Chapter 12: Security, Inside and Out

When I hung up the phone, Joan let me know that Bill and Sheryl were waiting for me in the lobby. I made a quick call to our HR group to let them know that I was bringing our two newest employees to their office for in processing. When I got down to our lobby, I had the receptionist sign them in and took them to HR. The HR representative had their employment contracts and benefit packages ready for them, so I left them in HR’s clutches, until they had signed all the necessary papers, completed the various forms, and been briefed as to Foundation policy.

The HR representative showed them where their new offices were located, and then brought them to my office. We headed down to the cafeteria area for an early lunch. Belinda’s catering group had two excellent choices on the steam table for us today, and both Bill and Sheryl were surprised to learn that lunch was provided at no cost as an employee benefit. The food was excellent as usual and we talked about my plans for developing an Internal Security Group. After lunch, we went back to my office to pick up the portfolios and laptops that I had Joan get for them and several pens.

“Now that you have finished with HR, I will explain your immediate job duties. I am going to have you evaluate the current security needs of the Silos, Freight Yards, and the Headquarters building. You are to document your assessment as a report, and the report is to define what you feel is necessary for improving our security to a suitable level for the current and future levels of risk. In order to assess those risk levels, there are several things you need to be aware of about the Ark and Ark Foundation. Let’s start with my assessment of the overall threat level, and then address the individual facilities.

“At the moment, I feel that the threat level is very low and there is no evident threat to the Ark or to our people. That low threat level is primarily due to us not telling the public about the meteoroids and virus. Yes, we have informed a few members of the public of the meteoroids and viruses, but at my request, Bob and Sharna have placed compulsions on those individuals to prevent them from disclosing that information.”

“Jon, did you place a compulsion on Bill and me?”

“Not exactly. What I did was have Bob and Sharna suppress the information you became aware of so you would not be able to retrieve it from your subconscious mind. I felt that awareness of the situation would result in an internal conflict with your jobs. Let me finish your briefing and then I will explain the compulsions we place on people and why we do it.”

“Alright Jon, we sort of understand why you did it, and don’t have any major upset with what you did. Granted we don’t like it, but we understand the basic why, especially now that we understand more about what is at stake.”

“We plan to notify the various world governments of the meteoroids and virus first. That will give them time to address the issues and develop a plan of action. Then we will notify the general public.

“I think that the threat level will start increasing when we notify the government leaders, and it will increase drastically when the general population learns of the on-coming disaster. Let us call the initial increase ‘Medium’ and the increase caused by notifying the general population ‘High’. When the requirements for admission to the Ark are made clear and the arrival of the meteoroids draws near, the threat level will increase to ‘Critical’ and will remain at that level until the meteoroids start hitting the planet.

My personal opinion is that we will not have any riots and violence until the threat level reaches ‘Critical’; but I may be wrong. Once we reach that level, we will need to monitor the public very closely. If the threat of a riot seems likely, we will need to have armed personnel guarding the Headquarters building, Freight Yards, and Silo entrances. I have a few ideas of how to mitigate the danger to our people, but I will hold them until you finish your report.

“I consider the current threat level here at the Headquarters building to be very low. However, it is currently the most critical facility for the success of our operation, and it has very poor security. Sometime in the next several years, I expect most of the critical departments and personnel will move their offices into the Auburn Silo, and we will continue to use the building for less critical purposes. In case of a riot, the personnel who work out of the Headquarters building will be at risk. Therefore, we need to beef up our security at this location, so we can protect our employees both now and in the future.

“To the maximum extent possible, I want our Security Group to allow the local police to handle any civil disturbances. If the police do not arrive in time or if they are unable to protect our facility and our personnel, then I want our Security Group to use whatever level of force necessary to protect our personnel. If only property is at risk of damage, do what can be done without the use of force. However, if the rioters try to enter one of our facilities, which will create a threat to our personnel, I want them stopped. If necessary, that means kill them. We will make that a written foundation policy, and if Harry feels it is appropriate, we will provide copies of that policy to our people and the local police.

“The Prime Contractors are currently responsible for security at the Freight Yards and inside the Silos. At the moment, I believe we have adequate security at those locations. However, I think the overall security needs to be increased, especially inside the Silos. When we accept the first two Silos, I want our Security Personnel to take over security at those two silos and all of the Freight Yards.

