Collaborative Writing please join in the story

[727Sky]

"Give me your pants and socks and I will wash them for you," she commanded.

I did as she requested but held my rifle at the ready once I was undressed. She was fast and shortly my pants and socks were on a branch drying. She asked what else besides the canoe had I found at John's; I showed her the two Rod and Reels and the well stocked fishing tackle box in the canoe.

"Wow, I am already hungry so lets go and catch us some fish" !

It was two hours before we managed to catch 4 decent sized fish which were all caught 2 by two almost at the same time. One of us would hook one and a second later the other person would also have a fish on their line.

We returned to the rock and unloaded the canoe after beaching it. Using the recently acquired matches I had a fire going suitable for cooking in about 5 minutes. Sally had been busy cleaning the fish with my Bowie Knife and was almost finished by the time I had a green tree branch to skewer and cook our fish on.

The fish was OK if you like unseasoned fish... but one should not disparage the Lake that feeds you less 10,000 camel fleas crawl up you butt...

It was almost sun up by the time we finished eating and as our clothes were still wet we decided to stay the day at the lake and do some more fishing. Also I wanted to go back to the boat shed and see if I had missed anything in my night time search .

Yes I wanted to get to the airport and fly someplace with a real sit down restaurant and a place to get some new clothes but .... Live in the now but plan for the future.

[727Sky]

"Give me your pants and socks and I will wash them for you," she commanded.

I did as she requested but held my rifle at the ready once I was undressed. She was fast and shortly my pants and socks were on a branch drying. She asked what else besides the canoe had I found at John's; I showed her the two Rod and Reels and the well stocked fishing tackle box in the canoe.

"Wow, I am already hungry so lets go and catch us some fish" !

It was two hours before we managed to catch 4 decent sized fish which were all caught 2 by two almost at the same time. One of us would hook one and a second later the other person would also have a fish on their line too.

We returned to the rock and unloaded the canoe after beaching it. Using the recently acquired matches I had a fire going suitable for cooking in about 10 minutes. Sally had been busy cleaning the fish with my Bowie Knife and was almost finished by the time I had a green tree branch to skewer and cook our fish on,

The fish was OK if you like unseasoned fish... but one should not disparage the Lake that feeds you less 10,000 camel fleas crawl up you butt...

It was almost sun up by the time we finished eating and as our clothes were still wet so we decided to stay the day at the lake and do some more fishing. Also I wanted to go back to the boat shed and see if I had missed anything in my night time search .

Yes I wanted to get to the airport and fly someplace with a real sit down restaurant and a place to get some new clothes but .... Live in the now but plan for the future.

[VioletDove]

I caught movement out of the corner of my eye. I grabbed my rifle as I had no idea if this was another threat. I could tell it was human shaped and strained my eyes to watch for hand movements while telling Sally keep out of sight. I could tell that the figure walking toward us had there arms out to the side not exactly up but non threatening while remaining cautious. It was a woman with long blond hair wearing white yoga pants with a matching athletic top, making the .38 in her black leg holster and AR-15 very evident. She came toward us in a confident manner, the sunlight shining on her causing a halo effect. Then I saw something that took my breath away. Before I could make sense of it Sally broke cover and started running toward the woman. 

“Cally!” she shouted as she fell on the ground and hugged her friend tightly. I almost wanted to do the same but one of us needed to keep our wits about us as we didn’t know who this woman was.

The woman smiled at the scene and said “So this is what you were so worked up about.” She smiled and said “I heard the shots while I was out picking berries then this one came running at me. I almost ended her myself but she rolled over and showed me her belly. I took her back with me but she was insistent on coming back here to check”

“But how?” Sally asked, her eyes wide and wet with tears. “That man killed her, we buried her there” she said pointing to the spot where we had placed a coyote body, one that apparently hadn’t belonged to Cally.

The woman said “Her being with you must have meant she’d been shunned by the pack, she probably made it to the tree line and noticed another coyote and played it cautious. Then when the gun fired it frightened her into running in the woods.”

