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cbraund
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United Kingdom of Great Britain
Jan 2001
time: 05:29
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British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, only half a year into her time as the first female Premier, faced her biggest crisis yet.
Afghanistan. A nation few had heard of was causing massive problems.
The weather outside was cold and wet, typical of a British December, but in this council of war the atmosphere was tense, and most people were sweating despite the cold.
The Soviet Union had invaded Afghanistan, after months of tension concerning that nation since the Communists had taken control. One event had even been the killing of the US Ambassador in February, which had caused outrage in America.
There had been the main build-up to the war, which the compassionate - and therefore foolish in Thatcher’s mind - President Carter had ignored. Then December 22nd, the Soviets had advised the Afghan army to begin huge maintenance cycles on tanks and other crucial weapons, obviously a ploy to make the invasion as easy as possible, and then had cut all communications around Kabul, isolating the capital.
Then December 24th, the war had started. And now Thatcher heard from Washington that Congress had called an emergency meeting.
And President Carter, despite all his good work for the world, had been kicked out with a vote of No Confidence.
Thatcher felt sorry for him in some ways – he was an honest man trying to do honest work. But when dealing with a threat like that of the Soviet Union, an unpredictable and godless nation, you had to be devious too.
And in shock at his President’s downfall, Vice President Mondale had resigned, leaving America without a President. There was to be a quick election, the Congress had decided, rather than follow the chain of command down a political chain of command in a government that the people no longer believed in.
It was expected that Reagan, an ex-actor, would take the Presidency at the polls in the next few days. Until then, President Carter was to remain in control of the nation for safety’s sake.
Thatcher suspected that the Soviets had some of the Congress on their payroll to pull off such a magnificent move – leaving the US leaderless during such a crucial time. But they had underestimated Britain.
“Once again, I demand we leave this well alone! The Afghans can look after themselves, maybe with a bit of covert help, but they will be fine!” The Foreign Secretary slammed his fist on the table.
A glare from Thatcher quietened him.
“We disagree.” The Chief of MI6 said. He was known as ‘C’, from the second initial of Sir Mansfield Cumming, the first Chief of MI6. Ian Fleming, for James Bond, had taken the Chief of MI6’s initial as ‘M’, the other initial of Cumming. “Our spies on the ground suggest that this is just a stepping stone, to invading Iran and then possibly taking out Iraq and Saudi Arabia.”
“Impossible!” the Foreign Secretary mocked. “Anyway, if they take out two of those nations, they’re doing us a favour!”
“But then they will control most of the world’s oil.” The Prime Minister snapped, shutting up the fool she had to put up with as her Foreign Secretary if she wanted to keep her party united.
“Afghanistan will be a hard nation to conquer.” The Defence Minister finally spoke up. “But it’s not impossible, and then they could use chemical weapons on Iran.”
“But they would start World War 3! They would never be that foolish!” The Foreign Secretary screeched again.
“The Soviets are the only side in this Cold War that think a nuclear war is winnable. Indeed, they actively plan for the day when they can surprise us all, hit our nukes first, and stop us launching. Everything up to then is preparation, to make sure they can hit us as hard as they can without us hitting back too hard. For example, they’re looking to make better technology, get more agents in place, and so on, so they can cancel out our advantages and lessen the number of nukes heading back.” The Defence Minister said patiently.
The Foreign Secretary went pale. If this all kicked off now, there was very little he could do – he would simply be a tiny pawn in a very big and powerful game.
“So what action do we take?” Margaret asked, her mind almost made up anyway. She was going to wait to see what the new President would do – no need to get involved in a war if Britain would receive no backup, but until then she would send covert aid to the Afghans, and prepare her nation for war.
The answers she got made no difference. If the US President wanted to take on the Soviets in the tough way she would advise, Britain would back it. If they took the soft way out, she would simply send aid to the Afghans, and hope.
Plus she had one trick up her sleeve.
As her Cabinet and intelligence officers left, they filed past the man in the corridor without such as a glance, except for the two intelligence officers, whose training forced them to scan him quickly.
After they had gone, the man entered the room, and Thatcher gestured for him to sit down.
“So?” she asked. The man was not the leader of the SAS, but a sergeant in it. The leader and officers were rotated out every few years to stop them knowing too much, but the sergeants and troopers never left until they retired or went to better positions in other units, and therefore were trustworthy as well as being the best soldiers in the world.
“The Disciples are ready to move. The machine is complete. We are awaiting your orders for our first mission.”
“Good.” The Prime Minister sighed with relief. “We may need you very soon.”
* * * * *
Don’t worry, I’m in the process of finishing Come What May, just starting this to give you a little bit of the new series I intend to start.
Thanks for reading, comments very much appreciated!
Chris AKA Nemesis
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23-07-2003 18:52
I can't wait to read more.
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