Chapter 22: Lockdown

We had completed our major pickups of short-term residents and we were in the final stages of getting the residents settled in their new homes. We now had to make a final decision regarding further pickups.

Things had gone bad on our last major pickup. The pickup started out the same as the other pickups we made. By eight thirty in the morning, there were over a hundred demonstrators outside the stadium, and more were on the way. By ten, the number was close to five hundred and growing, they were chanting ‘We want to go!’ and their mood was ugly.

A police corridor kept a path open for our residents and a police barricade separated the demonstrators from the pickup point. Clara had responded to a telephone call from Samantha’s assistant, who was organizing the activities at the pickup location. Sharna transported Clara to the stadium. The violence started two minutes before she arrived. Clara linked with me immediately.

“Jon, the demonstrators are rioting. So far, they have thrown a few rocks and bottles. It looks like the police are capable of handling this right now, but more people are joining the rioters. What should we do?”

“Clara, do not hesitate.

“Have Sharna transport the rioters before they hurt someone. I think Sharna should disperse the rioters between the towns on the coast of Greenland for this group. Tell her to not overload any one town. I bet the artic weather will cool their tempers.”

The rest of the pickup went fairly smooth, but Sharna had to transport a second group of demonstrators turned rioters.

We didn’t want to place our people at risk, but we also felt obligated to pick up all of our eligible residents. The arrival of the two groups of Seals and their dependents had placed us over our minimum desired capacity. The last pickup had placed us over the point of maximum desired capacity. We had previously decided to stop pickups when we reached this point. The question we had to answer was ‘Would an additional thousand and two hundred people create a problem for us, and secondly, should we pick them up if it will cause only a minor problem.

The vote was unanimous, pick up our residents. We decided on a series of pickup locations, usually the city parks of the residents’ hometowns. The Habitation Department would contact our remaining residents and tell them where and when to be at their local pickup point. They also told them that this was the last pickup, so be sure to not be late. They were also told to not leave their pickup point for we might be a little late in arriving.

Two days later, Bob and Sharna performed the next to final pickup. They flited from town to town picking up one family at the first pickup point, three families at the next, and then on to the next location. By sunset, the pickup was complete. For whatever reasons, five families had failed to make it to their pickup points. Bob and Sharna had rechecked the pickup locations several time to see if the residents might have shown up late and remained in hope of a late pickup. They never appeared. There was one final group of residents to bring into the Ark. I didn’t want them, but I had promised to take them.

“Good evening, Mr. President. I thought I should give you a call and update the Ark’s status with you. How are things going at your shelters?”

“Evening, Jon. Well today wasn’t one of our best days. Several last minute logistic problems with supplies, and there have been a few problems with demonstrations at the shelter sites. The demonstrations have been getting increasingly violent. At today’s demonstration, five of my Rangers were hit by rocks and bottles. Thank God, the rest of the Rangers held their fire and all of my people withdrew into our access tunnel. It would have been a blood bath if the Rangers had opened up on unarmed civilians.”

“I may be able to help your people at the sites, Mr. President. Today we made our final scheduled pickup. With the exception of the Government people, which we still need to collect, we are ready to shut our doors.

“If you would like, I could have Bob and Sharna be at your shelter locations tomorrow. If the demonstrations get out of hand, they could encapsulate your demonstrators and transport them to a remote location. That may help to take the pressure off of your Rangers.”

“Yes, I heard about the Ark Foundation’s method of disposing of demonstrators. Most of the demonstrators you dropped in Greenland are still there, and the State Department is still working on cleaning up the legalities relating to the last five demonstrators you left in Australia. If I agree to Bob and Sharna disposing of my problem demonstrators, where would they drop them?”

“That would be up to you Sir. If you want them to have at least a fair chance of survival, we could leave them out on the pampas in Argentina, or somewhere in the jungles along the Amazon River. My favorite, which I have been saving for a particularly obnoxious group, is the jungles of Borneo. I suppose that group who injured the Rangers would qualify for that drop point. Is there any truth in the rumor that the natives of Borneo still take and shrink their enemy’s heads?”

Bob and Sharna monitored the Government’s shelter locations. The protestors must have been very violent for Bob and Sharna transported two groups of demonstrators from each of the three shelter locations. The President had no interest in them returning, so Bob and Sharna dropped all six groups off in the middle of Borneo’s jungle. Based on Bob’s comments, I don’t think he and Sharna were interested in having them as part of the five percent of the population that will survive.

