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DrakaFic: Operation Noah's Hammer

Chapter One: The Wheels Start Turning, But The Hamster Is Dead

Note: Thanks to Keevan Colton and Sir Nitram for their input on how a Brit talks.

[2000 hours, June 13th, 1940 - Biggin Hill Aerodrome, London, United Kingdom]

The RAF transport came to a stop on the runway, the air around it's engines shimmering
from the heat that had built up around the cylinder heads during the long 2,400 kilometer
(3,862 mile) flight over Europe.

Even before the propellors had stopped spinning, a long black limousine bearing official
HMG plates pulled up. The door at the rear of the transport was opened, and several
heavy cases were handed out the door by the RAF aircrew to the waiting MI6 officials,
who wasted no time in putting them into their limousine. When the last case had been
transferred, the MI6 agents jumped into the car, and took off in a cloud of dust.

[St. James's Street, London, 2130 Hours]

The limousine pulled to a stop outside MI6's headquarters, and men were already
waiting to carry the cases in with a speed that impressed even the MGB men who
were watching MI6 from an opposite building that the MGB had purchased years
ago for precisely this purpose.

As he took the photographs of the MI6 men to add to the MGB's voluminous file
of every foreign agent in the world that they knew about, Kapitan Arkady Renko
couldn't help but shake his head at the sheer amateurishness by which the British
went about the deadly serious business of international espionage.

Having people come out onto the street! If this was in the Soviet Union, there would
have been an underground garage out of sight for such transfers as this.

Putting away his camera, Arkady was already planning his next trip to the stores in London
to buy goods for his wife. Being assigned abroad was the luckiest thing that could happen
to an MGB operative; for even in the Soviet Union, certain things were in short supply.

[Top Secret-Level Darkroom inside St. James' Street; 2145 Hours]

"Right. Hear about those bloody wogs down in Liverpool? The blokes managed to lose
against the Polish, for God's sake." muttered the photographic specialist as he removed
the film from it's padded container and began to sort it out for development.

"Aye, I lost five bob on those bastards," replied his assistant as he prepared the chemicals.

It was well past midnight when the last roll of film had been developed completely, and
the man and his assistant stared at them. "Seems like a waste, all this money to
take pictures of a desert."

"Not my job to worry about that; come on, lets go down the pub; I hear that mick is
having a special on Guinness tonight."

[0800 Hours, June 14th, 1940 - Director General's Office, St. James' Street, London]

MI6 Director General Stewart Menzies sat down in his richly padded chair, and pulled
out a vital document that had to be completed in record time to preserve the Empire.

Taking out a well-worn pencil, he began to work on the paper. After several minutes,
frustration set in, and he picked up the secure phone on his desk. "Richardson, any
luck with Seven Across?"

"No such luck, Stewie."

"Damn."

Putting the phone down, Menzies stared at the bloody crossword puzzle, tapping his
pencil in a stattico beat against the blotter.

[0900 Hours]

Sighing contentedly, Menzies put away the completed puzzle, and pushed the intercom
button on his desk. "Director General here; I'm done with my morning papers, would you
please give Mister Ritchie a ring?"

Several minutes later, a well dressed man in a tweed jacket stepped into Menzies' office
holding a thick manila folder.

"Whats the latest on the Quattara Depression plant, Bob?"

Ritchie opened the manila folder and took out several large 5 x 7 glossies,
placing them onto the Director-General's desk.

"See those lines and buildings that they go to?" he asked.

"Yeah, what about them?"

"They weren't there three years ago, which was when we managed to get
the last photographs of this installation."

"How much more capacity did they put in?"

"Our boffins estimate three hundred more megawatts."

Menzies whistled softly. "That's an awful lot of power. Any idea what it's going
to?"

"No idea. One of the ideas being floated around Technical section is that
the Draka are expanding their aluminum plant there, probably for wartime
orders now that they're fighting the Soviet Union."

"That's probably the best bet, I'll have our boys write up a report on that,
with graphs showing how much more aluminum they'll be able to produce
each month with that expansion for the Prime Minister."

"Right. How's Susie and the kids?" asked Menzies as he gathered up the
photographs and handed them back to Ritchie.

"Doing smashingly well, Stewie. John's already prancing around saying
he wants to be a RAF pilot; I never should have got him that model of
a Spitfire."

