“General, as I understand it, this is also truly a working farm that produces a considerable quantity of vegetables and has a feedlot. Are you sure you have the right place?”
“Yes, Mr. President. This is a working farm that produces a considerable quantity of tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, broccoli, peppers, and other vegetables. They have a small feedlot that variably contains 200 to 500 head of cattle. We have had this place under surveillance for several months now. We have aerial photographs from unmanned aerial vehicles of them training in small arms, explosives, and company sized tactics. There is no doubt that this is a terrorist camp of some sort. The working farm presentation is perfect cover.”
“Then let’s not destroy anything that can produce food. If you find something that has strictly military application, then by all means, blow it away. Perhaps we can make a gift of it to the Mexican government as a work camp or something, to assuage their ruffled feathers. I hope you can find a lot of intelligence information on this operation as a result of this raid. Why are they doing this? Is it strictly for money, glory, to finance a revolution, or something else driving this train? Is there an Islamic connection? I trust you have selected a commander for this operation. Who is he?”
“It is the Commander of the 2nd Brigade of the 82nd, Mr. President, Colonel John Paterson. He is a tough old bird at forty-three years of age, Mr. President. He has well over one hundred jumps and a third Dan black belt in Ai Ki Do. He can show the kids a thing or two as well as keep up with them. He leads from the front. The 2nd Battalion of the 82nd is part of his routine outfit. The transportation battalion is also part of the 82nd and has worked with the 2nd Brigade in the past. The Rangers had a little heartburn working for the 82nd, but they decided they could do that when the choice was not to participate, with the 1st Battalion of the 82nd going instead of them. Colonel Paterson wasn’t too happy about taking the Rangers, preferring to have two of his regular battalions, but he appreciates the Rangers’ skills and desire to participate. The Ranger battalion has an integral sniper platoon which was an excellent selling point. They will set up around the perimeter. Those soldiers can take out an enemy on the run at 800 meters as a matter of routine. Their mission is to prevent escapees making it into the hills.”
“What about innocent farm workers on this place? They are going to scatter like quail.”
“Mr. President, we can assume that everybody there will claim to be an innocent farm worker without any knowledge of any raids ever occurring. We have to assume, therefore, that they are knowledgeable and all raiders. We sent a team down there to snoop around as braceros, but they wouldn’t hire them for whatever reason.”
“How soon can you go after I give the word?”
“Mr. President, we can launch this operation within twenty-four hours of your OK.”
“Alright. Mr. Attorney General Hugh Collier, what do you say, other than it is as illegal as hell?”
“That says it all, Mr. President. I also say that we have a more fundamental obligation to protect our citizens by any means necessary, including invading another, even friendly, country, to remove a threat to life, liberty, and limb, not to mention economic destruction that these raids have cost. The Governors of the southwestern states are still hopping mad. Some of our Mexican American citizens have been shot down without cause, and shootings of the illegal aliens crossing the border have been increased twenty times over since the first raid. Sales of firearms in the Border States have increased a thousand percent in the last year, and the Hispanics of those states are up in arms. The La Reconquesta movement is making all kinds of noise about the shootings, especially through their representatives, most of whom are members of the opposite political party.”
“Can we take the political heat on this with our Mexican friends, Marge?”
“I have seen the light; we don’t have any Mexican friends, Mr. President. We have only acquaintances. The façade is paper thin. We all realize that secrecy is paramount here. That place used to be a major producer of marijuana and could easily be so again. If we let the Mexican government in on this, that operation down there will be closed down in hours and all evidence removed. Mexico is so close to being a narco-government that it is difficult to draw the line anymore. Other Central and South American governments will, of course, side with Mexico. There’s no love lost there, either. Their big fear is the precedent this sets; that they might be next. As for the United Nations, I wouldn’t be surprised if Mexico filed an official protest with them. I think we can defend our actions on the floor of the UN. If we can’t, and are sanctioned, what is that worth?”
“Jim, what do you think of the operation?”
“Mr. President, as Secretary of Defense, I think it is a go. It is time to remind certain elements around the world that we still have some fangs, and maybe a little venom.”
“Let me put it this way. Is there anyone here who objects to this military operation, or thinks it is a bad idea? If so, speak up now.”
Nobody said a word.
“General Anderson, the word is go, and I will leave it to you as to when you go.”
The phone on Jason Thornton’s desk rang. “Good news, Mr. President. The South Korean Navy is doing pretty well against the North Koreans. We just found out that they have sunk a half dozen of their submarines off both coasts and taken a pretty good toll of some of their surface craft.”
“That is good news, Jim. How come they are doing a better job than I have been led to believe than we can do?”
