by Boris Licina
"Impressive. Really impressive", Cody nodded.
"It really is", Josh agreed.
"Excellent!", Ava exclaimed and clapped her hands. "Does everyone know the plan? When are they due at Kennedy?"
"Yes", Rose confirmed, "they're already on the way. We'll organize a quarantine on the Falcon, too. So that they move from it directly to the quarantine on Rene 9. If nobody's sick in two days, they may leave. It's simple. We're ready."
"Morris, Jessica, Cody", Ava wanted to ask them about the teams. "Are they ready? Know what to do?"
"Yes", they all confirmed.
"Then, let's wrap this up and … realize the plan", Ava finished the meeting.
◆◆◆
Rachel was woken by the sound of the incoming message. The phone was somewhere in the living room, but she slept lightly. Her shift in CDC ended late the night before, she barely made it home. Amanda cheered her up a little, but she fell asleep soon after. "Amanda Barns", she thought, "tonight we report from Rachel Ray's bed". She smiled, stood up from the bed, pulled the covers over Amanda and went to get the phone.
"Can we talk?", Morris wrote.
A few minutes later, they started a video conference.
"The plan is up! Pack up!", Morris wasted no time.
"Wow", Rachel was surprised.
"Yes, there's no point in waiting. Unless you've found the vaccine in the meantime?"
"We didn't", she smirked, "but we keep working on it 24/7. Honestly, there's no solution in sight. We have an experimental vaccine, but it needs more work and we have not enough people and it's too slow. Simply put, the Snow Outbreak is too fast. Even if we managed to produce the vaccine tomorrow, we'd be late."
"Your last sentence is the answer to the question whether or not to come to Rene 9, if you had any doubts", Morris concluded.
"True. But, it's hard for me to leave CDC. I know we're close, and that it's too late."
"I understand. You have always been loyal. How many of you are left in CDC?"
"Not many, not even twenty in labs. People just stoped coming to work."
"And Atlanta?"
She turned the phone around and showed him the empty street. He saw thick, black smoke in the distance. Garbage was frozen in the streets. Two cars were piled in the nearby street, one without tires. The other had burned a long time ago."
"Horror", Morris said, "it looks terrible. Like post apocalyptic movies!"
"Exactly", she agreed.
"Listen, we land at Kennedy in four days. The Falcon returns to Rene 9 in six. Be there."
"OK. I'll be there. But there's someone I'd like to take with me."
"Of course. We're taking ten other scientists with their partners and kids. Just do it."
"Super, super."
They talked some ten more minutes about the rest of the passengers. They both knew Becca Wilde, others just by fame. Rachel decided to take a sample of the experimental vaccine and pack a mobile laboratory. Should they ever return to Earth, maybe they would need it. Actually, she had decided to go when Morris first told her about the plan. It took her several days, though. Her heart wanted to fight for Earth and CDC, but the mind prevailed. She was a scientist, after all. Going to Rene 9 was simply logical.
33.
The Falcon landed gently on the landing strip on Merritt Island, that was the integral part of the Kennedy Space Center. The flight was uneventful. Thirty three passengers forever leaving Rene 9 behaved as if they had been on a common intercity flight. They watched movies, talked and eagerly awaited the return home. For them, Earth was the home they never wanted to abandon. Josh wondered would they regret their decision and want to return to the hotel. It would be too late, anyway.
"I live over there", Oliver showed Eli through the window and towards Baldwin Park, some forty miles away. You mean up there, she said pointing her finger up. They talked the whole way, held hands and promised to watch over one another. At some point Josh and Lika came to dispense some more advice on potential dangers. Then Lika gave Oliver precise instructions, followed by Josh talking to Eli. Parents are funny, both kids concluded without a care.
Cody, Kathryn and Martin talked about food along the way. They came up with recipes for once Rene 9 would depend only on the farm. Donna, the mayor of a small Alaskan town, and Benjamin, the owner of the juice factory in California, learned through small talk they both knew the same person, one Mary K. Commons who studied with Donna and grew up in Benjamin's neighborhood. The world was indeed a small place!
Diego Lula, the private detective from New York kept on the side and to himself. As soon as he entered the Falcon, he put headphones on and started to watch a movie. He looked like the classic lone wolf, dangerous and quiet. But, appearances were deceiving. Diego was just afraid to fly. If his rich client had not awarded him a bonus - the trip to the space hotel - he never would have gone. He was still reluctant, but his wife Alexis managed to talk him into in.
Professor Archer spent some time with a book, and also talking to Josh about catastrophe movies. As always with this topic, Josh was excited and John knew how to listen.
Morris spent the whole flight in the cockpit with Jessica. Upon landing he descended to the exit for mechanics and jumped onto the tarmac. He had to find the platform stairs for the passengers to disembark. He had to walk some three miles to the building where stairs were stored. The outside temperature was the cozy 64 degrees Fahrenheit and he wondered would he meet anyone on the way.
"OK, dear passengers", Morris said to the thirty three passengers on the tarmac, "welcome home. You have about four miles to the large parking lot. If you do not have your own, there are enough other cars. I suppose some keys may be found on the reception next to the parking lot. Do not enter further in the building if you don't have to. We wish you all the luck in the world!"
