Bullets and Beauty

Chapter 8

        We reach our suite and with a goodnight to George, we all file in. Everybody heads to their rooms to shower and get ready for bed, but Annie stops them. "Hey guys, after you get cleaned up come out to the common room. Malina and I need to brief you on something."

They all nod, a bit curiously, before continuing into their rooms. I head to my own room to shower and dress for bed. My mind spinning, I barely even register the hot shower until I'm about halfway through. I stand there for a moment, letting the steaming water soothe my tense muscles. Mentally steeling myself for the heavy conversation that undoubtably waits, I finish my shower. I hurriedly get dressed in comfy purple and white pajamas, before stepping out of my room to my waiting team. All too soon, we are all gathered back in the common room, clean, comfortable, and more than ready to hit the sack as soon as this briefing is over. They look expectantly as Annie, who in turn looks expectantly at me stating simply. "Malina will fill you in."

I sigh and then start. "So. We have a situation, and it appears that our nice relaxing mission is over." I proceed to explain everything Annie and I had found. I tell them about the Russian diplomats who were up to something, the shed full of souped-up speakers, and how George had given us the go ahead to investigate discreetly. I leave out what I know about Emil Kovalev and the plot to kidnap George, focusing on what the speakers might be for. As I finish, I glance around taking in the various reactions. I turn to James and Peter, knowing that they have the most extensive weapons and mechanical knowledge respectively. "Any ideas on the speakers?"

James tilts his head and glances at Peter. "Hey Pete, any reason why somebody would reinforce a pretty standard speaker with steel? I'm thinking maybe some kind of EMP plan, but would that even work?" His expression turns grave. "I mean, do you think these Russians have managed to make a non-nuclear EMP device?"

Peter frowns. "I''m...not sure. There have been people working on a weapon like that for a long time." He turns to us. "Are you sure it was steel that the speakers were reinforced with?"

Annie's brows furrow. "It looked like steel. But I'm not an expert. Why?"

Peter's frown deepens. "I'm gonna need one of those speakers."

I look at him. "That might not be a good idea. That could risk tipping them off. But why Pete? You look like someone just walked over your grave."

Pete looks up, his face betraying his concern. "EMP. Electromagnetic Pulse. An EMP usually occurs after a nuclear detonation. Various nations have been working on non-nuclear EMP weapons for a long time. There was a breakthrough sometime in the 60's." He pulls out his phone and fiddles with it for a moment before turing on the tv and starts screen sharing. He pulls up an article on EMP's and my heart sinks as I read it.

"While testing hydrogen bombs in outer space, hundreds of miles above the planet, American and Soviet scientists discovered that each atomic blast created a pulse of electromagnetic energy similar to conventional radio-made microwaves, but with energy so great that they erased magnetic memories and melted the microscopic junctions in transistors on the Earth below. These were veritable tidal waves of energy, sufficient to cripple sensitive microelectronics but too weak to be seen, heard, or felt by human beings. During one U.S. test, in July 1962, a hydrogen bomb was detonated approximately 650 miles in space, roughly where today's space shuttles orbit. Simultaneously, 2100 miles to the northeast, street lights went dark and burglar alarms began ringing on the Hawaiian islands. The reason was an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) produced by the blast.

Due to this reaction, in 1963 the United States and the Soviet Union signed the Atmospheric Test Ban Treaty to counter the considerable threat posed by EMPs. According to a declassified U.S. military report, the explosion of a bomb about one megaton in size (the exact size remains classified) eight hundred miles over Omaha, Nebraska, would shower the continental United States, southern Canada, and northern Mexico with an EMP capable of disabling virtually every computerized circuit in its path."