The afternoon courier stopped by the office with a memo from headquarters for Mike. Opening the envelope, he read the memo with a frown. The Asian Sections were scheduled to begin moving to Texas in two months. Although he had been the one who had suggested distributing analysts around the country, the reality of it coming to pass bothered him. He had family and friends in the area that he would have to leave behind.
He dropped the memo on his desk and looked around the room at the people who worked for him. Although everyone had known this day was coming, he wondered how they would react to the news. Putting off the delivery of the bad news would not accomplish anything. He turned to his computer and entered the command that would initiate a conference call among all of the offices that he oversaw.
Everyone looked up from their computers when the three beeps announced that a conference call was being established. Usually that was a sign that something significant was happening that would require everyone's immediate attention. Fifteen seconds later, the screens at the front of the room showed all of the locations managed by Mike.
Clearing his throat, Mike said, "First of all, let me tell everyone to relax. This is not an emergency."
There were visible signs of relief as everyone sagged in their seats. He gave everyone a moment to regroup and said, "The reason I called is that I just received news that we'll begin moving to Texas in two months. I know that a lot of people have been concerned about this move and question the need for it. Let me just say that it was initiated at a time when we were clear targets of forces aligned against America. That situation doesn't seem as immanent today as it did then, but there are signs that others would like to harm us."
Shirley said, "Like someone trying to kill you."
"That hasn't been established as a fact, Shirley," Mike said turning to look at her.
All attempts to locate a photograph of the assailant with sufficient detail to enable the face recognition software to recognize him had failed. The search had come to a complete dead end. Frustrated and angry, Cathy said, "Right. It is just a coincidence that another guy by the name of Mike Bowman gets called to a mall to find out about a potential terrorist attack and gets shot."
"This isn't about me and my situation. This is about moving to Texas," Mike said putting a halt to the digression that was about to derail the conference call. He looked back at the monitors at the front of the room and said, "A complete schedule and an information packet describing the economic support for the move will be distributed to everyone by the end of the week."
"What kind of support are we talking about?"
"I'm not sure. I assume that it will be the same kind of package that you received when you first joined up. I imagine it will cover the costs associated with selling your house, packing up, moving, and buying a new house," Mike answered looking at the faces of everyone on the monitors. They didn't look all that pleased by the lack of real information in his answer. He understood their feelings.
"When you find out, could you tell us?"
"As of this minute, you know as much as I do. I suggest that we have another conference call late Friday after the information packets have been distributed. I might not have any answers, but I'll listen to your questions and take them to someone who might be able to answer them," Mike said.
"That's a good idea."
Smiling at the comment, Mike said, "Thanks. I'm glad to know that I occasionally have one of those."
His reply produced the expected round of laughter. Getting a little more serious, he said, "I know this is going to be a major disruption in your lives. It is no less of a disruption in my life. After all, I have to pack up and move to Texas just like everyone else."
His answer reminded them that he was going to share their problems. He said, "I don't want this move to disrupt our ability to operate effectively. Our work is important and a moment of inattention could have long lasting consequences.
"I know that the move will require us to take care of personal matters during business hours when banks, insurance agents, realtors, and others are available. Take care of business when you have to, but don't abuse it. Make sure that someone is in place to cover your specific area of interest when you have to leave."
Mike held out his arms as Karen made her way to him. He picked her up and hugged her when she reached him. He said, "My goodness, you walk real good."
"Unk," Karen said with a giggle.
"You're such a big girl," Mike said as Karen toddled off. She returned half a minute later with her favorite toy and showed it to Mike. It was one of the stuffed animals he had given her. Mike said, "Oh my, that's such a pretty tiger."
Standing off to the side, Cathy and Teva were watching Mike play with Karen. Cathy could feel her biological clock ticking and knew she was looking at the man she hoped would turn off the alarm before it rang. She whispered to Teva, "It's hard to believe how comfortable he is with kids."
"He's a good man," Teva said grinning at Cathy. She understood exactly what the young woman was feeling.
"Yeah," Cathy said feeling a little down. It seemed to her that the relationship with Mike was progressing in slow motion.
Patting Cathy on the arm, Teva said, "Don't worry. He'll ask you to marry him."
Mike looked across the dinner table at his in-laws and said, "I got the news that I'll be moving to Texas in two months."
