King of All I Survey-Chapter 161: Our First Action in Ukraine

I was speaking as we entered the Status Room where Dad was monitoring the Ukraine theater. He choked and sputtered as he heard the last part of our conversation.

"What?" He finally managed, staring at me wide-eyed, "You want put Rafael in charge of the whole Earth? I thought he was too wild for Guatemala never mind a whole planet. And isn’t that your job anyway?"

I held my hands up to stop his tirade. "Easy Dad, I never said Earth. I was thinking a new human colony. One where his focus and penchant for direct action will be assets in establishing a new human civilization basically from scratch."

"Oh," his face calmed as he considered the idea. "I guess I don’t mind kicking him off the planet..." He grinned. "But what does that mean for Maribel?"

"I was hoping she’d go to. I mean, it’s up to them really. I won’t force either of them, but I’m pretty sure I know what Rafael will choose."

"I’m not sure your mother will be pleased if Maribel is sent to another world..."

"Why?" I asked, setting him up for the answer I knew he’d give.

"She just got a new sister, I’m pretty sure she won’t want to lose her so quickly."

"Oh," I said with a wicked grin, "I forgot how long it takes you old folks to get used to new technology. You know that visiting another world is as easy as visiting Guatemala, or Colombia, or the sandwich shop down the street, right? Why would anybody lose anybody just because they’re on a different planet?" ƒгeewёbnovel.com

Dad got a deer-in-the-headlights look. "Hmmm."

"Mom and Maribel can visit whenever they want, and you can visit with Rafael when you start to miss him."

"Um, no thanks," he said shaking his head.

"All right, suit yourself," I answered, "If you’d rather Mom go to his planet alone..."

He looked at me sharply. "Of course, I’ll go with her, but I’m not going to visit Rafael. I’m going because I like spending time with my wife."

"Of course."

"Can we focus on Ukraine for minute, King Tim?" Dad asked, a hint of frustration in his voice.

"Sure, what’s up? Anything new?"

"Yeah, they have North Korean soldiers coming in."

Now it was my turn to have a deer-in-the-headlights look. "Who does?"

"Who do you think? The Russians have some sort of deal with North Korea in which North Korean soldiers are heading to the front lines in Ukraine. They’re not there yet, but they are already in Russia and preparing to go. Apparently, they’ll take an active part in the combat there."

"Well, that’s just fantastic..." I said sarcastically. "When are they scheduled to be in Ukraine?"

"The first battalion is scheduled to get there in four days. They’re already coming in to staging areas in western Russia by military transport planes from the bases in eastern Russia where they’ve been training under Russian command. From the airfields they’ll move by truck convoy to Kursk, a little over 12,000 of them. They’re being outfitted in Russian uniforms and hoping no one will notice."

"Really? I suppose they could pass for some of the ethnic groups of Eastern Russia, unless someone hears them speak Korean instead of Russian. Four days is a problem, though. That’s pretty quick after their air attack is going to be stopped. They might be in the mood to try something bold right about then."

"You have a plan to deal with that though, right?"

"I have a plan, but it needs work. Right now, it’s more of a use only in case of emergency type plan."

"Well, half a million infantry from two nuclear-capable nations pouring in kind of seems like an emergency..."

"Yes, but the goal has to be to prevent that emergency from happening at all. Knowing the worst-case scenario and not finding a way to make sure that doesn’t happen in the first place, seems like a pretty weak way to plan a war- even if you have a way to mitigate that worst case."

"You should put that on a t-shirt, if you can figure out how to say it with maybe 52 fewer words..."

I scowled at him. "How about this: War is already the worst-case scenario."

"Better, but still a little long," Dad said. "Hey, I’m just trying to lighten the mood a little. I know you’re under a lot of stress."

"I know, Dad. Thanks." He moved closer to give me hug. It was kind of awkward feeling. In my adult android form, I was as big as he was, maybe even an inch or two taller. I could tell it was awkward for him, too. That made me a little sad, I shouldn’t have to deal with this phase of our relationship for years yet. I felt a tear forming. We broke away from the hug.

