Barlow had regained some of his color. He sat up in bed, a stack of pillows behind him. He wore pajamas. Apparently he felt well enough to change.
“Before you ask, I’m fine. I’m alert. I’m able to carry on.”
“That’s good to hear, Mr. President,” Grundy said. He sounded sincere. Jeremy would hate to be calling the shots. “You had us worried.”
“I have an irregular heart rate, and my heart has lost a step or two. When things settle, I’ll have a surgical tune-up, but we’re a long way away from that.”
“Can they do that here?” Grundy was starting to resemble a deflating balloon.
“I suppose they could in an emergency, but it wouldn’t be ideal. Of course, there are no ideal places for heart surgery these days.” Barlow looked at Jeremy. “Maybe your wife would like to see a side of the president no one else has—the inside.” He smiled. It was weak.
“She’s a trauma surgeon, sir, not a cardiologist. If you get hit by a car, however, she’s your girl.” Jeremy returned the smile.
“I think I’ll pass.” Barlow adjusted the nasal cannula delivering oxygen to him. He stared at Grundy. “Let’s hear it, Frank. You look worse than I feel.”
“I’m trying to look sympathetic, but I can only manage pathetic.”
“Leave pathetic to me. What’s happened?”
Grundy hesitated. “Have the doctors—”
“So help me, Frank, if you don’t start talking, I’m going to have my wife come in here and slap you around.”
“Yes, sir. Sorry, sir.” He took a deep breath. “Syria has launched a missile attack on Israel.” He repeated the report he had given Jeremy a short time before.
Barlow leaned his head back on the pillows and stared at the ceiling. “How?”
Radcliffe chose to answer. “We don’t know, sir. It’s possible that they had their missiles in a hardened silo or storage facility.”
“They hit targets?”
“Yes, sir. Tel Aviv for one. Haifa for another.”
“Haifa. We have a Navy presence there. Did we lose assets in the attack?”
Radcliffe nodded. “I have people looking into that, Mr. President.”
The president moved his gaze from the ceiling to the men in his bedroom. “So their guidance system was working?”
Grundy and Radcliffe looked at Jeremy. “Yes, sir. I’ve not seen flight tracks. I understand that one of our subs was monitoring the area and caught the attack on radar. They might be able to tell us if the missiles auto corrected during flight. If so—”
“Then the Syrians have found a way to get their electronics to work. I was led to believe that part of the world was dark like everywhere else.”
“Yes, sir,” Jeremy said. “That was my understanding too.”
Barlow thought for a moment. “Has Israel retaliated?”
“Not yet, sir,” Radcliffe said. “They’ve had enough time to do so. We think their systems are still down.”
“The Syrians’ should still be down.” Barlow grimaced but in a manner different than Jeremy had seen before. This time it was the news that gave him pain. “What I wouldn’t give for a spy satellite.” Then a thought hit him, and his face paled. “The missiles—tell me they were conventional and not nuclear.”
“Syria doesn’t have nuclear warheads, sir,” Grundy said.
“Iran does. They bought some, and they’ve built a few with stolen uranium. Only a handful of people know that.”
Jeremy hadn’t been one of the handful. The news shocked him.
“They’re taking advantage of Israel’s weakness.” Barlow pulled at his lower lip, thinking. “Admiral Radcliffe, what can we do to protect Israel?”
Radcliffe looked at the floor. “Not much, sir. Our sub has a limited supply of Tomahawks onboard. We could rain down some pain on Syria, and I think we should before they get any more ideas.”
“I disagree with the admiral.” Grundy took one step closer to the bed. “Our workable munitions are in short supply. Launching an attack from the sub would make it a target. As it is, she’s spending more time near the surface than we like so we can monitor the area, and that’s pretty limited. We’re great with electronic surveillance, but there are very few electronics to surveil.”
“Apparently the Syrians have more than we assumed.”
“Yes, sir, but even that isn’t certain. A missile is primarily a mechanical device. It can fly without guidance. Maybe they got lucky.”
“Not likely,” Radcliffe said. “They hit key cities. Sure, a few hit smaller towns. At least that’s what the people on the ground are telling us. As you can imagine, news from the ground is slow. A spare radio from the sub was transferred to one of our ships in the Haifa port. There’s been no word.”
“We have to assume that one or more of our ships have been struck. That makes this an attack on the United States.”
“What is our field readiness, Admiral?” Barlow looked at Radcliffe.
“There or in general, sir?”
“There.”
“Not good. We have some communication through rebuilt radios, but that is limited. Moving troops is still slow. We have some transportation up and running, but we don’t have enough to move a large number of soldiers. We have very few working naval vessels. The same can be said for the enemy.”
“Except that some apparently can fire missiles. What else can they do?”
“I have no answers to that question, sir. Not yet.” Radcliffe gave no indication of what Jeremy assumed was churning beneath his skin.
“What a way to run a country.” Barlow frowned. “Burrowed underground, limited intel, hamstrung by distance, and overwhelmed with the suffering of our citizens.” He thought for a moment. “Keep me appraised. I want info as soon as you get it. No sitting around assessing whether it’s worth my time. It is, no matter how small. Understood?”
