The President smiled at the Colonel. “Colonel, you did a nice job, but it needs a good touch to finish it. I’m going to have to send you back down there tonight, but at least you won’t go empty handed,” he said. His expression changed as he became more serious. “Did you happen to find anything out about the Vice President?”
She could see some hurt in the man’s eyes as she shook her head. In a softer tone she said, “No, sir. I was told he and his party were downtown when it happened. There’s nothing left of the hotel sir. I’m sorry.”
The President nodded sadly, then smiled. “It’s no matter. We have a lot to do.”
FEMA spoke up. “We anticipated a lot of what you will need and already loaded it on trains out of Petersburg. The other things you listed will be gathered up and brought in on the next available transport. I must admit, there are some things we didn’t think of, but make a hell of a lot of sense. I’ll be incorporating them in the next load. If all goes well, I should have additional FEMA teams on the ground there in a couple of days to help out. Until then, I am sending along an HF communications truck so we can have some voice communications,” he said. “Whatever you need, just ask for it, General.”
“The 46 is refueling and will take you down to Petersburg,” said Black. “The trains leave in three hours. I have detailed 2000 troops from Quantico and Fort Belvoir to be under your command. They are already loaded and waiting. Your staff is also embarked. There is a supply train, a passenger train for the troops and medical personnel, and a vehicle train we scared up to help with the transport. Claire, get down there and help those people,” Black said with a smile.
Richardson looked slightly overwhelmed. She was already tired beyond limits, but things were going a little too fast. The details were okay, but there were two things that stuck out. FEMA called her a General and Black had addressed her by her first name. A questioning look came over her face. “So I am in charge of the whole thing,” she said, more as a statement than a question.
The President almost laughed. “I need people who can get a job done. I don’t have time for bureaucrats or politicians, I need things done and right now. From what I have seen tonight, you are the one to do it in Memphis. Get down there and keep going,” he said. Then he reached behind his desk and pulled something out. “But I do need someone with a little more clout than a Marine Colonel,” he said.
Black started unbuttoning Richardson’s eagles as the president pulled out a set of single stars to replace them. “I heard you were up for it anyway, so I used my influence to speed up the process,” he said as he fastened them on. “Claire, just get down there and make a difference. I’m counting on you,” he said as he shook her hand.
“I won’t let you down sir,” she said totally overwhelmed. “I’ll contact you every day on our progress. If I run into trouble…”
“I’ll take care of it,” the President said with a nod. “You have the authority of the White House until I say stop. But more help will be on the way. All the government agencies will be reporting to you. We’ll do it together,” he assured her.
“Then, sir, I have the conn,” she said coming to attention. The sound of a helicopter starting up was heard faintly through the walls.
“Thanks, General. I appreciate your help,” the President said. “Now, I believe your chariot awaits,” he said.
The two shook hands and the two generals left the Oval Office. “That’s a tall order,” FEMA said to the President after they left.
“Yea, I know, but I think she’ll do just fine. Glancing through the papers she gave us it looks like she has her act together.”
“I agree. She has a pretty detailed set of plans. I’ll make sure my people don’t get in the way. Any word from Dallas?”
“Not yet, but hopefully by tomorrow we should hear back. Are the trains ready for Dallas?”
“I got some old rolling stock from Chicago on its way via Arkansas. The trains are making a stop there to make a requisition and should be ready tomorrow afternoon. It’s getting hard to piece all this together. Two separate disasters of this magnitude are using about everything up,” FEMA said rubbing his chin. It had been a long day.
“I know, but we have to do it. Our biggest problem is going to be scraping together things to fight this war,” the President said before collapsing into his easy chair. “We’ve got to do that too.”
Admiral Pedro Alvarez looked outside his window. The word had reached the government about how bad it was in America and he was concerned. America was not liked in a lot of places and was not especially admired in South America. His small country had maintained friendly relations, but there wasn’t much that interested the United States in his country. Alvarez earned his college degree at Georgia Tech and returned to his small navy to try and get it into the 20th century, if not the 21st. He gazed out at several ships sitting at the pier. They were some of the first real ships used in his navy and now were worn almost out. His men kept up the maintenance, and they still performed well when needed. But he had newer ships and these vessels were awaiting the scrap yard.
An idea came into Alvarez’s head as he looked at the ships. The United States was preparing to go to war with someone. They had been dealt a serious blow. They were probably looking everywhere for ships to help in this. Anyone helping them in a time of need would benefit greatly after that war. After making up his mind, he walked to his desk and placed a telephone call. Within eight hours four old destroyers made their way out of the harbor and turned north.
Chapter 4
Master Sergeant Paul Hufham was making his midnight rounds as usual. He wanted to personally make sure each of the guard towers was manned and the occupants alert. It didn’t make much sense to him why they were there. The Korean Demilitarized Zone or DMZ had been there for over seventy years and, aside from a couple of small skirmishes, it had remained quiet but tense. The tenseness bothered some of the younger guys but not him. He was used to it and had come to love Korea and its people.
Tonight it was almost pitch black and the air was cold. A slight breeze blew along the line and brought a shiver to the man as he stood by the tower. There was the smell of dust and decaying vegetation in the air. As he looked at the treeline across the DMZ he could just make out the darker area of the trees from the sky beyond. For several months a very faint light had been in the distance he had not remembered since the last time he was there. Only one other guy had noticed, but it was passed off as a new barracks intelligence had seen being built. He looked up at the concrete tower before him. They had been constructed years before to act as a sort of fortification against the hoards of the north, but they were mostly a cheaper shelter for the occupants that changed stations every four hours. The towers were all the same — a circular tube that ran from the ground up with a much larger circular enclosure with wide viewing slits around the side for watching the “enemy.”