Pantheocide Read online

  “That’s going to cause problems, a lot of people were depending in that bird. The Brits wanted the VSTOL version for their carriers. Can’t operate without them unless they redesign the ships.”

  “Another non-problem. Got a message from MoD in London this morning. Both carriers have been cancelled. Take too long to build they say and absorb too many resources. Like everybody else, they want kit that can be turned out quickly and Navies are in third place on the priority list. Anyway, that’s all for another time. Back to those angels. Any news on what they were trying to do?”

  “Not yet Sir. One thing that might be significant. There was an emergency call from Benning to Detrick this morning, an anomalous infection has turned up. One of the sensitives, a Private Chestnut.”

  “Private?” Warner looked up, the active sensitives were all high-ranking and had privileges the rest of the population could only dream of. To find one as a private suggested that something odd was going on.

  “Bit of a sad sack Sir. Just coasts along doing the bare minimum to stay out of trouble, always complaining. Can’t see he brings down all the crap on his own head. He literally can’t be trusted with anything more than a private’s rank. Frankly, there’s been talk of retiring him, he’s more trouble than he’s worth. He’s the one who wanted a million a year back in the early days.”

  “So how did Detrick get involved?”

  “Sir, Sergeant who spotted the case in a recalled Operation Desert Storm veteran. He thinks the disease might be inhalation anthrax. And that’s 90 plus percent lethal.”

  Warner looked up sharply. “This is not good.”

  Chapter Seven

  MoD Main Building, Whitehall, London.

  “Well, gentlemen the Prime Minister wants to know how it happened.” Admiral Lord West said as he looked out of the window at the teeming rain battering London. The weather forecast had been for bright sunshine. So the Met Office had gotten it wrong, again, hardly new experience for someone in Britain. This time though, he expected the Met Office had received some supernatural assistance in getting its forecasts wrong.

  “The Preston tornado, Minister?” The Permanent Secretary wondered. “Well it was rather more powerful than we would normally expect for this country and the damage to BAE Preston and Warton aerodrome was quite extensive. The Met Office is still looking into…”

  “Not the Preston tornado, we have a good idea what caused it.” West replied. “Something much more important than that, the Prime Minister would like to know how the French got command of an army group while we have ended up as, well, an appendage of the American army group. “We now have a large army, experienced commanders and staff, and a lot of combat experience. Arguably more than the French, certainly. So how did this happen?”

  “We may have a large army, Minister by our standards.” Field Marshal Dannattt, the Chief of the General Staff, replied. ” But its still small in comparison with the whole Human Expeditionary Army. Even then, we don’t have enough equipment, uniforms, or weapons to equip even half of them, and we are only just keeping up with the requirements of our troops in Hell as it is.”

  “Indeed, our defence factories are working flat out and yet are only just meeting requirements.” Air Chief Marshal Stirrup commented. “It will be a while before we can put many more troops in the field than we have now; most of our National Servicemen are still at home waiting to be told to report to training centers.

  “If we were overstretched before in Iraq and Afghanistan then we’ve gone beyond overstretch.”

  Admiral West looked back at the defence chiefs. “It still doesn’t answer the question. We’ve spent the last quarter century commanding NATO ground forces; first the Northern Army Group then the Allied Rapid Reaction Corps; and we’re not getting to use that experience. The Cabinet is not pleased.”

  “With respect, Minister, the Cabinet should look beyond appearances and examine what the situation really is on the ground.” Dannatt pulled a file from his briefcase and opened it up. “If we look at the Human Expeditionary Army, it is very much a work-in-progress. It’s important to remember that armored units, tank and mechanized infantry, are to be considered front-line in this war. Everybody keeps the leg infantry at home for self-defense. Second Army Group (Russian) is complete although many of its units are below strength. No surprises there, the Russians always had a big army and its fully mechanized. Third Army Group (Chinese) is at roughly half strength with 65 divisions out of its planned 125. The Chinese have attached extra leg infantry divisions to their armored units to make up the numbers but we all know that in this war, its armor that counts. In both Russia and China’s case, they have huge stocks of war material in storage. The Russians are pulling it out fast and they have come up with some interesting examples I can tell you. Did you know one of their divisions is getting a mix of T-34s and KV-1s?

  “That brings us to First Army Group (U.S.). The Americans are cloning divisions as fast as they can equip them – and diluting their force very quickly in the process. Each of their new divisions has a cadre of veterans but that’s about it, the rest of the formations consists of raw recruits, including an increasing number of conscripts. In the year since the war started, they’ve doubled the number of divisions they have available and then doubled it again. They now have 64 divisions in their Army Group. Again, they were able to do that because they had the reserves of equipment stockpiled. To that number, we’re adding five British divisions, two Australian, three Canadian and one Commonwealth division, 11 divisions bringing the total to 75. In other words, of the five armies planned for First Army Group, three actually exist. One of those is half-Commonwealth. However, there’s more to it than that. Those American divisions are big, they’re about twice the size of the Russian and Chinese units. There are reasons for that including structural requirements but the numbers remain.