[1200 Hours, June 15th, 1940 - Quattara Depression Hydropower Plant]

"Halt, Suh!" shouted the green-uniformed Security Directorate tetrarch
as he drew his 10mm pistol and pointed it at the head of the intruder.

"At ease, tetrarch, I'm here on the Archona's orders, to inspect the plant,
and to report back to her on the program's progress." replied the man,
who was dressed in what amounted to civilian dress in the Domination.

"I'll have to see your orders, suh!" replied the tetrarch, not budging a
centimeter."

The man sighed.

"Very well, here you are." With that, he drew a paper from the briefcase he
was carrying and gave it to the guard, who scanned it for several moments,
before he was sure it was genuine.

"Thank you, suh, you can pas' now, Legate Dwyer."

Nodding, Dwyer walked past the guard and into the entrance to the vast
underground complex buried in the desert sands near Quattara.

[1300 Hours - Level Red]

Dwyer walked the seemingly endless lines of electrolyte cells, which stretched
down the tunnels dug out of the sandstone, which bubbled silently, burning the
hydrogen out of water, while the man in charge of the program here pointed out
and explained each detail of the new installation that had begun producing two
months ago.

"So, as you can see, production of the heavy water is proceeding at a rapid
clip, the new expansion allowing us to provide a little over two more tons of
Deuterium Oxide each year for Tech Section to use for their experiments
in atom research."

"Good." replied Dwyer. "I'll see that you get a commendation and a Letter
of Value for your work here."

The scientist nodded, trying to hide his glee. Letters of Value were one of the
rarest honors handed out in the Domination, usually granting the recipent
an enormous estate in the Police Zone, and the serfs to run it; it was usually
used to reward military heroes or important inventors.

[0900 Hours, June 16th, 1940 - Office of the Prime Minister, Whitehall]

"So, what's this on this new plant that Winston is so eager for us to know
about?"asked Sir Neville Chamberlain, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

Leslie Hore-Belisha, the Minister of War, rose from his seat and cleared his
throat, before beginning to speak to the assembled cabinet.

"Recently, the Domination has expanded it's Quattara depression hydropower
plant, and at the bequest of MP Churchill, the Royal Air Force proceeded to
begin overflights of it from bases in Greece, through an agreement with the
Greek government."

"Analysts at MI6 have analysed the photographs from the overflights and have
concluded that the Domination has doubled the daily output of their Quattara
Aluminum plant from 272.7 tons of aluminum per day to a high of 545.4 tons
a day, for the increased needs of war industries now that the Domination is
at war with the Soviet Union."

"MP Churchill disagrees with that analysis, and contends that the Domination is
using the excess energy for heavy water production for their atom researchers."

Chamberlain sighed. Not Churchill again. The man had almost sabotaged the
crowning achievement of his tenure as PM, the Four Way Pact between Britain,
France, Germany, and Italy over removing numerous Versailles restrictions on
Germany, and here he was trying to provoke a war with the Domination with his
support for overflights over Domination territory.

"Is there any support for Winston's latest madcap idea?" asked Chamberlain
wearily.

"He points to the fact that the Draka have stopped buying heavy water on the
world market," came the rather weak reply.

"Mister Churchill is making a mountain out of a molehill," replied Chamberlain.
"For all we know, the Draka have abandoned that line of research, and have no
further need for this so-called 'heavy water'. In the future, I suggest you refrain
from indulging Mr. Churchill's flights of fantasies, and focus on running Whitehall."

Good stuff...

"So, as you can see, production of the heavy water is proceeding at a rapid clip, the new expansion allowing us to provide a little over two more tons of Deuterium Oxide each year for Tech Section to use for their experiments in atom research."

... Oh, shit. Well, Shit.

Good shit. I'll be waiting for more. How much longer will that nancy-boy CHamberlain stay in office?

Good old Heisenberg, still fouling up people's research.

Awesome chapter title. Good chapter, but nowhere near the coolness of the title.

consequences wrote:Awesome chapter title. Good chapter, but nowhere near the coolness of the title.

You have no idea how long it took me to come up with the right title. Thank you!

CaptainChewbacca wrote:

consequences wrote:Awesome chapter title. Good chapter, but nowhere near the coolness of the title.

You have no idea how long it took me to come up with the right title. Thank you!

