by J. W. Huemme
“I’ll probably need the extra days to calm my mother down. She’ll be ecstatic when I tell her.”
“Your mother’s quite a woman. Give her my best when you see her.”
“I certainly will,” Christopher responded.
Upon his return from a long weekend home, Bill worked closely with Christopher helping him become familiar with his new responsibilities as section chief. He would now be interacting much more with field agents and covert operatives. For Christopher, this added a new element of excitement to his life. He loved his work very much, but still held a certain admiration for the work the field agents did as well. After a few weeks, Bill felt Christopher had a handle on everything and he knew things would be in good hands.
“I don’t think I’ve missed anything. Of course if you need anything, you can always just give me a call,” Bill said.
“You know, it isn’t going to be the same around here without you, Bill,” Christopher remarked.
“I’m going to miss the old place. But it’s time for me to see what else is out there. I’m thinking of stopping by to see your mother.”
“She’d like that. I’ll warn you though, she’ll ask you to tell her everything you can tell her about her favorite son,” Christopher remarked.
“Well, I guess I’m out of here. Take care of the place for me,” Bill said as he shook Christopher’s hand and left.
Chapter Seven
Love in the Loop
Over the next several years, Christopher became more familiar with his new position and the responsibilities that came along with it. He welcomed the opportunity to work closely with field agents and covert operatives. He had always held a certain admiration for what they did, although he had no desire or training to be a field agent. He was, however, able to learn a great deal from his repeated contact with them.
Christopher enjoyed his work immensely, and had no ambition to advance any further. He knew to do so would mean removing himself from that which he most enjoyed—solving puzzles and code breaking—and thrust himself into a world of politics. This had no appeal to him whatsoever. Being dishonest and deceptive went very much against his grain. Joe and Mary had successfully instilled a strong set of morals and a sense of fair play in Christopher. Perhaps this quality helped him to find a little more satisfaction in what he did, which in a sense, was finding truth within the deception of encryption. Although Christopher was a very up front person, he had learned even more, of late, the wisdom of playing one’s cards conservatively.
It began like any other Wednesday as Christopher exited the elevator on the fourth floor. “Good morning, Barb.”
“Good morning, Christopher,” Barb answered. Christopher had discouraged the use of “Mr. Adams” by Barb. She was showing her age with her hair now gray and worn pulled back, but sharper than ever. She handed Christopher a handful of messages she had taken for him and a plain brown envelope with his name on it along with the words, “Top secret—For Your Eyes Only.”
“Thank you, Barb. You look very nice this morning,” he said sincerely.
“Why, thank you Christopher.” Barb still had the same natural glow as she did the first time he had seen her, he thought as he entered his office. He put the papers and envelope on his desk, pulled back the chair, sat down, and was prepared for another day. He quickly shuffled through the messages checking for anything that couldn’t wait. Seeing nothing that couldn’t wait, he set them aside and picked up the brown envelope.
He removed a single piece of paper from the envelope and was instantly surprised to see what looked like a ransom note. Individual letters cut out of magazines, pasted together on the sheet of paper to form a message. This was a first for Christopher. He carefully read the message: “Eleven AM, corner of Third and Jefferson. Ace Plumbing. Tell no one. Come alone. Very important!” followed by “Read and destroy.” Christopher picked up his phone and depressed a number on the keypad.
“Barb, can you tell me where the brown envelope came from?” he asked.
“It was dropped off first thing this morning by special courier. Funny though, I thought I knew all the couriers, but I’ve never seen this one before. He just handed me the envelope, had me sign for it and left. Never said a word. All the paperwork was in order. Is there anything wrong?” she asked.
“No. I was just curious. Thank you Barb.”
Christopher stopped at Barb’s desk just long enough to tell her, “I’m going to be out for a while. You can reach me on my cell phone if anything comes up.” He turned and left without giving her a chance to respond.
