“It will, Allison, it has to.”
“And if it doesn’t, sir, I hope I don’t find out about an order to use nuclear weapons by looking out my window and seeing a mushroom cloud on the horizon.”
“I’ll keep you informed, Allison.”
The screen went blank.
Allison sat alone in the breakout room, struggling with her thoughts. She and Andrew had argued before — especially following the Cleveland attack — but never, never had he been so…
Different.
She’d seen him stressed. Seen him angry. After Kate’s death, she’d watched him wrestle with his inner demons, struggling to find himself again after such an important part of his personal life had been so cruelly ripped away.
She’d seen the best of the man, and the worst. But through it all, he’d never kept her at arm’s length. Especially not during a crisis.
Something was wrong. She wasn’t sure what yet, but the gnawing ache in her gut was screaming a warning. She pressed a button connecting her to the NORTHCOM senior controller and asked to see Admiral Grierson. He entered the room a moment later.
“Keats, where’s the nearest E-4?”
“Denver, ma’am. Sitting standby at DIA.”
She’d flown to Colorado Springs on Air Force Two, a modified Boeing 757 the Air Force used for vice presidential — and at times, congressional — travel. It was a capable platform, but she needed something designed to perform a mission she hoped wouldn’t be necessary.
Allison had learned over the years that hope, like wishing, was also a sign of poor planning. What she was about to do was highly irregular, but she’d answer for it later. She was the vice president, and if anyone didn’t like it, they could kiss her Coastie ass.
“Bring it here.”
“Ma’am?”
“Get me the fucking E-4, Keats. I’m going airborne.”
High above the Nebraska farm fields, the first B-52 started its bombing run. The bomb bay doors slammed open, and the first of the old Soviet chemical weapons dropped from its belly. It was followed by many, many more.
CHAPTER 44
Ray Smythe was making the most difficult phone call of his life. On the other end of the line was his baby girl.
“Daddy?”
“It’s me, honey.”
“We’re stuck, Daddy! There’s wrecks all over the place and nobody’s moving!”
For once, her cell phone reception was crystal clear. He was glad for that at least. “I know, honey. Try to stay calm. We’ve got soldiers west of you who are going to stop them. I promise.” He’d never lied to his daughter before.
“I’m scared, Daddy, I’m so scared!”
“It’s all right, honey. It’s all right.” He could hear the low rumble of the B-52’s engines through her phone, as it thundered through the night sky above his daughter, dumping its load of death. He knew he only had minutes to say what he needed to say.
“Daddy, I — oh God, I can see them! I can see them, Daddy! They’re coming! Ohmygod, ohmygod, I’m gonna die, Daddy! I can see their eyes!”
“Shhhh. Hush, little one.” He’d called her that as a child. “I want you to listen to me, okay?”
“Okay…” Her voice was trembling.
“I want you to know that I love you, Laura. I love you more than anything in this entire world. Do you know that?”
“Yes, yes, I know that…”
“Your mother and I love you so much, and we’re so very, very proud of you.”
“Daddy, what’s going to happen to me? What’s going to—”
“I want you to close your eyes…”
“… Okay… ohmygod, ohmygod…”
“… And I want you to imagine something for me, real hard, okay?”
“… Okay…”
“I want you to imagine that I’m there with you right now, Laura. I want you to imagine that I’m right there. I’m right there, Laura, can you imagine that for me?”
“… Yes… Daddy, I’m so scared…”
“I know, I know… I want you to reach out your hand, Laura. Reach out your hand and imagine that I’m there and I’m holding your hand. I’m holding your hand right now, Laura… Can you imagine that?”
“… You’re right here and you’re holding my hand…”
“That’s right… I’m right there and I’m holding your hand, Laura. I’m right there. Can you feel my hand? Just like when I walked you to school. Do you remember that? Do you remember when I held your hand when I walked you to school on your first day of second grade? Do you remember that, honey?”
“I remember… I was so scared…”
“You held my hand so tightly because you were scared, but it was all right, wasn’t it? It was okay, wasn’t it, Laura? You were safe with me, you were safe with me, Laura. Do you remember that?”
“Oh, Daddy, what’s going to happen to me…”
She was crying. “Shhhh… Hold my hand, honey. I’m there holding your hand. I’m kissing your forehead, honey. I’m there and I’m kissing your forehead and I’m telling you that I love you…” A single tear rolled down his cheek.
“I love you, Daddy, I love you…”
She screamed as the first bomb exploded overhead with a terrible loud crack.
“What’s happening? What’s happening, Daddy! What’s happening!”
“It’s all right, little one.” He knew it would only be seconds now. “I love you, Laura. I’m there with you, baby. I love you. I love you so much…”
“Daddy… it’s raining! I’m getting w— Ohmygod — I—”
Ray Smythe listened to his daughter die on the other end of the line. It was a sound no father should ever have to hear.
There were no more words.
There was a gurgling sound.
A sickening choking noise.
A loud crack as the cell phone hit the pavement.
Through the still-open connection, General Smythe listened to the rapid succession of thump thump thumps as the bomb casings split apart and spilled their deadly vapor through the air. He heard people screaming — loudly at first, and then more quietly, as if the screams were bubbling up through throats full of honey, thick and heavy.
In the background, the rumble from the B-52 slowly receded as it left the target area, banking to the south to recover at Barksdale. The rumble from its eight mighty engines was replaced with a strange clicking noise, a wicked chattering. Incredibly loud. Incredibly evil.
He held the receiver in his hand for what seemed like an eternity.
There was silence in the NMCC. Everyone in the command center knew what had just happened.
A father’s heart had been ripped from his chest.
The sound of the general’s phone being gently placed back in its cradle could be heard from every corner of the room. People stood in shocked and respectful silence for the man who’d led them through so many bad times.
The silence was broken when General Rayburn “Scythe” Smythe, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, decorated combat veteran and proud United States Marine, removed his sidearm, placed the barrel in his mouth, and gently squeezed the trigger.
CHAPTER 45
“Carolyn, I think it’s dead.” Rammes stood just outside the thick Plexiglas containment wall, staring at the crumpled body of the mutated rat. It hadn’t moved for over forty-five minutes, and the biometric sensors were still blank.
“I think we can go ahead and get it out of there. I want to make a thorough examination.” In the back of her mind, however, Carolyn didn’t believe the thing could’ve died so easily. Since the Gemini agent was the foundation for this mutation, the creature should’ve mutated in response to the soman nerve gas. “Only one person goes in there, and they must be armed.”