Everyone knew about Bob and Sharna transporting demonstrators, so the nation’s attention turned to the Ark. The following day, we had the largest group of demonstrators outside of our Auburn Freight Yard gates that had ever gathered to protest our actions.

I called Mike. “Mike, pull all of our people back into the Ark and lockdown all access tunnels. We only have one group of residents left to pick up and process, and that is a relatively small group. Once the President has that group ready for transport, we will pick them up. When they are in the Ark, you are to execute our full lockdown protocol, and maintain it, until after the meteoroids have passed.”

“Alright, Jon. Do you know when that last group will be here?”

“The President told me he would notify the people, and they should be ready in two days.”

“Jon, I have a bad feeling about this pickup. Congressmen live by their own set of rules. They think they are in control and everyone must do things their way.”

“You’re right, Mike. We can only tell them what they must do to be picked up. If they fail to comply, we will leave them behind as we did with Mr. Miller. The President and I discussed this matter, and he said he would inform them they had to be at the pickup point on time or be left behind. He doesn’t think that they will all accept that reality.

“Under the circumstances, Mike, I think you and I should handle this pickup. I would hate to have one of our Habitation people have to handle a group of upset political bigwigs.”

Two days later, Bob was setting Mike and me down at the site of our first pickup, the Met Life Sports Complex. The President had told the Congressmen to be there by noon for a twelve thirty pickup, and he had sent one of his advisors to verify that everyone made it to the pickup. We arrived at twelve, and started organizing the people who were there to be picked up. Mike and I had planned ahead and brought bullhorns with us. We were finally able to overpower all the noise these people were making and get them to form a group of about two hundred people. Sharna enclosed them in a force field and transported them to the Ark.

It was twelve thirty, so we spoke to the President’s advisor about who was missing. We were missing four Congressmen, but their families were still here waiting for them. The advisor pointed over to a small group of families who were standing off to the side. Mike and I walked over and joined them.

“Good afternoon, Ladies, I am Jon Reppa and this is Mike Henderson. We are in charge of this pickup and the President’s advisor tells us that your husbands are not here. Do you have any idea what is delaying them and when they will arrive?”

The ladies looked at each other and finally one seemingly very embarrassed woman said, “This is Saturday, and our husbands have a standing appointment to play golf on Saturday morning. Their tee off time was eleven forty-five and they were only going to play the front nine holes today, which normally takes them two hours. They told us that they would be here by two thirty at the latest and to tell you to wait for them.”

“Ladies, we have a problem. We were due to leave at twelve thirty and it is now twelve fifty. We will be departing for the Ark as soon as Mike and I can get the people who are here gathered into a group. You have a choice to make; you can go with us or you can be left behind.

“If you go with us you will probably survive the virus. If you stay, there are no guarantees and we will not return to pick you up. If you want to go with us and save yourselves and your children, come with Mike and me now.”

Mike and I walked over to where the majority of the people were standing and had them move closer together; I could hear people following us. When I looked back, there was no one standing where the ladies had stood. They had all chosen to go with us.

Bob dropped us off in the Auburn Freight Yard. As we rode the train to the transit station, I gave Mike his instructions.

“Mike, it’s official. Verify that all of our people are in the Ark and then give the orders to shut all of the access tunnel doors. We are in lockdown and will remain in that condition for the next three to six months. As of now, Clara and I are the only ones that can countermand that order. If someone wants to leave, send them to Clara or me.

“I will contact the President and let him know we have locked down the Ark. I will also have Linda contact the President’s staff to setup the video link with the White House for early tomorrow morning. Once the lockdown is complete, come to my office. We need to meet with Colonel Fenton and Lieutenant Commanders Johnson and Charles, and give them some advance notice of the arrangements that the President dictated.

When I got back to my office, I asked Joan to contact Carl, Phil, and Tom and to inform them that I needed to speak with them as soon as possible. They joined me in my office a half hour later.

“Gentlemen, I don’t like surprises and I don’t think that you would appreciate being unprepared for the circumstances I ­am about to brief you on.

“I understand that your superiors told you that arrangements were being made to resolve the problem of you and your units being out of touch with your superiors. Your superiors met with the President and they came up with a solution. I have reassessed the relationship that I as an Ark Foundation Co-President have had with the President of the United States over the past three years. Based on that review, I personally believe that the President had this solution in mind from the beginning, but don’t think I was ready to accept his solution back then.

“Considering what you are about to be told, you need to have a bit of background. Over the past fifteen or so years, Mike, Bill, and I discussed the makeup of our External Security Group. We came to the conclusion that in order to successfully rebuild the North American Continent, we would have to create a small army of trained personnel.