He took the elevator to the lowest level where the parking garage was located. As he exited, Christopher’s eyes quickly scanned the parking garage full of mostly dark blue sedans, almost all identical agency vehicles. He remembered once thinking they had painted his name on the wall identifying his parking space, not so much as to reserve the parking space in the morning for him alone, but rather as a means for him to identify which vehicle was his when it came time to leave at the end of the day. He wasted no time in exiting the garage.
It would take Christopher about ten to twelve minutes to reach the designated location. During that time, a hundred scenarios of what this might be about went through his mind. None of these, he would soon learn, would be correct. He kept checking his watch every time he was caught at a traffic light, making sure he would be on time. While sitting at a red traffic light, nearly at his destination, Christopher suddenly felt a touch of excitement run through him as he related what he was doing and feeling to what field agents and covert operatives must feel every day.
Arriving at the designated corner, he pulled into the first available parking space he found, locked the car, and walked back to the corner of Third and Jefferson. He looked at his watch: ten-thirty on the nose. He stood on the corner looking around for a storefront or building called Ace Pluming, but saw nothing. Just then, a white van pulled up in front of him and stopped. Across the side was the name “Ace Pluming.” The side door slid open and the man in the back said, “Get in.” Christopher climbed in to find a seat facing the back of the van. “Please, sit down,” the man said motioning to the rear facing seat. “I apologize for the cloak and dagger invitation, but it’s necessary. We’re taking you to a special briefing. Please buckle your seat belt. The location of this briefing is also a secret, so I have to ask you to wear this blindfold.”
Christopher complied, although he felt it unnecessary since there were no windows in the side or back of the van, and he was facing the rear as well. Christopher realized the rear facing seat and blindfold were meant to disorient the passenger and felt sure the driver would take an erratic and indirect course to their destination. He couldn’t see his watch, of course, but Christopher felt nearly an hour and a half had gone by before he felt the van come to a halt and the engine turn off.
“You can remove the blindfold now,” the voice said. Christopher removed the blindfold as the door of the van slid open.
The sudden burst of light caused him to squint and shield his eyes for a moment.
“Mr. Adams, Welcome. Follow me, if you would please.” Although the man who spoke wasn’t wearing a uniform, Christopher pegged him as military.
Christopher followed the man through a door and down a corridor and into a room that looked like it was set up for a presentation of some sort. There were three other people seated in the folding chairs facing a podium next to a projection screen. There was a slide projector in the rear of the aisle separating the seats into two groups. “Please have a seat. Someone will be with you momentarily,” his escort said as he left the room closing the door behind him.
Christopher looked briefly at the three other people in the room and deduced they were at as much of a loss as he was as to why they were here. There was a very well dressed man with neatly trimmed gray hair. He wore conservative but expensive jewelry and an expensive suit. Probably a politician. The second man was a highly decorated marine coronel, and judging by the h
ash marks on his sleeve and his mannerisms, he had probably seen his share of action.
The third person was a very attractive young woman in her mid-thirties. She was neatly, but conservatively dressed. The little bit of jewelry she wore was simple and not expensive. She had a very healthy look about her and seemed quite down-to-earth, yet very focused. There was something familiar about her. Christopher knew he had seen her face somewhere before but couldn’t quite place her. He did, however, find her quite attractive. This was an unusual feeling for Christopher. It was rare for him to be attracted to a woman, but there was something about her he liked. He decided to sit next to her and perhaps find out what it was that attracted him to her.
“Hello, I’m Christopher Adams,” he said motioning to the seat next to her. “Do you mind?”
“No, please sit down. I’m Cindy Mathews,” she responded holding out her hand and shaking his as he sat down next to her.
“The astronaut. I knew you looked familiar, but I just couldn’t quite place you.”
“Mission specialist actually. I’m a microbiologist, but yes, though I haven’t flown yet. I’m scheduled for the upcoming mission aboard Columbia. And you?” she asked.
