The Manhattan Incident Read online

  Not all the bases were as lucky as NORAD and Area 51. While the major bases all had Warthog protective layers, few had experimental weapons. Instead, those bases relied on fighter jets and tactical nukes as a last resort. A few were saved in the nick of time, as the reinforcement Warthogs redeployed from the bio-safety facilities arrived. Several bases without Warthog protection had resorted to short range tactical nukes, but to no effect. The Wedgies simply destroyed the missiles in the air with their lasers, promptly taking out the base with a tactical nuke of their own. Many of the alien crafts were destroyed, but enough survived such that 10 bases in all underwent nuclear destruction. Given their isolated locations, civilian casualties were minor. NORAD counted 12 surviving Wedgies. Warthogs and experimental weaponry had been rapidly reloaded, as it seemed reasonable that the surviving crafts would now attack the remaining bases. General Straub was perplexed when reports came in that the crafts were leaving US air space and appeared to head up into the stratosphere. Damn, thought General Straub, I didn’t even have to resort to the tactical nukes at NORAD.

  The Peoples Republic of China, while possessing high quality jet fighters, wasn’t quite up to the US air force attack level. Instead, they chose a novel approach. Before the earliest alien crafts had arrived near military bases and other installations, weather balloons equipped with cameras and other detection and surveillance devices had been sent up. Several other balloons were carrying tactical nukes. The scene shifts to a communication center underground in the Mongolian region. General Chang Xiang is shown reading the latest spy satellite data gleaned from those in orbit over the United States. He is aware of the nuclear blasts over Atlanta, Plum Island, Fort Detrick, Pine Bluff Arsenal and other U.S. facilities. He was recently updated on the Mount Weather strike, being in close contact with General Tyler Straub. Just a few minutes ago, he had been informed that General Straub has initiated Plan Omega. He knows that the aliens had targeted the Russian and Chinese leadership, too, being informed of that by General Leonid Kosilov in Russia. The decision now rests in his hands. He initiates the order without further thinking.

  “This is General Chang Xiang. The Chinese Premier and much of our government leadership are dead. The same fate has happened in Russia and the United States. Other US targets have been lost to nuclear explosions too. We suspect that biological alien weapons have been released in our most populous cities and many more across the globe. We cannot win this war with our conventional weapons or overwhelming ground forces, but we must act before the aliens strike our bases. With heavy heart, I authorize Plan Blooming Flower to be enacted now as the United States Plan Omega and Russia’s Plan Iron Fist are in progress. We need to maintain the element of surprise. Therefore all bases are to initiate my order right now. Long live the Peoples Republic.”

  Personnel at the various Chinese military bases dug in as best they could in shelters and bunkers below ground. Shortly thereafter, balloon borne tactical nukes detonated above military bases throughout China, whenever the Wedgies came into a blast radius. The blazing, expanding nuclear flowers destroyed every single alien craft. The cost was high. Any local farmers below the blasts were incinerated or would eventually die from radiation poisoning. Some of the troops, too, at the bases would succumb to the same fate. Some would go from cancers caused by the radiation exposure at a much later date. Several cities were also wiped out earlier before the balloon nukes were detonated. Eventually the reason why was learned by the outside world. Those cities had hidden bio-weapon facilities; hence the incoming Wedgies destroyed them as they did in the United States. It was estimated that 25 million lives were lost in the blasts. That was only a little less than 2% of the population. Of course that number paled with later losses from the alien virus, but that’s a later story. The above ground facilities at the bases were destroyed to various degrees. Those still standing were contaminated from radiation. It would not be safe to venture out from the shelters for at least a month, except in radiation hazmat suits. The unknown was what destruction level would transpire from the aliens biological weapon. The cities would be on their own without military help for at least a month. The General expected more loss of life, but he thought it was a small price to pay for destroying the alien crafts. At least his soldiers would survive in their isolated bases. The Peoples Republic of China would survive and be glorious again, thanks to the armed forces. He smiled at the thought.

