S Ison - Russian Doomsday

They carefully rolled the rack out on warm sunny days, like today. It was sixty-six out and quite pleasant. It had been a relatively mild winter, so they’d wanted to start as soon as possible. Both were excited, and measured the seedlings each morning.

“Well, this ain’t gettin' it done,” Sayer said, and got up and returned to the oven.

Pike went over to the garden. “What do you think, Joy? Think we can grow some veggies here?”

“I’d say. Between the chicken poo and those worms you planted last year, this soil is rich and should produce a bumper crop of whatever you decide to grow. I was telling Margo she might want to start another set of seeds, extend her growing season and get more out of this summer.”

“I think that’s a great idea. I had planned that I’d staggered the garden by three weeks, but I might as well start another set now. Once we’re finished out here, we’ll go in and start setting up more seeds. That rack is going to be almost impossible to move,” Margo laughed.

“Maybe I should get started on that greenhouse sooner than later,” Pike said, going over to kiss Margo on the cheek. “I’ll swing by the hardware store once we’re finished with the brick oven and pick up another rack. We can put them side by side.” He headed back to Sayer, who was mixing up more mortar.

Alexei Borin stood in front of the mirror, readjusting his tie. He was in a celebratory mood and smiled at his reflection, a smug, self-satisfied smile.

Dina watched his face closely from her vantage point on the bed. “Alexei, darling, you look as the cat does when he’s found a mouse.”

“My dear, I am just that happy.” He came to sit on the side of the bed. She placed her hand on his chest and could feel his heart racing. He looked at his watch; he’d done that several times already tonight. What is going on?

He looked down at her with adoring eyes. She could see the lust still lingering.

She nudged him, giggling. “So, why so happy? You almost glow with it. Tell me, Lexei.” She ran her fingers up his chest and into his hair.

“I have a little celebrating to do, my dear. It will dawn a new day for Russia and the world,” he said importantly.

Dina sat up and he pulled her into his arms and kissed her passionately. “Well, tell me, darling, what are we celebrating?”

His eyes caressed her face, softening. “As we speak, our assets have deployed and are now making their way to the continental United States. In about one hour, seven POSEIDON missiles will be deployed. They are small and fast, my dear, and best of all, they are artificial intelligence. They’ve been programed by Volkov’s best man and are on their way to detonate one mile out from Massachusetts, Maryland, South Carolina, Washington, two off California and one over the skies of Texas. That particular one is a lower yield. It will disrupt their electrical grid and infrastructure. The United States will be no longer. What doesn’t destroy them will slowly kill them,” he crowed in glee.

“My God, what have you done, Alexei? The rest of the world will not stand for it!” Dina cried, pulling back from him.

Borin looked at her face, his head turned this way and that. “What? You do not approve? I thought you were a true patriot. Do you like the American dogs so much?”

“Lexei,” she said, using his pet name once more, “I worry for our country. Will NATO not retaliate?” She made her eyes large and filled them with fear. He watched her face, studied it carefully. She felt his eyes boring into her soul and tried not to flinch.

“What can they do?” he said, getting up. “It will be done, and really, who knows who did it? Even if they guess, we now have the ability to wipe out any nation who stands against us.” She could see he was upset, his mood spoiled by her outburst.

“I must leave, my dear. I must talk to Vladimir. He will be wanting an update.” He headed for the door, then turned to look back at her. “I will see you tomorrow.”

When he was gone, Dina sat where she was, stunned. One hour? How could she get word to her contact? How had they done this without word leaking out? She’d failed. Failed her mission. She had to break protocol and get word to her handler. It was just after 11 pm. Would that be enough time to get word to the U.S.? She had to try. She’d never forgive herself if she didn’t. How fast were those torpedoes? How long after launching would they detonate?

She jumped from the bed and began to dress. She’d have to drive like a maniac to Nikolskaya Street, normally a twenty-minute drive. She hoped that, at the late hour, it would only be ten minutes. She got to the door, keys in hand, and looked around her apartment. She may not come back. Once at the safehouse, they may keep her.

It couldn’t be helped. She needed to tell someone, and fast. She opened the door and her heart went into her throat. Alexei Borin was standing before her, large body blocking the doorway, his face a rictus of rage, his body vibrating with anger.

“Where do you go, Dina my dear?” He said dear with a guttural growl.

“I, I was hungry. I thought I’d go out and grab something.” She forced herself to breathe, her heart hammering in her chest.

Borin’s face nearly went purple. “I don’t think you will go anywhere, my dear. Except with me.” He grabbed her arm and led her to his vehicle.

Six POSEIDON torpedoes screamed their way toward the continental United States, their streamlined bodies – so small that neither satellites nor the extensive SOSUS array could not detect them – cutting through the water with ease as they stealthily followed the topography of the ocean floor. The oceans are vast and the deadly torpedoes smaller than many of fish that inhabit the waters.

The Russian subs had been given orders to run silent and deep, to discharge their payloads and beat a hasty retreat. The underwater detonations would carry the shockwave for an incredible distance, and anything nearby would be destroyed.

The POSEIDON torpedoes were programed to arrive at their destinations and detonate simultaneously. Some therefore swam faster than others to maintain the timeline. That was the brilliance of AI: point and fire and let the robot do the rest. There would be no warning except for the detonation over Texas.

The brilliant part of that plan had been to employ a terminally ill pilot willing to sacrifice himself so that his family would be in rich comfort for the rest of their lives. It was difficult to turn down that kind of assignment and Viktor Duboff had proudly volunteered. The forty-eight-year-old had liver cancer and maybe six months left. His four young children would be well taken care of.

At 6 pm EST and 3 pm PST, six POSEIDON nuclear torpedoes exploded, each one mile off the coastline of the continental United States. The massive explosions sucked in all the surrounding air, depriving living beings along the coastlines of air to breath.

In St. Marys, NC, Beverly and Johnny were standing by their cars. They’d just come to the end of another long day and were shooting the breeze when, all of a sudden, the air was sucked out of their lungs.

Beverly’s eyes bulged with panic and fear. Johnny’s face went a brilliant red, his eyes wide and wild. She had no clue what had happened, but just before she and Johnny were obliterated into dust and molecules, a small part of her brain told her Pike had been right.

The tremendous blast vaporized the water, air and living tissue of everything fifteen miles inland in less than a millisecond. There was matter, then there was nothing. The blast radius grew, onward and upward, destroying everything in its path for thirty-five miles. Buildings exploded into trillions of pieces. Living things were eradicated. Beneath the surface of the water the shoreline was obliterated, rock, soil, and living matter all gone.