Overlord Page 29

  “Yes, sir.” The younger of the two journalistic wunderkinds wrote in his notepad. He stopped and then looked up. “We had a call from General Caulfield’s office. He was concerned that your earlier statement undermined the seriousness of the attacks in Japan, Iran, and the International Space Station, by saying that the issues are not as clear cut as they may seem. You stated, without running it by us or your national security advisor, that the attack in Iran was unclear at this point as to who was involved or responsible. That the situation was still unclear because of a possible coup attempt by Ahmadinejad.”

  The second man walked to one of the two couches and pulled a Washington Post from his briefcase. “Also, that an ‘accident’ had occurred on the space platform. Mr. President, it has leaked out everywhere that the so-called incident was actually recorded by Space Command. There is direct evidence undermining your statements.”

  “Gentlemen, we need to slow this thing down until we get a grasp of what is really happening.”

  The two young press gurus exchanged looks.

  “Sir, wouldn’t it be wise to continue the military policy of the former staff and cabinet at this time? If anything goes wrong no one would hold you responsible. But if it goes right, you can take the lion’s share of the accolades.”

  Camden stood and faced the men with his best Harry Truman pose as he leaned over with fists planted firmly on the desktop.

  “From what I understand of this so-called plan of the former administration, we were to strip our defenses here at home and support operations overseas if the main attack occurs there. This I will not do. This country will not be attacked while our forces are out protecting former antagonists.”

  “But sir—”

  “That’s all, gentlemen. Please have a press release in my hands by no later than airtime for the morning shows to broadcast. I want to make it clear that we are responding accordingly and that the American people will be protected—so much so that I am going to partially lift the no-fly ban in the continental U.S. no later than noon today.” He smiled. “After all, America needs to go to work, don’t they? Now, you two find out from the Secret Service just where it is they are going to hide me, and get that statement prepared.”

  The two young men stood and with one last look back at Camden, nodded their heads and left the office.

  The younger of the two ran a hand through his hair and then looked at Camden’s secretary, who looked as fresh as the morning as she glared at them. Then he eyed the Air Force colonel sitting in a chair against the wall. He was holding a large aluminum briefcase. The young press secretary knew that the briefcase was called “the football”; inside it were the codes the president needed to launch the nuclear weapons under his direct command. He took his partner by the arm and steered him away when he too was caught looking at the officer. The Secret Service detail looked them over and immediately dismissed them, then stepped to the Oval Office door and opened it.

  “Ten minutes, Mr. President.” The man closed the door and eyed the two press men closely as they moved away from the door and into the hallway.

  “Do you know what that little meeting reminded me of?” the press secretary asked as he looked around him to make sure no one was in earshot.

  “I can think of a few things,” the taller of the two said as he tossed the edition of the Washington Post in the trash receptacle.

  “The last few days inside the bunker in Berlin. Why, I would—”

  “That’s enough; we both know that our new acting president has ears everywhere.”

  “That’s what I mean, my friend. This is a little frightening and this is no game that’s going on out there. An accident on the space station? Unclear what really happened in Iran? If he keeps that up he won’t have a military friend left in the country, because even those he’s influenced over the years will run for cover.”

  “Well, come on, we have to go play Joseph Goebbels and get this press release ready.”

  The younger of the two got a pained look on his face.

  “Oh, that was a low blow.”

  MUMBAI, INDIA

  In the late afternoon the populace of India’s largest city went about their routine in the crowded confines of that nation’s most advanced and cultured metropolis. Home to its entertainment industry, and with its natural deep-water port, it was also the commercial center for the entire country. With a population of over thirteen million people it easily outsized the nation’s capital, New Delhi, by many millions.

  Lieutenant Colonel Rahim Rajiv was on leave from the Indian Air Force and was in the city to visit his ailing mother. He had just left her small apartment and was waiting on a cab inside the crowded market district of the city. He saw a taxi a block down and started waving his hand. He was in uniform but that didn’t mean much inside India, as the military was not very popular and never had been among the vast population of the country. The men and women of India would never understand the expenditures of the government in the pursuit of new ways to kill their fellow man—even with the threat of Pakistan on their doorstep. The cab approached and then slowed and then immediately sped up and passed the uniformed colonel. He frowned and started searching for another when the loud rumble sounded far above the skyscrapers of the city.

  Thousands of pedestrians and street vendors bent low as thunder boomed in a clear evening sky. Rajiv flinched as the rumble subsided and managed a look upward. Streaks of lightning suddenly lit up the sky, forcing the colonel to duck his head again, this time behind a cart of fresh fruit. He again looked skyward and saw that dark clouds were beginning to form out of the clear evening air. He frowned as he watched, thinking this weather pattern was anything but normal. The clouds went from white and fluffy to dark and menacing in a matter of mere seconds. He stood and walked out into the street, causing traffic to stop. People were honking horns and screaming obscenities at him as he watched the clouds start to rotate in a counterclockwise motion.

