Chapter 3

As comfortable as the giant bed was, and it was freakishly comfortable, sleep refused to come. On the nightstand beside the bed sat the case Kristen gave me. Another puzzle calling out to be solved. How do I open it? I wouldn’t be able to rest until I figured it out.

I sat up against the headboard and carefully examined it. Brushed stainless steel, molded, not machined, stamped out on an enormous press. That meant this case wasn’t unique. Others like it had been created. Enough to warrant the production of a die. That was telling, in and of itself.

Facility GA-174. Did that mean there were one hundred seventy three other facilities out there, just like this one? That didn’t seem possible. I’d tried to estimate the cost of constructing just this one but lost count once I got into the hundreds of millions of dollars.

How did they even do it? They must have bored the hatch shaft and dug out that first chamber, then assembled a boring machine down there, lowering each piece into the shaft one at a time. What did they do with all the rock and soil they excavated? Airlift it out?

I shook my head. It didn’t matter how they did it. The fact of the matter was, they figured it out. But there was no way they built more than a few of these facilities. I also considered the location. Canada. But where exactly? Ontario? Quebec? Manitoba? Why there?

The Canadian Shield, of course. Geologically stable. Some of the oldest rock on the planet could be found there. And it was sparsely populated too. The perfect place for the government to build a secret, underground facility.

I shook the case in frustration. “How do I open you?” I asked it.

I needed to find the key. The case opened the facility. There must be something inside the facility to open the case. But where?

I rolled out of bed and left my quarters with the case tucked under my arm. The lights inside the facility had dimmed even further, but there was still plenty to see by. I strode quickly across the starlit garden park to the Operations center. Like the vault door and my bedroom, this door had a biometric reader securing it. One of the complex, multifactor ones. Iris and fingerprint scanners, facial and voice recognition. Whoever built this place wanted to ensure that only the Commander could access certain parts of the facility. Why?

In fact, why was there so much security inside the facility? I could understand securing it from the outside, but once inside, was this level of access control really necessary? The builders apparently thought so.

After gaining entry to Operations, I went straight to the Commander’s Office. Another four-factor biometric reader to enter that room too. Inside was an L-shaped desk with a laptop, monitor, and black blotter pad, a desk chair, a chaise, and a bookshelf filled with three-ring binders. There were also three doors. One led to a bathroom and another to the room next door. The Security room.

The third door, however, was different from the others. Instead of glass panels, it was solid, though covered in the same white composite material as the walls. It had a handle, but it wouldn’t open when I pulled on it, and there was no palm scanner or biometric reader or any other means I could see to unlock it. When I banged on it, it felt solid, like hitting concrete or solid steel.

I searched the office for the key to unlock the case. On the bookshelf were hundreds of operations and repair manuals for a variety of systems and equipment. The desk was just a surface with legs. There were no drawers. I checked the walls for a safe but didn’t find one. There was nothing in here that would open the case.

My attention was drawn to the blotter pad. It was quite thick and very nearly the same size as the case. Could that be it? I set the case down on top of it then rotated it one hundred eighty degrees. Then I flipped it over onto its other side. The case popped open.

“Bingo.”

I removed the lid and set it aside. Inside was a thick, spiral-bound book with an unusual title printed on the cover.

Foundations for Rebuilding: A Guide to the Revival of Civilization

That was ominous. Printed at the bottom of the cover, in small type, it read:

Prepared for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) and the Strategic Analysis and Future Emergencies Guidance for Adaptation and Recovery Directorate (SAFEGARD)

I lifted out the book and opened it to the first page. It was a letter addressed to me. As I read it, my scalp prickled and a shiver ran up my spine.

“Holy shit.”

I reread that first paragraph again. Catastrophic event. Collapse of civil society. Was it really over? Did it all come crashing down? As I mentioned to Stephanie, I’d heard nothing in the news about an impending disaster. No rumblings of war, no near Earth objects hurtling through space, no global pandemics.

Yet, whatever happened, or was currently happening, had been foreseen. At least, far enough ahead that the government had sufficient time to collect thirty people from three different states and fly them all to Canada.

And what the hell was the Dominion Institute for Policy Studies? I’d never heard of it before. It sounded like some kind of think tank. A bunch of wonks in a building somewhere outside Washington D.C. or Alexandria. Were they the ones responsible for this facility? Did they design it?

I flipped the page and my eyes widened.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction to Post-Catastrophe Leadership

2. Personnel Management: Control and Compliance

3. Facility Maintenance and Optimization: A Fortress Mentality

Daily Operations and Routine Scheduling: Regimented Life

Emergency Protocols and Contingency Plans: Preparing for the Worst

Long-term Sustainability of the Bunker Environment: The Iron Grip

4. Resource Allocation and Conservation: Hoarding and Distribution

Efficient Usage of Food and Water Supplies: Rationing and Control

Managing Power and Renewable Energy Sources: Centralized Power

Inventory Management and Future Procurement Strategies: The Art of Scarcity

5. Command Structure and Governance: Iron-Fisted Rule

Hierarchical Order and Chain of Command: Inflexible Structures

Decision-Making Processes and Leadership Ethics: The End Justifies the Means

Conflict Resolution and Adjudication: Crushing Dissent

6. Dispute Resolution Mechanisms: Enforcing Order

7. Healthcare and Medical Management: Body and Mind Control

Routine Health Monitoring and Preventive Care: Surveillance of Health

Emergency Medical Protocols: Triage and Ruthless Efficiency

Mental Health and Coping Strategies: Subduing the Mind

8. Procreation and Genetic Management: Engineering the Future

Genetic Compatibility Assessments: Crafting a Superior Generation

Family Planning and Population Control: Authoritarian Reproduction

Child Rearing and Education in a Bunker Environment: Indoctrination