The gathering of food became everyone’s primary concern. Shelter was more than abundant. Like in America, it took time to discover that older vehicles would still work with a little TLC.
As with all major countries, the people realized that some kind of unnatural event had taken place and the entire world was affected, not just Germany.
CHAPTER FIVE
CHINA
General Tasan was irritated and that was never a good thing. It had been weeks since he had sent Feng Zhijian to try and locate any underground facilities that might allow China to reactivate their satellites.
“Why have we not heard anything from Zhijian?” Tasan demanded.
“General it is a long way and travel will be difficult and slow.”
“Those are excuses not answers.”
“General the old airplane was not reliable. It may not have even made it to western Kwangsi Chuang. It is a very long way off. They were going to have to refuel many times.”
“Do not tell me what I already know. I want answers. If this Major Zorn that Zhijian said he talked to has wasted my time I will have them both shot.”
“Yes General,” was all the Captain could say.
One did not have a conversation with General Tasan without a great deal of risk. It was better to listen and only answer ‘yes sir’ and ‘no sir’. Anything more than that, and you stood a good chance of incurring his wrath.
* * * *
“Major Zorn, we must get moving. We have been here for two days. Every day we sit and do nothing General Tasan will become more enraged.”
“Feng, you worry too much. What is he going to do? No one even knows where we are for sure. We went in the general direction of Kwangsi Chuang but that is a large area. Besides, what do you want me to do? The airplane needs work so we wait. They will come and get us when it is ready. If you want to go help them, be my guest. I am going to stay here by the pool and enjoy myself.”
“If the General ever finds out we are staying at a Guilin resort he will have us shot.”
“Do you intend to tell him?”
“Of course not!”
“Then I see no problem.”
“What of the air crew or the guards? What if one of them should say something and it gets back to the General?”
“I think they are smart enough to know it would mean the end of them as well. After all, they are staying here as well. Besides, we are only a short distance from the airport, where else should we stay?”
“Some place less fancy,” Feng replied.
“You should take a dip in the pool and relax. Everything will be fine. If we locate the base he will be ecstatic. Those are the people that will be under the gun. They had better be able to perform or else.”
“If we find the base and if there are survivors.”
Major Zorn laughed, “You are like a mother hen, always worrying about her eggs.”
“I am a realist,” Feng said and started to walk off.
He turned and said, “How long will it take us to get to Xincheng, once the plane is repaired?”
“I do not know. I have never been there before. It will take as long as it takes.”
“You are an immense help. I am so glad I asked.”
“I do what I can,” Major Zorn replied.
Feng fretted the rest of the day. It was close to dark when one of the crew members came to tell them that the plane would be ready to go first thing in the morning.
“Most excellent,” Feng exclaimed when he learned the news.
“See, that was not so bad. We will be on our way tomorrow,” Zorn told him.
“I am grateful.”
“What? And give up this splendid vacation?”
“You joke now but if we are not successful it will be very different when we get back.”
“Feng, if we are not successful at finding the base, I for one, will not be going back. I will simply fade away like a vapor in the wind. I have no intention of living under someone like General Tasan.”
“You would not return to Beijing?”
“Of course not. Neither would you if you had any sense.”
“But what about the General? He would send others after us.”
“Do you honestly think they would ever find us? Most likely if they did they would not return either.”
Feng didn’t answer but just shook his head. Major Zorn was dangerous to be around.
* * * *
The flight to Xincheng was very harrowing. Going over the mountains, they encountered some violent weather that tossed the old Habin Y-11 around like a Ping-Pong ball. Feng was sick almost the entire flight. He was green by the time they finally landed in Xincheng.
“Are you going to make it?” the Major asked as Feng climbed down out of the aircraft.
“I hope I never have to go through that again.”
“You will not, until we return to Beijing.”
“Thank you for that.”
“My pleasure. We should find a place for the night and then procure a car to begin our search for the base.”
“Do you have a plan?”
“All I know is what I have heard. It is on the north side and located on a small island in the middle of the river. No roads exist so it must be accessed by boat. Guards are positioned all around the island with orders to shoot anyone approaching the island.”
“We will have to find a car that can be driven...what is that?” Feng suddenly asked.
They could hear shouting and what sounded like chanting coming toward the airport.
“People? What else could it be?” Zorn replied.
“But how? There must be a mine or something around here.”
“Could it be the men from the military facility?”
“Anything is possible,” Zorn said shrugging his shoulders.
The noise grew louder and soon people started running toward them. Zorn and Feng were not sure what they should do. They were smiling as the crowd ran to where they stood watching in amazement.
The people surged around them shouting questions and they were all trying to touch them. The air crew was swamped as well and it was several minutes before the guards were able to quiet it down enough for Major Zorn to speak.
“Where did you all come from?” he asked, but immediately voices started to shout out.
