Chapter One - Part Two
Meg's Return
1607 ZULU
PENTAGON
Washington DC
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After spending at least twenty minutes in the center courtyard broiling my brains under the hot DC summer sun, I decided that I should head back inside. Striding down the hallway, I noted that the hallway seemed particularly empty for an hour before lunch. When I got back to the office, Captain Benton was waiting for me, “Sir, I managed to get a hold of Captain Austin...she’s actually now a Vice-Admiral and works for Weapons R&D, sir.” I must have lost touch of how long she’d been actually in; she’d caught up and surpassed Rabb. “...and also Commander Burrows. He said that he’ll hop the same helo as Captain Rabb was taking. In fact. Captain Rabb was busy on the phone when I called.”
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“Yeah, he gave me a ring to let me know that he was back in port.” I stated, “So...I told him to get over to DC...ASAP. So all three of them should be here.”
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“What about Colonel Mackenzie, sir?” Captain Benton asked me. I knew that she was the Marine Liaison to the Secretary of State. Considering the way that she’d yanked Rabb’s chain for the past eleven years prior to their eventual split, I really wondered if the Colonel was going to make things more difficult if we included her in the group. But then again, Rabb had always had a weakness for Mac and it would be unforgivable to let Mackenzie fry in a nuclear griddle. If they managed to straighten up and actually talk things out, maybe things might run a little smoother.
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“Message her and just give her an order to be in my office in 1400hrs.” As CNO, I had the authority to order her to the office and make sure that she was present and accounted for and to make sure that she would be ready to move out when everyone else was ready.
“Naval Reserves Commanding officer, Admiral Gracen will be our legal officer and presiding judge for the unit... and the unit Command Master Chief has been overseeing the Seabees that have been constructing the bunker. She’s now present on site and will meet us there as will Admiral Gracen.” Kimber informed me. Even though Meg was a Vice-Admiral and Admiral Liandra Gracen outranked her, I still wanted Meg as my XO. Admiral Gracen was known for being tough, but fair and would keep the rest in line, especially Commander Burrows who was known for being a little off-kilter. I needed Admiral Gracen in a Legal Officer’s capacity. And she would have the rank to overrule anyone but myself, with my five-stars being the final say on any decisions.
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Kimber got straight down to work doing what I ordered and I went and worked on some of the Navy work that I had to deal with. Signing Naval policies...and dealing with other commands in a supervisory role which basically meant holding the fleet commanders collective feet to the fire. Making sure that what intelligence was streaming in was looked over and then orders sent to the fleets to make sure that they were aware of the changing situations on the field of battle. Overall, the commanders of the different units had their area of battle, however as the CNO, I had to look at the overall strategic situation. What ramifications would crop up from ordering our units to a certain section of the globe and how we would have to deal with incursions by foreign military powers on certain sectors that we had an interest in. Whereas unit commanders had to deal with the immediate view, we as strategic commanders had to deal with the long-game. How our actions would affect US policies in the immediate and distant futures. And there was always stuff coming in via SIGINT and ELINT. It was headache inducing but I guess that was why they paid me the big bucks as in $17,653/mo of which half of it was eaten up by Uncle Sam’s Income Relocation Specialists.
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In any case, that kept us busy. In fact, it kept us so preoccupied that we lost track of time until I heard a knock on the door. Startled as I looked at my watch, I noticed that it was nearly 1400hrs local. “Enter!” I called out.
First to enter was Rabb. I noted, following proper rank protocol meaning the most senior officer entered a room first followed closely by Commander Philip Burrows.
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“Captain Harmon Rabb Jr, and Commander Philip Burrows, reporting as ordered, sir.”
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“Very well... Captain, Commander. I called you here because something very crucial to our survival is going down.” I paused for a long moment weighing my words carefully – it could go either way...panic could set in or they could react stoically – the latter was what I hoped for. I’ll get into the particulars once the other members of the party show up.”
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“Other members, sir?” Harm asked.
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“Yes, others will be present here as well.” I informed him briefly as I turned to look at Commander Burrows. Just then the door opened and a flag-officer dress blues clad redhead walked in to stand beside Harm.
