Apache Dawn, - [little bear else holmelund minarik txt] 📗

her support in the coming days when he started laying down the new law of the land.

But first he had to survive the North Koreans and the United Nations. Perceived invasions on both coasts. Well, he told himself, Reginald promised me the U.N. wasn’t invading. He told me he was in charge of them…what does that mean when this is over and the U.N. controls the major cities of the Eastern Seaboard?

Out loud, he said, “I appreciate your thoughts, General, but the matter is closed. Senator Hillsen will be the first female Vice President of the United States by this time tomorrow. Get used to the idea.”

Before the crusty old general could respond, the NSA director spoke up. “Sir, I may have some good news for you.”

“It’s about time!” the President said, eager to change the topic. “What have you got?”

“It’s about the satellites. We’ve locked down the backdoor-access to the older generation satellites and have secured rudimentary communications with most of our globally deployed forces.”

The President slapped the table in sincere happiness. “First good news I’ve heard all day, outstanding. So…the recall order?” He glanced at the Secretary of Defense, sitting next to him like he would rather be anywhere but where he was.

“Mr. President, Apache Dawn has been successfully activated. We have an 80-percent confirmation rate, sir,” reported the Secretary of Defense. He smiled, giving the President the distinct impression that the old man scared Death itself.

“Mr. President, I must protest again,” started the Secretary of State. She looked exhausted. “This worldwide recall of our forces is going to leave power vacuums and cause chaos all over the planet. Our bases in southeast Asia are not responding to communications and Taiwan is now under attack by the Chinese and requesting immediate assistance.”

“Does that surprise anyone?” asked the Admiral. “I could’ve told you as soon as our satellites died that Taiwan is going to take one on the chin. President Denton had us pull the 7th Fleet out-of-theater last year—it was just a matter of time. Our West Coast will be the icing on the cake.”

“Okay, okay,” said the President. “One thing at a time. We have at least, limited communications. Correct?”

“Yessir,” said the NSA director with a smile.

“Good. We need to make sure that our returning forces know to not engage the United Nations troops. I have the personal assurance of the Secretary General—”

“Excuse me, Mr. President, but I’ve seen nothing on—” began the Secretary of State.

“You have your channels, I have mine.” The President grinned. “The U.N. is not our enemy. North Korea is. I want all our resources pumped into the western theater.”

“So that’s what we’re calling it now?” asked the Army Chief of Staff. His face was not red anymore. Just…sad looking. “We have lost the western coast of the United States. Shall I be the first to admit it? That we have failed in our sacred duty to protect our own homeland? That we were so goddamned concerned with every little piss-ant shithole in the world, we were stretched so thin, so emaciated by Congress, that we let California, Oregon, and Washington fall to foreign invaders? On our watch.”

“Well, the flu had something to do with that,” offered the mealy mouthed Secretary of State. She pushed her glasses up her aquiline nose again.

“He’s right,” said the Air Force General. “My boys are barely keeping even. With reduced strength, reduced communications…those red bastards just keep pouring more and more into the area. I don’t know how they’re doing it. More ground forces, more air assets. I had reports of strategic bombers north of Los Angeles. That implies that China is really pulling the strings here.”

The Air Force Chief of Staff shook his head. “North Korea doesn’t take a piss unless Beijing says it’s okay. Besides, the Koreans don’t have any bombers worth a damn and the Chinese H-6K is capable of reaching Hawaii, but not California. So these bombers we’re seeing had to fly over Canada to reach us.”

“So our friends to the north left the backdoor open?” asked the President.

“Hell, sir, we left the front door open…” muttered the Marine Commandant. “We’ve been letting anyone from South America across the border scot-free for decades now. Who knows how many diseases and sleeper cells we let walk across our borders.”

“That was a policy enacted years ago,” said the President. “Before I graduated high school, General.”

“Your boss sure didn’t do anything to change it though, did he?” shot back the Commandant.

“Mr. President, if the North Koreans have been using Chinese strategic bombers in-theater, they must have supply bases, support personnel…That little Chinese diversion in Taiwan has to be part of a larger strategy. I think we’re looking at an honest-to-God conquest. They’re just using North Korea as a proxy.”

“You’re telling me the North Koreans—no, the Chinese, or both are here to stay?” the President asked innocently. That confirms what Reginald said.

