CHAPTER 9 – AFTERMATH OF A WAR
The Situation Room in the White House, Washington, D.C.
14:20 (Washington Time)
Thursday, November 14, 1996 ‘C’
Situation Room, The White House
Washington, D.C., U.S.A.
‘’You look tired, General.’’ Said President Perot after a first look at Ingrid after arriving in the underground Situation Room of the White House. Ingrid made a weak smile as she responded to his remark.
‘’Because I am tired, Mister President. I have been surviving on twenty minutes power naps for four days now, using a cot I set up in a secondary office of the NC4. I just couldn’t leave the NC4 with all that was happening. Thankfully, it seems that we were able to take the wind out of those Russians. While our ships and aircraft are still continuing to hammer what is left of the Russian war machine, it is already down to a state where they can’t no longer strike directly at our country. May I ask what our various allies and the other powers around the World think of our actions, Mister President?’’
Perot nodded his head slowly at her question: apart from reassuring the American public and keeping it informed about the main events of the war via nightly televised addresses, staying in contact with allied nations and other governments in order to gain, if not their military support, at least their sympathy towards the United States, had been one of his biggest worries during the last four days.
‘’I can’t say that none of our allies disappointed me to various degrees but they all agreed that we acted purely in self-defense. As for other governments around the planet, some of the usual puppets and stooges for the Russians clamored that we had set up a false Russian attack in order to justify our strikes on the Russians but the more moderate countries around them quickly told them to piss off. Overall, only a tiny minority of hypocrites and loudmouths are still criticizing our actions but even their own citizens are not buying their B.S.’’
‘’I am sure that we will remember who was on which side, Mister President.’’
‘’Oh, you can be sure of that, Ingrid. Well, everybody seems to be here, so let us sit down and start this show.’’
With both Perot and Ingrid taking their places around the long conference table of the Situation Room, Perot then looked somberly around him, eyeing the expressions on the faces of his cabinet members and various advisers, both military and civilian ones.
‘’Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Now that the threat of a Russian nuclear strike has faded, we are finally able to hold a meeting together in Washington. I will now let General Dows brief us on the outcome of this most brutal war.’’
While staying in her seat, Ingrid used the control panel of her station to start projecting large color pictures showing various tactical situations, mostly around and close to the continental United States.
‘’Mister President, ladies and gentlemen, everything started during the afternoon of last Sunday, when one of our imagery analysts at the National Reconnaissance Office alerted the NC4 at the Pentagon about an anomaly concerning Russian submarine bases. When we flew new orbital reconnaissance missions, we found out that this analyst had been correct and that 131 Russian nuclear submarines which were supposedly in port at the time were in fact out at sea, with inflatable dummies taking their places at quay. Allied with the fact that most of the diesel submarines and patrol ships of the Russian Navy were also at sea at the time, supposedly conducting anti-submarine exercises along the Russian coast, that could mean for me only one thing: the Russians meant to conduct a surprise nuclear strike against the United States, with their nuclear submarines possibly planning to fire their missiles from very close to our coasts, in order to maximize surprise and prevent our defenses from reacting in time to them. From documents we recently found on a captured Russian warship, we now know that their surprise strike was due to be launched at midnight on Sunday night. However, the warning given to us by that N.R.O. imagery analyst made me ask permission from the President to go to DEFCON TWO and to activate our defensive plan MEGIDDO FOUR, which is meant to counter a surprise nuclear strike made by submarines close to our coasts. Basically, that plan called for an immediate and massive anti-submarine sweep of our coastal waters, in order to find any enemy submarine close to the continental United States, and for the immediate activation of our anti-missile defense batteries. Well, less than two hours after the alert was given one of our frigates, the U.S.S. NANTUCKET, found a Russian VICTOR-Class nuclear submarine lying on the bottom, less than twelve nautical males from the entrance of Portsmouth Harbor, and then sank it. A mere ten minutes after that, an AKULA nuclear attack submarine was found near Boston Harbor but the frigate that found it was torpedoed at the same time as it destroyed the AKULA. By the way, those of you who think that Russian submarines are junk are dead wrong: most of their nuclear submarines are formidable beasts with performances in speed and deep dive capabilities often superior to that of our own submarines. The AKULA proved to be a dangerous opponent for our frigate and other Russian submarines proved that day that they were no pushovers. What followed in the hours after those two encounters can only be described as a mad waltz of ships and aircraft buzzing around our coastal waters and engaging Russian submarines as they were being found. What helped us tremendously in that phase of the war is that the H-Hour fixed by the Kremlin for the launch of their submarine-based missiles was set for some seven hours after we started finding their submarines. With those submarines being at depth and out of radio contact, they were not able to alert Moscow to the fact that we were hunting them down, something that allowed us to find and destroy many of those submarines before they could launch their missiles. The missiles which were launched, typically from less than a hundred nautical miles from our coasts, were thankfully all intercepted and destroyed by our NIKE-SPRINT anti-missile batteries. If not for those NIKE-SPRINT missiles, our country would have suffered a minimum of 400 nuclear strikes against our military bases, industrial centers and main cities.’’
