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Retribution Times Two
Raymond Charles Brickman III and Kathy Ann Erickson—two individuals who will never meet in space—by chance collide in time. Both think they’ve been wronged and plan retribution. To avenge long-held grievances originating from America’s Civil War, Brickman intends to extract concessions by threatening to destroy critical American satellites. Erickson seeks no such concession. Her family killed during the Soviet war with Afghanistan, her objective is the total annihilation of her homeland, the Russian Federation.
Into this brew of hatred and vengeance drop Drs. Victor Mark Silverstein and Linda Ann Kipling, scientists at the Naval Research Laboratory in Monterey, California—and part-time CIA operatives. No strangers to international intrigue, this time they gain a partner, Russian spy Dmitri Smirnov. Battling clever adversaries, near-death experiences, and a ticking clock, over a grueling three-day period the threesome fight not only to save the satellites but to prevent nuclear Armageddon.
Into this brew of hatred and vengeance drop Drs. Victor Mark Silverstein and Linda Ann Kipling, scientists at the Naval Research Laboratory in Monterey, California—and part-time CIA operatives. No strangers to international intrigue, this time they gain a partner, Russian spy Dmitri Smirnov. Battling clever adversaries, near-death experiences, and a ticking clock, over a grueling three-day period the threesome fight not only to save the satellites but to prevent nuclear Armageddon.
- GenresFiction
398 pages, Paperback
Published June 15, 2021
2 people are currently reading
1008 people want to read
About the author
Paul Mark Tag
7 books9 followersPaul Mark Tag received degrees in the field of Meteorology from Pennsylvania State University, the last in 1977. He worked for the Naval Research Laboratory as a research scientist for over thirty years before leaving his job to write fiction full-time.
In the late 1990s, in preparation for a career in writing, he began writing short stories. Author/Publisher Arline Chase was his mentor. In early 2001, when he made his career change permanent, he spent a year writing only short stories. These stories have been published in StoryBytes, Potpourri, Greens Magazine, and The Storyteller.
In 2002, Tag started his first novel, a thriller entitled Category 5, that took advantage of his knowledge of meteorology and weather modification. Prophecy, the sequel to Category 5, was published in July of 2007. White Thaw: The Helheim Conspiracy, is the third in the series. He then switched genres, penning his first historical novel, How Much Do You Love Me?
Realizing how much he missed writing thrillers, he returned to his thriller trilogy and wrote the sequel, Retribution times two. He lives with his wife, Becky, in Monterey, California.
In the late 1990s, in preparation for a career in writing, he began writing short stories. Author/Publisher Arline Chase was his mentor. In early 2001, when he made his career change permanent, he spent a year writing only short stories. These stories have been published in StoryBytes, Potpourri, Greens Magazine, and The Storyteller.
In 2002, Tag started his first novel, a thriller entitled Category 5, that took advantage of his knowledge of meteorology and weather modification. Prophecy, the sequel to Category 5, was published in July of 2007. White Thaw: The Helheim Conspiracy, is the third in the series. He then switched genres, penning his first historical novel, How Much Do You Love Me?
Realizing how much he missed writing thrillers, he returned to his thriller trilogy and wrote the sequel, Retribution times two. He lives with his wife, Becky, in Monterey, California.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
December 18, 2021
The prospect for a Russian President or American President triggering a nuclear strike on the other is slim, provided they are not deranged.
We are aware that both countries maintain their missiles on hair-trigger alert to empower them to launch within minutes of a decision to do so in reply to a warning of an incoming attack. The alarm would be set off from their respective data received from radars and satellites.
What if a devious computer hacker manipulates these warning systems to bring about a misleading visual display of incoming missiles targeted at the USA and Russia? Each country would conclude that they are being invaded by the other? Is there some kind of security valve between the two countries that could block an accidental missile launch by either one? Can the missiles be ordered back or destroyed before they approach land?
