Chapter 11

Scott had to sit down, his legs had turned rubbery his head was spinning. Almost one and a half billion souls wiped out in minutes. What kind of devils were the iLOX? He had been thinking about how to punish the Chinese for their attack on the Russians, but this was beyond punishment. A whole nation killed and for what? He still had no idea what the iLOX objectives were. Whatever they were, it was clear that the Chinese had outlived their usefulness.

The magnitude of what the iLOX had just perpetrated against the Earth was staggering and Scott realised what he was feeling now must have been what the late President had felt like when he had taken his own life. He had somehow failed the planet. This disaster had happened on his watch. He tried to pull himself together, this would not do. Gabrain would certainly be giving him a hard time now if he was here. There were things to do, he had assumed leadership and now he had to show some, now more than ever.

He reviewed what he knew, what the threats were and what assets he had to deal with them. Of probably the greatest concern was the chemical agent the iLOX had used. To have killed so many people so quickly it had to be extremely toxic. It had somehow managed to penetrate below ground too and had done so very quickly. He wondered why the iLOX had not simply flown round the planet spraying the stuff? If they had done that, they could have killed off the entire population without having to go anywhere near the surface.

This last thought seemed important. Perhaps the chemical agent had an optimum height from which it needed to be dropped before it had effect? Maybe the higher levels of the atmosphere somehow affected it - there could be something there that helped safeguard against it. Scott made a mental note to have his scientists begin to explore that.

He looked round the Operations Room and could see that they were all looking at him, waiting for some kind of direction. The news about China had stunned all of them too and they were clearly finding it difficult to function on a normal level. Even David and Crinan knew something catastrophic had happened, the behaviour of the adults made that clear.

Scott rose to his feet and visibly straightened his shoulders.

"Admiral, take steps to isolate China. No transport into or out of that country, seal the borders. What strategic weapons do we have at our disposal? The iLOX may have made a mistake here. I would certainly not have considered using nuclear or neutron warheads because of the risk to the civilian population, but they've removed that risk, in the harshest possible way," Scott said.

The Admiral looked at Scott for a few seconds, as if trying to process what Scott had said. At last the words must have percolated through and it was as if a light had gone on in the Admiral's head.

"I'm sorry, your Grace. We have a limited arsenal of missiles that are big enough to strike China. There are twenty silos in the American desert, each of them holding ten missiles. Either nuclear or neutron warheads can be fitted to them," the Admiral replied.

"We have all witnessed what the iLOX chemical agent can do and their lack of hesitation in using it. I believe we need to wipe them out before they decide to unleash the same stuff against the rest of the planet. Admiral, I want the missiles released for use."

"I agree, your Grace. There is one slight problem however. The President was one of those authorised to play a part in the release exercise, but you're not. It needs a ranking politician and a ranking military officer to go through the release," the Admiral said.

"AI, get me Prime Minister Schein on the videolink, maximum security on this call please," ordered Scott.

A few minutes later Prime Minister Schein's face appeared on one of the screens.

"Madam Prime Minister I'm about to play back to you what has just transpired over our skies and in space over the last hour. I would be obliged if you would watch and then ask any questions you might have at the end," Scott explained.

The Prime Minister nodded to show that she understood and Scott signalled to the AI to replay the events that they had just lived through. Her face betrayed all of the emotions she was going through as she bore witness to the battles in space, the loss of the Broadswords and then finally the death of the Chinese.

When the tape stopped running she hung her head, her shoulders slumped. After a few minutes her head came up and she looked into the screen at her end of the transmission.

"They'll go for the Russians next and then begin to sweep across Europe. I'm assuming you've contacted me to authorise the release of our missiles?" she asked.

"Prime Minister, I suggest a slightly different course of action. Your authorisation can add my name to the list of those who can release the strategic assets. This is my responsibility, it's not something you need to take on your shoulders," Scott suggested.

He could see she was relieved at this, the burden of responsibility, an awesome responsibility, being taken away from her. She turned sideways-on to the screen and spoke.

"Computer, I, Marlene Schein, Prime Minister of Europe invoke code sequence golf, lima, omega, bravo, alpha, lima. Confirm by voice print and retinal scan please."

In the Operations Room, a previously darkened video screen came to life and the emblem of the United States was displayed. Scott looked at the blue and white Saltire cross of St Andrew with its yellow lion rampant at the centre and wondered if the circle of seven golden stars around the edge would need to be reduced by one.