"Joe can fill you in on the emergency plan as it stands," I told him. "I’m thinking of issuing a press release on the Korea thing form the Universal Earth Concord. Condemning North Korea’s action and interpreting it as a declaration of war on Ukraine by North Korea. I may imply or state outright that that makes North Korea, and its leadership, valid targets for Ukraine forces and its allies. I may say something like the UEC is in talks to become an ally of Ukraine. No, I’ll probably hold off on that. I don’t want the countries currently considering joining to have to choose getting into a war with Russia and North Korea... I don’t think I do, but... maybe after we show them we can fully defend Ukraine form even two nuclear powers at once..." I clenched my eyes shut and sighed, "There’s just so many things to think about." I knew my voice was thick with frustration.

"Son," Dad said gently, "You’ve done one hell of a job so far. If you wanted my honest opinion a couple months ago, I would have said what you’ve already achieved wasn’t possible, even with all this super alien technology. I trust you to make the right decision, and I stand by you no matter what. My advice to you would be this: Trust yourself as much as you ask others to trust you."

I took a deep breath to calm myself. "I wish I could, Dad. I really wish I could."

Joe’s android body had been standing motionless and silent off to the side. He chose this moment to speak, "I trust you, too, King Tim. I have sworn my service to you. I didn’t do that lightly. I see every corner of the universe and I’ve witnessed its entire history. Of everyone who exists and has so far existed in the past, I chose to serve you. You are certainly the best hope for Earth, and, in my infinite experience and wisdom, probably the best choice for the galaxy and the entire universe. Perhaps you will make mistakes. Perhaps you will change over time. Even so, I am confident that you will make decisions that are in the best interest of the greater good. I second your father’s statement, trust yourself. Follow your gut, as you humans say. By the way, that seems like an odd saying, if you don’t mind me saying so. I mean the food you eat follows your gut and look how that ends up... right down the toilet."

Dad and I looked at him for a full second before we both broke out it uncontrolled, uproarious laughter.

Dad stopped laughing suddenly and looked up at the situation map. "Here goes," he said. "I had Joe set me up an alert to ping me if there was any action in Ukraine. Forty-seven of the little teams they are using to trade casualties with the Ukrainians have just been dispatched. Between 12 and 22 men per unit. In addition to outright killing whoever they can and destroying infrastructure and military targets of opportunity, they are going to try to get the Ukrainian forces around the contested border regions to pull back and group up to make bigger targets for the air strike coming later. This will be a part of a larger effort to soften border defenses in advance of a major ground offensive within ten days. We can LITV the attackers to holding cells or give the Ukrainians detailed intel so they can have ambushes waiting."

"Neither," I commanded. "Joe, let Dovzhenko know, immediately. Tell him to get out of their way. Pull his people back just they way the Russians want them to. Have them group up as if trying to form groups large enough to overwhelm the attackers. Choose locations that make it look like they are inadvertently making themselves into higher value targets for the airstrikes. Make the Russians feel like its going exactly the way they want it to. Make sure Dovzhenko keeps his people out of direct conflict. Make it clear that we need him not to engage this new incursion. Make sure he gets civilians out of the way, too. All of them. Keep him supplied with real-time position tracking of the enemy, include effective range intel. of any weapons they’re bringing. Facilitate real time communications as needed between the Ukrainians.

"If the enemy manages to get into position to strike anyone, though, grab them first and hold them in the Blue Island facility. I want zero casualties, on either side. Zero! Don’t worry about anything they might hit except people."

"Acknowledged."

"Also, send an announcement to major news services around the world, I will be issuing a live video press release in 30 minutes to announce Universal Earth Concord’s response to the Ukraine’s request for our assistance in defending their nation and rebuilding their infrastructure. Give them a response line to request access to the live feed. Meanwhile, I want to make an example of our abilities. To exactly coincide with the start of that live feed, I want the following actions undertaken in Ukraine..."

Follow curr𝒆nt nov𝒆ls on freew(𝒆)bnov𝒆l.(c)om