EARTH 2010
An excerpt from EARTH 2010 twenty ten
To read the rest of this amazing new novel, purchase it here
http://www.cafepress.com/earth2010 (Only available thru
Cafepress.com)
The Pulse
Unbeknownst to the people in the Alaskan waste, the wave didn't
stop, but circled the entire globe and then reversed itself back
again. In relative terms, it all happened in a blink of an eye.
People all across the globe who were out doors at the time, seen
a weird shimmer in the air and heard the faint sound of a train
rumbling in the distance as the shimmer passed through their
bodies. Every person on the planet felt a little unnerved by
this occurrence and the feeling that emanated through their
bodies. Neighbors, pedestrians, and strangers alike, shared
stunned glances and nervous chatter. Something weird just
happened and nobody knew what it was. People rushed to TV sets
and radios hoping to hear if anybody knew anything. It was a
Sunday and news was typically slow in coming on this day, but
something big just happened and it was extremely unnerving not
knowing what it was.
President D'Marco started his Sunday morning with a quick stroll
to the corner Starbucks for coffee and a bagel. In his mind,
there was no better way to start the day. He was returning to
his hotel room when while crossing the street, he seen, heard,
and felt the wave that many before and many after would feel. He
nearly dropped his coffee when the sensation passed through his
body. He knew this was the day of the test, but there was no way
it could have caused this. He turned to one of his secret
service agents,
"Get McJeeves on the line." Turning to another "Get me the FAA
contact on the line immediately."
As the agents frantically worked their phones, they rushed back
into the Hotel and back to his room. Laura was still in the
shower, so they set-up shop in the front entrance room.
"Sir, I cannot reach McJeeves."
"Try contacting the base."
The agent started dialing and D'Marco realized that he didn't
mention which base and the agent's action struck him as odd.
"Sir, I have the FAA on the line." Said the other agent.
D'Marco grabbed the phone, but before answering, he spit out
"our Barrow, Alaska base. Find out who is in charge and get them
on the line."
The agent just nodded his head, but D'Marco noticed that he
already completed dialing. He wondered how deep this deception
was running.
"Hello" D'Marco stated into the phone.
"Mr. President, this is Ted Hammerstock with the Federal
Aviation Administration. How may I help you sir?"
"Ted, I want you to ground all flights in the country."
"Um, Mr. President, may I ask why?"
"Ted, I'm playing a hunch here. Get the planes on the ground as
quickly as you can. Something unnatural just happened and I
don't want people exposed while they are in the air."
"I will pass the message, Mr. President."
"Thank you, Ted. I'll let you know when I think everything is
safe."
"Will do."
He hung up and was immediately given the phone with the Barrow,
Alaska base.
"Hello" D'Marco stated
"Mr. President, how may I be of service?" the voice on the other
end asked.
"Please get Senator Ash on the line."
"Senator Ash is not here, Mr. President."
"Soldier, I know Senator Ash is on the base, please put him on
the line immediately." His tone was angry.
"Hold on, sir."
An agent was holding out another phone for him. D'Marco passed
him the Alaska phone and told him to keep the Senator on the
line. He then took the offered phone.
"Hello?"
"Ang, it's Rich. What the hell is going on?"
"You felt it too?" D'Marco's shocked voice asked.
"Whatever it was, yes we felt it."
"I'm trying to figure that out. What's going on in Washington?"
"Near panic, what was that-that thing that happened?" Rich asked.
"I believe that was a test that just went haywire."
"A test you knew about?" Rich asked again.
"A test I knew about that I wasn't supposed to know about.
Hang-on a sec."
He and the agent switched phones again.
"Senator Ash?" D'Marco asked.
"Mr. President." was Senator Ash's reply.
"Tell me what went wrong, Ash?"
"Obviously everything, Mr. President. Since you know I am here,
you obviously know why."
"That is an understatement, Senator."
"The test failed, Mr. President. I guess we'll do it your way."
"Whatever you did, Ash, just sent a shockwave through the
nation. I don't think you'll be able to sweep this one under the
carpet."
There was a long pause and a sigh, when Ash finally responded
his voice was a little shaken "You'd be surprised what I can
sweep away, Mr. President."
