Preface
“The difference between fiction and reality? Fiction has to make sense.”
—Tom Clancy, American author, 1947–2013.
Chapter 1
Facts are the air of scientists. Without them you can never fly
—Ivan Pavlov, winner of the 1904 Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine.
The quote by Ivan Pavlov is translated by Prof. P. Kupalov. “Bequest of Pavlov to the Academic Youth of his Country”, Science, April 17, 1936, Vol. 83 No. 2155
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.83.2155.369
It is still a matter of wonder how the Martians are able … to generate an intense heat … they project in a parallel beam against any object they choose by means of a polished parabolic mirror … Heat, and invisible instead of visible light. Whatever is combustible flashes into flame at its touch, lead runs like water, it softens iron, cracks and melts glass …
—H. G. Wells, War of the Worlds, 1898
You’re not gonna see it, you’re not gonna hear it, you’re not gonna smell it: you’re gonna feel it.
—U.S. Marine Colonel Tracy Taffola, Director, Joint Non-Lethal Weapons Directorate, Marine Corps Base Quantico Virginia, describing a directed energy weapon.
Tracy Taffola’s quote is taken from phys.org/news/2012-03-military-unveils-non-lethal-ray-weapon.html
Lockheed Martin’s 30 kW high-power laser proved its superb accuracy and devastating power by disabling a vehicle more than a mile away. Operators targeted the laser beam to impact the vehicle’s hood and destroyed the engine underneath it.
—T. Puiu, ZME Science website
Lockheed Martin’s high-powered laser is described at www.zmescience.com/research/technology/most-powerful-laser-weapon-9634654/
Our beam control technology enables precision equivalent to shooting a beach ball off the top of the Empire State Building from the San Francisco Bay Bridge.
—Paul Shattuck, Director of Directed Energy Systems, Laser Sensors and
Systems, Lockheed Martin, describing their ALADIN laser weapon system.
Paul Shattack’s quote is taken from www.lockheedmartin.com/en-us/capabilities/directed-energy/laser-weapon-systems.html
Results from GTI’s initial investigation determined that these calculations significantly overestimated the energy required to spall, melt, or vaporize rock. … The GTI study showed clearly that current laser technology is more than sufficient to break, melt, or vaporize any lithology that may be encountered in the subsurface.
Gahan, B. et al. “Laser Drilling: Determination of Energy Required to Remove Rock.”. SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition, Introduction section, Sept. 2001, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. doi: https://doi.org/10.2118/71466-MS
However, as the SOCOM Commander, with some unique exceptions, I do not command and control any forces in combat or crisis. I am a “supporting commander” to the Geographic Combatant Commanders and the Chiefs of Mission (COMs). It is my job to provide them the best Special Operations Force in the world. It is their job to employ those forces in support of U.S. policy. Special Operations Forces do nothing, absolutely nothing, without the approval of the President, the Secretary of Defense, the Geographic Combatant Commanders and the Chiefs of Mission—nothing.
—Admiral William H. McRaven, USN, Commander, United States Special Operations Command before the 113th Congress, House Armed Services Committee, March 6, 2013.
Science
Here are some more geological details applicable to Chapter 1.
A Mafic rock is a specific type of iron-rich magma rock containing over 50 percent ferromagnesium silicates, often found as pyroxene minerals. Ultramafic rocks will contain significant amounts of olivine, which is even more iron rich than pyroxene. Magma intrudes into established rock by pushing it aside or melting through it. In particular, mafic dykes will cut vertically across the established rock formation.
In order for the laser weapons to be most effective on field terrain in Worthington’s mission, it helps if rock targets could be objects rich in iron, as the naturally occurring forms of iron oxide have absorption bands that match closely with Matthews’s and Sulliger’s laser wavelength. The targets predominant in ferrous iron (Fe2+) versus ferric iron (Fe3+) would be, depending on the details of the crystal bonding structure around the ferrous ion and the sizes of the grains in the rock, an almost perfect match for the laser’s wavelength. A convenience for the mission, iron is the fourth most common transition element in the earth’s crust and the most common transition element in minerals, so there are plenty of rocks that can be suitable targets.
Basanites that are pyroxene rich, as well as high concentrations of ilmenite and magnetite (accessory minerals in igneous rocks, but prevalent in river and beach sands), are characteristic of the region where Worthington’s team encamps. There is also evidence of limonite, hematite, and olivine in that region of North Africa. These rocks and minerals contain significant amounts of ferric and ferrous iron oxide. To the detriment of the mission, there are also large amounts of phonolites and nephelinites in the local geography of the battle’s location, which contain little to no iron; the lasers will be much less effective if outcrops and formations with these rock types are Sulliger’s and Matthews’s targets.
Here is more information to understand the laser technology used in this chapter.