“I head the decryption section with the CIA.”
“I envy you not having to deal with the publicity. I love my work for the work itself. I don’t care to be in the spotlight so much. It just comes with the territory,” Cindy replied.
“I must admit, I admire what you do, but, I don’t think I would like the spotlight much either. “I don’t suppose you have any idea why we’re here”
“Not a clue,” Cindy said. “They brought me here blindfolded and didn’t say a word. You?”
Christopher founded himself more attracted to Cindy with each word. “Same thing. We’ll find out soon enough.” He noticed Cindy looking at him with an expression that reflected his feelings. The attraction seemed mutual. Just then a man wearing military fatigues with two black stars sewn onto each shoulder entered the room.
“I think we’re about to find out,” Christopher told Cindy under his breath.
Standing at the podium, the man addressed the four people seated in front of him. “I’m General Harding. I know you’re all wondering why you’ve been brought here the way you were. First of all, what I’m about to tell you doesn’t leave this room. I don’t care what kind of security clearance somebody might have—you can’t repeat a word. Not to your wife, your girlfriend, your mother, not to anyone. Not even to each other once you leave here. I want to be sure I’m clear on this point,” the general paused, giving the four a chance to acknowledge this with a nod, which they did.
“You’re about to learn of an operation that goes way beyond top secret. Every person with this knowledge, like yourselves, has been handpicked for reasons that will soon become obvious. First, I think it best to explain the situation that has made this operation necessary for the very survival of life as we know it on this planet.”
The general pushed a button on the podium dimming the lights and activating the slide projector. The screen lit up with a picture of planet Earth. The general continued, “This is home to all mankind. Since the beginning of time, our planet has provided an abundance of food sources, both in the form of animals or prey, and food that grows literally on trees, ready to eat. If it wasn’t for this, mankind could never have survived, or for the matter, would not have lived long enough to evolve into the technically advanced society we’ve become. Fortunately, it’s a big planet, capable of supporting a population of billions. However, this brings us to the first of two catastrophic problems. The latest census, compared to those previously taken, indicate an unprecedented increase in the rate of population growth.” The slide advanced to the next, showing dried up soil with a few dying cornstalks. “If you put this information together with the fact that we are losing workable soil faster than we can develop new ways of increasing productivity, well, you get the idea. We’ve done the math, and by the year twenty thirty-five, the population will have grown beyond what the planet is capable of producing.”
The general pushed a button bringing up the next slide. It was a picture of hundreds, if not thousands of starving third-world people fighting over food supplies. “The first to be effected are the poor in third-world countries. More and more of these people die of starvation each year already. The number continues to grow at a frightening rate. It’s difficult to predict the exact outcome, but riots over food supplies, which already happen more and more each year, and, perhaps even cannibalism, are just two of several possibilities. As time goes by, it will only get worse.”
The general paused for a moment to let this information sink in, then continued, “Here is the second problem we are going to address.” The next slide on the screen was a split picture. “On the left, a picture of rush hour in Los Angeles on a bad smog day. On the right, a picture of a large factory with several large smokestacks billowing a thick black cloud into the atmosphere. We have learned through the latest data that global warming is far worse than we had ever thought. It is reversible, but it would require the shut-down of ninety percent of the world’s factories and power plants, along with removing the exhaust of ninety-five percent of the vehicles and the total elimination of chlorofluorocarbons. I’m sure you all agree, the chances of getting the people of this world to live without electric power, to permanently park their cars, and to comply with changes and restrictions so extreme are less than zero. People just seem to be so short-sighted. If it won’t hurt them today, they’ll go on as usual until it hits them in the face tomorrow. It seems people have either become incapable of contributing to society or those that can have become fat and lazy. Left alone, I’m afraid the situation would end civilization as we know it. I hate to think what life on this planet would become if it were left alone to take its course. Well it’s not going to be left alone to fall into ruin. We have come up with a way we believe will resolve the situation. Before I get into the details of the operation itself, let’s take a short break and, if you’ll indulge me, I’d like to give you a quick tour of my facility here. After we stretch our legs, I’ll be giving you the details of the operation. So, if you will all follow me, please.” The general led the small group through the door into the hallway.