Ingrid then paused for a moment in order to let that sink into the minds of the other participants. At the same time, she made a slide appear on one of the viewing screens, which showed a map of the United States on which hundreds of orange dots were visible.
‘’Ladies and gentlemen, each of the orange dots you now see on that map represent the targets those Russian missiles would have nuked if not for the great work of our anti-missile batteries. In such a case, our casualties would have been in the tens of millions.’’
A wave of horrified exclamations and remarks went up around the table as the cabinet members and advisors looked at the map. After letting that map up for a good ten seconds, Ingrid then replaced it with another map, this one of Russia, on which a number of military installations were marked.
‘’This map of Russia shows the various ICBM and strategic bomber bases around that country, along with the main naval bases of the North Fleet, Baltic Fleet, Black Sea Fleet and Pacific Fleet. While our navy was hunting down the Russian submarines located around our coasts, our own strategic bombers and orbital spaceplanes put into effect another aspect of our MEGIDDO FOUR defense plan, which was meant to prevent Russian nuclear-tipped missiles and heavy bombers from launching strikes against the United States directly from Russia. That phase of our plan was actually the only one calling for the use of nuclear weapons against Russia, but we intentionally used warheads sets at their lowest yields. In this, we had complete success in eliminating every ground-based Russian ICBM and destroying on the ground all their heavy bombers. By the way, those bombers were found lined up and ready to fly off just as our own bombers struck them. If we had not discovered their attempt at launching a surprise nuclear strike on us, then our country would now be reduced to a vast field of radioactive dust and debris.’’
‘’But why?’’ asked in an angry tone Daniel Inouye, the Secretary of State. ‘’Why did the Russians decide to attack us like this, General?’’
Ingrid looked at Inouye with a grave expression as she answered him.
‘’The Russians did not want to attack us, Secretary Inouye: only a handful of power-drunk psychopaths sitting in the Kremlin did. That fact is the main reason I decided to limit to the strict minimum the use of nuclear weapons against Russian territory. Those Kremlin leaders had been chafing for years about the way we were countering their various plans to expand their powers at the expense of many others. Those same leaders also played a hidden role in the recent terrorist attacks against civilian airliners, hoping that those terrorist attacks would confuse us and keep our attention concentrated on the wrong regions. While we have by now mostly won this war and are presently cleaning up our secondary objectives, I will not consider this war finished until those Kremlin bastards will have paid for their crimes.’’
Perot nodded his head at those words.
‘’I also want those psychopaths to pay, General. Thus, I am ordering now that the CIA and the NSA concentrate their efforts and assets in locating President Yurchenko and his clique. Once his precise location becomes known to us, we will then make him pay the ultimate price for his monstrous attack against us.’’
‘’We will find him, Mister President, sooner or later: he can’t stay in hiding very long if he still wants to give orders around.’’
It was then the turn of John McCain, the Secretary of Defense, to ask a question to Ingrid.
‘’And how much did this victory on the Russians cost us to date, Ingrid?’’
‘’Too much!’’ she replied at once. ‘’Up to now, we have lost once carrier sunk, the CONSTELLATION, and three more carriers damaged to significant degrees after our carrier groups at sea were attacked by packs of Russian nuclear submarines guided in by Russian surface warships. We also lost seven frigates and destroyers and one cruiser sunk, plus another thirteen frigates and destroyers damaged, while three of our cruisers suffered some damage. We also lost two heavy bombers shot down while over Russia’s territory. As for our human casualties, they amount to 3,760 dead and 4,925 wounded. As I said before, those Russian submarines were no pushovers. I am sorry to say this, but we will probably suffer some more casualties in the days to come. Considering what could have happened if the Russians had achieved surprise for their nuclear attacks, then we can thank our luck for having suffered so few casualties so far.’’
‘’All that thanks to the good work of a single N.R.O. imagery analyst who caught up on the Russians’ trickery about their nuclear submarines.’’ said John McCain. ‘’We definitely owe a big debt to that analyst. Do you know his name, Ingrid?’’
‘’Yes, I do! That analyst’s name is Rhonda Shaefer, of the naval section of the N.R.O.’’
McCain took the time to write down that information before looking back at Ingrid.
‘’So, what is left to finish before you consider our job fully completed, Ingrid?’’
‘’The last phase of defensive plan MEGIDDO FOUR calls for the destruction of the various industrial plants providing military equipment and weapons to the Russian forces, plus the various military depots located within Russia. Our ultimate goal is to defang for good the Russian military, so that it could never again rise to become a threat to us. This latest Russian provocation was truly the last straw.’’
‘’Agreed!’’ said in a firm tone President Perot. ‘’I will make personally sure that all the other governments on Earth understand that we acted in self-defense and that we will not accept any hypocritical criticism of our actions. Any attempts at trying to excuse the actions of the Russians will be viewed by me as a demonstration of belligerence towards the United States which will then attract American economic and political sanctions on those said governments. Enough about fair-weather friends!’’
