Warren watched her leave. It was becoming more difficult every day to live in the bunker. People were meant to be out on the surface of the planet. He just hoped the two new tunnels would help. With a heavy sigh, he turned to follow Janet. He had some reports to go over, and then he needed to speak to General Mann as well as Mase Colton.
-
Beneath the shuttle, the rugged lunar surface looked more desolate than ever. The volcanoes had stopped erupting, but the lunar quakes and eruptions had only added to an already scarred landscape.
The shuttle circled Tycho Crater, then flew high above the massif, and Mase looked down at the damage done to the small communications outpost. Steffan Darrow had already sent a crew to begin repairing the antennas and all of the damage caused by the lunar quakes. The small control building was still intact, but Steffan’s people would be giving it a close inspection before Mase agreed to send people back up to it. They hoped by getting the big antennas back up they could communicate better with the surviving shelters on Earth.
From above they could see that several of the big antennas had collapsed, and others were leaning at precarious angles. A shuttle was currently parked on the massif’s landing pad, and a crew of eight were already busy with repairs.
“Everywhere you look, there is damage,” Anthony commented as he adjusted the shuttle to fly back over Tycho City. “I guess all things considered we got off pretty lightly.”
“It could have been worse,” Mase agreed as he looked down.
The shuttle was passing over the landing pads, and Mase could see several small fissures that ran dangerously close to one of them. A construction crew was out, and they were using several of the enclosed Moon bulldozers to push dirt into the fissures to seal them back up.
“Do you think we will ever be able to make trips back and forth between the Moon and the Earth?” Anthony asked as he glanced up at the distant planet that was just above the horizon.
“No, at least not for a long while,” Mase responded with a sigh. “We can launch a shuttle and possibly land it on Earth, but there is no way to launch it back. All three of the shuttle launching sites have been destroyed. There is no way to fuel a shuttle or attach SRBs even if we had them.”
The shuttle arrowed back up toward space as Anthony gained altitude and he set a course for Farside. “I was pretty sure that was the case,” Anthony said disappointedly. “Do you think the survivors on Earth will be able to make it?”
Mase looked out the cockpit window at the pockmarked surface below. He knew in some ways Earth probably resembled the Moon now, particularly after all the volcanic eruptions and the ash that had settled everywhere.
“I don’t know,” answered Mase. He had spoken for quiet sometime with Warren Timmons and General Mann about this very thing. “It depends on how well the Earth’s atmosphere clears up and how the new orbit affects the Earth’s ecological systems.”
“What ecological systems?” asked Anthony, raising his eyebrows. “It’s dead isn’t it?”
“The oceans may not be,” Mase replied. “Some of the scientists think the deeper parts of the ocean may have come through pretty much intact.”
“I guess there would still be some seeds in the ground that would germinate under the right conditions,” Anthony added thoughtfully.
“Perhaps,” Mase answered. “We will just have to wait and see.”
The two were quiet for a while as the shuttle continued on its flight. Anthony made a few adjustments on the control console, and soon the shuttle began to descend. In the distance, the massive dome of the Albertson reflector was visible. As they approached, the numerous dish antennas could be seen. Some of them looked perfectly normal, still pointing up toward space where they had last been focused. Others were bent or had toppled to the ground in the quakes.
“I’m glad Pierre didn’t have to see this,” Mase spoke quietly, thinking about how heartsick LaRann would be to see his life’s dream in ruins.
Anthony looked down at several dish antennas that lay shattered on the ground. He could well recall his flights with the brilliant scientist as Pierre went on and on about all that would be discovered when his array went online. It was hard to believe all that had happened since then.
Looking out, Mase noticed with concern several large fissures that had come uncomfortably close to the Albertson reflector. One was within a few hundred yards of the dome. He would have to get a crew out here to begin filling the fissures up. There was a lot of lunar soil that would need to be moved. He also wasn’t happy with the fact that Adam Strong had never mentioned how close the fissure had come to the dome.
Anthony brought the shuttle to a point just above one of the landing pads and gently set it down. He was still the best pilot on the Moon and he took pride in keeping that title. Looking over at Mase, he suspected that Adam was going to get a big ass chewing for not mentioning the fissure. But Anthony knew that Adam had been afraid that if he mentioned it Mase would shut Farside down completely. Anthony heard the docking port connect and, glancing down at his instruments, saw that it was showing a smooth seal.
“We have a good seal,” he reported, looking over at Mase.
Mase let out a deep breath as he stood up and moved toward the hatch. After this inspection, he had a meeting with a group of scientists about the new orbit of the Earth as well as the Moon. Mase knew that the Moon, at the most distant part of its orbit, was now an additional fifty five thousand miles farther out from Earth. The hatch opened, and Mase stepped out into the docking tube. Walking its length, he entered the underground section of the complex.
-
Adam Strong braced himself for the upcoming meeting with Commander Colton. He knew he would get chewed out over the fissure outside the dome. When it had occurred he thought they were going to lose the reflector, and they had been forced to ride the lunar quake out in the big underground bunker. Luckily, the dome had survived intact. Now Adam just hoped that he survived intact. Adam let out a deep breath. It had been his decision, and he would live with it.
Chapter Twenty
Several more months passed, and the Earth began to move out toward the orbit of Mars. On Earth, the earthquakes continued to subside even though there were many more now than in the past. Volcanoes continued to erupt, hurling poisonous gases and ash up into the atmosphere, but even these were fewer than they had been a few months back. Storms began to lessen, and hurricanes and typhoons were now very seldom above a category four or five.
There were actual days now where sunlight would break briefly thorough the clouds and things almost seemed normal. However, one look at the desolate, ruined landscape on humanity’s home planet made one wonder if they were on an alien world. Nothing was growing, the trees were dead, and there were no birds singing in the air. The quiet drone of insects as the sun went down was also missing, and the only sound was the wind rustling the few dead leaves that remained hanging loosely on the trees.
The world was a place of the dead. The constructions of man had largely been erased due to the floods, the earthquakes, volcanoes, and the high winds. In places, it looked as if the constructs of man had been swept bare. Building foundations and occasional stonewalls were all that remained. Only in the mountains and other sheltered areas were there still buildings standing intact. In a few areas, small groups of survivors dared to venture out to see what remained of their world.
-
Trace Lewis was standing outside of the bunker with his father, Cole Kingston, and Phillip Galleger. For several days now, the weather had steadily improved, and Trace firmly believed it was due to the high-pressure system that normally took up residence over the state during the hot summer months.
“The sun’s out again today,” James said, looking over at his son. They were all standing outside without breathing masks. There was still a slightly foul odor in the air similar to sulfur, but they were able to breathe without a problem.
Looking around in the sunlight, Trace noticed that the maj
ority of the trees in the woods nearby had fallen. In some areas, it looked as if an explosion had gone off and leveled everything. “Let’s walk down and check on the house and barn,” Trace suggested. This would be the first time he could actually look at everything with the sun out.
The four began walking along the trail that led to the house. It had been raining less frequently recently, and the ground was partially dried out. As they neared the house, they noticed that a layer of thick volcanic ash was prevalent in many low-lying areas.
“That ash is going to be a problem,” Cole said as he stopped and kicked at a pile. He was surprised to see that it was deeper than he thought. Bending over, he dug down and discovered that it was nearly a foot deep.
“I have two tractors in the barn,” James commented with a frown as he gazed at the ash. “We can use them to clear the ash from the topsoil if we need to. There’s plenty of fuel in the underground tanks.”
He was hoping, if the sun remained out, they could clear some ground and plant a garden. They still had food supplies for several years in the bunker, but some fresh vegetables would be nice.
“We may have to do that,” Cole said as he stood back up and wiped his hands on his jeans. “I don’t think anything will grow through this thick layer of ash.”
“At least it’s not everywhere,” Phillip added. “Just in the low spots.”
The men continued to walk and going around a small protective hill, they entered the farmyard. The large metal shed was almost smashed to the ground, and the vehicles and equipment that were stored inside were covered in ash. The barn was still intact, as well as the house.
“I’m glad to see the house is still here,” commented James, knowing that would make his wife Alice happy. They had lived in that house for a long time, and it held a lot of treasured memories.
“The barn looks pretty much intact too,” Phillip said as he paused to gaze inside. The wind had blown one of the large doors on the front open. Phillip noticed there was some ash inside but not that much. It would be easy to clean up.
The men walked over to the house, and James used his key to open the front door. Stepping inside, they gazed around. Everything was covered in a thin layer of ash.
“That damn ash is everywhere,” complained Cole, reaching down and running his hand across a coffee table.
“This is going to take a lot of cleaning,” James added with a sigh.
“What do we do now?” Phillip asked as he looked over at the others.
“You all heard that broadcast from Tycho City yesterday,” James responded. They had started to pick up the broadcasts once the sky began to clear. “There are quite a few surviving bunkers scattered across the world. From the last report, there are at least six here in Oklahoma, almost all of them in the eastern part of the state. We know of several more in Arkansas and Missouri. The problem is that the roads are impassable and many of the bridges are out. That means everyone, at least for the immediate future, will be on their own.”
“Commander Colton also mentioned that the Earth is heading out almost to the orbit of Mars, and we can expect some frigid temperatures in a few more months,” Cole added as he thought about what that might mean.
“Even more of a reason to get a garden in as quickly as we can,” James replied. “We have the parts to build a small greenhouse, and I suggest we do that immediately. It will give us some additional growing time for vegetables. We can get one of the tractors out tomorrow and start clearing off a larger garden plot. We can water it from one of the wells.”
The other men nodded. They had work to do if they hoped to continue to survive. Phillip was a good mechanic, and he planned to go over the two diesel generators while the weather was decent. They would also be checking the two wind generators.
Closing the door to the house, James locked it and they all began walking back toward the bunker. If the weather was decent tomorrow, everyone would be allowed to come outside for a short while.
-
To the east, General Young was standing outside next to the small blockhouse that contained the elevators to the large bunker below. They were in a mountainous region, but the desolation he now looked at made it look more like a war zone. He was standing outside with a small group, all of which were wearing simple breathing masks.
“It’s still cloudy,” Captain Wells commented as he gazed upward at the overcast sky. He knew from reports that brief breaks in the clouds had been observed in some areas of the country.
“At least the air is clearing up some,” Sergeant Adams added as he briefly took off his breathing mask and after taking a few breaths, put it back on. “If we can get a little more rain it might be breathable.”
General Young nodded. Thanks to Tycho City and the surviving communication satellites, they could now talk to a number of the other bunkers in the United States. There were four large bunkers still intact in the Eastern United States, as well as the four large command bunkers back in Colorado. Young had already recognized General Mann as being in charge of all surviving military assets.
“Let’s get some jeeps out of storage and see if we can scavenge anything up,” General Young suggested as he turned to face Captain Wells. “I don’t think we will find any survivors, but there may still be supplies on some of the farms and in the smaller towns nearby.”
Captain Wells nodded. They had checked a lot of them before they had closed the bunker up, but there were probably some places they had overlooked.
“I’ll volunteer to lead a team,” Sergeant Adams said stepping forward. “I’ve been cooped up in the bunker way too long.”
“Very well,” Captain Wells responded. “Tell Corporal Strong he volunteered also.”
Adams laughed as he nodded. “I’m sure the corporal is ready to get out of the bunker for a few days.”
General Young nodded. According to Commander Colton, they had a few months before the temperatures became too cold to safely move about outside. He planned on spending a big part of that time searching the surrounding area for additional supplies.
He already had plans to construct several large storage buildings on the surface. There were numerous items they could use, fuel, spare parts, equipment of various types; the list was unending. Young intended to give his people every chance he could to survive.
-
Warren Timmins was sitting in his office speaking to General Mann and Mase Colton about the number of survivors they were finding.
“It’s hard to believe so many have survived,” Warren spoke as he looked over the latest list that had been sent from Tycho City.
“Larger numbers than we ever expected,” Mase responded. “Every day we are finding more. In the United States alone, we have located sixteen major bunkers and eighty-seven smaller ones owned by private citizens. We have put the estimated number of survivors at over fifty thousand. There are probably others we haven’t been able to contact yet.”
“Some of those will need help to be able to continue to survive,” General Mann added. He had talked to the people in charge of all sixteen large bunkers. Most of them were military, but several were being run by civilians.
“We still have some tough times ahead of us,” Warren spoke over the com line. “Anything we can do to help the survivors, we need to.”
“I know where there may be some large stores of MREs,” General Mann commented. “I have a list of the major distributors and their warehouses. We need to check them as soon as possible. I would suggest that any we locate be taken to the sixteen large surviving bunkers for storage and distribution.”
“How?” asked Mase, knowing it would be a very difficult task. “Travel by road is going to be nearly impossible, and even by air it will be tough with all the ash in the atmosphere. It will clog up any aircraft’s air filters.”
“Both NORAD and Cheyenne Mountain have helicopters we can use,” General Mann replied. “These were specially constructed to operate in a post war environment. I’m also pretty certain that Mo
unt Weather and Raven Rock in the east have helicopters we can use also.”
Warren nodded his head at hearing this. He knew that both of the two survival bunkers had helicopters, but they were in a separate facility buried deep under a mountain a short distance away.
“The scientists at Farside believe the weather will continue to clear over the next few weeks,” Mase informed them. “It might be wise to wait those few extra weeks to ensure you don’t risk losing those helicopters. That would give you at least six weeks to find supplies and get them to whoever needs them before the cold sets in.”
“I agree,” General Mann responded. “I will get in touch with the commanders of the four bunkers that have the helicopters and assign each an area to search for supplies. The only location we are not going to be able to cover is the west coast.”
“Not much left of the West Coast anyway,” responded Mase. “The Earthquakes and the tidal waves pretty well wiped it out. We have found no surviving bunkers in California, Oregon, or Washington.”
“We lost a lot of good people,” General Mann replied somberly as he thought about the events of the last year. “We just need to ensure now that we don’t lose any more.”
“What about drones?” Warren asked as another idea came to him. “I know we have some of those in our storage facility. Can we use them to search the country for other survivors? There are cave systems we need to check and numerous other areas that people could have taken refuge. We may be missing a lot of survivors.”
“The drones are not designed to work in ash,” General Mann replied. “However, we may be able to modify them, and they would allow us to search a larger area for survivors. I will get some people on it immediately.”
Once the conference was over Warren leaned back in his chair and thought about what they had just discussed. He hoped they could find other survivors. They had contacted a few bunkers in the U.K., Canada, Australia, Japan, South Africa, Germany, and several other countries. However, Warren was concerned about what was still ahead of them. They had the frigid cold they would soon have to deal with and then, later, searing heat. The big question in his mind was what could they do to ensure long-term survival for as many people as possible?
Star One: Tycho City Survival Page 25