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“Vice-Admiral Meg Austin reporting as ordered, Fleet Admiral.” If Harm’s eyes opened any wider, they’d pop out of his head and run down the Pentagon hallways screaming bloody murder.
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“Good to see you, Meg.” I said with a grin on my face. We passed each other all the time in the Pentagon hallways when she wasn’t going back and forth to Great Lakes. Rabb would have had his third star if he hadn’t fumbled it when he did a coin toss with Mac for all the marbles back in 2005. But fifteen years later and he was royally screwed. Meg was in a department that had given her the possibility of getting her fourth star while good ol’ Harm was stuck at permanent O-6 status until hell froze over.
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“We meet again, sir...” Meg said playfully to me; she stood at regulation-attention as I grinned at her,. I could see Harm was having to heroically restrain himself from craning his head around to look at his former JAG partner who was now three ranks ahead of him instead of two behind – he was at attention and I was sadistic enough to keep him and Burrows that way. I was amused as I could clearly read in his expression, his thoughts – it didn’t take a rocket scientist. The first two words had to be how the... Yeah, Rabb, she outranks you now. Should have listened to the old adage instead of chasing after Mackenzie’s tail: if the Navy wanted you to have a wife, they would have issued you one with your seabag. And it put Meg completely out of Harm’s league. Admiral could date admirals...but Captains couldn’t date Admirals; not that I’m saying anything could happen between Meg and me. As CNO, I was the top of her chain of command and she answered to me in terms of military protocol so it would be against the UCMJ to date. Yes, the good ol’ Fleet Admiral was who these millenials would meme as forever alone and at this age, I’d be too tough a nut to crack in terms of liking my own independence. And there was going to be limited selection at least in the future with the potentiality of three potential nuclear superpowers lobbing megatonnage at each other.
Let the younger guys play the field and repopulate the planet. I’d heard rumors of this young again potion and that certain things were unmentionable while you were in uniform unless you wanted to be posted out on a Section 8 and locked up in a rubber room buck naked and drooling gibberish while they hopped you up on anti-psychotics. If there was such a thing as magic, it was best left unspoken about at least while you were in government service.
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“We’re waiting for one other person, but frankly...I might as well give you the low-down on what’s going on.” Standing up from my desk, I walked around in front of it past the other three officers standing at attention. “I had a very enlightening conversation with SECNAV and it was brought to light that the Commander-in-Chief is putting Operation Pinnacle into effect immediately.” Meg knew exactly what those words entailed and drew in a sharp breath. Pinnacle was a government drafted plan for Continuity of Government in the case of nuclear war or some other calamity. The way things were going in the Pacific, there was a good chance that there would be missiles raining down inside of two months; maybe even less. The fear in her eyes was palpable. It mirrored how I felt. “We have been told to secure ourselves in a bunker in Sunset Valley, Canada. They’re hoping that because we are in a foreign nation taking refuge, that we will be safe from any attacks. About the only thing that is troublesome is CFB Gnome which is a prime target for missile attack as they have a launch vehicle for the Canadian Space Agency.”
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“This can’t be happening...sir.” Commander Burrows piped up. “This has to be some elaborate hoax perpetrated by government.” He looked alarmed.https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lsY16L6NFoA/X0CKStHyjqI/AAAAAAAAinE/GKi3iAF2cS80ayJM6Lztd7bXKpThjfSpgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Screenshot-129.jpg
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“I wish it was...” I said looking at him, “It isn’t. Commander.” I walked past him and looked taciturnly at the wall. Not facing them, I spoke, “We have been at a state of war for the past five years. Vice-Admiral, Captain, Commander. The pendulum of destruction has been swinging for that long...and it is only a matter of time before it throws us all over the precipice.”
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I turned around and walked back towards them, “We are facing total annihilation in a nuclear furnace.” I stopped by Meg, “I’m going to need you...” Harm’s eyes widened at that melodramatic pause as I looked deep into Meg’s eyes and she stared back at me without flinching. “...as my XO...Vice-Admiral Austin. Your weapons experience will stand us all in good stead.”
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“Yes, sir...” Meg replied, a small grin on her face. “I’ll do the best I can, sir.”
