Larry Bond - Vortex

Daylight had revealed a crater a hundred meters wide and fifty meters deep near what had once been the brigade’s lead battalion. Mounded debris spread far and wide past the rim of the crater itself, creating a scene that looked as though it belonged on the surface of the moon-not on earth.

Blackened vehicles and bits of equipment littered the gray landscape, mixed with the scorched remains of men, brush, and trees. For the most part, the vegetation had burned itself out, but some of it was still smoking, and a pall lay over the desert floor, dimming the harsh sun.

Only about fifty men had been found alive from the first four battalions, mostly extended scouts or pickets. All were hurt-burned or blasted and in shock. The fifth battalion, a Libyan motorized rifle unit, had lost ninety percent of its equipment and three-quarters of

its men. Only the brigade’s supply battalion, strung out fifty kilometers behind, had survived as a unit. Altogether, more than three thousand men were dead, and another thousand or so were badly wounded-emergency-room cases who weren’t expected to live out the week.

Winds from the southeast were pushing the fallout across a dozen small towns and villages scattered over the plateau. Lichtenburg, with its art museum, bird sanctuaries, and farms, would be the largest town to suffer.

It would have to be evacuated. Suarez smiled grimly. How the Afrikaner bastards were going to do that wasn’t his concern, but if they didn’t, many people were going to die slow, nasty deaths from radiation sickness.

Some of the fallout would fall in Bophuthatswana, as well, eventually fanning out into the unpopulated wilderness. Another nuclear bomb for the scientists to study, he thought.

The colonel shook his head. His musings were almost as bad as Vega’s.

He’d stood in the door patiently for several minutes now, waiting to be noticed. This had happened before when the general was working or thinking, and Suarez was sure they could stand like this the rest of the day.

“Comrade. General ..” He spoke softly, as if he were trying to wake

Vega, or avoid startling him.

Vega didn’t even look up.

“Colonel, I am a fool. You told me that South

Africa had nuclear weapons. I’d seen their order of battle. So what made me think they would not use them?”

“You stated that they would be unlikely to use them inside their own borders,” Suarez answered quietly.

“You also thought that the instability and confusion in their government reduced the odds of their successfully employing such weapons. “

“Dry words to cover wishful thinking, Jose6. These people seem willing to do anything to stop us, even if they destroy their own lands in the process. I know that now.”

Vega suddenly stood up. He made a visible effort to master his dismay.

“We confront two related problems, Colonel. First, how do we continue our attack with only two-thirds of our forces? And second, how can we avoid being annihilated by South

Africa’s atomic weapons?”

Suarez looked uncertainly at his commander.

“Perhaps a reinforced air defense network could’ Insufficient Vega shook his head.

“All the SAMs in the world can’t guarantee the destruction of every attacking aircraft. No, Colonel, we must take measures that are more aggressive, more active. “

Suarez knew his face revealed his bewilderment.

“Read this. ” Vega pulled a message form out of the papers in his hand and gave it to him.

The chief of staff read: President Castro shares your anger and outrage.

The South Africans have joined the United States, their bankrupt leader, as the only nations in the world ever to use nuclear weapons against other human beings. Use any means at your disposal, or any means you can obtain, to wipe this regimeftom the face of the earth.

Suarez looked puzzled. Stripped of the rhetoric, Castro’s message just said to fight harder.

“What can we do that we haven’t already done?”

“While you’ve been busy trying to bring order out of this mess, I’ve been talking with our socialist allies.” Vega’s voice turned grim.

“Two cargo aircraft are already in the air, en route to us. One is from Libya, the other from North Korea. By the end of this day, I expect to have enough nerve gas on hand, in 152mm artillery shells and aircraft bombs, to destroy a significant part of the South African Army. From now on, we’re making chemical weapons a part of our arsenal. “

Suarez felt a hundred questions welling up inside him. Like their Soviet counterparts, Cuban troops were trained in the use of chemical weapons-up to a point. But, except for limited bombardments in Angola, they’d rarely used chemicals in combat.

For one thing, chemical weapons sometimes created almost as many problems for an attacker as they did for the defender. There were special protective suits for the assault troops, decontamination procedures, special reconnaissance vehicles

Vega reassured him.

“I know what you are thinking, Josd. Do not worry.

We will be using nonpersistent nerve agents, and every weakness we have in chemical arms is mirrored in the enemy twofold. They have no training and very little equipment. “

Suarez spoke slowly, still troubled despite his commander’s sudden assurance.

“But this will simply escalate the war, Comrade General. Even if these weapons are effective, their use will only enrage the

Afrikaners. They may actually incite further atomic attacks on our forces.”

“I had thought of that, Comrade Colonel.”

Suarez shivered inwardly. He’d never heard Vega’s voice quite so cold and forbidding.

“For that reason, I want every base and higher headquarters moved immediately. We will plant our flags squarely in the middle of South

Africa’s own towns and cities. ” Vega stressed every word.

“I also want you to round up several thousand civilians-white civilians, they don’t care about blacks or other races-for use as shields around every unit headquarters above company level.”

The Cuban general’s face darkened with anger.

“If need be, we will send photographs to this madman Vorster-daring him to bomb our units under those circumstances. If they want to butcher tens of thousands of their own women and children, we will make it easy for them. This war has changed, Colonel. We will match these Afrikaners threat for threat.

Escalation for escalation.”

Suarez shook his head.

“These precautions may protect our men from nuclear attack, sir, unless our enemies are truly insane. But I still have reservations about using chemical weapons. Residues, decontamination, these are all things we are not prepared for. Our own casualties could be high.”

“For once we have had a little luck, Colonel. ” Vega smiled thinly.

“Our

Libyan comrades-in-arms have more experience in this than we do, so their troops will lead the assault.”

Suarez nodded sagely. The Libyans had used poison gas many times during their unsuccessful attempts to conquer Chad. By fights, they should know enough about such weapons to avoid killing themselves.

“Both cargo aircraft also carry technicians and extra protective equipment.” Vega faced his chief of staff squarely.

“Cheer up, Jose6.

These chemicals will help us break the back of South Africa’s remaining defenses. They’ll replace the combat power we lost yesterday. With luck, we’ll destroy the Afrikaner army in its foxholes!”

“Let us hope so, Comrade General.”

Vega stared at him, obviously unsure whether his subordinate’s flat, impassive tone signaled continued doubt or growing confidence. Vega walked over to the map and pointed to it.

“The planes are scheduled to arrive later this afternoon. Ensure that our best people are in the tower. We do not want a landing accident today.” He smiled grimly.