by D F Capps
“No messages to or from a Russian agent and no messages about the assassination, right?”
Cantrell frowned. “Correct.”
“Watch this.”
Taz typed in the strange code, then turned the phone off and back on. “Here’s the password. Type it in.”
Cantrell did as requested. He checked the messages. Nothing new was there.
Taz couldn’t help but grin. “Turn the phone off and then back on.”
“Is this going somewhere?” Cantrell asked.
Taz nodded. “Trust me. Type in a different password.”
“Any password?
Taz nodded. “Anything.”
Cantrell shook his head and typed random characters into the phone.
“See? Incorrect password.” Cantrell showed him the phone.
“Okay, now type in the correct password.”
Cantrell glanced at the ceiling, sighed, and entered the password. He opened the messages and stared at the screen. “How in the hell . . . ?”
“Who is the Russian agent in the message?” Taz asked.
Cantrell looked over at him with a stunned expression on his face. “How did you know there was a message from a Russian agent?”
Taz chuckled. “They all have one.”
Cantrell shook his head. “But this one didn’t have any a few minutes ago. How did that happen?”
“Take a look at the time and date stamps.” Taz sat there grinning.
“The messages are from before the assassination. This can’t be.”
Taz nodded. “It wasn’t the Russians. This level of hacking and code work is so far beyond anything I’ve ever seen that I know for a fact they couldn’t have done this. Don’t get me wrong, the Russians are good, but the odds of coming up with something like this is astronomical. I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t even come close to being able to do this, and I am way better than the Russians. These messages were planted by someone using this single line of code. They’re all fake.”
Cantrell stared down at the phone again. “So the secret service agents are all innocent? There was no conspiracy? What do you think happened?”
“Hypothetically?” Taz said. “Someone with seriously high level skills hacked into the phones, planted the line of code, and at some point during the assassination, someone turned the dead agents’ phones on, typed in a bogus password, and turned the phones off again. The strange code was activated and the prearranged messages appeared. As long as the agents used the correct passwords, no one would know.”
Cantrell shook his head. “Prearranged?”
Taz nodded again. “This whole thing was planned out well in advance of the attack on the White House. That code could have been on those phones for weeks or months and nobody would have known.”
Cantrell nodded. “Okay. Examine everything again. I want a complete analysis as soon as you can do it. Then I have to inform the president.”
Chapter 41
President Harper called the Joint Chiefs of Staff from the Pentagon and the commanding officers of the military together in the situation room.
“The evidence is conclusive. Russia was behind the assault on the White House and the assassination of President Andrews. This is a clear and unmitigated act of war against the United States. We cannot, and will not, let this act of aggression go unpunished.” He looked around at the stern faces of his military leaders. “What is the most effective way to strike Russia and limit their ability to attack us in return?”
The room was silent for a moment.
“Submarine launched cruise missiles have the highest probability of success,” Admiral Wiggins said. “They are the hardest to track and almost impossible to intercept.”
Harper nodded. “What else?”
“Our new interceptor missiles are in place,” General Sadowski said. “They will provide a very effective wall against Russia launching a full-scale nuclear intercontinental ballistic missile attack against us. I believe it will be very effective.”
“A one-two punch,” Harper said. “I like it. How long will it take to prepare for the launching of the nuclear cruise missiles?”
Admiral Wiggins stirred in his seat. “The vast majority of our submarines are already in position. An hour or two would be required to finalize everything. As soon as you issue the nuclear codes, it’s a done deal.”
Harper took a deep breath. “Then I want it done now. Is that workable?”
Admiral Wiggins checked his watch. “I would place the launch time at fifteen hundred hours, Universal Time. That would be six p.m. in Moscow. It’s workable.”
Harper nervously tapped the table in front of him and looked around the situation room. “I hereby authorize a retaliatory nuclear strike against Russia, to commence at fifteen hundred hours Universal Time. Primary targets are military bases and all military related facilities. Moscow is our number one target. You have your orders.”
* * *
FBI Director Clemens walked to the door of the White House with Cantrell and Taz close behind him. “I have a critical update for the president.”
The secret service agent reached for the phone, but hesitated. “He’s unable to see you right now. I can schedule an appointment.”
“I don’t need an appointment,” Clemens said. “He’s waiting for me to brief him. This is a matter of immediate national security. It’s essential I speak with President Harper right now.”
“I’m sorry, sir, but I don’t have you on the schedule. You can’t see the president. I have my orders.”
Clemens glanced around the room, trying to think of what else he could say. He spotted Senator Stevens on the other side of the room. The senator seemed very calm as he stared back at him.
“Come on, let’s go,” he said to Cantrell and Taz. “We have to find another way to do this.”
* * *
Senator Stevens grinned. The FBI discovered the code and the messaging system on the secret service phones, he thought. A little faster than anticipated, which is why I had to use the agent to deny them access to President Harper right now. No matter. The stage is set.
Chapter 42
Charlie walked down the hall to Theo’s office at Ceti Research, and then stopped in his tracks.
