Chapter 19: A Presidential Visit

On Thursday, Senator Howard Blucher contacted my secretary Joan Ivers to see if I would be available for him and several of his acquaintances to meet with me at my home at 9:00 AM Saturday.

Around 8:30 Saturday morning, several black limousines arrived at the Auburn Freight Yard. Senator Blucher and his party boarded the passenger car that I had arranged to bring him and his party to my home on Level 13 of the Auburn Silo. Due to the anticipated size of my future Bond Group, we had been assigned Rooms F1, F3, F5, and F7; Bob and Clara had cut interconnecting doors between the four rooms.

Each of the Silo’s residential levels had a total of 2880 rooms. Since we planned on only utilizing 60% of the total capacity for residents, only the first 50 rooms (i.e., Rooms 1-100) of the two rows of rooms that flanked a hallway were designated for the use as residential housing, and the remaining 30 rooms (i.e., Rooms 101-160) were for storage.

It made me a little nervous to have Rooms G2, G4, G6, and G8 designated for storage. These four rooms were on the other side of our rooms’ back wall, so they should have been assigned to long-term residents. I got the idea that Clara and Sharna were planning to expand our quarters in that direction if we outgrew our four rooms. To put my concern in perspective, each of our current four rooms was capable of comfortably housing at least 20 adults. If I allocated one of those four rooms to our children, then that meant Clara and Sharna were making plans for us to have over 60 Bond Mates. However, with that number of Bond Mates, I should probably allocate two or three rooms for our children, which means we will need those additional rooms. That sounds like circular logic to me, which should always be taken with a grain of salt, a very big grain of salt. It’s just that I had become a little paranoid about Clara and Sharna’s drive to find me new Bond Mates.

Our Security personnel had let us know that Senator Blucher was enroute to the transit station, so I wandered out to Level 13’s park to await his arrival. I was expecting the Senator to be bringing his staff, but I was not expecting the President of the United States, his staff, and his Secret Service detachment. I would have to have a word with Mike about his security guards’ idea of humor; I like surprises, but not this type of surprise.

As we moved from the park to my home, the head of the Secret Service detail politely requested that he be allowed to check my home for potential threats before the President entered my rooms. I told them that would be okay as long as I had a chance to warn my ladies that strangers would be coming through the house so they would to be dressed appropriately. We weren’t nudists, but we also had no problem with nudity among ourselves.

Once they completed their security check, Senator Blucher and I escorted the President and his staff into our main entry room. Clara and my Bond Mates joined us and I introduced them to the President and to the other people they did not know. With the introductions complete, Clara and I sat down with our visitors, while my other ladies went into the kitchen to prepare some snacks and drinks.

The President started explaining the purpose of their visit. He told us that the US Government was planning to build a second shelter that would house as many people as possible. He wanted to know if Bob and Sharna would be willing to assist with their efforts by doing the excavation and if the Ark Foundation would provide information regarding the provisions we felt were necessary for the survivors’ future survival. Mention was also made of key Government officials taking shelter in the Ark.

I assured the President that the Ark Foundation would be willing to provide all of the information we had available and discuss it with the people who would be provisioning the Government’s shelter. I paused and held a brief conversation with Bob and Sharna to determine if they were willing to assist in excavating the shelter, and they agreed since it would be providing shelter to additional people, and they wanted to save as many people as possible. I told the President that Bob and Sharna would be willing to assist them and they would be willing to excavate more shelters if the Government wanted to add additional shelters to their plans.

I informed the President that Bob and Sharna recommended that the Government prepare at least four shelters and to disperse them so one meteoroid wouldn’t wipe out everyone in a single large shelter.

A few of the gentlemen who came with the President were his key team members for provisioning their shelter. Clara and I told the President’s team members that on Monday we would introduce them to the people who could provide them with the information they needed about what we were stocking and why we stocked those items.

I asked the President what he had in mind for sheltering some of the Government members in the Ark. He informed me that the senior members of the Government should be split between the Ark and the Government’s shelters to ensure that some of the Government structure would survive to take control of the country when it was safe to exit the shelter. I told the President that his suggestion had some merit; however, I would have to consult with Bob and Sharna. I excused myself and closed my eyes.