Its also a fantastic mental image, of a hamster dropping dead on the wheel, giving it enough momentum to keep it turning, while grinding the now dead hamster into the gears somehow.

consequences wrote:

CaptainChewbacca wrote:

consequences wrote:Awesome chapter title. Good chapter, but nowhere near the coolness of the title.

You have no idea how long it took me to come up with the right title. Thank you!

Its also a fantastic mental image, of a hamster dropping dead on the wheel, giving it enough momentum to keep it turning, while grinding the now dead hamster into the gears somehow.

The gears on a hamster wheel are external if they exist.

So, how goes the Manhattan Engineering District? In this timeline we'd not get so many expat scientists fleeing opression in Europe ...

Depends on how fearful they are of the Draka menace to the south. Or we'd get lots of scientists fleeing Draka armies from such places as North Africa and possibly southern Europe (though whether they've got a lot to contribute I don't know).

phongn wrote:So, how goes the Manhattan Engineering District? In this timeline we'd not get so many expat scientists fleeing opression in Europe ...

Remember the interesting possibility that there could be numerous scientists in the United States who didn't exist in our timeline. Just think of all the potentially brilliant people in Mexico, Cuba, Latin America, the West Indies, and the PIs who might have spent their whole lives working on a farm or in a factory OTL because of the lack of education opportunities for them. With a modern American schooling system in those states, we really have no idea what sort of intellectual power would be available to the larger U.S.A.

Hmmm US and Germany may be cooperating... Einstin may be visiting the US to help with the blessings of the German government...sweeterned by the US providing Germany financial aid

Typhonis 1 wrote:Hmmm US and Germany may be cooperating... Einstin may be visiting the US to help with the blessings of the German government...sweeterned by the US providing Germany financial aid

No, not Einstein but rather Heisenberg would head the project, Einstein would by choice merely sign a paper unless he felt threatened way too much by the Draka.

Quick thoughts on some "stars" of each group's programmes:

US program: Oppenheimer (lead), Feynman, Teller(?), Wilson, Ulam(?)

European program: Heisenberg (lead), Bohr(?), Fermi, Bethe, Szilárd

Soviet program: Kurchatov (lead)

The sheer economic and industrial might of the US will probably give it the lead. Europe will probably come next, then maybe the Draka. The USSR will probably come last, I suspect. However, if Heisenberg screws up as in OTL then the Draka might just beat Europe.

As for other fun toys...

I'm not sure if the Radiation Laboratory at MIT will exist in its historical form. That requires a close Anglo-American relationship, which doesn't quite seem to exist in this universe. It was responsible for many of the advances in radar after the sharing of the cavity magnetron.

The same goes for the massive cryptology-related projects that the US and UK had cooperated in (MAGIC and ULTRA, respectively).

Does Goddard exert more influence to the US in this timeline? Or does Von Braun's group in Germany take the lead?

The V-weapons are neat devices, but they aren't of much strategic value. I think they'll be further refined, but won't provide a working nuclear missile before the war ends.

Setzer wrote:The V-weapons are neat devices, but they aren't of much strategic value. I think they'll be further refined, but won't provide a working nuclear missile before the war ends.

I know. They might try them as battlefield weapons, though. Without Von Braun the US Army's rocketry program will probably be at the forefront (which worked somewhat independantly of Von Braun's group).

phongn wrote:
The sheer economic and industrial might of the US will probably give it the lead. Europe will probably come next, then maybe the Draka. The USSR will probably come last, I suspect. However, if Heisenberg screws up as in OTL then the Draka might just beat Europe.

There's a theory that Heisenbrg purposefully derailed the Nazi A-bomb project. Supposebly, while in prision after Germany surrendered, he heard the bomb was dropped on Japan. Afterwards he turned to fellow inmates and explained exactly how the Americans made it.

Setzer wrote:The V-weapons are neat devices, but they aren't of much strategic value. I think they'll be further refined, but won't provide a working nuclear missile before the war ends.

A missile with long range andthe payload for nuclear weapons simply won't happen in this war. There might be enough resources available to fund the project, but it won't have nearly enough time. And anyway, German rockets simply weren't reliable enough for a multi billion-dollar nuke to be risked on one. V-2's routinely blew up while fueling, dropping one of the many tools need was all it took (this can still be a risk with even modern liquid fueled missiles) and they also often exploded in flight from the fuel tanks fracturing under the stress of the flight. And even with all that taken care of, there are basic issues of accuracy. Even if the V-2 could have gotten its planned .5 mile CEP (in reality it was more like 20 miles) it wouldn't be accuracte enough for a 20 kiloton nuke to be effective.