Around three years ago, I met with the President. He asked for our assistance in creating the Government’s shelters, and I asked him for a company of Rangers in return. I explained that we needed the expertise of the Rangers as the nucleus of the military force I would need to create in order to re-establish civilization in North America. He promised me two companies of Rangers, a Seal Team, and the supplies to support them.

“Carl had a problem with giving me two of his companies. We put together a plan, and the result was the President assigned the 2nd Battalion to support the Ark Foundation, and the Government would provide all of the supplies that they would need to support us. Earlier this year, the President called me for help. He wanted to find a home for two Seal Groups, and asked if I would take them. I agreed and that is how Groups One and Three were assigned to help support the Ark Foundation.

“Three weeks later, the President called me and asked if Mike and I could meet with him at the White House. Gentlemen, it was at that meeting that Mike and I learned that we had been guided by a master of strategy and manipulation. Mike and I had a general plan for creating a private army. The President had a similar plan, but its scope and detail was far greater than ours.

“The President did not want the American military forces to be totally destroyed by the virus. He and a large number of senior military personnel will become the Consolidated Military Forces of the United States, East Coast Command, and we will be the Consolidated Military Forces of the United States, West Coast Command.

“The President gave us written orders for you gentlemen, Mike, and me. The first set of orders for Mike and me returns us to active duty. My second set of orders does two things. They promote me to the rank of General and they place me in command of the Consolidated Military Forces of the United States, West Coast Command. Mike’s second set of orders promote him to the rank of Lieutenant General and they place him in the position of second in command of the Consolidated Military Forces of the United States, West Coast Command. All of our orders were effective the day we sealed the access tunnels, which we did earlier today.

“The President gave us three sets of sealed orders, one set for each of you gentlemen. I know that each of you have a set of promotion orders that will be effective tomorrow, but the President did not tell Mike and me what your new ranks would be. However, he did give us a large box of rank insignia for all ranks, both officer and enlisted. A second set of orders assigns you and your respective units to the Consolidated Military Forces of the United States, West Coast Command.

“Tomorrow the five of us are to participate in a video conference with the President. He wants you and your senior personnel to attend this conference and he will explain his plan and the orders we have received.

“Do you have any questions, Gentlemen?”

Tom Charles asked, “Do we have a start time for the conference?”

“Not yet. Linda is coordinating that with the President’s staff. As soon as I find out, I’ll give you a call and let you know.”

Carl Fenton asked, “Do you have an organizational structure in mind for the West Coast Command?”

“Yes, Carl, I do. Mike and I have worked out the basics, but before we finalize it, we wanted to give the three of you the opportunity to provide us with input. What we want to do is give the three of you a full briefing on what our current plans are for reestablishing the United States. After that, the five of us will be in a position to put our heads together and create an organizational structure to accomplish our operational goals.”

“What we have developed can best be defined as a series of objectives or milestones. We have defined each objective so we will be able to clearly determine what needs to be done to attain the objective and to determine when that objective is achieved, and we have an estimated timeline for completing the objectives. While we have a general plan for attaining those objectives, we do not have a specific plan for each objective.

“The one thing I want to make very clear about the objectives and timeline is they are not fixed. The definitions are subject to change now and in the future depending on the existing circumstances, and the timeline is our best estimate of how long it will take to attain the objectives. When we have plans made for obtaining the objectives, those plans and the timeline for completing them will remain flexible until we attain the objectives. As we discuss these objectives, feel free to ask questions and make suggestions. You know your units’ capabilities better than we do, and in order to make this campaign work, it must be planned out in terms of what your people are capable of doing.”

With that introduction complete, the five of us worked our way through the basic plan for regaining control of the North American Continent. Mike said, “A couple of years ago, we informed the President’s advisors that we had a plan that would accomplish a quick linkup with their forces and briefly described that plan. The advisors let us know that they would get back to us and let us know what the President thought of our plan. We said we would be working on the plan further, and would discuss matters with them later. The advisors did not respond to us, and the lack of a reply to our follow up questions made it clear that the Government was not interested in discussing a quick linkup.

“However, while waiting for a reply, we came to realize that the plan would probably not be feasible in the aftermath of the devastation that would occur due to the meteoroids. We revised that plan drastically and since the Government did not appear to be interested in a linkup of forces, we did not submit our revised plan to the President. At that time, we decided that if the Government did not want to talk about things with us, we would do our own thing without their input.

