Excerpt

Moscow, Russia

The year is 2010. A large crowd of Russian citizens is gathered in Red Square outside the front entrance of the Kremlin. The General Secretary of the Soviet Union, a bald-headed man in his fifties, wearing a scar on his right cheek is standing on a raised platform while staring out at the crowd with a proud but serious look on his face. The General Secretary is flanked by forty proletarian guards who are standing on the ground while standing at attention.

Comrades, communism has returned, and because of its return, our people no longer starve. Our economy and military strength are much stronger now than a year ago when democracy came to an end, the General Secretary said.

The crowd cheered in response to the General Secretarys words.

Comrades, Russia is once again a great nation, and shall remain a great nation forever! the General Secretary said as he cried out in a loud voice. The crowd in response, cheered as it broke out in thunderous applause.

Later that day inside the Kremlin, the General Secretary assembled his top generals for a special meeting in his briefing room. He informed them of recent intelligence reports which indicated that the United States had finally achieved success in the development of a missile-defense shield. According to the General Secretarys sources, a U.S. missile-defense space station was being designed which could generate eight missile-defense shields which were capable of destroying thousands of incoming ICBMs. The General Secretary made it clear to his generals that there was no way that he would allow the United States to have the power to launch its nuclear weapons against Russia and be immune to a counterattack.

He told his generals that there was only one thing that Russia could do to stop the United States from becoming the ruling power of the world, and that was to kidnap the American chief scientist, and force him to help the Russian government build its own missile-defense space station. The Russian generals stood to their feet and applauded as they gave the General Secretary their full approval of his plan.





Avalon Bay, Catalina Island



Five days later, just outside Avalon Bay, Catalina Island, which is twenty-three miles from the West Coast of the United States, a sinister plot is about to unfold. The elaborate plan will take the United States government completely by surprise.

It is the wee hours of the morning. At the moment, Avalon Bay is quiet and peaceful. Over at the right end of the bay, cabin cruisers and sailboats filled the docks. Suddenly, a man in a raft rowed into the bay and headed towards the docks. He stopped behind one of the cabin cruisers, then climbed up to the deck. The man, who stood seven foot two inches tall, was muscular, and wore a dark-gray sport coat and black jeans.

He reached under his sport coat, pulled out a handgun equipped with a silencer, stepped over in front of the cabin door and opened it. Inside the cabin, the owner of the boat, Fred, a retired doctor, had been sleeping, but woke up, having heard the squeaky cabin door open. He climbed out of bed, looked up at the intruder who was holding a handgun at his side.

Hey, what are you doing on my boat? Fred said sharply.

The intruder didnt answer. Fred watched as the intruder slowly raised the handgun up towards him, aiming it directly at him. Fred stared wide-eyed as the intruder fired three shots into his chest. Fred collapsed lifelessly to the floor of the cabin. The intruder stepped down into the cabin, took hold of Freds wrist and checked his pulse to see if he was dead. After being convinced that Fred was dead, the intruder replaced his handgun into his shoulder holster, then climbed back to the top deck. He moved over behind the steering wheel, started the engine and pulled the cabin cruiser out of the bay, headed towards Long Beach.

Inside a Russian submarine waiting just outside Avalon Bay, sitting just below sea level, Russian crewmen were sitting quietly at their stations while staring at their commander who had been watching the stolen cabin cruiser as it pulled out of the bay, headed towards Long Beach. He lowered his periscope, then looked over at his men.

Vladimir has the boat. Now we must wait. Take us two miles east of the island. Well wait there, the commander said.

Engine room, take us two miles east of the island, the crewman ordered as he spoke into the speaker phone.

The submarine turned east, then pulled off towards the open ocean.



The Jim and Lisa Atkins House



Three hours later, that same morning, Jim Atkins, a fifty- five- year- old, six- foot-six-inch- tall, ruggedly-handsome-looking aerospace engineer, was lying in bed sleeping. Jim, an employee of Galaxy International Defense, is the son of John Atkins, who is also an employee of Galaxy International Defense. John is the chief Scientist whose job is to develop a defensive shield which will protect the United States from a nuclear attack, should it ever take place. Lying next to Jim was his wife, Lisa Atkins, an attractive, intelligent-looking bank loan officer, who was in her late forties. Twenty-two years ago, Jim had fallen in love with Lisa the first day he saw her behind the counter inside a sporting goods store. He came into the sporting goods store once a week to buy a pair of athletic socks so that he could get to know her. Seven weeks later, he asked her out for dinner to which she accepted. A month later, the two of them knew that they were meant for each other as they began to fall in love.