The Emerald Virus (11 page)

    
“You’ve always been a good man and we’ve respected your privacy, as you have
ours. But this morning you mentioned to Elliot that you had no family in the
area and we want to invite you to spend the end days with us if you would like
to do so.”

    
As Kelly finished her statement she couldn’t help but glance at the wedding
band on Noah’s left hand. He saw her look and said “Ms. Randall, I appreciate
that more than I can say, but I lost my Sally and two little ones to an
automobile accident some five years ago. I buried them in the Holy Cross Cemetery
up in Pine Ridge. When the time comes I’ll join them there and spend my last
minutes thinking of being with them again. But yours is a generous offer and I
do thank you.”

    
Kelly said “Mr. Yellowbird, I’m so sorry to hear about your family. I didn’t
mean to pry but I did want you to know you’re always welcome here.”

    
“Thank you ma’am”.

    
“Alec is there anything new about the virus?”

    
“Well the reports from Europe and Asia tell horrible stories of chaos and
death. Rioting everywhere is rampant; the big cities are on fire, mostly
because the firefighters have by and large gone home. The virus seems to be
spreading more quickly than anyone thought possible. Even worse, the first
reports of people with Emerald Virus symptoms in America came out this morning.
There are folks with the virus in New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas
and Atlanta. Apparently it has been spread by air travelers to major cities and
CNN reports that in the next couple of days they expect reports of the virus to
grow exponentially.

    
“This Jack Sweeney guy from Homeland Security published a bulletin asking
communities to help survivors by preparing RVs for them to live in, and he’s
published a list of supplies he thought would be best for the survivors. It’s
interesting that we have a Government man who actually seems concerned for the well-being
of people he’ll never meet, and he seems to be using a lot of common sense
talking about how we can help those who will survive this Virus.”

    
Elliot added, “It sure would have been nice if someone from the Government
would have acted like they cared about the well-being of people before this
happened. It seems to me the only thing they cared about before now was how to
get more money out of our pockets and into someone else’s.”

    
Alec said, “Elliot, you’ve been beating that same dead horse for more years
than I can remember. It might be time that you gave it a rest.”

  
  Elliot snorted and said, “Well Alec, if what they say about this Virus is
true, I do believe I will be giving it a rest in the near future. But between
now and then I might still have a thing or two to say about a Government that
acts more in its own self-interest than in mine or yours.”

    
Kelly frowned and said “Elliot, I don’t know how you can choose to laugh at
news like this. The entire country is in a crisis and people are worried about
their loved ones dying, and you’re laughing. That doesn’t seem right to me.”

    
“Well Kelly, I’ve spent my life finding humor where I could, and I always
thought that me, and most times the folks around me, was better off for it. I
know these are tough times, but I believe that humor might be the only thing
that can help, if only a little bit and only for a short time. Or maybe it’s
because I’m just too darned old to change.”

    
Noah interjected, “Alec, who is this Jack Sweeney fellow and why does he think
he can help?”

    
“Apparently he is the head of the bio-terrorism division of Homeland Security
and he got involved because of the early fear that terrorists were involved.
CNN, when they introduced him, said that he had decided that his team was in
the best position to step up and help so he just started doing things and
everyone else stepped aside. I’ve seen a number of his bulletin by now, and
I’ve listened to his recommendations about stocking RVs for survivors with
food, weapons, and communication equipment and I’m impressed with how fast he
has moved and how right he seems to be.”

    
 Noah asked, “What kind of weapons is he recommending?” Are we talking about
dual fifty caliber machine guns mounted on the top of RVs or what?”

    
“No, actually it’ just what you and I might expect; a 30.06 for hunting, a 9mm
as a handgun, and a short barreled 12 gauge for defense.”

    
Noah looked up and said “That is kind of amazing, that’s exactly what I would
tell someone to do in terms of weapons. Maybe I’ll pay a little more attention
to this guy in the future.”