That explanation made as much sense as anything else and I would take it. It was nice to have one spot of happiness in this hell. The woman began to look over Dennis and had the nerve to “Tssk” at me as she lifted his hoof. A knife appeared in her hand from out of nowhere as she started digging at his hoof and popped out a rock. She then asked for our stories.

It was a little disconcerting the way she stared at me while I spoke. She waited until I’d finish and asked “ You’re name wouldn’t be Jacob by any chance would it? If so I have something for you at my place.”

We cautiously followed the woman to an area where there were a lot of trees, many of which had fallen and were left there. We squeezed passed these and came to a gate that was almost completely concealed. She opened it and called out “It’s me and two friendlies!” A giant of a man stepped out of the shadows with his gun pointed to the ground. He bent to give her a kiss and she said “This is Tyler and I’m Brianna. I would have introduced myself earlier but John said it was urgent to give you this package before he and his wife rented out their place to the Lewis couple and hightailed it out of here.”

She motioned us on and Sally clung to me and whispered “Oh my God, he looks like Thor.”

I was shocked when I saw the house. It was built into the side of the hill and like the gate was almost completely concealed. The woman noticed and said “My grandfather started building this during the Cuban Missile Crisis and my father did more work after 9-11.” 

We went inside and Cally immediately trotted over to the sofa, hopped up and laid down next to a huge black mastiff and a calico kitten. We were offered showers and a change of clothes which we accepted gratefully. I could hardly think of anything other than the fact that John might still be alive. 

We later sat down with Brianna and sipped tea that she had made while we cleaned ourselves up. After awhile Sally went over to the sofa and fell asleep holding the kitten. I told Brianna about my plans. She said that she had a plane in an emp fortified hanger and I was welcome to it if it was still there and wasn’t bombed to hell. We slept in real beds that night and were ready to be on our way at first light.

Tyler and Brianna followed us outside to see us off and surprised me more by offering the use of one of their ATVs. Then she looked at Dennis and Cally, “Jacob, it really isn’t safe to have them with you. You can leave them here and I’ll look after them. You can come back and get them when all this is over.”

I agreed and she hugged Sally and I goodbye as Tyson handed me a solar powered shortwave radio. “There may be someone who figures out how to get something running again soon, you’ll be be able to listen in for any signals if they do”

I mentioned that I wasn’t sure what I was even doing.  Brianna smiled and said “This is your story Jacob, you’ll figure it out and it will be epic.”

I started the atv and with Sally headed toward the airport and hopefully answers.

[727Sky]

Before we went to sleep I got to talk to Tyler at length and finally figured out why he looked semi familiar. We had played high school foot ball together. He was a full back and I was a wide receiver. That was how Brianna had known my actual name as Tyler and her had talked about me occasional landing my plane at the grass strip at my place.

Jacob had been my Great Great grandfather's name and Allen was my Great grandfather's name. Benson was my family name as it was a tradition to name the newborns after some past relative. Everyone I knew just called me Jay.

As we were departing I told both Brianna and Tyler I would leave their ATV in their hanger as Tyler had already given me a key to get inside. After many thanks and hugs and handshakes we were on our way.

I drove the ATV to the paved road and then got Sally to drive so I could ride shot gun just in case. The day was overcast but I figured the scud layer would burn off by ten or eleven O'clock or by sometime after we arrived at the airport. Brianna had to shut the door on Cally or she would have tried to follow us along side the ATV. Goodbye Cally and Dennis....

We were only 4.5 miles from the airport so we made a good uneventful journey to our destination.

While Sally was driving the ATV she had time to reflect on what had happened this last week and also spend a considerable amount of thought time on Jay's actions, or no actions. Sally was used to guys fawning over her and basically wanting to kiss her butt, which she hated. Even when she had come out of the lake with the wet shirt she had not noticed the proverbial rise out of Jay as he was all business.  Maybe it was the baggy pants she mused to herself. She knew Jay liked girls as she had seen him with many different ladies at social functions and even a few times with him going to an airshow or someplace in one of his aircraft; he owned two ! Probably why he was not married..... again she smiled to herself..