It was impossible to talk over the crowd. The Major held up his hands and again they started to quiet down.
“I cannot talk to all of you at once. I will tell you that we are from Beijing and have flown here in search of a military base. We were told one was located in this area. Who is in charge here?” he asked.
An older man with a long white beard and wire framed glasses stepped forward.
“I am not in charge but I am the eldest survivor,” he said.
“Then I will speak to you,” Zorn replied.
“How many have survived?”
“What you see here,” the old man told him.
“Do you have a number?”
“Not exactly. Somewhere around two hundred.”
“And you have been living in the city?”
“Of course, where else would we go?”
“Are there any mines around here?”
“Oh yes. Three. Most of us are from the mines.”
“Where else?”
“Some were digging in the tunnel between Caotanzhen and Zinhexian. When the river overflows the two areas are cut off. Even the bridges are covered many times. Tell us what happened? Who caused this?” the old man asked.
“No one seems to know. From what we have learned the whole world was affected. Only those fortunate enough to be underground at the time survived. Many have migrated to Beijing in hopes of finding others. I would imagine other areas where mining and tunnels exist, people have survived,” Zorn told them.
“What is the government doing?”
“What it always does. Prancing around acting like we are at war.”
“There are survivors from the Army here a
s well but they stay on the Ixinna Island. No one is allowed to go there. They have us gather food and deliver it each day. They seldom come to the mainland unless they have a special need.”
“So a secret base does exist here.”
“It is not so secret. Everyone that lives here knows of its existence. Not much of a secret,” the old man replied.
“Please, let me introduce myself and the others. I am Major Zorn,” he could see the old man stiffen.
“Not too worry, I no longer consider myself in the military. I have no desire to be back in that position,” he said placing his hand on the old man’s shoulder.
“This is Feng Zhijian. He has been charged with finding this so called secret base.”
“I am Quan Xie. I have lived here all of my life. I happened to take lunch to my niece. She works in the tunnel. While I was down there we all felt the earth shake. At first we thought it was an earthquake but others thought the tunnel had collapsed. Everyone ran outside. We had never seen anything look like the sky did. You couldn’t hear a single sound. It was very strange.”
“It was the same everywhere Quan. I think it happened all around the world.”
“But what could have caused it?”
“I have no idea and maybe we never will know,” Zorn replied.
CHAPTER SIX
RUSSIA
Life had fallen into a fairly normal pattern considering the circumstances. Morale was good and very few problems existed for Major General Yegor Nitikin. The initial contact with the Americans had been positive and he was looking forward to meeting their representatives.
“Who are you going to take with you?” Matryona Mihailvo asked as she stepped out of the shower.
“I want to include Captain Sidorvo but who would be in charge while I was gone?” Yegor ask.
“Captain Popov?”
“No, he is definitely one that I want to take.”
“What about Lieutenant Ivanov?”
“Leave a Lieutenant in charge? I don’t think that is such a good idea. I mean, you are right, he is the senior Lieutenant, but still.”
“Then promote him to Captain. His chest would puff out and then you tell him you trust him to be in charge, he would die rather than fail.”
Yegor just looked at her for a few seconds. Not only was this woman beautiful but very shrewd.
“What?” she finally asked.
“You are an amazing woman. Can’t I just look at you and admire your beauty?”
“You are looking at my ass,” she said, wrapping the towel around her.
“Yes, but it is amazing.”
“Yegor you are a Russian pig. Get out of here so I can get ready.”
“I will reluctantly leave but your idea is a good one. I will tell Lieutenant Ivanov he will now be a Captain. I think I will wait to tell him I will be leaving him in charge. I want to see how he handles the promotion.”
“Good. Now go. I see that look in your eyes. Out,” she said pointing at the door.”
“I am going. One kiss before I go?”
“Just a kiss. I know how you operate,” she said as he came up to her and leaned in to kiss her.
It was long and passionate, “Now that should hold you for a while,” Matryona said.
“Almost,” Yegor said and pulled the towel from her and ran for the door.
“You are a bad man Yegor Nitikin,” she said laughing.
The General did a little bow before she closed the door.
He put on his coat and hat and set off to find Lieutenant Ivanov. On his way down the hall he ran across Captain Sidorvo.
“I am glad I ran into you. I want to ask you something.”
“Yes General.”
“What do you think about Lieutenant Ivanov?”
“Lieutenant Ivanov? Well, I think he is a very fine officer. He is always at his post when he is supposed to be and works diligently.”
“That is not what I am asking. I am asking what you think about Ivanov. His presence, his bearing, his leadership ability. What I want to know is, is he a leader or not?”
“Ah. The short answer is yes. The only thing I see that he lacks is confidence. Sometimes he thinks too much before acting. Thinking is a good thing but at times you have to rely on what your insides are telling you.”
