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“If we do that and it’s really going down up there then we’d be an easy target.”
“I know. My rationale is this. If a fully blown confrontation is going on, then our few missiles aren’t going to make any difference either way. There’s no way to win a nuclear war. If we fire and the order is correct our firepower is still surplus to requirements. If we don’t fire and the order is an error, then you and I will end up in the brig but millions will live.”
“So you’re betting that the Chinese haven’t already attacked and that therefore we won’t be blown out of the water the moment we surface. You’re gambling. You’re thinking that the best case scenario is that hostilities haven’t started and you’ll go to jail for not following orders. OK, it’s a good gamble. But consider this, the message was correctly formatted. The codes are unbreakable. We know that. We know that we’ve definitely been ordered to fire by our lords and masters, who have a fuller picture than we do. Why would they have issued the order in the first place? And if we start to debate that, then none of this makes sense and we’re just simply disobeying orders and reneging on our oath to defend our country.”
Both men stared at each other intently.
“Missiles fully fuelled in four minutes.”
The exec grimaced. “Fuck, let’s check.”
The mighty vessel broke through the surface in a hail of spray. Eighteen seconds later a Chinese Silkworm missile hit the conning tower at twice the speed of sound, blowing the USS Louisiana out of the water.
Some thirty miles to the south, the Chinese commander of the super secret stealth boat silently thanked the powers that be for its radar invisibility and the courage of his superiors. Their plan was so perfect. They had been correct in their gamble that the weak Americans wouldn’t have the stomach for a fight. Having lost a submarine before hostilities even started would weaken their resolve. Opinion at home would immediately question why their young were being lost yet again a long way from home in a confrontation that they had no right to be involved in. Their free media would howl for redress. While their politicians were busy giving sound bytes to the press, trying to justify yet another ill advised foreign policy venture, Taiwan would slip quietly and uncontested into Chinese hands. Their gamble that the decadent warriors of the west would never launch their missiles was the greatest bluff he’d ever seen. How could the Americans be so arrogant to believe that their codes could never be broken? The Chinese knew that they’d never obey their false order to fire without confirmation.
The minute the captain of the submarine had hesitated, and embarked on the thought process that had led him to surface and expose his submarine, Taiwan had been forever lost to the West.
- The End -
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Based in London and New York, Alexander Hammond is an inveterate writer and traveller. Tales from the Edge of Forever is his third book but his first published work of fiction under this name. His non fiction has also been syndicated in many international newspapers and publications but imaginative fantasy writing is his first love.
Alexander Hammond Facebook page:
www.facebook.com/ahammondwriter
Table of Contents
THE END OF THE WORLD
ARTISTIC LICENCE
MY SPECIAL GUEST TONIGHT
DEITY
SCIENCE FICTION
CHANCE MEETING
A WORK OF QUALITY
THE HOTEL AT THE EDGE OF FOREVER
TOP SECRET
THE MAN WHO THOUGHT HELL WAS A BREEZE
THE HITCHER
ALIENS
WARRIOR
THE TRUTH GAME
PROOF
AMBITION
THE FUTURE
AN ASTRONAUTS DREAM
A GLIMPSE
ABRACADABRA
THE PROGRAM
CONSEQUENCES
THE BUTTON
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Table of Contents
THE END OF THE WORLD
ARTISTIC LICENCE
MY SPECIAL GUEST TONIGHT
DEITY
SCIENCE FICTION
CHANCE MEETING
A WORK OF QUALITY
THE HOTEL AT THE EDGE OF FOREVER
TOP SECRET
THE MAN WHO THOUGHT HELL WAS A BREEZE
THE HITCHER
ALIENS
WARRIOR
THE TRUTH GAME
PROOF
AMBITION
THE FUTURE
AN ASTRONAUTS DREAM
A GLIMPSE
ABRACADABRA
THE PROGRAM
CONSEQUENCES
THE BUTTON
ABOUT THE AUTHOR