This is one of the dreaded themes in Paul Mark Tag’s Retribution Times Two, which involves a Russian immigrant to the USA, Kathy Ann Erickson (AKA, Viktoriya Ratimirovna Popova. Erickson undertakes to avenge the murdering of her family in Afghanistan by the Russians.
Erickson gives considerable reflection to creating the perfect storm needed to generate nuclear war that would be inevitable between Russia and the USA.
Her first horrendous plan affects the airspace within the USA that comprises twenty-one centers. All are disabled. These centers ensure a smooth operation for aircraft passing over the continent. Her intent was to make it appear that the Russians were behind the hacking of the system. In fact, in her ingenuity, she makes certain that the hacking would be traced back to a Moscow location near to the foreign intelligence service of the Russian Federation.
To achieve her plan, she signals the Americans will not stand for this conduct by the Russians. They would shut down the comparable Russian air traffic control system. Erickson also sabotages hydroelectric power generation facilities.
And this was not her only villainous plot. How about drawing the two most powerful nations in the world into a nuclear Armageddon? Quite a triumph when you realize that one woman acting alone could precipitate an unpredictable escalation between the two nuclear superpowers.
The story’s second nefarious theme involves Raymond Charles Brickman III, a National Satellite Operations Facility employed in Suitland, Maryland. Brickman attempts to coerce the U.S. government into paying Civil War reparations to the South.
He threatens to sabotage U.S. Weather satellites if the U.S. refuses to acquiesce. Brickman is a specialist in meteorological satellites, especially in command and control. To demonstrate he is serious, he hacks into the system, causing the loss of the monitoring capability of NOAA-20, the country’s newest polar-orbiting weather satellite. He threatens to immobilize more weather satellites if his requests are not satisfied.
We learn Brickman is a proud Southerner. His great-great-grandfather, Howard Edward Jones, fought under General Lee and died at Gettysburg fighting the Union Army under the command of General Winfield Hancock. Brickman’s supervisor is an offspring of Winfield Hancock. Brickman wishes to vindicate the death of his great-great-grandfather, which he feels had been caused by General Hancock. His great-great-grandmother, having lost her spouse, slaves, revenue source, and social status, took her own life. Full of bitterness, this leads Brickman to murder his boss.
Incidentally, each perpetrator is unaware of the other's devious plan.
Thrown into the tale are two protagonists, Dr Victor Mark Silverstein, senior analyst at the Naval Research Laboratory in Monterey, California. He is assisted by Dr Linda Ann Kipling, who works for him at the laboratory. They are also part-time undercover CIA operatives.
Also, part of the team to help ward off a nuclear confrontation are Hector Rodriguez, senior counterintelligence agent for the CIA, and Erickson’s uncle, Oleg Vladimirovich Popov, Deputy Director, SVR Directorate X, Science and Technology of the Russian Federation. These characters merge and prove to be genuinely valuable in defusing the calamity that is about to unravel. Yes, Russians and Americans are functioning jointly to save humanity.
You have to agree that the very notion that what transpires in the novel is truly alarming. Could this ever happen?
Lag’s novel is filled with vivid details that absolutely reinforce his statement mentioned in his “Author’s Note” that his objective is to create an interesting story within realistic scientific, theoretical, temporal, and geographic boundaries.
The story unfolds with a kind of extraordinary realism. Lag’s characters are credible, and the events could actually happen. The narrative even prompted me to undertake some exploration and guess what? Wikipedia has revealed several events since 1956 where there has been a close nuclear call involving scary incidents. These could have led to at least one unintended nuclear detonation or explosion. It makes you wonder how safe are we if Tag’s novel could come to pass?
Follow Here https://1clickurls.com/3kWwXCH To Read Norm's Interview With Paul Mark Tag
We are aware that both countries maintain their missiles on hair-trigger alert to empower them to launch within minutes of a decision to do so in reply to a warning of an incoming attack. The alarm would be set off from their respective data received from radars and satellites.
