by Ira Tabankin
“Premier, something we’ve wanted for hundreds of years just handed to us makes me suspicious. I know I shouldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth. However, I wonder what he’s holding over our head.”
“Minister, our choices are, we could have turned President Brownstone down and have him as our enemy or we could have agreed, which we did, and get what we’ve wanted with no bloodshed. I, too, thought he had an ulterior motive, but the more we talked, the more I believed him. The Middle Kingdom is now positioned to control a third of the world.”
“Premier just in case a future American President decides he doesn’t like the agreement President Brownstone signed with us, we have a proposal to ensure the Western Pacific will remain under our control.”
“Minster, what is this proposal?”
“Premier, we have brought together some of the best minds in the Middle Kingdom; we have studied the area and have a proposal we call ‘Sea Dragons,’ it’s similar to Kansai International Airport. We want to build two artificial islands: one to the East of the Philippines and one next to the Marshall Islands. On these islands, we will build 8,000 meter long runways, anti-air and anti-sea missiles, barracks for 5,000 troops and defenses so we can’t be invaded. The American navy uses aircraft carriers that can be sunk; they also have a limit to the number of airplanes, fuel and munitions they carry. An artificial island will be able to support 200 or more airplanes and hundreds of tons of munitions in shielded bunkers. An island can’t be sunk. Our long range bombers and fighters will allow us to control an area of 4,000 kilometers around the islands. No American ship will be able to approach unless we give them permission.”
“Minister, a very wise plan, how long will it take to construct these islands?”
“Premier, it’s all a question of manpower, the more we have, the quicker the islands are built. The Japanese used 10,000 workers and three years to build the Kansai airport, we believe if we used 35,000 workers, working round the clock, we can complete each island in eighteen months.”
“Minister, I’ll support your proposal, please have the details on my desk first thing in the morning. I’ll present it to the Central Planning Committee tomorrow afternoon. I see no reason why ‘Sea Dragons’ won’t be approved at tomorrow’s meeting.”
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Three hours after the attack on the White House, Secret Service Agent Jonson leads President Brownstone upstairs to the main floor of the White House. There are secret service agents wearing body armor and holding automatic M4A1 rifles in every hallway. The White House smells of smoke and burnt materials. Many of the walls and carpets are wet from the fire hoses used to put out the fires.
“Agent, how bad was it?”
“Mr. President, we lost three agents, four administrative staff and two Capital Police officers inside the House, outside, the numbers are still be counted. Your office is a complete loss; nothing survived.”
“How did they get through our defenses?”
“Mr. President, they flew the plane very low, sometimes in-between buildings, it was also covered in RAM (radar absorbent material) paint. We fired Stingers at it that were decoyed by military grade flares.”
“Who put the plan together? Who attacked us?”
“Mr. President, Alvin is in the Situation Room to discuss this very issue with you.”
Entering the Situation Room, President Brownstone sees Alvin West, the Secretary of Homeland Security, waiting for him. As soon as the door opens, Alvin jumps to his feet, “Alvin, it’s good to see you, sit, please sit. Want anything to drink?”
“Mr. President, there’s a tray of fresh coffee on the side bar. I assumed you’d need some after spending three hours in the bunker.”
“Alvin, do you know who attacked us?”
“Yes sir, it was the drug cartel.”
“Are you sure?”
“Mr. President, we found parts on the plane that came from the Columbia Air Force, we tracked the plane’s serial number back to a shadow company in Miami that’s owned by one of the cartels.”
“Alvin, as long as you’re 100% sure, I’ll take it from here. How are the conditions in Minot?”
“Mr. President, FEMA is preparing a report that will be ready this evening, we’ve sent thousands of aid workers to Minot, plus we’ve Federalized the North Dakota National Guard. We airdropped supplies and built a tent city to house most of the city. Our major problem are the burn victims; we don’t have enough burn rooms in all of the country’s hospitals to cope with 20% of the burn victims. Many have what we’re calling fourth-degree burns. They look like a roast that was left on the grill too long. There’s very little hope for them. We’re keeping them pumped with drugs so at least they won’t be in any pain. Much of the city of Minot itself is gone or unlivable due to high levels of radiation.”
“Alvin, I want to go there to pay my respects and personally see the conditions. When can you arrange it?’
“Mr. President, I’m worried about your safety, after today’s attack, if they can hit the White House they’ll get to you in Minot.”
“Alvin, leave the cartels to me, you make the arrangements for us to visit Minot ASAP.”
“Yes sir.”
Alvin leaves the president who is already on the phone, “John, can you and the JCS join me over here, wait, I have a better idea, I’ll come to you. It may be easier to meet at the Pentagon given the mess over here.”
“Mr. President, are you going driving or take Marine 1?”
“Copter, it’s quicker and right now I think safer. Alvin’s closed the airspace over DC except for the military. Let’s plan on meeting in one hour.”
“Mr. President, want to give me a hint on the meeting topic so I can have the best people standing by?”
“John, two words, drug cartels, see you in one hour.”
