PRESENT DAY. Paul smiled inwardly as he watched that part of the video. Inadvertently, he had started the information ball rolling into the public sector. He had never told anyone that it was him.
VIDEO: THE INCIDENT. The General asked the Lieutenant Colonel about what else was known by the public. Lanzo continued. “Even with news blackouts under martial law, rumors, half-truths and whole truths abound. It’s pretty hard to hide a nuclear explosion, even if it is a small tactical nuke. Information and images went out through Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, You Tube, cell phones, and the internet before we could shut down those communication systems. Once this disease becomes publically known, we are going to have mass panic and people fleeing the major cities, spreading the disease further. The big cities will have to be kept bottled up until the disease runs its course. That will enhance survival chances for the suburban areas and even better, the rural areas. I think we’ll have to authorize our own soldiers to fire on their countrymen. They’ll need to be convinced that even more death will occur if they don’t. Sealing our borders and stopping transportation internally is an excellent first step. People need to be told to stay in their houses and avoid contact with anyone. They need to have hope, too. For all this to work properly the President has to address the public soon and with transparency and offer enough hope to motivate people into staying put.”
“Amen” said Dr. Chrispeels. Dr. Ramen Desh spoke up. “We need to accelerate putting a response team together to deal with possible treatments and maybe a vaccine. Getting Dr. Cabrot in a lab setting with other viral specialists is an extremely high priority.” General Straub spoke up. “As we speak, team Bravo lifted off from Westover Air Reserve Base in Massachusetts. They are on their way to get Dr. Cabrot.” Just then his Aide walked up and whispered in his ear. “President Chung is on the line.” General Straub answered. “Transfer her to my office. I’ll be there real soon.”
“Madame President, I have just met with my Crisis Management Team. They believe that you must address the general public to avoid mass panic, as it looks like Blue Flu is about to go viral real soon.” “Yes General Straub, that’s why I am contacting you; we are on the same page. I have just heard the reports out of Vermont. I am going on air as soon as possible after a public announcement to set the time and topic, which we’ll call “National Emergency.” My question to you and your team is what I might say to make the military’s job as easy as possible.” General Straub gave President Chung the Crisis Management Team’s recommendations. “Thank you, General. I’ll be on air tonight at 9 PM EST.”
No sooner had General Straub put the phone down, than Tech Sergeant Munger barged into his office. “Sir, the alien fighter craft has gone down. It has landed as confirmed by spy satellite imagery. The landing site is in Killington on the mountainside. One of our planes fired at it, so it is possibly damaged.” Shit, thought the General. It can’t be a coincidence that Dr. Cabrot’s cabin is on a mountainside in Killington. Those alien bastards in the errant fighter must have been left behind to mop up small details. It looks like they monitored our communications about picking up Dr. Cabrot. “Patch me into Team Bravo now!” The General followed Tech Sergeant Munger into a nearby room which had become a command center for Team Bravo.
“Captain Madigan, this is General Straub. Listen carefully. An alien fighter has just landed in what we believe is your destination spot for securing Dr. Cabrot. What armament do you carry?” “Sir, we have 50 caliber machine guns, 30 mm cannons and AGM-22B missiles.” “OK, a high probability exists that an enemy bogey has just landed at your destination. How long before you touch down?” “Five minutes, Sir. Do we go in hot?” “Yes, Captain, but with extreme care because your number one priority is the safe retrieval of Dr. Cabrot.” “I understand, Sir.”
John was seated near the cabin fireplace with a glass of wine. So far he still felt good. He had taken his omeprazole that morning and had no heartburn to accompany the wine. He didn’t feel like he was getting a virus either. However, he knew that the incubation period until virus expression for flu wasn’t up yet. Roxanne suddenly started barking. “What is it, girl?” Then John heard the annoying whine of snowmobiles rising in pitch. Damn them, he thought. Likely trespassing on his property again, thinking he wasn’t here. John angrily grabbed the 30-06 rifle and went to the slider that opened to the deck. There he would have a good view. As he approached the slider, he could see snow coming down pretty heavily.