We have an emergency! His father’s voice came into his mind. Several hundred missile launches have been detected from submarines in the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. Trajectories suggest the target is Russia. Sensors confirm the missiles have nuclear warheads. Inform your people in the Space Command!
Charlie ran to Theo’s office.
“Get Admiral Hollis on the phone! Nuclear missiles are on their way to Russia! We need to stop them!”
Theo froze for a moment then grabbed the phone and punched in the local number for Hollis.
“Come on, come on, don’t be away from your phone,” Theo said.
* * *
“Hollis.”
He recognized Theo’s voice, stressed as it was, “Hundreds of nuclear missiles have been launched from submarines against Russia. Get your craft in the air. We have to stop them!”
Submarines, Hollis thought. Probably not ICBMs—too many ways to stop them. Cruise missiles! Low flying and very difficult to track, but the speed was slower, which bought them some time.
“How far into their flight?” He closed his eyes and tried to calm his breathing.
“A minute or two,” Theo said. “We’re really not sure. Can you track them?”
Hollis thought for a moment. “Not well. We have infrared sensing satellites in low Earth orbit, but the coverage isn’t complete. We’re going to lose track of too many missiles.”
“I’ll see if Charlie’s father can help us, but for now, get your people in the air!”
* * *
Diane Zadanski was in the middle of a squad training exercise in the simulators when she stopped.
Diane!
It was Charlie’s voice in her mind. She calmed herself, closed her eyes, and focused on his face.
/> Nuclear armed cruise missiles have been launched against Russia. Flight path takes them over Europe and Turkey. Go now!
“Squadron One,” she announced over the communications system. “Get into your craft now! This is not a drill. Run!”
She unbuckled her harness and jumped from the simulator. Ryan shut the simulator down and followed her.
“What’s going on?” Ryan shouted as they ran for the stairs.
“Cruise missiles launched against Russia!” she shouted back.
The battle stations alarm sounded, drowning out any further discussion. They raced into the ready rooms and changed into their flight suits, then sprinted for the hangar deck and their fighter craft. When they reached the flight deck, Hollis was in his usual spot and the massive blast door was already rising.
“Our government has apparently launched several hundred cruise missiles aimed at Russia. The Russian and Chinese Space Commands have been notified, and are responding. They will engage the missiles first. You will be coming in from the rear. Whatever it takes—shoot those missiles down! We can’t allow even one of them to get through!”
Diane gritted her teeth and nodded in acknowledgement. “You heard him. Our shortest flight path is northeast over the southern tip of Greenland. Let’s go!”
The launch lights turned from flashing red to solid green. She bolted into the air and headed for higher altitude at seventy percent thrust. The rest of her squadron streamed in behind her.
The radio crackled to life. “This is Captain Lieutenant Nikolaev of the Russian Space Command. Do you copy, Commander Zadanski?”
“Good to hear your voice again, Nikolaev,” Diane said. “It sounds like you got a promotion.”
“As did you,” he replied. “See? We are not so different.”
She smiled. “We will be coming in from the northwest across Europe. How can we help you?”
“Ahh, good to have you joining us, Zadanski. We are focusing on southern Russia along the Baltic Sea and across to the Caspian Sea. That is the shortest route for the cruise missiles from the Mediterranean. This means you have to save Moscow.”
That’s a lot of trust, she thought. How many people in the U.S. would depend on the Russians to save Washington, D.C. from a nuclear bomb?
“Understood, Nikolaev. We’re on it,” she replied.
The problem was that cruise missiles flew close to the ground, under the radar, and were extremely difficult to find, let alone shoot down. Her stomach tightened as the realization sunk in. They may not be able to stop all of the missiles, maybe not even a majority of them.
Diane!
It was Charlie’s voice in her mind again. She took several deep breaths and calmed herself. The cruise missiles. How do we find them?
He verified the Space Command’s primary navigation frequency.
My father’s ship is now above where the cruise missiles are flying. He is tracking all of them. At this point he counts three hundred twenty-seven cruise missiles inbound to Russia. Flight path indicates targets deep within Russian territory. His guess is that all of the missiles are intended to reach their targets at the same time, so we can expect more launches as this continues.
Swell, Diane thought. How long?
A little over three hours, Charlie responded.
Okay, that at least gives us the opportunity to get in ahead of them.
It does, Charlie replied. Then all hell is going to break loose. My father is transmitting the locations and tracking data to your navigation systems. Good luck.
Yeah, she thought. We’re going to need a lot more than good luck to get through this.
Chapter 43
“Cruise missile launches are continuing,” Hollis said over the radio. “The subs are changing position between launches.”
Of course they are, Diane thought. That’s exactly what each sub captain is trained to do.
“How many?” Diane asked.
“Currently eight hundred thirteen in the air,” Hollis replied.
Diane looked around as the sun sank lower in the sky and ran the numbers in her mind. So, she thought, including the Russians and the Chinese, we have to shoot down three or four each? With our vastly superior speed, that sounds easy enough. “Squadron one, spread out in a defensive arc and move closer to the Russian and Chinese fighters. Let’s go get those missiles, people.”
