WAR (12 page)

President Rand sits down across the conference room table looking at Rod, “That’s an excellent idea. Colonel, do we have enough Hammers to take out their strategic weapons?”

Colonel Whitehead checks his laptop saying, “Sirs, we have more than enough Hammers available. The only issue will be moving one of the garages to be in the right launch location so all of the Hammers will impact within moments of each other. If some were to impact later, the Russians might have time to launch a couple of missiles at us. We should be able to bring them down with our anti-missile systems, I’m sure everyone would feel better if none were launched in the first place.”

President Rand smiles saying, “Colonel, you have permission to move the garage. When will you be ready to launch the Hammers? ”

“Sir, NORAD is checking the location of all of the targets and the garages, it should take them only a few minutes to complete the calculations.”

“Colonel, please get the Major with the release case, I think it’s time to give the go code.”

President Brownstone nods his head in agreement, before he can say anything an aide knocks on the Situation Room door, “Sirs, President Cruise is here.”

Presidents Rand and Brownstone smile saying at the same time, “Show him in.”

President Cruise enters the Situation Room; the three men hug each other. An aide looks at them thinking;
All three previous living Presidents are together on the eve of what could be World War III. This is the first time all three have been here in a crisis. I wonder if the three will be able to decide quicker or if the three will slow down the decision-making process. Either way, history is being made tonight.

President Rand quickly brings Ted up to speed while a fresh pot of coffee is brought into the Situation Room. Ted sits at the table pouring himself a cup of the coffee, he takes a sip; he pauses then says, “I agree with Rod, hitting their strategic assets is a good plan. It takes those weapons off the table. Grameniko won’t be able to use what he no longer has. If he doesn’t call off his invasion after the loss of his missiles, then I agree to the decapitation shot.”

The three Presidents are happy; they're in full agreement. Major Jackson, who came on duty within the previous hour, places the nuclear release case on the Situation Room table. Rod says, “I had hoped I’d never have to see the inside of this case again.”

Ted nods saying, “I never had to open it. I only saw the inside during readiness tests; I never had to use it for real. I see it’s been updated since I last saw it.

Paul answers, “Once the Hammers came online the case was updated.”

Colonel Whitehead breaks into the conversation saying, “Mr. Presidents General Johnson, CICNORAD is on the secure red handset.”

Placing the call on speaker, President Rand says, “General, you’re on speaker; Presidents Brownstone and Cruise are with me.”

“Mr. Presidents, it’s an honor to be speaking with all three of you. NORAD has completed the targeting for the Hammers; the final garage will be in position in twenty minutes. The only tricky targeting will be against some of the Russian SSBNs. We think we have them all located; most are in their port or in the Kara Bastion where they think they’re safe.”

Ted asks, “General, can the Hammers strike a submerged submarine?”

“Mr. President, yes, they are a KEW (kinetic energy weapon) that can easily penetrate hundreds of feet of earth, cement or water. We’ll know from our blue/green laser which can penetrate sea water if we got every boat, if we miss one, we’ll instantly fire again.”

“Thank you General.”

President Rand says, “General, Rod, Ted, I’m ready to enter my Presidential release code, if anyone has any objections now is the time to say them or forever hold your tongues.” President Paul looks around the room. He nods as he enters his ten digit code into the nuclear release code computer, also known as the ‘football.’ He turns to face his two predecessors, “It’s done. I think using the Hammers is better than using hundreds of nuclear weapons. General, make sure all of our defenses are online and ready in case we miss any weapons that they are able to get a couple launched at us.”

“Yes sir. All of our sensors are online. Our ABM system is showing 98% ready for action.”

“General, please keep us informed.”

Ted asks, “Did the two-man rule change since I left office?”

Paul smiles saying, “Ted, the Hammers aren’t nuclear hence the two-man rule doesn’t apply. We use the nuclear release case in case a followup strategic strike is required.”

“Thanks, that makes perfect sense.”

