For the 2011 science fiction novel by Robert Charles Wilson, see Vortex (Wilson novel)

Vortex (Wilson novel)

Vortex is a science fiction novel by author Robert Charles Wilson, published in July 2011. It is the third book in the Spin series, following Spin and Axis....

.

Vortex is a 1991 war novel

War novel

A war novel is a novel in which the primary action takes place in a field of armed combat, or in a domestic setting where the characters are preoccupied with the preparations for, or recovery from, war...

 by Larry Bond

Larry Bond

Larry Bond is an American writer and wargame designer. He is the designer of the Harpoon and Command at Sea gaming systems and several supplements for the games. His numerous novels include Dangerous Ground, Day of Wrath, The Enemy Within, Cauldron, Vortex and Red Phoenix...

 and Patrick Larkin

Patrick Larkin

Patrick Larkin is a bestselling novelist specializing in historical, military, and espionage thrillers. His collaborations with Larry Bond, including Red Phoenix, Vortex, Cauldron, The Enemy Within, and Day of Wrath, have won critical acclaim for their suspense, realism, and unblinking appreciation...

.

Plot summary

In a tense, hypothetical 1990s apartheid South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

, a reformist president and his cabinet are killed after their train is destroyed by a special ANC

African National Congress

The African National Congress is South Africa's governing Africanist political party, supported by its tripartite alliance with the Congress of South African Trade Unions and the South African Communist Party , since the establishment of non-racial democracy in April 1994. It defines itself as a...

 guerrilla team. Hardline elements within the government, led by Minister for Internal Security Karl Vorster, had advance knowledge of the attack, allowed it to continue, and even prevented an ANC attempt to cancel the attack. They planned to let the ANC kill their political opponents and then take over the government.

Vorster becomes president, declares a state of emergency

State of emergency

A state of emergency is a governmental declaration that may suspend some normal functions of the executive, legislative and judicial powers, alert citizens to change their normal behaviours, or order government agencies to implement emergency preparedness plans. It can also be used as a rationale...

 and declares martial law

Martial law

Martial law is the imposition of military rule by military authorities over designated regions on an emergency basis— only temporary—when the civilian government or civilian authorities fail to function effectively , when there are extensive riots and protests, or when the disobedience of the law...

. He then orders his army to invade recently independent Namibia

Namibia

Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia , is a country in southern Africa whose western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and east. It gained independence from South Africa on 21 March...

. Cuba

Cuba

The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...

n forces in neighboring communist-controlled Angola

Angola

Angola, officially the Republic of Angola , is a country in south-central Africa bordered by Namibia on the south, the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the north, and Zambia on the east; its west coast is on the Atlantic Ocean with Luanda as its capital city...

 and Mozambique

Mozambique

Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique , is a country in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west and Swaziland and South Africa to the southwest...

 move into Namibia and prevent the South Africans from overrunning the country. The Cuban leadership then plans an invasion of South Africa from Angola and Mozambique, with logistical assistance from the Soviet Union

Soviet Union

The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

.

When the rising price of precious metals begins to dampen the world economy and the two sides begin deploying chemical and nuclear weapons, the U.S.

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 and Britain

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 get involved, sending a task force to capture South Africa before the Cubans do. These forces reunite with the anti-Vorster South Africans who hold Cape Town

Cape Town

Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...

. Vorster plans to use nuclear waste to permanently destroy his country's resources, but an operation with the American, British, and South African forces leads to his capture and the fall of his illegal government. The Cuban General in charge of the invasion tries to fight on, only to admit defeat after his forces are decimated by bombing raids. In the end, the General dies after a roadside bomb attack; Vorster is sentenced to life in prison and denied even his hoped-for martyrdom; and a new government is formed and works to forge a new South Africa.

South Africans

• Karl Vorster – the Minister for Internal Security, and later State President of South Africa
• Commandant Henrik Kruger, SADF – Commanding officer of the 20th Cape Rifles Battalion
• Marius van der Heijden – Deputy Minister for Internal Security
• Emily van der Heijden – Journalist and daughter of Marius van der Heijden
• Erik Muller – Director for Special Operations in the Directorate of Military Intelligence
• Matthew Sibena – Driver and police informant
• Brigadier Deneys Coetzee, SADF – Senior officer assigned to the South African Defence Ministry
• General Adriaan de Wet, SADF – Chief of Staff of the South African Defence Force
  South African Defence Force
  The South African Defence Force was the South African armed forces from 1957 until 1994. The former Union Defence Force was renamed to the South African Defence Force in the Defence Act of 1957...
  
  
• Captain (later Major) Rolf Bekker, SADF – Commanding Officer of the Reaction Force of the 44 Parachute Brigade
• Frederick Haymans – State President of South Africa

Americans

• Ian Sherfield – Network journalist stationed in South Africa
• Sam Knowles – Cameraman assigned to Ian Sherfield
• Lieutenant General Jerry Craig, USMC – Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces in South Africa
• Lieutenant Colonel Robert O'Connell, US Army – Commanding Officer of the 1st Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment
• Edward Hurley – Deputy Secretary of State for Africa

Cubans

• General Antonio Vega – Supreme Commander of the Cuban Forces in South Africa
• Colonel José Suárez – General Vega's Chief of Staff