Wake-up Call: 2035

by Robert J. Traydon

  The infrastructure that remained was undamaged, but didn’t operate simply because vital sections had been removed by the hemispheres. These sections would need to be rebuilt, outside the hemisphere areas, before anything could function again.

  The relief efforts were, however, being severely hindered by countless complications such as: shortages of trained emergency personnel; logistical problems; communications issues; food, water and equipment supply constraints; and many more. Rationing was being instituted across each state to share the limited resources that were available. So many of the things that were regarded as basic entitlements, had suddenly become rare privileges.

  Every nation that had undergone remediation suffered varying degrees of instability in the hours that followed the aftermath. While only sporadic cases of civil breakdown were reported in developed nations, widespread looting, pillaging and rioting broke out across most developing nations. People took the law into their own hands to protect their goods from looters who sought to capitalise on the mayhem. Previously civilised and peaceful areas descended into all out chaos. Not even armed police or military units using lethal force could restore order.

  All cultivated land located within the borders of the Human Activity Zones had been unaffected by the remediation, while that located within the two other Environmental Designation Zones had all been rehabilitated into wilderness area. All the domesticated animals in these two zones had also been removed. The only livestock that remained within the Human Activity Zones was that which relied solely on indigenous vegetation.

  Crops that were previously grown and used to feed livestock and produce processed foods or alcoholic beverages, were immediately earmarked by governments for appropriation. The crops would then be redirected in unprocessed form for human consumption: firstly, to mitigate the anticipated worldwide food shortages; and secondly, because there were no domesticated animals remaining to feed.

  This would theoretically set the precedent that crop food being used exclusively for human consumption, superseded the importance of it being used for non-essential animal products, processed foods and beverages. With this diversion of staple food resources, experts claimed that there would be sufficient food to comfortably feed the remaining world population of six billion people, provided that it was carefully controlled and fairly distributed.

  12. RETALIATION

  |EDT| 4:00 p.m. Earth: White House – President’s Emergency Operations Centre

  Moments after President West’s conversation with President Rivensky, he had notified Defence Secretary Pentrow of the Soviet Union’s intention to launch a nuclear strike against the spacecraft. Pentrow in turn maintained the United States’ defence readiness condition at DEFCON 1. Everyone in the PEOC, NORAD and the NMCC were still trying to regroup the Armed Forces in the aftermath of the remediation. Numerous contingents of the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard simply ceased to exist and the Combatant Commanders were still trying to take stock of the overall losses to personnel and equipment.

  The aftermath was similar to that of a nuclear war in terms of infrastructure and human loss. Fortunately, the Armed Forces that still existed were all well versed in how to deal with a situation of this magnitude. Their communication systems and defence consolidation procedures were well established, so by this time, there was more order than chaos around the nation. However, the United States’ national security had been deeply compromised and for the very first time since the continent was colonised, they were highly vulnerable to foreign attack. They could not afford to take any risks and thus, all the Armed Forces, including what was left of the National Guard, remained mobilised in the field.

  It was now exactly four hours since the remediation had ended. The Soviet nuclear offensive was being closely monitored by many nations around the world, especially the member states of NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation).

  NORAD was on standby and high alert to make sure that immediate counteraction could be taken if the Soviets deviated even slightly from their stipulated plan. The Soviet President was well known for his unpredictable nature and the last thing the United States Armed Forces needed was to be caught off guard with hundreds of Soviet missiles suddenly bearing down on them. The military’s nationwide Iron Dome defence system had been fully initiated as a precaution and was ready for mass-warhead interception should any incoming missile threat be detected.

  The surround screens in the NORAD Command Centre showed the same large ‘nuclear-exchange tracking’ world map. On it, numerous ballistic missiles could suddenly be seen launching simultaneously from various areas across the vast land mass of the USSR. NORAD personnel confirmed the launch of 500 Sarmat ICBMs and one other unidentified ICBM, much bigger than the others. A total of 501 missiles were being shown on the screen as yellow ‘potential-threat’ lines rising vertically into the atmosphere above. The same nuclear exchange tracking maps were being shown simultaneously in both the PEOC and NMCC.

  Everything appeared to be unfolding in accordance with the Soviet President’s stated intentions but the NORAD personnel remained at the ready to deal with any rogue missiles that might inadvertently change their course and direct themselves towards the United States. Should that happen, these missile paths would change to red ‘certain-threat’ lines, which would immediately trigger the nationwide Iron Dome system.

  The missiles climbed high into the stratosphere slowly converging on one another. Once in space they moved into a tight conical formation while continuing to accelerate in an arced prograde trajectory. The path was analysed and shown to intercept a specific orbital path, which matched the one of the spacecraft, as determined by NASA.

