Nuclear Midnight
Authors: Robert Cole
NUCLEAR
MIDNIGHT
ROBERT COLE
Published by Robert Cole
Copyright 2014
Kindle Edition
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This is a work of fiction. All the characters, organizations, and events depicted in this novel are either products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously.
Preface
While this novel is primarily a work of fiction, it was originally written to highlight the worst case scenario of a nuclear holocaust. The radiation effects on the human body and the land, and struggles the survivors would face has been thoroughly researched and drawn from numerous non-fiction books and documents. While such a scenario is extremely unlikely its ramifications, if played out, give fertile ground for thought…
Table of Contents
Toward the east, a plane banked sharply against the swollen nimbus clouds of the storm as the pilot waited for his clearance to land. The storm was already over Singapore, rumbling and spitting lightning bolts as it threw itself against the glistening glass towers of the city. With clearance to land granted, the pilot levelled out and began his bumpy descent through the cloud. On board was the usual mixture of Asian businessmen and tourists bound for destinations in Europe and Asia. Two of the passengers, however, Alex Carhill and his older brother Jason, had already completed two months travelling overland through Indonesia. They were on the first stage of a world trip. Both planned to be away from their home country, Australia, for at least a year, but this was open-ended; neither had ties and both had every intention of following whatever path materialised in front of them.
After nearly a minute of rushing cloud, the plane burst through into the storm. Jason leaned over to the window and watched the rain beat down on the wings of the plane. He was the larger and more athletic of the two, with vivid blue eyes set in a deeply tanned face. The plane banked hard again as the pilot lined up the airport runway. Jason scratched the stubble of blond hair on his chin and pulled out his phone to take some photos. At first glance there seemed little physical similarity between the brothers. Alex's eyes were grey, not blue; his hair was brown, not blond; and he was four centimetres shorter than Jason. He also lacked his brother's powerful build. His arms and legs were sinewy rather than muscular and his chest shallow rather than barrel shaped. His mannerisms were also markedly different; while Jason radiated confidence and ease, Alex radiated nervousness and agitation. This was not surprising; despite being raised in the same household their upbringing was starkly different. Jason wasn’t just good, he excelled at anything he applied himself to: rowing, swimming, athletics, his bedroom walls were covered with his triumphs. He had an impressive academic record, too. Anything scientific or mathematical came easily to him, culminating in the dux of the school upon graduation.
Alex, possessing only average abilities, had the unenviable task of following in the footsteps of a paragon. With only a year separating them, the inevitable comparisons did little to boost his self-esteem. But in spite of living in his brother's shadow, Alex had never resented Jason. He had elevated him almost to the position of someone God-like and unattainable, therefore not a threat. Indeed, he treasured his brother's advice so it was natural for him to take all his problems to Jason. Too much so, for his own good, some people thought.
The plane touched down and began taxiing towards one of the many airport terminals. The brothers unclipped their belts and started collecting their belongings. As soon as they disembarked, Alex's first thought was to catch up on world events. There had not been much chance for that; travelling through the remote villages of Bali and Java the brothers had had little chance to catch up with the news. Like most people these days, Alex followed the news carefully. The warming of the earth's surface had already taken its toll on the land and the economies of many nations. Changing weather patterns and a series of calamitous floods and droughts had forced the reassessment of traditional farming practices in many countries. Deserts had been turned into huge lakes, while fertile lands had withered into arid wasteland under unseasonably hot winds and diminished rainfall. Asia had been one of the most affected areas with the failure of the monsoons on two consecutive years. This put enormous stress on the world’s food resources and sent the price of cereal grains skyrocketing. New diseases had also emerged, draining billions of dollars from the economies of some of the poorest nations in the world.
These problems, combined with continual high oil prices, had precipitated a world recession and heightened international tension as the nations of the world scrambled for the resources of less affected countries. Added to these tensions was the simmering unrest in the middle-east and the border tensions between Russia and the former eastern bloc countries. Russia had already swallowed up much of Ukraine and was facing off against NATO, who were backed by America. Before the brothers had left Australia there had been media revelations that America had secretly weaponised space - something stricken forbidden under the Outer Space treaty. With tensions already running high, the increased military threat by America could not have come at a worse time.