  “Those three Army Groups are the backbone of the Human Expeditionary Army. They are the important ones, the ones that actually matter. Now, the organization of those Army Groups was done to ease command and control. That was the critical constraint and its what put us in First Army Group. The Big Three can be defined by language, First is Anglophone, Second is Russophone, Third is Sinophone.

  “Now we look at Fourth Army Group (Eastern). India dominates it of course, they’ve thrown 20 armored divisions into the pot. Bangladesh has added one, a creditable effort for them if I might say so, Pakistan added five, Sri Lanka one, Indonesia one, Japan nine, South Korea five. The Koreans would like to add more but with North Korea sitting on the fence, they have their own defense to think about. Malaysia’s sent one, the Philippines one, Singapore three and Thailand five. Vietnam rounds off the pot with six divisions. Add that up and we can see they have 58 divisions and that’s going to be about it. Those countries are straining hard to support what they have, any further force increments in the near future are really unlikely. Then they have the Middle Eastern component, that’s got Algeria with one division, Egypt with five, Iran with four, Iraq with one, Israel with nine, Jordan with two, Kuwait one, Morocco one, Saudi Arabia with one and Syria with seven. Another 32 divisions that have even less in common with the rest of the group. The Israelies don’t even listen to the Indians, they just wander off and do what they want. Total, 90 divisions and again, that’s more or less it. The big contribution from the Middle East has been the stockpiles of equipment. We got more than 2,000 tanks from Libya and they only have a 25,000 man Army. They may pull some additional forces in from Africa and so on but they won’t make much difference. They have no common language, no integrated command systems no commonality in logistics. They have no common doctrine but at least India has experience of commanding forces of this size in the field.

  “That brings us to Fifth Army Group (Europe). We have much the same situation here. Certainly the French politicked their way into command and they put three armored divisions into the field. The Germans added five, the Czechs one, the Danes one and that took a heroic effort
from them, Greece four, Italy five, Netherlands one, Norway one, Poland four, Romania one, Spain four, Turkey ten. Sweden’s added two divisions, Switzerland one, the Ukraine three. Added up that makes 46 divisions, again with no common language, logistics or operational doctrine. They are mobilizing their reserves but they don’t have the huge stockpiles of equipment that the Americans, Russians, Chinese and Middle East have. So, they’re mobilization work is producing mostly leg infantry for guarding the home front.

  “In short, Fourth Army Group is marginally useful and Fifth is a shambles. It is reasonably obvious to us that General Petraeus knows this as well as we do. He knows that Fifth composes troops that, in most cases, are very good on the small unit level, up to brigade or division level, but they have no real capability of operating beyond that. If push comes to shove, he’ll break Fifth up and use the units as spot reinforcements, especially for First Army Group. The French “commander” will be left with an Army group headquarters but no troops to command.

  “Now contrast that with our situation, we are in the primary striking group of the Human Expeditionary Army, we have the ear of the commander of that group and we are trusted, well-regarded allies. Our words weigh heavily with them. We are an influential partner in a vital organization, rather than the head of an ineffectual one. Put another way, we may have an inferior position on paper but in terms of actual power and influence we outweigh the French many times over.”

  West harrumphed, knowing he would have to pass this information onto his Cabinet colleagues. Both the Prime Minister and his deputy were very keen on the idea of a British led army group; in time Britain would probably have one but not yet. The Human Expeditionary Army, even in its present incomplete form, was just too large.

  “How about this proposal to suspend construction of the Queen Elizabeth class for the duration of the war? Surely we need these ships more than ever?” West wondered.

  “They’ll never be finished on time to use in this war, Minister.” Air Chief Marshal Sir Glenn Torpy, the Chief of the Air Staff, argued. “Since the Americans have cancelled the F-35 we don’t have a fighter to fly off them, apart maybe from Harriers. I would have thought that the navy would want to concentrate on building cheap, easy to build warships that they can use now.”

  West could see Admiral of the Fleet Sir Jonathon Band, First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff turning a shade of puce. It was no secret that Band and Torpy had disagreements over the CVF project.

  “Just as you are procuring cheap aircraft like the Typhoon, Tornado and Nimrod.” Band commented. “I see you’re also holding on to many of those expensive museum pieces.”

  “There’s a big difference, Admiral, between procuring aircraft and two massive warships. By the time a few pieces of steel are cut for these ships I will have dozens of new aircraft in service.” Torpy countered. “Those ‘museum pieces’ you refer to, the Buccaneers, TSR.2s, Jaguars, Vulcans and Canberras are very useful platforms until something better comes along.”

  “You’ve wanted to kill CVF from day one.” Band said angrily. “I never thought a war with Heaven and Hell would give you the chance.”

  Admiral West held up his hand. “Gentlemen, that’s enough. There is a historical precedent for this decision. In 1939, the Royal Navy had to cancel the Lion class battleships. They were excellent ships, greatly needed and undoubtedly valuable additions to the fleet. The problem was, they wouldn’t be ready until after the war was over and they used resources that were needed for much more urgently-required forces. So, they were suspended, the materials assembled for them were used for other programs and the labor they would have absorbed diverted elsewhere. Today, we face the same problem with CV(F), and I must tell you the answer is the same. We cannot afford those ships, they must be suspended to allow more important programs to be pushed through. I am sorry, but that decision is final. In their place, we will be building additional amphibious warfare ships and a war-emergency version of the Type 45 to escort them.