Sally knew Jay was very task orientated as she had watched him practice and practice his acrobatic routine 100s of times over his Farm burning enough gas at yesterday's gas prices..... that could have bought a really nice car for herself instead of the Aviation gas.. Yep a woman would have clipped his wings for sure....she chuckled.

Jay was an Airline Captain and had more free time on his hands than most working people could only ever fantasize about.
He would be gone for three or four days a week and then he would have three or four days off. Sometimes he would leave and come back the same day flying what he called turns for the airline. Fly to someplace and drop off the passengers load back up and return to his home base all in a days work. Jay was a check airman which paid more than just a line Captain could make but  even so she had seen his paycheck receipt on his home desk once that was an astounding $21,000 for a months work. She figured that amount was actually for 14 days actual work. Sally was envious of the money but she knew Jay had worked long and hard sacrificing much to get to his station of life  before everything went to hell.   

The Wind Sock airport was coming up on their left so Sally slowed to give them enough time to survey the place from the road. She could not see any movement at the airport so she slowly drove the ATV upon the airport grounds. There was an automatic gate that would open after pressing a code into a security box but the auto portion was not working. Jay got off the ATV and released the latch for the auto function and slid the gate open upon its rollers. The fence and gate were mostly to keep the deer and the critters away from the paved runway and the grass strip which was also used by certain aircraft. There had not been a case of thievery in many years at Wind Sock as Ben the owner was known to shoot first and ask questions later. Again she drove slowly trying to will the ATV to make as little noise as possible .

As she drove down hanger row everything looked normal except there were no hanger doors open with people working on their aircraft or socializing with other Wind Sock based flyers.

After finding the number of Tyler's hanger and seeing the door was closed Jay said to go ahead and drive to Ben's hanger house, which she headed for after clearing the last hanger on hanger row.

As she pulled up before the hanger Ben came out on the upper story deck with what looked like a 30.06 scoped deer rifle slung under his arm. He took one look at Jay and Sally and gave a thumbs up as he disappeared back into the top story of his house to come down stairs and open the lower story house door. His home was built two stories high in this large hanger which could comfortably fit his 3000+foot house and at least 8 aircraft depending on their size. Jay kept his two aircraft in Ben's hanger under Ben's protective eye..

"Damn I am glad to see you guys ! I have not seen or heard of anyone for maybe 6 days now. No traffic no planes and no one coming to the airport. all the cell phones and land lines are dead." Come in, come in, and have something cool to drink..... please as my ice is just about gone from the ice machine so we might as well use it or lose it."

It was good to see Ben and be around his bubbly type personality. While Ben was getting the drinks Jay excused himself to go and look at his aircraft which were covered in sheets in the hanger. Jay and Ben returned within a few seconds of each other; Ben with a big smile and three glasses of ice tea and Jay with a look of dejection.

Ben while looking at Jay said, "Let me guess you tried the battery switch on your birds and they were both dead"?

Jay nodded his head and replied, " I did not check the wiring but I assume it is toast like all the other wiring harnesses I have checked.

Ben agreed as everything he had checked to include his house wiring had been fried and turned to carbon. Ben had been extremely surprised and happy to see the ATV running as we approached so, now it was story telling time. Sally told Ben everything except the guy who had ended up with his brains fertilizing some grass back at the lake.

When she finished Ben just shook his head and like all of us wondered what was going on.

I told Ben that Tyler's hanger was grounded and supposedly EMP proof but I still had my doubts because the symptoms of the fried to carbon wires did not sound like any kind of EMP I had ever heard of.

"Well there is one way to find out for sure so lets go have a look see" was Ben's response.

