A Northern Thunder by Andy Harp

Author:Andy Harp
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Bancroft Press

Chapter 24

“It’s quiet in both the Pacific and the Atlantic.”

“How about China? Any planned launches today?”

“No, quiet there as well.”

The Missile Warning Center was good duty. A small computer room buried deep within Cheyenne Mountain’s Operation Center, the MWC was where sensors, satellites, radars, and surveillance equipment fed all their information from around the globe.If something big happens, I’ll be the first to know, thought Air Force Sergeant Billy Algrade. I’ll get to tell the president the shit has hit the fan.The Saturday morning shift at MWC had become rather tame and comfortable for Billy, the senior non-commissioned officer of Bravo Crew CD. He enjoyed “being at this point of the spear,” as his commanding officer often put it.It’s my chance to catch up, Billy thought. All the generals are out playing golf. If it gets too boring, I’ve even brought in a second pair of shoes to spit-shine.Billy often wondered how the background check for his top-secret clearance had missed his wild, younger days in Philadelphia. But he was a dedicated military man now who took great pride in his professionalism.

“Johnson, run off that old stale shit,” Billy commanded his junior airman. Johnson and the crew always expected Billy to start each shift by giving them a certain amount of grief and ordering a new pot of coffee. Then Billy pulled out and placed two pictures on his desk—one of his wife of twenty years, Gladys, and the second of his teenage son, Billy, Jr. His son’s picture was bigger than his wife’s. Everyone knew of Billy, Jr. At fifteen, he already had the scouts running radar on his fastball. The photograph showed the broad smile of a strong young man in baseball uniform.I wish he could stay long enough under one decent coach, Billy thought as he straightened up the picture frames. Military life exacted a heavy toll on its children. Few had the luxury of going from beginning to end at the same high school. Most saw old friendships forever broken off and new ones starting. Billy had always paid attention when his son answered the question everyone was always asking: “Where are you from?”

“My father’s in the Air Force and we move around a lot,” was the way Billy, Jr. usually answered. Billy’s son had had a slew of baseball coaches as they moved from military base to base, but despite the frequent moves, he was jelling as an athlete. It had even gotten to the point where, shortly after the last move, Billy received a call from a high school baseball coach in Colorado saying he had heard of the young pitcher and was looking forward to his arrival. It gave Billy a rush that his son was the talk of the military family.

“Johnson, what the hell’s taking you so long?”

At that same instant, the alarm began on the main computer—whomp, whomp, whomp—and in a split second was repeated on the second, third, and fourth monitors. Dominoes seemed to fall as each computer sounded the same distress call.

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