They’ve drugged him. The creeps have drugged my dad. Stan tapped on the glass.
“I thought I told you—” the guard in the visitor room said.
“Sorry,” Stan said. “I won’t do it again.”
“If you do,” the guard said, “you ain’t coming back. Got it?”
Stan’s eyes narrowed. It made his dad give him a questioning look. Shaking his phone, trying to forget about the guard, Stan mouthed, ‘Pick up your phone.’
It must have worked, because Mack did.
“Hello, Dad,” Stan said.
“Son?”
“Are you all right?”
Mack scowled. “They’re poisoning me with drugs that are ruining my thinking. The aliens suspect me and must be trying to erase my memory.”
“Has anyone hit you?” Stan asked.
Mack touched his side. “Only a few times,” he said. A slow grin worked onto his face. “But I fought back.”
Stan wanted to groan.
Mack put a hand on the glass. Two of the fingernails were cracked and black underneath. “Is it true the aliens are about to invade us?”
“Do you mean the Chinese?”
“Not them, but the aliens, the ones pulling the Chinese strings.”
“The Chinese blew up two of our carriers in San Francisco,” Stan said. “Have you heard about that?”
Mack nodded. “They’re a clever and treacherous people. We must nuke them as MacArthur said. Son, if they’re coming for Alaska, they’ll hit Anchorage sooner or later.”
Stan nodded. His wife and kids had tried to get out at the airport, but couldn’t. All the boats were full. All the cruise ships had long since left, and they were closing the highways.
“The Chinese will send paratroopers to grab the airport,” Mack said.
“That seems like a logical move,” Stan said. He’d taken out a map yesterday, figuring out what he’d do if he were the enemy. “If the Chinese control metropolitan Anchorage, they’ve conquered half the population, grabbed the most important ports and the critical airport. It seems like it would be easy from there to rush to the main passes. Then they could bottle up the rest of Alaska and set up defensive positions into Canada, making it nearly impossible for reinforcements arriving from British Columbia or the Yukon.”
“Let me out of here to help you,” Mack said. “I can lead a counter-terrorist squad. We’ll sweep the Federal government buildings of alien sympathizers.”
Stan winced. If they’re recording this, my dad is toast. They might send recordings like these to Homeland Security. They’d be sure to kick me out of the National Guard then.
“Dad, listen to me. I want you…to fool the aliens.”
“What do you know?”
“I think they’re monitoring the phones,” Stan said. “You need to confuse the sympathizers by acting as peaceful as possible.”
Mack squeezed his phone as he stared at Stan. “No! They know who I am. They’re trying to break my will by having psychologists convince me I’m crazy.” Mack laughed. “Besides us two—the aliens have bamboozled nearly everyone else.”
That’s the definition of insane: when you believe you’re the only one who’s sane.
“I know what you mean,” Stan said. “But listen, try to pretend. Go along with them for a little while until I can spring you.”
Mack shoulders straightened. “Are you talking about a jailbreak?”
Stan put a finger in front of his mouth. Then he pointed at the guard. His father nodded in a knowing way.
“I understand,” Mack said.
“Good. Dad, they’ve activated the National Guard. I…I might not be able to visit you tomorrow or for the next few days.”
A look of bewilderment came over Mack Higgins. He swallowed so his Adam’s apple bobbed up and down. “I understand,” he whispered.
He’s scared. They have him good and scared.
“I’ll come by as soon as I can,” Stan said quickly.
Mack looked away as he lowered the receiver. His grip tightened. When he looked back, his eyes were moist. Lifting the receiver, he said, “You’re driving a tank, right?”
“One of the heavies,” said Stan.
“The Chinese are going to be coming for you,” Mack said. “Your Abrams tanks are old, but they’re the heaviest tanks we have in Alaska.”
More like the only tanks we have in Alaska. It wasn’t completely true, but it was close enough to make it frightening. Yeah, Stan knew his company would be a primary military target.
