Sally blushed, a bit from anger, a bit from embarrassment. “Glad you made yourself at home after fucking me.” She regretted saying that as soon as it came out of her mouth. Her memory was that she had suggested he come home with her, not the other way around. But the words seemed to slip from Stalin as water off a duck's back.
Stalin turned, a wry smile on his face. It now dawned on Sally he was wearing a large bath towel of hers, nothing else. She saw in the light of day that his chiseled granite upper torso body was crisscrossed with scars of every type imaginable, and then some. Sally vaguely remembered feeling some of the scars during their passionate love making.
“I think, dear lady, that you fucked me also. At least that is what I remember happened in your bed.”
Sally looked away, ashamed of her nasty remark. “Sorry. Just…sorry.”
Stalin set a large plate on the kitchen table. “Here. What you Americans call ‘Wrecked Eggs’, a little bit of everything I could find in your larder. I have made some strong Russian version of coffee here also.” He locked his eyes on her. “Sit. Please. Eating will make you feel better.”
Sally sat, took the knife and fork Stalin had set out, and began eating. Despite her emotional upset, the food was excellent.
Stalin set down a plate for himself, in addition to a stack of toast. He then placed a cup of hot coffee next to Sally, and sat down with another in his hand. He slurped the rich dark coffee.
“Hmmm. Not bad for weak American coffee. I was told some farmers are growing coffee beans in hot houses around here. This seems fresh so it must be true.”
“Toast?” he offered.
Sally sat her fork down, and was finally able to meet his eyes. “Sorry about the ‘fucked’ crack. I can be a real bitch sometimes. Just ask Torbin Bender.”
In between bites, Stalin began to talk. “You Americans apologize too much for expressing your feelings. So you are bit angry with yourself for bringing a strange man home. For the first time in a long time. No, don’t protest. I am not insulting you. I’m stating a fact. And now you are worried that this will all blow up in your face, as if I’m some type of unstable explosive.”
He barked out a laugh. “We fucked each other last night, early this morning. Like rabbits, you Americans say. Russians often mention minks. But the idea is the same.”
He looked into her eyes. “And we both enjoyed it. A lot. Now I cook you breakfast. A good breakfast, if I may say so. Which we will also enjoy. We may screw again. Which we will again enjoy. No bombs in your face. Just some lovemaking.”
Sally tried to stutter something out, then stopped. Stalin took ahold of one of her hands.
“I would like us to be friends. I have few friends outside the military. Many who I call as friends are probably closer to Comrades in Arms. So, a friend outside my work would be a gift. What do you say, Sally Reid? I mean, you did get an interview out of me. Even if some was horizontal rather than vertical.”
Sally’s mouth dropped open a bit. Then she began to giggle. Then laughed, followed by a few tears.
“Sorry. Keep getting these flashbacks. Kids and family.”
Stalin stood up. He moved over and hugged her. Sally stood up so she could return the hug. They held on to each other for a while.
“We all have memories of ‘before’, Sally Reid. Cherish them, but do not live through them. Today is today, not yesterday.”
Sally caught herself caressing the Russians body, his scars. She yanked off his towel.
“Minks, huh? Minks are classier than rabbits. Your breakfast was great. Can I have some dessert?”
CHAPTER 2
MALMSTROM ARMED FORCES BASE
GREAT FALLS, MONTANA
GROUNDHOG DAY
Pappy Gunn arrived at his base office before sunrise. He had trouble sleeping since he had a whole bunch of irons in the proverbial fire. Everyone who had ever gotten to know him said that he must have two or three separate brains in the skull of his as it seemed like he was dealing with numerous chains of thought and projects all at once, all the time. And, doing them all efficiently. Because of his abilities, Pappy had become the Logistics, Munitions Production, and Weapons Development Chief Executive Officer all in one. Historically, the closest person to doing what he was doing was Albert Speer, Hitler’s War Production Manager during the last half of World War II. Luckily for him, Pappy Gunn did not have to deal with a psychotic wallpaper hanger like Speer.