    
Alec replied, “I don’t think it’ll hurt any of us to listen to him. He has also
given the whole country an email address they can use to send in suggestions
for survivors. I hope he has a lot of people reading those emails; the world is
full of crazies on a regular day. During a crisis like this they’ll be coming
out of the woodwork with their suggestions on how to save the world. In fact I
expect Elliot to email him as soon as he gets back to the bunk house.”

    
Noah and Elliot laughed and Elliot said, “I just might do that. I’m sure I’m
the kind of honest man Mr. Sweeney is hoping to hear from.”

    
Jack sat at his desk late Monday morning and thought about the press conference
that had just concluded. He thought it had gone okay and he had no complaints
about the coverage. Every network and cable company seemed to be there, along
with a lot of the foreign press. His statement included everything that he
thought critical, and the questions were to the point. The press surprised him.
He was used to questions that seemed to be asked just so the reporters could
hear themselves talk, rather than for the value of the answers. Jack thought it
must be the severity of the crisis that caused the change.

    
The hardest questions to answer were those about the possibility of a vaccine.
The press wanted to know how soon to expect a vaccine, and there was no way to
answer that question except to tell them that the chances of creating a vaccine
in time were poor. The other part of that question concerned those showing
symptoms. Jack told them that once the virus entered your system it was simply
too late for a vaccine to help. There was no cure for anyone who caught the
disease, even if a vaccine was available to help those who had not yet been
affected.

    
His primary concern was whether the public thought his statement and
explanations were creditable. His staff assured him that was the case, but that
wasn’t convincing enough. He was aware that subordinates rarely criticized the
boss, and for good reason. Bosses tended to take criticism by subordinates
poorly, rather than as comments from another professional.  As much as Jack
liked to think of himself as a decent leader, he didn’t believe that he had
magically transformed the nature of the boss-to-subordinate relationship.

   
Only a positive reaction by the public to the recommendations that had been published
yesterday could assure him he was being taken seriously. He would know soon
enough if towns and cities across the country were procuring RVs and stocking
them as he hoped they would. He knew that the web site was getting thousands
and thousands of hits, and that the press was publicizing every recommendation
his team provided.

    
One thing he thought would help was the news he had received from Kathy Green
during yesterday’s conference call. She had informed the group that one of her
teams had created a software program that would allow a cell phone to become
universal in nature. This of course was a top secret project that had been
commissioned by a government agency for use by agents worldwide.

    
On Sunday Kathy wasn’t sure they could make this available to survivors since
it could only be made to work after hacking into a company’s system to get the
appropriate access codes. However, when Jerry and Dale had assured the group
that the cell companies were willing to open their systems for access by any
survivor, the universal cell phone project was in business. Her technical team
had assured her that with open systems they could make any cell phone a
universal cell phone by downloading the software to the chip in the phone. This
could be done automatically, much like downloading a ring tone.

    
Jack knew it was time to stop thinking and worrying about today’s press
conference. His message was either received or it wasn’t and he had done all he
could for now to ensure success. It was time to move to more pressing matters.

    
The evacuation of the President, the Cabinet, the Supreme Court, key military
officials and the Congress had started on Saturday and had been completed
yesterday, a day ahead of schedule. This was in large part due to the number of
political leaders who had chosen not to evacuate, but to instead stay with
their friends and families.

    
The President and almost all of the White House staff had evacuated to a bunker
in Virginia with their immediate families. Less than half of the cabinet had
joined the President, although the Secretaries of State and Defense did
evacuate. Only five of the nine Supreme Court justices had evacuated, but this
was enough to continue to issue decisions if need be.

    
Key military officials had evacuated to various bunkers around the country as
planned. Jack knew the military would do what was asked of them, as it always
did, regardless of the consequences for their families. It seemed to Jack that
in times of crisis the country had always asked too much of the military, and
the military always responded.