Flicking on the deck floodlights and opening the slider, he could see the lights of two approaching snowmobiles at the left back edge of his property. He was hoping that upon seeing him standing on the deck with his rifle, they would get the hint and turn around. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a gleam. Looking to the far right, he saw a large silvery object with something, no someone in what looked like pilot gear complete with helmet and some kind of suit. There was a huge trailing gash on the side of the silvery object and damage to the rear was visible. Hardly had that registered, when he saw an outstretched arm holding something and a sudden bright streak of light shot off to his left. Suddenly one of the snowmobiles exploded in a fiery flash and in what he thought was less than a second, the other one exploded. His mind reeled in shock. What the hell, he thought.
Suddenly he felt a whirl of wind as Roxanne raced by him, clearing the deck railing in a high jump and then running straight at the guy who just somehow blew up two snow mobiles. He must have left the slider ajar a bit and Roxanne pushed it open. In a blur he saw the suited pilot lifting his arm to aim at Roxanne. “No,” he shouted as he swung the Winchester 30-06 to his shoulder, while sighting through the scope. The roar of the rifle deafened him. The shot struck the suited pilot and it staggered, but did not fall over. By then Roxanne was on him and sunk her teeth into the arm holding the short rifle-like weapon with the tenacious grip of an 80 pound pit bull. John watched in horror as the pilot reached toward his hip with his other arm toward what looked like a holstered pistol. In a panic, John sighted on the face thinking this guy must have body armor to survive that shot. He saw what looked like a helmet with glass-like facial shielding and zeroed in on the seamed area where the glass met the metal. Again, a deafening noise and John’s ears were now ringing. He noted with satisfaction that the guy went over.
Only then did he worry about what he had just done. Self-defense, he thought. Given the dead snowmobile riders, he didn’t think anyone would find him at fault. Somewhat in shock, he climbed down the few steps to walk over to Roxanne. As he got closer in the swirling snow, he realized that the silvery object was wedge-shaped like those the aliens flew, but a lot smaller. As he neared the prone figure and saw some green glop dribbling from a crack in the helmet, he realized that the figure was not human. “Release, Roxanne,” he said in a stern voice. She did, but sat there watching carefully. “Good dog, Roxanne.” Suddenly, he saw movement. The alien was reaching with one hand toward what looked like a wristwatch. All John could think of was the Arnold Schwarzenegger movie, Predator. He fired point blank into the helmet joint. The figure convulsed and then remained still. John was pretty sure that the ship would have blown up otherwise. Just in case, he fired one shot into the watch-like device on the alien’s suited body.
Captain Madigan held the infrared binoculars to his eyes and scanned. The glare from the landing site caused him to wince. However, he did see two figures and a hot object. He switched to regular binoculars and saw the deck floodlights had caused the glare. He made out one standing figure with a rifle and a prone figure. Rockets and cannons would be useless, given the proximity of the two figures. He assumed the prone figure was likely Dr. Cabrot. Shit, he thought. He raised the magnification a bit more, while telling the machine gunners to get ready to take out the standing figure on his order. As he focused the higher magnification, he saw what appeared to be a pit bull sitting near the standing figure. The prone figure was next to a silvery craft and appeared suited up. “Belay that order, gunners, but keep alert and focused
on those targets.”
John heard the approaching helicopters. He ran back to the cabin with Roxanne following him. Grabbing the best flashlight and still carrying the rifle, he raced to an open space and started waving the flashlight skyward at the approaching helicopters. They landed nearby in the swirling snow. John saw the figures coming toward him suited up in what looked like white biological protective suits complete with respirators. They stopped and gestured and more suited individuals came boiling out of the helicopters with what John undoubtedly knew were M-16s. As he laid down his rifle, he first thought the helicopters’ machine gunners had their guns trained on him. No, he thought, they must be targeting the alien craft behind me.
PRESENT DAY. To this day, Paul wondered whether the alien landing at his Vermont place was coincidental, or was it sent to kill him because of his connection to the CDC and his knowledge of viruses. General Straub was convinced it was not a coincidence. He believed that the aliens had eavesdropped on the military’s communications concerning the value of John Cabrot.
