devoted to her. But internally he was torn between demands of his job and his love for her.
In late 2007, a routine medical exam revealed a lump in Ellen’s right breast. The biopsy came back positive indicating ductal carcinoma and it was spreading to other parts of her body rapidly. After four months with no sign of improvement, radiation and chemotherapy treatments were discontinued. The cancer had already spread to her liver and kidneys. Curt a sophomore in college at the time, announced he would drop out of school to be with his mom; Ellen would have none of that. She reminded him of all the times she had been there for him while he was growing up, and if he wanted to do something for her in the remaining days…then he would stay in college.
Alex put up a great front; trying to be the tree in the storm she could cling to…internally he was mortally wounded. How could he possibly go on without her? The thought of losing her was ripping him up inside. She sensed Alex was struggling to cope and told him this was the reason why years ago she insisted they set aside the time for just themselves, to build those special memories that would last a lifetime. She reminded him repeatedly that he was a wonderful husband, a decent, honest man, and above all a great father to Curt. She also stated emphatically he was still young and encouraged him to seek another woman deserving of his love and devotion. She gave him her blessing to do whatever his heart told him to do, she would understand. Ellen passed away in May of 2008 and for the first time in Alex’s life he knew what it was like to be totally alone. He couldn’t erase the guilt he felt for not spending more time with the one person he had ever loved.
Alex returned to the Pentagon to address the remaining staff. They had their facility assignments and knew what their orders were. He thanked everyone for their loyalty, many of them could have gone to the media with speculation about what was going on, but all had remained silent.
“Tomorrow at ten a.m. the world will be made aware of a crisis unlike any this planet has ever faced before. I regret there’s nothing more I can do, but pray for each of you and wish you a safe and fruitful life ahead.” Alex shared a holiday drink with everyone.
The day Alex had been dreading arrived; he rose early to prepare for the flight to New York City for his address at the UN. Air Force Two touched down at JFK International Airport where a crowd estimated to be at least one hundred thousand people had gathered even though it was bitterly cold and windy. The crowd hoped to catch a glimpse of the most popular national leader in recent times.
Alex waved to the crowd and they reacted with loud cheers…the guilt crept in; soon he was about to crush people’s hopes and dreams. Little did they know those cheers would soon fade to tears of anguish; a fear of the unknown would grip their very being. Alex was shuttled by helicopter to the UN and quickly escorted to the General Assembly building where he would give his speech. Professor Kumar appeared from a nearby room, greeted him and asked if he would consider meeting the other scientists who had conferred with Professor Kumar on their findings before the announcement was made? Professor Kumar said the group would be seated at a table to Alex’s left facing the assembly. He could reference them at any time to verify their findings. That was the reason they were there, to back him up.
Alex felt it necessary to acknowledge the group of scientists and wanted to thank Professor Kumar and his colleagues for being there to answer any scientific centered questions the assembly members may have that were beyond his knowledge. The assembly clerk appeared at the door; he said the UN Secretary General was ready to introduce General Hanken. Alex took several deep breaths, he wasn’t nervous and felt a strange and unusual calm come over him. He was about to tell the world that an inconceivable disaster was going to befall the peoples of Earth.
“Today at our opening session for the new year we have the distinct honor of presenting the man who engineered the rescue of democracy for his country. He comes before this body with, in his words, a matter of extreme urgency. Ladies and gentlemen of the assembly please welcome General Alex Hanken, of the United States of America,” The UN Secretary General nodded to Alex.
“Mr. Secretary, members of the general assembly, and to all citizens of this planet who you represent, I stand before you today with grim news concerning our world. As you recall, my country just concluded a sad chapter in its history. The conspirators attempting to overthrow our government utilized a rogue computer program tricking our government into thinking a massive asteroid strike was imminent. They used this ruse as cover for their devious plot. The program initially depicted an event that had occurred nearly five years ago. The comet Sedna/Kern p236 for some unexplained reason was thrown out of its then known orbit and hurtled into the asteroid belt. A recording of this event was altered by some very sophisticated computer programmers hoping it would throw our country into chaos, thereby laying the groundwork for the takeover.
“The world space observatories cannot cover the vast expanse of space individually; they must share space with each other and rely on mutual collaboration to disseminate information about events taking place in outer space. This rogue program prevented the observatories from seeing what was actually happening until about a month ago. Seated to my left are nine gentlemen, considered some of the most renowned scientists from around the world, all acknowledged experts in their field. Two weeks ago they approached me with some startling news. Their conclusive calculations show that the comet Sedna/Kern p236 has indeed been knocked out of its original orbit by a massive collision in the asteroid belt. Its original trajectory past the Earth toward the sun, around the sun and passing Earth again has been significantly altered. Ladies and gentlemen I am sorry to tell you this, the comet is heading for an intercept course with Earth; and is expected to strike the planet on or around July 1st of this year.
“Our world will suffer massive damage and regrettably, a significant loss of life. The scientists have prepared a lengthy and very straight forward report for you to deliver to your respective governments. The one thing I must stress to you today is that all nuclear power plants must be shut down completely sixty days prior to the event. Although we may survive the comet strike, we would most likely die of radiation sickness due to nuclear plant meltdowns occurring across the globe.
“Many of you will ask yourselves, ‘could the scientists have made a mistake’? I can assure you these men have run exhaustive test after test, the data is the data, it has been challenged by some of the greatest minds in the world… it is inevitable…there is no doubt this planet will suffer a catastrophic event on or around July 1st. My only hope is mankind will be given the chance to rebuild. I pray that your God will protect and guide you as this event unfolds. Thank you for your time.” Alex stepped away from the podium, within seconds shouts of disbelief erupted from among the attendees, ambassadors quickly picked up the reports that contained the pertinent details provided by the scientists and rushed out of the hall to contact their government heads. There were no questions…just outright panic.
The news hit the wires and within minutes New York City along with every major city in the U.S. came to a grinding halt. Wall Street suspended stock trading, gold, platinum, and silver soared on the commodity exchanges, and the dollar skyrocketed against other currencies on the FOREX. People wandered aimlessly along streets, the whole world was in shock, some fell to their knees and prayed. Others simply needed a moment to gather their thoughts—what to do—where to go—who to contact? Newsrooms around the world became manic hives of activity, experts in science and health along with survival strategists were hunted down for their advice and booked to appear on TV, but the one expert who was sought the most was…Alex.
Alex’s helicopter rose off the pad and flew directly to JFK, during the flight he looked down at the busy streets of New York—all those people. Air Force Two climbed into the air and headed toward Andrews AFB. As he strode into the Whitehouse offices area he spotted George Neff along with his crew and the other four major network anchors. The President had just finished his speech to the nation laying the groundwork for Alex to be seen as the de facto leader of the country during the crisis.
“So
