The crews and captains of all three supertankers appeared on the conference screens.
Silence.
Then the crew and captain from the container ship appeared.
Jeff excitedly said, “Whoa. That is the guy.”
Colonel Werner was puzzled. “Son, I thought the guys you referred to were on their way here from Charleston?”
“Yeah but Ghaazi wasn't there. That's the chief mate. That's Taseen’s brother Ghaazi.”
“Jeff, son, your stock just went up with me again. You are amazing…simply amazing.”
“Colonel, sir, I am telling you, this guy and I took a class in guerrilla warfare strategy and tactics together. Ghaazi and I dug a four-foot tunnel together to complete our training.”
“We should listen to Jeff. He's been on the money so far. We trained for Vietnam right here at Fort Stewart. Everything he said is true about Nam.”
Jeff started to pace the floor again. “The Apophis Tablet is on that ship, Colonel.” Jeff walked up to the conference screen to take a closer look the picture of the ship and crew.
Sara chuckled. “Jeff, you really don't have to do that. We can enlarge the picture.”
“Do it.”
Shelby responded, “I will do you one better. Here is a live feed.”
Jeff calmly said, “Colonel, there she is.”
Sara was in awe. “As majestic as the ocean, she is streaming in. Colonel Werner, that container ship makes our aircraft carriers look like dwarfs.”
Daniel made an observation. “Would you look at her name?”
Colonel Werner could not believe his eyes. “Those bastards had the nerve to name her GWO Savannah.”
Jeff mumbled, “No, not just Savannah. The GWO is not only the name of the shipping company. It is the acronym for Genesis World Order.”
Jeff sat back down. He looked Colonel Werner dead in the eyes. “Colonel, we must bring the three supertankers to a dead stop but send that Hellburner at full speed well out into the North Atlantic. We must expect an explosion as Ghaazi may not need a satellite. He is the sleeper. He enters the code at the date and time of the event and he opens the gates of hell right here on earth. That was the plan all along. Ghaazi is prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice.”
Shelby tried to remain calm amidst the new discoveries and intelligence. She completed her briefing. “Colonel, in our last briefing it was said that that the container ship and the supertanker fitting the Genesis profile cleared the ditch and were headed towards the open ocean. You're looking at her. The USS North Carolina calculated their approach to the canal at 18 mph per hour about two hours out, before they slowed to get through the canal. The container ship engine is capable of a higher speed than the supertanker. She is fairly new, sir. She is moving slow to match the speed of the supertanker. She can steam at about 31 miles.”
Jeff yelled. “Colonel Werner, with all due respect, sir, you must tell the admirals that they need to corral the three tankers and bring them to a dead stop. Give the container ship orders to increase speed to 31 miles an hour and max power. Any attempts to get to the Apophis Tablet aboard the Fireship Savannah will result in a horrific detonation. Give her a wide berth to move quickly into the deep ocean.”
Jeff got up and started pacing again. He leaned over and snapped at Sara. “You must stop this. Captain Parrish, each of our units operated as separate entities. Our units did not have complete details on any mission. However, if what I think is true, Fireship Savannah will create a nuclear storm of such intensity that it will boil the ocean and scorch the sky around her. She’s a continent killer. She will create a dead zone around her for hundreds of miles that will last for decades. It will accelerate the sixth extinction. You must send this mobile nuclear storm out to the deep ocean before detonation.”
Chapter Twenty-Three — Countermeasures
Jeff was thinking out loud. Everyone heard him. “Genesis will watch the world burn if that is the price that must be paid to set things right. Just like a ship’s chaff and infrared array launcher lures hostile missiles away from the ship by creating false target sets. They were simple countermeasures. The supertankers and container ships en route via different coordinates to the United States in order to ensure that the main Hellburner gets through to the target. Why couldn't I see this? It was the Fireship Savannah that was expected to get through. The other ships were countermeasures.”
Jeff sat back down. He asked, “Has anyone heard the story of the leather-backs?”
Sara replied, “Yes, we all know that leatherneck is a military slang term for Marines.”
