Americans, from this moment on, we are Americans.

  “Four - Don’t get arrested for anything stupid. If I learn any of you get yourselves arrested for speeding or driving while drunk, you’ll wish you died here, because what waits for you back home will make death look easy. President Puten is counting on us to send a message. A message that will make the Americans scared and convinced the world America can’t be trusted with nuclear weapons.

  “Remember your training, you know your targets and transportation. Remember, we’re playing this one on the enemy’s home turf. Don’t assume the Americans are stupid. Don’t assume they won’t fight if they think you’re putting them at risk. There are still over 200 million guns in the hands of Americans, don’t get into an old west style gun fight with them. I delivered you all here; I want to see all of your ugly faces when we get home.”

  The Russian troops start moving off the airport in groups of six and eight man teams. They’re spreading out across America.

  @@@@@

  “Your Holiness, the College of Cardinals, is requesting you to attend a special meeting.”

  “Georg, we both know what they want, I’m not going to give it to them. I can’t give it to them. It will ultimately destroy the Holy Church. I won’t stand by and be part of the destruction of the Holy Church.”

  “Your Holiness, what do you lose by attending their meeting?”

  “The Pope doesn’t report to the College. I answer to God. If we do what they want, for a handful of money, we will harm the future of the church. I can not, I will not, bring harm to the church. As such I can’t and won’t be part of this scheme to announce some non-Christian, who didn’t believe in the Holy Father, be appointed a Saint. To do so will bring harm to the memory all of the Saints. To do as they want would make us the laughing stock of the world. Anyone with half a brain knows this is all a PR stunt.”

  “Your Holiness, please just visit with the Cardinals. All they and I are asking is for you to listen to them, we’re not asking you to do anything. We have been told the offer is now up to $500 million in gold. The other side of the coin is, we’ve been promised the Holy Church will be destroyed. They will march priests out in front of the cameras to say they’ve molested children for years. These priests will claim the Holy Church has known and swept it under the carpet. They’ll say we’ve hidden the molestation for 50 years. They’ll make sworn statements that we’ve known about it, and we’ve hidden the molestation. They’ll swear we covered it up. These accusations will harm the Holy Church for many years. After the last round of child molestation accusations, we’ll look like we don’t care about the souls of the young. Your Holiness, these accusations will do irreparable damage to the Holy Church. All of the good work you’ve accomplished in the last few years will be undone. World opinion will turn against us. We won’t be trusted for many years.”

  “Georg, you may be right, please inform the Cardinals I’ll attend the meeting tomorrow. I have some calls I’d like to place first.”

  @@@@@

  “Nanny, look at the reaction our program is having. I told you he was a real genius. In only two weeks his program has gained a life of its own. It’s circling the world. Our polls show the majority of the world agrees our founder, President Obsma, should be named a Saint.”

  “Harold, I have to agree, this PR agent is a genius. I never thought his program had a chance. If you’d asked me a month ago if President Obsma were a Saint, I would have laughed in your face. How is the Holy Father handling the request?”

  “Our people in the Vatican have said he’s not accepting it; I turned up the pressure on the Pope today. We’ll know soon enough how the Pope is going to decide. After all, it might be time for a new Pope. This one went much further than the Cardinals expected. I think they could easily be convinced to hold a new concave.”

  “Harold, we can’t ever be seen as having a hand in the removal of the Pope, it will undo everything we’re accomplishing.”

  “Nanny, please don’t try to convince me you really believe. How many times have you supported votes for free abortion? I know even your local bishop isn’t pleased with your actions and votes. I think the only reason you have any regard for the church is because it bought you votes. You can come clean now as we’re in office for life.”

  “Harold, has our spy said anything about the defense President Brownstone is planning?”

  “Not yet. There was a big meeting yesterday, I hope to have the information any time now. The old style document drops are a very slow way to exchange information. I wish he’d just email us, however he’s worried about the NSA email scanning tools.”

  “They do a very good job picking up every email; I’m glad we were able to take the software with us. It enables our national police force to be much more efficient.”

  “Yes it does. It makes it very easy to pick out potential troublemakers. Many have no idea how the national police figured out they were up to something. Some think we’re able to read their minds.”

  “That’s funny.”

  “It’s not too funny; we’re working on that right now. We’re using some of our political prisoners in mind control experiments. Their minds are wired with sensors so we can measure the reactions of their brains when we introduce certain information. It’s helping us get closer to our goal of being able to have zero mental illness; we’ll be able to control what everyone in the LSA and soon the entire USA thinks and feels.”