Spread out on a large table in his office were the reports and results of several projects that had reached fruition. As he examined them all for the umpteenth time, he smiled. He just loved it when things came together the way he wanted them to, even if at times they had been major pains in the ass. So far, the Tschaaa and their minions, the Krakens, had held off on attempting any major reprisal for the attack on Key West. Some of that may be due to the Cattle Revolt in the three walled off states that had created a distraction. But with all the fire power the Squids had demonstrated during the Invasion, Pappy was still a bit mystified. Had he their resources, he would have smashed the upstart Unoccupied States back into the Stone Age, nuke threat or no.
The U.S. government had just over fifty thousand people under arms (not counting the state militias), with thousands more finally working their way through the training system. The Russians had provided just over another twenty-five hundred personnel, most the crème of the crop. The Japanese had provided another thousand, mostly new trainees. More Canadians were coming forward, and some Finns and Romanians had somehow showed up. Whatever was about to happen, Pappy knew he had to provide the weapons of war for almost all the military forces in the North American area. Japan had provided some salvaged equipment from former U.S. Bases in Japan, sunken naval vessels and a few items provided by trading with now existing Chinese warlords. They also had provided the F-15J Kai aircraft, pilots, and air to air munitions, plus some artillery and tank gun rounds they had shared with allied forces before the Tschaaa showed up. But they kept their limited F-35s and other advanced munitions in Japan, to defend the home islands.
The Canadians found some eight Leopard II Main Battle Tanks that someone had hidden in a large warehouse complex. Now, they and Pappy were trying to get them sent down to Malmstrom Allied Armed Forces Base for retrofitting and reconditioning. Pappy himself had found an M-1 Abrams MBT from an active unit that had been stashed during the long retreat, as well as an M-60. He had also found an old M-48 from an Armed Forces museum that was still operational. A military equipment collector had come forward with an M-4 Sherman that Pappy had rearmed with a Russian provided 76mm cannon.
Pappy gazed out his office window. Sitting in the parking lot was a monster of an armored vehicle, looking like something that came from a Japanese anime sci-fi movie. Cobbled together by the Russians from various armored fighting vehicles, it was a large block of a steel beast self-propelled gun. Twelve inches of steel, with another bolted on plate of depleted uranium on the sloped front surfaces. Even a M-1 ‘Silver Bullet’ would have trouble penetrating it. No turret, just a gun mount with a Russian 125mm gun, salvaged from many wrecked T-80 tanks. With the barrel shortened, it could still fire the same shells and anti-tank missiles as the Russian tanks, but with shorter maximum ranges and velocities. Using special adapted sleeves for the ammunition, it could also fire older 122mm shells, as well as some western 120mm ammunition—one just had to watch the chamber pressures. A couple of fixed 23mm cannon and some turret mounted 60mm mortars to throw smoke and anti-personnel shells rounded out the metal breast. Some armchair historian had said it looked like the German World War II Grizzly Assault Gun on steroids. This, plus homage to a certain she-bear they all knew and loved, led to them being called Kodiaks. They may lumber along, and not be incredibly fast and maneuverable, but you did not want a Kodiak to get its claws into you. It was a testament to the Russian ‘don’t ever throw anything away’ mentality, make it work one way or the other. Little comfort, but very functional.
A couple of muse
um piece armored cars, two Bradley Fighting Vehicles and two dozen “technicals” (heavy machine guns and cannon armed four-wheel drive SUVs and pickup trucks) rounded out his basic maneuver and armor element. The Squids had been pretty efficient at gathering and literally piling up armored vehicles left behind when the fractured units had fled to the interior states. Large piles of equipment were to be found up and down the east and west coasts of America, left to rust and deteriorate under the watchful eye in the sky. Similar actions had been taken with the surviving large military aircraft.
Being short of artillery was another problem. The former U.S. Armed Forces had lost almost all of its artillery in the retreat to the center. Pappy had a single operational single self-propelled 155mm artillery piece with a limited amount of ammunition. Free Japan was sending them some ammunition now, as they used similar weapons, but they were afraid to send too much as their ability to produce more was limited. Pappy had also had a single Multiple-Launch Rocket System (MLRS) vehicle with a dozen missiles. Once again, Free Japan was trying to supply some compatible munitions.