“Don’t do anything foolish,” Mack said. “Conserve our armor. Make the Chinese play out against our infantry. Try to plug them up in the streets.”
“We’re not going to let the Chinese into Anchorage,” Stan said. “I can guarantee you that.”
Garcia had told him they were already mining Cook Inlet and Prince William Sound. The National Guard and U.S. Army were also rushing artillery and mortar-teams to Anchorage. The idea was to make the Chinese attack through the Kenai Peninsula if they wanted to reach Anchorage. That was infantry country, especially with the mountains in the Kenai Fjords National Park and the Exit Glacier west of Seward.
Mack was shaking his head. “That’s foolish talk. You need to use Anchorage as a trap. Hold back your Abrams. Have the people throw Molotov cocktails on the engine hoods and use rocket launchers against their armor. Your Abrams are an ace. Only use them to win the game, the Battle for Anchorage. Do you understand me?”
Stan looked at his dad. The old man remembered small-arms tactics but could no longer see the operational picture. Stan nodded. “I do, Colonel Higgins. You’re saying this is going to be a slugfest.”
“The Chinese don’t mind taking losses. America learned that in Korea.”
“The Korean War ended almost eighty years ago,” said Stan.
“National habits don’t change much,” said Mack. “As a history teacher you should know that.”
“Sure, I know it.”
“They’re going to try to grab Alaska fast, doing it the hard way, straightforward with a lightning strike of armor, paratroopers and sleeper units.”
Alaska was twice the size of Texas, with vast mountain ranges, virgin forests and ice. It had more coastline than the rest of the continental United States combined. Stan couldn’t see how the Chinese could conquer the State quickly. They’d need to hit other places simultaneously do to that.
Stan was curious. “How do you know all this, sir?”
“It’s military common sense. They’ll want to grab our State before the President can send the heavy stuff up through British Columbia. Once they own Alaska, the Chinese will hold the people hostage for our country’s good behavior. So you have to drive the Chinese out of Anchorage, once you’ve suckered them into a Stalingrad here.”
“The Chinese haven’t even made it here, Dad. Our submarines and fighters will probably stop them before they can try a D-Day operation against the city.”
“Don’t fool yourself. The Chinese will be here. They have to if they’re going to conquer Alaska. Remember, they’ll hit hard and fast. Absorb the first blow by covering up. See what they have, but stay well away from the big guns on their battleships.”
“Do the Chinese even have battleships?” Stan asked. Those were vintage World War Two weapons.
Mack shook his head. “I don’t know about the battleships. The aliens might have built them some. What I’m saying, son, is that this is going to be a Hell of a fight. Save your tanks for the end, or we’ll lose. Do I make myself clear?”
Stan suddenly had a sick feeling that this would be the last time he’d see his dad. He tried to shake the feeling, but it wouldn’t go away. Why did the Chinese have to invade Alaska? It was crazy.
“I…I respect you, sir,” Stan said.
“You’re a good son,” Mack said. “I love you. I always have.”
Stan nodded stiffly. “I’ll be back soon.”
“Remember what I said, boy.”
“
Bye, Dad.”
“You make me proud, Stan Higgins. You beat the tar out of these Chinese bastards, promise me.”
“I promise, sir.”
“I’m going to hold you to that. Now go on, get out of here,” Mack said, standing tall, the cloudiness fading from his eyes. Then his shoulders slumped and some of the cloudiness returned.
Stan watched as his dad wandered to the waiting guard. The Chinese were coming and his dad had just given him sound advice. The National Guard needed to save the few tanks America had in Alaska. Before this was through, Stan vowed as he gritted his teeth, he was going to get his dad out of here. Mack Higgins deserved better than spending his last days in jail.
WASHINGTON, D.C.
Anna and Colin Green rode an elevator down to White House Bunker Number Five. The National Security Advisor was telling her the history of the heavily armored bunker. It had its own generator, communications system and security grid. It was meant to function even if the capitol received a direct hit from a nuclear weapon.
