Dark Star Rising Second Edition (Pebbles in The Sky) (25 page)

“The Russian forces are not slowing down but proceeding at best possible speed to the border with Iran.  Iran is mobilizing their forces and moving them north but they will be lucky if they can dig in north of Tehran and try and hold a line.  Russian fighters are already attacking Iranian air bases and gaining control of the skies over Tehran.  There are reports of wide spread cruise missile attacks on the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Bases.  Depending on what their objectives are, and what kind of resistance the Iranians put up, we estimate they will be knocking on Tehran’s door in about a week.  After that we are not sure what their intentions are,” said General Dieter.

“Ok, so the Russians are going to pound the Iranians,” replied President Montgomery.  How does this affect us?” “Well,” said General Dieter. “We have no assets except for some liaison staff still in place in Iraq and of course our advisors in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. Since we withdrew our naval battle groups we have no real capability in the area at all.  I do not think that there will be many tears shed here at home for the Iranians.”

“There is the possible threat of the Iranians responding with a nuclear weapon,” said General Preston.  “We do not know for sure, but the best intelligence the Israelis have shared with us is that Iran has been able to produce two, maybe three crude nuclear bombs.  They do not have the capability to mount them on a long range missile but they could possibly air drop one on the invading Russian forces. The other concern would be that just as a spoiler the Iranians would lob a couple at Israel rather than lose them to the Russians.  Israel has put their forces on alert and they are calling up reservists.  The biggest risk is that if Iran throws a nuke at Israel that Israel may throw some back. If any of those hit any Russian forces then this may get out of hand.”

“Ok, best guess, what do we think the Russians goals are?” asked the President.

“The Russians are going to need a warm water port after E-Day,” stated General Dieter.  “The Baltic Sea and the Black Sea as well as their ports in the Pacific are going to probably freeze over and stay that way.  We estimate that about ninety percent of greater Russia is going to be covered by permafrost and glacier.  They will not be able to feed their population or support themselves.  They are desperate for land in a warmer climate for their population.  We think they will pour every resource they have into this invasion.  Our best guess is that they will try and subdue Iran, then turn west and do the same for Iraq.”

“They still have the large naval base in Syria and as of yesterday they were having large naval and amphibious exercises on the eastern Mediterranean.  It is probable that those forces will land in Syria and be rapidly re-enforced and they will subdue Syria.  Since the Syrian Revolution ended in 2014 there has been no real government in power and the loose confederation of groups that have been attempting to govern can put up no major resistance.  We believe that their ultimate goal is to take over Syria, Iraq, and Iran.”

“These moves will give them access to the Mediterranean as well as the Persian Gulf and the Arabian Sea.  They will have good supplies of oil, a warmer climate, and warm weather ports available.  We believe they will start moving large portions of their ethnic Russian population into the conquered areas and forcing the
displaced Iranians to flee into Afghanistan and Pakistan. The native Iraqi’s will be forced south into Saudi Arabia or north into Turkey.  They will probably leave Afghanistan and Pakistan as a buffer between them, India, and most importantly, China.”

“So, what do we do in response?” asked the President.

General Preston spoke up. “Well, we advise doing nothing.  We have no great love of the Iranians and the Iraqis are so busy killing each other they are no one’s reliable ally.  In the end, the region will probably be a lot more stable than it has been for hundreds of years, assuming of course that the Russians are successful.  We do recommend that you give the Russian President a call and tell him we would appreciate him keeping his hands off Israel, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates as they are technically still our allies even if we do not have any forces in the area that can help defend them.  Since we have withdrawn all our oversea forces, and reduced our navy to two carrier groups tasked with costal defense, we no longer have an effective way of projecting any real military power.”

“How are the rest of the major players taking this General Preston?” the President asked.

“Pretty much, they are going about business as usual.  Most of the European countries are busy moving their industry and population into African Countries that are eager for the influx of money and the boost it is giving their economies.  England and Canada are still moving large groups of their population to Australia and since most of that traffic goes through the Suez Canal they will be watching things very closely.  Oddly enough, China has been very quiet about the whole thing.  They are probably relieved that Russia has pulled most of their forces off the north China border and moved them west for this operation.”

There was a knock on the door and an aide to General Dieter entered and gave some sheets of paper to the General.  The General briefly scanned them and then looked up.  “This is starting to get ugly.  We just thought China was being quiet.  Twenty minutes ago, they launched a massive air assault on Taiwan.  Intelligence satellites show that their entire navy and amphibious forces are putting to sea for what appears to be a forced amphibious invasion of Taiwan.  It gets even worse.  North Korea has commenced a rocket and long range artillery bombardment of Seoul and their forces are advancing across the demilitarized zone.  South Korean Forces are mobilizing and they are calling on Japan to honor their mutual aid agreement.  Regular ground units of the Chines army are also moving to the borders with Myanmar and Vietnam.  It looks like all hell is breaking loose.”

“Do we have any assets at all over there that we can help Taiwan and South Korea with?” asked the President.

General Dieter shook his head.  “The fast attack submarine Virginia just left a port visit in Hong Kong yesterday.  She could head north and attempt to interfere with the Chinese amphibious force but with the entire Chinese Navy putting to sea she would be outnumbered and outgunned.  She might get lucky and sink a few ships but we would probably lose her in the process.  Since we are down to only a dozen fast attack submarines now, it would not be wise to stick our nose into that hornet’s nest.  Unless we want to threaten them with nukes there is really nothing we can do about any of this.”

“We knew that this could, and probably would happen when we withdrew our forces and started drawing them down so we could put the resources into the Space Force instead.  Everyone who has a stash of guns is starting to jockey for position in what will be the new world after E-Day.”