  @@@@@

  The Russians have zero problems crossing into the USA from the LSA; all have forged USA driver’s licenses, social security cards, credit cards, family pictures and even lottery tickets. Everything a normal American would have in their wallet has been duplicated down to the worn leather. All of their clothing is well worn and used. Looking at or listening to the Russians everyone would think they’re talking to the person next door. Which is how they’ve been trained to live and act.

  “Sergi, timing is most critical, we have to arrive in North Dakoda at the precise time and date per our orders. Our agent has informed us that we can only gain access during a very brief window. Our agent gave us the maintenance schedule; we’ll intercept the technicians on their way to the site; we’ll replace them, enabling us access. Once we’ve finished our assignment, we have to be more than five miles away before the explosion. The results of the explosion will enable President Puten to explain to the world the American’s can’t be trusted with nuclear weapons. If we miss the technicians, we won’t have sufficient time to complete the mission. We might not even gain access to the silo.”

  “Captain, will we have enough time to complete our mission and make our get away before the warhead explodes?”

  “The timing is going to be very tight, as long as the American’s haven’t changed anything we should have enough time to fulfill the mission and make our exit. The key is going to be how we look and act to those watching us.”

  “Captain, I’m worried about the transit to the site. There are too many chances for us to be discovered.”

  “Sergi, this isn’t the Motherland. Here no one asks for travel papers, we c
an transit across state lines at will. Once we entered the USA our only risk would be if we get into an accident. We can pull this off and change the world.”

  “Yes Captain, I wonder what that change is going to look like. I wonder what’s going to happen when the Americans figure out what happened.”

  “If they figure it out too quickly we could be looking at World War 3. The Americans aren’t known for their sense of humor. They will be very angry at the Motherland. If our timing is off, they will strike back. If the other action groups succeed in drawing the American’s attention away from us, we’ll be able to pull the mission off.”

  “Captain, are we going home after the mission?”

  “I’m not sure; I have three additional sets of orders, it depends on how the Americans react.”

  @@@@@

  “Harold, is it true the Russians have arrived?”

  “Yes, and they’ve already crossed into the USA. If they're successful, the initial events will take place in four days. President Brownstone will be in the air to The Hague when it happens. We won’t be here either. We’re projecting Brownstone will turn around and return to Washington giving us an advantage at the World Court. The event should also further turn world opinion against the Americans.”

  “I hope it’ll be enough. We haven’t been able to get any details on President Brownstone’s defense strategy. I don’t like going to court without knowing what the other side is going to say. I worry that Brownstone has some trick up his sleeve.”

  “It would be like him to have some surprise to drop at the last minute.”

  Chapter 10

  “Mr. President, to summarize: our defense is based on a very simple premise, that being, you didn’t do it. We’re going to reconstruct the entire timeline. We are going to call as witnesses, the power generator manager, most of the plant workers, Edison’s Chairman of the Board. We’ve filed a subpoena for the New York City Mayor; we don’t expect him to appear, we hope he won’t, we’ll use his nonappearance to make an issue about how the LSA isn’t following international law while at the same time filing suit against us in the World Court. We have the letter the union sent to the Mayor; we have the sworn testimony from the New York City Fire Department officers who first interviewed the plant’s manager and staff. We also have the recordings of our offerings of help to then acting President Reid. Anyone with half a brain will see that we didn’t have anything to do with the blackout and as such, we didn’t have anything to do with President Obsma’s death.

  “If this were a US Court, we could file our brief and request the court dismiss the case, which I’m sure any judge would do. Since we’re pleading in front of the World Court, things are going to be different. First of all, The Hague is composed of fifteen judges, there’s no individual jury. The court is run under rules established by the United Nations. The Hague is supposed to cover common law, civil law, socialist law, Francophobia civil law and Anglophonic common law. The various laws rolled together often disagree with each other. America used to always have one of the judges, however with the split of the LSA and the USA it agreed that the sitting judge at The Hague would alternate between the LSA and USA. President Reid argued that since the LSA was new it should have the judge this cycle. You agreed to their proposal. As such, the American judge is not going to be on our side. Neither will the Russian judge. The Chinese judge is an unknown. So far China has played both sides.

  “Mr. President a lot of it is going to come down to how we present the information and how you testify.”

  “Paul what happens if I don’t testify?”

  “Mr. President, you don’t have to, and you can’t be forced to. However, it would most likely be a good idea if you did. By taking the stand, you can show the world how sorry you are for the loss of President Obsma. You can show the world how sincere you are. You can in the first person, talk about how you offered aid and assistance to the LSA. You offered to send teams to New York with food, water and medical supplies, which was turned down by President Reid.”

  “Paul, he turned us down because he thought we would provide the assistance anyway. This way he would get his aid and also be able to blame us if anything happened.”

