Overlord (48 page)

BOHAI BAY, BEIJING

The three smaller saucers began the rescue of their processing ship by burrowing out of the sand and mud where they had lain undetected for three full days. They spun the bottom of the bay into a spiraling vortex of ocean life and water as they rose toward the surface. The Chinese navy finally had found the saucers’ hiding place and went on the attack.

Captain Zen Lee of the People’s Republic Submarine S-78, the
Great Leader,
was the first to confront the lead saucer as her sonar detected the movement through the deep-water port.

“Lock on and engage,” he calmly ordered. “Tubes one through six, full spread.”

The large submarine was based on the stolen design of the old Los Angeles–class boats built by the American General Dynamics Corporation. She shuddered as six YU-6 torpedoes, based on the design of the U.S.-built Mark-48s, sped from their tubes just aft of the sonar dome. The heavy-kill weapons sped to their maximum speed of fifty-two knots, catching the first saucer as it shed the mud of the bottom of the bay from its metallic skin. All six struck the craft at the midsection and then they detonated simultaneously, sending debris from the bottom through the thick environment to the surface where the impact explosion rocked the waves high above. The column of seawater shot to a height of three hundred feet and that was a marker for the fighter aircraft from the aircraft carrier
Liaoning,
as sixty of them had been orbiting the bay high overhead. The fighter-bombers of the 3rd offensive wing struck with the very deadly Mongol missiles. The tremendous rush of air caused by the streaking jets shattered the column of water and struck the saucer as it tried to reach the sky.

The
Great Leader
and four of her large sisters let loose a spread of YU-6 torpedoes that were targeted just beneath the falling vessel. The wire-guided weapons were electronically detonated sixty feet below the dying saucer.

Suddenly the second and third saucers charged through the dense waters of the bay, loosing cannon fire against the fast-attack boats of the Chinese navy. As the first saucer sank deeper into the water the warheads of no less than thirty-one YU-6s exploded just beneath her. The resulting cataclysm warped the saucer until it broke into three separate sections and then the remains swirled to the bottom, too damaged to heal itself.

The
Great Leader
heard the breaking up of the first saucer and her crew cheered. The captain ordered silence as he heard through her sound-dampening hull the terrible whine of the streaking saucers as they came on at the grouping of attack boats at over 200 knots. The captain never had the chance to order maneuvering to take evasive action as the first long line of laser fire cleanly sliced the
Great Leader
and her four sister boats into an exploding mass of steel and composite material. The crews of five of the largest submarines in the world perished as the remaining two saucers rose through the sea to confront the air attackers with a vengeance.

THE PENTAGON

WASHINGTON, D.C.

The situation room far beneath the
E
ring of the colossal building was silent as the real-time satellite images streamed in from three KH-11s and -12s as the battle for Beijing took a turn for the worse. Not only was the largest military bombardment and shelling against a single target the world had ever been witness to a complete failure, the entire attacking force of the Chinese navy’s surface flotilla and her underwater assets, twenty of the finest submarines in the world, had been destroyed.

Many angry eyes turned toward the upper balcony, where the military technicians knew the acting president sat with his young advisory staff. The men knew they had failed the Chinese, but the president wasn’t seeing it that way.

Camden watched the giant processing saucer as it slowly rose into the sky. Fighter jets of the People’s Republic continued to pummel the shield that had withstood no less than ten small nuclear weapons and millions of artillery, tank, missile, and air strikes and had still survived.

The gray image from high above showed the watching Americans the powerful might of the enemy as the large, thick cables of the shield wall burst like a balloon; then the cables cascaded to the ground as the saucer began to climb into the sky. The shield was shed like the skin of a rejuvenated snake. They watched as the remains of buildings were also shed like a dog shaking off water. Still the great saucer rose into the dawning light of day. The two smaller saucers climbed with it as the two remaining craft that had refueled the power source shot off to the south. Tanks and artillery pieces adjusted aim and continued to pummel the unyielding saucer as it rose. Fighter aircraft dove in and several even made suicide runs and crashed into the upper sections, all to no avail. The craft simply rose at a leisurely pace as it burst through the thick columns of smoke that covered the remains of Beijing.