  Senior defence staff in the PEOC, NORAD and the NMCC, watched closely as the nuclear strike unfolded. They were all highly impressed by the flawless execution of the mass launch, the zero failure rate of the ICBMs, and also the precision of the missile formation. What they saw now, confirmed unequivocally that the Soviets had upgraded many of their Sarmat ICBMs with space manoeuvrability technology. They had also upgraded their nuclear weapon deployment systems far beyond what had been claimed by the US Intelligence Services. They had been well aware that the Soviets had been carrying out secret upgrades across their extensive fleet of ballistic missiles, but this level of sophistication had not been expected. What had long been denied by the Soviets was now incontrovertibly shown to exist.

  In the PEOC, President West sat forward in his seat observing the various screens, enthralled to see what would happen next.

  4:30 p.m. Observatory: Attack Assessment

  Commander Trennor was weighing up his options while assessing the approaching threat on the hologram and analysing the corresponding statistics that filled the surrounding wall of the Council Chamber. He had been watching intently since being notified of the mass weapon launch from planet Earth’s surface half an hour earlier. He was surprised to hear of it, but not completely shocked. The sheer audacity of these human beings could never be underestimated. In his personal opinion, they weren’t deserving of the second chance that had been given to them.

  It was obvious from the trajectory of the incoming missiles that the humans had established the moving orbital position of the spacecraft, and they were now on a collision course. The Titan had assessed the threat and summarised it for the Exploration Council’s review. It recommended three possible ‘threat prevention options’: threat evasion, threat destruction or threat deflection. The Commander and his Councillors were taken aback by the scale of the assault. It was evident that the humans were using their most powerful and sophisticated weapons, and had every intention of destroying the Observatory spacecraft.

  Just over 15 minutes were required for the Council to agree on how best to deal with the situation. Captain Parenton and the Observatory’s Defence Coordinator, Major Dreft, were then informed that the Council had selected the Titan’s third threat prevention option – threat deflection. They were then given a full brief on the plan. W
hen the briefing was over, Trennor noted that they were now just nine minutes away from the expected impact. After confirming various authorisations with the Titan, The Commander decided to join his Captain and Major on the bridge. He exited the Council Chamber, hailed a capsule and was on the bridge within a minute.

  Commander Trennor walked across to the Defence Coordination Desk where he found Captain Parenton and Major Dreft looking over the holographic glide surface.

  Trennor spoke, “Major, how are we looking?”

  “Commander, the threat is approaching with a closing velocity of 64 000 km/h. Time to impact is now just six minutes.”

  “Is the Energy Dissipation Shield (EDS) powered up and set to maximum?” asked Trennor.

  “Yes, Commander. EDS* initiated and at 100%,” replied the Major.

  [* The EDS employed the latest hyperbolic deflection shielding technology in the Galactic Federation’s possession. It functioned on the simple principle of maximising the energy dissipation of any incoming blast or impact. The shield was ellipsoid when on standby, but as soon as an approaching threat was detected, it would protrude directly towards it in a hyperbolically orientated cone. The blast force would then be deflected along the full length of the conical protrusion, thus significantly reducing any resultant force on the spacecraft.]

  The Major confirmed, “As requested, we are maintaining our current orbital path.”

  Trennor gestured in confirmation, then gave the command, “Release the Threat Diverters.”

  “Affirmative, Commander,” replied the Major.

  Threat Diverters were drone-like devices that latched onto incoming physical threats and catapulted them at ultra-velocity to a pre-designated neutral zone. The defensive instruments’ cargo bay was located towards the aft of the spacecraft’s cylindrical length, just ahead of the bridge. Its sliding doors were retracted and the fleet of 501 Threat Diverters emerged from the hull. They then accelerated ahead towards the incoming threat.

  Thirty seconds later, the direction and speed of the Threat Diverters was reversed to match the approach trajectory and speed of the missiles. They manoeuvred into position adjacent to their designated missiles and electro-magnetically attached themselves. All 501 missiles were now ready to be diverted.

  “Two minutes to impact, Commander,” said the Major.

  Trennor then instructed, “Major, when the countdown to impact reaches 10 seconds, initiate the threat diversion. The designated neutral zone is the near facing surface of the Moon. Let us give these humans a permanent feature on their Moon to long remind them of this fateful day.”

  4:45 p.m. Earth: Media Opinion

  The media was frustrated by the outcome of the remediation as there was no dramatic footage of destroyed cities and mass casualties, normally associated with catastrophic events such as earthquakes, tsunamis and wars. This was an unknown concept for the media. Although there were numerous stories dealing with the emergency response, personal tragedy and widespread looting, what they really wanted was footage of physical devastation … but none was available.

  The only destruction footprint material available to the media was that of the hemispheres themselves, along with the before and after pictures of the transformed landscapes. Civilian satellite images showed many affected cities. Clearly visible in all the images was city infrastructure encircling gigantic park-like areas of indigenous wilderness.

  The only television and radio news networks that were still broadcasting were those whose headquarters still existed. Almost two-thirds had disappeared. CNN was one news network that had survived, thanks to their CEO’s executive decision to strategically relocate their headquarters from Atlanta to Toronto. He had been heavily criticised for the costly relocation exercise, but his foresight was now seen as prophetic, since Atlanta no longer existed.