I opened my eyes and looked at the President. I told him that Bob and Sharna had a private message for him, and then asked him if he would meet with me privately in my office.

When we were in my office with the door closed, I said, “Mr. President, Bob and Sharna reaffirmed that they would assist with excavation of as many Government shelters as you want to prepare.

“They want you to know they are conducting a genetic experiment here on Earth, and they are willing to admit Government members and their families as long as they met their requirements. In exchange, they want two things from the Government: assistance in obtaining certain weapons and supplies for us to use after we return to the surface and to be assigned a trained military force for the Ark’s defense before and after the meteoroids arrive. They feel this force would provide external security that would hopefully discourage any attacks on the Ark before the meteoroids and it would help us in preparing to restore civilization to North America.”

“I don’t see a problem with that Jon we can work something out between the two of us.”

During our talk, I pointed out that all of the military forces were at his disposal, and regardless of the number of shelters the Government built, he would only need a small number of those people to defend and staff the shelters. He agreed.

After a bit of dickering, we agreed on him assigning a Seal Team, two companies of Rangers, and all of their equipment to the Ark. I wasn’t sure what we would do with a Seal Team, but I was willing to grab all the trained military personnel that I could get and their equipment.

I asked the President about the Government’s position concerning the attack on the Ark that had taken place a while ago. The President acted a little embarrassed when he said, “My advisors recommended that we treat it as a case of self-defense.

In a very cautious and diplomatic manner, he went on to say, “Before the attack, my advisors and I were considering if the Government should take control of the Ark to safeguard it. But after the way Bob and Sharna responded to the attack, we realized that it would be a serious mistake for anyone to try and wrest control of the Ark from Bob and Sharna.”

I could hear Bob chuckling in my mind when he went on to say, “Jon, I want to be up front with you on several things.

“As the President, I have to play the political game to get things done. To get funding for our shelters, I’ve had to agree to provide the Congressmen and their families with shelter. Those of us in the Government shelters will return to the surface and start rebuilding the country according to our current laws and government structure. I would like to see your people do the same, but I suspect you have your own plans. You and I will need to continue our political gamesmanship by telling each other what others expect us to say. Just be aware that I do support your efforts even though they may not be totally aligned with mine.

“One other thing before we rejoin the others, the plan you presented us for linking our two groups after the meteoroids hit us won’t work. The Congressmen don’t see the problems, but my military people say it is a very good plan in theory providing the meteoroids don’t damage our infrastructure. I think we both know that they will hurt our infrastructure and probably severely.

“I want us to be allies Jon, if you are amenable to that. Of course as I said, we will have to play the game, so we will have to come up with reasonable sounding reasons for what we want from each other. Personally, anything I can do that will help the country and its citizens will get done.”

“Yes, I would like that Mr. President and I will appreciate your assistance. I also agree with you. One group of politician tried to take control of the Ark from the outside, and an internal attack will fail also.”

We both smiled at each other then made our way back to the living room. Mary told me that she and my other Bond Mates had been preparing lunch for our guests and that it would be ready in 15 minutes. When I arrived at the living room, I announced Mary’s news about lunch and the President let his people know about the agreements we reached in the office. However, he did not mention our mutual support pact.

It was a major glitch to our planning. All of our plans were based on the President and other politicians being our adversaries. Now I find that the President is willing to give us as much support as we need. At least it seems that way right now. We were going to have to go back over all our plans and reevaluate them in light of this new development. The subterfuge we had planned to use to get what we wanted wasn’t necessary, but we would have to play the game by devising reasonable reasons for the Government to give us what we wanted.

I thought it had been nice of the President to tell us how to word our requests in order to get them approved. All we had to do was express our requests in terms that made them seem to be helpful for the country and good for its citizens.

Over lunch, we talked with the President and his advisors about their plans for a shelter. During the conversation, I suggested that the President seriously consider Bob and Sharna’s suggestion of constructing several shelters in different locations. I pointed out that this would be relatively easy to do if they refurbished deep caves, especially those caves that had a potable supply of water. It would disperse the shelters’ inhabitants and prevent a single meteoroid strike from destroying a major shelter and its inhabitants. We offered the President a tour of the Auburn Silo, but he had to leave immediately after lunch to attend a reception later that evening on the East Coast. The President left to return to Washington D.C., but his advisors remained with us for the weekend.