“We’re in a relic of the Cold War. This facility, like so many others, was built by the government starting back in the late fifties through the early seventies. Billions of dollars were spent making these facilities capable of supporting life totally cut off. Some are larger than others. This particular facility will house eight hundred and thirty-five people.” The general led the group into a large room with industrial décor. “This is the power plant for the complex. It can generate enough power to handle a small city. Every piece of equipment has a backup.” The group moved a little further. “This area is the facility’s water purification center. As in the power station, everything has a backup.”
The group went down another hallway and through another door. They found themselves in a long hallway with other hallways intersecting every fifty feet or so almost as far as they could see. “Each of these hallways has twenty housing units. There are ten hallways all together.” Turning the group around and heading down another hallway and through doors, they found themselves in an enormous dining room. “This dining room can seat over four hundred people. The kitchen is capable of preparing twice that much food. Down the hall a little further through this door is an assembly hall able to seat eight hundred people plus. Way down there is a movie theatre and a bowling alley. We literally have a self-sustaining little city.”
The general turned and headed back to the room where they started. “Let’s go back to the meeting room where we started and I’ll give you the details of the operation. After that, we’ll see about some kind of snack. I know I’m getting a little hungry.” As the general led the group back into the meeting room where they had started, he added, “At the end of the Cold War, these facilities were deemed no longer ne
cessary, and were all but abandoned. Now, almost all of them have been refurbished, refueled, and re-provisioned with enough supplies to last over a year.”
Once again seated in the small meeting room as before, the general began to explain the operation itself. “As you all saw before we took our little tour of the facility, we have two very serious problems that must be addressed if we are to save our planet and our way of life. The situation is grave and demands drastic measures. We believe we have a way to solve both of these problems with one operation that will, at the same time, secure the future of mankind. As harsh as the solution might sound at first, it is the only way to save the planet: we must reduce the population by at least ninety percent. This is the reason I’m telling you this here, in this facility. Because this facility, and hundreds of others around the world like it, will protect those chosen to carry the torch for mankind. We’ve handpicked the best of the best, like yourselves, to start a new beginning—a fresh start for mankind. Unfortunately, there is only room for so many people in the shelters. We estimate that about seven percent of the population can be sheltered.”
Cindy gasped as she realized just what was being planned. She couldn’t believe her ears. They were planning to get rid of 93% of the world’s population. Neither Christopher nor the other two men showed any reaction at all.
The general continued. “Now I know how this sounds at first, but you have to keep the big picture in mind. We’ve come to a point where we have no choice if we are to survive as a species.
“We have decided on the only logical choice, which is the neutron bomb,” the general continued. “The deployment will be global and simultaneous. The delivery is being coordinated with most of the world’s governments. At a designated time, aircraft from several nations will deliver their payloads: seventy megaton air burst neutron bombs. At the same time, submarines will be launching their missiles. This will be timed to coincide with the launch of all of the land-based ballistic missiles from land-based silos. Unknown to most of the crews, the missile warheads have already been replaced with the neutron devices. Most of the pilots will be told that they are participating in war games and exercises. The pilots, who are actually part of this operation, will, after delivering their payload, rendezvous at pre-designated coordinates with submarines that will not surface, but rather, after the pilot has bailed out and ditched his aircraft, dispatch divers to bring the pilots aboard the submarine without risk of contamination. This device will not, for the most part, harm buildings or foliage. It will only eliminate living animals, humans, livestock, and most, but not all, smaller mammals. It will not affect marine life. We have converted several of the shelters to house enough of the desirable and necessary species for sufficient breeding stock so as to perpetuate those species.”