“Yes, sir.” Radcliffe straightened. “What shall I tell our sub?”
“Tell them to sit tight. They are free to defend themselves.”
“What about Israel, sir?”
Barlow’s tone softened. “She’s on her own. God forgive me, but she’s on her own. We can’t help her. Lobbing cruise missiles at Syria might come back to haunt us. For now we wait. Dismissed.”
“Sir—” Radcliffe began.
“I said, dismissed.”
“Yes, sir.”
Jeremy turned to walk from the room.
“Not you, Jeremy. I need a word.”
Jeremy caught Radcliffe and Grundy glancing at him through the corner of their eyes.
Barlow motioned to a side chair on the other side of the room. “Pull up a seat, General.”
“Yes, sir.” He pulled the chair to the side of the bed.
“My wife tells me you were a great comfort to her and the kids.” He smiled. “Kids…they haven’t been kids for a long time. Old habit I guess. Nothing makes a father more proud than seeing his children become adults. Nothing makes a man sadder.”
“I didn’t do much, sir. Just sat with them.”
“Katey tells me you told them what happened and then prayed for me at her request.”
“That’s true, sir. I was happy to do so. I’m still praying for you.”
“That’s good to hear. I could use some help from the Almighty. I guess God helps those who help themselves. Isn’t that what the Bible says?”
“No, sir. That’s from an old Greek proverb. I think Ben Franklin used it in Poor Richard’s Almanac. It’s not in the Bible. The sentiment is accurate, though.”
Barlow chuckled. It sounded like a cough. “Great. Heart attack, missiles hitting Israel, and now I display my biblical ignorance.”
“Many people make that mistake.”
Barlow settled his gaze on Jeremy. Jeremy saw a sadness in the man’s eyes. “How long have you been a Christian, Jeremy?”
“I became serious about faith in college, but it began before that.”
“How serious?”
&n
bsp; “It’s very important to me, sir. It’s the center of my being.”
“Your wife. She a believer too?”
Jeremy developed a pain in his heart. “No, sir. She’s not.”
“Really, I thought…Never mind. Her science get in the way?”
Jeremy shook his head. “I don’t think that’s it, Mr. President. She’s a very independent woman. Very focused. It makes her a great surgeon. Don’t get me wrong. I love her with every fiber of my being. I’m less a man without her.”
“Still, it has to hurt.”
“Yes, sir, it does. A lot.”
Barlow shifted in the bed and let out a little groan as he did. He quickly waved Jeremy off. “My back is stiff. Don’t grow older, Jeremy. It’s not for sissies.”
“I’ll try not to, sir.”
“I asked you to stay for two reasons. First, thank you for all you’ve done. I’m glad you were there when I keeled over. Not a time to be alone if you catch my drift. Second, I have a question for you, but I’m not sure how to ask.”
“Just say it, sir.”
“Are you one of those Christians who take the Bible literally?”
“Yes, sir, but I need to explain that.”
“I’m not going anywhere.”
Jeremy tried to order his thoughts. “That word literal gets a bad rap. I believe the Bible says what God intends it to say. I also believe God inspired it. Inspired is another word that needs explanation. It comes from a Greek word meaning ‘God breathed.’ That is, content from the Bible originates with God, who then used humans to write what He wanted recorded. That content includes history, poetry, sermons, and a lot more. It uses metaphor and even a little bit of fiction.”
“Fiction? You’re kidding.”
“I should say, instructive fiction. Jesus told parables. A parable is a tiny story that conveys a spiritual truth. It is an ancient teaching tool. So when we say the Bible is meant to be taken literally, we mean we interpret it the way it was intended. For example, there’s a verse in the psalms that reads, ‘He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge.’ The author is using descriptive language. He’s not saying God is covered in feathers. When I read a verse like that, I recognize the writer is using poetic devices. Still, I can take the truth literally. God is the One we turn to in times of stress.”
“So it’s all subject to interpretation?”
“Some things are, sir, but most of the Bible is very straightforward. When it tells us there was a man named Moses, I believe there was a man named Moses.”
“And the miracles?”
“I believe those are historical events, sir.”
“Good. We could use a few miracles these days. As I mentioned before I took a header, I haven’t been a spiritual man, and what I don’t know surpasses what I do know, but I understand enough about the Bible to know some think it predicts the future. Do you believe that?”
“Yes, sir…well, let me back up. The Bible doesn’t predict the future. The future is known to God, and He has revealed it to us.”
“I don’t follow.”
“I’m not explaining it well. Let me say it this way: The prophecies in the Bible tell us what is going to take place because God has decided to do those things. In a sense, we’re reading history that has yet to happen. All unfulfilled prophecy has to do with Christ’s second coming and the events leading up to it and following it.”
“And you believe all this? You believe that what was written in the first century applies to the twenty-first?”
“I do, sir. Some of the prophecies are in the Old Testament, so they’re older than two thousand years.”
“Maybe I’m too pragmatic, Jeremy. Some would consider you superstitious or delusional.”
