by Ricky Sides
Patricia translated Tim’s question. Ah Hoya responded at length. When he finished, Patricia said, “They will first use a conventional warhead on the city. They will warn us to leave them alone or they will nuke the city. They are counting on maintaining an air of secrecy as to how many missiles they have. This is why they sent a team to locate him. They are probably getting ready to move into the country, but he never heard a date mentioned, so that is speculation on his part.”
“Ask him to tell us about the leader of the rogue UN troops,” Pete suggested.
Patricia relayed the request for information and listened intently as the man responded. Ah Hoya spoke in short sentences, pausing for Patricia to translate what he’d just said, before proceeding with his narrative.
Translating for the man, Patricia said, “The commander’s name is Geraldo Raul Fernandez. He was not the original commander to take charge after the loss of the real UN command staff. Fernandez murdered that man. He has promised the men who serve him that he will conquer America for Spain. He has contacted several La Raza militant factions and formed loose alliances with them. He is playing on their desire to retake portions of America that once belonged to the people.”
Pete interrupted Patricia at that point, when he asked, “Is he planning to take a city to demonstrate that it can be done, and then have reinforcements from those factions pour across the border?”
Patricia translated his question to Ah Hoya, who asked for clarification about the question. He then spoke slowly in reply, which Patricia translated. He said, “You are wise to understand the situation. Geraldo Raul Fernandez is not a fool. He is ruthless. He is ambitious. He is cruel, but he is not a fool. He knows that his small army cannot hope to take America for Spain unaided. He plans to spearhead the attack with his army, but he expects to have massive reinforcements from the various militant factions of La Raza once he has proven that he can lead them to victory.”
“Those militant factions can’t be that large,” stated Tim.
“They don’t need to be massive. They can recruit the hungry survivors easily by promising to lead them to the land of abundance,” Pete said.
Ah Hoya spoke to Patricia, asking what the men had said. When she translated, he responded and then leaned back in his chair to regard Pete with respect. “He says that you are wise in the ways of such things. What you described is the very plan that Fernandez has been working on for years. He is almost ready, but you have one thing in your favor. The militants don’t believe America can be taken easily. Before they will begin crossing the border, Fernandez must prove that he can take San Francisco. If he can take that city, and hold it for a month, the La Raza militants will begin their part in the conflict. If the Spaniard dies in the attempt, they will have lost nothing. But if he is successful, then your country will be invaded by the militants and all of the men that they can recruit. They think they can raise a massive army. They will begin the recruiting the moment that Fernandez takes San Francisco.”
Chapter 13
For the next two days, the citadel was a beehive of activity. Patrol ships delivering personnel and equipment arrived almost hourly during the second day. Volunteer pilots, Namid among them, flew night reconnaissance missions capturing hours of video intelligence.
The council had wanted to launch an all out attack against the rogue United Nations troops as soon as possible, but that idea had to be discarded because the reconnaissance missions had failed to locate the three missiles, which had apparently been moved after Ah Hoya Reyes made his escape. They realized that if they attacked prior to locating the missiles, the commander of the rogue troops would likely launch the missiles at various American cities within range of the missiles.
Pol and Patricia had carefully studied the photograph of the missiles. There was no way for them to determine which warheads the missiles were armed with, but they did identify the category of the missiles. They were long range subsonic missiles capable of carrying either a convention or a nuclear warhead. They had a range of six hundred twenty miles and could fly at about six hundred forty miles per hour. The two scientists advised the council that the safest way to deal with the missiles was to locate them and destroy them on the ground. They assured the council that the resultant explosion would be conventional in nature because the missiles had a built in safety feature that would work in their favor. The missiles contained sensors that registered g-forces. Unless the missiles had been fired and reached the g-forces necessary to disarm the safety feature, then they would not detonate.
Shooting them down in flight would be similarly safe. Although a conventional explosion was almost certain to occur, there was very little likelihood of a nuclear explosion until the missile closed with its target.
On the second day of preparations, the council met with Pol, Patricia, the flight leaders from several states, all of the patrol ship captains, and their strike team leaders for a briefing. “Alright people,” Jim said, addressing the assembled peacekeepers in the citadel recreation room. “We know the missiles have a six hundred mile flight capability. You all have a map with the zone of interest highlighted. That zone includes the areas from which the renegades can launch the missiles and expect to reach Los Angeles.”
“Matters are complicated by the fact that we don’t know the location of the missiles,” Jim explained. “However, we have worked out a plan that just might work. The Constitution and her fighters, along with her compliment of drones, will create a diversionary attack. If they can annihilate the majority of the enemy, so much the better. But their primary mission is to create mass confusion in the camp. Several of our Miami based Cuban American peacekeepers will be going into that camp with Lieutenant Wilcox’s strike team. They will act as interpreters if needed. We don’t know how many languages the men are likely to encounter, but our informant tells us that the majority of the former UN men speak Spanish. Pete thinks they were probably chosen for duty in Mexico, based on their ability to speak Spanish. The mission goal of Lieutenant Wilcox’s team is to try to determine the location of the missiles and or terminate the capability of the enemy to launch those missiles.”
