G Hopf - The End

“Why do you believe that?” Conner asked leaning forward and placing his elbows on the table.

“One reason is that the ship would have to have been large. We did not have any intelligence on any large state-flagged military ships nearby, so this was probably a container cargo ship. It would have had to be large enough to hold the missiles and ordinary enough not to be noticed. We are not sure if both missiles were deployed from the same ship or separately. We have to assume the missile that hit D.C. was fired from somewhere in the Atlantic. This would have reduced the distance and time for the missile to travel, increasing their odds of success. Now, if they both weren’t shot from the same ship, then a likely location for launching the missile that had the EMP would be the Gulf of California.”

“Do we have any idea who did this?”

“No, we do not know for sure.”

“Answer this question with all honesty, with the entire power grid down across the country, when can we get it back up and what can we expect from the loss of the grid?”

“Sir, based upon all estimates, it would take as little as six months to as great as 18 months to get the grid back up. The main problem is that all the power plants are down; we have no means of direct communication to speak with them. We don’t have the assets in country now to bring in supplies to get them back up. Without power and without transportation assets, it’s not just the power grid that is gone but the entire interstate infrastructure that supplies critical food, water, and medical supplies. The general population, specifically those located in major cities across the country, will start to feel the strain from the lack of food and fresh water within days. Local authorities have no means of assisting their local populations because all of their assets are down, too.”

“Okay, so no power for a while. The main issue I’m hearing from you is a lack of food for the general population.”

“Yes, sir.”

“What can we do?”

“Not much right now, sir. What I suggest is we recall all of our military assets from across the globe. Bring them home. They have operational equipment and can assist in resupply to local municipalities.”

“How do you propose that?”

“You asked me to be honest, sir, and, honestly, I don’t know even where to begin.”

Conner sat back in his chair. He was deep in thought. He then propped back up and asked, “General, without power, food, water, and medical supplies, what do you estimate will happen to the general population?”

“Sir, we have done those studies before.” He got up from his chair and approached the screen. He tapped a few buttons and pulled up a timeline. “Before I begin, sir, let me start by saying that right now there is not a lot we can do to assist the general population. Right now they are on their own. What we must focus on is getting the grid back up and maintaining the continuity of government. Once the grid is up, we can start to focus on supplying the general population.”

“I don’t agree with you completely, but I hear what you are suggesting. What I am asking is what are we looking at in terms of casualties?”

Griswald turned around and tapped the screen; a graph came up. “Within the first few minutes of the detonation of the EMP, we estimate that approximately 150,000 people died.”

“What?” Conner said loudly in disbelief.

“Yes, sir. Based upon the detonation time we can estimate that approximately thousands of aircraft were in the sky at that time across the country. Assuming the average passenger load would be 50 people, you get to our estimate pretty easily. The EMP would have knocked out the aircraft’s engines and they would have fallen to the ground.”

“Good God, that many people?”

“Sir, it’s just the beginning. The nuclear bomb that struck Washington D.C. was an approximately 100 kiloton bomb. The epicenter of the explosion was near Kingman Park in the District. Everything within one mile of the explosion was completely destroyed. The Capitol and White House fell just outside of that zone, but a couple of aerial photos, seen here, show those structures are just about leveled.”

Conner sat silent in awe of the photos he was seeing.

“Mr. President, the initial loss of life estimated in Washington due to the nuclear attack is probably in the 100,000 range. We estimate another 100,000 will perish due to radiation exposure, dehydration and starvation,” Griswald paused, allowing the information to settle with Conner, while trying to process it emotionally himself. He then continued, “Mr. President, I need to warn you, the following numbers are staggering. Within the first month, the total loss of life will be about three to five million, within three months about 15 to 20 million. By the six-month mark another 50 million, and, if nothing changes, within a year, 90% of the United States population will be dead.”

“90%! I don’t understand; why so many?” Conner asked, exasperated.

“Mr. President, in the first month with no power and with a lack of a constant flow of adequate food, water, and medical supplies, all of those Americans who are hospitalized or have any sort of special needs will most likely perish. Starvation starts to take its toll around month two and mass starvation will start to hit by month six. This doesn’t take into account the civil unrest that will kill tens of thousands.”

“What can we do? We must do something.”

“Mr. President, there isn’t much we can do for the average American. The best thing we can do is reestablish the continuity of government, and, from there, we can start to get the infrastructure back in place. I recommend we find a vice president for you as well as a cabinet. We can then set up teams to go to the state capitals and make liaison with governors. With the U.S. capital destroyed, we will need to find a new seat of government for us. I recommend a military base that is secure with an underground bunker.”

Conner just sat back in his chair. He folded his arms and concentrated on this overwhelming flow of difficult information. He leaned forward and asked again, “General, do we know who did this? If so, what are your recommendations for a response?”

“Mr. President, we do not know exactly who is responsible for these attacks. We obviously have suspects, but no one has stepped forward to accept responsibility, nor do we have access to any intel that lets us know.”

“Okay, based upon whatever intel we do have, how are our allies doing?

“Sir, it appears that similar attacks were conducted against Europe, the Pacific Rim, and an attack was stopped in Australia.”

“How did the Aussies stop their attack?”

“We do not know, we have received intel from them that they were able to seize a ship that had a nuclear weapon aboard it. We are working with them to see what intel we can gather from their interrogations of those captured.”

“How did the Aussies manage to stop the attack and not us?” Conner was getting a bit indignant.

“All we can assume, sir, is that our resources were stretched thin with all the recent attacks—”

“That’s it! The other attacks were just to bog us down so they could orchestrate this attack.”

“Yes sir, that sounds like exactly what happened,” Griswald answered back.

Griswald continued his briefing for another half an hour. The more information he presented the more helpless Conner felt. He had become the most powerful man in the world but without the power.

“Sir, what would you like us to do?” Griswald asked.

“I need to process everything. I need you to get me a list of possible suspects and I want to speak with the prime minister of Australia as soon as possible. I want you to get all of our military assets back into the United States as soon as possible. I want some of them on the East Coast to assist with recovery efforts,” Conner paused, thought for a minute, then looked back at the Griswald, “Once my wife is onboard, let’s depart.”