Armageddon?? (48 page)

There
was a long pause. The brass shifted uncomfortably in their seats. Dr Kuroneko
pre-empted their next question.

"We
have come up with one possibility. The inner structure of the portal is in a
complex dynamic balance. If we can hit that torus with a blast of directed
electro-magnetic energy, on precisely the right frequencies, it's very likely
that we can overwhelm that balance and disrupt the exotic matter. It will
dissipate and remove the constriction in the flow, thus closing the gate,
Permanently unless somebody opens a new gate in the same place. Unfortunately
the only a few systems in the world that can generate that kind of pulse, and
all of them are huge pieces of apparatus built into research institutions."

That
was that. There was nothing to do but get back to work on the simulation. If
they could understand the resonance better, perhaps a series of smaller pulses,
spread out over time...

"Actually
Dr Kuroneko you may be in luck." The man speaking seemed to be a civilian,
with a curiously flat voice. He reached inside a case and removed several
copies of a file, which he passed out. Dr Kuroneko blinked. They were stamped
'TOP SECRET' and 'CANUKUS EYES ONLY'.

"When
I received your initial report I did a little digging. I remembered hearing
about a crazy idea that a group of Brits at Aldermaston came up with in the mid
80s. NATO was desperate for a way to stop a Soviet tank army steamrolling
Germany without resorting to nukes. A lot of left-field ideas were studied and
this was one of them."

He
flipped the file open to a page showing a full-page schematic.

"As
you can see, the device is conceptually simple. Two inner coils nested inside
an outer one. Capacitors energise the inner coils and an explosive forces them
apart. Tremendous current is generated in the outer coils and channeled into
the Klystron array in the nose. Power output spikes in the terawatt range in
the milliseconds before the device is destroyed. They called it Project
Starglider. Don’t ask me why."

General
Schatten spoke up. "Don't we have something similar? They don't show me
all the air force toys but I've heard the rumors about e-bombs used in early
strikes on Iraq."

"Nothing
on the scale or precision of this device, General. It was designed to burn
through EMP hardening and leave an entire division without communications or
radar. It projects a precisely controlled spectrum in a relatively narrow
burst. Only two problems; the working parts have to be kept filled with liquid
helium and the damn thing weighs nearly 20 tons."

"Ah,
so rather like the very first hydrogen bomb?" Dr Kuroneko was used to
theory, not hardware, and he was struggling for a frame of reference. "It
explodes but is almost completely immobile?"

“It’s
a device, not a bomb, and it initiates, not explodes.” The targeteer spoke
idly. “But you’re right, it was a clumsy device, even for a B-36. We built five
of them in early ’54 designated the TX-16.”

“I
never knew that.” Kuroneko was amazed, he’d always assumed the Ivy Mike device
was a useless technological dead end.

“So
don’t worry about size and bulk, if we need it we can move it. The Brits were
planning to dump it out the back of a C-130, though that idea was marginal at
best.” The targeteer’s voice was still idle and steeped with professional
disinterest.

There
was a long silence as the attendees paged through the file. Eventually General
Moseley's impatience got the better of him. “So, did it work?"

"They
built two quarter-scale prototypes. The first one was a non-superconducting
test article. It was only fired at low power and according to the file, it's
still in storage at the AWE. The second one was a full prototype. Results from
the sole test were mixed. Power output was disappointing, but the amplitude profile
did suggest that ten of the twelve emitter tubes shattered prematurely."

Dr
Kuroneko had been frantically scanning the project history. "Ah, of
course, the fact that the… device …. is destroyed when used would make finding
out what happened rather difficult. Hmm. It looks like the engineers were
convinced they could lick the problem, but the project was defunded in 1993...
I presume because of the end of the Cold War?"

“That’s
not why it was cancelled Doctor.” The idle voice was getting on Kuroneko’s nerves.
“EMP is a grotesquely over-rated weapon. It’s literary achievements far
outweigh its practical applications. There are much simpler ways of taking down
a command system."

