Phoenix Rising: (6 page)

Two years earlier, when Ohmshidi's outlandish socialist policies had brought the Republic to its knees, Islamic terrorists had managed to sneak in three 100-kiloton nuclear bombs. There were simultaneous explosions of the three nuclear devices, one in Boston, one in Norfolk, and one in New York. The bomb in New York, by design, had been off-loaded from the ship, put into a rental truck, and driven to 350 Fifth Avenue, where, at the agreed upon time, it was detonated right in front of the Empire State Building.

Within the first second, the shock wave destroyed even the most heavily reinforced steel and concrete buildings including the Empire State Building, Madison Square Garden, Penn Station, and the New York Public Library. Within this initial circle more than 75,000 people were killed instantly. Those caught outside were exposed to the full effects of the blast. Those inside, though shielded from some of the blast and thermal effects, were killed as the buildings collapsed. The fireball had a maximum radius of two tenths of a mile. However, the blast effect greatly outweighed any direct thermal effects due to the fireball. An overpressure of at least 10 psi extended out for one mile, and concrete and steel reinforced commercial buildings were either totally destroyed or severely damaged out to the edge of this ring. The few buildings that remained standing on the outside edge of this ring had their interiors destroyed. Landmarks affected by the blast at this distance were the Chrysler Building, Rockefeller Center, the United Nations, and four hospitals. All of those buildings were either totally destroyed or so severely damaged that they were unusable. Most people inside those buildings were either killed by flying debris or died as the buildings collapsed. Those in the direct line of sight of the blast were killed instantly by the thermal pulse. Fatalities were estimated at 300,000 with at least another 100,000 being severely injured, many of whom died within the next six months.

By the end of the second second the shock wave had moved out another half mile, extending the destruction out to a 1.5 mile radius. The overpressure dropped to 5 psi at the outer edge of that ring, which covered an area of 4 square miles. Reinforced structures were heavily damaged and unreinforced residential type structures of brick and wood were totally destroyed. At this point the affected structures included Carnegie Hall, the Lincoln Center, and the Queensboro Bridge. All these structures were near the outside edge of the expanding ring. All windows in these structures were shattered and many interior walls collapsed.

At this point, 190,000 more people, who were inside buildings, were killed by building collapse and flying debris. Another 190,000 suffered varying degrees of injuries. Most of those outside, and not in the direct line of sight of the explosion escaped direct injury from the blast, but many were injured by flying objects. The thermal pulse, which was still sufficiently intense to kill anyone in the direct line of sight, killed another 30,000. The total number of injured was over 200,000.

This region presented the most severe fire hazard, since fire ignition and spread occurred more easily in partly damaged buildings than in completely flattened areas. At least fifteen percent of the buildings were instantly ignited, then the fire spread to adjoining buildings. Over the next twenty-four hours, fires destroyed about half the buildings.

Two and one half miles from ground zero, reinforced structures received varying amounts of damage, with those buildings at the edge being almost completely undamaged. Wood and brick buildings received moderate amounts of initial damage, with the damage becoming less significant at the outside edge of this ring. Within this ring an estimated 235,000 people were fatalities, with another 525,000 injured to varying degrees. There were many injuries due directly to the blast overpressure, however, the thermal pulse was still sufficient to kill or incapacitate those not indoors or otherwise protected. The degree of injury from the thermal pulse depended greatly on clothing and skin color. Darker clothing and skin absorbed more of the energy, giving a more severe burn. The material type and thickness also determined the severity of burns from the thermal pulse.

Damage due to fire was particularly bad in this band. The energy in the thermal pulse was still great enough to start combustible materials on fire, yet the overpressure and accompanying wind was less likely to put out the fires. Only a small percentage of the fires were started by the thermal flash of the bomb; many more buildings were damaged as the fire spread out of control since the capability to fight fires was nonexistent.

The outside band extended out for almost 4 miles from ground zero and had an overpressure of 1 psi at its outside edge. At the inner edge there was light to moderate amounts of damage to unreinforced buildings of brick and wood. Reinforced structures and commercial buildings received light damage at most. This band extended out to the site of the unfinished Freedom Tower at One World Trade Center and the undamaged Statue of Liberty in the south, across the East River into Queens in the east, and across the Hudson River to New Jersey.