Jim paused when he saw a hand raised, indicating that someone had a question they wanted to ask. “Please hold your questions until the briefing is concluded,” he requested. “There’s a good chance that your questions will be answered as the briefing progresses,” he explained.
“As you know, the council has ordered all fighters and ships to fly to the area in New Mexico, where we once assembled for the assault on the tyrant in Kansas. No doubt, many of you are wondering why we are having you fly so far north before turning west. The answer is simple. This base is under observation by enemy scouts, and we have reason to believe that there may be other scouts situated to our south, west, and north. Our fighters based here have been locating the enemy for two days. They were under orders to plot their positions, but do nothing that would indicate to the enemy that they had been spotted. It would be impossible to launch a preemptive strike by surprise at this point. They may be renegades, but these men are professional soldiers who know how to conduct a war. Therefore, you will rendezvous at the Alpha location. From there, early tomorrow morning, you will proceed to your target areas indicated on your maps,” Jim explained.
Turning to Patricia, Jim said, “The map, if you please.”
Patricia activated a control on a control panel situated in the back of the room on a tabletop. A map of the southwestern United States appeared on the movie screen. Touching another button, she dimmed the lighting significantly.
Using one of the pool cues, taken from the recreation room pool table, Jim pointed to the southernmost line depicted on the map. “The defense of Los Angeles will be a layered defensive screen. This first layer will be the drones from the patrol ships. Your drone operators should be informed that for this mission their drones are expendable. If we can trade a drone for a missile, we will gladly do so. But their best chance will be to hit them with their las
ers. If a missile is spotted, but gets through the defensive line, the drone operators can report it and provide a course. This will give the next lines a heads up, and they will have a bit of time to prepare.”
Moving the stick to the next line north, Jim said, “This line is the patrol ships. You, along with your fighter escorts, will be the next line of defense. We estimate that you will have a few minutes to make position adjustments, if the missiles get past the drones. Fighter pilots, we advise you to orient your fighters in such a manner that you can head straight for Los Angeles at four hundred eighty miles per hour, if the drones send advanced warning. If a missile passes within your sight you may be able to keep it within sight long enough to shoot it down. Of course, the patrol ships will be attempting to do the same. The Valiant is actually fast enough to give chase. If a drone reports a missile got past them, she will take off for the city, along with the fighter escorts,” he explained.
Next, he pointed to the remaining lines across the map. “The remainder of these positions will be taken up by the rest of the fighter squadrons. We are even putting our flight trainers in the air for this mission. Thank God, we had a pool of trained pilots working the rotations on the bases to give the pilots some much-needed rest. If not for that pool of pilots, we wouldn’t have enough to add the flight trainers.”
Jim pointed to the very last line on the map that was situated between Los Angeles and the other lines. “This last line will be manned by our armored personnel carriers, all but one of which will be committed to the city defenses. The strike team will use one when they try to penetrate the defenses and gain the information we need as to the location of the missiles.”
Turning to Patricia, Jim said, “Next please.”
Patricia depressed a button on the console and the picture on the screen changed. This time, they were looking at an aerial photograph of the enemy base. Pointing to a large field, near a structure in the northern quarter of the base, Jim said, “Once the Constitution has moved past the area, the Peacekeeper will come in for a landing in this field. Sergeant Thompson and his strike team will attempt to enter this structure,” he said, and he shifted the tip of the pool stick, placing it on the large warehouse structure. “We have intelligence indicating that there are several women being held there against their will in a situation not unlike the Salina scenario. The sergeant and his men will enter the structure and free the women. They will then escort them to the safety of the Peacekeeper, which will join the Constitution in taking the war to the renegade troops,” Jim explained.
Turning to face the assembled peacekeepers, Jim requested the lighting be turned back up to full illumination, and then he asked, “Now gentlemen, any questions?”
“What time do we begin the attack, Admiral?” asked Captain Bill Young of the Constitution.
“We’d prefer a night attack for the obvious reasons, but that is impossible. If the enemy launches the missiles, we stand little chance of spotting them in the dark. Therefore, your attack will be in broad daylight. We are estimating that everyone will be in position by noon central time, but anything can happen in an operation this large. I’d advise timing your arrival for 12:30 P.M. central time,” Jim answered. “By the way, if you haven’t set your watches for central time for this operation as ordered, please do so now.”
“I didn’t get that memo,” One of the flight leaders said. He immediately removed his watch to reset the timepiece. Jim noted that several pilots hadn’t gotten that order and were following suit. He frowned. It was a little thing, but it was indicative of how difficult it was going to be to coordinate this operation.
“Any further questions, Captain?” asked Jim.
“Just clarification please,” said Bill. When Jim nodded for him to proceed, Bill said, “I assume we are to create chaos until we hear that the strike teams have completed their missions and are aboard their vessels, and then we are to destroy the entire encampment. I further assume we are to take no prisoners. Am I correct in these assumptions?”
