"She didn"t say."
"I rather doubt diey"ll be nucs. Probably germ warheads. Kill all us nasty ole" conservatives and keep the buildings for use by the occupying troops." Ben laughed. "Socialist carpetbaggers. Now that"s funny, Cec."
"I truly wish I could find something amusing about this situation, Ben."
"What"s her deadline for launch?"
"0600. I have our air defenses on alert."
Ben walked over to a red telephone and picked it up. He was answered immediately. "This is General Raines. All air defenses are to go on full alert nationwide . . . immediately. We"re going to have missiles to intercept, and we don"t want any to strike SUSA soil. OK Good shooting."
Ben slowly hung up the phone just as Cec was opening his mouth to object. He managed a "Ben-"
Ben shook his head. "My show now, Cec. You know our const.i.tution better than I."
"You"re right, of course. Do we warn our citizens about the possibility of a strike?""Not just yet. An hour"s time is all many will need. A few minutes is all most will need."
316.
"I"ve told Osterman that her demands are ridiculous."
"I would have told her a lot more than that," Ben replied.
The men drank coffee and chatted for a half hour until Ben told Cecil to go take a nap, get some rest. He would man the command center until Cec woke up.
Ben told the security people to get his team into the war room. While that was going on, he got Ike on the horn.
"I think you should be here, Ike."
"I"ll stay with my troops," the ex-Navy SEAL said.
"I thought you"d say that, Ike, but I wanted to try. Intel says they"re ninety-nine percent certain the warheads are germ. But they aren"t sure what type of bugs they contain."
"We have the vaccines for every type of bug we know Osterman has," Ike replied. "The troops are ready."
"You know that some of the missiles are going to get through."
"I know."
"We"re probably going to lose several hundred thousand people."
"If that rotten b.i.t.c.h uncorks those missiles, Ben ..." Ike let that trail off.
"There will be precious little left of the USA. That is a promise."
"Will you use our missiles?"
"Will I have a choice?"
Another long moment of silence. "No, I reckon not. G.o.d help us all."
"Osterman and her followers don"t believe in G.o.d."
"Oh, yeah, I forgot. They"re too intelligent to believe in G.o.d. Then G.o.d help the SUSA."
"That"s more like it."
"Keep your head down and your a.s.s covered, Ben."
"I will, Ike. Luck to you, ole" buddy."
317.
"OK, partner."
Ben spent the next few minutes in a conference hookup, talking with allhis brigade commanders. They were as ready as they could possibly be.
Cecil had ordered additional vaccines flown in to all Rebel locations as soon as Osterman had issued her threat. But, as General Georgi Striganov pointed out, if the missiles carried nuclear warheads there was very little the Rebels could do except ask for heavenly intervention.
Ben sat at a desk in the war room, talking with his team and petting Jodie.
And waiting.
Corrie was handling the communications now. Every so often Ben looked over at her and shook her head.
Nothing.
At 0500 hours Corrie stiffened in her chair. Ben heard her say "Are you sure?"
Ben smiled knowingly. "G.o.dd.a.m.n socialist democrats. I knew it. You can"t trust those two-faced b.a.s.t.a.r.ds."
"Birds are in the air!" Corrie said. "Just launched."
"Cooper, get President Jefferys, please."
Cec had awakened a few minutes earlier and had been washing his face in cold water. He walked in the door just as Ben was speaking to Coop.
"It"s only 0500, Ben," Cecil said, glancing at the clock on the wall.
"President Osterman gave us until 0600. What the h.e.l.l happened?"
"I warned you about trusting that b.i.t.c.h. She jumped the gun on us."
"Our missiles have intercepted most of the first wave," Corrie said.
"Two got through. First one carried a germ warhead and struck in North Texas."
"G.o.dd.a.m.nit!" Cecil flared.
"Right on the border with New Mexico, just north of Interstate Twenty."
318.
"Very lightly populated," Cecil said. "Thank G.o.d."
"Second bird struck in Eastern Tennessee. In the mountains."
"Ready all silos and surface based facilities," Ben said quietly.
"Prepare to launch on my orders. Repeat. On my orders!"
"Right, Boss."
"Miserable no-good lying bunch of a.s.sholes!" Ben said.
"I will certainly agree with that," Cecil said, pouring himself a mug of coffee.
"Second wave of Federal missiles launched and on the way," Corrie said.
"Any ground troops taking part in this so far?" Ben asked."Negative, Boss."
Anna had filled a container with water and was sitting on the floor beside Jodie while the dog drank. Malamutes are not the most delicate animals when they drink, and Anna got water all over her.
"I should have warned you," Ben said with a smile.
"s.h.i.t!" Ben"s daughter muttered, wiping her pants legs with a handkerchief.
"One got through, Boss," Corrie called. "It struck in Central Arkansas."
"d.a.m.n! Which way are the winds blowing?" Cecil asked.
"West to east," Beth told him. She was handling secondary communications.
Ben walked over to Corrie and motioned for her to give him the mic.
"This is General Raines speaking from the war room of Base Camp One.
Launch the first wave of our missiles. Wait ten minutes and launch the second wave. Ten minutes later, launch the third wave." He paused for a few seconds. "And may G.o.d look with mercy on our souls."