Kahnu (The Guardians of Tomorrow Book 1) Page 14

  “Very well,” replied the president. Getting off his seat, he addressed the group around the table once more.

  “Gentlemen, it would appear time is not on our side, after all. Dr. Byrd, I’m gonna need you to come with me. General Glenn, Mike, I’ll need you as well.”

  “But, I-” tried to interject Dr. Byrd, but the President was already leaving the room surrounded by several security personnel, General Glenn, Colonel Spade, and his head staff in tow. One man made a quick gesture for the doctor to follow.

  In the hallway, as all were rushing to get to the helicopter waiting for them outside, the President asked, “Mike, I don’t understand. I thought you said the Chinese planes were still on the ground back in China. How can they be here already?”

  “I have no idea, Sir. I am as puzzled as you are. My only guess is that those are different planes. Planes we weren’t aware of. I am calling my men right now. Let me see what this is all about. Excuse me, Mr. President.”

  Colonel Mike Spade grabbed his cell phone and dialed a number.

  #

  Lisa was standing in front of her grandfather. He was struggling with her helmet. She didn’t look very happy about having to wear “this big ugly thing”, as she called it, but grandpa was absolutely adamant.

  “All young girls must wear their head gear protection if they want to ride their bicycles with their grandpa. No two ways about it, young lady!” he had told her.

  To make sure she would comply, he was wearing one too, although he didn’t normally when he rode his bike by himself.

  “Sara Frank never wears a helmet when she rides her bike!” had said Lisa moping.

  “Well, Sara Frank can do what she wants. You are wearing a helmet if you want to ride. It’s for your own safety. You don’t want to hurt your head if you fall, do you?”

  “Hey, you two! Don’t be too late, I’m making fajitas for lunch, and there’s a surprise for dessert. I think you’ll like it, Lisa,” shouted Lisa’s mother from the porch.

  “Chocolate cake?” asked Lisa, excited.

  “Maybe. I can’t tell you, it’s a surprise,” she replied with a smile.

  Soon, Lisa was riding away on her bicycle, helmet on, and grandfather in tow. The streets of her California suburban community were quiet this time of day. The summer sun was already hot, but the trees provided nice shady areas all along the way. A few minutes later they reached the park. A few other cyclists could be seen on the trail ahead. Lisa approached a picnic table and stopped by the bench. She lowered her bike to the ground and sat down on the grass. Her grandfather was about to do the same when the phone in his pocket rang.

  “Grandpa, what’s that?”

  “Hold on, sweetie, I’ll be right there.”

  “Mike? What is it? The… What…? Slowdown, I can’t understand a word you’re saying. What planes…? Who…?”

  “Grandpa!?”

  “Not now, sweetie.”

  “What do you mean, under attack? The President…?”

  At the other end of the call, Colonel Mike Spade was trying to be quiet, making his way to the back of the helicopter, trying to hide from the rest of the staff. Calling friends and loved ones was not part of the protocol in an emergency such as this one, but the colonel couldn’t leave without trying to save his own family. He wasn’t the only one breaking the rules. Walking into the cargo room, he stumbled upon the chief of staff, standing behind life size containers, phone in hand. She didn’t need to say anything. Her deer-caught-in-the-headlights look said it all. She was calling her loved ones as well. They exchanged a quick look without a word.

  “Dad, I’m telling you, we have Chinese planes in our airspace. You need to go home, get inside, and wait there. I’ll have a car sent to you as soon as I can. Do you understand?”

  “Yes… Yes, OK. I’ll be at your sister’s house, and Lisa is with me too.”

  “Ok, that’s good. Wait for the car. Inside! I’ve got to go.” And he hung up.

  “Grandpa! Look!”

  “Mike? Mike?”

  “Grandpa! Look!”

  She was pulling on one of the legs of his pants.

  “Yes, what? What is it?” he replied a tinge annoyed.

