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looking skeptical. “North Korea?”
    “Dead serious,” Secretary Walker said. “They were one of the few geographic locations on Earth relatively untouched by the molt weevil infestation. And areas of Russia, as well, but that still needs to be confirmed. As of last night, midnight, we were given twenty-four hours to recognize the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea as the supreme worldwide government. The demand was backed up with both a threat and a demonstration of how serious they are.”
    “What kind of demonstration?” Jason asked.
    A deep sadness came over Secretary Walker. He looked old and defeated. “Until now we’ve kept this from the public. The President is scheduled to make a statement to inform the American people … the world.”
    “What … what is it?”
    “At 3:30 a.m., a North Korean Soviet-made Golf II class nuclear submarine, in the Pacific Ocean, fired off a missile … one with a single, five-megaton warhead, toward the Hawaiian Islands.”
    The room became quiet. Walker let out a long breath, his next words barely audible. “There’s absolutely nothing left of the islands.”
    Jason was having a hard time comprehending what he’d just heard. The millions of lives lost in a flash and for what? What kind of monster makes that kind of decision?
    After a long silence, Nan leaned forward in her chair. “Jason, I want you to go—have a little chat with Kim Jong Un.”

Chapter 6
     
     
     
    Jason’s directive over the next week was to visit Pyongyang, and from there, on to Moscow. Both governments would be made to understand, by force if necessary, the consequences of any further attacks, nuclear or otherwise. Now was not the time for reciprocity. That, the Secretary of Defense assured everyone, would come about in time. But for now … what was paramount was restraining further escalation—basically, avoiding the total eradication of humankind.
    “Captain, we’re entering North Korean airspace,” McBride said.
    “Bring us down, all four of us. I want to be scraping their rooftops.”
    “Aye, Cap.”
    Our aerial convoy of goliath-sized warships, slowly moving in unison across the North Korean skyline, must be quite a sight , Jason thought to himself as he sat in The Lilly ’s command chair. He watched the green agricultural landscape slowly move across the display. It was all about a show of force—one that would inspire fear and awe—from the peasants in the field, on up to the people’s assembly—to the premiere himself.
    Jason was aware that The Lilly and the three massive Craing vessels at this altitude would generate substantial vibration—enough to cause damage to both residential and business structures below. Thunderous waves would course through the populace’s bodies and, more importantly, their psyches. The earthshaking started eight hundred miles from Pyongyang—and now, the news would spread like wildfire. Nothing would instill the futility of war, the ridiculousness of fighting the Americans, more than the sight of menacing warships overhead.
    “Contacts!”
    The display above showed recently scrambled fighters. “Mig 21s, for the most part, Cap; Russian supplied,” Orion said. “Looks like they’re putting everything they have into the air. Even a reconfigured passenger jet.”
    “Bring us up to two thousand feet. Shields up.”
    “Aye, sir,” Orion replied.
    “Incoming missiles.”
    Jason stood up from the command chair and watched the display above him. Looking at the high-definition, real-world view, Jason more than once ducked as incoming missiles harmlessly struck, and exploded, against their outer shields. The flurry of explosions dissipated as the fighters exhausted their payloads against the five slowly moving warships.
    Jason sat back down and watched as the North Korean air force, like bees, swarmed harmlessly at the fleet’s shielded perimeters. He brought up his virtual notepad, wanting to get specific, pertinent information about