VIDEO: THE INCIDENT. One figure came forward toward John. “Are you Dr. John Cabrot?” “Yes, I am,” answered John. Then the figure said, “I am Captain Madigan. We came to pick you up and bring you to our best disease research facility. But first, what the hell went on here. Is that an alien craft?” John answered as best he could, while saying duh in his head. “Yes, that is an alien craft. It landed here shortly before you. Its pilot killed some people on snowmobiles and then tried to kill me. Between Roxanne, my dog, and me, we got the best of it. It tried to blow up its craft before it died, at least that’s what I think it tried. My guess is that it was hunting humans or perhaps me, like in the movie, Predator. As to whether I am OK, I’m not sure. I was exposed to the alien virus.” Captain Madigan responded, “Private Simonelli, get him a level 4 bio-suit right now! Dr. Cabrot, put the suit on immediately. I’m sure you know how. Private Simonelli will assist you. I’ve got to radio in to base right now.” John said quickly. “One more thing, there are two weapons back there with the body.” Captain Madigan responded. “The rest of you secure those weapons and the perimeter right now!”
Captain Madigan ran back to the chopper. Grabbing the radio, he said. “Base, this is Captain Madigan of Bravo team. I need a radio patch to General Straub at NORAD. This call is the highest top secret priority possible and the general is to be interrupted regardless of what he is doing.” A few minutes later, the radio boomed with General Straub’s voice. “General Straub here, what is the situation?” Captain Madigan answered. “Sir, switch to the most secure coded channel. I’ll do the same.” General Straub listened intently as the Captain relayed what Dr. Cabrot had told him. The General responded. “Captain, your orders are to remain there and secure the site until reinforcements arrive. Do not let anyone near the site. You are authorized to use whatever force is necessary to keep the site secure. Get Dr. Cabrot comfortable. I am sending a medical team in ASAP. Let’s hope he doesn’t contract the disease and die on us. We really need him. He appears to be tops in his field.” “Yes, Sir, responded the Captain. Bravo Team signing off.”
General Straub turned to his Aide. “Sergeant O’Malley, Send out my orders via secure communication channel to the U.S. Special Operations Command in Tampa. The orders have top priority and are top secret. Have them send Delta Force from Fort Bragg, North Carolina, to Dr. Cabrot’s cabin coordinates. Time is critical. Send a small advance team ASAP to secure the site. They will be securing a small alien craft, comparable to a jet fighter. Send a medical response team with full biological protection. They need to bring a biological recovery unit to retrieve an alien body. They should all wear bio-protective clothing. We have no idea of what possible exposures might exist. Have a small radiation team also be part of the advance group, just in case. Upon arrival of the advance team, they will transfer orders to Captain Madigan’s Bravo team to transport Dr. Cabrot immediately back to their current base and then take him via the fastest jet transport available to Area 51. Have Dr. Cabrot placed in isolation quarantine and all medical support possible to keep him alive is authorized. The second Delta Force team should come prepared to transport the craft and body under cover via cargo plane to Area 51. No one outside of this group is to know anything about this activity. Make sure that is clearly understood.”
Dr. Cabrot is sitting at the table. He is getting uncomfortable in the bio-hazard suit and is feeling hot. He looks at Captain Madigan. “Captain, I hope your orders include my dog coming with me. She saved my life and I cannot leave her here. She is all I have. I’m sure I will be more motivated to work on this virus if my dog comes with me.” John realized that the statement was something of a threat. He also wondered whether he would live to honor his word, given the virus exposure. Captain Madigan looked at him and shrugged. “I have no orders regarding your dog. Guess I’ll have to bring her along. I’ll just say you coerced me. I will have to request some type of bio-container for the dog. We have no idea if she could be a vector. Besides she bit the alien according to you. They’ll want to keep her under observation for a while.” The last sentence was said with a smile. “Besides, I am a dog person. I understand where you’re coming from. We’ll also make sure that the next team in to relieve us will close up your cabin, turn off the water, and put the heat down low.”
“Thank you, Captain,” said John. “By the way, most pathogens that infect humans don’t infect dogs and the dog is extremely unlikely to be a carrier. Still, I appreciate your kindness toward the dog. So, I suggest you also request some tranquilizer for Roxanne, as she won’t like being cooped up and will chew her way out. She has very strong jaws.” Captain Madigan smiled and thought to himself; base is going to love this request.
At Fort Bragg, North Carolina, the advance team of Delta Force is shown boarding two Boeing MH 47G Chinooks with their gear. It has been one hour since General Straub’s orders were transmitted to Fort Bragg. The Chinooks take off and are soon seen in the distance. Their top speed is roughly 200 mph. They will arrive at the Burlington, Vermont, airport and then go by convoy to Cabrot’s cabin. Lieutenant Calvin Jackson is in charge of the team of 24 men. They are heavily armed.