Monday morning, Mary escorted the advisors to the office on Level 16, and introduced them to the people who had the information they needed. While the advisors were busy talking with my people, I had Mike Henderson, who had joined us as the head of security after he resigned from his position as Placer County Sheriff, and Bill Johnson, a former Deputy Sheriff, who was one of Mike’s two Internal Security Group commanders, come to my office. I told them that the President had agreed to assign a military force to us and to assist us in getting weapons and supplies. I described the makeup of our proposed new force, and tasked them with determining what military equipment we would need for the next ten years and with preparing a listing of the personnel, weapons, and other materials that we needed to get from the Government. They headed back to their offices on Level 1 with a smile on their faces and gleams in their eyes. They reminded me of my Bond Mates leaving on a shopping trip. I bet the list they prepared would be extensive. I really didn’t care how much they asked for, for after the meteoroids arrived, the military would be non-existent and their equipment and supplies would be up for grabs by whoever got to them first. I had made that point very clear to the President while we were negotiating and he had agreed in principle. As long as our requests did not become too outlandish and were reasonably justifiable, he would provide what we requested.

By Wednesday afternoon, we had provided and discussed all the information that the President’s advisors had requested. We scheduled a meeting Thursday morning to review the additional information we had and believed they could use, but had not asked for, and to provide them with a listing of the materials we needed help in obtaining. Come morning two of the junior advisors arrived for the meeting and told us that the senior advisors had flown back to Washington D.C. last night.

I felt a bit miffed and insulted by them departing without notice. They had gotten what they had come for, and had no consideration for helping us get what we would need. I was tempted to not give the advisors any further information, but I decided to take the high road and recommended that the junior advisors explain the usefulness of the data that we would be giving them to give to their superiors when they got back to the office. We had finished with the meeting by the end of the day and had given our list of desired equipment and personnel to the advisors in a sealed envelope that was marked with ‘For the President’s Eyes Only’. The junior advisors were very apologetic for their superiors’ conduct, and I told them not to worry about it. However, I would make sure that the President knew that the Ark Foundation was not happy with his senior advisors’ conduct.

A week later, I received a phone call from a Miss Susan Taylor who identified herself as one of the President’s mid-level assistants. She informed me that she had been assigned to assist the Ark Foundation with obtaining the items on our wish list. She suggested that she fly out tomorrow to meet with us and inspect the facility where we would be storing the military weapons. Evidently, the Ark Foundation and our facility had to go through a Federal approval process before we could be authorized to obtain and store the types and quantities of military hardware and munitions that we had requested.

I had this sinking feeling that I should have reviewed the list of equipment Mike and Bill asked for to support our efforts. Miss Taylor’s job was to expedite the approval process and to see that we were able to obtain the equipment in a timely manner. Miss Taylor told us that she had tried to obtain a hotel reservation close to us, but had not been successful; we told her we would ensure that she had a nice place to stay.

Clara and I met Miss Taylor at the airport the next day, and since the flight arrived at lunchtime, we stopped at a restaurant on the way back to the Ark. Over lunch, we explained that we had tried to make arrangements at one of the local hotels, but a manufacturer’s conference was being held and there were no vacancies available in a thirty-mile radius. We let her know that we had decided to have her stay with us at our home in the Ark; rather than have her stay in one of the seedier motels. By the time, we finally got to the Auburn Freight Yard we were on a first name basis.

Susan was confused when we boarded the passenger train. No one had told her that the Ark was underground and that was where we currently lived and worked. We stopped on Level 13 so Susan could drop her bags off in the bedroom Tara had made up for her. While at home, I arranged for Harry and Sam to join us in my office. Susan needed a few minutes to get organized and she also needed to contact her supervisor to discuss a pressing matter. We made a phone available and left to give her some privacy. About thirty minutes later, we convened our meeting and talked with Susan about her plans for assisting us with the approval process. Being an oblivious male, I failed to notice Susan’s level of distress. I put it down to jet lag.