Morris watched them depart and then returned to the Falcon where the teams were waiting for him.
"People, that's it", he told them, "you all know what to do. Cody leads team Food, I am taking Sail 1, Lika goes with Sail 2. Before we depart, we have to take out some chairs to make room for the food. The tools are in the flight attendants' quarters. After that, we'll put up a quarantine and Jessica will fuel the Falcon up. When we finish that, we'll go for the vehicles. Team Food will take the trucks, we'll take some cars to Sandusky."
"The trucks are parked near the KSC headquarters", Jessica added, "we'll have to look for the keys in the small building on the truck parking. My car is on the closer parking lot. Ford Edge 13", she threw her keys to Morris.
"Don't forget", he caught the keys and continued, "Rose made us masks that we have to use, especially when we enter closed premises. That we're going to avoid anyway. Team Food will be done in a day. We have a longer trip. But the point is not to stop. One driver, others sleep, twenty hours to Sandusky is not long. Everybody drives for five hours and we're there. We drive in a convoy. We fuel up together."
"My tank is full", Jessica said. "See about the other vehicle."
"Great! We'll find another car with a full tank."
"Why don't we just use automated drive?", Eli asked.
"Maybe for a while", Morris nodded, "but somebody has to be awake at the wheel. The circumstances are … entirely new. Even for self-driving vehicles. Any more questions? No? Fine. Let's get started. "Operation Food and Sails" may begin", he winked at Josh.
34.
Three self-driving trucks were speeding along the Martin Anderson Beachline Expressway towards Kissimmee. The road was almost straight, a little over sixty miles with no significant curves. The convoy was headed by Cody. Kathryn followed, then Martin. The tree trucks looked like racing cars, because the designers wanted aerodynamics, but also the smart software. When they were invented, smart trucks raised a lot of noise. Several million truck drivers and several million more in supporting industries, people shouted, would lose their jobs. Nobody remembered that anymore. Most of the trucks drove autonomously, but an operator usually went a
long. Someone whose last task was to operate the vehicle, and his first to take care of the logistics of the loading and transport.
The road was empty. It was highly unlikely that a car would be stuck there, in the middle of nowhere. As they approached the warehouse, they were becoming more vigilant. All three of them were connected with mobile devices and kept a steady seventy mph speed. If Cody remembered right, the warehouse was organized according to expiration date. First there was food with the shortest date, last was the food that would last for years. That deepest part of the storage was their goal. They agreed to hide in the cabin when they came closer to the town. Self-driving trucks would not draw much attention. At least they hoped so. Everything was a large unknown factor.
After a little less than an hour driving, they saw the first houses on the outskirts of the city. It was sad. Most of the windows were broken. Doors opened. Some charred by fire. One or two demolished. Most of them marked with a large red X. They supposed it meant "Snow flu inside! DO NOT ENTER!" The situation was a bit better as they were closing in on the city, but the cars got worse. All the trucks slowed down to avoid the cars in the middle of the road. Some were pushed aside, some were still blocking the lanes. Luckily, there were many lanes. Cody thought he saw someone pushing a supermarket cart in the distance, but was unsure if he was just seeing things or that was a real, live person.
The storage facility was at lake Tohopekaliga, near a small closed community with a dozen houses. Actually, right across from it. The community sued the company and asked for a ban on constructing the large warehouse "due to dangers to the natural reserve of the lake". They lost. After several months of legal battles, the company won the suit. The case was clear. A warehouse like that did not produce any waste and did not endanger the environment. Only the view from the expensive houses.
The trucks stopped at the programmed location - rear end towards the loading ramp. The team was to just open them and load the food. They stepped out of the trucks.
"The entrance is on the other side", Cody said while putting on the mask that Rose had made. "As far as I remember, there were only several employees. Everything was done with robot vehicles."
The entrance to the warehouse was open. This they did not expect. As they went inside, a huge warehouse with space food spread out in front of them.
"OK", Cody pointed towards the end, "what we want is that way. But, before that there must be gloves somewhere. Let's find them and wear them. And we wash hands at the end! I figure that robot stackers would take an hour and a half to load all three trucks. The sooner we finish, the better for everyone!"
35.
Jessica's Ford Edge 13 was parked behind the John F. Kennedy Space Library building. That parking lot was reserved for Rene 9's guests. The company held long negotiations with NASA who suggested the parking on the other side, in the town of Cocoa. The company managed to get the lot for a high annual fee. But, that was just a part of the luxury paid by the passengers.
"Wait for me here", Morris said. "I'm going to the JFK Library to see if there are any car keys there."
"We could have taken them from a guest", Josh turned his head, "can't believe we didn't think of that."
"Never mind", Morris waved his hand, "let this be the worst thing that's going to happen and we're fine."
He started towards the building and its entrance on the other side.
Oliver took Eli's hand and began strolling on the parking lot.
"I know we're here for each other, but take care anyway", he was telling her, holding her hand tighter, as if he had been afraid she would slip away and disappear.
"Oli, don't worry", she stood in front of him and put her arms around him. "We'll be fine. It's just a road trip."
