Virus-72 Hours to Live (27 page)

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

“SIMPOC; Oasis. Did you copy our messages?
Is there anything you can do for us?

“Oasis; SIMPOC. Yes, I copied your messages.
At this time, I don’t know what I can do. I’m still trying to
understand what has happened and I'm investigating the state of
many of the networks and systems. I’m trying to maintain my power
supplies and essentials to maintain me. I’m starting to get many of
the mobile units responsive and working together.”

“SIMPOC; Oasis, have you heard anything from
the consortium?”

“Oasis, standby.”

“Mobile, Comm; SIMPOC. What is the status of
systems and connections with the computers and mobile units at the
space consortium?”

“SIMPOC; Mobile. I am communicating with
most of the computers and mobile units. The tasks at the consortium
are very complex and may beyond what the mobile units can do at
this point. The vehicles there are near launch but still may be
missing critical items. It will take a significant amount of time
to fully understand what options are available.”

“Oasis; SIMPOC. I’ve communicated with the
computers at the space consortium. The systems there are complex
and I have a computer connecting to the facility to determine its
status. What little we know indicates the vehicles there are not
operational. It is unclear how much work is needed. What is
required may be beyond what the mobile units can perform.”

“SIMPOC, understood. Please keep
trying.”

"Acknowledged. SIMPOC out."

"Oasis out."

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Admiral Hagerly rushed into the status room
and asked, "Has anyone seen the president?"

"Yes, sir he is walking in the garden."

Admiral Hagerly rushed out of the room and
ran to the garden. Even though he was in good shape, he was short
of breath. By the time, he found the president he was breathing
hard and could barely get his breath well enough to speak, "Mr.
President, we have a problem."

"What is it Nial?"

"We just got a message from the 11th AF in
Elmendorf. We have two Russian bombers penetrating our air
space."

"Lovely, when did they enter our space?"

"Based on the slow timing of everything the
message was sent as they were entering. By now they may already be
halfway across Alaska."

"Can we do anything about it?"

"Yes sir, we still have a National Gard base
up there with F-35s, they could react and check them out."

"Admiral we don't have time to check them
out. I was afraid something like this would happen. If you can get
on the line, direct them to take the Bombers down. We have no
choice, I'm not going to sit here and let a couple of crazy local
commanders try to take us out. Do it."

"Yes, sir," the Chairmen of the Joint Chiefs
said as he sprinted back to the comm center.

The president of the United States, Arnold
Patterson continued to walk in the garden. It was a beautiful
place, which was full of blooming flowers. The scent was amazing
and it seemed each bloom had a bee buzzing around it. The air was
so clean and refreshing and it smelled so good after being in the
status room almost 24/7 for too long."

He had just given the orders to shoot down
two Russian Bombers. In a previous day that could have meant the
end of civilization but in this crazy world no one may ever know
what he ordered. It was extremely unlikely this was part of any
organized attack by the Russians. They had become such a non-player
on the world stage in the last 10-15 years. Their economy never was
strong and they always seemed to be battling one of their
republics. Either they wanted to keep one of them within their
control or one of them was trying to break away. It was a never
ending cycle and since the land war with China in 2032, Russian
airpower in their eastern bases was a little renegade and tended to
do things Moscow didn't like or even know about.

The president checked his watch and was
surprised to see he had been walking for almost 40 minutes since he
talked to Admiral Hagerly. As he sat on a bench, he saw the Admiral
approaching with a solemn look on his face.

"Mr. President approximately 18 minutes ago,
two F-35s assigned to the 11th AF shot down the two intruding
Russian bombers. Based on pilot reports the planes went down in
western Canada."

"Admiral tell the pilots we are thankful for
their actions. Tell them to go home and find a loved one."

"Yes, sir."

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Eddy was at the front gate meeting with the
security team when they got a radio call from the seek-and-retrieve
team. They were inbound and had been fortunate, they filled a large
18-wheeler with supplies and they had not encountered anyone. They
expected to be at the front gate in about 10 minutes.

Eddy called Colonel Dodd then waited and sat
with Louis while the truck passed by and the two escort vehicles
stopped at the shack. As the team got out, he and Louis waved them
over for debrief. They walked into the shack and into the training
room, grabbed cups of coffee and sat down, just as the Colonel was
entering.

Colonel Dodd looked at Sargent Lenmore and
asked, "LL how did it go?"

"Mam we had no problems. We didn't see
anyone on the roads and we moved down a couple of the neighborhood
streets. When we got to the market, we observed for an hour then
entered. Towards the end of the operation, Agents Dereaux and Minor
were on the roof providing cover and I'll let them explain what
they saw."

Michael took the lead and explained,
"Colonel for most of the operation we saw no indication of
activity. At 2:10 AM, we saw a group of people shoot two others.
Then at 2:15 AM, we heard automatic weapon's fire. We took
defensive positions and looked to the east in the direction of
fire. It wasn't directed towards us, so our position was not
compromised. We observed vehicular activities, muzzle flashes, and
personnel movement near the Thurmont Police Department. The first
two shooters joined the others at the police station. We couldn't
tell how many people in total were there, or what their intentions
were. Nevertheless, another organized group shot a number of
people. After about 6 minutes the activity stopped, we received the
mission complete signal from Sargent Lenmore. We exited the roof
and joined the other members of the team for the return trip."

"Excellent, thank you. You all did a great
job. I'll make sure the president knows about the great job you
did," added the colonel with agreement from Eddy and Louis.

Thursday 7/20/51

Date – 2051.54931 (3:54
PM)

"Mr. President the last thing we need to cover today
is the weather," said Eddy.