There
was another long silence, before Secretary Warner decided that he had all the
information he needed. The details were clearly best left to the specialists.
It was time to ask the key question. “Can you make it work for us?"

All
eyes turned to Dr Kuroneko, who had gone back to devouring the file. For a
moment, he was oblivious to the discussion surrounding him, but then he sensed
the silence and looked up.

"Ah,
well, it looks like..," This is insane, he thought, I'll need a whole new
set of simulations to even start... "Was the result of the British tests
omni-directional or uni-directional?"

The
flat voice answered again. “It was designed to hit everything in a ninety
degree frontal cone, but I'm sure the engineers can refine that.”

"Well
then sir, at first glance the theoretical work looks solid, we can replace the
original coils with high-temperature superconductors to bring down the
mass..." He grimaced briefly at the though of federal agents raiding half
the low temperature physics lab in the nation for the material. "If we can
get it working at design power... couple the simulation to an evolutionary
algorithm to find the optimal frequency spread... then yes sir, I think it will
work."

Buckingham
Palace, London.

“Behind
me you can see the new Regimental Colonel presenting the regimental colors to
the reformed 1 Battalion, The Cameronians, also known as the Scottish Rifles.
Due to defense cuts in the late 1960s the regiment chose disbandment over
amalgamation, although two Territorial Army companies of the regiment survived
as late as the 1990s before the final company was re-badged as part of the
King’s Own Scottish Borderers.

“Today
the only Scottish rifle regiment has rejoined its illustrious fellow regiments
in the Scottish Division. Over the last month we have become rather used to
de-amalgamation parades, but today’s parade is something special as it is a
long time since the army has reformed a disbanded regiment.

“Behind
me you can see the first recruits to join the battalion, in their distinctive
Douglas tartan trews; some are former members of the two Territorial companies,
though most are National Servicemen newly out of basic training.

“The
Regimental Colonel is now taking the salute as the battalion marches off the
parade ground.

“This
is Brian Rix, for Reporting Scotland, in Hamilton. Back to the studio.”

“Your
granddaughter seems to suit her new job very well, Your Majesty.” Prime
Minister Gordon Brown remarked as he watched the television. “Would you like me
to switch the set off, Ma’m?”

“I
can manage thank you, Prime Minister, I’m not in my grave yet.” Elisabeth the
Second, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and of Her
other Realms and Territories Queen, Head of the Commonwealth, Lord of Mann,
Duke of Normandy etc, etc, formerly Defender of the Faith, said lightly as she
got up to turn off the television.

“Anne
is certainly very proud of Zara, though I’m not sure I approve of a rather
junior subaltern being appointed as a Regimental Colonel. I do know that she is
rather disappointed to have been assigned to The King’s Troop when she chose
the Royal Horse Artillery; she wanted to see some action rather than being
assigned to Home Defence.”

“The
Ministry of Defence is rather nervous about assigning members of the Royal
Family to active units. They feel they rather used up their luck with Harry.
Losing a member of the Royal Family in action might hurt the nation’s morale,
Ma’m.” The Prime Minister replied.

“Prime
Minister, today we face the most serious threat that this country, indeed
humanity, has ever faced. Should we lose the war then we will all end up in
Hell, so it will not matter much if one of my family should die during the war.
I also feel that we must bear all of the same risks that every other family in
Britain must run.

“Andrew
has already rejoined the navy; you may have noticed that Charles and my husband
have been drilling with the Home Service Force Company formed from palace
staff, so I do not see why William, Harry and Zara should not get their chance
to see active service in this war.”

