Phoenix Rising: Read online

  “It could easily be transported on a . . .” Golovin made a motion with his hands to indicate a two wheel loading dolly.

  “Yes, a two wheeler, I understand. How much do you want for them?”

  “Three billion rubles,” Golovin said.

  “Three billion, that’s 70 million Euros. That is a great deal of money.”

  Golovin smiled. “What is it you businessmen say? It is a seller’s market. Where else can you buy five nuclear weapons?”

  Sorroto chuckled. “You have a point.”

  “Where shall I deliver them?”

  “Just hold them for now. I’ll let you know when I want them, and how I want them delivered.”

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  Moscow

  Boris Petrov and Dmitry Golovin met in the Shokoladnica restaurant.

  “There are so many people here,” Golovin said, “that I wonder if we should not have chosen a quieter place.”

  “Nonsense,” Boris said. “This is the alpha and omega of chocolate, and their chocolate pancakes are the pride of Moscow. There is nothing unusual about us meeting here, and enjoying the pancakes. Were we to meet in a quiet tea room somewhere, suspicions might be aroused.”

  The waiter delivered the chocolate delicacies to the two men, and they began to eat with obvious enjoyment. They talked as they ate, giving no indication to anyone else in the restaurant that their discussion covered anything other than their admiration of the cuisine.

  “Three billion rubles,” Golovin said.

  Boris smiled. “So he did not attempt to bargain?”

  “He has more money than all the czars of Russia combined. It means nothing to him except as a means to an end,” Golovin said.

  “Has he said why he wants the weapons?”

  “He did not say, and I did not ask.”

  “Perhaps he is acquiring them for that part of America that has broken away from the rest of the country,” Boris suggested.

  Golovin shook his head. “No, I truly think he wants the weapons for himself. And such a man is truly dangerous.”

  “If he is not dangerous to us, why should we care?”

  “True, why should we care?”

  “There is one man who is a danger to us,” Boris suggested.

  “You are talking about Vladimir Shaporin,” Golovin said.

  “Yes. Already he has gone to the Defense Minister with his claim that he is missing five warheads. I convinced the Defense Minister that all the warheads were accounted for, and he dismissed Shaporin. But Shaporin is not someone who can so easily be dismissed. You are going to have to take care of him, and, you must do so quickly.”

  “You are right. Shaporin must be dealt with. I will see to it that it is done.”

  Colonel Shaporin’s quarters, Sharapovo, Russia

  Vladimir Shaporin parked his 2008 Lada Kalina in the parking lot of the senior officers BOQ. A single officer, Vladimir found it cheaper to live in the BOQ than to find an apartment downtown, and because Colonels were authorized a two room suite, his quarters weren’t all that uncomfortable.

  Vladimir was beginning to have second thoughts about having told his uncle of the missing warheads. He was certain that there were people, highly placed in the government, who knew about it—and for some reason were covering it up. He didn’t suspect his uncle, but he may have put his uncle in danger by bringing him in on it.

  Why was the government so reluctant to do anything about it? Were they embarrassed? Were they afraid of the negative publicity the Russian government would get if news of this got out?

  Or—and this, he didn’t even want to think—was the reason more sinister? Were certain officials within the Russian government actually complicit in the disappearance of the warheads?

  That unpleasant thought was still on Vladimir’s mind as he opened the door to his room. He was surprised to see that, although he had left a desk lamp on, it was dark. For a moment he thought perhaps the power was off, but then he realized that all the hall lamps were burning.

  As soon as he stepped into the room, he caught the heavy, almost acrid odor of a Sobranie cigarette. Vladimir didn’t smoke, but his deputy commander, Lieutenant Colonel Leonid Trutnev did, and Sobranie was his brand.

  “Leonid?” Vladimir called into the darkness. “Leonid, are you in here? What are you doing in my room?”

  A lamp was turned on and Vladimir saw Trutnev sitting in a chair by the desk.

  “Leonid, what is the meaning of this? You have no right to—” he paused in mid-sentence when he realized that Trutnev was holding a pistol. “What? What are you doing?”

  “You should have stayed out of it, Colonel,” Trutnev said. He shook his head. “Minister Basov told you to forget about it, but you didn’t listen.”

  “Leonid, you, a traitor?” Vladimir said. He shook his head. “I can’t believe you are a traitor.”

  “I’m not the traitor, Vladimir, you are,” Trutnev said. He pulled the trigger on the pistol and Vladimir saw a flash of light, even as he felt a deep, burning pain in his chest. He experienced a sense of light-headedness for a brief instant, then, nothing.

  Leonid picked up the phone and made a call.

  “It is done,” he said.

  “Good. You are now the commanding officer of the Tenth Battalion of the Tamanskya Division.”

  “Thank you, sir. You honor me.”

  Fort Morgan

  Jake, Bob, Tom and Chris were in what they were now calling the cabinet room of the old museum building at the fort. Even though everyone had moved their living quarters away from the fort, the museum building still functioned as the headquarters.

  “We’ve gone about this sort of bass ackwards,” Bob said, “in that we have built an army before we built our nation. But these are unique circumstances, and it is my belief that we are going to have to have an established military almost immediately.”

