United States Invaded (21 page)

“Premier, we in State Security also see it as a win for us. However, we are concerned the deal is just a little too good. We worry we’re missing something, hence our line of questioning.”

“Minister, to be honest with you, I had the same feelings when the President first proposed the arrangement to me. In my dealings with the President, I’ve found him to be very honest. He puts his cards face up on the table; he showed us the merits and drawbacks of his plan. He told us if we crossed him he would unleash his strategic weapons and lay waste to China. He said he’d rather be our friend and partner, however, if we screwed America; he would finish us.”

“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.”

“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?”