To add to these problems the simmering conflict in the Middle East suddenly took a turn for the worst. The Israeli parliament was bombed. Within days Israel had invaded Lebanon and the Gaza strip, sweeping away all suspected terrorist camps in a brutal ground and aerial assault. Syrian-based fundamentalist Muslim groups were enraged and threatened to attack across the Syrian border. Support, both political and military, came pouring in from other Arab nations. A resurgence in fundamental Islam had recently united parts of the Arab world. Armed with chemical and possibly nuclear weapons and sophisticated delivery systems, Israel's nuclear arsenal could now be matched with equally lethal weapons. America immediately came to Israel's aid, promising military support and arms. As the threats continued, the oil price climbed. Russia came out in support of the Arabs, matching America's offer of military support and arms. Now Russia and America had a stage for their conflict. The press were full of gloomy predictions that this could be the spark that could set the world alight.
Alex read the news reports with growing concern. To make matters worse, three days ago there had been a direct clash between NATO and Russian troops along the border of Ukraine. America was also rumoured to have sent elite troops to match a build-up of Russian troops. This news sent the price of oil and gold up and the world stock markets down. Both sides were now engaged in a dangerous game of brinkmanship - one misstep could be irreversible.
Jason, however, had no time for such stuff. ‘It’s mostly media propaganda,’ he would announce confidently, throwing down the paper. ‘Why worry?’ he would continue when Alex pressed him on his apparent lack of concern. ‘We can't do anything about it, anyway.’
That probably summed up Jason's view on life. He wasn't interested in things that didn't directly affect him. Whatever was going to happen would happen, and there was nothing he or anybody else could do about it.
After a few days in Singapore they headed up the Malaysian peninsula to Bangkok, then overflew Myanmar to Kolkata. From the coast they travelled up country by train to New Delhi. Singapore to New Delhi took them just over a month. Both brothers had been sick in Bangkok with stomach pains and diarrhoea, and eating in the roadside cafes in Kolkata hadn't helped matters. Jason especially had been very sick with fever, vomiting and severe stomach cramps. They had been forced to spend nearly a week in Kolkata before continuing on their way to Agra and New Delhi.
Alex found India a land of extreme contrasts. In the villages the people were poor, but not starving. They greeted the two young men warmly, without trying to prise their money away from them. In the cities, however, they were set upon by scores of beggars. Against a background of vast British built monoliths, this under class roamed the streets, while the rich patronised restaurants and cafes. Both Alex and Jason felt rather overawed with the place. Such abundance of life in all its shapes and forms, such extremes of wealth and poverty were difficult to take in all at once. On their way back to Australia they decided that they would return for a closer look. But for the moment they felt weak and drained by the experience of South East Asia. After only three weeks in India, they were glad to take the next flight to Athens, where they could eat food they would be more accustomed to and relax in the Mediterranean sun.
Alex and Jason had barely touched down in Athens, however, before they witnessed several demonstrations in the main squares. Feeling was running very high amongst the demonstrators who were calling for a jihad against the Jews; cars were overturned and the police attacked. There were other ominous signs, too. It was mid June, the height of the tourist season, and yet there were many vacancies at the pensions and hotels. The small restaurants and cafes, usually packed to overflowing, attracted only modest crowds. The press estimated that this year only a quarter of the normal number of tourists had come to Greece because of the political crisis.
Jason and Alex spent several weeks travelling around the Greek Islands. Everywhere they went the story was the same; the beaches were almost depleted of tourists, the pensions and restaurants half empty. Even the locals seemed more interested in listening to the latest news than catering for the tourists who, in ordinary times, were their life's blood.
Jason appeared largely unaffected by all the commotion, but Alex became increasingly more moody and distant. The excitement of travelling was beginning to wear thin. He was haunted by the possibility of war and its consequences. But Jason scoffed at his fears and reverted to his usual argument. It was only a war of propaganda. Neither Russia nor America would ever commit itself to a war in the Middle East. ‘They are like two cats on a wall spitting at each other,’ he would say, dismissing the bother of it from his thoughts.