“General, the CIA sent this analysis over from Langley.” Caulfield’s aide handed the shocked Marine the bad news.

The general read the report and then passed it over to the remaining members of the Joint Chiefs. They too read the damage estimates to the People’s army, navy, and air force. All the chiefs were stunned with the exception of Admiral James Fuqua, who had resigned just after the destruction of the aircraft carrier
Liaoning.
She had gone down with all hands battling to the end. With her aircraft all shot from the sky the giant ship had died a violent death as she was ripped apart like a tin can by the remaining two saucers that had arisen from the bay and exacted a terrible revenge for the death of the third craft. Admiral Fuqua had begged for permission to send the three Virginia-class subs in the area to the rescue of the surviving crewmen of the carrier who were fighting for their lives in the sea off of China’s coast. He turned and pleaded with the new commander-in-chief to allow him to turn the 7th Fleet around and assist the Chinese in their effort as agreed upon by his predecessor, but it was all to no avail. The president merely shook his head in complete deference to the horrible disaster happening halfway around the world.

Caulfield lowered his eyes as he studied the angry military personnel far below in the situation center. He had watched an infuriated Admiral Fuqua as he stormed from the conference room; the president had accepted his immediate resignation. Caulfield watched as his friend’s replacement had been waiting in the hallway leading to the situation room.

Virginia Pollock, still there as an observer, patted the general on the arm and then she too left. She wanted to go to the ladies’ room and be sick, as she had never imagined that such carnage could be absorbed by one nation. She left with her head hung low.

General Maxwell Caulfield slowly turned away from the horrid aerial views of the burning capital city of China. He placed a hand over his eyes and then sat at the main conference table, never so ashamed in his life.

On another set of monitors flames rose high over the completely destroyed city of Mumbai. The Indian air force had attempted the same attack method as the Chinese, only they had used almost their full arsenal of nuclear missiles. The large saucer had survived the strikes of no less than the combined megatonnage of fifty warheads. With the aid of the two replenishment craft that had completely destroyed that nation’s surface fleet near the Strait of Mumbai, she had shed her defensive shield and now the giant processing vehicle was rising from the ashes of the once proud city as she too started to head for space and the raging wormhole the American imaging section said was forming. The craft entered the swirling mass of light and then departed for her home fleet with no less than three million souls in her cargo holds. Despair covered the entire world.

“This is why I will not sacrifice the military forces of this nation in a plan that would result in this.” Camden stood and gestured at the two completely destroyed cities on the screens below. “The American people will back me on this.”

Caulfield raised his head and took in the man standing at the thick glass. “You don’t know them, do you?”

Camden turned at the sound of the general’s voice. “Excuse me?”

Caulfield stood, shaking off the restraining hands of his Air Force counterpart as he foresaw the confrontation developing.

“I said you don’t know them very well, do you?” Caulfield stepped around the large table and strode to face the president.

“Know who?” Camden was joined by several members of his young staff, who feared they were about to witness something unprecedented.

“The American people!” Caulfield turned and gestured at the screen below that showed the two lost cities. “Do you for one minute think that they will be proud of what happened last night? We had a chance at a united defense with weapons developed just for this scenario, but we failed them, Mr. President. If word ever leaked out, and it will, that we basically stabbed our allies in the back, they will crucify you and I’ll be there to help. Americans don’t run, never have. Despite what most think, we do like the rest of the world, and would never, ever wish to see this tragedy befall anyone. And we refused to even assist in the rescue of drowning seamen?” He shook his head and started for the door, joined by two of the chiefs and, to Camden’s surprise, many of the politically neutral civilian staff.

“My resignation is in your security advisor’s hands,” Caulfield said.

