RADM Albert Jethro Chegwidden put down the phone after the call from the Chief of Naval Operations. This was not good. There was word from the President that negotiations with the Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere had broken down. On top of that, the Russians had decided that they were going to side with the Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere and reform the Warsaw Pact. Everything appeared to be going to heck in a handbasket faster than they thought. It was time to notify VADM Nakamura of the bad news.
There were very few things that frightened military men, but the thought of the world destabilizing and then blowing up in a conflagration of which there was no escape petrified the living daylights out of this Navy SEAL.
Dwayne Pride drew the short straw to notify the recruits and civilians just what they were in for. "Ladies and Gentlemen, if I can have your attention. I have to notify you of our situation. Rear Admiral Chegwidden was just notified by the Chief of Naval Operations that the world situation is deteriorating rapidly. It is quite possible that we will be at war very shortly." Pride stopped for a long moment looking over the crowd with a somber face.
"We are tasked with protecting the chain of succession on the off-chance that the President does not survive a first-strike. We are protecting the Secretary of Defense. The former SecDef had an unfortunate vehicle accident and he did not survive. Former Secretary of the Navy Sheffield had now been tasked with the duties of the Secretary of Defense.
The somber faces of those in uniform informed the crowd of civilians and recruits just how serious the situation was. Pride continued, "Our task is to ensure that the line of succession remains intact until it is needed." He didn't have to say that the world situation entailed the necessity of that line of succession now more than ever. This was Continuity of Government and it meant the survival of the nation.
Senator Edward Sheffield, 27th Secretary of Defense, said, "Unfortunately, I have no words that can allay any doubt, fears or worries. We are in a situation where no one has wanted to be, standing at the edge, looking over into the abyss of Armageddon. At a time like this...the only thing that I have to draw strength from is prayer and do we ever need it at this time."
As the direness of the situation dawned in the minds of the people assembled in the bunker, there was silence. Even Jared Frio had nothing to say...his mind was spinning with the enormity of the situation that he found himself in. And there was no room for anything else but a cognizant thought that he had to get his plum together and do what was right. Everyone else was dumbstruck...with fear. But it would be far worse for those on the outside. If the Soviets didn't bring out their second more powerful nuclear weapon. There were two designed, both with an estimated yield of 100MTs. The Tsar Bomba, detonated in 1961 yielded 50MTs mainly because they did not want to test it with the full three-stage hydrogen/uranium core mainly due to the blast radius quite possibly incinerating the drop-aircraft. He certainly didn't want a nuclear weapon to land directly on top of the bunker. If they didn't, he would be safe as well as the rest of the people in the bunker. He was starting to also realize that they all had to rely on each other.
River McIrish felt a pang of fear crawl down her spine as she comprehended just how dangerous a precipice the world was on at the moment. Did they have months, weeks...how long was it before the world burned itself to pieces. All she knew was that she was in training to become a soldier and that would be pretty much one of the few occupations left should the bombs go off and they survived.
Pride continued, "I'm sorry that I have nothing but dire news...the only thing that I can hope for; that everyone can hope for is that those who are in control come to their senses before it is too late.
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