We all three walked the 100 yards to Tyler's hanger and the anticipation was so thick you could have cut it with a knife.  Once I opened the hanger door and approached the cockpit of the Maule for a power check I looked a Sally and Ben as they both had their fingers crossed.. Battery switch on and there was "POWER"!

I could have kissed this ugly bird as there was a time in my life I would not have been caught flying something like a Maule. They were great bush aircraft, short field (as long as the engine did not quit) and landing capable but were slower than anything I cared to fly as most of my trips were out of state so I wanted something that could at least do 200+ .... The only way you could get a Maule up to 200 would be to point the nose straight down and rip the blasted wings off it !! But beggars can not be choosers unless the Camel Fleas come upon them in their sleep.

Tyler's Maule did not have the tundra tires which surprised me but did have the standard Maule tires. The bird would be great for getting airborne and doing some scouting as i could land the Maule just about anyplace with wing clearance. I grabbed the Maule's handbook/flight manual and thumbed through the pages I was interested in.  After I checked the fuel and oil I was pleased to find the bird was topped off on fuel and was a half quart low on the oil; perfect.

Ben and Sally helped me pull the aircraft out of the hanger and once clear I got inside to start the beast. Sally wanted to go but I told her to stay and come get the body if I crashed...She had a puzzled look on her face and then just shook her head and said, " If you crash do not worry about the airplane as I will shoot you myself " as she began to shut the door she paused and looking concerned said, "You know I was just joking don't you" then she blew a kiss at me and moved away.

Humm

Mixture rich, Battery on, fuel pump on with fuel pressure rising, and the bird started on the second turn of the prop. After checking the engine gauges and assuring myself everything was in the green or approaching the green I started to taxi out to the paved runway. I checked the controls for freedom of movement and did a Mag check at the recommended 1700 RPM. I then ran a quick before take off check list and lined up on the runway after broadcasting on 122.80 of the Maule's VHF radio of my intentions to the world.

[727Sky]

I only flew the Maule for .8 of an hour according to the hobs meter which keeps time when the engine is running. I stalled the bird with flaps down got some airspeed  numbers I could use if I needed to get into a tight short landing spot. After three takeoff and landings I figured I had Tyler's Maule figured out well enough that I would put Sally in the aircraft with me. I taxied to one of the 1000 gallon fuel tanks and let gravity fill my tanks. Ben and Sally were there to assist me especially Ben as he produced a ladder I could stand on while refueling 768KF; blasted high wing aircraft are a pain to refuel but I keep my mouth shut just in case any Camel Fleas were listening.

We put the Maule to bed in Tyler's hanger and closed and locked the hanger door. We then retired to Ben's place. I asked Ben if I could heat some water for a hot shower and borrow a pair of scissors to trim my beard short enough so I could    shave. Ben gave me two 5 gallon buckets he had been using to heat his water over his barbecue pit grill. He also furnished me with two plastic bowls I could dip the water out of the buckets and run it over my body. He even had a bar of soap to use ! I heated both buckets; one for me and one for Sally and we both took our dip and splash showers in about 30 minutes time. I was finally able to shave my remaining beard off which made me feel like a new man afterwards. When I came out of the bathroom Sally took one look at me and hollered for Ben to come quick as there is a handsome stranger using the bathroom shower"!

Ben was someplace out side so he never heard her or he might have come with his deer rifle or the 1911 .45 he favored as a side arm.

Sally patted my Cheek and disappeared into the same shower area I had just vacated for some dip and splash of her own..

I went and retrieved my back pack and pulled the package out that Tyler had given me from John. There was a map of the United States and a red circle drawn around a place in Texas called Corinth and a name" Atlas F Missile Silo 578-12."