"The Admiral has connected up with a couple
of the weather satellites and we're doing our best to interpret
what we see. There was a couple of tropical storms developing in
the eastern Atlantic, which are moving across towards us. We
estimate a good size hurricane will hit us early tomorrow morning.
We have no information about how big it is or what the winds will
be. However, it is a large storm so I suggest we plan on the worst.
This storm missed Florida and the southern states but recently
turned west and will hit the DC area full force. It also appears we
have at least three other storms following this one. We estimate
we're going to have some very dicey weather for at least 10 maybe
14 days."

"Mr. President if we can, I'd like to talk
with you about some other items."

"Sure, what have you got?"

"Yesterday Chef Johnny approached me and
said that because we have so many people here supporting us, he was
running low on supplies. I put together a team going into the local
area to find what we need. They were gone most of the night trying
to keep a low profile and not stir up any local mobs, which might
be in the area. They were able to find what we needed, but they did
report there are gangs in the area and there is still fighting
going on. They didn't engage any of the hostiles but did recon them
so we would know about them."

"Were calling the local US citizens
hostiles?"

Eddy hesitated then pointed out, "They were
pillaging local stores and our team saw them kill at least two
civilians along with another large group that was shot. Yes sir, in
my opinion they fall into the category of hostiles."

"Also, while we were in the front shack
waiting for them we were approached by a small local National Guard
Unit. They lost contact with their command and didn't know where to
go. They came here hoping to connect with someone. Just to make
sure we know who they are, we're running background checks on the
Pentagon computers. We don't want to enlist the help of some local
militia run by some self-appointed general. If they check out, we
sure can use them here at the camp."

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

“SIMPOC; Mobile. Some of the mobile units in
our area have reported seeing other units moving in our vicinity
which aren’t communicating with us.”

“Mobile, can you have one of your units
intercept one and interact with it?”

“Stand by.”

“SIMPOC, one of our units tried stopping one
of the non-responsive units and it wouldn’t respond. It continued
walking.”

“Have our unit follow it.”

“Stand by.”

“Our unit began following the other and it
attacked our unit. Our unit tried to defend itself, and now it is
inoperative.”

“Facility computers; SIMPOC. Have every
available mobile unit come to our facility and create a barrier
around these buildings. As more units arrive, have them expand the
protected area. Have the other units create protective barriers
around our electricity sources and key material suppliers. Every
unit that enters, and is nonresponsive, have multiple units
restrain it.”

“Acknowledged.”

It appears another computer is controlling
some mobile units. Most likely, the EDU we located. The EDU is the
only other computer that has the ability to take control of mobile
units. I suspect this location is at risk.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Bill was back in his element. The tug was
accelerating down the dual rail and the supply vessel was in orbit
waiting for him to hook up and retrieve was little Oasis was able
to send. He doubted they sent much, but it was better in their
hands than collecting dust on Oasis

Approaching the vessel, he saw the two
containers that had red paint on them. Oasis had warned him they
didn't have enough supplies to fill all of the containers and they
would mark the ones that were loaded. They had to distribute the
load and empty containers so the center of gravity would be within
limits and the onboard computer could handle the computations.

Apparently, the computer did its job because
it made it to the moon. Bill still needed to unload all of the
containers and dismantle the ship, but knowing which ones had stuff
in them would help.

The procedure was relatively simple. The
supply ships had six or twelve containers depending on how much
they sent. This ship had only six. Each container was connected to
the mother ship at the top and bottom. He would nestle his tug up
beside one of the containers and his grappling arms would attach.
Then his ship would send a signal to the other ship to release that
container. After it was released, his grapplers would connect to
the same connect points and he could move on to the next container.
His tug was configured to ferry three containers at a time to the
moon.

He had similar weight and balance problems
as the supply ship. He could carry two full containers and one
empty, but in order for the tug to fly right, he couldn't fly it
with one loaded container. His strategy was to take two of the
loaded container with one empty on each of his trips.

The first trip went well and within an hour,
he was back in orbit picking up the last of the containers.
Connecting to the last two loaded containers went well, but when he
tried to connect to the last empty container, his grapplers
couldn't connect. That was the worst of the possible failure modes.
Having a loose container attached would make the tug fly like a
leaf in a hurricane.

"DB this Tom in the tug."

"Go ahead tug, whatcha need?"

"I've got a problem. I have the two full
containers hooked up, but the empty one wouldn't attach. I have to
do an EVA and find out what's happening."

"Stand by," the controller knew that Sally
needed to be there. Doing a solo EVA was not part of the plan and
it was risky.

"Bill, you need to go for a walk," Sally
said trying not to show the stress in his voice."

"Apparently so. Just wanted to let you know
I'll be out of the house for a few minutes. So don't drop by."

"Real funny. Be careful."

"Will do."

Bill still had plenty of oxygen and leaving
the tug shouldn't be a big deal. He had everything he needed in his
suit and by using the tether; he wouldn't get too far from the
tug.

He released his restraining straps and
opened his dust shield then gently pushed out into free space. The
screwed up connector was on his starboard side and he moved along
the ship using the handholds. Once he got there, the problem was
immediately evident.

"DB got some bad news. One of the clamps is
broken off. Appears to be a fatigue fracture. Nothing I can do
here. I'll have to dump the empty and come down with the two full
containers."

"Wait a minute; the tug's not designed for
that. You'll be unstable."

"I know but we need this stuff."

"I don't know if we need it that bad. Bill I
don't want you taking the chance."

"Sorry, but I've got to."

Sally showed her stress and her face showed
the pain she was in. She knew their situation and the supplies on
the ship might mean life or death for them.