  “I agree,” Jake said. “I’m drawing up a military structure now, breaking it down into corps areas.”

  “Have you given more thought to my suggestion of having one defense force, rather than an army, navy, and air force?” Bob asked.

  “Yes, and I think that’s the way to go,” Jake said. “Tom, Chris, what do you two think?”

  “I suppose I could go along with that,” Tom said, “but you need some sub-division within that structure. Part of being a SEAL was the pride of unit. And if we become one conglomeration, we’ll lose that pride.”

  “I agree,” Jake said. “We’ll marry the two concepts, we’ll have a central command and control, but the units within will have their own identity.”

  There was a knock on the door, and Willie Stark stepped in.

  “Yes, Willie, what is it?” Bob asked.

  Willie held up a few sheets of paper. “This is what our Web page is going to look like. I printed it out so you could see it before I put it on the Internet.”

  “All right, let’s take a look at it,” Bob said.

  INVITATION TO JOIN

  By virtue of the fact that the voters of this country made a terrible mistake in voting for free stuff, as opposed to freedom, a dangerously incompetent president was put into office. As a result of that president’s share the wealth experimentation, his world-first agenda, and his malfeasance in office, the nation once known as the United States of America no longer exists.

  This has given us the opportunity to start over, to establish a new nation that is colorblind and free of hate and prejudices. Our laws will be based on common sense. We will live by, and enforce these laws. This new nation shall be known as:

  UNITED FREE AMERICA

  • We have learned by bitter experience that freedom must be constantly nurtured and protected from those who would take it from us, whether by force, or promise of free things to lazy people.

  • We believe that it is not only the right, but the obligation, of every law-abiding citizen to bear arms for his/her defense, for the defense of the innocent unjustly attacked, and for the mutual
defense of our country.

  • Welfare shall be in effect only for the elderly, infirm, and those who need a temporary helping hand, and the welfare system must also: —Require that everyone who can work must work.

  —Establish the concept that being a productive citizen in a free society is the only honorable path to take.

  • The motto that for many years served the U.S. Military Academy shall be our motto: DUTY, HONOR, COUNTRY.

  • If this appeals to you, if you wish to follow the example set for us by our forefathers so long ago, please respond to New [email protected].

  “That looks pretty good,” Jake said. “But how can we get people to come look at it?”

  “Don’t worry about that,” Willie said. “I have so many search engine optimizers that half of what anybody starts searching for will bring them to this site.”

  “Including the bad guys?” Tom asked. “I mean, won’t this tell them what we are doing?”

  “They are going to know what we are doing anyway,” Bob said. “I say to hell with them, we’ll just be in their face with it.”

  “Yeah,” Jake said. “Yeah, I like that.”

  “All right, Willie, go ahead and get this up as quickly as you can,” Bob said.

  “Yes, sir,” Willie replied.

  “Any other suggestions?” Bob asked after Willie left.

  “Yes, I have one,” Chris said. “We are going to need more than an army. We’re going to need something like the CIA.”

  “I agree,” Jake said. “And since you brought it up, I assume that means that you are willing to serve in that capacity, and organize it.”

  “Well, yes and no,” Chris replied.

  “Why no?”

  “I am willing to serve in that capacity,” Chris said. “But initially, I think we should have a one man bureau. And I’ll be that one man.”

  “I’d be willing to go along with that, Chris, except for one thing,” Bob said.

  “What’s that?”

  “I’ve never been associated with such an organization, but I’ve certainly read about it—you know, James Bond and all that. And from what I’ve read, it’s pretty dangerous. What if you get killed?”

  “I’m glad you are so concerned about me,” Chris said with a smile.

  Bob chuckled. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m not particularly concerned about you. But if you get killed and there’s nobody to take your place, where will that leave us?”

  “I expect Tom has done about as many spook jobs as I have,” Chris said.

  “Hardly,” Tom said, laughing. “You’ve been doing this for what? Forty years?”

  “Hey, hey, hey,” Bob said. “Show a little respect for your elders here. I’m pretty sure I once flew Chris behind German lines. It was German lines, wasn’t it, Chris?”

  “I believe it was.”

  “Yes, I started to say I flew you behind British lines, but as I think back on it now, I believe that was Nathan Hale.”

  “Right. And we know how that one worked out,” Jake said.

  “But I did give him that line he used. I regret that I have but one life to give to my country,” Bob said.

  “You sure do have a way with words. No wonder you’re a writer.”

  “You old guys are crazy, you know that?” Tom said, laughing.

  “That’s all right. Being crazy is what keeps us sane.”

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  New York City

  Two years earlier, when Ohmshidi’s outlandish socialist policies had brought the Republic to its knees, Islamic terrorists had managed to sneak in three 100-kiloton nuclear bombs. There were simultaneous explosions of the three nuclear devices, one in Boston, one in Norfolk, and one in New York. The bomb in New York, by design, had been off-loaded from the ship, put into a rental truck, and driven to 350 Fifth Avenue, where, at the agreed upon time, it was detonated right in front of the Empire State Building.

