by C A Bird
Jean Barnes was with Ron in his office at Advanced Communications in Marina Del Rey, California when one of the secretaries called to tell her a buzzer was going off in her office. Puzzled, she excused herself and went to check on it. “This can’t be happening,” she thought and immediately returned to Ron’s office with the device, her heart thumping in her chest. She had silenced the alarm and removed the message.
“Ron, I have to show you something. You know the box I received?” She was shaking as she handed him the device and the original note she’d received with the alarm. He quickly read the messages.
“It was going off?” He hit the toggle switch and the ear-splitting alarm was reactivated causing him to jump halfway out of his chair before he quickly clicked it back off.
“Well, you said you wanted to see it. What do you make of it?”
“The thing was going off?” He stammered again.
“Yes. I silenced it once already.”
He turned it over and examined it. “It’s a fairly sophisticated little gadget and must have quite a range. It probably uses satellite communications. I don’t know what to make of it.” He looked up at her, “My God, the implications are terrifying. What are you going to do?” He handed the device back to Jean.
“I’m going to take the rest of the day off, no one needs to know why, and follow the directions in the box. It’s probably a hoax and I’ll lose a day of work, but if it isn’t can we take a chance?”
“What do you mean we?” He asked her.
“Please go with me Ron! I honestly don’t think it’s a joke. No one would go to that kind of trouble for a practical joke. It could be a mistake, of course, the thing going off, I mean, but I don't think so. To tell you the truth, when I received it yesterday I listened to the news and the international situation is very scary. Then I called the airlines to see about flights to Albuquerque. One leaves at 9:30. We could make it.”
“But we can’t just leave. Arrangements would have to be made at my apartment, people notified . . .”
“We don’t have time! Don’t you understand? If this thing isn’t a gag nothing else matters! We have to go right away. Please Ron!” She stood up and tugged at his arm. “Please.”
He looked thoughtful for a minute and then stood up with a smile on his face. “Sure, let’s go. We can always explain a day’s absence from work and this might be an adventure even if it’s a joke. If there really is a shelter it could be quite interesting. Let me call the airline, see if we can get a reservation.” He reached for the phone.
August 21, 9:30 a.m.
El Paso, TX
“After ascending the Throne in 521 B.C. Darius I, or Darius the Great as he later became known, extended the influence of the Persian Empire eastward as far as the Indus River.” Herbert Laskey, professor of Ancient History 1A at the University of Texas, El Paso, was caught up in his material and paced before the class, gesturing emphatically. “Who can tell me where his great defeat came?”
“Dr. Laskey.” One of the students, a chubby young man with pink cheeks, waved his hand vigorously from the third row of the theater style seats. “The Battle of Salamis in 480 B.C.”
“No Mr. Howard, that was his son Xerxes. Darius’ forces were disastrously defeated at the historic Battle of Marathon in…”
The scream of a loud siren, emanating from Dr. Laskey’s briefcase, interrupted the discussion. He quickly looked in the direction of his desk. “Oh my,” he said.
Walking over to his desk, he fumbled with the device, discovered the switch and terminated the raucous noise.
“Let’s change the discussion for a minute, shall we? What do any of you know about the current crisis in China?”
There were murmurs around the room.
“Come, come, don’t be shy, this is important.”
A young woman raised her hand and was acknowledged by the professor. “Well, I know the Chinese tested an atomic bomb and we protested. I think it violated a treaty, or something.”
“Young lady, it was a hydrogen bomb, much more powerful than an atomic bomb and it did, indeed, violate several test ban treaties. But following that test there have been other developments and the tension has increased dramatically. Do any of you feel the situation could become serious enough to start a war?”
The student who had made the error on an ancient war, scoffed, “Naw, we’ve had plenty of close calls before and nobody ever started shooting. Look at the Bay of Pigs, Kosovo, and the Gulf War. They never escalated.”
“Actually, the public doesn’t realize just how close we came to all-out war in those instances, especially the Bay of Pigs.”
