White Sun War by Mick Ryan

Author:Mick Ryan
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 0000000000000
Published: 2023-05-09T04:39:38+00:00

15

The High Ground

14 June 2028

3rd Space Operations Squadron

United States Space Force

“Whoa, what the hell was that?” exclaimed Hickling.

Before she had even scrolled through the AI analytics in her VR headset, she heard a voice through her headphones.

“EMP detected in northwestern Taiwan.”

EMP. Electromagnetic Pulse. No. Fucking. Way. Hickling’s mind was roiling.

“There is no way they just used an EMP in Taiwan. What are they trying to do? Start a nuclear exchange?” Hickling’s boss. He was almost yelling in her headset.

She took a breath and waited. While she had detected the electromagnetic pulse, Hickling also knew that it would have been detected by the Deltas that focused on earth-monitoring functions. The Americans, as well as the Chinese and Russians, all had satellite constellations designed to detect such events on earth and in its atmosphere.

Captain Marcus was speaking in her ear again.

“OK everyone, listen up. The first order issue is to conduct analysis to ascertain what has generated the pulse. If it was a non-nuclear electromagnetic pulse, it may be a Chinese portable, or missile-mounted, EMP weapon.”

However, Hickling pondered, if it was a nuclear-generated EMP, that would change everything. It would mean that humans had used a nuclear weapon against other humans for the first time since August 1945. The use of the first atomic weapons at Hiroshima and Nagasaki over a four-day period in August 1945 had stunned the world. The destructive power of the new weapons had caused political and military leaders to reflect that warfare would never be the same.

Since then, the variety of nuclear weapons, the multitude of delivery means, and their destructive capacity had only grown exponentially. But if this was an EMP resulting from a nuclear detonation, numerous atmospheric monitoring stations as well as an international network of seismic stations would verify that quickly.

Hickling, now absorbed by analyzing the pulse, chewed her lip. She knew that each day could bring new surprises. But she had not expected this surprising development. The task she had been working on in the VR environment before the EMP event now subsided into the background.

As if reading her mind, Marcus spoke again, his voice coming through her headphones.

“Everything else is now a lower priority in Space Command. Hickling, I need you and your team to understand the nature of this EMP event in northwestern Taiwan. It could fundamentally change our space operations if a nuclear warhead has been used. And we need to protect our satellites that detect these events.”

Surely the Chinese could not have been so stupid to use tactical nuclear weapons in Taiwan? Hickling thought. She knew that their invasion was not going as well as they might have planned. They had lost tens of thousands of troops on the ships sunk in the northern Taiwan Strait alone. And their advance north from their landing beaches was becoming increasingly bogged down. But going nuclear even in these circumstances? It seemed an insane decision to her. It could very easily escalate to something much, much worse.

A whole range of thoughts then flashed through her mind.

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