Gordon
Brown smiled, this was why he liked Her Majesty, and why, on the whole he got
on very well with her. His first audience with the Queen on becoming Prime
Minister had been far longer than that of his predecessor; Her Majesty liked
all things Scottish and was always keen to talk about Scotland. She also rather
liked Sarah, the Prime Minister’s wife. “I shall pass on your wishes to the
Ministry of Defence, Ma’m. When the Household Cavalry is sent into action
William and Harry will not be held back, and I’m sure that if Zara wishes a
transfer to another regiment of the Royal Horse Artillery it will be looked
upon favorably.”

“Thank
you, Prime Minister. The great advantage of a hereditary monarchy is that there
are plenty of us spare should something happen to someone further up the line
of succession.

“Anyway,
where are my manners, how is your family?”

Chapter
Thirty Five

Palace
of Asmodeus, City of Dis. Hell

“Explain
yourself.” Asmodeus’s voice was unforgiving.

The
subject of his displeasure was cringing on the floor, trying to think of some
good reasons why the situation had ever got to this point. The problem was
that, while Kinathroses could think of some very good reasons indeed, speaking
any of them would get him killed. Instantly.

“Sire,
I was betrayed by my subordinates….”

“That
goes with the territory. This is hell you know.” Asmodeus spoke in an almost
friendly manner, giving Kinathroses some vague hope that he might survive this
session. “Your subordinates are supposed to try and betray you. It is your duty
to detect their treachery and deal with it. If you are so stupid and
incompetent that you cannot do that simple thing, then you are obviously
unfitted to hold the position that you presently occupy. Perhaps the
subordinate who betrayed you might better be suited to your present
responsibilities.”

Kinathroses’s
hopes of survival took an immediate downturn. Even if he survived the interview
with Asmodeus, he would be demoted to the lower ranks and left to serve one of
those who had once served him. And his new lord would promptly have him
assassinated to avoid any attempts to reverse the situation. Better to try a
different approach. “Sire, it is the humans who are at the root of this
trouble.”

“Ahh.
Human magery.” Asmodeus was enjoying himself immensely. “You claim human magic
is so powerful that your armies could not stand against it. Abigor claimed that
you know. It cost him everything.”

May
your talons rot thought Kinathroses. You have no idea what the humans are
capable of. You come here, throwing your weight around without understanding
anything of what has been happening. Well, you can learn the way we are
learning.. “Sire, human magery is much over-rated. Oh, they have some special
tricks that it true but they are of little significance compared with other
factors.”

“What
other factors?” Asmodeus was genuinely intrigued. This was a cut on the
situation he hadn’t expected.

“Sire,
it is not what the humans have to fight with, it is how they fight. Or rather
how they do not fight. They do not seek out our armies to face them in combat.
They hide in the rocks, the mud and the caves. They wait until they have a
demon alone, or perhaps a small group, then they strike from concealment,
killing without warning. Then they fade away again. With all the demons leaving
to join the armies for the invasion of Earth, we have too few under arms down
here to stop them. By the time the message gets back of the attack, the humans
are long gone. Mostly. Sometimes, we send a rescue column out and the column
itself is attacked. And again by the time we react, the humans have gone. We
cannot get messages around quickly enough, there is too much space to cover.

“And
then there are the mage-blasts. Nobody knows where or when the next one will
be. Our demons can be on the walls, marching along a road, or resting in their
outposts when a mage-blast wipes them out. No warning, no challenge to combat,
just a mage blast from out of the mists and darkness. Those that survive are
horribly wounded. That is the factor that we cannot fight Sire. How can we
fight those who will not stand and fight.”

“Trap
them so they have no choice but to fight.” Asmoedeus’s mind turned to the
problems he had just heard. He had ten full legions coming down, 66,666 trained
veteran demons. That would swing the force level problem decisively his way.
The communications problem was one he hadn’t thought of, in his military experience,
mostly limited to the formalized, choreographed skirmishes in Hell, commanding
units had been no problem. The troops had always been in range of his voice or
mind-masking power. It had never occurred to him that wouldn’t be the case
here. But he did have enough troops to overcome that problem.