Vincent didn't think there was anything unusual about having to move around for a job. He'd been stationed in a lot of different places over the course of his career. He did know that it was a little difficult leaving behind one area and moving to a new one. He said, "Although we knew that it was coming, I'm sorry to see the day arrive."
Sally looked at Mike and said, "I hope that you're going to marry Cathy before you move. I'd really like to attend the ceremony."
Mike fidgeted in his seat and said, "I don't know. Things are a little complicated at the moment."
Sally raised an eyebrow and asked, "What is so complicated that you can't marry her?"
"I'd rather not say," Mike answered.
Rather than allowing Mike to duck the issue, Vincent asked, "It wouldn't have something to do with the fellow with your name getting shot, would it?"
Throwing his hands up in the air, Mike admitted defeat. He answered, "Yes. It was just too coincidental for me to believe that they meant to get him and not me."
"I thought so the minute that I read the news article," Vincent said.
"We haven't found the man who attacked him," Mike said, "I'm not making any long term commitments until I know one way or the other. I don't want to leave a grieving widow behind."
"I don't blame you," Vincent said.
Sally rolled her eyes and said, "She isn't going to feel any better if you are killed before you get married than if you are killed after the ceremony."
"I'm not sure of that," Mike said.
Shaking her finger at him, Sally said, "My mother was a war bride. Lots of women marry men who are headed for danger without regretting the decision regardless of the outcome. Marry her."
As if seeking her advice, Mike asked, "Should I ask her first?"
Vincent laughed at the question. Sadly shaking her head, Sally answered, "No. You should club her over the head and drag her off by the hair like the caveman that you are."
"Yes, ma'am," Mike said. Looking over at Vincent, he asked, "Admiral, you wouldn't happen to have a club lying around handy, would you?"
"You can borrow the one I used on Sally," Vincent answered with a chuckle. His comment earned him a swat on the arm from his wife.
The terrorists inside Pakistan launched their attempt to over throw the government of India well before Homeland Security and the Military had predicted they would. The attempt was a huge failure despite the fact that it was early. Homeland Security was not taken by surprise. The group that was monitoring the situation spotted the signs early enough to activate the preplanned response.
When the terrorists inside India went to collect their weapons, the warehouses blew up taking thousands of the terrorists with them. Massive raids led by police and military around the country rounded up hundreds of thousands of men who had planned to participate in the coup.
Although the arrests of people involved in the plot had taken the plotters by surprise, the number of military types involved in the raids convinced the forces inside Pakistan that it was time to invade. It seemed like a very good decision on their part. The order was given for the Pakistan military to move ahead.
Pakistani forces, consisting of over a million men, boiled over the border. They were accompanied by an equal number of Iranian forces. They had gone ten miles into India when they suddenly found that they were facing the American military rather than the Indian forces they had been expecting. It was a total shock as were the events that followed.
The news services had covered the arrival of some military advisors, but not the arrival of a hundred thousand members of the US Army, Marines, and Air Force. Few of the soldiers there even carried guns. The majority of them were technicians with a small force of armed men to provide protection. It had to be admitted that the Americans had brought a pitifully small force for a conventional war, but the Americans weren't there to fight in a conventional manner.
The response to the first bullet fired in the direction of the American forces was overwhelming. The initial clash turned into a rout with more than half of the invaders left dead or wounded on the battlefield in the first five minutes of the engagement. The invading army retreated behind the border expecting the American forces to stop.
The handful of tanks and helicopters of the American forces didn't even slow down at the border. They didn't have to slow down; they had no targets to delay them. Ahead of the tanks and helicopters were tens of thousands of smart bombs called Pigeons that picked their own targets. Although the amount of explosives carried by any single Pigeon was small, the group behavior destroyed any form of resistance. The results were even more spectacular when one of them would explode in a weapons storage area. If the Pigeons couldn't destroy a target, they sent back data for a cruise missile to be sent to the target.
The technicians had launched a massive wave of destruction unparalleled in history. Once it was clear that the invading force had been destroyed, the tanks and helicopters returned to their protective positions without having fired a shot. Their role was to provide protection for the technicians.
When one wave of Pigeons was consumed, another wave was launched. The Americans weren't interested in advancing or holding territory. The soldiers were too busy setting up the next wave of Pigeons. It took almost two hours for ten thousand men to set up thirty thousand Pigeons for launch. The land based rail guns were staffed with another five thousand men who were raining destruction upon Islamabad and Lahore. The remainder of the forces was busy bringing up supplies.
