Honi looked at Jake. “Brett’s so excited he gets to create a massive solar storm on company time and with our equipment that he can’t stop talking. It may take another two days for him to calm down.”
“We need Dr. Spencer in on this. I need to call him.” He looked up Dr. Spencer’s number on his phone registry and connected. The phone rang and rang. Jake was about to give up when a sleepy old voice answered.
“Dr. Spencer, it’s Jake Hunter. I’m sorry to wake you like this, but we have a national emergency and I need your help. Can you get dressed and into your office quickly?”
Dr. Spencer’s tone sounded more alert. “This is a real emergency? And you need me?”
“Yes, sir, this is a real national emergency. I need you to get into your office right now. A guy named Brett will be calling you from the NSA. Do everything you can to help him, please.”
Dr. Spencer sounded fully awake at this point. “The National Security Agency?”
“Yes, that NSA. Can you do that for me?”
“Yes. Yes, I can,” Dr. Spencer replied. “You need me there right now, I assume?”
Jake glanced at Honi. “Yes. Thank you.”
“And this person who’s going to call me?” Dr. Spencer asked.
“The guy’s name is Brett.”
“Okay, Brett.”
“One more thing?” Jake added. “Which solar satellite is closest to the sun?”
“SOHO,” Dr. Spencer replied.
“Okay. Thank you, Dr. Spencer.” Jake disconnected.
He then called Briggs. “Yes, sir, it’s Hunter. Our targets are going to run in a matter of four and a half hours. We need to be ready to grab them.” He listened. “Yes, sir, I agree. Follow them to the underground shelters and take them down there. Thank you, sir.”
Next, Jake dialed the President. “This is FBI Agent Jake Hunter. I need to speak with the President, right now.” He waited. “It’s Hunter, sir. We need every available law enforcement body we have in plain clothes, on duty and following suspects. You’ll get a list from the NSA in a few minutes, sir. National security is at stake.” He listened. “Yes, sir. Thank you, sir.”
“Word’s going to spread,” Ken said. “The Phoenix Organization’s people inside of our structure are going to know we’re after them.”
“But they’re still going to run as long as they believe the solar storm is on its way,” Jake said. “I don’t see any other way of doing it, do you?”
Ken thought about it for a minute. “It’ll be more convincing if we leak the existence of the solar storm to the radio and TV networks. We don’t have to tell people how big the storm is supposed to be, just that one is on the way, you know — make it look just like the last one, or the one before that. That way nobody will panic.”
“Except the people in the Phoenix Organization. They will believe it’s an Extinction Level Event. They will panic. That’s exactly what we want.”
Stafford had been watching the plan unfold. He made his call. “General Davies, sir, It’s Major Stafford. We’re going to have a lot of people running for underground shelters. We have people watching them, but someone is going to have to go inside those shelters and pull those people out.” He looked at Jake. “Yes, sir, I assume those people will be armed at some point and unwilling to walk out on their own.” He paced back and forth several paces. “Yes, sir, I agree. As soon as an underground shelter is identified, we take it down and take people into custody as they arrive. We can hold them inside the shelters. Thank you, sir.” He disconnected. “Every available military helicopter will be on standby,” Stafford said.
“Aaron,” Jake said. “Can you get us into the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory satellite?”
“SOHO? Sure. Every one of our satellites up there has a back door allowing us unlimited access. Hang on…”
“Where is the SOHO satellite?” Jake asked.
“It is in a gravity neutral orbit between the sun and the earth,” Aaron replied.
“Gravity neutral?”
“It orbits the sun where the pull of the earth and the pull of the sun are equal. It maintains a fixed position in relation to both us and the sun.”
“How far away.”
Aaron typed on the keyboard. “Nine hundred thirty thousand miles.”
“That’s five seconds delay for the transmit time,” Andropov said. “We’re going to have to break into the signal at just the right point.”
“Yeah,” Jake said. “With the last solar storm it took the nuclear detonation about twenty seconds to dissipate, but this one is twelve hundred times larger. The Phoenix Organization will be able to see the detonation visually, won’t they?”
“Yes, I’m afraid so,” Andropov said. “Any properly configured telescope will see the detonation.”
“What about the solar storm?” Jake asked. “Would they be able to see that with a telescope?”
“Yes, that too,” Andropov said. “But a CME is easier to see with the proper filters on the satellites, and SOHO has public access, so anyone can see what the satellite sees on their home computer.”
“Then our insertion point is when the detonation fades and the solar flare starts to form.”
“Assuming a flare forms in the first place,” Andropov replied.
“Yeah, assuming.”
Honi called Brett at the five-minute mark before detonation. “It’s now or never.” She smiled at Jake. “He’s ready,” she whispered. “We sync and switch signals as soon as the nuclear blast fades.” The countdown counter on the computer reached zero and stopped. The screen appeared frozen for a few seconds and then the program closed automatically. “Show time in eight minutes and fifteen seconds.”
“Where is the bomb?” Andropov asked Dr. Franklin.
“Nestled right next to the Reflector. When the bomb detonates, it’s going to destroy the Reflector satellite at the same time.”
“The Phoenix Organization is going to lose communications with the reflector,” Andropov said. “They’ll know something has gone wrong.”
“Maybe not,” Jake said. “With an EMP that large, they may expect to lose communications, at least for a while.”
Andropov nodded. “Time will tell.”
“Two minutes,” Honi said.
“Dr. Franklin, can you switch to the SOHO satellite now?” Jake asked.
“Retargeting. Satellite acquired, control system responding. We’re good to go.”
“One minute,” Honi said.
Aaron brought up the SOHO link on his secure computer. Everyone crowded around the screen.
“Three, two, one,” Honi counted.
The 1.2 megaton detonation created a brilliant white flash and expanded into a huge glowing fireball. With the emptiness of space, there was no visible shockwave, just the rapid growth of the bright glowing ball. Before it dissipated, a solar flare erupted on the surface of the sun.
“Brett, you getting this? Start morphing your graphics.” She watched the giant fireball gradually fade away. “Almost there. How close are the images? Good. Graphics synchronized, switching signals from live satellite images to computer simulation now.” She waited for the five-second delay from the satellite. “What you see now is our computer graphics. How did it look during the transfer?”
“Seamless,” Aaron replied.
“Brett is switching the other satellites to our control now. All of the incoming data should agree.”
“What if the Phoenix Organization uses the server and the communications network to warn its top people that we took their facility?” Ken asked.
“Aaron?” Honi asked. “Can you get into the server and block any notice the Phoenix Organization might try to send out?”
“Depending on which software they’re using, I can.” Aaron connected to the server and typed in some commands. “Yeah, no problem. Same encryption code. I’ve got control of the server.”