the meeting go?”
“Obviously, they were stunned, I can’t even begin to describe the emotions that I witnessed come over everyone at that moment, it was surreal to say the least.”
“And?”
“They, excuse me, the President, put both you and I in charge of the survival plan again. We have absolute power to do whatever is necessary to get the nation ready for this disaster.”
“So what do we do next Alex?”
“I need you to get our team back together and have them report to the survival facility at Coeur d’Alene. I am reconstituting our original plan and reassigning staff accordingly, with modifications of course.”
“What about Elena and Andrade and their baby, your godson?”
“I’ll call Kleskova this afternoon to tell him the bad news and ask if we may bring them back to the U.S.; I’ll offer him and some of his key people the same refuge,” Alex stated.
“Okay, it looks like I’ve got a lot of work to do. I love you Alex, and I have total confidence you will get us through this.” Sandi stood and kissed him, then went to her office, sat down, and holding back the tears began the process of pulling everyone back together again.
Alex placed a call to President Kleskova and spent a good hour and a half on the phone filling him in on the details. Kleskova was genuinely moved when Alex offered to house him and family in the Coeur d’ Alene survival shelter, but respectfully declined saying his country would need him there. They would implement a crash program to build as many survival facilities as possible. Alex said he would send the punch list he used for staffing and equipping his various facilities by courier. Alex would then dispatch the private jet to St. Petersburg to pick up Elena and Andrade.
“My friend, whatever fate hands us, you have shown yourself to be a valued ally and it has been an honor to know you, we will stay in close contact as the date draws near,” Kleskova finished the call.
After finishing his call with President Kleskova, Alex called Elena and Andrade to tell them he was sending the corporate jet to pick them up the next day. Elena and Andrade began packing immediately; she had to consider the baby now, not just her and Andrade. They packed clothes, legal documents, and a one-year supply of prescription medicine for the baby. Elena and Andrade were ready and praying that Alex would once again come to their rescue. They knew the Soviets would not provide the kind of survival facilities Alex would prepare.
Alex’s work was far from over for the day; next on the agenda was Admiral Hanover, the Pacific Fleet Commander, he briefed him on what was to happen around July 1st of the coming year.
“Felix, I want you to begin redeploying your carriers and support ships to the Gulf of Mexico. Then mobilize your west coast personnel to begin shifting men and material at least two hundred fifty miles inland along the entire west coast. Start immediately to stockpile food and medical supplies to support your entire command for two years in the high desert area of southern California. That means setting up bivouac areas all around Hemet, Palm Springs and Lancaster. You’ll need water, fuel and portable generators. Think of it as a mass migration eastward and your people will be living a Spartan life for at least two years. If the event passes and there’s no threat to the west coast…we can always return. Let’s hope that’s the case.”
“Jesus Christ Alex, I can’t believe this is happening. How much authority do I have to get what I need from vendors, some of these people may try to put me off with a long production schedule?”
“Felix, if someone pointed a gun to my head and said, ‘You either give me what I want now or I’ll shoot you and deal with the next in line,’ I might be persuaded to listen,” Alex replied.
“That’s what I needed to hear, I’m calling my key division officers for an emergency meeting in two hours. We will implement plans tonight and be running at full steam by tomorrow morning. We need to get a jump on January 2nd, because all hell will break loose after that.”
“Felix, one last thing, send the west coast Seal detachment to Coeur d’Alene and keep me posted on your progress.”
Alex made one more call later that afternoon to Harlan Monroe at Ft. Lewis in Washington State. Monroe was as stunned as Admiral Hanover, but understood the urgency of getting things underway immediately before the ensuing chaos set in.
“Harlan, you have the facility managers numbers, contact them and have everyone ready for a conference call tomorrow at nine a.m. eastern time.”
“Consider it done, talk to you tomorrow at nine.”
Sandi walked in and sat down with a long face and forlorn look.
“The kids were so upset, they feel their whole world is slipping away, they feel cheated. We’re going to have some adjustment issues I fear,” Sandi said.
“Yeah, I guess if I was in their shoes, I’d feel the same way. But we can’t let them go out and throw a pity party. We’ve got to get them involved, keep them busy, maintain their focus on the big picture. I’ll make you a deal, you handle the girls and the babies, and I’ll handle Curt, Mike, Bill, and Andrade. You and the girls did such a good job handling the supplies and food distribution before let’s put the girls on task for replenishing the supplies at the facilities nationwide.”
“That’s an excellent idea, I’ll have them rotate and take care of the babies one day then work the vendors the next day. With Elena it gives me four people to handle the mission, that should work,” Sandi said.
“When we get to Coeur d’ Alene, I’ll assign more staff to help you with the workload.”
Alex was particularly attentive to Sandi that night. He knew she was feeling vulnerable. Maybe it was the challenge he was facing that was causing his testosterone levels to spike. Sandi had never seen Alex so aggressive yet tender in bed before. He picked her up and gently laid her back down on the bed and kissed her softly.
Alex whispered as he gazed into her mesmerizing smoky blue eyes.
“I have never loved someone as much as I love you, you are my life, I’ve loved you across time. And I will love you until time comes to an end.”
“Alex, your passion was on a different level tonight, instead of making love to me, you made me feel loved. It is very important to me and I love you so much for that. Also…we need more comets to threaten earth.” Alex felt her passion and understood her humor…he would come to rely heavily on both as precious time passed.
Chapter Two
Gearing Up
Alex had the Pentagon operator connect all his former facility managers to his secure phone in his Pentagon office for the nine o’clock conference call.
“Agnes is everyone on the line?” Alex asked.
“Yes General, I took a roll call and everyone on the list is present.”
“Thank you Agnes, now route this through the scrambler and disconnect your side.”
“Yes sir.”
“Good morning ladies and gentlemen, I assume all of you are familiar with what we’re now facing. As of this moment I’m implementing the survival strategy that was in place before. Everyone from the west coast to the east coast will assume your original positions, you are to immediately inspect your facilities, determine what material and supplies you will need for a sustained two-year period post event. All military commanders are to reassign your military units as before, get critical armor and airplanes into their respective locations for storage, our depots have been untouched and are in good shape. Admiral Hanover is heading up a task force to move most west coast Naval, Marine and Army personnel inland and will set up bivouac areas in eastern California. The Pacific Fleet is being moved to the Gulf of Mexico, the submarine units will stay on duty at their assigned locations until shortly before the comet hits the