“Excellent. My assessment exactly. He is a good man but he needs to be put in a situation that calls for him to make quick assessments of what has to be done.”
“I assume you asked for a reason,” Sidorvo said.
“Yes. I am thinking of promoting him to Captain. I want to leave him in charge while I am at the conference,” the General said, watching his second-in-command out of his peripheral vision.
“Then you should promote him right away to let him get experience,” Sidorvo replied.
The General stopped and turned to face Sidorvo, studying him as he replied.
“It does not bother you that I am thinking of leaving him in charge?”
“No sir. Why should it? You are a General. I am a Captain. What can I say?”
“You know Captain Sidorvo you are a fine officer. Outstanding actually. But you are a terrible liar. You must know the only way I would leave him in charge is if I was taking you with me.”
Sidorvo smiled slightly.
“Admit it,” the General said.
“I would have to be a world class actor to pretend that it wouldn’t upset me. I will only admit to the fact that I was hoping you would take me along. It is a momentous occasion.”
The General laughed and slapped the Captain on the back.
“I can never get one over on you can I?”
“General, my job is to make yours easier. How could I do that unless I thought like you? I am honored to be your second in command.”
“And I am honored to have you at my side. Now, enough of this sentimental woman’s talk. Let’s go and find our newest Captain.”
They walked on, talking about what to expect in the coming months. Not having a date for the conference was keeping everything in a state of limbo to some degree. It was out of their hands. It depended on the Americans getting the USS Salem to be seaworthy.
Yegor knew it would be a monumental task without modern equipment. Having to rely on brute strength would make the process quite arduous.
They found Lieutenant Ivanov instructing one of his men on the proper sequence for bringing another generator on-line. They watched him point out the various components and describe what they were for. He explained the why, along with the how. Both the General and Captain Sidorvo were impressed with his handling of the situation.
“Lieutenant Ivanov,” the Captain said, when he had finished.
“Oh, sorry sir. General. Captain. I didn’t realize you were here,” he said snapping to attention.
“Relax Lieutenant. We are only here to discuss your position.”
“My position? Sir, am I not meeting your expectations?”
The General smiled and said, “You can relax Lieutenant, what the Captain means is your future position. The Captain and I have been considering promoting you to Captain. What do you think about that?”
He looked at them wide-eyed, waiting for the other shoe to drop.
“Lieutenant? The General asked what you thought about such a promotion.”
“I...uh...well, I am overwhelmed. I hardly know what to say. Do I think I can handle the promotion? Most certainly I would be honored.”
“The Captain and I have discussed it good deal and having just watched you instruct that soldier,” the General said pointing to the man working on the generator, “We feel confident of your abilities as well. Congratulations Captain Ivanov. Your promotion is effective immediately.”
“Thank you General, Captain. I am delighted beyond words.”
The General handed a box to the Captain, “You should have the honors.”
Sidorvo took the box and stepped up to the Lieutenant. He reached up and removed the Lieutenant's epilates and replaced them
with the Kapitán epilates. Ivanov snapped to attention and saluted.
Both the General and Captain saluted in return. They congratulated the young Kapitán.
“I think that went well,” Captain Sidorvo said.
“Yes, I think he stood a good 30 centimeters taller.”
“At least. I thought his eyes were going to pop out of his head.”
“Yes, well I remember another young Lieutenant who looked very much the same,” the General said.
“You can’t mean me? I was very calm.”
“You nearly pissed your pants.”
“Well, I thought you were going to shoot me, not promote me,” Sidorvo said and they both broke out laughing.
“Yes. I did have that kind of reputation at the time.”
“At the time? Some still believe you would do it now.”
“That is not such a bad thing.”
“I agree, as long as it is not me.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
- Quincy, Massachusetts -USS Salem –
“What do you think Chief?”
“My best guess is that the bearings are shot. We will have to pull the case and replace them. I wouldn’t want to take a chance in the middle of the Atlantic.”
“How long will that take?”
“A good day, maybe two. It will all depend on what we find when we lift the case.”
“No other way to do it?”
“Not and do it right. Sorry.”
“Alright, I’ll let the Captain know,” the Engineering Officer said.
“Good plan,” the Chief said, trying not to smile.
Master Chief Griffith could have told the Engineering Officer almost anything and he would have bought it. Just because he had the rank and title didn’t mean he knew one thing about the cruiser’s engine room.
“Okay men, get to it. Pull the casing. Sorenson, go down to the machine shop and get some gasket material. We’re going to need it before we’re done.”
The men were working in the engine room of the USS Salem CA-139. They had been working long hours trying to make the ship seaworthy once again.
Originally commissioned in 1949 she had served the Navy up until 1959, a scant ten years in service. She was placed in what the Navy terms ‘mothballs’. In 1994 she was moved for the last time to Quincy, Massachusetts.
THE REVELATION - Book 3 (THE EVENT) Page 3
