REVENGE: Shelter Book 6 (The Shelter)

by Ira Tabankin

  “What about those in the North?”

  “They’re not voting, I only care about those in the Confederacy. The North already hates me.”

  “Jay, the North could pressure the UN to intercede because you’re stepping on our citizens’ natural rights.”

  “We’re not a member of the UN; we will never join the UN, if the UN crosses our border, we’ll fight them. Let me be very clear, there will be no blue helmets in the Confederacy, NONE. Am I clear?”

  “Are you asking me to leak that?”

  “Yes. I want everyone to know the UN means nothing to us. We’re not going to ask for admission to the UN, we’re not going to allow their people to watch our elections, we’re not going to allow them to step foot in the Confederacy.”

  “Jay, I think this will really win the election for you.”

  “I’m not doing this to win the election, I’m doing it because I mean it. The first blue helmet that shows up will be sent home with a bullet hole in it.”

  “Are you prepared to fight the combined might of the UN?”

  “Yes, I am and I believe the people of the Confederacy will agree.”

  “I’ll leak the story tonight so it hits the morning news programs.”

  “Good, I’m going to finish getting dressed and we’re going to get something to eat, want to join us? Say in twenty minutes?”

  “Love to, I’ll meet you in the lobby.”

  “Thanks Stu.”

  Lacy asks,

  “Jay, are you sure about this? It can start a world war.”

  “No it won’t, once we leak we have WMDs, and we’re willing to use them, the UN will be scared to cross our border.”

  “Do I want to know where or how we got WMDs?”

  “No, I think it’s better if you don’t know.”

  “Would you really use them? Don’t BS me.”

  Jay puts on a fresh shirt, saying,

  “The answer to your question is, yes, I will use them, I’ll use them to destroy anyone who attacks us.”

  “My God! You’ll use them on a preemptive strike? My God, Jay, that will mean we’ll get attacked with them in return. You’ll be starting a nuclear war; you could be starting World War 3. You can’t! You have to stop Stu from leaking that. Please tell me you’re joking. At least, let’s discuss it with Fred, Tony and General Arthur. Please, I’m begging you, don’t do this.”

  “If the UN decides to attack us, or the North attacks us AGAIN, we need a way to stop them.”

  “Oh crap, now I understand why you’re building the capital inside a cave. You’re planning on a nuclear attack aren’t you.”

  “I hope we never have to use them. If my plan works, we WILL never have to use them.”

  “My God. I’m sick. I’m not going to eat, I feel sick. Think of the children, think of the innocent people who would be caught in the war. Jay, please think this over very carefully.”

  “Honey, come to dinner with us, have some soup or a salad, you have to eat something or you’ll have a massive headache.”

  “I’ll come, but, I’m feeling sick to my stomach, I think you’ve gone too far this time. When were you planning on telling me?”

  “If we ever needed to use them. I didn’t want to upset you; these town hall meetings are too important.”

  “Do you realize you’re going to change the entire discussion in the next meetings? What did you do? People will think you’re unbalanced. You’ll throw away everything you wanted. Why would you risk everything?”

  “Because I’m not risking anything. The threat alone will be enough to give the other powers pause, most think I’m crazy enough to use them, it may save us from having to go to war.”

  “I pray you’re right.”

  Chapter 22

  Glenn stands in Fred’s doorway, “Fred, the tunnel between the existing shelter and the new one is complete, we’re installing the cement today. As long as the trucks arrive on time, we should finish lining it sometime tonight. When the cement dries we’ll install the blast doors between the two shelters. There will be one between each shelter.”

  “Excellent, when do you expect to have the new shelter ready to go?” Fred asks, while looking at the master schedule on his tablet. “It looks like you’re running three days behind your plan. Remember, finishing the projects early pays a bonus, finishing late invokes the penalty clause. Jay is very serious when it comes to schedules. He believes if you name your own poison, you have to swallow it.”

  “We ran into some large rocks and the cave-in took longer than we expected to clear all of the debris.”

  “He doesn’t care, he allowed you to write the schedule. He made the payment plan very clear.”

  “Shit, the penalty clause means every day we miss the completion date, the amount of the penalty increases. It’s going to eat into our margin.”

  “We don’t accept contractors missing their deadlines and walking away without it costing them.”

  “Well I guess I had better figure out a way to light a fire under everyone and bring in the job on time.”

  “Good idea.”

  “When is Jay returning?”

  “If you think you’ll get further trying to negotiate with him, I’ll let you in on a little secret, if you try it, you’ll be putting the entire contract at risk, he has no sense of humor when it comes to renegotiation.”

  “If you’ll excuse me.”

  “Sure.”

  Tony, who’s been listening in, laughs after Glenn leaves Fred. “I guess you told him. I bet they’ll be working 24/7.”