 
   Fewer than two hundred members of Congress and the Vice-President evacuated
to a bunker in West Virginia. Jack was sure that this was due to the fact that
there was not enough room for families, and most had decided to stay with their
families. Jack wondered briefly what this said about those who did evacuate,
but he quickly decided there wasn’t any value in pursuing that line of thought.

    
Since those evacuations had been completed ahead of schedule, yesterday
afternoon the military had informed A.J. and Jack that the Survivor team would
evacuate in the early afternoon today. All team members scheduled to evacuate
had brought with them everything they would take to the bunker. They still did
not know where bunker was located, other than in the Southwest. 

    
Given the news this morning, from a half dozen cities, that people were showing
symptoms of the virus, Jack was afraid the evacuations, as fast as they had
been, might be too late. If the symptoms were showing this morning that meant
that the virus had been present in those cities for at least six days. If
anyone evacuated to one of the bunkers had been exposed to the virus in that
six day period, everyone in the bunker would be exposed and would die. Well,
they could only wait another week and see if anyone showed the symptoms.

    
For now Jack was getting ready to make one more call to Jane. Jack knew Harry
had talked to her Saturday evening and told her that he had been showing
symptoms. Both Harry and Jane were taking this better than Jack thought they
would, but he knew that they had had five days to prepare themselves for the
inevitable. Harry had told both Jane and Jack that he knew he was going to
become an early victim of the virus. He was simply too close to it.

    
Jack understood that Harry’s death was inevitable, but it was still hard for
him to realize he was losing a close friend. He knew that if he thought too
much about it he would diminish his capacity to think clearly so he continued
to try to put those thoughts aside and move on. But it seemed the more he tried
the harder it was.

    
Jack was thankful when Irene buzzed him to tell him in fifteen minutes it would
be time to go to Andrews Air Force Base for the evacuation flight. He talked to
Jane quickly and then walked down the hall to A.J.’s office and told her the
team was moving out.

    
A.J. looked at Jack with tears in her eyes and said, “Jack, I don’t know what
to say. We’ll be in touch through the phone of course, and I’ll continue to
support you anyway I can, but basically you’ll be on your own from this point
on. Make your own decisions about how to interface with the public, and with
the survivors. Continue to issue bulletins as you see fit, and do what you can
to help those folks who will survive. I’ll think of you often and I’ll always
be thankful for the opportunity to have worked with you.”

    
“Doc, believe me when I say that the pleasure derived from our relationship has
been mostly mine. We were a great team and I’m really sorry that it has to end
this way. I would much prefer to stay here and go through the end times with
the people I know. But that isn’t in the cards for me, so I’ll do this one last
thing for you and for me and for my countrymen. But when I’ve done everything I
think I can for the survivors I’ll leave that bunker die in the sunshine, on my
terms.” Jack then smiled and said, “I won’t be far behind you all in all so
don’t get too comfortable without me.”

    
Jack turned and started to leave A.J.’s office; he stopped in the doorway and
looked back at A.J. who was standing by her desk with tears running down her
face. Jack smiled at her and without saying anything he walked back to his
office. He knew he would always remember A.J. as he had last seen her.

    
He joined his team, and they left together for Andrews AFB.

   
When Jack arrived plane side he approached the Army Colonel who seemed to be in
charge and said, “Hi, I’m Jack Sweeney from Homeland Security, I’m here with
twelve others ready to evacuate to a bunker in the Southwest. Are you the right
person to be talking to?”

    
“I sure am. I’m Colonel Ron Allenway. I’m the senior military official on the
plane and I command a team of twenty-two. I understand that you out-rank me,
but I’m in charge of the military evacuation mission. If you don’t mind we can
talk about rank and responsibilities once we reach our new home.”

    
Jack responded, “Ron, I’m strictly concerned with my mission and my team. As
far as I know we have no overlap in missions and I have no intention of using
my time trying to run life in the bunker. I hope you’re prepared to continue to
accept that responsibility.”