The elevator stopped, the door opened and they entered a short corridor. Marine guards lined the way. A Marine major nodded at Green and visibly inspected Anna. He glanced at his computer-scroll and then looked at her with recognition.
“The President will join you in a minute,” the major said as he opened the door for them.
Anna followed Green into a large chamber with a big circular table. She was surprised at the number of people gathered and that she recognized all of them from the news. Above the center of the table was a triangular-screened computer-scroll. As Anna sat, she spied two jets on the screen facing her. Something small detached from their underbellies. A moment later on the computer-scroll, violent explosions erupted across the snow-covered land.
The door opened again, and the Marine major stepped in, saying, “The President of the United States.”
President Clark strode in, followed by the Secretary of State in a rumbled suit. The two men took their seats and the meeting began.
General Michael Alan, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, began to outline the military situation. As he did, one of his aides changed the video images on the computer-scrolls above the conference table.
“Reconnaissance is spotty, Mr. President. The Chinese have destroyed our spy satellites and they continue to knock down high-level UAV cams. We believe the ASBM attack destroyed one of their carriers and several ancillary vessels, but we failed to halt the invasion.”
“They’ve landed?” asked the President.
“Not yet, sir,” General Alan said, “at least not in any numbers. Let me explain. The Chinese first struck military instillations in the Aleutian Islands. Afterward, they landed recon teams, but we don’t believe they landed any fighting infantry formations.”
“How do you know this if the satellites are down?” the President asked.
“We still have assets, sir.”
“That doesn’t answer the question,” the Secretary of State said.
General Alan adjusted his glasses. He was a thin man and seldom smiled. “There were survivors in the Aleutians who radioed what they knew before White Tiger Commandos hunted them down. The Navy continues to launch UAV cams and we have weather balloons—”
“We’re using weather balloons to gather intelligence?” the Secretary of State asked in disbelief.
“They’re proving invaluable,” General Alan said. “They’re high-level and have a negligible sensor signature. That means the Chinese are having a difficult time smoking them out. Unfortunately, the balloons are at the mercy of the winds.”
“We can hammer out the details later,” the President said. “Right now I want to know the worst.”
“Yes, sir,” said General Alan, who glanced at an aide before continuing his speech. “The Chinese have caught us by surprise and now they’re maximizing their advantage. They’re keeping the carriers bunched tight and swarming our defenses with mass fighter, bomber attacks. If you’ll notice, the majority of their base attacks are with fuel-burst bombs.”
Anna looked up at a computer-scroll. Jets streaked across the scene, dropping bombs. Seconds later, the entire scroll turned orange with explosions.
“Their military intelligence is excellent,” General Alan said. “They’ve attacked almost every installation outside the umbrella of our strategic ABM laser stations. Naturally, the Chinese aircraft come in low, which lessens the line-of-sight of our pulse-lasers. Most of those strategic lasers are inland and they were built to destroy stratospheric ICBMs. That means a crafty use of enemy air assets can negate much of an ABM laser’s use.”
“Wait a minute,” said Clark. “Are you saying…that even with seven supercarriers the Chinese won’t be able to gain complete air superiority over Alaska?”
“Not as long as we keep the pulse-lasers intact, mass our tactical laser batteries with our SAMs and rush fighters to Alaska,” General Alan said. “The problem, however, is that our air-transportation system is already straining at the breaking point. That’s made worse by the presence of the seven carriers. Because of them, we have to fly through the Yukon. There are terrible snowstorms raging, and our air-transport fleet is badly outdated.”
“Use commercial flights for some of the Army’s needs,” the Secretary of Defense said.
“That will cost us money we don’t have,” the Treasury Secretary said.
“We’d better find a way to pay it,” the Secretary of State said.
“You spoke about aging transports,” the President said. “No. That’s not quite right. You said the transport system is nearly broken.”