  With her arm extended, she pointed at the sky with one finger.

  He looked up and noticed a triangular object in the sky. Quietly moving across the blue background, it looked completely foreign to him. His military background didn’t seem to help him identify what he was looking at. It resembled no plane he had ever seen. Dark and unmarked, it looked surprisingly small and slow for a plane.

  “Could be a drone, I guess… But I have never seen one like that before,” he thought to himself.

  Somewhat triangular in shape and measuring no more than twenty feet in length, the object was gliding slowly above the open field without making a sound. Trailing behind the shadowy form, a thin yellowish fog was spreading wider and wider, slowly descending towards the ground.

  “Crap! Time to go! Come on, Lisa.” Grandpa grabbed the little girl in his arms and began running back towards the house, a couple of blocks down the street.

  “Grandpa! My bicycle!”

  “No time, sweetie. Don’t worry, I’ll get you a new one.”

  A few minutes later, the two were rushing into the house.

  “Close all the windows! Right now!” ordered Lisa’s grandfather to his daughter, while he locked the door behind him.

  “What’s going on? Why are you back so early? Everything OK, Dad?”

  “Close all the windows! Right now!” he repeated, as he rushed upstairs.

  She could tell the seriousness of the request in his voice. Heading for the nearest window, Lisa’s mother began closing each one.

  Half an hour later, she and her five-year-old daughter were sitting at the kitchen table while Jack Spade, Lisa’s grandpa, was frantically trying to reach someone on the phone.

  “Thanks Colonel. We will,” he said as he hung up.

  “Damn it! I don’t understand. No one knows what’s going on. All they can tell me is that they are receiving thousands of reports of similar sightings all around the country, but they don’t know much else. It doesn't make any sense. How did unmarked planes get this far inland? How could they have made it pass our military defenses in the first place? And where is that darn car?”

  “Mommy, I’m scared.”

  “It’s OK, baby. I’m sure it’s nothing to worry about. You’re safe here in the house with us,” said her mother unconvincingly, trying to reassure Lisa.

  Jack looked at his daughter and granddaughter. He felt powerless.

  “Where is that darn car? And now, of course, I can’t even reach Mike,” thought Jack. He also hoped his son was OK.

  Hundreds of miles away, seated in the main cabin of Air Force One, Colonel Spade was lost in thoughts.

  “Colonel? Colonel?”

  He finally came back to reality when he realized the President was calling him.

  “Yes, sir?”

  “I know you are worried about your family, Mike. I understand, trust me. We all are. I wish there had been more time. But we have to get to our destination. I’m sure they’ve been picked up already.”

  Mike wasn’t sharing the President’s optimism. The fact that all communication with land had been suspended for the time being, part of the code red protocol while Air Force One was in the air, didn’t help reassure him. He wouldn’t be able to call the outside for the next five hours. That was best case scenario.

  Meanwhile, Jack was pacing back and forth in his daughter’s living room.

  So far, the news on TV had been of no help. All the channels were showing the same thing. Over most large cities across North America, the same scene was taking place. A handful of mysterious looking planes were spraying a strange yellow gas that seemed to rapidly spread across entire neighborhoods. All of them had appeared around the same time that morning along the west coast. The air force had managed to shoot down a few, but most were
only being spotted after they had started releasing the unknown gas. Jack had also just learned from an old captain friend from his Desert Storm days that the foreign planes were undetectable by radar, and it seemed the air force was one step behind. Meanwhile, new planes kept appearing over all major cities. Some had already made their way to the central states. Within hours, they would reach the west coast. All they knew with certainty was that the planes were Chinese. Jack’s friend had also offered to come get Jack’s family to a military base nearby, but Jack declined.

  “Thanks, Kirk. I’m sure my son’s people will be here soon.”