Susan started out by providing us with a stack of forms that we had to fill out for the Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms Agency. There were also forms for registration and transportation of the firearms. She informed us that there would be a number of forms required by the State of California, but she was not familiar with what we had to do at the state level. Susan’s supervisor had told her that he wanted her to inspect the area where we planned to store the arms and ammunition to ensure that it was an adequate storage facility. We also had to provide a copy of our procedures for controlling the weapons and munitions once they had been obtained. Susan told us that once we had filled out the forms, she would personally walk them through the approval process. Sam and Harry took the forms with them to begin filling in the required information. Clara and I asked Susan about the military personnel we had requested.

She informed us that her supervisor had been in contact with the United States Army Special Operations Command and had been told that we were to select our Ranger personnel from the 2nd Battalion of the 75th Ranger Regiment at Fort Lewis, Washington, which seemed reasonable since the other regiments were stationed on the East Coast. When her supervisor talked with the commanding officer of the Army’s 2nd Ranger Battalion, a Lieutenant Colonel Fenton, he had objections to our absconding with two Companies of his troops for it would destroy his unit integrity. His battalion was scheduled for a Mission Readiness Evaluation in six months, and if we disrupted their unit integrity, they would most likely fail the evaluation. At this time, her supervisor was in contact with the 75th Ranger Regiment and they were attempting to resolve the problem. Bob had an idea for resolving the problem, and as he often does, he led me to his solution in a somewhat roundabout way.

“Jon, I don’t understand what the problem is with you getting two of his Companies.”

“His problem Bob is that two Companies are a large portion of his Battalion’s total strength. If we pull two Companies out of his organizational structure, it will totally disrupt his unit’s ability to function in a coordinated manner.”

“Oh! Why is that important when his unit will cease to exist in the near future?”

“I know it doesn’t make sense Bob. Just think of it as pride.”

“Well taking two of his companies will disrupt his unit, why don’t you just request the entire Battalion? After all we can use as many people as we can get and they would be ideal for us.”

“Bob, I was pushing it, just to get a commitment of two Companies from the President.”

“Well, from what I see, we don’t need the Companies right now. They can continue supporting their current mission, until we need them. By that time, the President won’t need them and by giving them to us, he will be saving their lives. How many soldiers are we talking about Jon?”

“My two companies would be just a couple of hundred people Bob. The number of people in a regiment varies, but I doubt it would be more than 800 soldiers plus their families, and if we include their relatives, we could be talking about 20,000 people.”

“That’s not very many people Jon, when you consider the Ark will have over a million people when we finish our in-processing. If we get them and their immediate families now, they would be classified as long-term residents and would be assigned upgraded housing. Their relatives could be in-processed later as short-term residents.”

“Yes, that is a good idea and I personally feel that our service members deserve whatever they can get. But, I don’t think that asking the President for more people is the best way to go about this. I’ll give the Battalion Commander a call and talk with him about this situation.”

“This is the Fort Lewis base operator. How can I direct your call?”

“I would like to arrange for an appointment to speak with the 2nd Battalion’s Commander regarding an important matter.”

“Yes sir, I’ll put you through to his secretary. Please hold on.”

“Good afternoon. This is Lieutenant Colonel Fenton’s receptionist, Gloria Hayton speaking. How can I help you?”

“Good afternoon Gloria. My name is Jonathon Reppa, but I generally go by Jon.

“The other day, the President promised me two Companies of Rangers to support my future efforts and I was recently informed that I was to select the Companies from the 2nd Battalion. I have since been told that doing this will create a major problem for Colonel Fenton. I would like to discuss a solution that occurred to me that will be in the best interests of my organization and beneficial for the 2nd Battalion personnel, including their dependents.”

“Yes I heard about the problem that Colonel Fenton was having and I think he would love to resolve this issue in a favorable manner. If you will hold for a couple of minutes, I will inform the Colonel that you are on the line.”

“Alright I can hold.”

“Good afternoon, Mr. Reppa. I am Lieutenant Colonel Carl Fenton. From what my secretary Gloria tells me, you are the gentleman who is attempting to acquire two of my Companies. She also told me that you understand that I have a problem with that and that you may have a solution. What do you have in mind Sir?”

