by Bobby Akart
Excerpt from BEYOND BORDERS
Prologue
October 12, 2017
Committee on Homeland Security
2154 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC
On October 12, 2017, congressional members of the House Committee on Homeland Security met to hear testimony from five witnesses ranging from senior fellows for policy institutes to the chief of staff for the Commission to Assess the Threat to the United States from an Electromagnetic Pulse Attack, or EMP. The hearing was titled “Empty Threat or Serious Danger.”
Since the founding of the EMP Commission at the insistence of former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, scientists, sociologists, and infrastructure specialists have warned Congress of the threat America faces from an electromagnetic pulse, whether naturally occurring in the form of a coronal mass ejection, or man-made, delivered by a nuclear warhead.
In 2008, the EMP Commission Report made national headlines and began to raise awareness as to the threats our wired society, wholly dependent on electronics and electricity, faced in the event the power grid collapsed due to the massive pulse of energy generated by an EMP.
Report after report documented the potential destruction that could be caused by the detonation of a nuclear warhead above Earth’s surface. A nuclear explosion would send high-energy particles cascading down to Earth, interacting with the planet’s magnetic field and destroying the electronic systems below. The resulting pulse of energy would destroy millions of transformers in America’s power grid as the pulse travelled along power lines, terrestrial and undersea communications lines, and through wired electronic systems.
The chairman of the committee began to wind up his initial remarks. “While the international community and the mainstream media has concentrated its attention on North Korean missile tests and the country’s nuclear program, a new threat has emerged. The EMP Commission has brought to our attention new technology that, if true, would castrate our missile defense capabilities completely. Doctor, would you care to expand upon this premise?”
Dr. Peter Vincent Pry had been at the forefront of the efforts to alert the U.S. government of the threats faced from an EMP attack. One of the early sounders of the proverbial clarion bell, Dr. Pry was now in a position of prominence as chief of staff of the commission and a frequent speaker on Capitol Hill.
“Quite frankly,” he began, “it’s been said an EMP is a threat from above to America’s soft underbelly below. North Korea appears to have pursued a satellite warfare program along the lines of the Soviet Union’s Fractional Orbital Bombardment System, or FOBS. Dating back to the sixties, the concept involved launching an intercontinental ballistic missile into low Earth orbit. Later, the ICBM would de-orbit for an attack, effectively bypassing the weapon-detection systems in the U.S.”
“Wasn’t this type of weaponry prohibited decades ago?” asked the chairman of the committee.
“It was, by the Strategic Arms Limitations Treaty of 1979, otherwise known as SALT II. However, despite the agreement, in the early parts of this decade, we believe the Russians began testing their RS-28 Sarmat ICBM with a super-heavy thermonuclear warhead as part of their satellite reconnaissance program.”
“And what evidence do you have of this?” asked a skeptical congressman.
“Congressman, the Russians heralded the RS-28 Sarmat as an effective response to our Prompt Global Strike program. Months after the initial tests were declared to be successful, the Russian Academy of Missile and Artillery Sciences announced they would be building a variant capable of deployment via satellite by the year 2020.”
The congressman pressed Dr. Pry further. “What does this have to do with North Korea?”
“Sir, in ’04, two former Russian generals and EMP experts from their former country warned the EMP Commission that the technical details for developing a super-EMP were, quote, accidentally transferred to the DPRK. Several months later, Russian scientists had been dispatched to Pyongyang to help with their satellite and nuclear missile program. This was confirmed by South Korean intelligence.”
Another member of the skeptical congressman’s party entered the questioning. “Wouldn’t this whole satellite deployment scheme be too inaccurate to be effective? I mean, how would they guide it to their target?”
“An electromagnetic pulse attack doesn’t require an accurate guidance system because the area of impact, depending upon the altitude of detonation, is so large. For example, studies have shown that North Korea or Iran could initiate an EMP attack against our country from a freighter or submarine by lofting a warhead to twenty miles above the Earth’s surface. Upon detonation over Washington, for example, the Eastern Interconnection grid would be destroyed, which supports most of the U.S. population and generates seventy-five percent of our electricity.”
The chairman followed up with a question. “So what you’re telling us is it’s not the target below that matters as much as the height above the Earth’s surface when the warhead is detonated. Correct?”
“You’re correct, Mr. Chairman. If the Earth did not have a magnetic field, a large vertical pulse of electric current like this would strike the area immediately below the point of detonation. But in reality, the Earth’s magnetic field deflects the flow of electrons across the surface of the planet to create a very large, brief burst of energy—an EMP. This is why there is an inverse relationship between the height of the detonation and the surface area affected; the lower the detonation altitude—the smaller the affected area. A height burst of three hundred miles over, say, St. Louis would affect the U.S. from coast to coast.”
“I understand the nature of nuclear EMPs,” began the skeptical congressman, “but Kim Jong-un has not proven that he has miniaturized a nuke to travel on an ICBM, much less a satellite. Our reports indicate that his ICBMs routinely break apart on re-entry.”