“Well, sir, the Japanese spent a lot of money on their surveillance towed array sonar, called ULTASS. The Japanese sold it to the South Koreans who integrated it into a couple of their subs and their several Aegis destroyers and smaller patrol ships. They fed the data into their torpedoes and antiship missiles automatically so that they were fire-and-forget within seconds of detecting the enemy subs. We didn’t hear about any of this until today as a result of our communications losses. It seems the South Korean torpedoes were very deadly against those quiet diesel submarines. Some of them had apparently been lying submerged off the South Korean coastlines for a week or more. The South Korean studies and mapping of the ocean floor off their coastline apparently had identified every rock more than three meters in diameter. When the South Korean subs painted the ocean floor with sonar, they knew exactly what was already there in the way of rock formations and so on, and what were quietly laying submarines. They blasted the hell out of them. We should survey our coastline like that!
“It seems they sunk a number of surface craft during the North’s amphibious assault on Inchon as well. The North didn’t pull it off near as well as McArthur in 1950. They didn’t get it right before those twenty-foot tides changed, with the consequence that a lot of their landing craft got stuck and became sitting ducks. The South Korean destroyer escorts and patrol boats slaughtered them with long range naval fires as they stuck in the mud. The rapid fire automatic 155 mm AGS guns with high velocity guided munitions that they put on their patrol boats did it. I’m glad to say that we sold them those guns. The North lost a lot more men and equipment than they ever imagined. We didn’t know the South Korean Navy was that sophisticated. Their destroyers and destroyer escorts sailed out of the area for a day or two playing chicken, to return in time to wallop the North Korean Navy when things were most pressing.”
“What’s the latest word on how the ground forces are doing?”
“Things are turning around, Mr. President. Since the nuclear exchange, the South Koreans have given the North a lot stiffer resistance than any one expected. They have launched a guerilla type effort that is showing signs of increasing organization. This is especially true in the eastern part of the peninsula, in the Taebok Mountains. Company- and battalion-sized South Korean units, acting independently, have begun to attack and defeat regimental sized North Korean units. South Korean civilians are beginning to take part in the fighting. The civilians are giving the South Korean Army their food and anything they think can help. It seems the North Korean logistical train has broken down, with their forces running out of food, fuel, and ammunition. There are indications that some North Korean units are beginning to retreat. We don’t know if they are doing this under orders or on their own as a result of pressure from the ROKs. Some of them are retreating through hot areas where tactical nukes were used, apparently unaware of the danger. A lot of them are going to unwittingly commit suicide in doing so. From what we can gather, the ROKs are pursuing them up to those hot areas and then stopping. Consequently, the North Koreans are spending more time in them, to rest and regroup, considering it a respite from the pressure of the ROKs. The ROKs are obviously quite content to let them maximize their own dose of radiation poisoning. It strongly suggests that the North didn’t train its troops very well in NBC, that is, Nuclear, Biological or Chemical warfare.” (NBC, or sometimes referred to as CBR, for chemical, biological and radiological warfare).
Chapter 21
When the SpaceX Dragon rocket with the new shuttle clamped to it began to roll out of its hangar at the Florida launch site, some observers began to call the base. Word was passed to a local newspaper that a shuttle flight might be in progress. A call to NASA by the local paper informed the inquisitive reporter that they were merely rolling it out to do some open-air testing. Being somewhat suspicious, the newspaper put a van with a cameraman and reporter on the perimeter to monitor what was happening. When six astronauts were observed through the powerful lens of the telescope, the cameras began to whirl. A second call went to NASA headquarters in Houston, but again, the response was the same. The crew was going aboard to test several systems rather than in the simulators. New space suits needed to be tested on board to ensure their integration into the shuttle’s onboard systems. NASA told the inquisitive reporters that each suit was tailored to the individual astronaut and their position on the shuttle, so they had to do that under outdoor simulations.
Larry Corning, Diane Foster and Robert Hatcher were all excited and scared out of their wits. Marine Colonel Nathan Berry, Mission Commander, laughed to himself but just grinned at his charges. “Relax folks, this is the most enjoyable ride you will ever have in your lives. Greg and I will give you the view of a lifetime.” Commander Gregory Fletcher, US Navy, second-in-command, computer engineer and navigator, just looked at the passengers and grimaced to himself. He didn’t want them to observe his concern for their preparation with only a two-week crash course on being astronauts. The third member of the crew, Cathy Slayton, Lieutenant Colonel, USAF, aerospace engineer, with several shuttle flights to her credit, had already proven herself a capable astronaut and boom handler extraordinaire. The two gals had immediately bonded.