It was a cause of tension, even irritation, between them. For the first time on any matter of substance, Alex considered his brother to be at fault. His eyes were opened. He grew a little older that day.
After Greece they used a two-month Eurail pass to travel through the rest of Europe. Travelling north across the top of Italy they passed through France and then continued on to Barcelona in eastern Spain. Here the sun and beaches temporarily calmed Alex’s nerves, although, as with Greece, things were unusually quiet for the holiday season. The tourists who were left were mostly part of longer Trans-European tours that had started months before the political crisis had worsened. Here the Middle East crisis took a back seat to wild rumours of troop mobilisations and fevered war preparations by NATO and Russia. This type of conversation made both the brothers angry - Jason because he felt the whole thing was ridiculous anyway, Alex because it fuelled his own fertile mind and made him even more anxious.
The brothers continued on their way along the Spanish coast into Portugal, then took the train north through France to West Germany and the Scandinavian countries. Here they began to encounter pockets of bitter resentment against the cruise missile bases, which had been installed throughout Europe. Originally designed to deter a possible nuclear attack, they now seemed more likely to make them a target of one. The soothing noises of an assortment of governments were met with sarcasm and ridicule from the press. Several times Jason and Alex had to intercede in arguments between Americans and Europeans which, but for them, would have ended in blows. But this was no way to spend a holiday. Finally, feeling that enough was enough, they cut short their European trip and took a train to London.
Both Jason and Alex had lived in London during their childhood. Their parents had come originally from Southampton, but their father, who had worked for a large insurance company, had been transferred to London when Jason was seven and Alex was six. A year later he received the opportunity to head the Australian branch of the company in Sydney. It was too good a chance to miss, though they were sad to go. Alex could not remember a great deal about London, except that it was a very ancient and cold city, with huge sandstone buildings and rows of red brick houses stacked against each other in endless lines. As they approached on the train he was pleasantly surprised to find that it was warm and not all the houses were joined together.
When they arrived at Victoria station, however, all thoughts of sightseeing were quickly driven from their thoughts. The news services carried the frightening news that America had successfully launched and tested swarms of powerful laser satellites using a new component miniaturisation technology. These satellites were less than twenty centimetres in diameter and could collect, store and concentrate the sun’s rays into powerful laser beams capable of destroying targets only metres across on the ground or at sea. This put all Russian ground and sea forces at risk. Russia’s only option was to destroy the larger spy satellites that would feed the target information to these miniature laser satellites. Russia responded by stating: ‘Unless the Government of the United States suspends all space weapon research within the next forty eight hours, Russia will destroy all suspected American spy satellites already deployed in space.’
The American president responded with the statement, ‘Any destruction of American property or the killing of American personnel would be considered an act of war.’
The world hung on the next move in an increasingly dangerous and high-stakes chess game. As the hours ticked by, the refusal of either side to back down raised the tension to fever pitch.
In London the news services started continued coverage of the crisis. All communication servers were overloaded as people tried to contact their friends and relatives. Airlines reported huge crowds and advised passengers not to contact them for tickets, since all flights out of London were fully booked for the next seventy two hours. The brothers had already lost their chance to leave the country.
That afternoon a high absentee rate was reported at work as people went home at lunchtime instead of returning to their offices. All major arterial routes out of London were completely clogged with traffic by the late afternoon.
It was impossible to turn on the radio or television without being bombarded with official broadcasts urging people to remain calm and above all ‘stay put’. Reinforcing your own home and stockpiling food were promoted as the most realistic and practical ways to prepare for any contingency. All major media outlets began issuing government pamphlets entitled ‘Protect and Survive’. Banks reported huge monetary withdrawals, while panic buyers besieged the commercial sector. Building materials, petrol and food supplies began to run out within hours because of the unprecedented demand as people tried to follow government advice to the letter. To prevent large-scale movements of population, the broadcasts announced that most major arterials out of the city were only open to essential services and that those who abandoned their homes would face being turned back. Hospitals started to stockpile food and medical supplies; firemen, military, police and government officials throughout the country were placed on the highest alert. All demonstrations were immediately banned and there would be leaders detained.