“Well, to start with, I go by Jon. I was a Staff Sergeant in charge of a squad of Rangers in India at the time of my discharge in October of 2023, so I do understand the importance of a Mission Readiness Evaluation. I agree with you that the loss of two Companies at this time will destroy the Battalion’s readiness.

“Before I go into my idea, I would like to briefly discuss a related topic. Can you spare me 10-15 minutes of your time?”

“I have to get ready for a meeting that starts in an hour, so I can spare you a few minutes.”

“Good. I am not sure if you recognized my name, but I am the individual that announced the approach of a meteoroid shower during Senator Blume’s Congressional Hearing several months ago.

“Have you been briefed on the meteoroids and the virus they carry Colonel?”

“Not officially, but I am aware of that situation Mr. Reppa.”

“Well what that means for your command is that if your situation doesn’t change the majority of the personnel assigned to the 2nd Battalion and their dependents will be dead within a month of the meteoroids arrival. Are you aware of that Colonel?”

“Yes, I am aware of that assuming that your statements are true Mr. Reppa.”

“Unfortunately, I believe what my associates have told me Colonel, and based on the information I provided to the President, I imagine there are currently a number of Astronomers looking for the meteoroids and calculating their path through our solar system. Bob and Sharna obtained samples of the ice crystals and gave them to the President’s researchers. The meteoroids are due to arrive early in 2043, which is a little over two years from now. I happen to believe that we each have a problem and we can each solve the other’s problem.

“My problem is the Ark Foundation needs to in process about 1,000,000 people, and get them settled in the Ark during the latter half of 2042. I am expecting demonstrations and riots throughout 2042 that will interfere with my people’s efforts. After the meteoroids pass and our people return to the surface, we will need an armed force to help us secure and hold the region we initially claim, and to later help us expand into other regions. The head of my Security Group is an ex-Ranger Company Commander and we believe Rangers are our best choice for meeting our needs.

“Your problem is your Battalion will cease to exist in 2043, unless you and your people are vaccinated against the effects of the virus. Currently, my group is the only one on the West Coast that I know of that can make the vaccine. Hopefully that will change. My people have given the formula for creating that vaccine to the World Health Organization and others. They are trying to create a better vaccine, but I doubt they will be successful. The President’s researchers will be able to make our vaccine, but I suspect the amount will be limited and it has a shelf life of less than 2 days. Therefore, it cannot be stockpiled for use at a future time, and as a result, it is not suitable for mass vaccination of the entire US population. The probability of you, your men, and their dependents receiving the vaccine from a Government source is almost zero.

“Now my idea is that the entire 2nd Battalion would be a suitable addition to our defenses. If we can jointly convince the President to assign your Battalion to the defense of the Ark, we would be in a position to provide your people and their dependents with the vaccine that is necessary for them to survive the virus’s effects. Your presence in the Ark would save your peoples’ lives, and it would mean they would be available to support our repopulating and restoring civilization to the North American continent.

“I suggest that you contact your Regimental Commander and suggest that the entire 2nd Battalion be assign to the Ark for the reasons I stated. You may also want to make the argument that the Ark and the shelters to be built by the Government will be the focal points for reestablishing civilization in the US, so they should be supported and protected. When I talked with him, the President indicated these locations should be provided with the capability to defend themselves and he agreed to assign two Ranger Companies to the Ark. When I heard of your problem, it occurred to me that there is a better solution. If the President and other senior military commanders have no mission for the 2nd Battalion, then the battalion could be assigned to the defense of the Ark, and that would enhance the Ark Foundation’s ability to reestablish a civilized culture on the west coast of the North American continent. I suppose an emotional argument would be beneficial in that assigning the Battalion to the Ark will also save the lives of the soldiers and their families who would otherwise be killed by the virus.

“I have a Presidential Assistant working with us here at the Ark to arrange for our receiving the personnel and supplies the President agreed to provide to us. I will be making a slightly different suggestion to her. Hopefully, she will relay my suggestions to the President. He may come to the decision on his own to assign your Battalion to us, but I doubt it. An indirect multi-prong approach will probably be more effective than my going to him directly, which might be taken wrong by some people.