“Mr. President, the Hammers will be released within minutes, you’ll see them on the monitor. They’ll show as red lines falling from the sky. When they strike their targets, they will leave either a red for destroyed or green for missed circle on the map. If the target shows green, we’ll release a followup Hammer. They fall very quickly, anyone on the ground looking at the right spot will think they see a laser firing. It’ll look like a lightning bolt or a streak of fire falling from the sky.”

Rod asks, “What will the Russian military radars see?”

“Mr. President, they’ll see the Hammers entering the atmosphere. By the time they see them, they’ll have only moments to act. We don’t expect they’ll have enough time to launch any of their weapons at us. Gentlemen, here we go.”

An alarm sounds, they men all turn their attention to the large monitor which shows red lines falling from the sky towards Russia.

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One of the three Russian satellites falling from orbit strikes the new NSA headquarters and data center in Utah. The force of the strike destroys 85% of the building. The advance notice was enough time to get everyone out of the building. However, it didn’t save everyone’s life. Four hundred, who were the last ones to exit the building, were injured by debris from the explosion of the falling satellite striking the building. Sixty workers were killed when one of the falling satellites struck a field the NSA workers were waiting in. They saw the falling fireball however, most of them were outside of their cars taking pictures of the building. The seconds it took for it to register that the fireball was headed directly at them, delayed them just long enough to be caught in the explosion of the second satellite in the field they were parked in. The third satellite was exploded on its way down by the USA’s ABM system of land-based missiles and space-based lasers.

President Rand is very angry watching the images of the destruction and the loss of the NSA building. The President quickly ordered most of the NSA duties to be moved back to the original facility at Fort Mead, Maryland. President Rand looked at his two partners saying, I consider this a direct attack on America’s citizens. I think that it leaves us no option except to strike back which justifies our actions.”

President’s Cruise and Brownstone both nod in agreement with President Rand.

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Russian Federation President Grameniko is interrupted in the middle of a call by alarms sounding in the Russian command bunker. He pauses thinking,
What’s this? Are the crazy Americans launching a nuclear attack against us?
He looks at the monitor that shows views of the Russian Federation and the Americas. He sees the red lines falling from space. Before he can think what they may be, his alert telephone rings, “Da?”

“Mr. President, we are being attacked by some type of unknown American KEW weapon. They’re targeting all of our strategic weapons.”

“Marshal, they can’t target all of them, surely our submarines in the Kara bastion are safe, prepare to return fire against the Americans.”

“Mr. President, the release computer is being brought to you.”

A Russian captain enters Grameniko’s office; he opens the case and turns it towards the President. “Sir, we are ready to defend the Motherland.”

“Captain, you’re too late; the Motherland is already under attack, look at the monitor. Do you see those red lines? Those are arrows from space that are going to destroy our silos and most of our mobile systems. Which bloody option is the counter value, (targeting cities versus military targets) target America?”

“Mr. President, surely you mean counter target.” (Targeting military targets)

“Idiot, I said counter value.”

“Sir, if you launch our weapons at the American’s counter-value targets, they will respond in kind against ours. Mr. President their ABM system will bring most of our weapons down; theirs will most likely get through our ABM missiles. They have advanced their weapons from intelligent to brilliant. Sir, targeting their cities is the same as committing national suicide.”

“Shut up and give me the release card. We have no choice. The Americans won’t believe we launched at their cities; they’ll pause long enough to allow our weapons to slip past their ABM shield.”

“Sir, if they don’t pause, the Motherland will die.”

“What do you think they’re doing right now? Look at the displays, what the hell are those things falling on us and where are they going?”

“Sir, they must be KEW weapons, they’d be hidden in orbit.”

“They militarized space? They broke every treaty on the peaceful use of space we both signed.”

“Sir, when we attacked them with our satellites we did the same thing. One could say we struck first with the use of space weapons.”

“No, we didn’t, satellites deorbit all of the time, there’s nothing we could do about them. Even the technology crazy Americans have their old satellites fall out of orbit.”