There was a hand written note folded inside the map that said; Some of us bought this Silo 3 years ago and together we have spent close to $750,000 making it a great place to ride out just about anything to include a nuclear war. We are well stocked with food and ammo and there is a well stocked lake not to far away. There were only 21,000 people in Corinth before this SHTF was forced upon us. You are welcome..... and feel free to bring 4 or 5 of your flight attendant friends if they want to spend some time with us, our wives, and kids plus 3 hairy legged single guys. You are always welcome regardless.

Signed John Biscome.

Sally came in as I was reading the note so I showed her the map and note. "What do you think," I asked.

"You are my ride to where ever so it is up to you. Where ever you go I follow white man," the last bit she said in her best mimic of an India Squaw.

"Sally you do not have to follow me anywhere as you are under no obligation to me."

I could see the blood rising to her cheeks as she said, "What is wrong with me that you find so unattractive"!

Now that caught me totally off guard and I had to stop and think for a moment before i answered. "Sally I am 35 years old, 11 years older than you... I have no doubt a pretty girl like you has guys eating out of her hand at College and just about anyplace a man sees you. I never once thought you would have any kind of interest in an old guy like me so I tried to treat you with respect and a fatherly warm friendship."

She cut me off with, "First of all you are not 11 years older only ten and a half. The Chinese say the perfect age for a woman to marry a man is half his age plus 7 years.... half your age would be 17.5 plus 7 years would be 24 years and six months to be perfect except I am 24 years and 8 months which in you archaic mind may make me to old for you" !!

"This is good Sally as I do not believe I have ever seen you this worked up or mad about anything"!

"Look Jay I have known you since I was 15 years old... I have always liked and admired you... You hurt my feelings at the lake when I was almost nude and you did not even seem to notice; all you wanted were my long shirt sleeves to tie those ridiculous pants up so they would not fall down around you knees."

I raised my hand for silence and said, "Sally you could take your beauty and put a picture of you on a Playboy magazine cover and they would sell more copies of that monthly addition than they ever have in the history of Playboy as far as I am concerned. You are beautiful and I have not found one thing that you do, that pisses me off. You are smart and a good traveling companion, with a great head on your shoulders and would be a great pardner or mate for anyone I figure."

She raised her hand like I did, as if we were in a class room setting, "Then Why do you make it so hard for me to get close an intimate with you"?

Long pause on my part before I said,"You know where I am sleeping and after you think it over you are always welcome in my room Sally."

"What do you think I have been thinking about since I was 15"! Sleep hell ! I want to go now and make you appreciate a woman who has loved and liked you for longer than you will ever know."

"Well since you put it that way," I said rising.

Hand in hand we left the den area and went to my sleeping quarters. I was glad we both had our dip and splash shower and I had managed to shave.... There really was no sleeping that night until the early morning when finally we both passed out in each others arms totally exhausted.

We awoke to Ben saying and knocking on the bedroom door that, "Breakfast is ready."

[VioletDove]

Brianna was harvesting some green beans to go with supper from some of the plants that , to the untrained eye, looked like a bunch of weeds in a grown up field. Her parents had taught her to grow crops like this as it keep uninvited guests from stealing any of it. She looked up from her task to see Tyler running toward her. She knew immediately that something was wrong.

“I heard chatter on the radio.” he said, a nervous catch in his voice. “I think they may have heard Jay yesterday. They’re headed to the airport.”

Brianna nodded and said “We need to warn them.”

“I’ll go” Tyler said and Brianna shook her head.

“No Tyler. It should be me. I’m smaller and faster, plus I’m a better shot than you. I’ll be back here before you even miss me.” She was already running toward them house.

Tyler hated the thought of her going but knew better than to argue. They’d been in several dangerous situations and she’d proven herself just as capable of getting the job done as he. That was one of the reasons he’d fallen in love with her. 

Hardly any time had past when she returned, wearing black tactical clothing, her hair hidden under her hat. She kissed him quickly, hopped on the atv and was out of sight before he could say another word. He decided to keep himself busy by listening in on the radio and preparing their house for any defensive measures that may need to be taken.