“So basically we just have to sit here and watch,” said the President.  “Please put all our forces on alert.  I am going to make some phone calls to some of the other world leaders, not that I expect that it will do any good.  We used to be the world’s police force and now that we left the neighborhood the bullies are out in force.  Please notify me immediately of any new major developments.”

Chapter 27

June 9
th
, 2023

Washington, DC

President Montgomery fell into her bed after her evening national security brief.  She had been getting two briefs a day and she was physically, as well as mentally exhausted.  The past week had all but drained her.  The Russian Forces advancing south through Iran had been brushing aside Iranian resistance with very few losses until they were about twenty miles from Tehran.  At that point, the desperate Iranians had lobed a short ranged missile with a nuclear warhead into the vanguard of the Russian armored units at the forefront of the invasion.  The result had been the near instantaneous vaporization of a full Russian armored division.

Russia had furiously retaliated by nuking Tehran with a neutron bomb.  Neutron bombs had been banned back in the nineteen eighties due to the fact that they killed indiscriminately while causing very little physical damage to the landscape and target area.  They had been considered too perfect a weapon, one that would encourage a nuclear war and all countries had agreed not to build them.  Obviously, the Russians were no longer keeping any of the old treaties.  Nearly the entire population of Tehran had been killed outright or had absorbed a lethal dose of neutron radiation from the warhead.  The Russians then commenced executing every Iranian man, woman, and child they encountered.  It soon became evident that they were committing self-righteous genocide against the Iranian people in retaliation for Iran using a nuclear weapon on their forces. 

The terrified civilian population began fleeing eastward toward Afghanistan and Pakistan and the rout was on.  Any resistance was quickly smothered by Russian air attacks and artillery.  The United States put forth a resolution condemning the invasion in the United Nations Assembly.  Russia and China both withdrew from the United Nations and thumbed their nose at the rest of the world.

This situation with China and North Korea, though dire, was a little bit better.  The North Koreans had advanced almost to the South Korean capital of Seoul when the Japanese decided to intervene and assist South Korea.  The Japanese air force, with the remnants of the South Korean air force gained air superiority and began pounding the North Korean ground forces.  The North Koreans had responded by launching two missiles that were believed to be carrying nuclear warheads toward Tokyo. One had been shot down by a Japanese Aegis cruiser and the other had gone off course and crashed into the sea.  North Korean units had started to break under the constant air attacks and their offensive operations had come to a halt.  It was predicted that in a matter of days that they would be in full retreat.

China had also been humiliated in its attack on Taiwan.  Although China’s air force and rocket attacks had caused major damage and loss of life in the densely populated island country, the weapon systems that the Taiwanese military had purchased from the United States won the day by showing their technological superiority.  China had lost nearly seven planes to every plane that the Taiwanese lost.  Waves of cruise missiles had decimated the Chinese invasion fleet and a Taiwanese submarine had managed to sink China’s one and only carrier in a daring attack.  As China’s forces withdrew back to the mainland the Taiwanese launched a huge cruise missile attack on Hong Kong in retaliation for the indiscriminate bombing of its own cities.  In just three days, both sides agreed to a cease fire.  Along the southern borders however, Chinese land forces were advancing quickly into Myanmar, Vietnam, and Laos.  There were large scale reports of ethnic atrocities and genocide being carried out there by the Chinese.

President Montgomery and the rest of the world just had to sit and watch as whole populations were being slaughtered or driven out of their homelands to make room for the Russians and Chinese to move southward in their anticipation of the colder climates that were coming after the encounter with the Brown Dwarf.  The United States had formed an alliance with Mexico, Central America, and South America and had warned that she would use her own country’s nuclear weapons to intercede and stop any aggressors to any country in the American Alliance.

President Montgomery’s
advisors had told her that this was an empty gesture and not really needed. No one had the capability to launch a large scale amphibious force of the size that would be needed to invade a country in North or South America anyway.  She had been determined to make a point though and had gone through with the organization of the alliance.  As she slowly gave in to sleep, the President started crying for all the people that were dying that she could do nothing to protect.  The worse part of it was that all this death and dying would pale in comparison to the deaths expected when the Brown Dwarf started affecting their world.  She went to sleep dreaming of crying babies and screaming women.

Chapter 28

April 1
st
, 2024

Pasadena, California

Peter and Susan sat holding hands as Mike Banscott stood and tapped his wine glass with his knife.  The guests standing and sitting around the tables in the hotel courtyard slowly ceased their conversations and gathered in front of the table where Peter, Susan, Mike, her Uncle Eric, and Susan’s maid of honor Margie sat.  “If I may have your attention, please everyone.  As best man, it is now my privilege to propose a toast to the groom and his lovely bride.  Mike motioned for Peter and Susan to stand.  “As most of you here today know, I met Peter for the first time about eight years ago when I hired him as an assistant without laying eyes on him.  He was brought to my attention by my old college roommate, good friend, and Susan’s uncle, Doctor Eric Casselman.  At that time, he was just a whelp of a grad student who was fortunate enough, or maybe unfortunate enough, to have discovered a Brown Dwarf Star, or as most of you refer to it, Peters Star.  Since that time, he has grown into my right hand man at JPL and become a very close friend.”

“As for his lovely bride Susan, I met her about a year before I met Peter when she first came to Cal Tech to attend college. She was the niece of my good friend Eric, and she spent quite a bit of time over at his house when my wife and I were over there visiting also.  Susan has grown from a pretty young coed to a lovely and delightful woman who is doing a wonderful job at the Southern California branch of the DNA Ark project.  She has a very important job there to help save our planets evolutionary diversity from the ordeals that we will have to endure in about nineteen years.”