"Watch yourself, Senator. I want a full report of the entire
operation on my desk by Wednesday."
"I don't think that I'll put anything in writing, sir, I will be
more than happy to discuss this in person with you."
"Fine. I'm going to play dumb with the media, Ash, but I want
you in Chicago by Wednesday. It's time we settled our little
differences and get on the same page."
"I'll be there."
"Bring General Gordon with, Senator, we need mutual
understanding."
"As you wish, Mr. President" Ash stated and hung up.
The phone with the Vice President waiting on hold was then
passed to him.
"Rich?"
"I heard you with your favorite Senator."
"You heard me?" he asked as he gave the agent a look to kill.
"Listen, I'll let you clean things up. If you need anything, let
us know. We'll do whatever you need done."
"Thanks Rich, thanks, all I want you to do is relax and enjoy
the holidays. I'll fill you in once all the dust settles."
"I know." Was his reply, and they both hung-up.
"Sir, the media is congregating in the lobby."
"Ang, what's going on?" asked Laura
"I'll fill you in later, baby. I have to go."
"Let's go meet the media, gentleman." He stated to his agents
and started walking toward the door.
"Are we still going to your mothers today?" Laura shouted across
the room.
"No, Hun. Can you give her a call and tell her?"
"I figured." was her reply.
As they headed toward the elevator, D'Marco had another hunch.
"Get me the Director of Energy on the line."
Halfway down to the lobby, the agent handed D'Marco the phone.
"Director?"
"Yes Mr. President."
"I want all the nuclear power plants shutdown immediately, do
you understand?"
"Yes, sir. May I ask why, Mr. President?"
"You may, but I am not in position to explain. Take care of it
immediately!"
"Consider it done, sir."
As D'Marco handed the phone back to the agent, he contemplated
the hunch he was having. If this turned out to be nothing, his
adversaries will use it against him. He could hear them now
calling his decision a panic move, inexperience, un-composed,
and numerous other negative connotations. He couldn't explain
the feelings he was having, but in his gut he knew it was better
to be safe than sorry, something just wasn't sitting right with
him.
The phone rang again D'Marco waited "Sir, it is the Vice
President."
"Rich?"
"Ang, we just got word from the Pentagon, they can't get through
to you. Everybody is escalating their military status. The
Soviets have gone to their highest readiness state. General
Patrick phoned and said that there is a lot of activity coming
from the Iraqi side. The Pentagon wants to know if we should
follow."
"No!" damn, how far did this wave reach, he thought. "Tell
Patrick to do what he thinks is necessary. Hang on a sec." He
flashed through his phones address book, and when he came to
Mushamadeed's number, he dialed it and handed it to the agent.
"Ask him to hold when he answers." The agent nodded.
"Rich?"
"Yeah"
"Tell Patrick to get prepared, but not to panic. I don't want
our troops firing the first shot, and tell the Pentagon to step
down. We will not follow the others into this madness. Get in
touch with all our friends and tell them that I will call them
as soon as I can. Tell them we don't know what happened and we
will investigate and fill everyone in once we have some facts."
The elevator door opened to the lobby, and the media mass
started to surge forward. His agents immediately blocked their
advance, but they couldn't do much to silence their insistent
questions.
"I'll take care of it, Ang"
"Thanks bud, I'll talk to you soon."
The agent handed him the phone that the Ayatollah was waiting
on. "Mohammad?"
"Mr. President, please tell me you had nothing to do with what
just happened."
D'Marco squeezed his eyes shut. What a mess, he thought. He
moved down the hall to get away from the media noise and ears "I
don't know what caused that situation, but I will find out."
Damn, he hated lying. "I can tell you that we are NOT attacking."
"My friends are very nervous, Angelo."
"Mohammad, I'm asking you to trust me on this. We are not
readying for an attack. I need you to trust me on this, my
friend."
"I trust your word. I just pray to Ala that I can convince the
others to relax."
"You need to convince them, Mohammad, if they panic we are going
to have many young folks to bury."
An excerpt from EARTH 2010 twenty ten
To read the rest of this amazing new novel, purchase it here
http://www.cafepress.com/earth2010 (Only available thru
Cafepress.com)