“Do I seem that way to you, sir?”
Barlow pursed his lips. “No. You seem like a pretty sharp guy.”
“Thank you, sir.”
“Still, today’s intellectuals might think otherwise. Faith is for the ignorant. Their words, not mine.”
“Sir, I…” Jeremy decided to leave the sentence unfinished.
“Carry on, General.”
“I’d rather not, sir. I fear I’ll be misunderstood. I’m not as arrogant as I was about to sound.”
Barlow narrowed his eyes. “How about if I make it an order.”
“Yes, sir. I was going to say…man, this sounds bad…I have an IQ of 145, graduated from the Air Force Academy at the top of my class, and earned two graduate degrees, including a PhD in computer science. I am many things, sir, but stupid isn’t one of them.”
Barlow laughed. “That’s how I like to hear a man talk. Okay, Dr. Matisse, tell me this. Do you think all that has happened is part of your Bible?”
The words in Jeremy’s head began to zip around like hummingbirds in a hurricane. Images came to his mind: the bloodred moon, fragments of destroyed satellites falling to earth like stars… “Immediately after the distress of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.”
“A Bible verse?”
“Yes, sir. Matthew 24:29. I’m also thinking about one of the Old Testament verses I mentioned: Joel 2:30-31. ‘I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and billows of smoke. The sun will be turned into darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.’”
“You have it memorized?”
Jeremy nodded. “I’ve been reading it a lot lately.”
“So it seems. Well, red moon and falling stars I get, but the sun is still shining. Can I expect that to blink out soon?”
“I don’t know, sir. Other people know a lot more than I do about these issues. I’m not a prophecy expert. I’m just a run-of-the-mill Christian.”
“With an IQ of 145 and a couple graduate degrees.”
He felt his face warm. “I wish you hadn’t made me reveal that. Now my humble image is tarnished.”
Barlow grinned. “Your secret is safe with me, General. One last question. Okay, two. First, does your Bible say what role America plays in all this?”
Jeremy’s heart sank. “No.”
“It doesn’t? The most powerful country in the world, and we have no role to play in these events?”
Jeremy leaned forward to rest his elbows on his knees. “Sir… according to some scholars, America is powerless in the last days. If not powerless, then otherwise busy.”
“We’re not a player?”
“Again, this isn’t my field—”
“Stop hedging your comments, Jeremy. I need the straight skinny.”
“The Bible lists several countries involved in the last days. It uses different names, but most scholars recognize Russia, China, and a European conglomerate.”
“The European Union? Are you serious?”
“The conservative scholars think the symbolism in the book of Revelation refers to what we call the European Union. Ten leaders from Europe.”
“There are more than ten members states of the EU.”
It took a moment for Jeremy to conjure up the courage to speak the next words. “There were, sir. I might be all wet here, but it wouldn’t surprise me if ten nations took leadership for the continent.”
“They couldn’t keep that up for long.”
“That’s the point, sir. If this is the end times, they don’t have to. They don’t have much time.”
“We haven’t had contact with the EU, but we do have cable to England. I wonder if they’ve heard anything.”
Barlow fell silent and closed his eyes. Jeremy watched the man’s chest rise and fall. Certain the president was still breathing, Jeremy rose, returned the chair to where he found it, and started for the door.
“Jeremy?”
He turned. “Yes, sir.”
“Earlier I gave you an order. I give it again. Go get your wife.”
“Yes, sir.”
“And
General…thanks.”
30
Lunch
Jeremy had been “housebound” for more than two months. General Holt had left the Mount Weather facility to oversee the USCYBERCOM reconstruction. Jeremy had wanted to go with him, but in the early weeks, his team had arrived and moved into the underground complex to determine the origin and distribution of the Moriarty worm. Uprooting everything again was considered counterproductive.
Much of Jeremy’s work had been limited by communication problems. Bit by bit, SIPRNet, or Slipper, was replacing the temporary EMN. The military equivalent of the Internet eventually connected every key military base, the Department of Defense, and scores of other high-priority locations. Many of the server locations were hardened and were largely unharmed. Power had been the key problem. Still, the power surges and EM pulses had crippled the system for weeks. Getting the computers online and chatting again had been a priority and had consumed much of Jeremy’s and his team’s time. Tracing the flow of the digital collapse was impossible without some of those systems online or the ability to speak to those who had been tracing the activity before the pulses knocked the world back a century or two.
Communication remained a problem. The military, government, and general population had become packet dependent—addicted to immediate communication. Why shouldn’t they be? What happened was thought to be impossible. The military had long known that airburst nuclear warheads could be used to knock out power and communications, but it could only be done in limited areas. An enemy or terrorist might be able to knock New York off-line, but not the whole country. Scores of space-borne EMP weapons going off almost simultaneously was beyond the thinking of even the most paranoid. Jeremy realized that one could not be too paranoid in the twenty-first century.
Power to civilian areas was slim. A few older hydroelectric plants could be run with some efficiency without the benefit of computers. It had been done a century before; it could be done again. Unfortunately, there weren’t enough of those to make much of a difference.
Digital Winter Page 24