While Pakistan might have been a nuclear power, it wasn't once wave after wave of cruise missiles took out their nuclear capabilities. They had appeared over their targets within twenty minutes of the first shot fired by the Pakistanis. More missiles had been sent than had been necessary. The result was a radioactive wasteland.
The military was following a scorched earth policy implemented using high tech devices that struck without remorse. Rather than targeting bridges, moving automobiles were destroyed. Everything that moved was destroyed. Due to a minor bug in the software, that included herds of cattle and sheep. Buildings were flattened. Hiding places were taken out.
Parked in the Arabian Sea, the American Navy launched thousands of rounds from the rail guns that had been retrofitted onto the battleships, cruisers, and destroyers. Each two and a half kilogram round had the impact power of a cruise missile. Although they flew ballistic trajectories, there were enough of them launched to assure that Karachi and the surrounding area was leveled.
When night fell, the attack didn't slow down. Three separate waves of Pigeons with infrared cameras were released. Anything with a heat signature that differed from the background was targeted. There were lots of targets fleeing to the northwest towards the tribal areas that had resisted attackers throughout history. Very few of them made it. By morning, a five hundred mile wide swath that reached almost across the full width of Pakistan was a smoking ruin.
The American forces were not done. More waves of Pigeons were released to demolish the few structures that had remained standing. There was nothing to be seen by the time the tanks and helicopters arrived to occupy the territory.
There was a pause of a single day while men and supplies were moved closer to the front. Soldiers worked out in the open without fear of being attacked. They knew there was no one alive within range of them to constitute even a minor threat. Even if there were, smart bombs circled the area providing constant and diligent protection. Inflatable buildings rose in a flattened field. Runways appeared almost as if by magic.
When night fell, another wave of Pigeons was launched towards the north. Well ahead of the smart bombs, the smartest and most dangerous of the terrorists flocked to the lawless region of northwest Pakistan. It was from this place that they had regrouped after the fall of the Taliban in Afghanistan. They felt safe and knew that if necessary they could slip across the border and into Afghanistan.
Almost forgotten by everyone except for a few people in the Pentagon and a lot of angry people in Afghanistan, one lone American base remained in the eastern part of Afghanistan. Although it had been attacked many times, it had managed to fend off the attackers. For two years, all supplies had been delivered at night using stealth bombers. What only a handful of people inside the Pentagon knew was that a significant percentage of those supplies had been Pigeons.
Almost fifty thousand Pigeons were launched from the base in Afghanistan and headed east to the lawless tribal lands of Pakistan. The terrorists were caught completely by surprise when destruction approached from two directions. Every hut, hovel, and tent in the area was flattened. Used to the approach of death from the air, the terrorists ran to the caves that had sheltered them in the past.
American forces moved into the tribal lands to set up a temporary base knowing that the mountains hid forces bent on their destruction. Even before they set up their base, they released a new weapon in their arsenal. It was called the spider bomb and had been designed specifically for this situation. Spider bombs were programmed to seek out caves and enter them. If they encountered a heat signature inside a dark area, they would move towards it and then explode. After three days of searching or waiting in a dark place they would explode. This often took out weapons caches.
The Americans paused in their campaign long enough to allow the spider bombs to do their job. Smart bombs flew over Pakistan taking out targets of opportunity. The only islands of safety were the locations in which the Americans had constructed temporary bases.
On the morning of the forth day of battle, the Americans called back the few remaining smart bombs. By that time, the entire country of Pakistan had been devastated. Over half a million smart bombs had been released. More than fifty thousands rounds had been fired by rail guns. More than a thousand cruise missiles had sought out specific targets.
It wasn't until the proxy soldiers moved into what had once been cities that the true magnitude of what had been done was fully realized. It was impossible to tell how many people were buried under the rubble, but estimates suggested that almost a hundred million people had died. There was practically no one who had escaped without a wound.
For the survivors, it felt like there were more Americans in Pakistan that Pakistanis. It didn't matter to them; the survivors armed themselves and fired upon the proxy soldiers. The proxy soldiers fired back and then withdrew. Another wave of smart bombs was released to rain down death and destruction.