    
Ron looked relieved and said, “Of course I am, that’s what I’ve been trained
for. I just didn’t want to step on your toes. This has happened so quickly that
the only thing I was told was that a senior Homeland Security official and his
team would join me, and that you would outrank me. I don’t even know if you’re
familiar with military protocol. ”

    
As he smiled Jack said, “I served during the Afghan war and deployed there four
times, so yes, I’m familiar with the military. But, I have a very specific
mission and me and my team will appreciate anything you can do to allow us to
focus only on that mission. As far as any other decisions go, I’ll rely on your
expertise. Anytime you want to discuss something I’ll be there, and I’ll give
you my honest opinion if I have one, but I’ll not interfere with your command
responsibilities.”

    
“Great, I appreciate that. If you will, please introduce me to your team and
then I’ll do the same. The teams will get to know each other on the flight and
after we reach the Cathedral.”

    
“The Cathedral?”

    
“Yeah, my deputy and I made a trip out there on Friday so we could take a look
at what we were getting into. The rock outcropping surrounding the opening to
the bunker looks like nature’s idea of a cathedral, so we gave it that
nickname. My team has been listening to us call it that for a couple of days
now and I think the name has stuck.”

    
Jack said, “Sounds good to me. Let’s do introductions now.”

    
The plane went wheels up an hour later with both teams and all of their gear.
The plane was a huge military jet with the front section containing passenger
seats and the back full of cargo, mostly in metal containers, with jump seats
along both bulkheads. Ron and Jack sat together in the front row of seats.

    
Jack asked, “What kind of cargo are we carrying?”

    
“A good chunk of it is communication and electronic gear my team will use. A
smaller portion is the computer gear you requested. The rest is what we’ll need
to survive for at least a year underground, although we had a lot of things
delivered to the bunker yesterday. My biggest concern is fresh water. The
bunker is equipped with a superb water recycling system, but if the system
fails it will mean an early and painful death for all of us. As a back-up the
Air Force used a cargo plane like this one full of canned water to stock the
bunker with enough fresh water for all of us for more than a year.”

    
“I’m surprised you could get access to those types of resources that quickly.”

    
“Actually I was too. But they told me to ask for anything I needed so I did. I
found out that your mission was personally endorsed by the President and he
said we were to get anything we needed so no one balked about anything I
requested.”

    
“You say that as if there is more than just food and water involved.”

    
Ron grinned sheepishly and said “There are one or two surprises stocked for us
at the bunker. I’ll give you a tour once we arrive.”

    
“Okay. For now are you ready to tell me where we’re going?”

    
“Ron looked surprised and said, “You mean you don’t know?”

    
“No I don’t. I was told that the location of the bunker was classified and we
wouldn’t be told until we were in the air.”
     “You know, I should have thought of that. The location is secret, but
given that this crisis is not military in nature, and the location of the
bunker doesn’t need to be kept secret any longer, we’ve been pretty open in our
talks. Anyway, the bunker is located southwest of Chama, New Mexico, buried in
a ridgeline that runs near Heron Lake. We’ll land later this afternoon in Santa
Fe where we have helicopters waiting to take us to the bunker entrance.”

    
“Won’t this attract a lot of attention?”

    
“Well, you have to remember this is the high desert in the heart of the Rocky
Mountains. It sits right on the Colorado border and while it is some of the
most beautiful scenery in the world, it is desolate. The helicopters will fly
low, and they’ll bypass any towns or villages. We will pass over a couple of
ranches but I don’t think anyone will be able to track our progress. If this was
a military mission we would operate a little differently and take no risks at
all. But I think we’ll be just fine. Once we enter the bunker the helicopters
will fly away and there will be no trace of our existence. We have some pretty
neat tricks for covering up the few tracks we’ll leave, and there are no roads
leading to the bunker entrance.”