Camden wanted to smile as he nodded his head at the security advisor, who held up the resignation letter that had been delivered to him by the general’s aide not long after Admiral Fuqua had left the room. He then opened the door to allow General Sydney Lefferts, the new head of the Joint Chiefs, into the room. The plan for getting rid of all the former president’s remaining cabinet had been initiated.

“General, are you prepared to defend the nation?” Camden asked as he placed his hands behind his back.

The U.S. Army four-star general nodded his head as the remainder of the chiefs shook theirs.

“Sir, we have recalled the 82nd and 101st from their former stations that were a part of this Operation Overlord. Thus far there has been no response, but we should be able to track them down now that the head has been removed from the traitorous—”

The rumble of men in the room voiced what most were feeling at the moment by the use of the word
traitorous.
Many, while not backing General Caulfield’s and Admiral Fuqua’s actions in this highly secretive plan, would not stand by and allow this man to say such a thing about an American officer who had dedicated his life to the nation.

Camden felt the first rift among his people and didn’t like it.

“Being traitorous is for history to decide. We don’t wish to stir harsh emotions in this room.”

“Yes, Mr. President,” Lefferts, said bowing to the man’s wishes. “We have thus far initiated military law in all cities above a million-person population, and the smaller cities will be under military control over civil law enforcement.”

Camden was shocked when the CIA and FBI directors also got up and left without a word.

“Thank you, General. I want your new staff to get me a battle plan immediately that I can fully explain to the general population. No need to keep them in the dark. We must let them know their leaders are going to protect them far better than those in other nations.”

“Yes, sir, our National Guard units are rolling into New York, Chicago, Houston, Dallas, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and other cities as we speak. I believe the populace will be willing to listen to anything you have to say very soon.”

Camden nodded his gratitude and then left with his staff following close behind—all except the two men who shared the president’s public relations duties. They exchanged looks of horror as they stood, stunned, as the calligraphers gathered their materials.

“This is beginning to smell bad. Control the civil population?”

“Those cracks yesterday about the Berlin thing, that’s not sounding that ridiculous any longer.” The taller of the two was betting his Harvard law degree that once Camden seized control there would be no wresting the power from his tight grip that he now seemed to be consolidating.

The two men didn’t know what they would do, but knew they hadn’t gotten into the political side of things to be a part of a coup, no matter how ingeniously it was disguised.

“Feel like taking a side trip to Walter Reed?”

“Yeah, why not? I would rather get shot trying to warn someone than be ordered to fall on my sword when we don’t agree with something this man says.”

The two men left the situation room more scared of their commander-in-chief than by the enemy that had just destroyed two of the world’s most populated cities.

13

JOHNSON SPACE CENTER

HOUSTON, TEXAS

Carl was sitting against the deep subbasement wall and was struck in the face by a pair of tan naval dress pants. He looked up at the cigar-chomping master chief as he stood before him.

“Where did you dig these up?” Everett asked. He tried to clear his head after being knocked into a semiconscious state after falling through the training center roof.

Jenks became sullen as he removed the stub of cigar from his mouth and then fixed his old student with the look that said it was time to buck up and listen.

“Plenty of uniforms and everything else lying around; hope they fit.”

Everett stood and removed the bathrobe that was covered in blood and then accepted a torn T-shirt from the master chief.

“Well?” Carl asked. “You’re not one for dramatics, Jenks, what’s the score?”

“As far as I can see, we just got our asses royally kicked. Can’t see much from under here until they dig us out, but you can bet there’s not much left up top.” Jenks looked away at the memory of hundreds of F-15, F-16, and Hornets falling from the sky like hailstones before he had slipped down the torn and twisted stairwell to get to the admiral moments before the building started to collapse around their ears. “Got a few boys down here in the subbasement, some of them are hurt real bad, but it’s better than what it is out there.” He gestured at the collapsed concrete and steel above their heads. “We lost a lot of good people, Toad.” Jenks looked sad, unlike him according to Everett’s memory. “My whole goddamn engineering department is gone.” He looked down at his feet and then angrily threw the cigar away. “I think I was a little hard on those kids.”