On the first day of the attack on India by Pakistan, every intelligence group had been assigned the task of watching a different region around the area of the engagement. Mike's office had been assigned a fifty by two hundred mile strip that ran along the border area between Pakistan and Iran. It was pretty desolate countryside and little of much interest had happened there. By the forth day of the battle, they knew every rock in that entire area.
Bored at watching nothing, Mike decided to tap into one of the feeds from a drone flying over Karachi. After having taken a look at what had been done to Karachi, Mike felt sick to his stomach. Shaking his head, he pointed to the screen and said, "I can't believe it. After all of that, they are still arming themselves and setting up fortifications."
As a result of a message from another surveillance site, Shirley shifted a drone over to the location identified in the message. Spotting something entering her assigned area, she zoomed down on it. She said, "Something is happening here. I've got a couple of missile launchers moving into my area. They're stopping."
"Let missile defense know," Mike said. He watched as a couple of men got out of the cab of the missile launcher and stretched. With an almost exaggerated slowness, the men went around to the back of the launcher. Five minutes passed before they did anything that looked like they preparing for a launch.
"Eight divisions of Iranian troops and three divisions of Iraqi troops are moving into Pakistan. It looks like they are headed for Karachi," Harold said watching his monitor.
"Let Central Command know that the Iranians are coming. I want three dozen drones above the Iranian troops. I want you to provide real-time feeds to our folks," Mike said turning his attention to Harold's screens.
"They are launching missiles," Shirley said. After ten seconds, she blinked and said, "Missile defense has taken them out."
"Good job," Mike said.
Shirley jumped when the missile launchers exploded. When she recovered, she said, "Someone has taken out the launchers. My area is clear of activity."
Mike turned to watch the situation board at the front of the room. Frowning, he said, "The Iranians still have that one rail gun that we haven't located. They may have more of them by now. If I were them, I'd want to be able to control the entire Arabian Sea. The easiest way to do that is to mount it on a ship. Jack, we better make sure that they aren't trying to take out our Navy."
"I'm on it," Jack said as he started typing. A few queries into Iranian systems would allow him to identify where such a ship would be berthed.
Mike turned to Shirley and said, "I want you to center your surveillance area over a fifty mile strip inside the Iranian border. There's no sense watching a lot of empty space. If you see anything moving into Pakistan, follow them."
"Yes sir," Shirley said.
"Harold, I want you to keep your birds over the enemy army," Mike said.
"Yes sir," Harold answered.
The telephone rang and Mike picked it up. He answered, "Mike Bowman here."
"Mike, this is Chip."
"What do you need?" Mike asked switching the phone to his bad hand and grabbing a pencil to make notes.
"This invasion by Pakistan kind of took us by surprise. We didn't expect it for another six months," Chip said.
That was not news to Mike. The first day of the engagement had been a real scramble as folks tried to figure out how to allocate surveillance responsibilities. While the military was monitoring the obvious battlefield, they had called upon Homeland Security to monitor the outlying regions as well as provide political assessments concerning how the neighboring countries were reacting. There were just too many places from which surprises could arise.
Mike had to assign each of his groups to one of four seven hour shifts. There was an overlap of a half hour at end of a shift so that one group could hand off the situation to another. For the rest of the day, two of his offices were at work and the rest were off. It was a grueling schedule. He said, "I know."
"We're going to push back the move to Texas by another three months. We've got to clear up this mess before we can accept the downtime that a move would require. This isn't going to end anytime soon," Chip said.
"Okay, I'll let my people know," Mike said. Watching the front wave of smart bombs reach the Iranian forces, he said, "Things are heating up here. I've got to go."
"Bye," Chip said. He hung up the phone before Mike had a chance to reply.
After watching the screen for a few minutes, Mike typed up a message that the move to Texas had been delayed by three months. He sent it out and returned his attention to the screen. Things were not going well for the Iranian forces. There was no one there for them to engage.
Jack said, "I've found a fleet of ships heading out to sea."
"Let the Navy know," Mike said pretty confident that the Navy probably already knew that fact.
"Iranian fighters have just flown into my area," Shirley said.
Mike picked up the phone and called Central Command. When his call was answered, he said, "This is Mike Bowman from Homeland Security. We're monitoring the situation along the Iranian Border. It looks like the Iranian Air Force and Navy have entered the battle."
"Thanks, Mike."
"Colonel?" Mike asked thinking he recognized the voice.
"If you won't call me Dad, then you'll have to start calling me General. At least you will if you want to address me by my proper rank," Robert answered with a chuckle.
