Modern Warfare

United States Northern Command

Peterson Space Force Base, El Paso County, CO

“Recommend DEFCON 3.”

Wilkes shook his head.  Higher DEFCON levels were often practiced by the US Military but rarely implemented in practice.  There were only a handful of times that the US military had raised the Defense Readiness Condition or DEFCON above four.  Five was the normal peacetime condition, and one was full-on nuclear war.  As it was, DEFCON 3 put the USAF on a 15-minute readiness state which was incredibly expensive to maintain.  “I don’t think the boss is going to go for that.”

Captain Jameson, the intelligence officer across the table from Wilkes banged the table with his hand in frustration.  “Sir, this seems very serious to me.  We have confirmed Russian agents in Mexico and now we have lost lock on their senior military command.”

“Which means what, exactly?”

“Sir, I have no idea, but it scares the hell out of me.”

“Me too, son.”  Wilkes looked down to the briefing document in his hands.  “I’ll present this to the boss but expect DEFCON 4 at the best.”

“Well, that’s better than nothing, but I maintain my recommendation.  Sir.”

“Understood.  Dismissed.”

Of course, there was no way the Joint Chiefs were going to maintain a ROUND HOUSE” alert indefinitely.  There had to be some clear and imminent threat to the USA which presently there was no evidence of at all.  However, DEFCON 4 was something that the USA had supported for long periods of time during previous periods of uncertainty.

DEFCON 4 was mostly about alerting commands to possible threats, but it also included standard increased security measures across the board.  In the case of Northern Command, it meant that the backup NORAD command facility at Cheyenne Mountain was to be staffed at all times and include at least one flag officer. Unsurprisingly, the request to go to a higher alert level was denied by upper echelons.  What was surprising was a follow up note saying that the secretary of the Air Force had resigned. A hold over from the previous administration, he had been one of the few voices in the Pentagon speaking out against America’s recent pull back from traditional allies like Mexico and Canada.

US Embassy, Mexico City, Mexico

Admiral Harris’ day wasn’t going much better than Bustamante’s.  First, the US Air Force had created an international incident by bombing Mexico and now the entire senior leadership of the Mexican military had disappeared. 

“Are you telling me that nobody knows where the twenty most senior officers of the Mexican military are?”

The intelligence officer rubbed his face tiredly.  He had been up for 24 hours straight since the crisis had erupted.  “Admiral, I’m telling you we can’t find them.  Public events are no-show, calls go unanswered.”

“Dammit, man, that’s not what I’m asking you and you know it!”

“Sir, this is eyes-only material.”

“Understood.”

“The NSA has lost lock on them.  No cell phone tracking, no online footprint.  They appear to be completely EmCon.”

EmCon was a military term, so Harris understood exactly what the intelligence officer meant.  They had gone dark.   No electronic emissions of any kind.  Unlike the stupid online conspiracy theories that claimed Bill Gates was tracking people through RFID chips, the reality was that almost all humans on the planet willingly allowed themselves to be completely and thoroughly tracked through devices like their cell phones.  The US government wasn’t the only organization on earth capable of tracking people through their phones and online activity, but they were particularly good at it.  The National Security Agency (NSA) had the ability to track “persons of interest” across things like cellular phone networks, the internet and various other electronic means.

“Right.”

Harris picked up a secure handset.  “This is Admiral Harris.  Connect me to the J2 watch officer Northern Command.”  While he waited, he met the intelligence officer’s confused glance with a stony silence.  Mexico wasn’t the only country with inter-service rivalry.  The US military had an uneasy relationship with the CIA and NSA and of course had their own intelligence services.  J2 was the staff department responsible for intelligence, and Northern Command was responsible for all of North America, including Mexico.

A full two minutes later, the call went through.  “USNORTHCOM J2, Sergeant Williams.”

“Sergeant, this is Admiral Harris, Naval Secretary in Mexico.”

“Yes, sir.  Good afternoon, sir.”

“Sergeant, I need immediate tasking for ELint assets in Mexico.”

“Sir?”

“You heard me, Sergeant.  The senior military leadership of Mexico has just gone dark on all civilian networks.  I need to know where they are and who they are talking to.  RIGHT NOW, SERGEANT.”

“Sir, this requires authorization for tasking.”

“Understood.  Please give your CO a heads up that this is coming.  Expect orders from the Joint Chiefs shortly.”

He hung up and started drafting a flash message to his boss and to the Chief of Naval Operations.

It took almost two hours, but eventually the request came from the J3 office in the Pentagon.  “Locate and track senior Mexican military officers.”

The search for answers was beginning to pick up speed.