“Congressman, with all due respect, delivery of the warhead via satellite is far different from an ICBM. Think of the weapon as being dropped from a hot-air balloon, using a minimum amount of thrust to insure its descent to a general target area. Our media and, quite frankly, Congress continually provide the American people a false sense of security that, as you say, North Korea has not demonstrated the ability to miniaturize a warhead. The fact is both the road-mobile KN-08 and KN-14 ICBMs could be easily adapted for space deployment. If the North Koreans deployed this weapon to detonate, our nation would be thrust into darkness without warning. To say otherwise is irresponsible.”
The congressman shot back, clearly annoyed by the witness’s challenge. He became animated, waving his arms above his head in feigned mockery. “Fearmongering is considered irresponsible too, sir. For decades, this EMP Commission has screamed the sky is falling, the sky is falling, yet nothing has materialized. To me, this is just another attempt to expand an already bloated defense budget. Or worse, force higher utility bills upon the American people to pay for unnecessary modifications to a perfectly capable power grid. Our country has enough realistic threats to address without fabricating fictional ones.”
Dr. Pry shook his head in disbelief and stared at each of the committee members. He’d devoted his life to raising awareness about the devastating impact an EMP would have on American society. He knew.
The threat is real.
PART ONE
Black Friday, November 25
Chapter 1
November 25, 2022
Black Friday
The Calgary Stampede
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
In the blink of an eye. The human brain processes external stimuli faster than imaginable. Thirteen milliseconds is all it takes for the brain to process and assess everything the human eye can see. For now, that’s about twenty times faster than the world’s most powerful supercomputers. It was also the amount of time Cooper Armstrong had to react when the lights went out on his final ride on top of One-Night Stand.
Cooper heard the buzzer indicating he’d beaten the bull. He�
��d stayed on for the requisite eight seconds. He was going to Las Vegas!
But then, the buzzer abruptly stopped, and he was thrust into darkness. In those milliseconds before the power grid collapsed, Cooper’s brain processed his location in relation to the arena’s stands. His body also processed the predicament he was in.
Ordinarily, at the end of a successful bull ride, the rodeo clowns arrive on the scene to distract the bull while the rider safely dismounts. This time was different. Nobody within the arena could see, except for maybe One-Night Stand, a bull that seemed to possess some type of demonic superpowers.
Cooper’s body reacted much quicker than his normal decision-making process allowed. There were four stress responses to imminent danger, hardwired into human beings after hundreds of thousands of years in which we learned to adapt and survive.
One is known as tend and befriend, a threat response found in humans who recognize danger and immediately move to protect their young by putting their own life on the line. Innate in mothers, one might call this the Mama Grizzly response.
The other three, known as freeze, fight, or flight, are responses based upon circumstances. Freeze responses are commonly associated with possums, deer, and myotonic goats—playing possum, deer in the headlights, and fainting.
Fight and flight have common biological effects on the human body, such as increased blood pressure, dizziness, shortness of breath, and increased adrenalin. When a person’s brain instructs the body to flee, the hands and feet become cold. With a fight response, the hands become hot.
These responses are not calculated. The decision is made within milliseconds, designed by nature to force the human brain to take sudden action to protect the person from danger.
Cooper’s training at the ranch, as well as his experience in the arena atop a bull, served him well to supplement his body’s natural responses. As the light disappeared, in a split-second lapse of focus, Cooper closed his eyes and visualized one of those giant transformer robots slumping over as their power plug was pulled.
He quickly gathered himself and followed his normal routine as he slid off the side of the bull. His brain reminded him of which direction the arena railing was from his position near the center of the ring, and he stumbled in that direction, fully aware of the snorts and thundering hooves of One-Night Stand close behind him.
He opened his eyes gradually, allowing them to adjust and provide him the best possible night vision. He could make out the dim flickering of cigarette lighters in the stands, held high in the air by the fans. He was racing toward the light when he collided with something, sending him tumbling to the dirt floor of the ring.
A grunt and groan indicated the obstacle was another person, most likely a wayward, temporarily blinded rodeo clown. Cooper didn’t hesitate as he gathered himself onto all fours and began crawling toward the rails. He made his way toward the stands and the half-cheering, half-laughing crowd.
I’m glad they’re amused.
Cooper found his footing and stumbled toward the rails, crashing into them in the darkness. He heard the sound of hooves beating against the dirt behind him. One-Night Stand was charging after him. He grabbed the rail and hoisted himself up. His first step was solid, but his left leg slipped off the rail and dangled as the bull raced closer.
Instinctively, Cooper turned to assess the threat, but he couldn’t see. He ignored his frequent lamenting of the pursued in a horror flick who constantly turned to see the killer closing the distance on them.
Run! he’d shout at the television. Don’t turn around! he’d said on more than one occasion.
Fortunately, strong powerful arms intervened to overcome his hesitation. He was grabbed by his shirt and pulled over the rail before being dropped unceremoniously to the dusty concrete floor of the stands.