Lonestar wrote:There's a theory that Heisenbrg purposefully derailed the Nazi A-bomb project. Supposebly, while in prision after Germany surrendered, he heard the bomb was dropped on Japan. Afterwards he turned to fellow inmates and explained exactly how the Americans made it.

There is also a theory that he was simply incompetent and screwed up the calculations for the supercritical mass

phongn wrote: There is also a theory that he was simply incompetent and screwed up the calculations for the supercritical mass

Possibly.

Lonestar wrote:

phongn wrote:
The sheer economic and industrial might of the US will probably give it the lead. Europe will probably come next, then maybe the Draka. The USSR will probably come last, I suspect. However, if Heisenberg screws up as in OTL then the Draka might just beat Europe.

There's a theory that Heisenbrg purposefully derailed the Nazi A-bomb project. Supposebly, while in prision after Germany surrendered, he heard the bomb was dropped on Japan. Afterwards he turned to fellow inmates and explained exactly how the Americans made it.

Yes, but to paraphrase Bethe: "He knew how to make the bomb. It was that he just realized he never had the resources to do it so he placed himself in denial post war by saying he purposely sabotaged the project."

Heisenberg probobly didn't want to explain to Adolf Hitler why the bomb wasn't ready yet... Every other week. Hitler had nasty little ways to motivate people. Heisenberg was a smart fellow who avoided the stress of working for him and survived the war quite nicely.

Chapter Two: Winston Is Back

[20 September, 1941 - 0700 hours - Downing Street - London, United Kingdom]

The guard outside the Prime Minister's residence watched as the rotund man with
the bulldog's face ambled up the street, a cane in hand, and a jovial expression on
his face.

As the man came to a stop outside the Prime Minister's door, the guard cleared his
throat.

"Mister Churchill, the signal's already been sent to the fleet and the diplomatic
missions around the world."

"What signal?"

The guard paused, before replying, an obvious grin on his face as he did so.

"Winston is back, sir."

At this, Winston Spencer Churchill threw his arms into the air and shouted
"And so he bloody well is!"

[0900 Hours, Office of the Prime Minister]

"I want an update on that damned plant I've been talking about for the last year,"
growled Churchill as his first cabinet meeting as PM of the United Kingdom
opened.

DG Menzies fought and managed to control himself from grinning like a loon.
He'd correctly predicted what Winston would demand, and this would only
make his agency look better, compared to MI5.

"Mister Churchill, the last overflights we had of the Quattara depression plant
were in September of last year; so our photographic intelligence is out of
date. However, MI6 is currently running a highly successful intelligence
gathering operation in Cairo. The Draka love to talk, especially in front of
Serfs."

Menzies pulled out a sheet of paper. "The Quattara depression operation is
producing roughly four tons of Deuterium Oxide and shipping it to an unspecified
point 'deep in the Police Zone'."

"So it isn't Aluminum like those fools said so last year?" asked Churchill.

"Most certainly not, sir."

"I was right all along!" shouted Churchill.

"Winston, enough about that plant. Italy. We need to talk about Italy." remarked
Anthony Eden, the new Secretary of State for War, who had replaced the late,
unlamented Leslie Hore-Belisha the moment Churchill had seized power.

"Yes, well, how are the wogs doing?" asked Churchill as he lit one of his cigars.

"Rome as you well know, has fallen. The reports coming from Rome are horrific,
sir. It's all we can do to keep the Irish from demanding war. Bloody Papists."

Standing up, Eden pulled down a map of Italy from a nearby map easel and began
to point at specific areas with a map pointer. "The Draka are slowly advancing down
Italy, in a two pronged attack along both coasts of Italy, after establishing a line
stretching from Rome in the west to Pescara in the east."



"The Italians are resisting bravely, but are finding out that their twenty-eight ton
tanks with 75s are no match for sixty-ton Honds with 102mm guns. The Italian
aeroplanes are roughly an equal match for the Drakan aeroplanes. Hence, the
Draka are having a devil of a time seizing control of the air from the Regia
Aeronautica."