Hanging up, the President calls out, “Agent Jonson, please have Marine One ready in an hour to take me to the Pentagon.”
“Sir, we don’t think it’s safe for you to fly.”
“Do you think it’s safer for us to drive?”
“You have a point; I’ll arrange for Marine One to be here in 50 minutes. Sir, we want you to wear body armor when you walk to Marine One.”
“Agent Jonson, no argument this time, OK, I’ll wear it to the bird.”
Fifty minutes later Marine One lands on the helicopter pad, it’s surrounded by twenty-four armed Marines and eighteen secret service agents. President Brownstone is surrounded by secret service agents and Marines between the White House and Marine One. He secures himself in the copter, telling the pilot, “Major, I’m ready.”
Marine One lifts off, and immediately hard banks left and right to avoid any potential man-portable surface-to-air missiles. Marine One only takes a couple of minutes to fly to the Pentagon where the President is met by a platoon of armed Marines and Army Special Forces troops. He looks up seeing F22 Raptors flying CAP over Washington DC and the Pentagon.
The President and John Sessions, the Secretary of Defense, meet in the War Room with the Joint Chiefs of Staff. President Brownstone stands; he looks around the room, “Ladies and gentlemen, I have signed an executive finding that the Drug Cartel is a ‘Clear and Present Danger’ to the United States of America. As such my finding approves the use of force against the cartels. I want them destroyed. By that I mean I want to see videos of the debris bouncing from the extra ordnance you’re going to drop on their fields, on their refining factories and their offices and homes. I want the threat they pose to this country and to the world removed once and for all time.”
The Secretary of Defense and the joint chiefs look at each other, John stands to address the group, “Mr. President, attacking the cartel is the same as declaring war on Colombia and Mexico.”
“John, yes I know that. I want them gone soonest. Can we do it? Using conventional weapons only. I don’t want any nukes used. After Minot, we’ll have the entire United Nations camped out on the South lawn if they thought we used WMD.”
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“Mr. President, General Andrews, the head of the US Air Force, can best answer.”
Standing, General Andrews looks at the President, “Sir, if you order them removed from the planet, sir we can remove them. We’ll start with cruise missiles and followup with precision bombing from B52s and B1s, we’ll use F15s and F22s to fly escort for the bombers. I’d ask the Navy to provide a couple of carriers off each coast. Yes, we can make the debris bounce.”
“John, General, here is the signed order, make it so.”
President Brownstone leaves the War Room and returns to the White House, thinking, Revenge is not a dish best served cold, it should be served hot and steamy.
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“Ron, why aren’t you and your brother officers doing your job? Route 7 is blocked with protesters and protesters protesting the protesters, it’s a mess out there. There are signs and banners everywhere; protesters are walking on each shoulder and the center island. Traffic is a mess. Some of the protesters spilled into the traffic lanes. People stopped our car and pounded on it. What’s going on?”
“Brad, we got orders to let the protesters do their thing. We’re not supposed to get in the middle of them unless they endanger innocents.”
“What about my car? It was completely innocent, now it’s covered in dents. My insurance rates are going to skyrocket. I’m really upset.”
“Cooldown, I’ll take your statement and give you a copy of my report. Your insurance will then cover the repairs. We can’t clear the roads until we’re released from our current orders.”
“Who gave them to you in the first place?”
“Word is; they came down from the governor.”
“Why is he supporting the protesters?”
“Remember, we voted a nice blue democrat into office. He doesn’t want to offend anyone.”
“Great, so traffic is tied up for hours, so he looks good?”
“Yup, that’s it; he’ll be visiting the major protest sites tomorrow.”
“I’ll have to see if I have any old tie-dyed t-shirts left, and get my 60’s peace button out of storage. I’ll fit right in.”
“Please don’t do that, I’ll laugh so hard I’ll wet myself.”
“Ban The Bomb," “Ban The Bomb," how do I sound?”
“You’re giving me a headache already.”
“I’m sick of it. I also don’t think the warhead in Minot just happened to go off. I know enough about nukes that they need their firing circuits released by a code, they need to be at their target altitude to explode. Someone rigged that warhead, someone who had a lot of help.”
Chapter 15
President Brownstone flew on Air Force One to Minot North Dakoda so that he can personally see the treatment people are getting. When he lands he’s met by the governor of the state, the acting mayor of Minot and the base commander, Colonel Smith. They take an Air Force Helicopter to get a better view of the damage. Colonel Smith starts giving a running commentary, “Mr. President, Governor, Mayor, below us was the silo where the Minute Man 3 missile exploded. The silo before the explosion was 80 feet deep and 12 feet wide, now it’s blacken hole 400 feet deep and over 100 feet wide. The missile itself weighed 76,000 pounds.
“Sir, at one time it held three warheads; the number of warheads was reduced under SALT to one warhead per missile. Sirs, this wasn’t an accident. There’s no way a nuclear warhead could explode unless the PAL code had been entered, and the warhead reached its targeted altitude. Someone knew the arming code and how to reprogram the missile guidance package to think the warhead had reached its target. Sirs, you can drop a nuclear warhead out of an airplane at 35,000 feet, and it wouldn't explode unless the proper arming codes had been entered. You can toss one into a bonfire, and it won’t explode. Nuclear warheads are the safest weapons we have.”