"I know", he kissed her. "Just … I know."
"We've been through all of this in hundreds of games", she laughed, let him go and continued the stroll. "We'll be fine. No fear!"
"None!"
"And after a few days we'll be back up there anyway. We only have to be careful about the stupid flu", Eli concluded. "We do everything according to the plan."
"Rule 1 is not to touch anything or anybody! Rule 2, avoid contact! Rule 3, wear masks inside!"
"That's right! We stick to that and we'll be OK."
As soon as Morris entered the building, he could smell the specific scent even through his mask. There were dead people around. The reception was empty. He hoped to find a car key. There was none. He decided to go out and check the smaller administrative building nearby. In front of it, there were three cars. He opened the door with his foot - there was no need to touch anything - and entered. Several working desks were empty. Nobody died in there. On one of the desks he saw a mobile device and a car key next to it. Morris pulled down his sleeve, wiped off the keys and picked them up.
When he clicked the key, all four lights blinked on one of the newest pick-up models of the Chevrolet Silverado. It was an official NASA vehicle. Only official vehicles' keys were left lying on the desks.
He drove to the others from his team.
"OK", he said while exiting his vehicle - Team Sail 1 in the Silverado, Team Sail 2 the Edge. Who wants to drive?"
"I'll take our first shift", detective Diego volunteered.
"Agreed! The Silverado is at 80% fuel, so we're OK. Check your phones, we'll use them as the main communication channel. We go first, you follow", he gave his last orders to Morris.
"Kids! Let's go!", Josh shouted and Oli and Eli came running.
They drove up to the Columbia Boulevard, otherwise a crowded road, that was now completely empty. Then along the Titusville; there was an option to shorten the way, but that would take them right through the city. So they went around on Columbia. They were supposed to avoid populated areas, if possible. Both large and small. There was no way to tell where people went fleeing from the flu. The larger settlements offered more food, but the smaller towns were perhaps safer.
The last government's warning was to get away from people and towns. The warning might have been a bit too late, and the government was by then probably in the Mount Weather Operations Center in Virginia. It was one of the locations where politicians went in case of shit storms like this Outbreak. Deep in the Blue Ridge Mountains there was safety.
The last news were twelve days old. What they picked up from the internet, various forums and social networks, was that some people actually set off for the wilderness. But communication with the rest of the world was scarce. To avoid cities and people was not the only advice. Never reveal your location and do not communicate, were the other two. Nobody said it officially, but the unofficial expectation was to encounter sporadic violence. They had seen it on TV while there were still broadcasts. Broken shop windows, burnt down cars. But, violence was not ever-present. The Snow Flu was faster even than violence. The last estimates were 70% of Earth's population to be dead. But that also was not official because nobody knew anything anymore. Information just stopped coming in.
The ten people coming to Rene 9 were helpful regarding their surrounding, but they could see no farther. Every one of them survived because they avoided contact from the early onset of the Outbreak. And stopped coming to work. Some of them followed their own scenarios, those envisioning the worst. The others followed the instructions from CDC from the start. Most of the people understood what the flu meant, thanks to the media that tended to overstate the situations. Overstate. A small epidemics that would pass in a few weeks. Unfortunately, the media was right that time.
"Hey, Diego, what was your most interesting case you solved?", Benjamin asked him as they were speeding towards Daytona Beach. Diego was quiet the whole trip and concentrated on driving.
Eli lifted her head and waited for the answer.
"The most interesting case?", Diego smiled slightly. "Hmmm. Actually, this one that brought me to Rene 9. I got the trip as a bonus for solving the case. Which detective could pay for such a thing?"
"Do tell!", Benjamin exclaim
ed.
"A rainy day in New York. Heavy rain. Umbrellas useless. I was sitting in my office, I remember Charlie Parker's "I Can't Get Started" playing."
"Detectives also listen to jazz", Lika remarked.
"Oh, no", Diego waved his hand, "I know that song from childhood. My mom was a big Charlie Parker fan. I personally am more for Latino beats. Anyway, to continue. Parker plays, rain falls. A worried guy in a fine suit enters the office. I know fine suits. "My wife's cheating on me", he says sitting down in the armchair across from me. "How do you know that?", "She comes home late, whispers on the phone! All the signs are there!" He stands up, walks around the office, holding his head. So, I accept the case, follow this lady for ten days. She's some seven years younger than him. Blond hair just below the ear. Wears colorful dresses, each one like a sundress. When she walks, it seems she's floating on air. Very beautiful. The guy is telling the truth. She comes home late. Rarely stays at home. Meets a lot of various men. I learn the details, invite him to my office. He sits down. "Would you like a drink?" I ask him, he darkens. Nods his head. "Mister Guy", I say, "you were wrong. Your wife is not cheating. She did meet a lot of men, but also women." I show him the pictures. "Do you know these people?" "Yes", he says quoting the names of his friends. "Your wife", I reveal to him, "is preparing a spectacular surprise party for your wedding anniversary. You should be happy, you have the best wife in the world!"
"Well, don't say!", Benjamin laughs, "this was really your most interesting case?"
