arrange for non-military SUV’s to pick up everyone at the hospital Thursday evening and drive you to Burbank Airport where my staff jet will fly the group to D.C.”
“Alex, it’ll be great to see you again.”
Alex looked forward to seeing his old friend again, but worried how Terry would react to the reality of the situation, and for that matter how the assembled physicians would receive the invitation without Alex being specific about the threat.
The Chief Justice called Alex Friday morning to inform him that the Congressional leaders had been briefed. There was consensus from both political parties that to convene the Congress under this cloud would not benefit the country. Elena and Andrade arrived at Andrews Air Force base early Friday morning and immediately whisked away to Alex and Sandi’s home in Georgetown. Sandi put them in one of the guest bedrooms along with a bassinet for the baby, and a nanny was available when necessary.
Alex entered the conference room for the ten o’clock meeting with the doctors from Cedar Sinai Hospital. Everyone stood as Dr. Logan greeted him.
“Alex, it’s been too long.” Alex hugged Terry like old times.
“Alex, let me introduce everyone, this is Dr. Janice Compton, she is a gynecologist and obstetrician; the gentleman there is Dr. Ethan Marks, our orthopedic surgeon; next to him is Dr. Kellen Fortune, general surgery; and finally Dr. Carrie Hathaway, a pediatrician and internal medicine specialist.”
Alex shook everyone’s hand and thanked them for coming on such short notice.
“Please have a seat. As you know our country has been faced with several crisis’s in the past months, and I’m now facing another, just as sinister and dangerous, if not more so than the previous events. I have asked you here because I plan to assemble a medical unit of specialists to be housed at my command center as this latest crisis unfolds. I’m unable to tell you what the crisis is at this time. You’ll be informed on January 2nd in my address to the UN, and once again that evening when I speak to the nation. This announcement will likely cause worldwide panic; chaos and anarchy will most assuredly break out across the entire globe. We’ll not be immune from that happening here in the U.S. We plan on seven hundred military and civilian personnel to be housed at my headquarters facility and another three hundred personnel in close proximity who will all need occasional medical care. You’ll have the finest lab equipment and instruments at your disposal, all you have to do is ask for something and it will be there. We are bringing in two state of the art field hospital surgical operating rooms. In addition, I’m setting aside five private exam rooms equipped with current technology data bases for your use. Again, no expense is too much; if you need it, we’ll provide it,” Alex stopped for a moment to allow questions.
“General Hanken, I can only assume that we are looking at long-term isolation. How long do you expect this crisis will last?” Dr. Compton asked.
“Good question, my scientific advisors calculate that we should expect to be in a survival mode between one and two years. Then, when it’s safe to emerge, we will do so.”
“What are the living conditions going to be like?” Dr. Marks inquired.
“Well Dr. Marks I’m quite sure they won’t be anywhere near as nice as the Foggy Bottom Double-Tree Inn where you stayed last night. The facility has two bedroom suites for each of the doctors, fully furnished; there are communal showers and toilet facilities with privacy a main concern in the design. Probably the best way to describe the facilities is to say it will be similar to an upscale college dorm with a master kitchen for preparing meals for a large group. Each suite has a small refrigerator for personal choice indulgences, a plasma TV with a DVD/CD player, with three thousand movies and TV series on file in the library, and nine hundred music cd’s, you are welcome to bring your own music as well.”
“It’s obvious to me that we’re going to be hit by an asteroid or asteroids, so the original plot to take over the government wasn’t just a hidden agenda, the threat was real?” Dr. Fortune asked.
“No, that’s not true, and on January 2nd you will find out exactly why.”
“Is the facility you want us to live in safe?” Dr. Hathaway asked nervously.
“Dr. Hathaway, the facility is built inside a mountain, guarded by a twenty foot high, five foot thick blast door that takes fifteen minutes just to open or close. Inside the blast door is another twenty foot door, it has six inch steel, and is a hermetically sealed door with vacuum pumps to flush toxins or microbes from the air before contamination of the interior facility can occur. The facility has state of the art air purification and filtering systems and its own oxygen manufacturing capability, each system is 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
