The City Manager was asking Reverend Marks why they could not relocate the Rally to Arrowhead or some other venue. The answer was always an emphatic no. He insisted that Arrowhead Stadium was a closed building, which could not house the multitude that was gathering in the city.
Mayor Sipes knew that her city was bursting at the seams and even if the Feds shut down the highways leading into the city and rerouted travelers from MCI to other airports, it was still a mess. People were actually walking to the city and to Memorial Park. There were already thousands camped out, just sitting, and waiting, even though Jack South would not even be here until Thursday evening; not much more than forty-eight hours away.
Now she had been made aware that the President was coming, which meant dealing with the Secret Service. On a prior visit a year ago, Stevenson had been a pain to deal with. Now the Vatican was sending representatives and a large group of high level Europeans, including many leaders from there and Asia. Many corporate leaders around the world were coming or were already here. They all wanted to be here for this Rally and it made no sense to her at all.
She found out that The Waldger Group had rented the entire City Center Complex for meetings on Friday and Saturday. That meant a lot more very high profile world leaders would be here not only for the ‘Rally,’ but the scheduled meetings as well. These seemed to have been planned out of the blue. Normally, groups as large and as powerful as this had their meetings scheduled well in advance of a year, if not more.
She turned her thoughts back to what was going on here. Fortunately, South’s people had agreed to let the dignitaries that were coming have secure seating on the stage, which would keep them away from the public. A clear bulletproof glass wall was being, erected on both sides of the stage, and would surround them; but still allow them to hear and to see the event.
This whole ordeal was becoming a nightmare and a total drain on the city’s resources. Fortunately, the Feds had come to the rescue. She noticed it had become quiet, so she turned her attention to the front of the room.
Roland Winters, a full Bird Colonel in the Army, stepped up to the microphone and started speaking.
“Thanks to all of you for coming. As you well know by now, this Rally that should have been at most a few hundred people has now taken on worldwide interest.” He paused for everyone to take this in. “As of right now, Kansas City is under the jurisdiction of the United States Federal Government until further notice. Like the disaster in California, it is in the nation’s and the region’s interest that the military take command of the city and its policing. I realize this is not normal, but we have absolutely no choice. It is the only way we can ensure the safety and security of not only the city, but also the many dignitaries who have seen fit to come here. This is unprecedented, but we have a plan and we will follow it.” He then flipped on a switch and a grid of the city came up on the screen.
Chapter 87
3:30 PM EST Day two of 1260 New York - The Network, Brad Williams’ Office
Brad’s second show today was the evening news at 5:30 p.m. He would be covering the day’s events from the studios in New York. He had asked to be sent to Kansas City to broadcast live from there, but had been shot down. That was unusual. Normally, all the networks would be on location with something like this Jack phenomenon going on, especially The Network. The powers that be had said no and that Brad was to lay low and take the bad ratings until they could get Jack South up against the wall. Then they would go in for the kill. He felt they did not trust him anymore. He was going over the notes in his office when he got a call. “Hello?”
“Mr. Williams?”
“Yes?”
“Mr. Williams, I wanted to let you know that Jack South was just released from an Israeli airbase where he and an associate of his, a Veronica, were held for several hours for illegally entering the country. My understanding is that the President of the United Sates himself got him off the hook and Mr. South is on a private jet, on his way back to New York and should be arriving around 2:00 a.m., Wednesday morning. I might add that Stevenson had to give the Israelis assurances that they would get those new bombers they wanted in order to get them to release this person and his friend. Sounds like a payoff to me, and the President seems to have a stake in Mr. South. At least, that is what it all sounds like.”
“Who is this speaking?”
“Oh, sorry Brad, I can’t tell you that. However, you have many resources. Check out the information if you want. It makes good headlines with the President giving war planes to Israel to bail out Jack South.”
Click. Brad heard the dial tone.
What the hell, he thought. He grabbed a piece of paper and noted the conversation as well as he could remember. He then got on the phone and called his chief investigator.
Chapter 88
4:00 PM CST Day two of 1260 Kansas City, Missouri - Old Municipal Airport
John Roddenberg’s plane landed at the old Kansas City Airport downtown. It was used primarily as a commuter airport since KCI opened in the late seventies. The good thing about this airport was that it was located in downtown, about a ten-minute drive to the Bear affiliate on Broadway. He waited for transportation to the city.
On the flight down, he was finalizing the 5:30 p.m. Bear National News that he would anchor on-site at the Liberty Memorial Park in Kansas City. With the help of South’s people, they had set up an anchor desk with all the equipment, on the north side of the stage, which was enclosed in bulletproof glass. Tonight, Wednesday, and Thursday nights, the broadcast would air from there.
Tonight’s show would be extended, and had been advertised all day as a two-hour special from Kansas City. This would give a good look at the mass of people already there, and in some cases, those who had walked from as far away as Columbia. Columbia was where the federal government had shut down the highways except for transportation of goods and local residents. They also had placed on the spot reporters in all seven threatened cities that Jack had said would feel the wrath of God on both the eastern and southern coasts. Each on the spot reporter would be reporting on the plight of the people there and interviewing local politicians about the plans they had made.