Eden paused, to compose himself before continuing. "The Regia Marina
got caught flatfooted by the sudden invasion of Sicily; and they were just preparing
to leave port when the Draka stormed ashore near Anzio, throwing even more
confusion into their chain of command."

"However, they've started becoming effective, our ships in the Mediterranean are
reporting ever increasing numbers of Drakan cargo ships being sunk every day,
from listening to the distress signals over wireless."

"How much longer can the Draka sustain this?" asked someone.

"We don't know. Apparently the Domination has been planning a move into the
Mediterranean for quite a long time; they have cargo capacity well in excess of
what they actually need for moving materials along their North African coast."

Eden nodded towards a RAF officer who was standing by the doorway, holding
a very large manila case. The man nodded in return and got up, walking towards
the easel. Reaching into his manila case, he pulled out a series of very large
blow ups of what were obviously aerial reconnaisance photographs.

The first photograph showed scores of obviously very ancient looking ships
all lined up on a beach somewhere. "This photograph was taken by one of our
Mossies six months ago; it shows one of the Domination's so-called Reserve
Yards. As you can see, all of the ships here are old steam luggers from the
1890s. Well past any feasible point of operating at a profit; yet the Draka pulled
them from the water and kept them in operating condition for decades."

The officer pulled another photograph; obviously the same place, but with all
of the ships gone. "This photograph was taken four days ago. You can see that
all of the ships are gone." Reaching into his case again, the officer brought out
another photograph. It showed a beach somewhere, with dozens of hulks littering
it.

"This is an enlargement of a news photograph recently released by the Drakian
Propaganda Ministry; showing the beachhead at Anzio. We have enlarged it to
show the detail on the ships lying on the beach. You can see clearly that these
are the same ships of the type that used to be stored in their Reserve Yards
until weeks ago."

"Bloody hell, these blighters have been planning this for a long time," remarked
Churchill.

[1200 Hours - Prime Minister's Personal Study]

"Mister Churchill," said the young aide at the door to his study. "Professor Cowen
is here to see you."

"Ah, good! Send him in!" muttered Churchill as he rearranged the papers on his
study, taking careful note to preserve that letter from that German physicist,
what was his name, ah yes, Einstein, about the possibilities of an Atom Bomb,
and the implications of the Drakan purchases of Heavy Water for the free world.
Surely the historians would want that one.

In stepped a rather disheveled man in an academician's tweed coat, whose
eyes twinkled whenever Churchill looked at them. He looked just like old Saint
Nick in those American soda company commercials, but without the enormous
belly. "It's rather good of you to see me on such short notice, Mr. Churchill."

"Not a problem, Professor. I heard that you had a solution to that pesky Drakian
atom programme?"

An evil twinkle appeared in Cowen's eye. "Yes, Mr. Prime Minister, I do. I most
indeed do."

[1400 Hours - Prime Minister's Personal Study]

Scores of maps were spread all over Churchill's study, along with sheaf after
sheaf of papers full of calculations, along with a small sample of sandstone
that had been shattered by a rock hammer. Cowen was now making his
final summary of his idea to Churchill.

"So, Mr. Churchill, it's rather simple; the Draka have dug the tunnels for their
Quattara Depression hydroplant through sandstone. Sandstone is one of the
most brittle stones known to man; hit it hard enough and it shatters; as well as
being very porous."

"The best way to stop their programme is to put the entire place under water,
which is quite simple, shatter the sandstone, and let Mother Nature take over;
if we do it right; within a week, Africa will have a new inland sea roughly the size
of Wales."

Churchill nodded. "I think I know just the man who can help you with this endeavour."

[21 September, 1941 - Abbotsbury, England]

"Hello Professor, name's Wallis, Barnes Wallis. Pleased to make your acquaintance."

Cowen looked at the white-haired man and considered him for a moment. He certainly
didn't look like the kind of person that could help him cause a natural disaster on an
unpreceedented scale.

Ahh more crack.

This is getting tricky to keep up with!
All these stories need to be put in chronological order when it gets archived.

"The best way to stop their programme is to put the entire place under water,
which is quite simple, shatter the sandstone, and let Mother Nature take over;
if we do it right; within a week, Africa will have a new inland sea roughly the size
of Wales."

Sweeet.

Wallis, Barnes Wallis

Info? Link?

Ohhhh, now the fic title makes sense...

I'm loving this!