Jeff snapped back, “I said leather-back, dammit, not leatherneck. I am speaking English, not Arabic.”
Daniel yelled at Jeff, “Ok, little brother, no need to insult Sara.”
Sara responded, “Let him talk. Jeff, I misunderstood. Is there something you want to tell us?”
“Yes, there is. At survival training, Secretary Bird told us a story to keep us strong. I can hear him now. ‘One will rise, many will fall.’ Leather-back turtles are powerful swimmers. They can swim at a speed of three miles per hour, but they have been recorded swimming at speeds of up to six miles an hour. This allows the turtle to travel great distances, whether for migration or random trips. On the other hand, a human’s maximum swimming speed is approximately four and a half miles per hour. The leatherback is the largest of the sea turtles. Once grown up, they have only two predators, sharks and mankind. Leather-back sea turtles have been here for over 65 million years. They have witnessed the fall of the dinosaurs and the rise of humanity. The leather-back turtle travels very far, dives the deepest, and ventures into the coldest water.”
Sara thought, what a refreshing story. But where is Jeff going with this? as she continued to listen as attentively as the others.
“Once a year, in high summer, adult leather-back turtles weighing about 2,000 pounds apiece and taller than the world’s tallest basketball player return to their birthplace to lay their eggs. Trinidad is one of the most important leatherback nesting sites in the world. Adult female leather-backs come ashore as many as seven times during the season, nine to ten days apart, to lay clutches of as few as 60 up to as many as 200 leathery billiard ball size eggs at a time. In 60 to 65 days, 70 percent of these eggs hatch. Then the struggle to survive begins. The long crawl to freedom starts under the cover of darkness as thousands of hatchlings leave their nests and inch their way towards the sea. This is nature’s way of improving their odds of survival. You see, twelve percent will fall prey to the thousands of ghost crabs lying in wait and won’t make it to the surf line. Of every thousand baby turtles that do slip into the waters, only a few will escape drowning in the surf. The ones that do make it will end up on the menu of a variety of predators that will feast on them as they take their place in the ocean’s food chain. As few as one in 1,000 baby sea turtles will survive long enough to return to the Trinidad and Tobago beaches as adults. A lucky surviving leather-back will then set out on a journey that will cover thousands of miles.’”
Colonel Werner, Sara, and Daniel looked at each other. Sara patted Jeff on his arm in approval. “Jeff is right about the countermeasures. I understand. The other vessels are simply running defense.”
Colonel Werner motioned for everyone to give him their attention as he noticed his priority links were lighting up. The intercom voice echoed, “Satellite link to the Director of Intelligence.”
On the middle conference screen, Colonel Werner and his group saw the Director of Intelligence as well as the commander of the Atlantic fleet. On the left conference screen were Admiral Brice Cooper and the captains of his carrier strike group. On the right conference screen, they saw Rear Admiral Nathan Barksdale of the USS William J. Clinton and his strike group captains.
“Welcome back Director.”
“Thank you, Colonel Werner. I want to thank Sara and Shelby for a great job so far in keeping everyone globally connected and briefed. I will now refer to a quote from P
resident George W. Bush. ‘Our nation’s cause has always been larger than our nation’s defense. We fight, as we always fight, for a just peace—a peace that favors liberty. We will defend the peace against threats from terrorists and tyrants. We will preserve the peace by building good relations among the great powers. And we will extend the peace by encouraging free and open societies on every continent.’ With that being said, our longtime ally, the Commander-in-chief of the British fleet has joined the sea hunt.”
The Director of Intelligence faded and the Commander-in-chief of the British fleet appeared with his staff. He spoke. “The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and the First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff is sending the Royal Navy to join us as we engage Genesis and their global threat head-on. If they want to burn the world, we will meet them with God’s fire.”