  “What the hell?” He shaded his eyes as electrical discharges started in earnest. Yellow and white bolts streaked across the sky as the cloud cover intensified. The wind began and he lost his saucer cap, but didn’t notice as many more people started to leave their vehicles to witness the strange weather.

  The clouds turned dark and then the first hailstone struck his exposed head. He ducked under a theater marquee as the hail pummeled cars and people as they broke for cover. The wind had increased to fifty plus miles per hour and the clouds continued to form what looked like a hurricane above the city. Only this formation was defined and clear and looked like a special effect from some multimillion-dollar science fiction film.

  The colonel started to get a cold feeling in his stomach as the lightning increased in intensity. Blue, red, and yellow streaks that resembled no electrical storm he had ever seen before struck the tall spires of the city’s skyscrapers. He estimated the rotating clouds that were swirling above Mumbai were at approximately twenty thousand feet. He pulled his cell phone from his uniform jacket and punched in the number for his air force base just outside the city. The phone didn’t ring and as he looked down the lighted screen went dark, just as the power to the multitude of buildings blinked once and then went out.

  A tremendous rumbling sounded and he heard a woman scream. She was soon joined by others as the lightning started striking the street and buildings around them. Colonel Rahim kneeled low as the most horrid sound he had ever heard pierced the dark skies above his head. It was like a deep, bass tuba had gone wild. The sound reverberated and shook the large buildings around him. He felt the sound through the soles of his shoes and then it broke windows in those same structures. He placed his hands over his ears as the tuba sound increased. It was joined by an ear-splitting crack, and as he looked up his eyes widened in terror as the first of six saucers broke through the bottom of the hurricane-like formation. Each time one was seen flying out of the extreme hole that had formed in the swirling mass above, the tuba sound and reverberation echoed, ear-split
ting decibels tearing through the city. Six of the metallic saucers broke free and immediately spread over the city with Mach 1 speed.

  Men and women started to panic and break their cover as the hail and noise increased. Men fell in their scramble to move someplace, anyplace other than where they were. Then the sound went dead. As Rahim looked up he was pushed to the ground by an air pressure wave that flattened everyone in the city who had been standing. Glass shattered and even the headlights on cars burst as the pressure changed so rapidly that the atoms that made up the glass broke free of one another.

  Then the colonel saw it. A massive saucer, larger than three city blocks, broke free of the wormhole and as it did it took most of the clouds down with it. The ship was so large that the storm accompanied it through the atmosphere. Rajiv braced himself as best he could against an iron fire hydrant as the giant saucer fell through the sky and slammed into the tallest buildings in the direct center of the city. The buildings were crushed under the weight of the great saucer as it pancaked the Reliance Communications skyscraper at the heart of Mumbai. Two hundred buildings next to it disintegrated as the extreme weight of the saucer exploded into the city. It came to rest, crushing the lives of two hundred thousand people in the rubble of the skyscrapers.

  The six smaller saucers split apart. While three of them hovered over the city-sized ship, the other three made for the Port of Mumbai and splashed into the deep water. The wave they created capsized three container ships tied to the largest dock in the world. They were smashed by the sea and sent to the bottom.

  Colonel Rajiv stood, his head bleeding from ten large cuts and his eardrums burst. He looked at the devastation around him and knew the world had changed forever.

  The lightning decreased and the cloud cover started to dissipate. As the city started to rise from the dust and the flying and falling rubble, the screams of people could be heard and then the panic started.

  One of the largest cities on planet earth was now under Gray attack.

  THE PENTAGON

  WASHINGTON, D.C.

  The extreme size of the Pentagon situation room was alight with massive projected high-definition screens that showed the world as it was on that first day. Army, navy and air force personnel manned every console in the theater-style complex inside the fourth ring of the building. The center was located sixteen floors beneath the hustle and bustle far overhead.

  Marine Corps four-star general Stanley Roquefort stood on the upper balcony at a large glass podium and watched the main console in the center of the room. He saw the swirling weather pattern over western India start to dissipate. He pursed his lips and almost reached for the red phone beside the podium, but held his hand in check as he tried to see far beyond the national weather service satellite. He cursed under his breath as his vision was limited to nothing more than a cloud of smoke rising above the city of Mumbai. The scene was eerily reminiscent of the images of 9/11 when the twin towers had collapsed. The general’s frustration was evident in his tone. His words were straight but a little louder than he was known for.

  “I need Space Command to get me eyes on Mumbai now, not later!” He adjusted his view to the naval assets the United States had in the immediate area and saw that the Nimitz battle group was too far south in the Arabian Sea to get eyes on target. “Do we have an Air Force asset in the area so we can get some drones in the sky?”

  His adjutant walked up and handed him a slip of flimsy and he scanned it.

  “The only thing we have are Predators and they’re in Afghanistan, too far off at the moment. We’re trying to get Pakistan to get one up in the air but it’s business as usual there. They won’t lift a finger at the moment to assist India until they know what’s going on,” the Air Force colonel said and then moved off.

