Chapter 20

Steve was holding in his assigned LEO (Low Earth Orbit). He had watched the battle play out at sea via satellite. One U.S. destroyer had sunk. The entire Chinese armada had been obliterated. As stated by the Chinese, they retaliated, or tried to with a nuclear launch. None of the missiles the Chinese launched got through. In addition, the US launched and destroyed several of the Chinese missile sites. That message had to have gotten through to them.

The initial attack by the Chinese had exhausted Steve's entire compliment of missiles. He had also destroyed several missiles with the new lasers the military had provided. All in all, it had been a bad day for the Chinese. He understood the desperation they must be feeling. He had calculated that if people were dying of hunger, then it was probably in the hundreds of thousands on a daily basis! The number was staggering.

He had been ordered to maintain position until further notice. Well, he could do that as he had enough food, water and oxygen to last for days. This was a good ship and it performed flawlessly. Steve guessed that Cheyenne wanted to be sure the Chinese were not going to launch again and so kept him on station.

Col. Richard Ellis was a happy man. He was once again doing something that he enjoyed. He was deputy base commander at Ft. Hood Texas under General Bob Cavendish. Strange man. He took a reduction in rank to take on the duties of a base commander. Bob Cavendish was actually a three star general.

Richard was still a little unsettled at the casualness of the man. He had taken to thinking of him as General 'Call me Bob' Cavendish. He grinned. As casual as the general may have seemed, he was a very smart man. He had quickly taken control of the base and gotten it ready for the invasion of soldiers that soon followed.

Where the US had come up with so many qualified pilots was a mystery to Richard. Nevertheless, over half the copters were manned and crewed by qualified people. Supplies were being flown in daily, even trucks started to roll in with a confusing amount of food, fuel, and other supplies needed to run a military base the size of Ft. Hood.

Training was going on constantly. Tanks had to be manned, and maintenance performed. All in all Ft. Hood had come alive and blossomed under the general.

The special project of getting the new white house built for the president was underway and would be completed to a degree that he and his family could move in soon. Strict security was in place around the perimeter of the base. Patriot missile batteries were everywhere. It was doubtful a bird could fly anywhere near the base without it showing up on radar.

Greg Baron was relaxing as best he could from his bed. He was in mild pain, but refused to take the pain killers with the exception of Tylenol®. He complained to his doctors that the other meds made him to woozy to function, and besides the pain was a reminder to himself that he was ALIVE!

After his release from the mobile hospital at the ranch, he returned to his lodge. His daughter and the woman had fussed over him. Although, it had been nice at first, it had soon gotten to the point where he had threatened to shoot his own offspring if she didn't relax and let him be. He chuckled at the memory.

He went back to the reports he had been reading. One report in particular made him frown. Greg was concerned about the current state of the Earth's weather patterns. The meteor strikes had altered it. The report indicated that an Ice Age may be in America's near future. It would make it inadvisable to remain at his lodge in Montana. He paused and with a thoughtful expression looked out his bedroom window.

It was a beautiful day outside. The sky was blue, it was 72 degrees, and everything was growing and green. It was difficult to imagine that winter would come to his home and never go away, yet the report stated that that was a distinct possibility.

Oh, it wouldn't happen right away. Nevertheless, it would be a gradual thing. At First spring would come later and later at the northern latitudes, the temperate season getting shorter and shorter, until finally one year, no melting of the snow, and no spring like weather. It was not a written-in-stone prediction, but a strong possibility.