  “You know Jay, he wants what he wants, he wants it before he knows he needs it.”

  “I’m interested to see how tonight’s meeting in Huntsville goes.”

  Fred smiles, “I’m not worried about tonight, I’m worried about tomorrow’s in Birmingham, I believe that one is going to be very bad news. I called Colonel Black to ask him to provide additional support and protection staff without letting Jay know they’ll be there.”

  “Good idea.”

  @@@@@

  Stu sits across from Jay without touching his fish,

  “Jay, are you sure you want to go ahead with me leaking these stories? The leaks can cause real problems. Why not hold them until after the town hall meetings?”

  “Stu, because I want the stories out. I think this is a good time to put our cards on the table, I want them face up so everyone knows where we stand.”

  “Jay, why don’t you consider a no first use position?”

  “Because it won’t stop anyone from attacking us. I want them to know what will happen if they try to invade us.”

  “Can I ask where you got the weapons?”

  “You can ask, but, I’m not ready to say yet. I haven’t decided if I’ll ever say. It depends on our newest ally.”

  “We have a new ally, one who is going recognize us? That is news, can I publish that? Every ally makes us stronger.”

  “I’ll think about it. Eat your fish before it gets cold.”

  “How do you think the next couple of meetings are going to go?”

  “Huntsville will be great, we have the full support of the city and surrounding area, I expect problems at the Birmingham meeting, don’t worry, we’re prepared for the trouble.” Jay’s smile reminded Stu of the Cheshire Cat in Alice in Wonderland. Stu worried Jay had a secret up his sleeve that could impact all of his plans.

  Stu lowers his voice,

  “Jay, please be careful, we can’t afford any crazy stunts.”

  “Who said anything about a crazy stunt?”

  Lacy shakes her head, knowing her husband, she knows he has something up his sleeve which could backfire.

  Stu, looks at Lacy,

  “Do you know what he plans? If you knew would you tell me? It’s not good to keep your press Secretary in the dark.”

  “Stu, I really don’t know what he has planned, and if I did, I’d only say something if he thought I should.”

  “You two keep too
many secrets, I can’t do my job if I don’t know what’s going on. What do I have to do to gain your trust?”

  Lacy smiles, “Stu, no one has our full trust, don’t feel bad about it. You’re gaining our trust, you’re actually ahead of the curve.”

  “That’s good to know, I was getting worried about my position.”

  Lacy looks Stu in his eyes,

  “Stu, the one thing you never have to worry about is wondering where you stand with us. Let’s enjoy our dinner, we’re leaving early tomorrow for Huntsville.”

  “Since it’s so close, why are we leaving early?”

  “Jay wants to meet with the staff at Redstone before the meeting. Wait, here comes the Mayor.”

  Jay stands to greet the Mayor,

  “Mr. Mayor, welcome, what can I do for you?”

  “Mr. President, I want to thank you for your personal check to repair Graceland, I came to thank you. At first I thought it was a publicity stunt. I checked with your staff, the check is real and your CoS told me to cash it and get Graceland repaired. I don’t know how to thank you.”

  “Nothing I do is a publicity stunt; I follow through with what I say.”

  “Speaking of which I’m worried about the reaction to your speech, I’m worried about the orders you gave to my cities first responders, I think you overstepped your authority. Letting part of my city burn isn’t going to help us, it’s going to tear my city apart.”

  “Will you trust me?”

  “How am I going to pay for the repairs if you won’t let my people put out the fires?”

  “You won't have to worry about it.”

  “You know, I was told you were nuts, I’m beginning to believe the stories.”

  “Sit, have something to drink or eat, just let the riots happen, all I ask is you contain them to the inner city and not allow them to spread outside the city.”

  “Are you a racist?”

  “No, furthest from one, I want to prove a point, one that needs examples in order to work.”

  “Mr. President, you know you’re crazy don’t you?”

  Jay smiles, nodding,

  “Certifiable, what would you like to eat?”

  @@@@@

  “Admiral please report to CIC, Admiral report to CIC.”

  Admiral Jefferson wakes up shaking his head, now what? We already beat back their submarines do they really think they can catch us unaware because it’s night? Someone who doesn’t know shit must have ordered their forces to attack ASAP. Pulling on his pants he walks the short distance between his cabin and CIC.

  The officer of the deck snaps to attention, “Admiral in CIC.”

  “At ease. What’s up?”

  “Sir, the Hawkeye spotted a flight of four C17s heading towards us, they are being escorted by twelve F15s.”

  “How far away are they?”

  “Three hundred miles.”

  “Give them the standard warning at 250 miles, is our air umbrella up and ready?”

  “Yes, sir, we have ten Raptors and eight Super Hornets flying CAP.”

  “Begin refueling them so they are full when playtime starts.”