“I’ve got ya,” said his brother Riley amidst the chants of Coop, Coop, Coop. “I’ve got ya, brother.”
Chapter 2
November 25
Black Friday
The Calgary Stampede
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
“Whadya think happened?” asked Cooper as he stood up. He dusted himself off and closed his eyelids slightly to observe One-Night Stand stomping around the ring, circling like a shark on a mission.
“The lights went out,” replied Riley.
Cooper looked at his brother and laughed. “Ya think?”
The people in the stands began to stomp their feet on the aluminum flooring of the stands surrounding the arena. They chanted in unison.
“Turn on the lights! Turn on the lights!”
The sound was deafening as cigarette lighters illuminated the interior of the Calgary Stampede as if they were waiting for Kenny Chesney to appear on stage. Cooper could barely hear his sister as she spoke.
“Guys, I’m not sure the lights are coming back on,” said Palmer as she joined her brothers. She showed them the display on her cell phone. “See, it’s dead.”
Riley searched through his jeans pockets and pulled out his phone. He attempted to power on the display. Nothing.
“Come on, y’all,” started Cooper. “Don’t mess with me.”
“Seriously, Coop,” said Palmer as she thrust the phone in his direction. “See for yourself.”
Cooper took the phone and tried to turn it on. Then he reached his hand out to Riley, who turned over his cell phone as well. They were both dead. Coop looked around the arena, the dim lights emanating from lighters providing enough of a glow to confirm his suspicions.
“Nobody’s phone is working. Look around, you guys.”
Riley and Palmer circled around to survey the people in the arena. Many were trying to access their phone service and couldn’t. The chanting began to quieten down and was replaced by the murmur of private conversations regarding their phones.
Palmer grabbed them by the arms. “It’s just like Daddy said. If the power goes out, check your electronics, like cell phones or radios. If they don’t work either, we’ve been hit with an EMP.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Riley protested. “I never thought that would actually happen. If this is an EMP, we’re screwed.”
“Everybody will be screwed,” added Cooper in a hushed voice. He leaned into his younger siblings and whispered, “These people may not realize what this means, but we do. We’ve got to get out of here now and protect the horses. If Daddy’s right, the cars won’t work and it’s the eighteen hundreds all over again.”
Palmer grabbed Riley’s hand without saying a word. Cooper placed his hand on Riley’s shoulder as the three made a human train through the crowd toward the exits. Cooper looked around for indications of illuminated exit signs or emergency lighting. There was none. Just as they began to descend the ramp to the outside, he paused to turn and look behind him. He’d just performed the ride of his life, and only a handful of people knew it.
Palmer and Riley pushed open the doors to the parking lot in unison, allowing a burst of cold air to smack the trio in the face. The dampness and cold air was a reminder of the impending snowstorm forecast for the Rocky Mountains tomorrow. The barely visible crescent moon on that Black Friday wouldn’t have been much help anyway.
“Come on,” Cooper instructed as he took the lead. They began to dart through the gathering crowd outside the arena. As the number of people diminished, their fast-paced walk turned into a jog in the direction of the rodeo participants’ trucks and trailers parked by the south entrance to the sprawling complex.
“Hey, my car won’t start!” shouted a man in the distance.
“I can’t even unlock mine!” exclaimed another.
“How can everything be broken?” asked a girl just to their left as they picked up the pace.
A couple of minutes later and slightly out of breath from breathing the cold, damp air, the rodeo kids arrived at their father’s Ford F-450 truck and the trailer holding their three horses. Palmer pulled the truck’s key fob out of her jean’s pocket and began pressing the butto
n. The truck didn’t respond.
“How are we supposed to open this thing? There isn’t a key. Just this stupid remote.”
Riley grabbed the fob from his sister and pushed the button repeatedly, expecting a different result. He began to fiddle with the device, hoping an actual key was hidden inside it. He was unsuccessful and frustrated.
“Forget what’s happening right now; what if the car battery was dead? You couldn’t get in the dang thing with this stupid remote.”
Riley threw it against the side of the truck, and the fob fell to the ground in two pieces. Cooper shrugged off Riley’s outburst, as the fob, and most likely his daddy’s truck, were worthless now anyway.
“Come on, dudes, let’s party! Beer’s on me!” shouted a cowboy as he and his female companion raced by Cooper.
The girl turned her head and shouted back as they skipped past the front of the truck. “Yeah, the space aliens are coming! It’s like, you know, the end of the world!”
Cooper sighed and surveyed his surroundings. There were no signs of light anywhere. There were a couple of bonfires started near the parked cars as people began to look for ways to stay warm. He thought for a moment and then was reminded of the horses, who were restless from all the commotion outside their trailer.
“Palmer, let’s calm the horses down,” said Cooper. “We need to make a decision.”
The three Armstrongs walked to the rear of the trailer and began to nuzzle their horses through the windows. This had an immediate calming effect on the animals, who’d grown up with the rodeo kids for years. For all intents and purposes, they were part of the family, not just a critical part of their rodeo activities.