She and Buddha slipped into a mountain valley and closed in on the closest cruise missile. The hair on the back of her neck stood up.
“Uh, Di?” Ryan said. “Something’s wrong.”
She made a quick visual sweep around them. Three glowing white lights appeared on the dark side of the mountain to the right and three more on the left.
“Initiate jinking,” Diane ordered.
“Six bandits taking off and inbound,” Ryan said.
“Tell General McHenry we found his missing Zeta Grey saucers. To all squad leaders, expect Zeta Grey scout saucers to be protecting the cruise missiles. Heads up people, we’ve got company.”
“I’ll take the saucers to the right if you want to go left,” Buddha said.
Diane smiled. She liked working with Simmons. “Deal.”
She peeled off to the left and took aim at the first saucer selecting alternating cannons at two shots per second. When she pulled the trigger, the first and second shots were direct hits. She raised her eyebrows. “Thank you, Theo.” Aligning the particle beam cannons to compensate for the jinking was surprisingly effective.
She dipped and rolled to avoid the next saucer and took aim at the third one. The saucer bolted to the side at high speed.
“Bandit two coming around low on your eight,” Ryan said.
Diane dived, spun, and pulled up just above the rocks so she could come up under the saucer. She flipped the cannon switch to both guns and fired, hitting the scout saucer dead center bottom. The saucer tilted and crashed into the mountain below.
“Bandit three, ten high,” Ryan said. “And our target cruise missile just flew by. We’re going to have to play catch-up.”
“Copy that,” she said. “Buddha, how are you doing?”
“Love the new cannon performance. One down, another lined up. Make that two down.”
She took aim at the third saucer. She used to have to get very close to the saucers in order to get a hit because of the jinking. The saucer climbed in altitude and pulled away from the fight. She glanced over at Buddha. A saucer was riding his six hard, trying to get a kill. She banked and swung in low behind the saucer. She fired from a distance of over a mile, yet the cannon shots hit the saucer, sending it into the mountainside. That was something that hadn’t happened before.
“Thanks,” Buddha said.
“Where’s that cruise missile?” Diane asked.
“Four miles northeast, flying low over the trees,” Ryan replied.
She nodded. “Buddha, you take lead, I’ll cover our six.”
“Copy, Jink.”
As they closed in on the cruise missile, two more Zeta Grey scout saucers crested the mountain to her right and slipped in behind them.
“Two new bandits, six high,” Ryan said.
Diane banked left and headed to intercept the saucers. “Buddha, watch your six. We’ve got more company.”
“I got it! Cruise missile is down, Jink. Coming around on your left.”
The two scout saucers reversed course and streaked away.
“We can get ’em,” Buddha said.
Just like the other one, Diane thought. They’re trying to get us to chase them instead of the cruise missiles. “Negative, stay focused on the cruise missiles. Where’s our next target?”
“I know we’re the second line of defense. We need a third line, maybe a fourth,” Ryan said. “Too many missiles are getting by our fighters because of the saucers.”
“More missile launches,” Hollis said over the radio. “We verify one hundred twenty-seven missiles destroyed, but inbound missiles are now at one thousand twenty four.
Chapter 44
Charlie stood in the Operations Center in Peregrine Base watching the emerging situation over Eastern Europe with alarm. The addition of the Zeta Grey saucers was significantly shifting the balance of power in favor of the cruise missiles and the initiation of World War Three. He made a quick calculation in his head. Too many cruise missiles were going to get through.
Charlie closed his eyes and focused his mind on his father.
The Earth humans do not have the resources to eliminate all of the cruise missiles that have been launched. Can we allocate enough ships to change the outcome of the battle?
I have come to the same conclusion, his father replied. Using our ships will mean revealing our involvement to the Zeta Greys. The Corporate Alliance would seek revenge against our home planet.
And when the Earth falls to the Zeta Greys and we have to leave? Won’t that also reveal our interference as well? What about the millions of Earth humans who will die in the next four hours?
Charlie could sense the struggle taking place in his father’s mind.
We have enough ships in Russia and China to turn the tide of the battle, his father replied. I am ordering them to take off and engage the Zeta Grey saucers. I must contact our home planet and warn them of reprisals from the Corporate Alliance.
Thank you, Charlie replied.
“Admiral Hollis?” Charlie interrupted. “I have received information from my father. He is ordering all Tau Ceti ships in Russia and China to join the battle against the Zeta Greys and the incoming cruise missiles.”
Hollis breathed out quickly, closed his eyes, and said, “Thank you. I know the risk your people are already taking by helping us. This goes above and beyond what I could ask for.”
Charlie nodded. “I just hope it helps.”
* * *
Diane narrowly escaped a Zeta Grey saucer as she dipped and shot another cruise missile. The realization that battling the Zeta Greys in addition to the cruise missiles amounted to a losing proposition was sinking in.