The Governor asks, “Colonel, then how did the warhead explode?”
“Governor, someone had our arming codes, there’s no other way to make one explode.”
President Brownstone looks at the blackened landscape under the helicopter; he turns to Colonel Smith, “Colonel, how could someone get access to our arming codes?”
“Mr. President, I don’t know. Someone might have hacked our computers. Have you inquired with the NSA if whoever did this left any breadcrumbs in our network?”
“Colonel, that’s a good question, I’ll have it sent to Fort Meade while we’re in the air.”
The Mayor has tears running down his cheeks, “I grew up with most of these people. Minot has been my home for my entire life. So many died; so many more are going to die. Wait until you see the burn victims, or the poor children dying from radiation sickness. I try to visit the medical area every day; my heart breaks every day. So many of my friends have already died or will soon. The smell of death and decay is everywhere. Why did this happen? If this wasn’t an accident, who would have done this to us? Who would have done such a terrible thing to us?”
President Brownstone puts his arm around the Mayor, “We don’t know who did this. The why they did it was to force the United Nations and the world to pressure us into giving up our nuclear weapons.”
“Mr. President look at the suffering of my townspeople, I think it would be a good idea for the world to give up these horrible weapons. No one should ever suffer like this again.”
“How could we be sure every country destroyed all of their weapons of mass destruction? If even one country kept some, they could rule the world. What if a dictatorship later decides to build nuclear weapons after everyone else has given them up? We’ve relied on our nuclear arsenal for over 50 years to stop anyone from attacking us.”
The Governor responded, “Mr. President, us having nuclear bombs didn’t stop the attack on the USS Cole, or the attacks on the world trade center, or mass shootings. Did owning nuclear weapons stop Vietnam, or two gulf wars? Why do we have them? If someone can break our codes so easily aren’t we safer without them? What will happen if that someone who has our codes sets off every nuclear weapon on every base they’re being kept at? How many hundreds of millions will die? Mr. President, I’m starting to think we’d be better off without them.”
“Governor, I assure you we’re doing everything possible to ensure this never happens again. We’re changing all of our codes plus we’re taking additional precautions to ensure there can’t be any additional accidental explosions. Why don’t we go and see the injured?”
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“President Reid, President Puten is on line number 2.”
“Good evening Mr. President.”
“Good afternoon to you. Our Ambassador will arrive in New York to present the anti-nuclear weapons mandate to the General Assembly. We can’t bring the vote up at the Security Council because the Americans will veto it. Are you ready with the images from Minot?”
“Yes we are. We flew three mercy flights of supplies and Doctors to the area. Four of the people on the flights were really members of a film crew working with hidden cameras and mics, we have over three hours of footage. Horrible scenes, anyone watching, will quickly get sick. Video of burned children, video of people suffering and begging for help. People will limbs burned off, eyes melted on their burnt faces. We searched for the worst cases. Since we knew when the bomb would go off. We had our planes in the air within minutes of the explosion. Of course, we were the first on site, so we got images of the worst victims. When we show the video at the United Nations, the delegates will all be sick. World opinion that is already running strongly against nuclear weapons will grow like a tidal wave right after we show the video. We’re going to post it on the web. Trust me, the entire world is going to be sickened by the images.”
“Excellent, this should force the United Nations to take action against the United States.”
“What about China and the other nuclear powers?”
“The United Kingdom and others will fold from international pressure. India and Pakistan can be convinced to turn theirs in. They don’t trust each o
ther. We’re going to propose the United Nations forms a joint international force which will take control of their weapons. India will be invited to inspect Pakistan, who will be invited to inspect India.”
“What about China?”
“That’s a good question; Premier Xing hasn’t returned my calls. Given they now control most of the Western Pacific he might surrender his arms if the world accepts China controlling the area they’ve already conquered.”
“What about Israel?”
“Since Israel never stated they have nuclear weapons they’ll just deny having any. We’ve paid $5 million in gold to Egypt and the Congo to suggest the United Nations send a peacekeeping force to Israel to search for their weapons.”
“Won’t Israel fight the Peace Keepers?”
“We’re hoping they do; we’ll then move six armored armies through Iran to meet up with all of the Arab nations in an invasion of Israel.”
“President Brownstone won’t have any option; the entire world will be against him if he doesn’t disarm.”
“Correct, and then with the weapons Russia has hidden, we’ll force the world to bow to us, you’ll become the new President-For-Life of the United Americas.”
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“Mr. President, Premier David is online one.”
“Mr. Premier, I’m assuming you’re calling about the stunt our friends Russia and the LSA are going to bring up at the UN Security Council this week.”
“You are correct Mr. President. Israel will neither confirm nor deny the possession of nuclear weapons, if any United Nations peacekeepers set foot on Israeli soil, we’ll treat them as armed invaders. I’m calling to ask for your support. I’m asking the United States to veto the vote in the Security Council.”