The Power of Five Oblivion

tried to show them how to fight. But I would be the first to admit to you that we’re a poor excuse for an army and we can expect many casualties.
    “And yet, at the same time, never underestimate what is possible if you have right on your side. There have been revolutions in France and America, in Russia and South Africa. History is full of moments when the people have come together and taken what is rightfully theirs. This is our world. We never invited the Old Ones into it. And with God’s help, we will drive them out. We will prevail.”
    Perhaps Cain was waiting for applause. Perhaps he saw himself as the lead actor in a Hollywood film. But what he had said was greeted only by a respectful silence and when he continued, his voice was quieter, his words more considered.
    “We cannot wait any longer. Food supplies are already running low and you all know we can’t spend very much more time out on the ice. The Old Ones are waiting for us to make our move but there’s always a chance that they will take the initiative and launch a surprise attack. That would be disastrous. They have superior manpower. They have … creatures. I wasn’t brought up or trained to face anything like this. I’ll be honest. To me, frankly, they’re like comic-book nightmares. But the fact is that they have us with our backs to the sea. That’s not a good position to be in and I will not wait for them to come out of their hidey-hole and drive us back. We must hit them before they hit us. We must do it now.
    “And so I am putting Operation First Strike into action, the details of which we have discussed in this room. Starting at twelve hundred hours today, our six Super Hornet aircraft will launch an attack on the fortress, firing infrared, homing surface-to-air missiles. Their aim is to breach the outer walls and to cause major casualties within. They will be supported by cruise missiles from the British and the Argentinians and Sea Darts from the French.
    “This will be followed by an armed assault by our ground forces. We will move across the ice shelf in five groups. I will be leading the group code-named Hawk. Captain Allenby will lead Bear. Colonel General Shubniakov will be in charge of Lynx. General Sabato will lead Panther. And Lieutenant Greyson will head up Wolf. Field hospitals will be in place at Sectors Nine and Seventeen. We had earlier agreed that no children under the age of eighteen would be allowed to participate, but in view of the presence of two Gatekeepers among us, I intend to amend that rule. Scarlett Adams has told me that she can produce weather cover in the form of a blizzard commencing immediately after the initial bombardment. My guess is that smoke and snow disruption caused by the Super Hornets will provide much the same, but in any event, our troops have every chance of crossing Oblivion unseen.
    “Just so that we are quite clear about this, let me say with the very greatest regret that a nuclear strike is still not an option today. Our friends in the British Royal Navy carry Trident missiles on board the submarine HMS Percival , each of which has twelve independently targetable nuclear warheads. That’s more than enough to vaporize the fortress and everything inside it. But the computers have crashed and they’re unable to implement launch procedures. I don’t have to tell you that this situation is unprecedented and we can only assume that somehow, impossibly, the enemy have managed to hack into the system. Our people are still looking into it but we have to accept that the missiles are not operational and we can no longer wait for that situation to change. We have to fight with what we have. And that fight will begin just under six hours from now. Any questions?”
    The commander’s bright blue eyes swept across the assembly, almost challenging them. Richard waited for someone to speak. As far as he could see, the plan was suicidal whichever way he looked at it. But nobody said anything. Maybe they had spent too long sitting on the ice. They just wanted it to be over. They didn’t care how.
    “All right,” Cain said. “Go and prepare your people. I want everyone in position by eleven hundred hours. Captain Johnson, you will be executive officer on board the Pole Star in my absence. In the event of my death, command passes to Captain Allenby. Good luck, everyone, and may God be with you.”
    The tent began to empty but Richard saw that Matt hadn’t moved. Just looking at him, he