  General Leonid Kosilov poured himself a heavy belt of vodka in his military bunker in Russia. He has just finished teleconferences with General Douglas and General Xiang. Plan Iron Fist will be initiated in more or less simultaneous coordination with Plan Omega and Plan Blooming Flower. As he swallows the vodka in one fiery swallow, he hopes it is not his last time to enjoy. He didn’t like the Chinese nuclear strike idea. Instead, he had agreed some time ago to rely on the US strategy. The Russian air force had a Warthog equivalent, the Sukhoi Su-25K Scorpion and currently possessed them in greater numbers than the US counterpart. They also carried the equivalent to the US Sidewinder missile, the K-13. Their 30 mm cannons weren’t nearly as good as the American Gatling version. Hopefully, though, the ratio of three Scorpions to each alien craft would do the trick. That was better than the American ratio. General Kosilov took the microphone from the communication specialist. “This is General Kosilov. In five minutes all squadrons will initiate Plan Iron Fist. Make mother Russia proud.” General Kosilov walked away briskly. He headed to the elevator that would take him down many floors to the underground bunker.

  Across Russia every Scorpion, some 250, which were spread over 60 air bases, opened up on the five minute mark. The alien crafts returned fire. Some Wedgies managed to get tactical nuke missiles off before they were destroyed. The fight was brief. Most of the alien craft were destroyed. The remaining few were taken out with concentrated ground laser fire. It turns out that the Russian weaponry lasers were quite effective, perhaps even better that their US counterparts. The cost was high. Only 20 Scorpions returned to their bases. Large areas were radioactive and unusable for a long time. The estimates were that about three million perished, mostly from the tactical nuke explosions. More would go later from radiation poisoning or cancer. Still, General Kosilov was pleased. Now the only problem was the lethality of the alien bio-weapon, he thought. Unhappily, no one, not even the Americans had any idea of what it was or what it would do. He had ordered troops restricted to base. Anyone approaching from outside the base was to be killed, no exceptions. It was going to be a rough time ahead. He had his hazmat teams suited and out collecting. They had to finish quickly, as the clock was likely ticking away fast until the biological alien weapon started working.

  General Straub at NORAD monitored the situation at the Com Center, staring over Tech Sergeant Munger’s shoulder. Of the 12 alien crafts that left US air space, all continued on toward the original coordinates where they first appeared on Earth. The spy satellites counted another 10 leaving Russia for the same space. Earlier, one small ship had suddenly emerged from one of the wedge shaped crafts and turned north over Long Island Sound. General Straub looked at the image. “Tech Sergeant Munger, what is it?” Sir, the size of the blip is what we generally see with our fighter jets. If I had to guess, it is a fighter jet equivalent being flown by one or two aliens.” “OK, keep tracking it and alert the nearest F-22s to monitor its flight path, but do not engage it unless it fires first.” General Straub knew it would be a huge coup if it could be recovered intact or even in damaged condition. He left and returned to his office.

  Tech Sergeant Munger continued staring at the information coming in from the spy satellites. He suddenly had an idea. There were several large orbital satellites known as MPKs. The acronym stood for Maneuverable Platform Killers. That name was only known to a select few in NORAD. The rest of the world knew them as Asteroid Busters. Their publically stated purpose was that they contained a nuclear device and could be maneuvered to take out any asteroid that endangered Earth. Of course, some wondered i
f they could be used as satellite killers. Their secret use was as a killer satellite to destroy orbiting weapon platforms put up by China or any other unfriendly country. Munger said, “CISSTA, are any of the MPKs in a position to intercept the Wedgie crafts?” CISSTA responded after a few minutes. “Yes, two could be maneuvered into position with a 90% probability of taking out all 22 Wedgies, if they were deployed immediately. Munger hesitated momentarily; he didn’t have General Straub’s orders to do so. Shit, he thought. “CISSTA, deploy immediately and how long before intercept?” “Assuming the Wedgies maintain their present course and speed, one hour. They appear to be headed toward our moon.” Hmm, thought Munger. I bet it’s the old back door escape behind the moon I saw in 2012. He immediately called General Straub and updated him.

