The team made their way to the motor pool. It was in the same compound two buildings away.
Frank wanted to get to work immediately, “Sgt. York, we just did an inventory and always have current status on these vehicles. Please gather the paperwork and report back. We will redo everything from start to finish, inventorying every spare, but let’s see what we think our starting point is just to be sure.”
He had to gather his thoughts before continuing, “For the moment let’s put the fatalities aside. There is nothing we can do for the dead but mourn. It would be unusual, but just in case we get the chance to go in one of those two areas and help with a cleanup operation let’s think a bit. What kind of injuries can we expect among the survivors?”
Master Sergeant Peter Fisher was the first to speak up, “Well, there are several things that can be treated, I think. Probably the highest on that list is burns. The fireball would have been huge, and as a result we should expect these would be some of the most horrific burns we have ever seen. These poor souls will have massive full skin thickness burns. This will not be like a conventional fireball. This will be a fire that is hot enough, especially if you are close enough to ground zero, to cause anything that it comes in close proximity with to spontaneously burst into flame. The closer we get to ground zero the more we will find nothing but dust, and no injuries, only fatalities.
“The second type of injury we can expect to find is people with either vision damage or total blindness. We can’t do much at all for them besides rehab. That would have been caused by what would have been a very intense flash of light from the initial detonation Anyone lucky enough to be far enough away to be able to see and not have been killed, but unlucky enough to have been facing the wrong way with their eyes open, will probably fall in this category. This is going to be a large number of people given the time of day, this happened during what had to be the height morning rush hour.
“Another type of injury we will see is shrapnel injuries. With the energy of the blast radiating out, it will have taken out buildings all along the path. With that much flying debris the people outside the thermal zone, but still in the compression zones are going to be shredded. The further out, like the burn and vision injuries, the lesser of the degree of injury will be seen. In these cases, triage by the medical people will be the paramount decisions about of who lives and who dies. The medical side will work their butts off to save as many as they can, but they will also make the tough calls on who dies as well.
“I don’t know much about this side of it, but there will be radiation injuries. Dealing with those patients is beyond my training and I really can’t even tell you what the symptoms or biological effects are. I also don’t know what to do for these people. We could contact someone in the Navy submarine community, or maybe the SEALs medical guys. They are probably trained on that. Beyond that, I just don’t know.”
Frank replied, “Thank you Sergeant. I agree that not many people, if anyone, will have the capability to deal with the radiation sicknesses. I want you to put together a refresher for the rest of us on burn treatments. It would be helpful in case we get dropped into one of those two areas. Have that ready in thirty minutes that will give us time to look through the vehicles and spares.”
Master Sergeant James Washington, one of the team weapons specialists, was the first to ask a question, “Sir, forgive my ignorance, but why the immediate concern from the Colonel about vehicles and spare parts? With all the other things to be worried about right now I just don’t get that one. What am I missing?”
Warrant Officer Choi spoke up, breaking protocol by responding in frustration at the situation, he was mad enough to answer a question directed to someone who outranked him for what was perhaps the first time in his career, “Detroit was hit. Our dumb assed Congress ensured years ago it was the only place in the country that makes our damn vehicles or spare parts anymore. My guess is that we are going to have to run on what we have for a long time.”
Frank reached out to put his hand on the Warrant Officer’s shoulder, “You have family there Chief?”
Peter answered morosely, “Yes, sir. My parents and a brother.”
Frank looked to the others, “Anyone else have family near either location?”
There was no response, “Peter, they will be in our collective prayers. Don’t assume anything about them until real information starts to flow,” he said knowing that was easier to say than to do.
“Everyone, keep your heads straight. We are going to be going somewhere to fight. Let’s be more ready than we normally are, but remain professional. Once we get the call, and we will, we can’t go out looking for revenge, even after we find out who did this. That just gets us hurt.
“We have no reports of an invasion. I hope this is not the moment one starts. If there is, let’s get mentally prepared. We may have to defend the United States here at home instead of abroad. Someone knew to hit us where it hurts, let’s hope we don’t have to fight them in our backyard.”
AP NEWS FLASH: Detroit and the Dallas, Fort Worth Matroplex have suffered severe infrastructure damage. The hospitals are either at, or are nearing capacity. In many areas fires are burning. There are not nearly enough first responders for the situation. The cities are in a state of panic as residents flee. The President has declared a state of emergency. There is wide speculation that the National Guard or Active Duty Military will be sent to both locations until order can be restored, but so far that is not the case.
AP ECONOMIC NEWS FLASH: The US markets will remain closed until the start of what would have been the third normal trading day of the week. This date may be delayed further. The larger trading houses insist that the volume of international trades waiting to be executed need not wait longer for what is a domestic problem. Global economics being as linked as they are, other countries do not want to wait for the United States before their investment community can get back to work. This brings into question the monopoly of the NYSE on various types of trading. Officials working for the the markets fear opening too soon will allow panic to cause a massive selloff. International pressures are likely to prevail. Oil prices continue to soar on international markets. Gasoline is up nearly $1.50 per gallon, rising to $4.00 per gallon on average in the past few hours. Food prices will likely follow this trend; however there may be a delay in the rise of food prices as energy cost increases typically take some time to trickle into the rest of the economy, unless the rise is as a result of price gouging, which is being watched for by government regulators.
Chapter Eleven
The President was barely aware of the fact that he was sitting on an airplane. If it weren’t for the occasional rattle of ice cubes in water glasses he could have easily forgotten. He wasn’t even sure how the water glass had gotten there, but there it was. It seemed like such a normal thing to have sitting on a conference table given the circumstances.
What did normal even mean today?
How did his life change to the point where he was sitting at a conference table on an airplane?
Air Force One had a well-equipped conference room, as well as a robust communications system equal to anything available on the ground. If these facts were coupled with the amazing noise insulation causing the massive engines to only be heard as a dull hum, it would be easy to believe you were on the ground in an office building somewhere.