"Congratulations, General."
"Thanks. I'll have to talk to you later. With the news you gave me, it looks like things are going to be a little busy here," Robert said.
"Bye," Mike said just before hanging up the phone. He picked up the phone and dialed another number. Within seconds it had been answered. Mike said, "Chip, this is Mike Bowman. Iran has entered the battle. We need to expand the scope of our surveillance to include more of Iran, Iraq, and possibly Oman."
"Thanks Mike. I'll get right on it," Chip said. They already had Iran and much of Iraq under surveillance. He wondered why Mike had brought up Oman. He asked, "Why Oman?"
"They are in a position to attack our Navy," Mike said.
"You're right. I'll get right on that," Chip said glancing over at the map in his office. He hung up before Mike had a chance to say a word.
Tired, Mike and Cathy entered the house an hour earlier than normal. The seven hour shift was shorter than the normal nine hours that Mike usually worked, but the pressure was a lot higher. For the fourth straight evening, Kim had a pair of massage tables set up in the living room. Without saying a word, the pair undressed and climbed on the massage tables. Kim did her magic on the two of them without a saying a single word to either of them. It pleased her that they were allowing her to serve in a manner that she understood best.
Normally, Kim finished with Cathy first and then Mike while Cathy watched. That evening she reversed the order. Mike watched as Kim gave Cathy a happy ending surprised at how quickly and easily the woman was able to bring Cathy to an orgasm. It left him quiet and thoughtful.
The pair retired to the pond and relaxed while Kim prepared dinner. It was a quiet time when neither talked much. Mike was lost in his thoughts about what he had observed that day. Cathy was wondering where their relationship was going.
As dinner wound down and they sipped coffees, Mike said, "I had planned to take you to the Two Quail this evening, but events kind of got away from me."
"The Two Quail?" Cathy asked recalling the wonderful restaurant and the delightful first date with Mike.
"Yes. I thought it would be the proper place to propose to you," Mike said.
Heart beating fast, Cathy echoed the one word that had really caught her attention, "Propose?"
Mike answered, "Yes. I wanted to ask you to be my wife in the place where we had our first date. I know this isn't as romantic or anything, but I can't keep waiting for the time to be perfect. Will you marry me?"
"Yes," Cathy said feeling that romance was quite possibly overrated. She moved over to him and kissed him passionately.
Convinced that if they could get past the Pigeons that they would be able to attack the Americans launching them, the Iranians had returned to a battle tactic they had used against Iraq during the Iran-Iraq War. They were marching women and children through the battlefield to clear out the threat that was in place to prevent their troops from attacking. During the Iran-Iraq War it had been mines; in this engagement they were trying to eliminate the Pigeons. Disgusted by watching women and children carrying guns and getting killed, Mike watched the screen with the news channel which was talking about the political situation at home rather than the action on the battlefield.
There had been talk of impeachment as a result of the policy of total warfare that the President had followed. While many people had glibly suggested that the United States should just nuke them, the American people were shocked by the death and destruction that had been reported. The fact that women and children were dying struck at the very soul of America. Many of the European leaders were even talking of prosecuting President Archer for war crimes. China, India, and Belgium were rather noticeable for their lack of comments on the matter.
The talk of charging President Archer with war crimes had reversed the American talk of impeachment. It seemed to the American people that if Europe was objecting to his actions, that he must be doing something right. After all, Europe had objected to him eliminating the terrorists at home.
Mike understood why people were horrified by events in Pakistan. He was horrified by them, but he didn't see another way to prosecute the war with any chance of winning. It was impossible to tell combatant from non-combatant. The smiling thirteen year old kid that accepted candy from you would turn around and dial the cell phone number that blew you up five minutes later. He knew that for a fact. He had seen it happen. He had had it happen to men under his command.
Angry at what he was seeing, he stood and said, "Fuck those people who force us to act like this."
Surprised, everyone watched Mike leave the office. He got into his car and drove around for a while before he found a little park. He climbed out of his car and sat on a park bench watching the children playing in the grass with their mothers. That was what he was fighting to preserve  mothers taking their children to the park where they could play without fearing for their lives.
To no one in particular, he said, "I hate the fact that I can find
no way to deal honorably with dishonorable people. I find it disgusting
that in order to save what I value most that I must lower myself to
their level."