Switching scenes, Homeland Security agents arrive in Rutland, having been notified of Meredith Parker’s death from the Blue Flu virus. They have a number of black SUVs with a large bus following behind them. Agent Dawson is talking into his cell phone. “Our destination is Meredith’s boyfriend’s parents, house. Our interviews with her classmates at NYU indicated that’s where she headed after escaping from the Ethan Allen Express dragnet. Hopefully, he is still there and so are the parents. We’ll have to interview them about all contacts they had in after Ms. Parker arrived. All of them will have to be taken into protective quarantine as a precaution. All agents are to suit up in bio-protective gear.” The convoy pulls up to a modest frame house on East Washington Street. A few people are walking nearby. Upon seeing the suited agents, they scurry off as fast as possible. Agents Gene Dawson and Anne Larson walk up to the door and ring the bell. Other agents hurry to the back door as a precaution.
No one answers the door. Agent Dawson kicks in the door. The agents enter and go room to room. They finally find Anthony’s parents in bed. Agent Dawson approaches the bed and asks, “Are you sick?” A feeble female voice answers. “We both have the flu. Probably we caught it from Meredith. We were too weak to call for help. Please help us.” Meanwhile Agent Larson talks into her headset. “Bring in two stretchers, quarantine type. Go to the second floor bedroom to the right at top of stairs.” She then turns to Anthony’s mom. “Where is Anthony? We need to help him.” The weak voice answers. “He’s at college, Green Mountain College.” Agent Larson again talks into headset. “Headquarters, we have a top priority. Send a team to Green Mountain College to retrieve Anthony Ianelli. Find out who he was in contact with and quarantine all of them. If he has gone to classes or a party, we might have to quarantine the entire campus and all party goers. Maximal prot
ection is required. Please acknowledge.” “Acknowledged” came back the reply. In her mind, Agent Larson worried about stopping the spread of the virus. It was becoming a logistical nightmare.
As the stretcher team walked off with the two stretchers covered with a plastic envelope enveloping each stretcher, Agent Dawson spoke into his headset. Each stretcher had IV tubes and oxygen being fed through air tight seals on the plastic envelope. “Base, Agent Dawson here, we have a code three situation. Advise the National Guard to seal off the entire city of Rutland. No one leaves, no one enters. Have them use bullhorns to warn people from a distance. Under no conditions should anyone come within two hundred feet of the soldiers. Paint the lines in red and advise that anyone crossing either line in will be shot. Orders to shoot are authorized and mandatory. Tell the soldiers that any exposure will result in their being quarantined. Also motivate them by telling them the disease is quite fatal. Please acknowledge.” “Acknowledged.”
Back at Killington, Captain Madigan waited patiently for the reinforcements to arrive before he could rush Dr. Cabrot to medical treatment. John Cabrot walked over to the television and turned it on. Thank goodness for the local channels, he thought. He turned the volume on high, as the suits made hearing difficult. Captain Madigan, Privates Joseph Torelli and Lisa Stockton joined him, having just rotated in from outside guard duty. “Ladies and Gentlemen, the President of the United States, Luanne Chung.” She then appeared, an attractive Asian American wearing a well-tailored navy blue suit and white blouse. The Presidential seal is seen in the background flanked by two U.S. flags. She was seated at a simple, but large, oak desk. A beautiful Persian cat was curled up on the carpet in front of the deck. The camera then zoomed in to President Chung’s face.
“My fellow citizens, I extend my heartfelt greetings to you. We are going through worrisome times. I know you have heard much about the alien crafts and rumors about nuclear attacks and alien diseases. It is time to be totally transparent and to offer truth and honesty above all. As fellow Americans, you deserve nothing less. First, with heavy heart, I tell you that the rumor of President Tomlinson’s death is true. He and many other government officials were killed by an alien missile that targeted his bunker in the Mount Weather facility. By automatic constitutional succession, I have assumed the Presidency. All attempts to communicate with the alien ships were unsuccessful, so we adopted a wait and see strategy. That course was used by other countries, too, based on the following information. Those countries that used aggression were struck hard. Iran lost its capital, Tehran, to a large nuclear strike. The alien ships are more advanced in weaponry than our best jet fighters. The People’s Republic of China lost a number of its best fighter jets before adopting a wait and see strategy. Those facts led to our wait and see strategy.”
The Manhattan Incident Page 12