British Rear Admiral Jeremy Babcock said, “Informally, we did weigh in earlier by sending the Taranis Class drones. We understand the drones helped shave days off the hunt for the enemy ships. We are now issuing orders to the commanders of two of Britain’s most advanced warships to provide a blockade as they guard the coast of western Africa. Their mission is to shield the western coast of Africa from possible Genesis and ally rogue nations’ air and surface attacks. On each deck of these destroyers are squadrons of the Royal Navy’s Merlin helicopters. They are capable of hunting submarines as well as warships. The Merlins can deploy sea-viper missiles, which can knock targets out of the sky up to 70 miles away if necessary. We are also deploying the Royal Marines as well.”
Commander of the United Kingdom Maritime Forces, Charles Radakin spoke next. “The Royal Navy's presence will include two attack submarines. The HMS Astute is arguably among the finest attack submarines in the world today. They will patrol the waters along the entire western coast of Africa. No ship or submarine will violate a 500-mile perimeter. We are here now to help protect our past and current interest in Western Africa, particularly Sierra Leone, with 5.7 million, and Ghana, with 24.7 million people.”
The Commander-in-chief of the British fleet concluded, “We also helped Interpol halt illegal money laundering activities in the United Kingdom. The young man that has helped us so far with game-changing intelligence, I thank you. The Queen of England thanks you, and the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom thanks you. We have benefited from this global alliance, capturing a major mole in our intelligence system.”
Jeff was in awe as he witnessed the cooperation of so many nations. He now understood what the director of intelligence meant when he said we all bleed red.
The director and Shelby reappeared. “We have new intelligence from naval intelligence and the National Reconnaissance Office.”
Shelby began the update. “We consulted with our satellite systems contractor for a solution on the hijacked signal. The full report will be available in the joint cloud services so I will not review the entire brief. We reported that Apophis was hailing the taxi. We also know how Apophis leaves the taxi and hops on the targeted polar-orbiting satellite without us knowing it. We also know now that the code is more potent than the signal. Let me remind everyone that the signal is the sleeping pill that keeps the bombs asleep. It is when the signal is not received that the baby up wakes up with hunger. The code will actually cut the signal off at a certain time, hence detonating the Hellburners. If you jam the signal, you create the event that will accelerate the sixth extinction.”
The Director asked for a point of clarity as she sensed world leaders might be listening on their global access channels. “Shelby, as a point of fact, please clarify this sixth extinction.”
“Yes, Madam Director. The reliable intel furnished by the four captured Genesis operatives; Commander Jeff, Secretary Bird, Commander Jameela, and Commander Kyle points to the facts that Genesis believes that the Western world has broken the world with its oppressive political, racial, and economic policies and practices. Genesis believes it is their moral and spiritual obligation to fix it. They are also angered by our treatment of terrorists and suspected terrorists. The captured Genesis operatives have led us to believe that Field Commander Jameela was the daughter of Genesis’ Supreme Commander. In this case, we have committed the unthinkable. She will retaliate with all the anger of the old gods and the new.”
Colonel Werner asked, “Who is 'she'?”
“Genesis’ Supreme Commander, of course.”
Shelby concluded with, “According to Genesis Commanders, this will be the beginning of Genesis’ New World Order. You have detailed information on this in the briefing materials on the joint cloud services.”
“Genesis' rationale is based on the five great extinctions of planet Earth. They believe that they were God’s way of fixing things that were broken. He wanted to fix things and make them right so that the human race could begin. The ‘Shepherds’ contend that the Western world’s wars and weapons of mass destruction are causing the sixth mass extinction of species. Genesis is forced to cleanse and fix the world, as God has done before. This will be the beginning of Genesis’ New World Order. You have detailed information on this in your briefing materials on the joint cloud services.”
Colonel Werner had enough. Impatiently he paced the floor. He spoke up. “Director, admirals . . . we must stop this. We must stop this now. I will contact Washington, DC and we will deploy everything the Army has to quell this threat.”
The director warmly said, “Colonel, Washington is in the room. Shelby, please continue.”