Brianna picked the rougher but faster trail to get to the airport. Looking toward the sky as often as she dared, hoping to see the plane. Thinking if they’d just take off she could get back to Tyler and safety much quicker. Luck did not seem to be with her at the moment.

Jay looked up, surprise on his face, as she drove where he was standing with Sally and Ben. She began talking as she was climbing off the atv. “Jacob”, she seemed to be the only person who insisted on calling him that, “turn on the radio, Tyler heard something and we figured you better hear it too.”

As they walked toward the plane Sally blushed as Brianna gave her a knowing look. Brianna just smiled and gave her a thumbs up.

Jay switched on the radio and they heard voices speaking in a foreign language. “They are saying they are 25 minutes from this location.” 

Brianna nodded, “You need to get this bird in the air NOW!” She noticed Ben running toward his house, “Oh no you don’t.” She said and took off after him. “Ben! We gotta go!”

“No” Ben said from behind the door.


Brianna could hear the door latch. She stepped back, pulled her .38 and kicked the door open. She emerged with Ben. She had his ear in one hand and pistol in the other almost dragging him to the hanger with the atv Jay and Sally had borrowed. “Ben, you are not going to stay here and defend it. They find someone alive you know what they’ll do? They will make you talk and you my friend know too much. You’d be endangering all of us and if you don’t get on that atv and point it toward my house I’m gonna do something far worse than anything they can come up with!”

Ben got on the atv and started driving, Brianna drove behind him pausing near Jay and Sally just long enough to point at the plane then the sky. Then she sped away back the way she’d come. 

Ten minutes there ten minutes back plus time spent at the airport which would come to roughly twenty eight minutes. Not much time to spare. As they neared her house she hoped there was enough time for Jay and Sally to get in the air and for her and now Ben to get to Tyson. She again watched the sky and was relieved to see her home in sight. They parked the atvs and she ran to Tyson, her nerves shaky, wanting him to hold her and hoping for word on her friends but dreading news of the movement of the strangers who’s voices they’d just heard on the radio.

[727Sky]

Preface to the SHTF

The Chinese forces had been massing troops and equipment along the Taiwan straight for months but this last week there had been a doubling of equipment and personnel. The present commander of CENTCOM was already ordering the reposition of both Naval and Air Force assets to Guam, Japan, and Australia as a sign that America and its allies would not stand idly by and watch Taiwan be invaded.

The orders had just been issued when there was an urgent emergency klaxon alarm that brought all eyes to the big monitor in front of the room. It appeared the Chinese had just launched a hypersonic missile and the projection was for the missile to either fly over the continental USA or worse yet ??

Was this a bluff and another show of force by the Chicoms or was this the opening of a full out attack ? He would know in 11 minutes which way this would play out, one way or the other. The Red phone to the White house was lifted and the phone began to automatically ring. It was a full 2 minutes before a female voice picked up the phone. 2 minutes for the commander of CENTCOM to watch the projected track of the inbound missile and 2 minutes for him to get so mad he could barely contain himself as he paced back and forth at the limit of the wire line connecting the red phone to its base and the White House..

Finally a female voice answered the phone sounding almost out of breath, " So sorry I was in the bathroom which took me a minute to get the phone".

With all the control Commander Dikes could muster he said, " I need to speak to the president "NOW" or one of the joint Chief's of Staff"!

"Uh I am sorry sir they are on the White house lawn giving a speech about build back better to the nation." I can run outside and get someone in maybe 5 minutes if you want to hold."

"Patch me through to the desk commander of the Secret Service," was all he said.

"Sir I say again everyone is outside even the desk commander."

Dikes did not explode at the female Sargent on the other end of the red phone but very quietly told her that they, CENTCOM was tracking a hypersonic missile inbound that should be overhead in less than 5 minutes.... "Standby the missile has separated into 3 war heads."