What if a devious computer hacker manipulates these warning systems to bring about a misleading visual display of incoming missiles targeted at the USA and Russia? Each country would conclude that they are being invaded by the other? Is there some kind of security valve between the two countries that could block an accidental missile launch by either one? Can the missiles be ordered back or destroyed before they approach land?
This is one of the dreaded themes in Paul Mark Tag’s Retribution Times Two, which involves a Russian immigrant to the USA, Kathy Ann Erickson (AKA, Viktoriya Ratimirovna Popova. Erickson undertakes to avenge the murdering of her family in Afghanistan by the Russians.
Erickson gives considerable reflection to creating the perfect storm needed to generate nuclear war that would be inevitable between Russia and the USA.
Her first horrendous plan affects the airspace within the USA that comprises twenty-one centers. All are disabled. These centers ensure a smooth operation for aircraft passing over the continent. Her intent was to make it appear that the Russians were behind the hacking of the system. In fact, in her ingenuity, she makes certain that the hacking would be traced back to a Moscow location near to the foreign intelligence service of the Russian Federation.
To achieve her plan, she signals the Americans will not stand for this conduct by the Russians. They would shut down the comparable Russian air traffic control system. Erickson also sabotages hydroelectric power generation facilities.
And this was not her only villainous plot. How about drawing the two most powerful nations in the world into a nuclear Armageddon? Quite a triumph when you realize that one woman acting alone could precipitate an unpredictable escalation between the two nuclear superpowers.
The story’s second nefarious theme involves Raymond Charles Brickman III, a National Satellite Operations Facility employed in Suitland, Maryland. Brickman attempts to coerce the U.S. government into paying Civil War reparations to the South.
He threatens to sabotage U.S. Weather satellites if the U.S. refuses to acquiesce. Brickman is a specialist in meteorological satellites, especially in command and control. To demonstrate he is serious, he hacks into the system, causing the loss of the monitoring capability of NOAA-20, the country’s newest polar-orbiting weather satellite. He threatens to immobilize more weather satellites if his requests are not satisfied.
We learn Brickman is a proud Southerner. His great-great-grandfather, Howard Edward Jones, fought under General Lee and died at Gettysburg fighting the Union Army under the command of General Winfield Hancock. Brickman’s supervisor is an offspring of Winfield Hancock. Brickman wishes to vindicate the death of his great-great-grandfather, which he feels had been caused by General Hancock. His great-great-grandmother, having lost her spouse, slaves, revenue source, and social status, took her own life. Full of bitterness, this leads Brickman to murder his boss.
Incidentally, each perpetrator is unaware of the other's devious plan.
Thrown into the tale are two protagonists, Dr Victor Mark Silverstein, senior analyst at the Naval Research Laboratory in Monterey, California. He is assisted by Dr Linda Ann Kipling, who works for him at the laboratory. They are also part-time undercover CIA operatives.
Also, part of the team to help ward off a nuclear confrontation are Hector Rodriguez, senior counterintelligence agent for the CIA, and Erickson’s uncle, Oleg Vladimirovich Popov, Deputy Director, SVR Directorate X, Science and Technology of the Russian Federation. These characters merge and prove to be genuinely valuable in defusing the calamity that is about to unravel. Yes, Russians and Americans are functioning jointly to save humanity.
You have to agree that the very notion that what transpires in the novel is truly alarming. Could this ever happen?
Lag’s novel is filled with vivid details that absolutely reinforce his statement mentioned in his “Author’s Note” that his objective is to create an interesting story within realistic scientific, theoretical, temporal, and geographic boundaries.
The story unfolds with a kind of extraordinary realism. Lag’s characters are credible, and the events could actually happen. The narrative even prompted me to undertake some exploration and guess what? Wikipedia has revealed several events since 1956 where there has been a close nuclear call involving scary incidents. These could have led to at least one unintended nuclear detonation or explosion. It makes you wonder how safe are we if Tag’s novel could come to pass?
Follow Here https://1clickurls.com/3kWwXCH To Read Norm's Interview With Paul Mark Tag
December 11, 2021
Interesting read
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews