by Parker James
In order to best ensure mankind’s survival, all methods would be used if and when the time came. The heartbreaking decision was which method to use on Erin. The Conyers would make that choice at the last possible moment, even having considered the possibility of using a combination of methods. 2071 and the clock was ticking while internationally things were getting worse by the day. People once again turned to the news, ignoring their own problems for a brief period. What was occurring in the world was going to affect them somehow, someway, whether they had food on their table that night or not.
Something was going to happen; it had to, and in the not too distant future. Meanwhile an international coalition of governments and large corporations were continuing to busily work on the completion of the underground bunkers, with the hope of securing over 500 million people. The initial goal was 1 billion, but it was well known that some of the bunkers wouldn’t be completed in time, and some would be lost if worst came to worst and nuclear war broke out. Stockpiling food within the bunkers was difficult and only made matters worse than they already were for those barely surviving on a day to day basis. The planet was overwhelmed and the situation seemed to be getting more precarious by the day. The infrastructure, availability of food, water, electricity, medical care; it was all just too much. So Mitch and Anya busily worked away continuously keeping in contact with General McCreary, who effectively held overall responsibility and authority over the project. He was also their liaison to higher authorities. On the one hand McCreary was encouraged by the Conyers’ progress, yet overly impatient on the other.
“We don’t have forever, folks. Let’s get this thing done.”
Those words were often heard by the Conyers’ on the part of the General.
“General,” Mitch often responded, “We’re going as fast as we can. We’ve already cut so many corners and people have been injured; too many. I fully understand the necessity for the immediate and ultimate success of our project, but I also have to sleep at night. Anya and I are doing this for our daughter, conscience be damned.”
The General understood completely, yet it was a small sacrifice to pay. Several lives, dozens if need be, in exchange for saving millions. Perhaps even billions. If it came to it, McCreary would trade millions of lives without a second thought; it was simply the lesser of two evils. The entire existence of the human race was at stake, with or without a global nuclear holocaust.
“God forbid this comes to war, Mitch. It will be no holds barred, and I’m talking nukes.”
Mitch understood the importance of the ultimate success of the project in the very near future and let the General know.
“General, we’re on the same page. I know the odds just as well as you, and I agree. It still doesn’t make it any easier; we’re talking about the very existence of mankind. If the nukes fly, God help us when it comes to that. We’re making progress here on this end and our hopes are in sight. You just make sure the bunkers are ready and factories fully tooled and staffed when we get you the final prototype.”
“It’s already been taken care of, Mitch. All of the workers in the factories as well as the labs will have a spot waiting for them in the bunkers, if and when it comes to that. That’s incentive enough. They’ll also be allowed two members of their immediate family to accompany them with the remainder on the lottery system.”
“It sure puts things in perspective, doesn’t it?”
“Yes, it does.”
“Mitch, this thing’s a powder keg. It could be a week, a month, a year; maybe even two if we’re lucky. I’m certain we don’t have any longer than that. You keep me up-to-date daily. And Mitch, any additional breakthroughs or pre-production aspects that we can get started on, I want to know about immediately. Got it?”
“Understood. I’ll talk to you tomorrow, General. That is assuming that we’re all still here. Anya and I have come up with something promising, and if it’s possible I’d like to set up a conference with the President and his staff at some point next week once we know a little bit more. Can it be done?” Mitch asked.
“Consider it done, Mitch, and make it good. I want those factories and labs moving as soon as possible with whatever you have up until this point.”
“General, I can’t be sure yet, but I think Anya and I are very close to the solution, but that’s for the conference. We’ll know more in a couple of days.”
“I’ll give you that. McCreary out.”
The conversation was over. It was uncharacteristic for General McCreary not to delve further, but he’d worked with Mitch and Anya for so many years now he knew they’d keep him completely apprised of their progress. He trusted them in that they knew the alternatives and he didn’t want to push Mitch. If it was 100%, Mitch would have told him so. There had already been enough dead ends; one more week wouldn’t make a difference. He’d rather hear something concrete other than another “what if?”
As Mitch hung up the military encrypted phone he thought back to that fateful year, 2064, and the message the aliens had sent.
“How could the birth of my child and the happiness I felt that one single day be so intertwined with the absolute terror of their warning?” he thought to himself.
On that day he made a promise to himself.
“Erin will survive. If it costs me my life or that of a million others, by God I swear she will survive.”
Episode 2: “Apocalypse 2073”
* * *
2219 and still Erin dreamt, locked away in the suspension chamber invented by her parents all those many decades ago. Fifty-two years in deep space aboard the ship Discovery, headed toward the outer reaches of the galaxy. And so she continued to let her mind wander back to “The Great Upheavals of 2073.” She was eight years old at the time.
Her parents, Mitch and Anya, told her in great detail at a later date everything about those terrible years. Through their efforts they were on the cusp of producing a fully functioning retention chamber that would ideally allow millions upon millions of human beings to survive the seemingly unavoidable impending catastrophe that otherwise would not. The planet was overwhelmed by a population exceeding nine billion and wars were breaking out everywhere. Resources were scarce and for reasons unknown the human race had already been forewarned of the coming apocalypse.
Erin dreamt of her parents and what they had told her the first time she’d awoken from the suspension chamber. Prior to being placed in animation and before the war broke out globally, NORAD had been on a DEFCON 2 war footing for months. The United States Government was concerned that if DEFCON preparedness was increased to a higher level of readiness, it just might be misinterpreted as an aggressive move by other nations, further inflaming the situation. Erin’s parents met with the President and his staff as well as world leaders the following week as General McCreary had promised. Prior to arriving at the meeting, the President and other leaders had been discussing the status of the underground bunker systems. Thousands had already been completed, with thousands more nearing completion. It was a race against time, and President Andrews was asking some very pointed questions.
“Gentlemen, I don’t need to tell you the status of our current situation. People are starving in the streets. Africa and the Middle East are aflame with wars on an unimaginable scale. Tens of thousands dying on a daily basis, murdered even. In my own country I have instituted martial law. Time is of the essence. I shall now let General McCreary take the floor and give you an assessment of our situation here in the United States, for I am certain that our situation is similar to that occurring within your own countries. General McCreary,” the President said as he handed over the meeting.
The General rose and headed toward the computer that would display maps, charts, statistics, and theoretical scenarios. This was just a back-drop for the words that he would speak. He cleared his throat as he began.
“Ladies and Gentlemen, thank you for coming,” he said. “The President has given you a glimpse of our situation here in the United St
ates. It seems unreal; esoteric even. But I assure you, the dire situation that we are faced with is quite real.”
He then walked over to a wall panel and turned on a number of news channels simultaneously; the reporters’ voices muted. Several of the channels were in the United States, the BBC in the United Kingdom, in addition to a number of stations located throughout Europe and Asia. Again and again without exception each screen displayed chaotic situations occurring around the globe. He then turned up the volume for CNN. The very well-known journalist Eric Massey was normally very composed. He seemed unusually off, out-of-breath and sweating; very atypical to his naturally composed demeanor. He was summarizing the situation that had developed over the last month in the United States and indeed the world-at-large.
“Ladies and Gentlemen,” Massey began. “Almost a decade ago we first learned definitively that the human race is not alone in the universe. Coupled with this sudden awareness we were unexpectedly forewarned of an impending apocalypse by an alien intelligence that I, as a journalist and human being, wish had remained to guide us in these troubled times. I can tell you that President Andrews has recently instituted martial law, and I would caution all citizens for their own safety to follow these rules explicitly; most especially the curfew. The images we are about to show you come from across the United States; virtually every major city in the country.”
And with that brief introduction the picture on the screen turned to Central Manhattan in New York City. Massey first let the images speak for themselves, while the crawler on the bottom of the screen continuously announced the institution of martial law and updates on various events occurring throughout the world. The camera showed an overhead view of Manhattan from high above the city, panning the events occurring below. It was a circling helicopter able to take in the larger picture of unfolding events, and what it showed was a military presence that had never before been seen. Thousands of uniformed military personnel; weapons strung across their shoulders and at-the-ready in a moment’s notice. Additionally there were over 4,000 police officers visible. Several hundred military vehicles could be seen including armored tanks, simply overwhelming by their sheer presence. There were even sandbagged barricades. As the camera panned the scene below at least 500,000 civilians from all walks of life were clearly visible. It was a tense standoff as Massey again continued with his report.
“Ladies and Gentlemen, I speak to you now less as a journalist but more so as a fellow citizen.” As he spoke Massey loosened his tie. “In all my 25 years of reporting I have never been as terrified for the world as I am at this moment. I look back to my youth, growing up, and although things were difficult there was always a hope that things would somehow improve. I could never have imagined that one day it would come to this. Nearly nine years ago you and I were elated to learn that we are not alone in the universe.”
The screen momentarily scrambled; most likely a power surge of some sort, yet Massey continued with his report.
“And in that elation of knowledge was also the fear of a dire warning for the human race. I’m not quite sure what steps, if any, we could have taken to avoid this moment in time and those about to come. As I speak to you in this country, you are viewing a tense standoff on the streets of Manhattan. People without food. People without hope. Yet in other cities across this great nation shots are being fired. People are dying for lack of food. In our hospitals and other institutions the sick and elderly are dying for lack of treatment and medication. I fear things are no better across the rest of the world.”
Seemingly unable to continue Massey then turned the station over to a lesser known but just as recognizable colleague. His fellow journalist went on to describe similar yet more violent scenes unfolding across the United States as well as Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and the general world-at-large. He gave a detailed blow-by-blow description of the multiple situations occurring throughout the world as he continued reporting. General McCreary muted the volume and returned his attention to his international colleagues as he put up yet another set of images on the monitor. The General then continued with his overall assessment.
“As you can see, the United States is on the verge of collapse; catastrophe. I fear that the alien’s warning was a prophetic one. As Massey stated, I’m not quite sure what we could have done to avoid this moment either, but I am certain that we, on some level, must ensure the survival of the human race. Toward that end we have been making arrangements for a number of years. Although we must not compromise our morals, I fear that the unfolding situation is spiraling beyond our control and at this point the best we can do is hope to contain it.”
With that McCreary went into a statistical analysis of the bunker system preparations. The main alliance in this endeavor hinged upon the United States, Canada, Russia, England, China, Japan, Israel, and a handful of other nations with the resources available to assist in the effort. McCreary then turned the meeting over to Professor Gearhart Enghult, project manager and overall designer overseeing the preparation of the bunkers.
“Professor,” McCreary said, “Please give us a detailed status report on our preparations to date.”
Professor Enghult rose, not being one big on protocol. Somewhat aloof, he was a genius in his own right and generally to the point. Enghult put up yet another chart on the monitor; it was a map of the entire world with dots all over it. The dots were three separate colors; green, yellow, and red. The professor continued.
“Fellow colleagues, the map you see before you and the dots reflected upon it represent the general locations and current status of the bunker systems. Each bunker is designed to hold 40,000 individuals with the ability to survive, barring a direct hit, a nuclear blast. Throughout the world within our alliance there are 10,000 bunkers in all. Once all are fully completed, collectively they will have the ability to sustain 400 million individuals. As you can see approximately 6,000 of the dots are green, representing 100% fully completed bunkers stocked with a 20 year supply of food for up to 2,000 individuals. The yellow dots, 2,500 in all, represent bunkers which we anticipate will be completed within the next 30 days. And lastly, there are 1,500 red dots representing bunkers which are 60 days away from completion. Needless to say this endeavor has put a tremendous burden on our already overextended infrastructure and food supplies for the general population, but it was a necessary choice that had to be made. In total we had hoped for the survivability of 500 million individuals within the bunker systems. We are 100 million short on our original estimates.”
Enghult continued.
“As you also know, Professors Mitchell and Anya Conyers of MIT have been working on suspended animation chambers and will be briefing us shortly. Should an all-out war occur, undoubtedly there will be some survivors left on the surface; the numbers unknown. Assuming fully functioning suspension chambers, 38,000 of the 40,000 individuals in each of the bunkers will be placed into those chambers, thus alleviating the need for additional food stocks. 2,000 individuals will be responsible for the maintenance of the bunkers, continued expansion, hydroponic food generation, and maintenance, repair, and monitoring of the suspension chambers. Needless to say if the chambers do not work as planned, due to food requirements the bunkers will only be able to hold 2,000 individuals. Contingent upon this, production of the lesser aspects of the chambers has already begun, minus if you pardon the pun, the plumbing. By this I mean the more involved electronic and mechanical systems allowing them to function reliably. Though not my area of expertise, through periodic briefings I am told adjustments to the production process will be made as necessary.”
After a number of questions directed at Professor Enghult from those within the room, most being speculative in nature, General McCreary once again took the floor as President Andrews listened intently. Looking up at the monitors McCreary continued.
“So there you have it. We shall hear shortly from Professors Mitchell and Anya Conyers on the status of the suspended animation chambers. Ladies and Gentlemen, as
I look at these monitors I fear the worst. Without the chambers fully functioning, an extremely limited number of individuals, in fact a miniscule number of the human race will survive. And for how long? I have not spoken to either of the professors in over a week, so what they are about to tell us will be news to us all. We are going to break for the next hour to absorb what we have already heard and then shall continue with the meeting. If you would be kind enough to exit through the door to your left you will find lunch waiting for you as we ponder what we have learned thus far. Ladies and Gentlemen, this meeting is adjourned for one hour,” McCreary stated.