“You are, Captain. These men are part of the force that has already perpetrated one massacre of American civilians. They plan to target millions more. They are to be executed for their crimes against humanity,” Jim said in an emotionless tone.
Another man raised his hand and Jim pointed to him. “Sergeant Black, sir, pilot of a California APC. Sir, I don’t mean any disrespect, but I’d like to request my APC be permitted to fly closer to the southern lines. It’s our state, and our city we’re defending. I don’t like waiting in the rear while other peacekeepers do my job.”
“Understood, Sergeant Black, but there is a reason the armored personnel carriers are in the last picket line. Your peacekeeper vessels have the strongest defensive armor. Therefore, your vessels will have the best survival rating, should the nuke hit LA. In other words, Sergeant, you already have the most dangerous job. Now do you still want to move to the southern front?”
“When you put it that way, no sir,” the man stated proudly. Jim noted that he stood a little straighter then, as did the other APC pilots. They might fly the slowest ships in the fleet, but they also flew the toughest, and that was something no one could take from them. They didn’t count the Constitution. That ship was more like a flying fortress than a ship as far as they were concerned.
Jim recognized another man in the crowd and signaled for him to ask his question. “Sir, Lieutenant Millwright, drone pilot of the California. I was wondering if it would be possible to tweak a drone to pursue the missiles,” he said.
“I asked Pol that same question, Lieutenant Millwright, and he said that yes it is possible, but not in the time available. He estimated two weeks completion time on the drone modifications and another day or two of testing. Waiting two weeks with a nuke pointed at LA is unacceptable,” Jim explained.
“I take it the same goes for the fighters,” one of the pilots observed.
“Actually, that modification was six weeks. Four for the modifications, and two weeks for testing the manned fighters,” Jim explained.
Jim pointed to another man he thought he recognized as the gunner of the patrol ship Mississippi. “Sir, Lieutenant Sanders, gunner of the Mississippi. Can you tell us if there is any way we can make targeting such a fast moving small target easier? I know from experience that this won’t be easy. In fact, it will be almost impossible.”
“Given the time frame involved, no, Lieutenant. I’m afraid there’s nothing we can do to help in that regard as far as targeting computers. Pete assures me that the best tactic will probably be to fire directly in front of the oncoming missile and hope that it flies into the beam. That’s going to mean sustained bursts,” Jim explained.
“Sir, Corporal Enright, strike team member of the California. Sir, with all due respect, are we doing the right thing by not attempting to evacuate LA?”
Jim nodded his head in understanding of the man’s concern. He’d lost sleep over that same question. He responded, “That’s a very good question. I asked Captain Cliff Barnes about evacuating Los Angeles. There are currently, at best guess, approximately five million people in the city that are barely getting by on the food they can grow or get through trading. Cliff’s estimate reflects our own best guess as to the casualty figures that would result from any attempt to evacuate the city residents.” Jim paused as he pondered how best to say what had to be said. Finally, he sighed, and then he said, “You have to remember that many people in LA are subsisting on a substandard diet. Because of that, they are weaker and sicker than the pre-disaster days. We estimate the losses, due to natural causes, during a successful evacuation, to be in excess of a hundred thousand people in the first seven days. Another thousand to fifteen hundred a day would succumb to the elements and starvation before they could be resettled. And that’s in a successful evacuation in which we get the population away from the city before the missile strike. If a missile gets through during the evacuation, while the people are still within range of the shockwave, we don’t think man
y would survive.”
“So we’re damned if we do, and damned if we don’t,” responded Corporal Enright.
“I’m afraid so, Corporal. That’s why we’ve been trying to persuade the populations of the large cities to move out into the countryside. But they consider the cities their homes,” he said and shrugged. “That’s why we opted to spread the word for the people of the city to take shelter below ground beginning tomorrow morning. The panic and fighting for resources resulting from that warning alone will probably end in the deaths of dozens. But failure to provide any warning is not an option that any of us are prepared to embrace.”
“Sir, if I may?” asked a man in the back row.
“Go ahead,” said Jim.
“Sir, Private Gordon, a member of Lieutenant Wilcox’s new strike force team. You said earlier that the base is under observation. How much longer are we going to let those UN guys report our every move?”
“Private Gordon, I’ll answer your question in just a moment, but first let me address something that you said,” Jim responded, looking at the peacekeepers in the room. “The men we are going to fight are no longer acting under the UN charter. They ceased to represent the United Nations when they began to prey upon the people that they were sent to assist. It is probably a mistake for us to refer to them as UN rogues. They are in fact Marauders. Gracing them with their former designation demeans the good and decent men who served honorably in the United Nations armed forces, many of whom gave their lives helping people under that designation,” Jim stated. Looking around the room Jim saw many nods of agreement.
“Now, to address your question,” Jim said with a grim expression on his face. “In a few hours we will board our ships to head north, Captain Ramon Marino and his strike team will deal with those men. Some of his men will then interrogate any prisoners they manage to capture to try to determine the location of the missiles, but we suspect that only the top officers would have that information.” Shrugging, Jim added, “We still have to try. The stakes are too high to do otherwise.”