Tobias Weiss.

Chapter 13

                      © 2013 by tore56789 (GOS) All rights reserved.

                                                     Chapter 13

When Captain Harold Torrington learnt that all communication was lost through satellite –right down to the shortwave frequencies, from the radio room?  He immediately ordered for the ship to go into battle ready mode.  This meant one:  Turning on an electronic umbrella, which completely covered the ship.  To hide it from any electronic probing, either launched terrestrial or extra terrestrial.   Also, this same stealth countermeasures, made the ship blend in beautifully to the colour of the ocean around it, to prevent any spy satellite controlled by an enemy, getting an optical fix on its position.  The technology was so engineered, that as light or other weather phenomena changed, the ships appearance would similarly adjust.

Two was: Going by protocol.  They had readied to fire weapons of mass destruction.  Nuclear weapons with warheads so deadly, they made “Little boy,” and “Fat Man,” dropped on Japan, like nothing more than a few hundred pounds of TNT.  Now they waited for instructions to launch the missiles, which could only be given from the President of the United States himself.  (At that time on the SS Minnesota, they had no way of knowing Colossus had already destroyed the threat in space)  Attack aircraft were also at the ready.  But without any idea where to go, they were on temporary stand down.  These were also armed with nuclear warheads.

Following that, he gave those in the ship's radioroom orders to scan all frequencies for a search for life.  Because that’s what it was.  A search for life!  Up to now he only got word the only thing evident in the radio room were dead carriers, which had been alive with voices only some hours before.

His second in command, Charles Fergus, who was normally a chatty individual, now hadn’t spoken for several hours, just stared out the wide window of the ship’s bridge, his face a loss.  Torrington knew what was on his mind.  As a man of thirty two, he had been recently married, and had a beautiful pregnant wife back in New York.  Only some days ago he had told him, a scan she had had at a hospital, had shown it was going to be a boy.  And he had been the happiest man to learn this when he spoke with his wife on their internet link.  Now to Torrington, it was like that joy had never been a part of that man’s life.

From what they could tell at that moment, all communication that would normally follow from satellite, telephone, internet, was knocked out.  But Torrington understood this was normal attack strategy.  You after all blinded your enemy first.  Then you go in to take out his means to retaliate, with less chances of mounting casualties on your side.  It was after all, classic strategy, going by the book of modern warfare 101.

“You know what I hate about our job Harold?  We accept everything far too easily.  Even when we know people are barking mad in higher command, we skunk away from it, and try and convince ourselves, it has nothing to do with us.”

Now for the first time in all those hours he had looked up at him, “Harold, how come something which was supposed to be top secret, was known by so many –through the powers of the internet.  Isn’t that like asking for trouble?  Putting it up in space for anyone to take?”

He gave a lost sort of laugh, “Hell, kids now sort code, almost as early as they can wipe their asses.  You take that.  You probably can hack any encryption the military throws at you by sweet sixteen.  You take that.  And you take rumours then of some great doomsday toy is being tested in space –by these barking mad Generals.  Isn’t that like leaving an opened box of candy on a coffee table, for an unsupervised three year old to guard over?”