“The main unknown in our current plan is what the East Coast Command plans to do, and their timeframe. We have to find out about their plans, and let the President know about our revised plan.”

This morning’s eight o’clock video conference with the President was anticlimactic except for one or two things. The five of us were prepared for what the President had to say due to my advance briefing. The commanders of each of our three military units were promoted. Lieutenant Colonel Carl Fenton was bumped to Colonel, and Lieutenant Commanders Tom Charles and Phil Johnson were promoted two levels to the rank of Captain. The President felt they should hold equivalent ranks; I felt that we should have a single rank structure.

The only problem during the conference was when we started discussing our plans for regaining control of North America and our projected timetables. It quickly became clear that someone on the Government’s side of the fence had withheld information that was supposed to be passed to us.

The President was extremely irritated at his staff when he learned that their failure to communicate with us resulted in us developing a plan that did not include a linkup with the East Coast Command. The President briefly described his plan to us and it was an outstanding plan; in fact, his plan was very much like our plan, which is probably why we thought it was outstanding. The only problem we could see was a lack of trained manpower and we were working on two very different timelines.

The President’s plan focused on feeding the survivors and restoring their ability to produce electricity, fuel, and manufactured goods before the East Coast Command tried to establish the link between our two commands. As we compared our two plans, it became evident that a linkup would be beneficial, but the linkup would only be worthwhile if we were able to maintain it.

When we discussed what a linkup would require in terms of manpower, we both realized that it would take at least twenty years before we would be able to establish a three-thousand-mile link and deploy sufficient personnel along the route to keep it open. The alternative was to maintain a radio link, and coordinate our efforts to establish such a route. We decided on the radio link, at least until we were in a position to establish the physical link. I tasked Linda with setting up and coordinating a radio network with the East Coast Command.

“Mr. President, I am somewhat hesitant to bring this matter up, but there is one thing that concerns me.

“When we started the construction of the Ark, the Ark Foundation was a totally autonomous group. Since then, we have worked with you and you have provided us with personnel and resources. There has been no discussion between us of a partnership or alliance, or who has control of our combined group. Assuming that we are a single group split between two locations, what are your thoughts on this matter, Mr. President?”

“I realized early on, Jon, that our respective circumstances are very different. Neither of us will be in a position to determine what is best for the other’s group. Therefore, we need to be autonomous allies.

“You undoubtedly realize by now that the politicians I stuck you with have a very different idea of who should be in control of the Ark. I needed them to get things through Congress, so I allowed them to think that at some time in the future they would be in control of the Ark. I made no promises. They had a firm picture of how they would take over the Ark if you failed to voluntarily relinquish control to them.

“I learned from Senator Blume’s failed attack on the Ark that Bob and Sharna are the ones in control, and no offense intended, but you and Clara are figureheads. The Congressmen that you received failed to learn that lesson. They are mostly talk, but they are capable of taking action. Their form of action will most likely take the form of creating an opposition party from among your disenchanted residents.

“They fail to understand that the Ark is governed by a benevolent dictatorship. You will have to teach them that, Jon, and I hope they survive the lesson for they are probably the best of the lot and that isn’t saying a whole lot. You need to be careful of them when their plan fails for they are capable of violence. Although, most of them would prefer to have someone else shoot you from ambush.”

“Thank you, Mr. President. Clara and I recognized our actual position in the Ark when we first accepted our positions. I shouldn’t have been surprised by your recognizing the situation for what it is, but I am.

“By the way, what did the Congressmen who got left behind have to say?”

“They were very angry and unhappy that you refused to wait for them. They wanted me to call you straight away and have you return and pick them up. I told them it didn’t matter what I said, for by then you had stricken them from your list of approved residents. They said ‘What?’, so I reminded them of Mr. Miller and his baseball game. It looks like I will have to house them in one of our shelters.

“Do you have a plan in mind for setting the Congressmen straight, Jon?”

“Yes, I do and all I needed was to discuss where you and I stand on who is in control of the Ark.

“I arranged for a meeting this afternoon between the Congressmen, my advisors, and me. The meeting will be broadcast throughout the Ark, so everyone will understand the Ark’s power structure. I will arrange for a video feed of the meeting to be routed to you over this link if you are interested in watching.”

“I would very much like to see what happens, Jon. What time is your meeting?”

“It is scheduled for two this afternoon, our time.

“That is all I have for you at this time, Mr. President, do you have anything further for us to address?”

“No, Jon, nothing further at this time, but I will get back with you later.”

Looking at Carl, Phil, and Tom, I said, “Congratulations on your promotions Gentlemen.”