Though this ring covered an additional 30 square miles, much of this area was over water or less densely populated areas. The affected population in this ring was approximately half a million. There were almost no fatalities in this ring and only a small percentage, roughly 30,000, received injuries from the thermal pulse. Flash blindness and permanent retinal injuries from the blast extended out beyond 20 miles. But since this was a ground level explosion, the number of people who were looking in the direction of the blast and had a clear view was much less than if the explosion had taken place several thousand feet above the city.

Because this was a surface explosion, it produced much more fallout than a similarly sized airburst where the fireball never touches the ground. This was because the surface explosion produced radioactive particles from the ground as well as from the device itself. The early fallout drifted back to earth on the prevailing wind, creating an elliptical pattern stretching from ground zero out into Long Island. Because the wind on the day of the detonation was relatively light, the fallout was highly concentrated in the area of Manhattan just to the east of the blast.

Manhattan is an island connected to the rest of New York and New Jersey by tunnels and bridges. Many of those access points were affected to some degree by the blast. The Lincoln and Queens Midtown Tunnels were both in the 10 psi ring and were so badly damaged as to be impassable. The Queensboro Bridge was in the 5 psi ring and was also put out of commission. All the remaining tunnels and bridges fell in the 2 or 1 psi rings and received only moderate damage so that they remained usable.

With almost 900,000 people injured to various degrees, the task of caring for the injured was far beyond the ability of the medical system to respond. All but one of Manhattan's large hospitals were inside the 5 psi ring and were completely destroyed. There weren't enough empty hospital beds in all of New York and New Jersey for even the most critically injured. The 1 psi ring alone had an estimated 30,000 burn victims who required specialized care. In the days following the nuclear detonation, many of the injured died from lack of any medical care.

For well over a year, Manhattan was without any utilities: electricity, gas, water, or sewage. Transportation of the injured and the ability to bring in the necessary supplies, people and equipment depended upon the condition of the tunnels and bridges that connect Manhattan to New York and New Jersey; nearly all of those were destroyed, or blocked to some degree. And even when rescuers were able to get into the city, the streets and avenues were so filled with rubble that they were completely impassable.

Tens of thousands of survivors became homeless. Creation of temporary shelters was the first recovery task after all the trapped and injured had been found and cared for. True recovery for New York was still a long way off. Some areas remained dangerously radioactive and even without the radioactivity it was likely that New York City would never fully recover to its original status as the nation's leading financial and cultural center.

Now, nearly two years later, most of the material that comprised those buildings in mid-Manhattan remained piled up to depths of hundreds of feet in places. Absolutely nothing in what had once been the heart of the most advanced and bustling city in the world was recognizable.

 

 

All the commerce of New York had moved south of 10th Street, and this little inhabited end of Manhattan could have been Baghdad, Tripoli, Teheran or Kabul from the looks of it. Nearly every man on the street was wearing a
thobe
, and every woman a burka. Bryan Gates, who was dressed no differently from any other man on the street, went in to a coffee shop on East First Street. Bryan had once been a member of the CIA, but because he had been covert, very few knew of his background. His method of making a living now was as covert as it had been in the pre-O times. He “adjusted” things.

If somebody was having a problem with an officious member of the AIRE government, Bryan, for a price, would “make things right.” Often a visit to the offending party was all that was needed. Sometimes a little more persuasion was necessary, and a kneecap might be broken. In those cases where persuasion was ineffective, Bryan made a more permanent adjustment.

Taking his coffee over to an empty table, he was very surprised to see an old but familiar face from his past. Aleksandr Mironov was sitting at a table on the other side of the room. When their gazes met, Mironov got up and brought his coffee to Bryan's table. Bryan stood, and the two men shook hands.

“Have a seat, Aleks. How long has it been?”

Mironov smiled. “I was assigned to the Soviet delegation to the United Nations from 1972 until 1981, when you blew my cover as a member of the KGB. I came back in 2004 as a member of the Russian delegation, and stayed until Christmas of 2008. I left right after that.”

Bryan took a swallow of his coffee and looked around before he answered, quietly. “You chose a good time to leave.”

“So I have observed. What has happened to your country, Bryan? What has happened to the America I loved?”

“You can see for yourself,” Bryan said.

Mironov made a tsk sound, and shook his head.

“What brings you here, Aleks? I know it isn't the United Nations, they are no longer here, nor are we any longer a member.”

Mironov handed Bryan a newspaper clipping.