Another part of the two-hour special would be focused on the Camp David meetings in Maryland. Even though there was a tight lid on the proceedings there, their reporter would report from outside the gates and speculate as to what was occurring.
In addition, there would be footage of the mess in California, which under normal circumstances, was where he would be. But California may well pale in comparison to the carnage that would be experienced on the coasts over the next few weeks. Besides, the real news was here, especially after Jack took the challenge of the panel yesterday, and predicted the volcano in the Pacific Ocean, on the spot. He was the most sought after news since either 911 or the Kennedy Assassination.
They also had reporters in the Middle East and Africa reporting on the rain that had already started today and the repercussions to that entire region. It had been raining between the coordinates Jack gave since this morning.
Chester Nichols, the Bear News weatherman, had been in consultation with academics all over the world today to decide on the far-reaching effects of all the weather changes. John knew that today the North Pole registered a whopping eight degrees above normal for the entire day, and based on satellite imagery, you could start to see small spots of ice breaking up near the costal ice sheets.
The only thing missing from the news was Jack and his location. The viewers wanted to know where he was and what he was doing. After he had left the building on Monday, no one had heard anything about him at all. It was as if he had disappeared.
John knew though that Reverend Marks was there in Kansas City overseeing the setup of the Rally and working with the local government – and now the federal military machine – in setting up for Thursday’s Rally. They were trying to track the Reverend down to see if he had any comments for the special.
Other n
ews events today were unprecedented. The SEC had suspended the stock markets as well as oil trading in the U.S. There was no timetable as to when they would reopen.
The Europeans were bailing on U.S. stocks; especially treasury notes. The Chinese almost caused a run on the banks. Gold went up over two hundred dollars more an ounce. Trading of gold was also stopped, not only here, but in Europe as well.
The highways in Texas, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, and on the east coast were now jammed with cars and trailers expecting the worse. They were moving to different parts of the country they felt were safer, even though some still had several weeks to evacuate.
There was speculation that the Smithsonian was trucking valuable items from displays and moving them to safer quarters. It was the same in D.C. and other areas of the country. The Metropolitan, as well as other museums in the east, were taking items and possibly trucking them to safer places. There were no specific news sources to confirm any of this other than that the Smithsonian and the Metropolitan were going to be closed as of next Monday until further notice.
Amazing, one day ago he had to create news, now he could barely cover it.
His thoughts were interrupted by one of the stewards, who said, “Mr. Roddenburg, your chopper is ready. Please follow me.” Hmm he thought, the roads must be blocked.
Chapter 89
4:30 PM CST Day two of 1260 Chicago, Illinois - Mark Anderson’s Law Office
Mark had immediately jumped into action after receiving the fax from the Attorney General’s office. Knowing that Jack was in Israel, he knew that Mossad would bring him in and try to obtain information from him; and he needed to stop that as soon as possible.
His first call went to Ken Giles who never acknowledged the call. Mark ended up talking to some clerk instead of Ken. The next call went to the White House, but once again, he was blindsided and had to leave a message.
He then decided to cash in a favor. The thing about being a defense attorney was that he made money, friends, and enemies. He had gotten the President’s nephew off an alleged rape charge some years ago. The President and his brother’s family were very pleased with his firm, and would probably help. So, he then called the President’s brother to ask a favor.
It had worked. He got a call about two hours later and was given the fax number to Camp David. He had faxed his pleas to President Stevenson. Well, it must have worked. Veronica had called and said they were en route to New York.
Exhausted, Mark just sat in his chair staring at the wall thinking and wondering how many more times this would happen. He shook negative negative thoughts off, got up, and left the office. He needed to go home and rest.
Chapter 90
5:30 PM EST Day two of 1260 Camp David, Maryland - Conference Room
General David Stoups had been talking now for over two hours and Stevenson had started to drift off in other directions. Being President, he knew required him to occasionally listen to very long speeches, but they were usually in the Senate. Politicians and military brass always had an agenda and they droned on forever. He usually tried to get them to speed up, but usually to no avail.
He just wanted to be given the facts and then the solution so they could move on. The General had at least five hundred pages of documentation that he had passed out for his portion of the meeting and seemed to have the same amount of PowerPoint slides, which he showed as he kept talking.
Basically, he could have summed most of it up in ten minutes by simply saying that they were going to start evacuating the affected areas once they felt one-hundred percent sure that Mr. South’s predictions were true and would actually happen. There was not much room for doubt. He had not missed a beat yet, and after the island prediction, that had sealed it.