“Sir, both sides are able to track decaying orbits, they know we intentionally used the three birds as KEW weapons. They’re responding in kind.”

“In kind? Look at them! They’ve fired hundreds of those things. They’re targeting all of our strategic systems.”

“Sir, not all, they can’t touch our submarines.”

“Yes, you’re correct. Give me the card to order the missile boats to launch.”

Grameniko enters the code into the computer terminal which sends the message to the country’s missile armed submarines to launch a counter value attack against America.

Once the code is entered, Grameniko turns to watch the falling fireballs strike his missile silos. The fireballs strike the silos, easily penetrating the reinforced cement covers, exploding the missile inside the silos. The nuclear warheads don’t explode because they weren’t yet armed. Much of the warhead’s nuclear material is destroyed in the explosion and fire, some are thrown around the silos making them a nightmare to clean up and extinguish the fires. Local first responders don’t realize they’re standing on radioactive soil while they’re pouring foam on the fires. Silo after silo disappears within seconds of each other as the Hammers strike them. Strategic weapons warehouses and storage locations are wiped off the planet. Submarine bases disappear when the Hammers strike them.

Five Broie class SSBN submarines are drifting in the Kara Sea. They are moving at only 5 knots to remain as silent as possible. Their captains are all called to the radio rooms when the Russian EAM (emergency action message) is received. All five captains read the orders; none believes they’ve received the launch code to attack America. Three request confirmation. Before any message can be sent their sonar officers scream, “Captain, something heavy and moving very fast just landed in the water…..”

Their reports were never completed; the Hammers cut through the water like it wasn’t there. Each of the five submarines cease to exist when they are struck by the ‘Hammers’.

The Presidents in the Situation Room watch the Hammers strike their targets while Colonel Whitehead checks the target list against those struck. He noticed a few of the Hammers either missed or the target somehow survived, in the case of a few mobile launchers, the trucks had moved when their radar gave them warning something was incoming. He types into the computer in front of him instructions for a restrike on the surviving locations. Minutes later the surviving mobile systems are struck and destroyed.

Hundreds of mushroom clouds fill the Russian sky from the destruction of the hundreds of strategic locations. The Russian citizens seeing the mushroom clouds panicked thinking nuclear war had broken out between America and Russia. Those still in cities packed what they could while quickly trying to leave the city. Millions of Russians became refugees streaming out of cities which they expect to be vaporized at any moment. Those in the rural areas banded together to close off their communities from the refugees they expected to swarm into the countryside. Russia relaxed personal weapons laws in 2014 and early 2015, many of the Russian citizens are armed; they swear that no one will take what they have. Some start digging shelters thinking massive amounts of fallout will be coming their way. Children are very worried watching their parents and other adults cry and shake with fear. Minutes after the mushroom clouds appear in the Russian sky, leaflets start to float down from the sky. Unknown to the common Russian citizens five American Aurora intelligence-gathering planes flew over the length of the Russian Federation dropping leaflets explaining that no nuclear weapons were used. The leaflets explain they should stay at least 300 meters away from the destroyed silos. The leaflets explain only Russian strategic weapons were destroyed. No cities, no infrastructure, and power will be turned on as soon as President Grameniko pulls Russian troops out of the USA. Most of the Russian citizens didn’t even know Grameniko launched an invasion against the USA. Many now understand why they have lost power. Most turn their anger on the Russian Federation central government. Many of the citizens who left Moscow pause midstep and turn around to go home where they demand peace. They want their power turned on; they want to live in peace. They’re angry and embarrassed that Mother Russia broke the rules and invaded another super power. Everything became crystal clear. Hundreds of thousands marched toward the Kremlin demanding President Grameniko resign. The Russians marching towards the Kremlin are surprised to hear the sound of jets flying over the city, looking up, they see packages floating on large parachutes. The packages are marked US AID. Inside they find food and water, marked as a gift from the American people to the Russian people. President Rand won the people of Russia to his side of the chess board.