  It was evident that their audience was now greatly reduced, not only due to the fact that a vast portion of their viewers no longer existed, but also due to the lack of power that was needed for people to watch their televisions, use their smart devices and listen to their radios. Most of the people that could, had invested in Tesla PowerWall devices* during the last two decades.

  [* The PowerWall device was a solar and wind combination power generation unit that operated in tandem with a hi-tech battery pack. Homes fitted with PowerWall devices were effectively ‘off-grid’, and were therefore unaffected by the power shortages.]

  CNN focused a portion of their resources and airtime on the original Ultimatum’s conditions and targets that had been the source of so much debate and controversy three years prior. It located and played back numerous press releases and interviews that had been given by the various Principals. Commentators detailed how the world had chosen to ignore them and conveniently rationalise the whole story as nothing more than a deceitful conspiracy orchestrated by the cooperating Principal masterminds.

  The 12 had been castigated for trying to hinder human progress and subject the world to economic hardship. However, it was now blatantly clear that this had not been the case. The presenters went on to acknowledge, much to the dismay of many heads of state, that the repeated warnings of non-compliance and remediation had been irresponsibly overlooked by those responsible for their citizens’ wellbeing.

  Some political analysts were bold enough to say that remediation had occurred as a direct result of heads of state failing to recognise the significance of the Ultimatum. As a result of this they had put their nations and citizens at unnecessary risk.

  4:54 p.m. Earth: Merrinov War Operations and Command Centre

  The Soviet President watched the screens at the front of the Merrinov War Operations and Control Centre. The graphics displaying the offensive were outstanding. Long unknown to the Americans, the entire control system for the Soviet’s immense nuclear arsenal had been updated with the latest generation software. The true scale of their benefits were only now being realised.

  The woman coordinating the attack, Brigadier Natasha Straven, called out, “Distance to target is now 5 000 kilometres. Missile velocity is 50 000 km/h – target approaching at 14 000 km/h. Estimated time to target is six minutes.”

  The visual display showed the missiles tucked into their conical formation fast approaching a point which was depicted by a miniature cylindrical spacecraft.

  Anticipation was reaching fever pitch in the WOCC. Some of the senior officials were pacing around the War Room.

  Brigadier Straven then shouted out, “One minute to impact, ready your stations.”

  General Drashenko followed, “Arm the warheads.”

  Straven carried out the instruction on her console. Two seconds later the STIM indicator lights turned from green to red.

  She responded, “General, the warheads are now armed and ready for detonation upon reaching the target.”

  “Excellent,” said the General.

  President Rivensky watched as the missiles drew closer to the spacecraft. The burning question was whether they would hit some kind of protection shield that would either destroy or repel them, but nothing of the sort had happened yet. Time ticked by slowly.

  Straven called out an update, “General, 500 kilometres to target … 36 seconds.”

  Those who were sitting, stood up, and those who were standing, leaned forward.

  Straven continued with the countdown, “… twelve, eleven, ten … 100 kilometres, General … eight …”

  She then shouted out loud, “General! MIRVs have activated, suggesting possible change in course of the missiles.”

  The depicted trajectories of the missiles bent away from the target and accelerated at an unbelievable rate away from the target and into space. A smaller screen which had both the Earth and Moon in the field of view showed the missiles accelerating directly towards the Moon.

  “Six, five …”

  There was sudden commotion across the War Operations and Control Centre.

  “What’s going on?” asked the Soviet President.

  Gene
ral Drashenko replied, “Nothing to worry about, Comrade President.”

  The General watched on, riveted to the screens. One of his most respected senior advisors in the Soviet Strategic Rocket Forces had recommended that any external interruption to the speed or course of the ballistic missiles in their final approach phase should immediately initiate the MIRV capability. The General was very glad to have taken the advice.

  “Two, one …”

  4:55 p.m. Earth: Global Opinion

  Speculation was still rampant on what might have happened to the people and infrastructure that had been enclosed within the hemispheres. Wild theories were bandied about suggesting that the hemisphere interiors had been teleported to another planet in the galaxy, or even to some parallel Universe.

  Others postulated that all the human victims had been taken on board the alien spacecraft for a myriad of inconceivable purposes including: being subjected to scientific and medical experiments; being dissected for biological examination and research; being sold as pets or slaves; being put on show in zoos and circuses; being killed, stuffed and displayed in museums across the galaxy; being placed in enclosures for sport hunters seeking trophies; being used for product testing; or even worse, being mass-processed for food. Conspiracy theories raged across every part of the globe.

  In the 29 hours since the start of the remediation, it was now widely accepted across human civilisation that the disastrous event had been the remediation which the Principals had for so long spoken of and that it had been carried out in direct response to humankind’s inability to comply with the Ultimatum. Many of the affected people wondered how different it would have been if they had only trusted the Principals and taken heed of their warnings. They lamented their short-sightedness. Many said that they would have, in retrospect, gladly accepted the Ultimatum, especially considering what had befallen humanity.