  Munger explained what he had found out about the MPKs. He confessed to initiating the order at the critical immediate juncture. He expected a reprimand, but instead, he got a good job remark. General Straub actually seemed excited, thought Munger as he hung up. General Straub was on his way back to the Com Center where Sergeant Munger was stationed. He arrived and sat next to Munger and watched the tracking data, hardly blinking. While he knew that he should reprimand Munger for not using the chain of command, he knew that his own actions with President Chung were very similar. He would have done the same as Munger, so he let it go. Munger had turned out to be an excellent soldier.

  “CISSTA, put it on the big screen,” said General Straub. If they could get all these bastards and none returned to God knows where they are from, the message would be clear. Don’t mess with us. Munger and Straub watched the screen which now showed two fixed white spots identified as the MPKs. They could see 22 other white spots approaching in a cluster, except for one lone spot ahead in the lead. “Shit, CISSTA, can we get them all?” said General Straub. “I don’t know. I will time the detonation for maximal destruction probability.” A few minutes later, CISSTA intoned. “10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.” The screen blossomed white until the glare limiters kicked in and restored the contrast. One lone spot remained and it was moving forward toward the moon. Crap, thought the General. Maybe it is damaged or maybe the radiation killed all of them. Sometime later, the satellite monitoring the moon’s back showed it suddenly blinked out. It had escaped through the wormhole.

  3. VIDEO: THE INCIDENT, Day 3 through 4, PI

  VIDEO: THE INCIDENT. General Straub at NORAD on the third day finally succeeded in contacting the now President Luanne Chung at her secret bunker. While no one knew the location, except for a very few deceased officials at the uppermost regions of top security clearance, General Straub now suspected it was somewhere in the Rocky Mountains and not near DC. She answered, “President Chung here, General. I assume you have some news. I am in serious need of information.” The General noted that she used the President, not the Vice President, title. So she knew considerably more than she let on about her lack of information. General Straub decided to bend the truth ever so slightly about his failure to secure her authorization before attacking the alien crafts.

  General Straub relied. “I see you are aware of President Tomlinson’s demise. Given the nuclear blast at the Mount Weather facility, all those with him are gone. You are the government now. Hopefully, you went there with a fully staffed shadow government, because we are in serious need of national leadership.” Her response was brief. “The shadow government was already in place when I got here. Continue.” General Straub realized that the new President was playing her cards close to her chest. He was unlikely to learn much from her about who the new leadership was. He hoped she was up to the task ahead. The General updated her about the joint plans reached by the United States, the People’s Republic of China and Russia. She sniffed, “I already know about the Plan Omega, Plan Flaming Blossom and Plan Iron Fist. President Tomlinson shared all that with me. I was completely in the loop, in fact, more than you know. In fact, I recall no authorization or orders from President Tomlinson authorizing you to initiate Plan Omega or to use tactical nukes. There were no orders from me, either. I suspect insubordination on your part. Prove me wrong.”

  Right then and there, General Straub decided shading the truth was not a good idea. He would level with her and take the consequences. “Madame President, I had authorization from President Tomlinson to launch Plan Omega. His orders are digitally recorded here. You weren’t notified by the President as not long after the OK, his bunker was nuked.” He told her that he had acted immediately upon learning of the tactical nuclear missiles that took out the President’s bunker, Plum Island, and bio-safety Level 4 labs at Atlanta, Fort Dietrick, Bethesda, Boston, Hamilton, Manhattan, Richmond, San Antonio and Galveston. Before he could say anything further, she interrupted. “Oh my God, I didn’t know about the nuclear blasts beyond the President’s bunker. Oh my God, that’s dreadful.” She was not in the loop as well as she thought realized the General. He doubted it was deliberate. Likely it was his job to have put President Chung in the loop prior to asking for her orders as Commander in Chief. The General went on. “Yes, dreadful and it happened all at once. There was very little time to act. There was the possibility that the alien crafts would unleash the next set of nuclear attacks on the remainder of our bases. They were in positions to do so. I thought it prudent to act immediately and save as many lives as possible. There was no time to consult you about authorizing any and all defensive weaponry up to tactical nukes. We were not sure where you were or how to contact you. As it turns out, the nukes were of no use as the alien crafts destroyed the missiles shortly after launch. Given my going to DEFCON 1 without your authorization, I tender my resignation effective immediately.”