Carl responded with, “And congratulations are in order for you and Mike also, General.”

Phil and Tom were nodding in agreement, so I knew they were not only congratulating Mike and me, but they were also acknowledging that we were now their superior officers.

“From my viewpoint, Gentlemen, we have a contingent of Army personnel and a contingent of Navy personnel. So far, we have functioned without any serious problems. I would like to hear how the three of you feel about our current organizational structure. Specifically, do we want to retain the separation of Army and Navy, or should we consolidate everyone into a single group and if so what should we call it? Carl, I would like Phil and Tom to go first, since they represent the smaller units.”

Phil and Tom looked at each other, and Tom signaled for Phil to respond.

“Jon, Tom and I were expecting something of this sort might occur so we discussed our feeling on merging the three units. Basically, we think it would be a poor idea.

“Right now, it is true that the Ark is looking at ground operations, and there will probably be no need for a naval unit in the near future. Our Navy personnel have developed a set of skills that are very different from those of the Rangers. Tom and I believe that those skills will be needed in the Ark’s future. If we combine the units, we think those skills will be lost.

“What we think you should do is setup the Consolidated Military Forces of the United States to consist of a Navy and an Army. I personally do not see the need for a Marine Corp at this time, nor do I see a need for an Air Force. If we ever have a need for those two services, you can create them in the future or assign those functions to the Navy or Army.”

Looking at Tom, I asked, “Do you have anything to add, Tom?”

“No, Sir, Phil covered it very well.”

“What about you, Carl?”

“I have been working with Tom and Phil for a couple of months now. They are correct in my opinion. They do have skills that Rangers do not have and it would be a shame to lose those skills.”

“Alright, Gentlemen, it appears that we will setup our organizational chart to show an Army and a Navy. At your earliest convenience, I would appreciate your providing me with an organizational structure depicting the units you gentlemen expect to create and man in the coming 10 years. It would also be nice if we can create a rank structure common to both the Army and Navy. Give it some thought and let me know if it is feasible.

“The second task I have for you gentlemen is the development of a plan to move all of the Seal equipment from Coronado to our area before the meteoroids arrive. The Rangers will provide a guard force to protect the Seals while they are working to get their equipment packed, loaded, and ready for transport. I would like to have you located in Oakland, but until that area is secure, I feel that the danger outweighs the advantages. Until we have a strong presence in that area, I would like for you to setup your unit on Folsom Lake. Before the Internet goes down, do some research on that area and if you have a better idea let me know.”

The announcement of an important meeting being broadcast on Channel 88 went out over the Ark’s public announcement system. Everyone in the Ark was advised to tune in and listen to what may be an extremely important meeting that everyone had to be aware of to ensure they did not get in trouble.

I walked into one of our large conference rooms at one fifty-five. My Advisory Council was on one side of the table and the Congressmen were on the other side except for one man who was sitting in the chair that I normally use. May had her camera setup off to the side of the room, which gave her a good view of the Congressmen. I walked up to my normal place and stood there for a moment.

To the surprise of the Congressmen, an empty chair rose up into the air and floated to the head of the table. Then the idiot in my place rose up into the air and floated to a gap between two Congressmen near the foot of the table. I pulled my chair up to the table, sat down, and started the meeting.

“Good afternoon, Gentlemen. It was brought to my attention that you gentlemen are of the opinion that you are the Government’s representatives, and as such, you should be in charge of the Ark. I requested your presence here today so I can set the record straight to you and to the rest of the Ark Society who are watching this meeting on TV.

“You gentlemen are short-term residents, and when it is safe for us to return to the surface, you will do so with the rest of the short-term residents. I am not aware of the type of work that you gentlemen are familiar with other than politics. Hopefully, you will be capable of supporting yourself and your families because the Ark Society does not need full-time politicians. As our towns grow in size, we may need Mayors, town councils, and other public servants; but that is at least ten years in the future.

“Publically, my Bond Mate Clara and I are the Co-Presidents and owners of the Ark Foundation, which owns the Ark. We and our Advisory Council govern the Ark and make all of the decisions regarding what happens here. If you want to categorize our form of government, I suppose that you could label it a benevolent dictatorship.

“The leaders of our government are Bob and Sharna. They make the final decisions, although they generally allow Clara and me to make the decisions and handle most of the business associated with the Ark Foundation.

“I can see from your faces that this conversation is not having the desired effect on your opinions of who is in control. I think it will be necessary for me to explain this matter to you gentlemen in a slightly different fashion.