He glanced again at the briefcase and then back at the students who were staring at him and wondering what the god awful noise was.
“Well, ladies and gentlemen, that siren that went off in my briefcase? It’s supposedly a warning to proceed to a bomb shelter.”
The class laughed nervously, the students looking at each other to see if anyone believed him. He folded his arms, waiting until they quieted and then fetched and read both notes.
One of the young women began to cry, and picking up her notebook, ran from the room. This started an exodus and several other students slapped their books shut, gathered up their belongings and followed her up the aisle.
“Uh, Dr. Laskey, what are you going to do?” Four students, including Eric Howard, two other young men and a woman, crowded around him, looking very nervous.
“I believe I am going to pick up my daughter at her place of employment and drive to New Mexico. I’ll probably return to class tomorrow, highly embarrassed. Anyone care to join me? I have a van.” He zipped his briefcase and started up the aisle toward the door.
“I’ll go,” said one of the students, “I live in New York. No way I can go home. It’ll be fun.”
Laskey halted and turned, looking at him over his glasses. “Come along then, for whatever reasons you may have.”
The other three students, who all lived in dorms and were from other parts of the country, decided to accompany them. None of them really believed there was a problem.
August 21, 10:05 a.m.
Red River, New Mexico
Sheri exited the motel room, squeezing to the side of the opening to get her bike out the door. The fully loaded panniers snagged on the door plate but she gave a tug and the bike glided out into the mid-morning sunshine. She leaned it against the wall next to the air conditioner and looked up at the warm sky, throwing her arms wide and soaking up the warmth. The morning was still cool but already warming up. It would be much hotter later and she wished she had gotten an earlier start. She arrived in town last evening after a grueling day of over one hundred miles, and instead of going to bed early she had found this cool little bar and stayed up way later than she should have. There were several men playing pool and when they found out she was an Olympian they had insisted she party with them until closing. She had a blast and after all the serious training of the past few days she had needed to just kick back and have some fun.
Her stomach rumbled. She grabbed the bike and headed for the office to check out of her room and have her free continental breakfast that was part of the room rate. Money was tight and she took advantage of every freebie she could find.
The young male clerk looked up as she entered the office. “Good morning. Checking out?”
“Hi. Yeah, room 112. Can I lock my bike over there in the corner while I eat?”
“Sure.” He surreptitiously looked her up and down. She was dressed in full cycling gear with tight fitting cycling pants and jersey, bright blue and yellow, and she was carrying an aerodynamic helmet that swept back to a point at its rear.
“Thanks. Be back in a few. In fact if you don’t mind, I’ll leave it here while I go for a little run?”
“Ah, yeah, I guess. Have fun.”
Out of necessity, she ate a light breakfast; an egg, some fruit and a piece of toast. More than that and she would feel it on the long clim
b out of Red River. The television in the motel café was tuned to a news station and there were stories of Russia and China threatening each other over the Chinese nuclear test that took place a couple of days before. She shook her head, and thought that there was always something going on. She was proud that the Olympics allowed the nations to compete in an intensely competitive, but friendly atmosphere.
The hill on highway 38 eastward out of town was steep and began immediately at the edge of town so she needed an easy run to warm up her muscles before she started spinning up that monster hill. She left the motel cafeteria and took the sidewalk south toward the river that ran along the edge of town. There was a bike path along the river, mostly in the open but occasionally winding through the trees that grew close to the bank. She jogged east for an easy mile breathing in the aroma of the pines and flowers that lined the bike path, and then at a bench with an older couple enjoying the day, she reversed her course and ran back to town.
As she walked back to the motel she glanced around the town. It was a cute little town. She could see a ski lift on the slope of the pine covered mountains to the south, the sun gleaming brightly off the support poles. She assumed the town was a ski resort and the alpine-looking buildings around her lent credence to that idea. There were more motels and coffee shops than in a regular town and remembering the fun she’d had the previous night she thought the town was probably a great place to be in the winter ski season.