In addition, the Canadians had appeared with a battery of four ancient 25 Pounder guns with a quantity of ammunition. The guns had been part of a battery used for ceremonies, but once again were being placed in combat. The Russians were shipping over an eclectic type and quantity of various guns and artillery pieces, both more modern and museum examples. Some 152mm self-propelled guns were being sent, modified to make use of a bunch of mothballed Shillelagh Anti-Tank missiles from the Sheridan Light Tank found stashed in a warehouse. Thousands built, few used, and now they had another lease on life.
The Russians also were sending a complete crap load of mortars of all sizes and types. The poor man’s artillery, they had pieces all the way up to 240mm in size. Add to that anti-aircraft guns, some from museums, with ammunition scrounged from all over, including former European and Asian countries with former Soviet connections. Add hundreds of anti-aircraft missiles, and Russian equipment was soon ringing major population areas, most often manned by newly trained American personnel. Thus, U.S. Forces became more dependent on foreign supplied equipment, a danger when the Tschaaa could easily shut down the supply route through the Bering Straits. Pappy needed a lot of basic equipment. Small arms were in a rapidly shortening supply. A thousand each brand new M-16 clones and Browning pistols from Deseret had appeared days after Abigail Young had arrived. Since then, they were getting a few dozen weapons and some ammunition each week at the Wyoming/Deseret border entry point, some new, some not. In return, the U.S.A supplied refined oil and petroleum products. Russia sent each of their soldiers with a rifle, plus some machine guns and grenade launchers. Ammunition, not so much. Free Japan sent soldiers and swords, few guns for them. Though in fairness they were supplying major airpower assets.
Pappy Gunn had dealt with the ammunition problem first. He reached out, obtained contact with every surviving ammunition re-loader that had survived. These men and women, some older children, were soon organized as Re-Loaders R Us. Using some powders, shell casings and bullets from sport stores and private homes, they began to load military calibers, including some 50 caliber SLAP rounds. They also broke down ammunition from odd calibers that were not used. All of this activity added up to a million rounds so far. But those numbers would be used up in one battle.
Then a Finnish Colonel showed up, after being escorted with a large sealed shipping container by the Free Russians. In it were thirty Valmet rifles, and a million rounds of ammunition, primarily 7.62 Russian. He said they had more stashed, it was a matter of getting it through the Arctic or Siberia to the Alaska without drawing attention from the Squids. This was what Pappy worked on now. The Squids left them alone now due to the cold climate, and the light skins of the survivors. The Finns would just as soon that did not change. However, if someone else wanted to use their weapons to kill the Squids, have at it.
The issue of slow transport still presented a problem. Pappy looked to what else he could produce in the Unoccupied States. Two former fireworks companies enabled Pappy to make what he called Chinese Artillery Rockets. Five foot long,and five inch in diameter black powder and Pyrodex powder rockets were produced, some twelve hundred of them. They were loaded six to a box-shaped disposable launcher and had just a shade over a three mile range under favorable wind conditions. The warheads were primarily black powder, with some nails and ball bearings thrown in for shrapnel. Even though unguided, they generally would all still land in the area of a football field at the worse, within a couple of dozen yard at the best. Throw them in the back of a pickup truck, run them out, set them down, light them off, then skedaddle. Six hitting a grounded harvester ark should do some damage.
Using some lengths of eight inch pipe from the North Dakota oil fields and some of the fireworks powder, Pappy soon had over one hundred shoulder fired rocket launchers. Only at almost a hundred pounds, you had to have big shoulders. These weapons were soon called Benders, after a certain Marine with a reputation. The expression was that the rocket may not break you, but it sure would bend you. He replaced an initial black powder warhead with a shaped charge modern explosive one, using some mining explosives he had scrounged. Not good enough to take out a modern tank, it could still damage tracks, and blow the crap out of fortified positions. You just had to have someone light the three second fuse in the back, then get out of the way. Pappy was trying to keep things as simple as possible.