A 1995 United Nations convention called the Protocol on Blinding Laser Weapons states that a laser cannot be used to blind enemy fighters in combat. Additionally, some laser weapon practices may violate the Certain Conventional Weapons Convention of 1980 (to cover civilians and non-international armed conflicts) and the Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions of 1977. These conventions offer special protections for the wounded, sick, or other non-combatants such as medics. In this novel, the U.S. military respects these policies and other more recent applicable conventions.
Lasers are categorized as either visible or invisible, and are eye-safe or not. A laser beam’s eye safety depends on its power and its wavelength. A laser beam’s visibility depends on its wavelength.
Conventional mobile weapons work by propelling one or more hard objects at top speeds, or by fire and heat-producing explosives.
Lasers convert electrical energy into optical energy; that energy propagates over a distance as electromagnetic waves (light). The energy needed to power Sulliger’s and Matthews’s lasers requires either a massive, heavy battery or another powerful electricity-generating source. So, as human portable weapons, those lasers are cumbersome. Lastly, whereas conventional weapons can kill upon the immediate jolt of the projectile, the laser serves its destructive purpose by delivering energy over a sustained time.
The human body, close to 70 percent water, takes times to become hot. Someone with normal senses moves away from a burning sensation when the laser beam contacts the skin. This laser beam will have difficulty keeping up with someone on the move because the laser is bulky, and repositioning it requires considerable time.
Thus, after recognizing these practical and ethical considerations, lasers are not good at killing people directly. Lasers are powerful at destroying stationary, inanimate objects (such as fuel or ordinance) near a human target, thereby indirectly killing or immobilizing someone nearby.
The lasers can also force the rival to move with no concomitant permanent bodily harm, but then exposing the fleeing enemy to injury by standard weapons.
The high-power lasers deployed by Worthington’s special operations team use a wavelength that is too long to be visible, and yet too short in wavelength and too powerful to be eye-safe. Thus, they used their lasers for the indirect method of fighting the invaders on their mission.
Worthington’s crew uses Ytterbium doped fiber lasers. IPG Photonics sells these lasers. www.ipgphotonics.com/en
When combined with a futuristic hand portable laser head inspired and scaled up from an IPG Photonics device, a much smaller version of this Raytheon technology is the closest to what I envision Sulliger and Matthews using in Chapter 1.
Raytheon developed an all-terrain vehicle equipped with a laser that can run for several hours from a single charge of its portable energy supply. There is enough power to operate equipment for surveillance and reconnaissance tasks, along with up to 30 laser shots. This weapon fires optical rounds only when stationary.
Chapter 2
Bin Laden and his associates did not need a very large sum to finance their planned attack on America. The 9/11 plotters eventually spent somewhere between $400,000 and $500,000 to plan and conduct their attack. … The plotter’s tradecraft was not especially sophisticated, but it was good enough. They moved, spent, and stored their money in ordinary ways, easily defeating the detection mechanisms at the time. …
Excerpt from page 169 of the unabridged, 585-page, public 9/11 Commission Report prepared by the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, as mandated by Public Law 107-306, November 27, 2002. www.9-11commission.gov/report/911Report.pdf. I recommend Chapters 1, 5, 7, and 8; many sections of this report ad more like a novel than a government document. The commission did a great job of presenting this material in an engaging, instructive format.
Chapter 5
The cover of Time magazine often shows the most famous, powerful, influential, and successful personalities in the world. On June 11, 1973, Time printed a large photo of a thoroughbred racehorse named Secretariat wearing his racing blinkers on the cover of the magazine following his record setting 31-length Belmont Stakes win to capture the Triple Crown, one of thoroughbred racing’s most coveted and difficult to achieve honors. Secretariat shattered the previous world record for a 1½-mile horserace on a dirt track, and his record still stands today. That cover stated simply: “SUPER HORSE Secretariat.” Neither Secretariat’s jockey, trainer, nor owner was pictured, nor were their names on the cover.
A necropsy after Secretariat’s death revealed that his heart was twice the size of an average thoroughbred horse’s heart.
“He was not a horse, he was Secretariat.”
—Bennett Liebman, New York racing official, after the death of Secretariat in 1989
Boggs, Mandy. “Secretariat: TWICE the Heart: Veterinarian Swerczek Shares the Untold Story”, Kentucky Equestrian Directory. Jan. 2020. issuu.com/equestriandirectory.ensomedia/docs/ked-2020 and issuu.com/equestriandirectory.ensomedia/docs/ked-2020/s/10168613. The Liebman quote is also found in this article.
Crist, Steven. “Secretariat, Racing Legend And Fans’ Favorite, Is Dead”, New York Times, Oct. 5, 1989. https://www.nytimes.com/1989/10/05/sports/secretariat-racing-legend-and-fans-favorite-is-dead.html
ESPN compiled a list of the top 100 North American athletes of the 20th century. ESPN listed Secretariat at number 35, ranked higher than such notable, accomplished athletes as Walter Payton, Chris Evert, and Julius Erving.
“Top N. American Athletes of the 20th Century”. www.espn.com/sportscentury/athletes.html