backed up by a second redundant one.”
“I’d like to ask how many of you have children?” No one acknowledged.
“How many of you have significant others?” All of them raised their hands.
“So, General, will we be allowed to bring our significant other even if we are not married?” Dr. Janice Compton asked.
“Yes.”
“Then where do I sign up?” Compton retorted.
“I’m in,” Dr. Fortune said.
“Well, I’m not going to let Janice hog all the fun, I’m in also,” Dr. Hathaway announced to a light laughter.
“Alex, you know I’m in,” Terry Logan stated. Everyone’s attention turned to Dr. Marks, who was clearly struggling with what to say or how to respond, finally—.
“I have a problem, my mom and dad live in Thousand Oaks, I’m not sure I could just leave them in the outside world. It’s going to get pretty ugly out there after several months.”
“Dr. Marks, you have a valid concern and you’re right, it will likely decay into complete anarchy outside the facility walls. If you think your conscious would affect your work, then I strongly suggest you withdraw your name from consideration.”
“General, wait a minute, Ethan what a selfish attitude. Millions of people are going to die. You’re being offered a unique opportunity to be one of the founding fathers of a new world. We’re here to assist the very people who are going to kick start civilization. We’re going to be a part of the building blocks for a new Earth. Your parents are an important part of your life; I understand that, they have just as much a right to survive as a three year old. Ethan, this is not about age or they had their moment in time, but if everyone adopted your position the whole goddamned world might as well die all holding hands and hugging each other for the last time,” Dr. Hathaway fired across to Marks. Everyone remained silent for a moment.
“You’re right Carrie, I guess it is pretty selfish of me, I’m in General.”
“Do you have any dentists lined up?” Logan asked
“Yes, a lab tech and an assistant,” Alex replied.
“General, we’ll need at least two operating room techs, a regular nurse, and a lab tech.”
“Terry can you handle that?”
“I’m sure between all of us we can recruit the necessary personnel.”
“Okay, here’s the plan. I want your team at the Burbank Airport on the morning of January 2nd. I want you to board the corporate jet and be in the air before I make my speech to the UN, scheduled for ten Eastern, that’s seven Pacific. There’s a satellite fed TV on board and you’ll be able to watch my speech while in the air. You’ll arrive at the facility and settle in to your new quarters; my family will already be there. A highly trained security detail will be on site. You’re allowed two suitcases only, that’s all the luggage the jet can hold. Submit your specialty instrument and equipment needs to Terry as soon as possible so we can get them to the facility before all hell breaks loose.
“Any questions?” There were none. Alex stood and shook everyone’s hand again.
As he concluded the meeting he said, “I look forward to seeing all of you soon.”
Walking back into his office Alex sat down to rest his mind. Thoughts were running rampant, so many dying needlessly…the choices people were going to have to make…life and death choices. He knew what was coming, and there was a sense of hopelessness, the feeling that there was nothing he could do about it…the weight of his conscious bore down upon him. He knew he had to stay focused…so many people were depending on him.
Chapter Three
Now Everybody Knows
Admiral Felix Hanover, Pacific Fleet Commander, was feeling good about the progress being made at the three sites he had chosen. The six-man tents had arrived from various bases and vendors and four thousand personnel were working nonstop assembling them. Truck after truck rolled into the sites loaded with food and supplies. Huge flatbed tractor-trailers carrying power generators and cold storage units streamed into the compounds. Temporary fuel storage tanks, water tanks, specially designed portable latrine and shower units were ordered and some being delivered. Power poles sprang up like new saplings in a forest. Flexible steel portable storage buildings by the hundreds were up and ready at each site in three days’ time. By the end of the seventh day all that remained were last minute deliveries of bottled water, cold storage food items and some of the dry goods still in production.
Hanover ordered heavy security around each site with a five hundred yard kill zone clearly marked and warning signs were posted. The sites were located at Edwards Air Force base, a second one outside Lancaster, and the third near Victorville, California. By January 2nd the three California sites would almost be fully operational and awaiting Hanken’s orders to man the sites. The other survival units located at strategic sites across the U.S. reported similar readiness status with a heavy security force present at each site. When the exodus to the survival sites was underway, base and facility shutdown teams would be dispatched to those installations being shuttered along the U.S. coasts.
Alex arranged for a conference call to all of the new sites in California and the existing ones nationwide on Saturday morning December 31st. He told them he planned to deliver the speech to the UN on Monday morning followed by an address to the nation later that evening. The next morning he would board Air Force Two to fly to his command headquarters in Coeur d’ Alene. He warned the facility managers that interruptions in delivery of final items would become commonplace. If anyone felt it necessary they were authorized to dispatch a military combat unit to the vendor to secure any items not delivered. A palpable relief could be heard with Alex’s final words. Some sites had already experienced delivery delays on selected critical items, now they had the authority to solve those remaining issues.
Sunday morning, January 1st 2017, New Year’s Day, Sandi kissed Alex one last time as he watched his team board Air Force One; the President insisted they use the plane for their trip to Alex’s new headquarters. Ted Jeffers, his wife Marcia, Mike, Tina, Elena and Andrade joined Sandi on the plane for the trip to the Idaho facility. Bill, Liz, Curt and Cynthia arrived several days earlier at the Coeur d’ Alene facility and were settling in. Sandi lobbied Alex to let her talk to her dentist in Davis along with the lab tech and an assistant to offer them the opportunity to join the team at the main facility. Dr. Linda Chan and her two staff members had arrived and were arranging their quarters.
Alex watched the big silver and blue plane lift off the runway and make a left turn for a westerly heading. It was a cold day a few flurries were falling, it seemed oddly quiet as he walked back to the Marine helicopter. He felt the sting of the cold wind biting his face, the wind whistling down the tarmac, tiny rivulets of wind-blown snow snaked across the ground. Deep inside Alex felt a loneliness similar to when his first wife Ellen, had died.
Alex met Ellen in 1979 at a ski lodge in Vail, a year after graduating from the Air Force Academy. He had just completed A-10 advanced flight training and was meeting some friends for a class reunion at the Vail resort. From the first moment he saw her he thought she was the prettiest girl he had ever seen. She was tall, like a New York model, with beautiful legs, and a smile so brilliant… her teeth seemed to sparkle. Her eyes were jade green her hair was raven black. She had a slight build, but wasn’t model thin. Alex had never been shy around girls and upon seeing her that first time he walked straight to her and introduced himself. His confidence intrigued her, and the fact that he was handsome didn’t hurt. He was quite the gentleman and treated her with respect as opposed to a prize to be won. After she graduated from Northwestern, Ellen was offered a job at a large west coast managed care provider located in Sacramento. After their first meeting they continued dating while Alex was assigned to Luke Air Force base in Arizona for F-16 advanced pilot training. They maintained a long distance relationship that lasted nearly a year,