“The Auburn and Drytown Silos won’t be ready for us to move into for another 5 years. Between now and then, I want our security upgraded in both Silos so we will be ready to take over security from the Prime Contractors. The only security that they provide is a Security Guard in the Freight Yard on a 24 X 7 basis. Our security people will act as a backup for their security people until we accept the first two Silos, and then, we will have full responsibility for the security of these two Silos and the freight yards.

“Do you have any questions before we go on a tour of this building?”

Bill said, “Yes, do you have a schedule that defines when the security upgrades need to be complete?”

“No, I don’t. Right now, I am telling you what needs to be done from my viewpoint. I want you to assess the specific things that need to be done at each location. Decide how those needs can be satisfied and put together a schedule showing how and when you are going to meet my request for increased security. Then we can review your schedule and discuss the needs, methods, and completion dates. Anything else?

“Yes,” Sheryl said, “we will need help to complete this task and a budget.”

“I understand. Take a week or two to come up with an initial assessment. Then we can talk about help and money. Anything else?”

Neither Bill nor Sheryl indicated that they had anything more to discuss, so I proceeded to address our use of compulsions.

“When Bob and Sharna selected me to be in charge of preparing the Ark for use, I talked with them about people learning about the meteoroids and virus. I knew that once the word was made public we would have problems. I also knew that we had to inform key Government personnel about the disaster that the virus represented.

“Bob and Sharna suggested an answer. For people who learned of the meteoroids and virus and had no need to know about what would happen, they would suppress the information so the people were unaware of the approaching danger. For people who needed to be aware of the danger, they would place a compulsion on them to keep them from talking about the information.

“When I started recruiting people for senior staff positions, I decided that everyone who works for the Ark Foundation was to have a compulsion placed on them to keep them from talking about what they knew. However, I recognized that it would be necessary for a few people to discuss the matter with someone else, so the compulsion can be overridden by senior personnel, if the circumstances warrant it. Everyone in a senior position, including me, has had a compulsion to not talk to unauthorized people placed on them. In my case the compulsion’s strength is more in line with me not accidentally mentioning it, since it is part of my job to decide who needs to know and to brief them on the situation. That is also true for Clara.

“There is one aspect of this that you need to be aware of, and that is we do not brief all of our people on the meteoroids and virus. We tell them that we believe that there will be a catastrophic event in the future without providing specific details. So far that has worked fairly well. Hollywood and others have produced enough ‘doomsday’ scenario movies and shows as entertainment that most people believe our reasoning to be a distinct possibility.

“Everyone in a management position has been briefed and they have received a compulsion to not talk. Non-management Ark Foundation personnel have not been told of the meteoroids and virus, and do not need to have a compulsion placed on them. However, it is possible that they may accidentally learn of the dangers, so we place a compulsion on them to forget any knowledge of the meteoroids and prevent them from discussing those topics if they should learn about them. They are not aware of the compulsions.

“During the past few years, the two of you became aware of certain things about me and the foundation that could not be explained away without mentioning Bob and Sharna. So I provided you with the necessary information to allow your sense of right and wrong to be satisfied, and when your awareness of that information was no longer necessary, I had Bob suppress the knowledge. Now that you understand the reasons behind the Ark, the suppression is no longer required, but like me, you do need to receive a compulsion to aid you in not accidentally revealing that information to the public.”

I wanted Bill and Sheryl to know what was taking place, so I spoke aloud to Bob. “Bob, I think it is okay now to let Bill and Sheryl remember the things we have discussed with them in the past. While you are at it, please install the standard compulsion that we use for all senior Ark personnel.

“Did our HR representative explain that compulsion to you and do you have any problems with the compulsion?”

“Yes, she did and we don’t believe it is really needed, but we can see why it is a good idea.”

That was all of the questions I had for them at the moment, so I took Bill and Sheryl on a tour of the upper floor, and I pointed out the areas that I deemed sensitive and explained why I thought they were sensitive. We proceeded down through the lower levels doing the same thing until we completed a tour of the basement. I returned them to their offices and told them to get their work areas setup and go to work. I also told them that I would meet them at the Auburn Freight Yard at 8:30 AM tomorrow and take them on a tour of the Auburn Silo.

I got to the Auburn Freight Yard a little early the next morning and Bill and Sheryl were already there. I took them into the yard office and introduced them as the new heads of our Internal Security Department, and I then took them on a tour of the Freight Yard pointing out and explaining the importance of the various areas.