  As the day went on, the news reports got worse, but all the media could advise was to stay indoors. They were very serious about reminding people of the curfew in place, and that no one should be outside. Also, due to the unknown effects of the chemical released by the intruders, and their rapid spreading all across the country, the government had issued an order to stop any evacuation. Of course, thousands of people were by now rushing through the streets of Sacramento, chaos was already evident, and for Jack, staying put seemed the best plan of action, for now at least. He just hoped that car would show up soon, otherwise, they would have to take their chance in the madness outside. But, to go where? That was the biggest question. It looked like no place was safe. His son had advised for him to wait for the car. So, wait they would. If no one showed up by morning, he would reconsider heading for the country side then.

  As the hours passed, Lisa and her mother finally fell asleep on the couch while Jack desperately kept trying to find out whatever else he could, and hopefully a way out of their dire situation, but all the lines kept ringing either busy or dead. Eventually exhausted as well, he turned off the TV and opted to forego his comfortable bed upstairs to go lay down on the big living room chair, next to his daughter and granddaughter.

  Four hours later, the loud siren of an ambulance screamed outside as it drove by the Larson’s house. None of them heard it, they were already dead.

  Over the course of the next few hours, many more sirens could be heard all across the capital city, but gradually, like a carnival fair slowly closing down for the night, their number steadily diminished, until finally, all city noises one expected to hear any other day, completely vanished and the city became dreadfully silent.

  #

  The following days were abominable. Everywhere in big cities across the US, people were dying by the millions. The terrible disease was spreading like wild fire. Other countries across the globe were watching, helpless, as North America was quickly losing an impossible battle against time. In a secret Alaskan underground bunker, the American President and his staff were trying to assess the dire situation.

  “OK, John, what's the status on those planes? Are we taking the bastards down or what?”

  “It's more complicated than that, Mr. President. We have reports that the planes we have shot down so far caused even more damage once they got hit. The virus is released instantly in huge quantity when a plane gets damaged. They must use a safety release mechanism that goes off on impact. Bottom line, we can't shoot them down.”

  “Damn it! OK, so what do we do?”

  “We have secured three of our four headquarters, Base Two in Morocco, Base Four, our last security option, near the South Pole, and Base Three, right here, of course. Base One, in Montana, was contaminated before we could seal it.”

  “Yes, I know all that. I’m not asking you about us. What are our options to contain this epidemic and stop those Chinese bastards? How much of the population can we save?” asked the President in a demanding voice.

  “I’m sorry, Mr. President. I’m afraid the situation has become much worse than we first realized. The Chinese unleashed a devastating chemical weapon on us, and it is spreading faster than anything we’ve ever seen. We’re losing people by the millions each day! I’m afraid there isn’t much hope to save most. Canada is already feeling the effects as well. We were able to get twenty or so planes to several safe locations here in Antarctica. Some of them contained supplies, but most were used for civilian transport. If everyone checks out clean, that’s about twenty-five hundred people. I’m afraid there’s not much we can do for the rest of the population at this point… This epidemic is moving way too fast. I’m sorry, David.”

  The President fell back in his seat, devastated. “Twenty-five hundred? That’s it? This can’t be happening…”

  After resting his forehead in his hand for a moment, he looked up again.

  “What about our military? What’s our situation there?”

  “Most of our ground bases have fallen. We have no one left there to man them. We pulled our units out as soon as we could. Those who made it are heading this way. We don’t know how many yet but hope at least a few hundred.”

  “That’s insane! Are you telling me the entire US population has just been reduced to a meager three thousand people overnight? This is a nightmare!” He stood up and began pacing, his hand roughing his hair. “What about the rest of the world? Why can’t we reach anyone? What’s going on with our communication satellites?”

  “As far as we can tell, the Chinese have taken advantage of the chaos to shot down many of them already. A few are still operational. Unfortunately, our ability to communicate with them is dwindling fast, along with our resources. Power stations are shutting down all over the country. At their current rate, we’ll probably lose all electric power plants in the nation within the next couple of days.” He grabbed the glass of water in front of him and took a long sip. “I’m afraid there’s not much else we can do at this point.”