  “Admiral, we ordered them to refuel as soon as we saw the contact.”

  “Good, when they break the 250-mile barrier, send the Raptors after the Eagles and the Super Hornets after the C17s. Tell the pilots to use the attack plan they’ve practiced the past couple of days.”

  “Aye, sir.”

  “If they break the one-hundred-mile line, take them down with Standards. Do not allow them to get closer than seventy-five miles from us.”

  “Aye, sir.”

  At two hundred fifty miles, the Task Force sends the standard warning message. The North’s planes break through the two hundred fifty-mile line, ignoring the warning. The Eagles pull in front of the C17s to intercept any fighters, they don’t realize the Raptors have already opened fire on them. Twenty AIM 120D medium range air to air missiles are already in the air targeted on the Eagles. When the Eagles’ radar warning devices sound, they drop flares and begin jamming, hoping the incoming missiles take the bait and home onto the false signals.

  The AIM 120Ds sense the jamming, they automatically switch to their home on jam attack mode enabling the missiles to target the Eagles. Every Eagle is struck by at least one AIM 120D. While the Raptors are destroying the Eagles, the Super Hornets drop down to fifty feet over the ocean waves. They fly under the North’s radars until they’re right under the C17s. When their AIM 9X sensors howl announcing they are locked on to the C17s, the Super Hornets fire the heat seeking short range air to air missiles. Each Super Hornet fires two missiles, each missile strikes an engine on one of the C17s, bringing all four down. Only three crew members are able to bail out of the C17s before they strike the ocean, breaking up in thousands of pieces.

  Admiral Jefferson watches the feed from the Hawkeye,

  “That’s the end of their latest attempt. They only had a limited supply of those monster bombs. They shouldn’t have anything to block us from reaching Norfolk.”

  “Sir, we’ve received a message from the Chinese fleet asking if we need assistance.”

  “Please send my regards, and tell them we have the situation under control. Ask the Chinese Admiral if he’d like a tour of the Missouri.”

  “Aye, sir.”

  @@@@@

  Todd’s fascinated watching the video feeds from the TBMs. One’s digging out the office space under the street in front of the farm, two others are tunneling towards the caves. A mound of ground rocks and dirt is building up behind the tunneling machines. Cement trucks follow the tunneling machines, other equipment takes the cement spraying it on the walls of the tunnel, this is followed by reinforcing rods and more concrete. Electricians follow hanging pipes with electrical and communications wires. He’s watching the tunnels form like a time lapse movie. I didn’t think it was possible to dig tunnels and build shelters as quickly as these guys are going. I guess enough money and people can do anything, that and Jay’s penalty clause have them moving like a swarm of bees from a kicked over hive.

  Fred shakes his head reading Northern and Southern news blogs, what the hell, where is this shit coming from? Who leaked this? I thought this was one of the darkest secrets we had. It had to have come from Jay himself. Why would he do that? What is he up to? Why would he leak our darkest secret, one only a handful of us knew about. Not even General Abrams or Admiral Jefferson knew about our secret. I think it’s time I call him. I bet he misses my constant interruptions.

  @@@@@

  Lacy asks to see Doctor Basco, he quickly tells her he can come to her room, she says she’ll come to his.

  Minutes later, he opens to the door for Lacy,

  “Lacy, is something wrong? Are you feeling alright? Should I call the local hospital?”

  Lacy smiles, “Doc, I’m okay. I can’t stand this cast any more, can’t you take my cast off early? It’s really driving me nuts.”

  “Tell you what, why don’t we go over to the hospital, I’ll take some X-rays and if they’re good, I’ll remove the cast.”

  “I’m ready right now, I’ll tell Jay we’re going.”

  “Lacy, I don’t think it’s that simple, he’s the President and you’re the First Lady, I think we need to call Colonel Black so he can make security arrangements, he has to make sure they’re prepared to receive you and the route between here and there is secured.”

  “I’m sure the good Colonel can handle that. Please hurry, I can’t wait to get the cast off.”

  “Let’s call the Colonel and Jay, it’s my responsibility to contact them.”

  Lacy speed dials Jay,

  “Honey, I’m with the Doc, he said he wants to take me to the hospital and take X-rays, if they’re good, he’ll remove my cast. Would you like to come with us?”

  “I wouldn’t miss it, I’ll call Colonel Black and Stu, I’ll meet you downstairs in ten minutes.”

  “Thank you. We’ll be there.”

  Not
being familiar with everything that goes into a Presidential visit, Jay’s calls set off a rush of activity, Colonel Black calls the local police and the hospital, he orders the armored vehicles to the rear of the hotel, armed troops clear the halls and basement so Jay, Lacy and the doctor can quickly travel to the waiting cars. The route they drive to the hospital is quickly closed and blocked so no one interferes with their short trip.