During our tour, they took copious notes and we ended up back at the yard office. I had told the Yard Manager that we would need a special train to get us to the Silo if we didn’t make it back in time for the regular run. We missed the regular run, so the Yard Manager had one of his people waiting for us in one of the yard engines towing a single passenger car. Once we were aboard, the engine took off for the transit station. Enroute to the transit station, I explained the physical layout of the Ark and its Silos to Bill and Sheryl.

When we arrived at the station, I told them that from my perspective there were only three ways to get into the Silo: the access tunnel from the Freight Yard, the transit system to the adjacent Silos, and the ventilation duct to the surface. I pointed out the obvious that a security checkpoint at each of the two Freight Yards should prevent anyone from unauthorized entry. I also mentioned that motion detectors in the access tunnels and a backup security post at the four transit stations could also be useful.

We grabbed one of the 4-person golf carts and left for our tour. We took the freight elevator up to Level 16 so I could give them a brief tour of that level. As we rode up in the elevator, I explained that Level 16 was about 10% office space and 90% non-critical storage. I had to explain why we needed so much storage space, and the different classes of storage to Bill and Sheryl. It can be confusing for we have three coding systems that define the criticality of the stored item, types of material being stored, and sequence of usage.

The Criticality of the stored material was defined as Non-Critical, Standard, and Critical. In general, Critical materials, such as medication, were stored in the lower levels where they would be safe from meteoroid impact damage, and they were stored in secure areas to protect the items from pilferage and damage. Non-Critical and Standard items could be stored anywhere.

The Material Type category was coded as Flammable, Explosive, Perishable, Dangerous, and Non-Hazardous. The more hazardous the material, the further its storage location was from the residential areas and from the critical service areas of the Silo.

The Sequence of Usage category had to do with the order in which the materials would be utilized by the Ark inhabitants. The code for this category defined if the material would be used before or after our return to the surface. Each of those two subcategories had a sequence number. For the items that might be used during the period before to our return to surface, the numbers ranged from 1 to 25. The larger the number the less likely the material would be used before the meteoroids arrived. Items like food, clothing, hygiene products, and similar materials needed by the inhabitants while living in the Ark where generally coded 1. Spare parts for Ark equipment and similar items were generally given codes of 20 or higher. For items that would not be needed until the post-meteoroid arrival period, the numbers ranged from 0 to 100 and represented the number of weeks after we returned to the surface before it was expected that the material would be needed. The sequence number 0 meant that the material would be needed to prepare for returning to the surface, and included things like weapons, ammo, field equipment, and rations.

This coding system sometimes led to conflicts for items like explosives were deemed critical for gaining access to locked buildings, but dangerous and might be needed as soon as we left the Ark. It was not likely to just explode and it would probably be needed shortly after we returned to the surface, so it might be safe to store near the residential area. But it was an explosive and if an accident occurred, we did not want our people being injured or killed by an explosion. It was a judgement call for the Provisioning Department.

We then went down to Level 15. I told Bill and Sheryl that Levels 14 and 15 were similar in layout and we would use them for manufacturing and non-critical services. Most of these two levels were dedicated to storing the materials we anticipated as being needed to manufacture key items that we would need during the initial year or two of our returning to the surface. We then took an extended tour for there would be several sensitive areas on these two levels.

When we finished touring Level 15, I took them down to Level 2, and on the way down I told them Levels 2 through 13 were identical; predominantly residential units, a shopping mall, four cafeterias, and a park. Around 40% of the housing units would be used to store food and other non-hazardous supplies that the residents of the 12 levels would need while living in the Silo, and for the first few years of life on the surface. When we exited the elevator, I immediately took them to the cafeteria area since it was lunchtime.

Once again, Belinda’s catering crew had a great meal waiting for us and the other people working in the Silo. When we finished going through the line we showed our badges to the cashier and there was no charge. Our Contractor’s employees were charged a reasonable price for lunch if they chose to eat in the cafeteria and that was a popular choice for them. Over lunch, I explained that for this Silo Levels 2 through 12 were our short-term residential areas and that we were currently planning to house about 300,000 people at each of the four Silos, and that Level 13 was for long-term residents. Of course I had to explain the difference between short and long-term residents.

I explained that I had three primary security concerns for these 12 levels. We were worried about malicious vandalism of the public facilities and storage units, theft of materials stored in the storage units, and physical confrontations between the residents. I had these same concerns for Level 13, but to a lesser degree. After lunch, we toured Level 2 so they could get an idea of the residential level’s layout.