“Yes, sir,” General Alan said. “Maybe if I outlined the problem in detail.”
President Clark nodded.
Putting his slender hands flat on the table, General Alan said, “We’re all familiar with the ongoing military shrinkage. Year after year, we’ve demobilized Army, Navy or Air Force formations. Often, we left equipment at old bases. We put machines into storage or parked a thousand vehicles in an abandoned lot. Much of that equipment simply rusted away and turned into junk. Sometimes, however, we donated the old equipment to various National Guard formations. The Alaskan National Guard possesses some M2 Bradleys but almost no heavy armor.”
“We know all this,” the Secretary of State said.
General Alan blinked at the larger man. “Let me put it like this then. The Alaskan National Guard has outdated equipment. The Army possesses two skeletal brigades there. Without the Alaskan Militiamen to bolster our numbers, the Chinese would swamp us. We need everything up there at once. We need more Wyvern surface-to-air missiles, more armor, more fighters, more laser batteries, more warm bodies—”
“We understand this is an emergency,” the President said. “You’ve made your point. We lack many things, but hopefully we have enough in place to stall them.”
General Alan frowned. “That depends, sir.”
“On what?”
“Their goal.”
“The Chairman has already told us what he plans to do,” the President said.
Anna perked up. This was news to her.
“When did he tell you this, sir?” General Alan asked.
President Clark sat back as his eyes narrowed. “I spoke to the Chairman after our ASBM assault. I warned him against invading American soil. He said the Chinese invaded in order to right past wrongs. He pointed out the Northeastern Area as a case in point.”
“I’m not familiar with that, sir,” General Alan said.
Clark hesitated. Anna wondered if the President failed to realize what the Chairman had meant by that.
“The Northeastern Area was former Russian land, particularly around Vladivostok,” Anna said. “Several dynasties ago, the territory belonged to China. The Russians took it….” She faltered as everyone in the chamber stared at her, many with incomprehension.
“This is Anna Chen, our China expert,” the President said. “She tried to warn us of the impending attack.”
Gr
een looked up in alarm.
The President chuckled, although there wasn’t any humor in his voice. “Did you think to keep that hidden from me, Colin?”
“Uh, no sir,” Green said.
The President folded his hands on the table. “The Chairman claimed the U.S. stole Alaska from the Siberians. I told him the Russians had discovered Alaska and we bought it from them. That’s when he launched into a historical lesson. He said the Yakuts—the Siberian natives—discovered Alaska when they crossed the Bering Strait during former ice ages. The Chairman told me he was weary of the Anglos having stolen native lands all over the world. The day has come where China will liberate Alaska from the imperialistic Europeans and return it to its native peoples. He promised to protect Alaska, giving the Eskimos—the Inuit natives—Chinese guarantees of native sovereignty.”
“That sounds just like Aztlan propaganda,” the Secretary of State said.
“Bah!” Green said with heat. “There isn’t any land anywhere in the world worth taking that someone hasn’t taken from someone else. It’s a fact of nature that the strong take from the weak. The Native American tribes did it to each other before any Europeans came. Foxes and wolves steal each other’s territory from each other.”
“I’m not sure I like your implication,” the Secretary of State said. “We didn’t steal land from anyone. Alaska is sovereign U.S. Territory.”
“One thing the Chairman made clear,” said Clark, forestalling Green’s rebuttal. “The Chinese intend to capture the entire State. But I’m curious. Ms. Chen. Why did the Chairman say those things to me?”
“I believe his words were primarily for internal Chinese consumption,” Anna said. “The Chairman said those things so he doesn’t appear as the aggressor.”
“Will anyone believe such nonsense?” the President asked.
“There is an old saying: any port will do in a storm,” Anna said. “What the Chairman told you is an excuse, and people are often quick to accept excuses they don’t mind hearing.”
“You cut to the point,” Clark said. “It isn’t so important why he said he’s invading, but that he is. General, do you have any ideas concerning their strategy?”
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