The Balkanization of America (29 page)

Chapter 27

Nanny calls Acting President Reid, “Harold, no one here knows anything. The streets are waist deep in snow; there’s no food, people are eating the snow for water. I’ve spoken with the NYPD and Obsma’s security chief; none has any idea where he is or what happened to him. I can’t get the power turned on; we need help. We need specialists and air drops of fuel, food and water. By the way do you have any ideas where President for life Obsma is?”

“Nanny, frankly I have no idea, and I don’t care if he never surfaces. I’ll see what we can do to find some people to drop into the City to help out. I’ll check how we can drop some food and fuel in too. Nanny, the city, is now in the fifth day without power, 15% of the city is on fire, and tens of thousands have died. We might lose over a million people if we don’t get the power back on soon. Someone has to know what happened and how to get it turned on. If you can’t do anything there, then come home.”

“Do you think we should contact Brownstone for help?”

“Don’t even think of that. Once he gets his people into the city, he’ll never leave.”

“How’s the plan to keep Brownstone’s forces on alert going?”

“We have fifty flash mobs hitting various malls today. “

“What about the protests in our cities?”

“Trust me, they won’t be a problem for long. Our allies will take care of them for us. We’ll have all the benefits of a large military without the costs associated with having one.”

“I’ve heard rumors that Russia is going to move against Germany, should we be concerned?”

“Why? The Germans deserve whatever they get. They sided with Brownstone, plus they tried to foreclose on their loans to France and Greece. They’re no friends of the common man.”

“Don’t forget women. We have to continue our push that Brownstone discriminates against women. We need to remind our women every day how lucky they are to be living in the LSA. 

“Yes, you’re correct. I’m sorry Nanny.”

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The initial planes from Cuba and Venezuela land at LAX and SFO at noon. The two airports have been closed for commercial flights to enable the troops to arrive, which they do every fifteen minutes. Large cargo planes disgorge tanks, armored personnel carriers, anti-air vehicles, and thousands of troops. By 8:00 PM PST, there are four thousand foreign troops in California.

Hidden on the roof of the Sheraton Hotel on Century Blvd across from the LX runways, two US Navy SEALs are watching, counting and recording the incoming planes.

“LT looks at the armor their wearing, something new; we haven’t seen this before. The APCs (armored personnel carriers) are also new; they are covered in a new type of armor too. Check out their helmets, they are also new. Even their rifles look different. I’d bet the Russians outfitted these guys with their newest systems.”

“Senior Chief, I see them, I don’t like it at all. Move to the other side of the roof, behind the air con units, send the info to the Captain. This is something he needs to know ASAP.”

“Aye, sir.”

The senior chief crawls to the other side of the hotel’s roof where he opens a small folding antenna dish. The signal locks onto an orbiting MilStat, the chief sends a burst communication with the images of the new equipment, the number of troops and the rate of landings and take-offs of the cargo planes to HQ, in less than a second the message has been sent. He crawls back to his LT. “Anything new?”

“”Yea, look at the people by the United hanger, what do you see?”

Taking the high-powered binoculars the chief looks at the hanger, he adjusts the binoculars a few times, shaking his head, he says, “Sir, they look like Spetsnaz.”

“That’s what I thought too, Reid never said anything about Russians.”

“Looks like they’re inspecting the hanger, since the planes that brought them are taking off as soon as they’re unloaded whey do they need hangers?”

“Chief, lookup, your 2:00, see the contrails? I think they’re Russian fighters. The LSA doesn’t have any fighters if they’re not Russians whose are they?”

“Crap. The Russians most likely bought their way into the LSA. We’re going to have a much tougher fight than we thought. I’d like to know what kind of fighters they are.”

“Me too, however, call this in right now, so our boys in San Diego aren’t surprised.”

“Got it.”

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“Admiral, we have a recon report from LAX, there are over two thousand troops in LA and another one thousand at San Francisco. Here are some very interesting images, note the circled equipment, vehicles, armor and helmets we’ve never seen before.”

“It looks like they’re amassing a large enough force to take over the LSA and then move against us.”

“Admiral, a few of our intel pukes think they’re going to come after us first. Our people gamed out a few of their options; the number one answer is the LSA will use their new friends to take over San Diego, giving them all of the equipment and assets there. From there, the gamers say they’ll move to capture our strategic assets.”

“Get me the Mayor of San Diego and General Jackson at Pendleton, I think we’ll plan a little surprise for the LSAs guests.”

“Admiral, why the Mayor?”

“He needs to know what our gamers think; he needs all the time he has to prepare his people.”

“Aye, sir.”

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President Obsma can’t remember who he is or what happened to him. He has no memory of anything except for the last couple of days. All he knows is he’s cold and hungry. He joined a group of thirty who live in an abandoned subway tunnel. It’s warmer and dryer in the tunnel. Someone rigged some candles to provide a little light inside the tunnel.

Turning to the woman who helped him Obsma asks, “Where are we?”

“We in an unused subway tunnel, it's warmer here than outside. We have a little food, if you’re hungry follow us.”

“What happened?”

“Don’t know, at midnight the lights went out, there were shots fired, everyone ran. We found you by a dumpster, someone or a gang had beat and left you. Do you remember your name?”

“I don’t remember much of anything. Everything is like a dream, I think I remember, but everything is cloudy, I can’t focus on any memory.”