When we finally got to Level 1, I took them through the utility service areas defining them as our high sensitivity areas that needed a great deal of security to ensure that there was no unauthorized access. I took them through the critical service areas and bulk storage areas, and then ended up at the Internal Security offices. After showing them their future offices, I told them that unless they wanted to go back to a specific area, we had finished the tour and could head back to the Freight Yard. They felt that they were overwhelmed at the moment and would have to come back at a later time, so we left for the transit station.

We talked at the transit station while we waited for the next train to the Freight Yard and while we rode the train to the surface; yes, I did have them add a passenger car to the end of the empty string of boxcars. One of the main topics we discussed was the size of the job that they had ahead of them, and they told me that the effort I wanted done included things that were more than the average police officer was trained to do. They recommended that we get a few experts in who had extensive experience in providing security for this type of environment and threat situation. I told them to put it in their report and if they knew of any experts add that to the report also.

When we arrived at the Freight Yard, I told Bill and Sheryl that based on their comments I had a feeling that I may have overloaded them with work that was beyond their area of expertise. I made sure that they knew I wasn’t upset with their wanting to bring in experts. I told them I was heading back to the office, and suggested that they take some time to re-evaluate the Freight Yard to determine what security would be needed to secure the access tunnel and the yard in general before they returned to the office. In my mind, securing the access tunnel openings was the most critical of my security concerns. If an intruder was stopped there, the intruder would be no threat to anyone or anything inside the Silos.

On the way back to the office, Bob contacted me to update me on Lyle’s activities during the past two days. Bob said, “At first Lyle didn’t believe what you told him. Yesterday evening he thought about what he knew about the Ark Foundation and he started to change his mind. This morning he contacted Senator Blucher to tell Harold what I had told him and he tried to see if he could get any further information from him.

“Harold told Lyle that you briefed him on the nature of the disaster, and that this disaster scared him more than anything he had ever had to face in the past. He also let Lyle know that once his term of office was complete, he would be joining the Ark Foundation to help prepare for the upcoming disaster. At that point Lyle accepted that your statements where true. He later called Mike and Larry to apologize and let them know that he would have the political pressure on them and the local commissioners removed. He also mentioned that he was willing to assist them if needed.”

That was good of him to do but it didn’t affect our plans for we had realized that we would need Mike and Larry as Foundation employees no later than the middle of next year, preferably sooner in Mike’s case.

When Bill and Sheryl returned to the office, they began transcribing their notes and observations into their computers to build a database that they could use to create a plan for upgrading security at the Headquarters building, Freight Yards, and in the Silos. They felt that the job facing them was immense and that they were already behind on what needed to be done even though this was only their second day on the job.

Three days later, they provided me with an initial report and asked for a few minutes of my time. We sat in my office and discussed the security of the Headquarters building, Freight Yards, and the Silos. In their opinion, the security update at the Headquarters building was more important than that of the Silos, which had an adequate level of security for the current situation. They wanted to know what level of security I felt was necessary at the Headquarters building. They then asked a series of questions about the critical areas within the building, but I didn’t understand what they were getting at, until they asked me what the impact on our work would be if the Headquarters building was to burn down or if we lost everything to looters.

At that point, I began to understand the trouble we could be in if a critical area of the foundation was destroyed; it wouldn’t be as bad as the entire building burning down, but it would be bad. Their initial suggestion was to shut down the upper levels and the basement during the night and monitor those areas with motion sensors and cameras. The ground floor would be upgraded to include a security station that would be manned 24/7 by at least two guards at night and additional guards during the day. The exterior areas around the building would be monitored by motion sensors, pressure pads, and cameras. They also wanted to bring in Auburn Security Solutions, Incorporated; a security company that specialized in evaluating the security needs of a person, company, or facility, and creating a solution that satisfied their client’s needs. After I read through the initial report, I agreed with their initial assessments and authorized hiring the security company.

The next day Bill and Sheryl introduced me to the two owners of Auburn Security Solutions. Charlie Temple was an ex-cop who had retired from the Auburn Police Department and Tim Bale was an ex-Seal who had been wounded in Pakistan. Together they could put together almost any type of security system or security group that was necessary for protecting a person, building, or facility. We discussed security for a while and during the discussion, I contacted Bob to get his assessment of them and to see what he could learn from their thoughts. I decided that they would be a good addition to our foundation, but we would not need them full time until we went public regarding our activities. Bob told me that he agreed that they would be useful, so I had him place a compulsion on the two men to prevent unauthorized disclosure of the information that I would be telling them. When they started asking about what level of security we needed and why the security was needed, I leaned forward and allowed my demeanor to become very serious.