The General also outlined the residual effects of getting people relocated when the hurricanes hit the Gulf areas. Hurricanes usually moved due north after they hit land, which meant that in Texas, the flooding would be far inland and moving up into Oklahoma. Then the other two to hit the Gulf would move rain into the Mississippi and Ohio Valleys, also causing severe flooding. The other issue was that planting season had just started and there was concern over crop loss in these areas. It could well be disastrous with some areas experiencing a total loss of crops; not counting the loss of life and property.
The General showed a map of the U.S with highlighted areas that would be affected by the hurricanes whether through flooding or a direct hit. There were eighteen states in the direct path and ten to fifteen other states, which would be affected by flooding.
He suggested that we call up the National Guard immediately and all unassigned military personnel that were not overseas should be dispatched to manage the FEMA camps located in various areas of the country. His plan was to seal off cities that were severely damaged as soon as they had been evacuated. As he said, they were going to have the equivalent of seven Katrina’s at almost the same time and there was no other way to deal with it.
It was also suggested that they first try and keep Houston afloat, as a national priority over other affected cities. This was due to the oil refineries in that area. They needed to be back in operation as soon as possible, as a matter of National Security. The next priority would be Washington D.C. and then New York City. Everything else would have to wait. If the people did not want to evacuate in any of the cities, then they would force them to, or they could just leave them there to fend for themselves; depending on the severity of the storms and availability of FEMA camps.
The other logistic was the amount of displaced people that needed to be moved. The populations of New York City and New Jersey amounted to almost seventeen million people. Then add another two million for the D.C. area, plus Maryland and Virginia. That now made it somewhere in the vicinity of twenty million people. Now add Jacksonville and Miami, Florida. There were two and a half million people in Dade County alone and some two million in the Jacksonville area. Savannah, Georgia and Houston, Texas had around two million people each. It was mind-boggling. Stevenson had forgotten Mississippi. He was finding it hard to focus on all the numbers. He did not think they could fully deal with the problems.
The other issue the General brought up was the safety of the national treasures in the museums. He suggested they be moved out of the areas which would be worst affected. If the weather did not destroy them, then the looters would. That meant hundreds and thousands of trucks to move the nation’s art and history collections to different parts of the country. This was becoming a nightmare.
The General was winding down talking about troop placement in the areas and that they could expect damages in the region of five hundred billion dollars to infrastructure alone, in addition to personal property, loss of production, and camp administration costs.
For the first time in his life, Stevenson was not happy to be who he was and really wished he were not the President of the United States.
Chapter 91
5:30 PM CST Day two of 1260 Kansas City, Missouri - Liberty Memorial, Anchor Desk
The announcer began, “Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Bear News tonight with John Roddenburg. We are live from the Liberty Memorial Park in Kansas City, Missouri where Thursday night we will be exclusively broadcasting the self-proclaimed Witness of God’s sermon at 7:30 p.m. Tonight is our two-hour special edition on the state of the world. Here is your host: John Roddenburg.”
“Good evening America and the world,” John began. “In the past thirty-five hours the world we knew came to an end. With the advent of the Witness from God, as he calls himself. After his proclamations in not only the U.S., but also Northern Africa and the Middle East, we are all watching to see if Jack South continues to be one hundred percent accurate in his predictions, or prophecies, as others call them. Today is Tuesday evening and yes viewers, it is raining in Northern Africa and the Middle East. This makes Jack, once again, one hundred percent right.”
“Tonight we are covering this story from coast to coast, border t
o border, and continent to continent. We are going to start with an update from Southern California. We will then be going across the Southern coastal cities talking to the leaders and citizens of each city that Jack has said will be in the path of the hurricanes he predicted. We will also be speaking to people who live on the Gulf and east coasts who will also begin to feel the effects very soon. Then we will move on to Africa, where we have our correspondents set up in major cities in Egypt, and other Middle Eastern countries.”
“First, let’s go to Brian Wilcox who is standing by; live in Pasadena, California for an update in Southern California. Brian?”
“Thank you, John. It is about three thirty here in Pasadena. You can see behind me that it looks like a war zone. I am standing in downtown Pasadena and as you look around there is nothing here but rubble. You will also see troop carriers that are being loaded with refugees or people with nowhere to go. They are being transported by troop carriers to buses and are being taken to a makeshift FEMA camp at Twenty-nine Palms. Our estimates, since the military moved into the area yesterday, are that over a hundred thousand people have been relocated so far. They are lined up everywhere in all the areas that were destroyed and are waiting for transportation to hopefully bring them to food and shelter. There is not any structure that has not been destroyed in these areas. There are also no utilities. Firefighters are using pool water when available because all the waterlines are broken and the broken pipes are flooding certain areas. People are desperate.”
“Have we been able to get a news crew into the camp at Twenty-nine Palms?” John asked.
“No John. The military has refused any entrance to the area. Actually, all the roads coming into the L.A. area were shut down because of damage. This extends from Palm Springs to L.A. from the east, and Orange County to the South, on both the 405 and the 5. The same is true from the north. Many of the roads are not passable for regular traffic, so that is why the troop haulers are being used.”