  “I want a full squadron of F-15s from Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan to get into the air with tanker support. I don’t care what territory they invade, I need real-time intel on this ASAP! Tell the goddamn Paks to get the hell out of our way. If they refuse over-flight shoot their aircraft down! Contact Space Command and get me a recon bird retasked for western India, now!”

  The men sat at their consoles and started making calls. The projection screens started showing the displacement of the Indian Air Force as they started to scramble their fighters.

  “I need Indian naval assets in the Arabian Sea projected. Come on, let’s move!” The general reached for the red phone on his podium. The direct line to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff connected immediately.

  “Caulfield,” came the tired voice.

  The general was a personal friend and fellow Marine of the chairman; they had served together in both Iraq and Afghanistan and knew each other and how they would react. Both Marine Corps men were not used to having to wait to make decisions.

  “Max? Stan. We have an event happening real time in Mumbai. As far as we can see with only weather sats is a smoking hole in the center of the city. Whatever happened, it took out a good portion of downtown. We had a massive weather front that coincides with what we were briefed on to look for. Max, I think this is it.” The general went on to explain what he had ordered done and Caulfield agreed with the decisions thus far. “I recommend we go to DEFCON One and set our overseas status accordingly.”

  Caulfield hesitated, which was unlike the general. “No, not at this time. Go to yellow and bring the alert level up, that’s all at this time.”

  “India may be calling for assistance at any time. I would like to start to move at least the Nimitz battle group to a northerly station in the Arabian Sea.”

  “You have permission to turn the group around, but no action is to be taken at this time. Listen, Stan, we don’t know if this is the only incursion that’s going to happen. So wait, I have to inform the president of what’s taking place. We have had major terror attacks in Afghanistan and the rebels inside Iraq are starting to smell the blood in the water. They think we’re too busy to fight so they are taking advantage. I have to tell the new commander-in-chief, and God knows which direction he’ll come out swinging. This may have a direct effect on our Overlord efforts.”

  “Shit, good luck on that one,” he said with a frown. “I wish—”

  “There is another severe weather pattern forming over mainland China!” came the loud voice of the weather and atmospheric officer for Asia and Asia Minor. “It looks like we have another event.”

  “Hold on, Max.” Roquefort scanned the data streaming across the far-left screen. He again turned to the phone. “We may have another incursion, Max. This one is forming … Oh, shit, it … it’s forming right over Beijing.”

  The alarms started sounding and even more military personnel started running to other stations.

  “Got to go, Max. Get some clear definition of our orders, especially our ROE when it comes to defending other nations’ territories.” He was asking for direct Rule of Engagement parameters for his overseas commands.

  The line went dead but Roquefort was unaware as he lowered the phone. He watched the hurricane-like formation begin in earnest over China.

  “God help us.”

  BEIJING, CHINA

  It was still evening when the multitude of citizens rallied in the streets and squares of the capital. The nation was still in mourning and shock over the sudden death of the president. Signs and posters bearing the man’s likeness were held high in recognition of the forward-thinking man who had replaced a tyrant four years before.

  As the million-plus men, women, and children milled the streets, few noticed the surface-to-air batteries as they motored into the city. They did become somewhat apprehensive when the Chinese National Army started to take up positions on every street corner and darkened alley, and hundreds of citizens of China’s capital city thought it was beginning to look as if the acting president was getting ready to start a crackdown on the rights and privileges they had started to receive under their dead leader’s sponsorship.

  The attack on Camp David had air
ed live in China, and most were aware of the devastating news that it was an attack initiated by an extraterrestrial source. Thanks to the advances of the World Wide Web and the country’s new right to use it freely, the idea that the attack had been conducted by an alien enemy was not as farfetched as it had once been. Most citizens had watched in quiet fascination as the president of the United States had explained the timeline of events leading to the historic meeting of the great powers at Camp David.

  Xiang Lei, a newspaper reporter for the Xinhua News Agency, the equivalent of the Associated Press, watched the soldiers dispersing into the crowded streets with trepidation. He took out his cell phone to call his editor about the developing deployment of troops inside the capital. As he connected with his office he heard a click and then nothing. He looked at the phone and tried several buttons again. The battery was fully charged but the face of the instrument had gone dark.

  “Damn, now’s not the time for this,” he mumbled. He looked around for a phone kiosk. As he did he saw several other men and women trying their phones and he could tell from their reactions and cursing that they were also having trouble. Suddenly the street lights went out and as he looked up he saw that dark clouds had rolled in. There had been rain earlier in the day, but the skies had cleared just before the sun started to set. Now it looked as if the storm was returning. He cursed his luck again and began to walk.

  “Look at that,” he heard several people say as he crossed the wide avenue in front of the National Ballet of China. He saw that the many citizens who had been watching the evening performance, along with some of the dance company, had moved out of the large theater and were pointing to the sky. He again looked up and saw that the clouds had doubled in size and were now moving in a slow, counterclockwise pattern against the increasing winds. His hair was tousled by static electricity, and then he felt the first raindrops.