Rick Campbell
Treason
Dedication
To loving friends Denise and Jason, our hearts feel for yours. To their daughter Rachel, may each memory calm the storm. To their daughter Whitney, whose heart now beats for two. To Josh — their son, brother, and twin — who was called to return before his story was fully written.
Epigraph
Goodbyes hurt when the story is not finished and the book has been closed forever.
MAIN CHARACTERS
KEVIN HARDISON — chief of staff
DAWN CABRAL — secretary of state
BILL DUNNAVANT — secretary of defense
CHRISTINE O’CONNOR — national security advisor
OKEY WATSON (General) — Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff
BRIAN RETTMAN (Admiral) — Chief of Naval Operations
ANDY WHEELER (General) — Supreme Allied Commander, Europe
BOB ARONSON (Admiral) — Commander, U.S. Strategic Command
DUSTY RHODES (Vice Admiral) — Director, Strategic Systems Programs
MURRAY WILSON (Captain) — Commanding Officer
JOHN McNEIL (Commander) — SEAL Team Commander
JAKE HARRISON (Lieutenant) — SEAL Platoon Officer-in-Charge
JEFF STONE (Special Warfare Operator Senior Chief)
YURI KALININ — president
JOSEF HIPPCHENKO — director of the Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR)
SERGEI ANDROPOV (General) — Chief of the General Staff
ALEXEI VOLODIN (Colonel General) — Commander-in-Chief, Aerospace Forces
VIKTOR GLUKOV (Colonel General) — Commander-in-Chief, Ground Forces
OLEG LIPOVSKY (Admiral) — Commander-in-Chief, Navy
Map
PROLOGUE
It was just past two in the afternoon when the president’s motorcade sped down 17th Street NW toward the White House. In the center of the convoy, the president rode in the back of Cadillac One, a hybrid vehicle built on a truck frame and extensively modified with armored plating and bulletproof windows. As the motorcade approached the President’s Park South, commonly called the Ellipse, Cadillac One screeched to a halt, as did the rest of the motorcade.
The president’s door was yanked open and he was pulled from Cadillac One by his Secret Service detail. They surrounded the president, shepherding him toward the nearest building as the head of the president’s detail explained.
“We’re under attack — ballistic missile!”
Atop several buildings surrounding the White House and Capitol Building, surface-to-air missiles streaked upward. The president followed the white exhaust trails, spotting five reddish-orange objects descending toward the city. He almost froze when he realized what they were.
There had been no warning.
How was that possible?
Neither NORAD nor the Joint Air Defense Operations Center had provided a warning, which should have arrived twenty or more minutes ago.
Through a gap in the Secret Service detail, the president spotted the Navy officer carrying the Presidential Emergency Satchel, sometimes referred to as the nuclear football, containing the nuclear launch authentication codes and attack option matrix, sprinting toward him. But there was neither the time nor the necessary information — who had attacked — for a response.
As the missiles streaked upward, the president knew the probability of destroying the descending warheads was minuscule. Not even the most sophisticated anti-ballistic missiles in the American arsenal could consistently intercept nuclear warheads traveling in the descent phase.
A few seconds before warhead detonation, the president and his security detail had just begun climbing the steps toward the nearest building. They weren’t going to make it. The head of the president’s detail reached the same conclusion. He forced the president to the ground and ordered the agents to cover him with their bodies. As the president was smothered by his detail, one question in his mind stood out from the others.
How could this have happened?
THREE WEEKS EARLIER
1
MOSCOW, RUSSIA
Russian President Yuri Kalinin entered the Kremlin conference room, joining his advisors seated around the table. The six men stood, then returned to their chairs after the president took his position at the head of the table. To the president’s right sat Defense Minister Anton Nechayev and Foreign Minister Andrei Lavrov. On the other side of the table were four military officers: Chief of the General Staff Sergei Andropov, joined by the commanders of the Russian Ground Forces, Aerospace Forces, and Navy.
Kalinin had assembled his senior civilian and military advisors to review the results of their disastrous initiative — Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Lithuania, along with their blackmail attempt to prevent NATO from intervening. Their effort had failed, however. The Americans had soundly defeated the Russian Navy and NATO had begun preparing a counterattack into Lithuania and Ukraine. Russia had withdrawn its troops and peace now prevailed across Europe, but the sting of Russia’s failure remained.
Diplomatic relations had returned to normal and it was time to discuss the way forward. Kalinin turned first to his new minister of defense. “Proceed.”
Nechayev began with his prepared summary. “The Navy has finished its assessment. The water depth where the battle occurred is too deep to raise the sunken ships; they are a complete loss. Fortunately, the battle cruiser Pyotr Velikiy and aircraft carrier Kuznetsov remained afloat after the battle. Both restored propulsion and have arrived at our nearest shipyard. However, they are heavily damaged and it will take at least two years to return them to service.”
Now that the bad news had been delivered, Nechayev shifted gears. “Our submarine fleet remains a viable asset, especially in light of the American losses during their war with China and the additional casualties they suffered at our hands. Although we lost most of our guided missile submarines, we still have thirty-five diesel and nuclear-powered attack submarines, while America has only eighteen fast attack submarines remaining in service. However, the United States raised twenty-seven of the submarines lost during their war with China, and the first of those will begin exiting the shipyards within the year. Our submarine advantage will not last long.
“We are in an even better situation regarding our land and air forces. The army suffered only minor losses in Ukraine, so we are in excellent shape on the ground. In the air, we lost all tactical fighters assigned to the Middle East, but the bulk of our Aerospace Force remains intact. After factoring in our anti-air assets, we can deny any NATO attempt to achieve air superiority.”
With his update complete, Nechayev sat back, letting Kalinin absorb the information.
General Andropov, Kalinin’s senior military advisor, joined the discussion. “Our basic strategy was sound. NATO cannot defeat our land and air forces without the United States. What failed was our strategy to keep the United States from intervening. If we fix that, we will succeed next time.”