Everybody around the conference table, including Ingrid, nodded their heads at that declaration by the President.
06:49 (Washington Time)
Saturday, November 16, 1996 ‘C’
NC4 Operations Center, The Pentagon
Arlington, Virginia
Ingrid had walked into the NC4 Operations Center only minutes ago and was barely starting to sip on a cup of hot coffee when a watch officer assigned to the public media news channels let out a strangled shout of surprise.
‘’What the… GENERAL, YOU BETTER COME LOOK AT THIS!’’
Hurrying to the media news channels desk with her cup of coffee, Ingrid then put on the headset presented by the watch officer as he quickly explained to her what was happening.
‘’This is broadcasted by the BBC but is actually a video produced by the Russian Army High Command and then sent to the BBC. It supposedly shows Russian soldiers taking down President Yurchenko in one of his isolated and fortified residences in the Urals.’’
Putting down her cup of coffee, Ingrid then watched and listened to the video showing a large group of Russian soldiers assaulting a compound situated in the middle of a heavily forested and hilly region. Thirty or so armed men, most probably members of Yurchenko’s bodyguard force, tried to repel that assault but were quickly overwhelmed, utterly swept aside by the tanks and armored personnel carriers of the assault force, which also copiously hosed down the buildings of the compound with tank gun and heavy machine gun fire. The image soon switched to that of a portable video camera whose carrier was following closely soldiers charging inside the main building. The few presidential bodyguards those soldiers encountered tried to surrender but were gunned down on the spot with the ruthlessness typical of the Russian Army.
‘’Please tell me that we are recording this, Major!’’
‘’We are, General!’’
Ingrid then concentrated back on the video, which had visibly been edited to cut out the less interesting parts. The next scene showed President Yurchenko and four of his closest collaborators, pleading for their lives in what appeared to be some underground command room. Their pleas were however met with a massive volley of automatic rifle fire which cut down and shred the five autocrats. That scene was greeted in the NC4 with collective cheers which included Ingrid’s own cheers. A Russian general was then filmed as he stepped forward and delivered the coup-de-grace to Yurchenko before facing the camera and speaking at it.
‘’Russian compatriots and comrades, the warmonger is now dead! I, General Alexei Vladimirov, Commander of the Russian Army, urge all Russian forces to stand down and stop any offensive operations, so that Mother Russia can be spared more blows from the American forces. To the government of the United States, I am asking for an immediate armistice, so that the killings could stop. I will now represent Russia for the time being, until truly democratic elections could choose a more responsible government.’’
The watch officer, still shocked by this, looked at Ingrid.
‘’Can we really thrust this General Vladimirov, General?’’
‘’I am not sure yet, but this is an opportunity that we can’t miss.’’
Ingrid then looked around her while shouting as loud as she could.
‘’ATTENTION TO ALL! TRANSMIT IMMEDIATELY THE FOLLOWING TO ALL OF OUR UNITS, SHIPS AND AIRCRAFT IN FLIGHT: AN IMMEDIATE CEASEFIRE IS NOW IN EFFECT! STOP ALL OFFENSIVE OPERATIONS AND RESTRICT YOURSELVES TO ONLY SELF-DEFENSE MEASURES UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE.’’
Nearly overwhelmed by the emotions from this historic moment, Ingrid sat down on the nearest chair and let out a deep sigh of relief.
‘’An end to this war, at last!’’
17:10 (Washington Time)
Sunday, November 17, 1996 ‘C’
The Dows’ residence, Aurora Hills
Arlington, Virginia
Ingrid closed her eyes for a moment, savoring the moment, after stepping into her house after a week spent at the Pentagon.
‘’Home, sweet home!’’
Joyous shouts then made her open her eyes, in time to see her three children, Nancy, Lucy and Leonardo run to her from the living room. With joy filling her, Ingrid met them with open arms to share a collective hug and a shower of kisses. The first to speak then was Lucy, tears in her eyes.
‘’We missed you so much during those terrifying days, Mom. Now that martial law has been terminated and public travel allowed again, we decided to wait for you here.’’
‘’You are a true national hero, Mom.’’ added Leonardo. ‘’Your leadership and military genius saved our nation from a terrible fate.’’
‘’Well, that national hero is presently in dire need of a long, hot shower, followed by a long night of sleep.’’
‘’Then, let us help you with your shower, Mom.’’ said gently Nancy. ‘’Leo and Lucy will then give you a nice massage to chase away all that stress you lived through, while I will cook schnitzel mitt spätzle{21} for your supper.’’
Ingrid’s smile widened to a grin at the mention of her favorite dish.
‘’Now you are talking! I’m all yours, kids!’’
Leo and Nancy joined their strengths to grab Ingrid in their arms and then proceeded in bringing her up the main staircase, towards Ingrid’s private bathroom, while giggling.