Commander Dikes hands were tied by the treaties that America would not be the first to us nuclear devices on any opponent; America would absorb the first strike and then release the dogs of war upon any opponent that dared to attack. He directed those around him to send out Defcon 1 to all the services and informed the Sargent on the red phone of his actions.

"Sargent I suggest you get word to the president as soon as you can and have him call me when he is available." Dikes tone of voice was low with controlled rage that the Sargent could feel the angst though the phone on her end.

"Yes sir," as she slammed the phone down and hurried to the White House lawn. She had just exited the cover of the White house when there was a flash way up in the sky to the east. The time was 07:30 in the morning. She urged her trembling legs to and even faster run towards the President and people who were gathered some 70 yards away. Then something happened as she lost all control of her legs and body as a splitting headache consumed her as she fell to the ground dead. An areal view would have shown everyone on the White House lawn and anywhere within 5 miles also collapsed into a lifeless form upon the ground.

Dikes knew the war heads of the missile had released an EMP attack evenly spaced over the North American continent and had issued a call to area 53 to mobilize under full response to code "BLACK" action plan "ONE" under sub paragraph "DECAPITATED."

Within 20 minutes the side of a mountain opened and Black triangular aircraft started moving away at incredible speed.

[727Sky]

The Chinese and the Russians had been aware for several years that America had the triangular ships. The code name for the American program was Black Mamba which was a subset of the Solar Warden program; yet after trying everything they could think of, they were incapable of cracking the security around the Black Mamba program, therefore the name of the program was almost all they really knew for sure. Gathering anything useful for their own programs had been a frustrating dead end operation. In times past it had usually been easy to buy a traitor in the capitalist dog's security apparatus if you had the money and will power; yet this time all efforts had failed; but not for the lack of trying.

Their satellite plan "B" had been to orbit satellites that could beam a form of microwave energy of such intensity that anything with a wire or electronic component which fell under the beam would be fried. The first pass of the Satellites had been for infrastructure only as the beam had to be adjusted to a different frequency to burn and kill people along with all other living things. The initial EMP blasts from the three war heads of the hypersonic missile had been used to destroy communications and electrical power supplies through out the continental United States. That mission had succeeded without a hitch just as other western alliance countries got to experience this new form of warfare almost simultaneously. by sub launched missiles..

Another low beam phase of the satellites had been tested at the lowest power setting available on a narrow beam width carrier wave which was not to kill but to incapacitate. The results of the test, while not exactly as desired, had been named the Cuban Syndrome by the American foreign devil dogs. It was entertainingly funny watching the devils try to explain the beam away to their populations once the word got out of diplomats becoming ill when stationed around the world and even in Washington D.C.

Both Russia and China planned that most societies would become disorganized hell holes within a matter of weeks without power and pumped water so they had decided to sit back and judge the first satellite phase developments before releasing the second burn phase of the war upon anyone who thought they would stand before Russia's and China's combined technological military might.

Their alliance was one of 'my enemy is your enemy so lets work together to destroy them', yet there were factions in both Russia and China already working on how to gain control over their current allies once the Western allies were decimated.

The first phase at 100% satellite beam would fan out to cover a square area of a maximum of 150 N.M. and would burn any structure not covered in metal, concrete, or a couple of feet of dirt. All the satellites were nuclear powered and before the attack there had been placed 47 satellites into orbits that would cover most of the northern hemisphere while the few polar orbiting satellites could be moved to clean up targets of opportunity in any hemisphere.

Back in the American and western alliance side the three large (over a mile in width) unmanned, back side of the moon parked, Black Mamba ships would be getting a full complement of crew within the next 4 hours from three smaller troop carriers and resupply ships which has just departed Area 53. The larger ships mission was to detect and either capture or destroy all foreign satellites in orbit around the earth that possessed a nuclear power supply. They would then be free to join the other 20 Black Mamba ships if the war was still active.

The crew compliment for the big ships was no where near as large as one would assume with such massive ships because the ships were basically operated by A.I. and could function autonomously if needed. The crew that would be stationed onboard would be mostly highly paid civilian engineers and mechanics with a few military officers stationed to different compartments and in command.