“Our satellite systems contractor consulted with White Space, a Reston, Virginia broadband company. White Space has an astounding group of brainiacs that have developed what is now being called 7G-LTE wireless broadband coverage to supply voice and data services to their customers. This is broadband on super steroids. White Space even got approval from the federal government to place their own satellites into geostationary orbit over North America. These large and powerful commercial satellites provide universal coverage to cell phone users even when they're out of cellular range, including on the ocean. They ensure constant connectivity, regardless of location. Several green-gilled competitors, including phone companies that make billions on roaming fees, complained to the Federal Communications Commission that White Space could knock out the world’s GPS devices, as their satellite signals are close to those used by the GPS network and our spysats. White Space didn't argue. They went back to the lab and developed proprietary frequencies that are further away from the world’s GPS and spy-sat signals. Fate has its irony, however. White Space worked on our problem, and it is this technology that will enable us to stop this Genesis’ signals. Using a very simple analogy…”
Colonel Werner quipped, “I like simple.”
“White Space created a duplicate highway modulation of all known frequencies on our global GPS system and spysats. Then they created an alternative highway that replaced Apophis’ highway. If you recall, the container ship and the supertanker that was seized before they could get into the China Sea were boarded by Navy SEALs and moved way past the Bering Sea and deep into the northern Arctic Sea. Both vessels are dead-stopped where a nuclear blast impact will have a marginal effect at worst. Our bomb experts have been on both ships since seizure. This information has been known only to very few in the Navy until NRO notified us of a possible solution. The reason we mention this is that as of right now the bombs on those vessels are reading the signal from our highway. If someone tries to send a code, it has to travel the highway we created. To stay with the simple analogy, we have the highway patrol on this highway and can stop all codes that travel. Now that we've built this short-term fix, our people are working diligently on a perfect solution.”
Everyone stood wherever they were and clapped. It seemed like thunder roaring through the sound systems.
The director took the floor. “We had our political risk analysts assess the social, political, and economic risks of bringing the ships to a stop east past Guyana near Paramaribo. Now that we have a signal solution,
the risk has been minimized and this is a viable option. Our geopolitical experts agree with the Genesis operative's assessment that it is very unlikely Genesis will detonate those Fireships near countries they are heavily recruiting from, particularly Muslim countries. Our geopolitical experts also agree that Genesis will not want to incur the wrath of other freedom groups recruiting in South America. We have asked Captain Nelson Perry of the Fast Combat Support Supply Ship USNS Arctic to work on a bomb disarmament solution. His ship has been equipped with the latest equipment and technology for explosion and ordinance disarmament, nuclear and otherwise. On this ship, we have placed twenty of the brightest men and women in satellite technology from NRO, NASA, and the intelligence community. Also aboard are scientists from the Energy Department’s Pantex Plant near Amarillo, Texas, that are responsible for dissecting these minivan size bombs and taking the 300 pounds of high explosives out and separating them away from its enriched uranium heart, known as a pit. They are working 24/7 to come up with a disarmament solution.”
Admiral Brice Cooper hit the question icon on his video teleconference console. “Where do you propose we escort these ships to?”
Shelby and the director simultaneously swiped the interactive video wall and the display panels revealed a global map with the continent of North America on the left and Africa on the right. Shelby explained, “This is Lajes do Pico located in the southern part of the Azores Island string. Traveling from the United States to Africa, you will pass these beautiful islands. The reconnaissance satellite tells us that the municipality is located on the southern part of the Pico Island. The northern area of the municipality is mountainous while the Atlantic Ocean is to the south. The only road linking to the northern part of the island runs through the mountain ranges of Pico. The municipality has a population of 4,840. If we had to sustain a blast, it should be on the south of this island. The mountains to the north could protect populations on other islands. Pico’s four-mile-high mountain is, in fact, the top of the world’s biggest mountain range known as the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, measuring 10,000 miles long and 500 miles wide. We would ask the British and American Navies to get a ship out there to move the population of 4,840. This town used to be best known for its large whale processing factory, which closed down years ago. The nuclear blast impact is unknown, but we need to prevent the container ship from approaching closer than 600 miles in any direction from this or other Azores Islands. The African western coast should be way out of the way of a blast as well as the eastern coast of the United States.”
Accelerant- Sixth Extinction Page 24