  Within the first second, the shock wave destroyed even the most heavily reinforced steel and concrete buildings including the Empire State Building, Madison Square Garden, Penn Station, and the New York Public Library. Within this initial circle more than 75,000 people were killed instantly. Those caught outside were exposed to the full effects of the blast. Those inside, though shielded from some of the blast and thermal effects, were killed as the buildings collapsed. The fireball had a maximum radius of two tenths of a mile. However, the blast effect greatly outweighed any direct thermal effects due to the fireball. An overpressure of at least 10 psi extended out for one mile, and concrete and steel reinforced commercial buildings were either totally destroyed or severely damaged out to the edge of this ring. The few buildings that remained standing on the outside edge of this ring had their interiors destroyed. Landmarks affected by the blast at this distance were the Chrysler Building, Rockefeller Center, the United Nations, and four hospitals. All of those buildings were either totally destroyed or so severely damaged that they were unusable. Most people inside those buildings were either killed by flying debris or died as the buildings collapsed. Those in the direct line of sight of the blast were killed instantly by the thermal pulse. Fatalities were estimated at 300,000 with at least another 100,000 being severely injured, many of whom died within the next six months.

  By the end of the second second the shock wave had moved out another half mile, extending the destruction out to a 1.5 mile radius. The overpressure dropped to 5 psi at the outer edge of that ring, which covered an area of 4 square miles. Reinforced structures were heavily damaged and unreinforced residential type structures of brick and wood were totally destroyed. At this point the affected structures included Carnegie Hall, the Lincoln Center, and the Queensboro Bridge. All these structures were near the outside edge of the expanding ring. All windows in these structures were shattered and many interior walls collapsed.

  At this point, 190,000 more people, who were inside buildings, were killed by building collapse and flying debris. Another 190,000 suffered varying degrees of injuries. Most of those outside, and not in the direct line of sight of the explosion escaped direct injury from the blast, but many were injured by flying objects. The thermal pulse, which was still sufficiently intense to kill anyone in the direct line of sight, killed another 30,000. The total number of injured was over 200,000.

  This region presented the most severe fire hazard, since fire ignition and spread occurred more easily in partly damaged buildings than in completely flattened areas. At least fifteen percent of the buildings were instantly ignited, then the fire spread to adjoining buildings. Over the next twenty-four hours, fires destroyed about half the buildings.

  Two and one half miles from ground zero, reinforced structures received varying amounts of damage, with those buildings at the edge being almost completely undamaged. Wood and brick buildings received moderate amounts of initial damage, with the damage becoming less significant at the outside edge of this ring. Within this ring an estimated 235,000 people were fatalities, with another 525,000 injured to varying degrees. There were many injuries due directly to the blast overpressure, however, the thermal pulse was still sufficient to kill or incapacitate those not indoors or otherwise protected. The degree of injury from the thermal pulse depended greatly on clothing and skin color. Darker clothing and skin absorbed more of the energy, giving a more severe burn. The material type and thickness also determined the severity of burns from the thermal pulse.

  Damage due to fire was particularly bad in this band. The energy in the thermal pulse was still great enough to start combustible materials on fire, yet the overpressure and accompanying wind was less likely to put out the fires. Only a small percentage of the fires were started by the thermal flash of the bomb; many more buildings were damaged as the fire spread out of control since the capability to fight fires was nonexistent.

  The outside band extended out for almost 4 miles from ground zero and had an overpressure of 1 psi at its outside edge. At the inner edge there was light to moderate amounts of damage t
o unreinforced buildings of brick and wood. Reinforced structures and commercial buildings received light damage at most. This band extended out to the site of the unfinished Freedom Tower at One World Trade Center and the undamaged Statue of Liberty in the south, across the East River into Queens in the east, and across the Hudson River to New Jersey.

  Though this ring covered an additional 30 square miles, much of this area was over water or less densely populated areas. The affected population in this ring was approximately half a million. There were almost no fatalities in this ring and only a small percentage, roughly 30,000, received injuries from the thermal pulse. Flash blindness and permanent retinal injuries from the blast extended out beyond 20 miles. But since this was a ground level explosion, the number of people who were looking in the direction of the blast and had a clear view was much less than if the explosion had taken place several thousand feet above the city.

  Because this was a surface explosion, it produced much more fallout than a similarly sized airburst where the fireball never touches the ground. This was because the surface explosion produced radioactive particles from the ground as well as from the device itself. The early fallout drifted back to earth on the prevailing wind, creating an elliptical pattern stretching from ground zero out into Long Island. Because the wind on the day of the detonation was relatively light, the fallout was highly concentrated in the area of Manhattan just to the east of the blast.

  Manhattan is an island connected to the rest of New York and New Jersey by tunnels and bridges. Many of those access points were affected to some degree by the blast. The Lincoln and Queens Midtown Tunnels were both in the 10 psi ring and were so badly damaged as to be impassable. The Queensboro Bridge was in the 5 psi ring and was also put out of commission. All the remaining tunnels and bridges fell in the 2 or 1 psi rings and received only moderate damage so that they remained usable.