  No response came for several seconds. At last, President Chung said, “I do not accept your resignation. While insubordinate, your quick action saved much of the military here in the United States and likely the public as well. My reports also indicate that the coordination with China and Russia was also successful. While I don’t condone your failure to secure orders from me, I understand why you did it. You will continue overseeing the Air Force until further notice. When this is over, there will be an official inquiry and we will see where things stand after that. General Straub thought, OK, I still have a job, but my ass is on the line with no long term job guarantee. He was OK with that. It was a better outcome than he expected.

  President Chung then asked, “What are the casualty estimates?” “We lost about 20 million. Most were a result of the tactical nukes at the various bio-safety labs because of their locations in populated areas. We lost about 1000 Air Force personnel. The other military branches were not engaged by the enemy, so no personnel or equipment was lost. A number of planes were damaged or destroyed. Our A-10 Warthogs fared well. About 10% were damaged, but most can be repaired. Our fighters took heavier losses. The F-15s and F16s were hit hard. We lost 100 F-15s, 200 F16s, 22 F22s, and about 40 of our F-35s. None of these losses are critical, but they will need to be replaced ASAP.” “Where do we stand with the bio-weapon? Has it been identified as bacterial or viral? How lethal is it?” Before Straub answered, he realized that President Chung was very much in the loop. “We know essentially nothing at the moment. Airborne samples taken in NYC and San Francisco were destroyed at the CDC practically upon arrival. We’ll try to track down other samples, but communications are spotty at best right now. Large numbers of people potentially or actually exposed at the time and places where it was released have been quarantined by the National Guard at various locations. No one has been sickened yet. We have asked the FBI and Homeland Security to inform us the moment someone gets sick.”

  The President responded. “We need the best epidemiologists on this. I was counting on the CDC, but guess we likely lost most of our best there. Are there any good military epidemiologists?” “Madame President, the short answer is no. Biological weapons were outlawed as you know. That is specifically a civilian profession.” “General, find out who the recent retirees are, or if anyone was on leave or v
acation at the CDC when the bomb hit.” “Madame President, no offense, but isn’t that a job for Homeland Security or the FBI?” “General, normally yes, but time isn’t on our side here. We need to identify the weapon’s pathogenic effects and do it quickly so that preventive and treatment options can be mounted as rapidly as possible. The military is best equipped with fast response teams that are well protected and can move in and out with few questions or red tape. Besides, you owe me.” “But Madame President, while I am a five star General, I only command the Air Force, not the rest of the military. We will certainly need their help for rapid response teams and civilian control if this virus gets out of control.”

  There was silence for what seemed like several minutes, but he could hear muffled voices. Suddenly President Chung responded. “My military advisor tells me you are right. However, we have a solution. The Emergency Powers Act of 2018 gives the President special powers during times of emergency, including the power to cite Declaration of War without Congressional consultation, and has a little known military option that the President can invoke in times of major threat of war. As of this moment, I am invoking the Emergency Powers Act. It is witnessed by you, General Straub, and here by my military Aide, Lieutenant Jason Kolbe. I now officially declare the United States of America to be at war against the extraterrestrial enemy. Furthermore, by the power invested in me I hereby appoint you to the rank of six-star General with the title, General of the Armed Forces. I will notify all other branches of the military of your promotion. You now have full authority over all branches, but remember I am still Commander-in-Chief.”