do I fit in?” Jeffers asked.
“Ted, I want you to combine the FBI and the CIA into one agency. We all know once the word is out, total chaos will erupt. There are those who will try and take advantage of this. Some people will become agitators because it’s what they do, others will agitate as a means to an end. You and your agent’s job will be to thwart those who would impede our plans.”
“That’s pretty broad Alex. How much power are you granting me in these matters?”
“Pretty much unlimited Ted.”
The Chief Justice then spoke.
“General, I spoke to the President-elect prior to coming here, he did not allude to the impending crisis only to say that you had critical information you would impart to me. Based upon what you have just told me I suggest you declare martial law, suspend the inauguration and the convening of Congress until after the event so we know where we stand from a survival standpoint.”
“Yes, I agree with the Chief Justice, at least it should provide some sense of ‘somebody’s in charge’,” Jeffers offered.
“Very well, but Chief Justice I want you to run this by President Cantwell first. After the speech to the UN, I will address the nation that evening to make those announcements. I’ll ask that Allan Haverty, the acting FEMA Director, prepare the Mount Weather and Congressional survival sites ready to take the newly elected President, his Cabinet, and Congress to their respective bunkers. I’m going to Idaho to reestablish a command headquarters. We have much to do gentlemen, and one hundred eighty-six days to do it. Let’s make the most of that remaining time.”
“Alex, would you have a problem with me and Marcia being assigned to your bunker in Idaho?” Ted asked.
“My feelings would have been hurt if you hadn’t asked,” Alex replied.
Thus began the most ambitious national effort not seen since the New Deal followed the Great Depression. The entire government and military networks swung into action, former facility managers rushed to their old sites to review readiness status. Vendors from tents to cots, blankets and socks, were contacted and emergency war orders placed. MRAP rations vendors as well as dried food vendors nationwide were ordered to produce and provide massive amounts within days. Many protested at such a short time frame, but were given Alex’s warning, compliance was immediate and unquestioned. The Air Force began scrambling fighter jets wings and tankers squadrons to their previously designated bases. Specialty combat units along with heavy armored units were dispatched to predesignated bases.
The Pacific Fleet, under orders from Admiral Hanover, began heading to the Panama Canal for stations in the Gulf of Mexico. All Naval, Marine and Army land based personnel were put on twenty-four hour notice for war footing status. The U.S. Coast Guard would maintain vigilance along the entire coastlines of the Americas. Shortly before impact their fleet would be sent into interior rivers as far inland as possible. A 24/7 air search supplemented by satellite reconnaissance was implemented to protect the U.S. borders from foreign intrusion.
Numerous sites were designated for bivouac areas in the high desert area of eastern California. Seven thousand six-man tents that could withstand a chemical attack were ordered. Temporary water storage tanks with a total capacity of ten million gallons of potable water were being moved to the sites in addition to the six million individual water bottles. Portable hospital units, generators, thousands of oxygen tanks for the troops to withstand the fouled atmosphere, fuel storage tanks, command communication centers, field kitchens, portable toilets, thousands of critical items hit the massive supply pipeline. Fax machines and vendor phone lines lit up nationwide in an unparalleled display of economic might.
The nourishment needs of a forty-five thousand man contingent camped out in the desert for possibly two years was enormous. It necessitated ordering fifty metric tons of rice, thirty metric tons of dried beans, forty metric tons of processed flour, fifty thousand gallons of cooking oil, portable refrigerated storage units capable of holding one million packages each of corn, green beans, carrots, and other assorted vegetables along with eight million pounds of ground beef, turkey slices, hot dogs, sausages, and twenty-six thousand cases of various domestic beers were in transit within seventy two hours. The stress levels at vendors plants skyrocketed, it was 24/7 nonstop production, plant managers slept on cots, assembly line workers grabbed a few winks of sleep in their cars or wherever they could. The sound of America gearing up was deafening, it would have astounded even Henry Ford.
Admiral Hanover forewarned his senior officers all hell was going to break loose on January 2nd and they better damn well be prepared. If that meant no sleep each and every officer would do so until their part of the mission was accomplished. No excuses, this was a life and death situation they were facing…failure was not an option.
Colonel Brad Cole, Flight Operations Officer at Nellis, had a team of sixteen air controllers managing a fleet of over three hundred C-5, and C-17 cargo planes moving back and forth across the U.S. carrying millions of tons of food and supplies, equipment, military personnel, and civilian technical people. Alex subcontracted with cargo delivery companies that provided another four hundred heavy cargo planes. Domestic travel began to feel the effects of the increased air cargo activity as military transports took precedence over commercial airline flight schedules. Los Angeles, Phoenix, Seattle, Chicago, Minneapolis, Kansas City, Oklahoma City, Atlanta, Charleston, Boston, and Pittsburgh were hardest hit, primarily because most of the vendors were located in those cities. The various vendor plants had military trucks alongside contracted big rigs parked at their docks waiting to be loaded with ordered material. Refineries worked non-stop to produce jet fuel and diesel for delivery to the military on an emergency basis.
As the sites in eastern California were being staked out and set up, a continuous line of military trucks began the trek to the sites. Interstates I-10 and I-15 were clogged within forty-eight hours of Admiral Hanover’s orders. Military MP’s were dispatched to move civilian traffic to the side of the road giving the military convoys priority status. The lobbyists for the casinos in Las Vegas, furious about the disruption of gaming revenue, frantically bombarded the White House switchboard to no avail. I-15 was a lifeline between them and southern California. Traffic had come to a grinding halt because of the military convoys. It wouldn’t take long for people to notice the activity… then the questions would begin.
“Mr. President, George Neff is on the line, do you want to speak to him?” his secretary asked.
“Go ahead and put him through I’ll take it.”
“Hello George, what’s up?”
“Mr. President, we are getting reports of massive military movements, and some companies have acknowledged orders from military units at unprecedented levels. Can you tell me what is going on?” Neff asked.
“Where are you George?”
“I’m at the D.C. bureau right now,” Neff replied.
“Can you be here in thirty minutes?”
“I’m on my way.”
George Neff, NBC anchor of the nightly news, the most watched newsman in America, walked into the White House and was greeted by the President’s secretary.
“Good afternoon Mr. Neff, the President will see you now.”
Neff walked briskly toward President Cantwell, they shook hands, the President motioned for George to have a seat on the couch.
After the formalities offering George something to drink, the President got right down to business.
