The Sum of All Fears.pdf - Delta Force

are ways to beat it, especially if you use a single aircraft. In any case, Mr
President, there are some things we need to do at once. Can we talk about that
for a moment?'
'Yes.'
'Sir, on my own command authority as acting-CINC-NORAD, I have placed my command
on DEFCON-ONE alert. As you know, NORAD has that authority, and also
nuclear-release authority for defensive purposes only.'
'You will not release any nuclear weapons without my authorization,' Fowler said
forcefully.
'Sir, the only nukes we have in our inventory are in storage,' Borstein said.
His voice was admirably mechanical, the other uniformed people thought. 'I
propose that we next initiate a conference call with CINC-SAC.'
'Do it,' Fowler ordered. It happened instantly.
'Mr President, this is CINC-SAC,' General Peter Fremont, USAF announced. His
voice was all business.
'What the hell is going on?'
'Sir, we do not know that, but there are some things we should do immediately.'
'Go on.'
'Sir, I recommend that we immediately place all of our strategic forces on a
higher alert level. I recommend DEFCON-TWO. If we are dealing with a nuclear
attack, we should posture our forces to maximum readiness. That will enable us
to respond to an attack with the greatest possible effect. It could also have
the effect of deterring whoever got this thing underway, in the event that he
might have – or we could give him – second thoughts.'
'If I can add to that, sir, we should also increase our readiness across the
board. If for no other reason, the availability of military units to provide
assistance and to reduce possible civilian panic might be very useful. I
recommend DEFCON-THREE for conventional forces.'
'Better to do that selectively, Robert,' Liz Elliot said.
'I heard that – who is it?' Borstein asked.
'This is the National Security Advisor,' Liz said, a touch too loudly. She was
as pale as her white silk blouse. Fowler was still under control. Elliot was
struggling to do the same.
'We have not met, Dr Elliot. Unfortunately, our command-and-control systems do
not allow us to do that selectively – at least not very fast. By sending out the
alert now, however, we can activate all the units we need, then select the units
we need to do things while they come on line. That will save us at least an
hour. That is my recommendation.'
'I concur in that,' General Fremont added at once.
'Very well, do it,' Fowler said. It sounded reasonable enough.
The communications were handled through separate channels. CINC-SAC handled the
strategic forces. The first Emergency Action Message used the same robotic voice
that had already scrambled the alerted SAC wings. While the SAC bomber bases
already knew that they were being alerted, the DEFCON-TWO notice made it
official and far more ominous. Fiber-optic land-lines carried a similar notice
to the Navy's Extremely Low Frequency radio system located in Michigan's Upper
Peninsula region. This signal had to be sent out by mechanical Morse. The nature