  “So very typical of him. I didn’t like him when I had to testify in front of him. Everything with him is a political game of gaining power.

  “Mr. President, the judges will push you. It’s not often they get a world leader to testify in front of them. They’re going to use this occasion to make points in their home countries and to set themselves up for their retirement. Some are going to be very hostile to you; they won’t believe a word you say. Their minds are already made up. Please sir, keep your cool. Don’t get visibly angry or upset. Whatever happens don’t show them disrespect. Respond to them with respect dripping from you. It’s all a game. I’m sure when you were a plebe in the Naval Academy you had to eat crap from senior class men; it’s the same here. Just grin and bear it. We have the truth on our side. You did nothing wrong; you offered assistance that they turned down. There was no plan to have President Obsma murdered or disposed of. When you’re asked this question, be sure to include in your response that you had nothing to gain by his death. In fact, the only people with something to gain were Acting President Reid and Nanny Polsi. They brought this case to take the world’s eyes off of themselves.”

  “Paul, did I ever tell you I got the second most demerits of any first year Naval Academy student? I never did take to the plebe bullshit. I know I have to hold my tongue. Don’t worry about me. You just worry about making our case waterproof. We get only one chance to present it.”

  @@@@@

  “Premier Xing, President Puten is online one. He’s secure.”

  “Mr. President, what can China do for you today?”

  “Premier, Russia is soon going to require you to make a decision. The time is very close when the Middle Kingdom is going to have to take sides.”

  “Mr. President, the Middle Kingdom will always take its own side. We were a nation while Russia and most of the world were still living in caves. When Russia and the world have returned to ash, China will still be here. We plan in centuries, not days, my advisories, and I don’t think China will have to take sides. We are happy to sit and watch you and President Reid play the rest of the world as fools.”

  “Premier, if you expect to gain access to our oil and gas you will decide with us.”

  “Mr. President, China may no longer require access to you petrol. We are in the process of gaining access to a large field of oil and gas.”

  “Premier, I don’t understand.”

  “You will soon. We’ll agree to not make any releases, so you don’t lose face after you’ve already released the information that our two countries have reached an agreement to share your new fields.”

  “I’ll give you thirty days to review your decision.”

  “Mr. President, thank you, I’m sure we’ll be speaking shortly.”

  Premier Xing hangs up the phone; he turns to the Chinese Defense Minister, smiling, “When the action begins, the time will be right for us to make our move, are your troops ready?”

  “Yes sir, we are ready, our troops, ships and planes are just waiting for the word to move. All are hidden and so far, we haven’t been discovered.”

  “Excellent, tell your staff the time is coming very soon when we’ll move, making sure China never has to beg or buy strategic materials again.”

  @@@@@

  As President Brownstone and his staff are boarding Air Force One, the Russian Spetsnaz are meeting with the Russian agent. “The Air Force technicians will arrive in 60 minutes, are your people ready?”

  “Yes, I have four teams hidden along the road. Will they be the only ones coming in this direction?”

  “There will be the technicians and behind them a security team of two vehicles.”

  “How many are in the security team?”

  “Today there are only five people, one called in sick. All are armed
with M4s.”

  “We’re ready.”

  The captain slips back into his fighting hole on the side of the road. He and his men are waiting for the three vehicles to approach. The Russians have cut a couple of telephone poles which they’ve laid across the only access road. The first vehicle approaches the fallen tree, the driver stops. “Hey, LT need some help up here, we’ve got a downed telephone pole, some rancher must have hit it and left it for us.”

  “Damn it, I wish these guys would contact us when they or their cattle take our fence poles out. I’ll get the team to move the pole, we’ll have to call in the loss, and it’ll mean the site is without power or phones, maybe both. Damn it, I was really looking forward to getting home early today.”

  “People, everyone out. We’ve got a downed pole across the road.”

  Sergeant Rollings inspects the fence pole, “This is the second one this month. Damn it, we should bill the ranchers for the damage; that’ll stop them. LT, want us to try to restring the wires?”

  “Not today, I want to get to the site, get our job done and go home, we can return tomorrow to replace the pole. Plus it’s supposed to rain later, I don’t want to be wet and late.”

  “Gotcha. OK people, let’s get this log off the road.”

  Before the technicians can move the pole, they’re attacked by the Russians. None of the technicians survives the surprise attack.

  The Russian captain tells his people, “Push the pole out of the way, change into the American uniforms and dump the bodies into a mass grave we dug two days ago. Come on, time isn’t something we have a lot of.”

  The Russians carry the American bodies to a mass grave they’ve previously dug. The Americans are stripped of their ID cards. The Russians climb into the American vehicle, moving the downed pole behind them to block the oncoming security force.