Admiral MacCulloch repeated the same procedure the Prime Minister had and Scott watched him lean forward to allow his eye to be scanned by a reader on his control panel.

The screen with the emblem changed to display the words 'Authority Confirmed'.

"Computer add Scott mac Fergus, Ard Righ nan Albannach to the list of authorised personnel," said MacCulloch.

"A voice print and retinal scan will be required," the computer announced.

"I, Scott mac Fergus, confirm my assent to be added to the list of authorised personnel," Scott said out loud and then he too allowed his eye to be scanned.

The screen changed once more and a single word appeared 'Confirmed'.

"Madam Prime Minister, thank you for doing this for us. We will leave you now, as there are things we need to set in train. Once again, my thanks."

"It's me who should be thanking you, your Grace. I do not envy you the task that's in front of you and can only wish you and the Earth good luck. Now, I need to see to our contribution to all this. We have ramped up manufacturing and your good General there has sent us seasoned troops to begin training our men and women. I pray that the iLOX give us some time to improve our readiness before they move against us. How does the saying go, your Grace? Alba gu Brath? We will need to be I fear," she finished.

With a final nod the Prime Minister ended the transmission. Scott turned to the Admiral and to General MacKelvie.

"Gentlemen, I see no other options to deal with the threat we face. Do you agree?" Scott asked.

The two men nodded their agreement and Scott and the Admiral immediately began to go through the release sequence for the missiles. Once they had completed the release the AI informed them that it would take the silos fifteen to twenty minutes to prepare the missiles for launch.

As they waited, the door to the Operations Room opened and Helfe walked in. She was still dressed in camouflage fatigues and her face was streaked with cam cream.

"Now there's a sight for sore eyes," Scott exclaimed as he rushed to hug her. "You've never looked as good as you do now my love. I feared you had been caught by the Chinese missile strike."

"We were warned, my Lord. All of the Special Forces troops made it out before the strike."

"Your Grace, the missiles are ready to launch," the AI informed them.

"Admiral?" Scott raised his eyebrow.

The Admiral nodded once more and quickly ran through the authorisation codes to fire the missiles. Their ships in space had precisely pinpointed where the iLOX were and that information was relayed to the missile silos.

"AI, launch missiles," Scott said.

"Missiles launching now, your Grace."

"My Lord, what are you doing? What about the civilians?" Helfe screamed.

"There are no civilians, my love," Scott said sadly as he watched the missiles light up the tactical display board.

Helfe looked confused until Lachlan stepped up to her side and whispered to her what had happened with the iLOX chemicals. Her face turned pale and she turned to throw up into a nearby bin.

"One hour and three minutes until the first missile strikes, your Grace," the AI informed him.

Scott busied himself by checking-up on production and the training of men and fighting droids around the globe. He also passed on his ideas about the chemical agent and how they might be able to defend against its further use by the iLOX.

"Your Grace, Tsar Nickolas is trying to contact you on the videolink," William informed him.

"Very well, AI put the Tsar through please."

The Russian monarch appeared on the video screen moments later.

"Good afternoon, Scott, my friend. It seems my country might well be about to face another attack from the Chinese and the iLOX. I am aware that you averted disaster by overriding the missiles the treacherous Orientals fired at us. The foolish politicians who ignored your request to remove our troops from the border have resigned their offices. I have taken control here. What can you tell me?"

"Well met, Nickolas. I can tell you that you need have no fear of the Chinese attacking you. The iLOX slaughtered every single one of them barely forty minutes ago. They used a chemical strike and killed every man, woman and child within in minutes."

"My god! Barbarians! What chemicals did they use? Are we next?"

"Nickolas, we don't know what the chemical is, but we do know it's very effective. I'm not sure whether they have more of it with them on the surface and I've got our scientists working on a defence against it. I'm not willing to take any chances however; I've launched our missiles at China. The first strike should be hitting the iLOX within the next twenty minutes or so. What other reserves does Mother Russia have up her sleeve?" Scott asked.

"The fools threw just about everything we had at the border, Scott. I have increased training and have set in train a programme to arm all of the civilian population. I can only pray that your missiles are effective however, because we are ill prepared. Should I be concerned about fall-out?" the Tsar asked.