“Gentlemen, I will tell you why security for this facility is so important if you will sign a non-disclosure agreement.”

They agreed and I had Joan bring in two of our standard agreements and Harry joined us to witness their signatures. I knew that the non-disclosure paperwork was unnecessary with Bob having placed a compulsion on the two men. But, they would expect something like this, so I did it so they would be comfortable with not being able to talk about things. They would think it was due to their desire to comply with the agreement. Once the paper work was signed, I told them about Bob and Sharna and proved to them that they existed. I then filled them in on the meteoroids, the virus, the purpose of the Ark, and the impact that a security breach might have on humanity’s future existence.

I then told them that the Ark and its four Freight Yards would also need to be assessed for security. We went over the projected schedule for our Provisioning and Habitation Programs focusing in on when we planned to go public with the information regarding the meteoroids and the virus, and how that might affect the two programs.

Charlie and Tim recommended that we have security in place at the Headquarters building and the Freight Yards before we informed any government leaders, foreign or domestic. They also gave me a recommendation as to a good Public Relations firm and let me know that the owner of the firm was experienced in informing the public of matters that could conceivably evolve into riots. I had been concerned about how to release this information, so I let them know that I appreciated their suggestions.

Their main recommendation confirmed my thoughts on what would happen when we went public with the news of the meteoroids and virus. They told me to be very careful regarding foreign and US Government representatives, especially the US Government politicians. They said the politicians would panic and try to take control of the Ark. If they were successful in gaining control of the Ark, they would restructure everything to make things more ‘efficient’. We would then start falling further and further behind schedule because the politicians didn’t know what needed to be done or how to manage something of this magnitude. That would be exacerbated by their egos not allowing them to admit they were in over their heads. It felt real good having my opinions of politicians confirmed by someone else, someone who knew what they were talking about.

I just smiled and told them that we already had a plan for that eventuality. I would allow the politicians to assist us. Hopefully, I would be able to misdirect them so control of the Ark never became an issue. However if they make a move to take control of the Ark, they would learn that I just managed the project. The project belongs to Bob and Sharna, and the Government will learn that they are not capable of controlling Bob and Sharna. All it would take is for Bob to place a force field across the opening of all of the access tunnels and no one would be able to go in or out of the Silos, unless Bob and Sharna permitted it.

Tim Bale smiled and said, “I would like to see that Jon. A bunch of Congressmen with their overinflated sense of self-importance walking into a force field, and then being told that they were not authorized access to the Silos. They would probably tell you that Congress had seized the Ark for reasons of National Security and that they had been authorized access, and therefore, you had to remove the barrier and let them in. Can you picture their faces when you tell them that Bob and Sharna are in charge not them, and that Bob and Sharna informed you that they are not going to turn control of the Ark over to the government.”

“Yeah, it is an appealing fantasy and I can see it happening, but that is one of the things I want to avoid, if possible. We need the government’s assistance to help prepare supply depots across the country that can be used to supply our people as they spread out to reclaim the country. If we allow the situation to deteriorate into a head-to-head conflict, we will lose the support we need.

The five of us went back to our brainstorming session regarding potential security threats that we might expect both before and after news of the meteoroids was made public. Eventually the discussion wound down, and then Charlie and Tim asked me a series of questions about what I thought would be an adequate level of security. After satisfying their questions, Bill and Sheryl took them on a tour of the building similar to the one that I had given them on their first day of work.

The four of them came to me several days later with a recommendation for updating the building’s security and I approved their plan. Part of their recommendation was that I use their personnel as my Security Guards. Their rationale was that their people were ex-law enforcement and ex-military, had a level of training that was superior to normal Security Guards, and they were licensed to carry automatic weapons. I wasn’t sure that that type of security or firepower was really necessary, but I yielded to their expertise. I have always believed it is the height of stupidity to pay an expert for their opinion, and then ignore it because their opinion is different from what you expected to hear.

Over the next two weeks, I often saw Charlie and Tim busy with their crew installing security cameras and equipment. Toward the end of the installation, they took me down to the new basement security room and demonstrated the equipment to me. They showed me the armament rack where they would store their automatic weapons when they were not needed; the guards would normally be armed with only side arms. The automatic weapons would not be carried, unless someone broke into or attacked the building. When asked what type of automatic weapons they planned to use, Tim told me that they would provide AA-12 combat shotguns. The shotguns would be equipped with a 32-round drum magazine loaded with alternating rounds of double ought buckshot and solid shot.