“Don’t worry about it, you most likely got hit on the head, your memory will most likely return in a couple of days. We’ll be safe here. No one bothers us; no one cares about us. In warmer times, we go out asking for handouts and cash donations.”

“Thank you. Can I stay here for a while?”

“Yea, we take in all sorts of people who need help. We don’t have much, what we do have we share with everyone who’s needy. We all have something to eat every day. We’re warm down here and left alone. None of us steals from each other, anyone who does is kicked out. As long as you’re cool you can stay. I bet your cold without a coat. Come with me, we have some coats that were donated to us, let’s see if one fits you. After you get a coat and something to eat, we’ll find you a place to sleep.”

“What’s your name?”

“Janice, do you remember yours?”

“No.”

“Then I’ll call you Adam, is that OK with you?”

“Adam, I like it, yes, please call me Adam.”

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The incoming flights continues landing every fifteen minutes at LAX and SFO, at midnight flights begin arriving at SeaTac airport to the south of Seattle. The landing troops quickly move to secure the giant Boeing facility just a short distance from SeaTac airport.

“Harold, how many troops did our new friends, say they were sending?”

“Nanny, I think they said something around 15,000, they kept saying we needed to have a strong enough force to keep Brownstone uneasy and also provide security for our people.”

“Isn’t 15,000 more than we need?”

“I never served in the military; I have to rely on those who know these things, if they say 15,000 is what we need, then I have to believe them.”

“If you say so. I don’t understand why they had to bring so many of those tanks with them. They’re going to add so much pollution.”

“Nanny, I’ll talk to them to see if they can just park the tanks someplace and leave them.”

“Please tell them to leave the San Francisco area. My people are peaceful; loving people weapons scare my people; I don’t want to scare those who elected me to serve them.”

“I’ll see what I can work out with them. We discussed splitting up their flights so as to spread out their forces. We picked three airports, LAX, SFO and SeaTac. Nanny, you were the one who proposed SFO. Something about bringing much-needed revenue into the area.”

“I did; I thought they would arrive in normal planes and use the shops and restaurants in the airport. With the decline of air flights, the poor working in the airport has seen their incomes drop. I thought using SFO would help the small shops in the airport. I went there and promised them thousands of people would be using the airport. Many shops increased their inventory waiting for the planes to arrive. But they didn’t use the terminal; they landed and directly unloaded their own equipment and trucks. They’re not buying anything in the airport; they’re not eating in the restaurants, and they’re not renting cars. Nothing I promised the people at the airport is happening, they’re going to hold this against me.”

“Nanny, I’ll talk to their commander to see what I can arrange.”

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“Mr. President, troops from Cuba and Venezuela, are landing at LAX, SFO, and SeaTac. Here are images sent from LAX. Sir, they have equipment we haven’t seen before. Everything looks brand new.”

“How many have arrived?”

“Sir looks at the image of the people in front of the hanger; those are clearly Russian troops, look at their uniforms. Our best estimate is 5,000 if the flights continue at their current rate they’ll have in excess of 15,000 troops on the West Coast in three days.”

“Too many for the police force. I think the SEAL’s are correct, this the beginning of an invasion force. Call the national security group together, we need to create a clear set of plans when they begin breaking out of the LSA.”

“Sir, our best estimate is their first target is going to be San Diego.”

“I’ll call Admiral Zander.”

“Admiral, this is the President, I assume you’ve seen the images from LAX?”

“Yes sir, I’ve notified the Mayor of San Diego and General Jackson at Pendleton. The Marines are digging in preparing a warm welcome for our guests. The Mayor is preparing the citizens of San Diego; the Navy is flushing as many ships to sea as possible. They’ll be able to provide support, the Marines, and Air Force are prepping to generate as many fighters into the air as possible. We have sent them all of the parts they’ve asked for. Sir, should we start moving people out of the city?”

“Admiral, I think it would be a good idea to move people away from our military bases, I’m sure they’re going to be one of their first targets.”

“Mr. President, I agree, I’ll get on the horn with the Mayor right away.”

“Admiral, you have enough to do, I’ll call him. I want you to stop any attack on Sand Diego and also capture some of their new equipment so we can learn what new capabilities these weapons and armor have. Admiral see if you can get some of the SOF boys to sneak into their camp and grab one of their new rifles and body armor.”

“Yes sir, good idea, I’ll get right on it.”

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On the sixth day of the blackout New York City is tearing itself apart, people are hungry, cold and thirsty. Every store that may have had food, water and alcohol have been stripped bare. Gangs and flash mobs numbering in the thousands swarm into homes and apartments looking for food. The remains of NYPD have been hired by the wealthy to keep the gangs out of the Upper East Side. New York City received 27 inches of snow, with the sanitation department on strike, the streets resemble the arctic. People are getting around with cross country skies. A ladder company from New York’s fire department sets out to find out why the power is out, they have to travel nine miles to closest of the electrical plants. The two fire trucks set out from their station in Midtown, with chains on the truck’s tires. People along the truck’s route hearing them think help is coming, they run out of their apartments trying to get the attention of the Fire Trucks. Many run into the street waving their arms to stop the trucks. The Fire Department originally thought the trip would take them no more than two hours, with the trucks being stopped every few yards; they change their ETA from hours to days.