She retrieved her bike, a Fuji SST 2.0 Ultegra Di2 Road Bike. It was the largest expenditure she’d ever made in her twenty-one years. She paid more for her bike than the car she’d left in Walsenburg when she started this training ride. Out of habit, she checked her supplies in the bright yellow panniers, making sure she had not only lunch, but emergency supplies as well, in case she got stuck between towns and had to spend the night.
She pulled her long, wavy brown hair back and tied it up with a hair tie, then slipped the helmet snuggly onto her head. With a last look around the town, she mounted the bike and headed east. She rode slowly through the rest of town and began to pick up speed. But almost immediately she started to climb and gearing the bike down she began the long, slow ascent out of the valley.
After a couple of hours of riding she was spinning easily along some rolling hills and realized she was getting hungry again. It seemed like she had just eaten but her body functioned on a pretty regular schedule and it was telling her it was time for lunch. There was a pull-off ahead and she came to a stop next to a picnic table at an overlook. She leaned the Fuji against the table and walked to the edge of the overlook. The view of the mountains to the southwest was magnificent. She went back to the table, dug her lunch out of the saddleback and kicked back on the picnic table as she ate her sandwich and apple. The sun beat down now and she gloried in the beautiful cloudless day.
Sheri could hear a car coming from the direction of Red river. It was traveling fast and it flew over the hill and continued down the mountain to the east at a dangerous speed. It was immediately followed by a couple of others. She wondered what was up and hoped there wasn’t an accident up ahead. In a few more minutes another car shot over the hill. She finished her sandwich and her apple and got back on the bike hoping to see what was going on.
The highway began a gentle descent and she tucked her head for more speed. Her hands were on the forward handle grips with her forearms resting on the center bars. She picked up more speed and flew down the mountain at a terrific pace, faster than she normally rode but she was reveling in the perfect day and just felt the need to fly.
She came around a gentle curve and saw several cars ahead making a turn across her lane toward the west. She didn’t think they would see her in time, and wouldn’t stop to allow her to proceed, so she braked hard and came to a stop twenty yards before the turn. One of the drivers spotted her and drove past the turn and up to where she had stopped.
“Lady,” he called out to her. “You need to follow us. The U.S. is going to be attacked by China or Russia and you need to get under cover!”
She couldn’t quite absorb what he was telling her. “What are you talking about?” She asked. She thought about the cars she saw traveling at high speed back when she was having lunch. “How do you know?
“Listen to me!” he yelled. I was notified earlier this morning and now the President has made an announcement. The bombs are on the way. There’s a bomb shelter. Follow me!” he insisted. He drove just past her and slung his vehicle around and onto the shoulder throwing up dirt and rocks as he accelerated in a curve and headed back south. He skidded around the corner onto the dirt road and sped off to the west.
Sheri was aghast. The day was so perfect. This just couldn’t be happening. Pulling over to the shoulder, and coughing as the dust swirled around her, she pulled her emergency radio out of the pannier and clicked it on. There was nothing but static but she figured that that was because they were out of range of any stations. She thought she should be able to get something out of Red River. She wasn’t that far away yet. She very slowly moved through the dial and caught a very faint signal. She couldn’t make out what was being said but the voice sounded frantic.
Just then another car came flying up the hill from the direction of Eagle Nest. Sheri caught sight of the driver’s face. She looked terrified! The car screeched to a halt. The driver looked at Sheri and then accelerated around the corner and sped up the road, a long trail of dust obscuring everything around her.
The dirt had mixed with the sweat Sheri had worked up and she felt filthy and scared. A beautiful day had just turned into a nightmare. She just stood next to her bike for a long time completely unsure of what to do. She looked over at the road and wondered where it led to. Where were they all going? Her bike wasn’t an off-road bike but she thought she could travel on it if it wasn’t too rough. She had her supplies and could camp for a couple of days without any problem. She didn’t have any deadline for returning to the Olympic Training Complex in Colorado Springs. The weather was certainly warm enough.