The remaining 20 Black Mamba ships were to divide their numbers and proceed to China and Russia to start their own form of military warfare payback. All of this had commenced without a peep from the current crop of politicians in Washington as their plans for Continuity of Government had fallen apart after the first EMP blast along with a satellite beam scan using the Cuban Syndrome phase power that had been increased in output by 29% in its narrow band width beam; not strong enough to burn everything but certainly strong enough to fry the synapses and arteries of most living things under the narrow beam unless protected by several feet of dirt, metal, or concrete .

                                                        Back at CENTCOM
General Dikes the Commander of CENTCOM took a moment to compose himself and think. Was this a bluff and another show of force by the Chicoms or was this the opening of a full out attack ? He would know in 11 minutes which way this would play out, one way or the other. The Red phone to the White house was lifted and the phone began to automatically ring. It was a full 2 minutes before a female voice picked up the phone. 2 minutes for the commander of CENTCOM to watch the projected track of the inbound missiles and 2 minutes for him to get so mad he could barely contain himself as he paced back and forth at the limit of the wire line connecting the red phone to its base and the White House..

Finally a female voice answered the phone sounding almost out of breath, " So sorry I was in the bathroom which took me a minute to get the phone".

With all the control General Dikes could muster he said, " I need to speak to the president "NOW" or one of the joint Chief's of Staff"!

"Uh I am sorry sir they are on the White house lawn giving a speech about build back better to the nation." I can run outside and get someone in maybe 5 minutes if you want to hold."

"Patch me through to the desk commander of the Secret Service," was all he said.

"Sir I say again everyone is outside, even the desk commander, as this is the first cool morning we have had."

Dikes did not explode at the female Sargent on the other end of the red phone but very quietly told her that they, CENTCOM was tracking at least 3 hypersonic missiles inbound that should be overhead in less than 7 minutes.... "Standby,... The missile war heads have separated with at least 3 war head packages inbound."

General Dikes hands were tied by the treaties that America would not be the first to use any nuclear device on an opponent; America would absorb the first strike and then release the dogs of war upon any opponent that dared to attack; besides without the codes contained in the president's brief case a nuclear equipped ICBM (both land and sea) could not be launched . He directed those around him to send out "Defcon 1 Confirmed" to all the services and he check to see if the Sargent had heard him issue the orders too.

"Sargent I suggest you get word to the president as soon as you can and have him call me when he is available." Dikes tone of voice was so low with controlled rage that the Sargent could feel the angst though the phone on her end.

"Yes sir," as she slammed the phone down and hurried to the White House lawn. She had just exited the cover of the White house when there was a flash way up in the sky to the east. The time was 07:30 in the morning. She urged her trembling legs to and even faster run towards the President and people who were gathered some 40 yards away. Then something happened as she lost all control of her legs and body as a splitting headache consumed her while she fell to the ground dead.

An areal view would have shown everyone on the White House lawn and anywhere within 5 square miles there was no movement just bodies collapsed and cars stopped or crashed along the highways; everything and everyone immobile .

Dikes knew the war heads of the missiles had released an EMP attack evenly spaced over the North American continent and had issued another call to area 53 to mobilize under full response to code "BLACK" action plan "ONE" under sub paragraph "ABSOLUTE."

It was within 20 minutes when the side of a mountain hanger doors opened and the Black triangular aircraft started moving away at incredible speed.

Dikes and his command were unaware of the second attack by the satellites beams until one of their own satellites passed over Washington and was able to see the destruction and deaths scattered about the streets and the White House lawn.

The Chinese and Russians were elated at the high resolution pictures they received back at their deep underground command and control head quarters. They had no idea what was coming their way or the elation would have evaporated into a concern that bordered on fear. But at least for now Washington was full of non functional dead things and people so their alliance was quite pleased with this phase of the operation .