  “We also need to look at something to replace the F-35 in the role of JCA. That is a problem in its own right, frankly I see little chance of getting more aircraft from the Americans, they need every aircraft they can build.”

  “Looks like Hornets all round then, Minister.” Air Chief Marshal Stirrup said.

  “If we can get them, a big if. One thing that is potentially good news. The Chinese have offered to reverse-engineer the TSR-2 using experience they gained in pirating the Su-27 design. They claim they can get a prototype flying in 18 months and deliveries starting in 30. The deal is, they’ll give us the first 100 aircraft off the production line in exchange for the engines and one of the two White Ghosts to act as a pattern aircraft. We can’t just keep one in service so the other TSR-2 will go back to a museum, only this time with an honorable war record to her credit.

  “Can the Chinese do it?” Stirrup was genuinely curious

  “They got their copy of the Su-27 out fast, the Russians are hopping mad about it. So yes, I think our Chinese friends can pull it off.”

  Band looked at Torpy with barely-hidden loathing. Watching them, West couldn’t help reflect that it was a rare event that Her Majesty’s Government was on better terms with the Chinese than with its own Navy.

  Throne Room, The Ultimate Temple, Eternal City, Heaven

  Michael-Lan once more entered the Holiest of Holies and his eyes adjusted to the dim glow that contrasted so strongly with the clear, white light that saturated Heaven. Even after his millennia of experience, the sight of the great white throne, with its flashing lightning and pealing thunder surrounding the One Above All Others, never failed to awe him. Before the throne were the seven great, gold lamps, burning their ceaseless incense so that the clouds of scented smoke hung thick and hazy, the smell clinging to everything. There had been a time when Michael loved this room but that was before humans had opened his eyes to what it really represented. As a showman, he admired it, as a General who valued efficient and effective administration above all else, it filled him with frustration at the wasted effort. It hadn’t always been like this, uncounted millennia before when the Great Celestial War had been fought, there hadn’t been this stress of unqualified adoration and infinite submission. ‘All Power Corrupts and Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely.’ The human motto ran through Michael-Lan’s mind and its implications disturbed him.

  At the four corners of the room flew four Seraphs, creatures with huge heads and six wings rooted in their atrophied bodies. They appeared to be nothing other than head and wings, their distorted physique making them of little use other than chanting their ceaseless cry: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.” The refrain was echoed by the twenty-four members of the Yahweh’s Private Choir. They were ancient even by the angels’ standards, and were constantly on their faces before the throne, murmuring, “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.” Michael-Lan gazed at them sympathetically, they had spent their lives yearning for an eternity in Paradise, now they had it, they spent their time yearning for another death. They had wasted their time on Earth, building up their virtues for their afterlife and now they knew the full extent of the way they had squandered their time. That might not be as crude and agonizing a torture as the ones Satan had dreamed up but it was one all the same.

  Michael-Lan had once had a choir just like this one. A century ago he had released them from their eternal chanting and now they sang in his nightclub, choosing their own program and relishing the freedom to do so. They were loyal servants, trustworthy as only those released from a nightmare could be.

  Michael stopped in the middle of the lamps and knelt down on both knees, prostrating himself and pressing his flawless lips to the cold, dark jade floor. As though sensing intentions, the four Seraphim quieted, and the twenty-four elders’ murmurs died to whispers. From the white throne, the voice of Yahweh
thundered: “Michael, my good general, what news do you bring me?”

  “Oh nameless one, Lord and God of all, I prostrate myself to your presence. The First Bowl of Wrath is poured, even now the humans who bear the Mark of the Beast sicken and die from its poison. Not less than twenty of my highest servants, ones in whom I espoused a special interest, gave their lives so that your Almighty Will should be fulfilled. They went to their end, singing thy praises and filled with ecstasy at their privilege.”

  They were not filled with ecstasy, thought Michael quietly, he’d made sure that the doomed group had been well isolated from his night club and the growing web of influence it gave him. His stocks of ecstasy were limited and he made sure it was distributed carefully. And, they didn’t die singing, they almost certainly died screaming because that was what human weapons did to their victims.

  Michael-Lan sneaked a look at Yahweh, poised on his great throne amid the clouds of burning incense. His mind flitted to the possibility of adding some really good grass to the incense but it veered away from the prospect. The risks were too high, the rewards too low. Yahweh had a dreamy expression on his face, contemplating the sacrifice of those who had laid down their lives so that his wishes could be fulfilled. Michael-Lan decided that he needed building up a little before the blow was struck

  “And the rest of the humans?”

  “They suffer as the elements themselves turn against them. The very winds and waters rage in anger at their defiance of your divine will. Their dead number in the tens of thousands and their weeping drowns out the words of their leaders.”

  That did it, Yahweh was transported with delight at the thought of the humans who had defied him being punished. He edged forward on his throne. “And Uriel, does Uriel bring despair into their hearts.”

  “Ah yes, Uriel.” Now this was going to be tricky. Very easy to overdo this. Michael warned himself.