  #

  A few hours later, in the main chamber of the underground Alaskan bunker, eight men and women were gathered around for another briefing.

  “As you all know by now, the bio-chemical the Chinese planes released over our territory yesterday, was originally stolen from us, or at least its formula. So, we know a great deal about it and its lethal potential; and although I’m sure the Chinese experts are just as competent as ours, it seems they have underestimated the consequences of their actions. The virus is not only spreading across our territory at an exponential rate, but we now know it has also spread over most of South America and reached Europe last night. Even China itself is far from safe.”

  “How?” asked the secretary of defense.

  “The winds,” continued Dr. Byrd. The virus can easily survive in the air for months, even years. Africa, Australia, even Asia and pretty much every country around the world will be affected. From the last report, we received about an hour ago, China has already begun reporting some effects. On our end, the virus has managed to kill most of our population in less than forty-eight hours. The casualties in China will be ten-fold by the end of the week. The entire planet is in a state of emergency. In fact, our civilization has never lived through something this serious before. The death tolls will be in the billions.” He nodded to the man across from him.

  Colonel Spade got up and asked for everyone’s attention. Reaching for the large flat screen, he pointed at a set of round colored patches on a map of Earth. Everyone in the room was now silent.

  “What the enemy obviously neglected to realize was that the number of deaths would be so great and would take place in such a short amount of time, that the rotting bodies, and I apologize for the visual, would accelerate the spread of the disease, and even give it strength. The devastation is not only going to affect all living organisms around the globe, but the ground and waters are also being contaminated as the virus keeps spreading across the continents, riding the winds and air currents through the atmosphere.”

  “What about the oceans?” asked someone.

  “As far as I know, it can also thrive in water. I have to assume the epidemic is going to spread to them too. I’m afraid its growth is unstoppable. Within the next two months, every continent and ocean will have been contaminated.”

  “Are you telling us that nothing can be done to stop this? How long will this
epidemic last? And how many casualties do you expect worldwide?” suddenly asked General Glenn with obvious frustrated.

  Turning to the military man, Dr. Byrd took off his reading glasses and let out a heavy sigh, “I’m afraid it’s worse than you realize, General. I don’t expect anyone to survive this. Even us, in this room, it’s only a matter of time. This is what we call a global killer. And it’s not just us humans and our civilization that will perish. What I am saying is that within a year, maybe even less, every living creature on our planet will be dead, including us.”

  Voices erupted in the room.

  “What?”

  “That can’t be!”

  “Oh God!”

  “That’s impossible!”

  After the calm had returned, Colonel Spade took over.

  “I think you underestimate this place, Doctor. This bunker was built to resist a nuclear strike. We’re two hundred fifty-five feet underground and have enough food and supplies for several hundred people to last down here for years.”

  “Even if we do, the world above is dying. It will take generations to come back from this, hundreds of years even. And that’s a best-case scenario. Life on Earth may never recover from this.” Doctor Byrd sat back in his seat. His face betrayed the same sense of defeat they were all feeling.

  There was really nothing much they could do at this point. During the next few days, a few hundred more survivors made their way to the colder regions of continent. Aside from its few facilities in the Alaskan state, the country gradually ceased to function. One by one, power plants shut down and the American cities were plunged back into darkness.

  Eventually, a satellite feeds were re-established, allowing the President and his staff to assess the extent of the damage.

  Several satellite views were scrolling on the wall in front of the small assembly.

  “What is that? These dots everywhere?” someone asked, pointing to an overhead view of Manhattan in New York.

  “I’m afraid those are people; dead bodies to be exact,” replied the colonel. “It’s the same things everywhere across the country. The cities are littered with them. Same thing all the way down south America. We started to see the effects in Europe too. I’m sorry, Mr. President, I wish I had better news, but I’m sure how we’re gonna make it through this one.”