Finally, his pièce de résistance. Using spare and scavenged Minuteman Missile parts, he developed the She-Bear Missile. Capable of laser guidance, these 12 foot missiles hurled a thousand pounds of explosives some nine miles. He only built a dozen of them, with towed launchers. They were as much psychological as they were practical. Pappy had a dozen nuclear Armed Minuteman Missiles with a ninety-nine percent chance of functioning, and another dozen with various chances of launching and detonating where they were aimed. They just needed spare parts and upkeep. The twelve She-Bears were all the extra equipment he could spare for large weaponry.
Pappy had then turned his supplying weapons of war to locally produced small arms. First it was a conventional stamped metal AR-18, what had been envisioned in the 1970s as a poor nan’s M-16. The Japanese had found some of the original production tools and gigs for the assault rifle stashed away. They had at one time produced the AR-18 for possible export until pacifistic sections of the government had stopped the export of weapons of war during Vietnam. Pappy located a couple of small gun manufacturers in Montana and South Dakota that he was able to get up and running again. They were now producing the AR-18 at a fairly decent rate that was limited by the supply of usable sheet metal. Re-opening metal ore mines and recycling scrap metal thru two smelters up and operating would enable him to provide some thirty thousand weapons by year’s end, in addition to some spare magazines. But that was not enough to supply the continuing needs of a large allied military force.
Another former M-16 rifle high end clone manufacturer had been located. It had specialized in larger caliber, highly accurate rifles that had demanded a premium price and were a favorite of SWAT teams. Using their expertise along with his team, they had used their large frame rifles in developing a squad automatic weapon in .308 caliber. Either belt or magazine fed, with a special quick change barrel, it was a model of modern workmanship and design. The Armed Forces were short on squad level machine guns. This helped to address that weakness. After a thousand had been delivered, he had then used the same design and heavy barrels, sans the quick change adaptation, to make a designated marksman/sniper rifle. Just shy of five hundred had been delivered so far.
Pappy found a pistol manufacturer that had made 1911-style .45 caliber pistols before the Squids had shown up. He got the owners up and running, completed a production run of a thousand match grade weapons with spare magazines for Special Operations. He then had them make two hundred 9mm versions, then two .40 Caliber and two 10mm pistols. He gave the Forties and the Tens to Commissioner Mill
er for use by law enforcement. The Nines were supplied to the Military. They were now looking for spare parts to make some more.
Another manufacturer had been making replicas of the large Sharps Western Rifle prior to the first rock strike. Pappy now had them making a small batch in modern large rifle calibers, including .338 Lapua. With good optics, they would make adequate sniping rifles. The two pit raids had netted some three thousand weapons of all types. A thousand were ceded to the military, most going to training units. The rest were given to the militias and law enforcement. Some twenty thousand rounds of ammunition were also distributed.
Pappy smiled to himself as he looked at an example of what he considered his crowning achievement in creative weaponry. On his desk tip was a slightly boxy looking assault rifle. It looked a lot like an M-16 but with a thicker looking receiver group and rather square front grip furniture and sight frame. The plastic/polymer magazine next to it was an identifiable M-16 .223 thirty round magazine. Thanks to 3D printer technology, examples of this military weapon were being produced like Twinkies in a former Hostess factory. Pappy Gunn had scrounged every single 3D printer he could find, no matter what the size. Then he had gone about producing the media that was fed into the printers to produce the equipment he needed. Petroleum-based strong plastics, metal-based media, even his own take on the Tschaaa organic ocean crustacean-based material the aliens used to shape the Delta aircraft and connected equipment. The United States had been working on armor based on the shell material produced by crustaceans when the Squids had hit. The aliens had used this technology for centuries prior to their voyage to Earth.
He had started with the simple single shot rifles he was supplying to the Occupied Areas, along with the small disposable automatic pistols with integral silencers. Six to twelve rounds and the disposable guns would begin to self-destruct under the high pressures generated by modern ammunition. So, Pappy began working on a more permanent solution.
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