The general looked like someone had just put a dead cat under his nose. He stared at the President, the color rising on his neck. He opened his mouth to speak but nothing came out, then closed it. An awkward silence descended on the meeting.

The Secretary of State cleared her throat. “Sir, North Korea is claiming they struck back against us—supposedly for an attack by U.S. forces that took place last week. They have video and pictures they’re releasing to the press this afternoon. It’s all doctored, of course. They’re insane. I’ve tried contacting the Chinese, but I’m still getting nothing but silence on the matter from Beijing, despite my repeated attempts at personal communication…”

“Understood. Options? Everything but nuclear is on the table.” The President leaned back and waited for his military advisers to speak up. This was their one golden opportunity. The funny thing is that I’m serious. It’s going to be an all-out war. Never thought I’d hear myself say that…

“Well, we all know the North Koreans are batshit crazy. I say we wipe Pyongyang off the map and see if that gets their attention,” said the Air Force Chief of Staff.

“Can you reach—”

“Mr. President, even with substandard communications capabilities, we still maintain—by a long shot—the most sophisticated and powerful air force this world has ever seen. In a word, sir: yes. We can be wheels up and over Pyongyang in—” He checked his watch. “Eight hours.”

The President considered this. “Opinions?” he said, hands up, offering the floor to anyone. He wanted consensus on this move. He would be the first to admit that he was completely ignorant in the realm of military matters. He was a social activist, and a lawyer. A civilized man. He had no need to dream about bombs, missiles, and planes. His whole goal in entering the political world had been to reverse that peculiar, aggressive American tradition.

“Sir, I believe we should have contingency measures in place. We can deploy a dozen or so conventional cruise missiles from subs in the South China Sea. If the bombers fail—”

“They won’t, Admiral. Our pilots don’t ‘go rogue.’”

The Admiral flushed, but held his tongue. After appearing to calm himself, he said, “Sir, I strongly recommend we do a full-scale strike on Pyongyang. Warn them that if they don’t stop their offensive campaign on U.S. soil—right the fuck now—we wipe out their next largest city, and so on, until they do. Pardon my French, sir.”

“Don’t worry about it, Admiral.”

“The Admiral has a point, sir,” agreed the Army Chief of Staff. “If the bombers somehow run into difficulty, a few waves of missiles won’t. It will send the message that nowhere in North Korea is there a safe haven from the air or the sea forces. Should be a wake-up call for Beijing, too.”

“If Pyongyang isn’t safe—or Beijing—neither is Colorado, Chicago or Dallas, for that matter,” said the Secretary of State. “Gentlemen, you realize that if the Chinese are indeed pulling the strings or aiding the Koreans or even setting up shop on the West Coast, they’ll be able to hit targets farther east…”

“Of course,” said the Marine Commandant. “It would be tactically stupid to waste such an opportunity. Mr. President, Washington itself—”

“—Is no longer a concern,” interrupted the Homeland Security director. “Now that COG is in play, the chances of them taking enough of the upper echelon of our government out at the same time is just not there. Surely they know that. This may simply be a land grab.”

“Well, the Koreans are suffering from overpopulation,” offered the Secretary of State. “And China has been for a hundred years or more.”

“Let my boys break out the big guns—we’ll fix that problem in a jiffy,” said the Air Force general. He wore a smirk that made the President want to slap the man. The arrogance!

“Enough,” said the President. “General Andrews, Admiral Bennet, I want mission drafts within the hour, and updates every 30 minutes until the strike is completed. You’ve got the green light. Make it happen. In the meantime, every available asset is to head west. We will hold the line and take back what is ours. I have just reached an agreement with the U.N. We can pull out from the east to prop up the defenders in the west. Understood?”

“Yes, sir!”

“Now. On to the Source. Have we made any progress in bringing him in? Now that we’ve lost Spokane, we’re going to have to take him…where?”

“Johns Hopkins, sir,” said the Homeland Security head. “It’s the best bet for replicating a vaccine. From there, we can transfer the vaccine to just about a dozen different locations and mass-produce. But the trick will be bringing in the Source.”

“My boys have him—”

“Yes, General Harrison, they do, but your Rangers haven’t brought him in, yet, have they? We’re still tracking him by the GPS