She finally decided she would follow the road for a while to see where it led. She turned off the highway and started along the road to the west. Her bike jounced and slipped and she worried that this was a big mistake when she heard another car coming up behind her. She pulled off the side of the road and dismounted the bike, but got blanketed with dirt anyway as the car sped by.
“Damn these people! Why don’t they slow down?” she muttered as she brushed the dirt off her sleeves. She got back on the bike and continued, her teeth chattering as she bounced along. She rounded a curve and saw that the road became smoother and she was able to make better time. Several more cars passed her and one stopped to see if she was okay. It had two men in it, a big guy and a smaller one.
“Hey, you want a ride?” The driver asked. “We need to get to the shelter. The bombs are on their way.”
“Oh God, then it’s real?”
“Looks that way. Are you coming?”
“No, please go on. I can’t leave my bike.”
The driver looked at the larger man and shrugged. They started back up the road but courteously drove slowly to limit the dust until they were well beyond her before speeding up.
Sheri Summerland was a very tough girl but she almost lost it that day on a lonely dirt road in the Sangre De Christo Mountains. She started to cry and then jerked herself up. The discipline of an Olympic athlete kicked in, she jumped back on the bike and started pumping furiously, propelling herself after the retreating car.
August 21, 11:30 a.m.
Albuquerque, NM
The majority of the world’s population had no idea anything unusual or dangerous was transpiring. In previous crises, few except the governments involved realized how close we came to conflict until much later when the stories were turned into television movies. This crisis differed.
It didn’t end.
People went to work that day just like any other day and life went on as usual. It was 7:30 a.m.
Pacific time when the jet carrying the Hargraves party received news from the State Department that war was imminent. No attack on the United States had commenced, but Will knew by the time he received word of approaching missiles it would almost be too late. He made the decision to set off the signaling devices knowing if the attack never came, the lives of many people would be disrupted unnecessarily. But then, if we were attacked, at least people would stand a chance of getting to the shelter before transportation was disrupted and the situation deteriorated into chaos. Mark tried to call his sister from the plane, but she had disregarded his warning and was not at home.
Hargraves maintained an aircraft/helicopter flight school and an airframe and power plant shop at Albuquerque International Airport, so he would have a base of operations in the closest, large city to the shelter. One of the two choppers was away on a rental but the other was always reserved and maintained in readiness for his use.
The jet landed in Albuquerque and Mark taxied to the end of the airport where the flight school was located. They stored their luggage in the chopper before heading to the main terminal in the SUV that was kept in the hangar for that purpose. Mark immediately called Jill again and she answered on the third ring.
“Jill, where the hell have you been? I told you to stay home!”
“I went to get the kids at the neighbors. Why are you so upset?”
“You have to believe that what I told you this morning is true. The Secretary of State has warned Mr. Hargraves that the United States is about to be attacked by China. You need to . . .”
“Oh come on Mark. That can’t . . .”
“Shut up and listen to me! Let me speak to Mike.”
He heard her relating to Mike what he’d told her. After an eternity, she put her husband on the phone. “This is not a joke, Mike. You need to get your family to Albuquerque as soon as possible. According to the Secretary of State, attack by China is imminent, but Will has a bomb shelter north of Albuquerque that will provide protection. Get a flight now and I’ll meet you at the airport. Write this down.” He gave Mike directions to the shelter in case they didn’t connect. Mike was disbelieving but Mark convinced him to leave for Albuquerque on the next flight. Family and friends hadn’t received signaling devices because Will felt it would be better to call them directly if it became necessary, that it would be easier to convince them with direct communication. Mark was painfully aware that that reasoning wasn’t necessarily true. He sure was having trouble convincing his own sister! Will had called the plant when they left that morning. He hoped Miles and the others could start for New Mexico.