One hour later, the shuttle lifted off. In thirty minutes, it was orbiting in the same orbit as their first satellite objective. Colonel Berry fired the maneuvering rockets that slowed the shuttle, then gently brought it within meters of the satellite. LTC Slayton opened the shuttle bay and maneuvered the arm to very gently rotate the satellite to bring its “handles” to the appropriate position so that it could be securely grasped. Commander Fletcher donned his space suit for a brief space walk. He went through the airlock while LTC Slayton was securing the satellite. He fired his backpack rockets, which gently propelled him to the satellite. There, he quite carefully folded the solar panels into place. He checked the boom hands to ensure the satellite was properly locked in place. He turned towards the shuttle and gave LTC Slayton a salute. Slayton heard him say, “OK, take it away!”
Now securely locked in position by the boom, she gingerly brought it into the cargo bay of the shuttle. She closed the shuttle bay doors. Commander Fletcher entered the bay with the shuttle, more or less riding on the boom. Slayton then pressurized the bay so that the three passengers could examine the satellite in the bay without having to make a space walk. Fletcher went back through the airlock to climb out of his space suit to give the three scientists room to do their job.
“Ok, people, let’s go take a look at your satellite and see what you can do to fix it,” said Colonel Berry, as he un-strapped himself from his seat. “I’ll stay in the command cockpit while you folks do your thing.”
Drs. Hatcher, Foster and Corning slowly guided themselves over to the hatch leading to the shuttle bay. Once in the shuttle bay, they slowly examined the external surfaces for damage. Seeing none, Dr. Corning began to unscrew the cover plates which covered the computers. He placed the screws in a magnetized dish which he placed on the boom arm. Removing the two computers, he unplugged their hard drives and handed them to Diane Foster. He then began to examine the solar panels by unfolding them and examining them one at a time. Visual inspection suggested the wafers were burned out. He would have to test them for confirmation. They would require replacing if seriously damaged.
Dr. Foster moved back into the shuttle where the necessary instrumentation for testing was located. Twenty minutes later, Corning followed her in with one section of a solar panel. He removed the wafers and connected them to a micro voltmeter. Nothing. They were dead, fried, burned out. He moved back into the shuttle bay and, snapping himself in place by his belt lines, began to remove all four of the burned-out solar panels. He secured them to the bay wall with bungee cords equipped with T hooks that mated in small slots in the structural ribs of the bay. He then opened a long but very shallow locker along the bay wall. He removed the new solar panels one at a time and very carefully folded them, then screwed them in place on the satellite. They were far too big to remain unfolded in the shuttle bay. The panel locker would protrude too far into the shuttle bay if they were stored folded. After replacing all four panels, he floated back to the hatch by giving himself a gentle shove off the boom.
Hatcher came into the shuttle bay to examine the positioning rockets and their controls of the satellite. These were what moved the satellite from orbit to orbit or rotated it to achieve the proper viewing angle. He found no problems with any of them after one hour of examination. He replaced small bottles of liquid fuel for each of the rockets, then moved back into the command area of the shuttle.
Dr. Foster was engrossed in examining the lines of codes. The readings she got indicated that they had been scrambled. All circuits were working normally, they were just sending nonsense signals that could neither be received nor read.
“This is deliberate. This is sabotage of the highest order. I don’t know who had access to these command modes, but they have been deliberately scrambled. Somebody built a worm into this that made it an unintelligible mess upon receipt of a signal. They all have to be replaced. It will take hours on a mega computer, bigger than anything we have on board, hours, and maybe days, to unscramble it and identify the worm. We need to put the new codes in and get that satellite back in working order. We’ll take these boards with us and see what they reveal back on Terra Firma.” She wrote “scrambled” on the hard drives and packed them in a small lock box. Then she removed two new hard drives and handed them to Corning. He looked at her with a fixed stare. Then she realized why.
“Don’t worry, I programmed this myself. I am the only one who knows the codes in these, and I have secured the only copies of them where no one else in the world knows.”
“OK Di, I believe you. I’ll go stick them in the satellite right now so we can get out of here. This weightlessness bugs me.” He grinned and pushed himself away from her computer screen towards the hatch. He carefully replaced the computer hard drives in the satellite and returned to the command area. “How soon can we get out of here?” he asked.
COL Berry just grinned, and said, “We are coming up on an orbital path in about an hour and thirty minutes. We’ll touch down in Houston in no time.”
Berry turned to Slayton and said, “Let’s get that satellite back in orbit, Colonel. I think the man here must have a hot date tonight.” Cathy Slayton grinned, knowing that it was really Berry who had the hot date.
