RADM AJ Chegwidden: Our bunker had a lot of work left to do... but we had to have a high-command meeting so we left the rest of the bunker to their own devices, and they seemed to know that they were confined to the bunker. They knew that we couldn't afford to lose any of them, should the worst happen while we were in the meeting. It also seemed as though Mr. Frio, one Jared... was mulling over the facts that had been presented to him. It's all a matter of time to see if he steps up to the plate or not.
My mind was still trying to digest the phone call that I had received from the Chief of Naval Operations. We were on the precipice of total war. The thought of the world going over the edge into it was unthinkable...but now completely possible. If that didn't give any person nightmares, they had to be insane.
We all called this the situation room...the place that we would find out what was happening in the world. There were monitors and computers all hooked up to National Defense networks and there was three phone lines. One to the Department of Defense, one to the White House, and the other to that bunker in Cheyenne Mountain in El Paso County, Colorado provided that the Soviets didn't obliterate it into its component atoms. Hopefully, no one knew this one existed or we'd be obliterated too. Let's hope the Leninists thought this place was a shopping mall for capitalists, maybe we should put a few cars on the roof to make them think it was a parking garage...
Gibbs and Pride were talking quietly with the vice-admiral on what things could potentially be done to improve communications with the outside...to those in the know about the state of world affairs and how soon this whole thing would kick off if we were unfortunate enough to end up not heeding the signs. It certainly was a sensitive topic meant for ears that were of high-enough rank to understand the gravity of the situation.
One of Sunset Valley's former Air Force officers, turned transfer to the Corps was now a Lieutenant Colonel in the Marines was chatting away with Clayton Webb, who was our CIA guy (even though he routinely denied it) in residence. Even though there were higher ranking members in the group than one lowly Lieutenant Colonel. It was his familiarity with Sunset Valley terrain that allowed LCOL Jack Bunch to be a part of the meeting.
It was a somber face to face as all in attendance realized the enormity of the situation at hand. This was a bit of news that was so hard to swallow that it took a long time for the impact to really hit. We all knew that we were running on borrowed time. And if negotiations failed, things would get heated: superheated to temperatures rivalling the surface of the sun.
At one point I had tasked Fiona McIrish the duty of getting skill books for the bunker library so that if things went down the way we thought, we'd have an alternate method of gaining knowledge other than to learn by trial and error. At least we wouldn't entirely be back to the Stone Age then. The other morbid thought was that if she was out and the Bomb went off, we wouldn't have lost a potential breeding female. As it was the older civilian women and men were up for the tasks of going outside the bunker to retrieve essentials such as stocking up on food and other items needed.
"Thanks for coming to the meeting" VADM Nakamura stated, grimly joking, "Not that you had much of a choice for coming here...Agent Pride here notified me about the fact that we lost two destroyers in the Pacific a few days ago. They were damaged beyond repair and the Navy had to torpedo them to the bottom of the ocean so that they wouldn't be salvageable to the ACPS. We also are hearing news about the Warsaw Pact Reformation. This is extremely bad news due to the fact that the Warsaw Pact has always had expansionist leanings and it is only a matter of time before they decide that they're going to expand westward. The fact that Russia is leaning in its nature back towards the old Soviet stance is worrisome. Agent Gibbs has noticed that there is more activity at the Soviet rocket bases in the Urals then there were before as our satellites track enemy movements. Yes, we have started going back to watching the Soviets carefully."
"I'll take a moment here to introduce you to both Gibbs and Pride. Two guys that I have worked with for quite some time over the years...that's one of the reasons why I brought them on board at the behest of the CNO."
"These gentlemen have been my eyes and ears in any situation that I have had in command of the Second Fleet, they have invariably kept my operations from heading south like a raft of penguins." At this I could have laughed uproariously because VADM Nakamura pointedly looked at Clayton Webb who had the intelligence to look ashamed.
I broke that snot-faced brat's nose once (in several pieces, mind you). Perhaps I need to do it again...if he doesn't step up and provide proper information.
"This is a situation that we have trained for..." VADM Nakamura stated clearly, "We have the exact scenario so none of us should be surprised. We may be disheartened that the situation has come to this, however but understand that we are not in a situation where haven't assessed the situation and have not understood the ramifications of what we are dealing with. If the balloon goes up tomorrow, I expect each and everyone of you to maintain your equilibrium and know that we are going to do everything that we can to get through this. Outside of a direct hit with a 25 MT weapon, this facility is designed to take everything that the Chinese or the Soviets can throw at us."
"Unless they throw something with a larger yield than 25MTs like the Tsar Bomba...then we'll be as happy as little burrowing weasels inside our little comfy den here.
"Any questions?
None? Good... Second order of business...Clayton Webb..."
Oh, man, with Webb the focus of the VADM, it didn't look good for Clay and he knew it.
"When I ask for a situational update, Mr. Webb...unlike the incident with Sadik Fahd, it'd better not take forty-eight hours to provide me the pertinent data. Is that understood, Mr. Webb? Or you and I will be having a private discussion. There is a brig in this facility. Do you understand?
Webb was finding himself on the hotplate. Did I feel the slightest bit sympathetic towards his plight? Nawww...
Gibbs and Pride looked over with identical amused expressions. Me, I was feeling pretty darned smug about the whole thing, while Webb squirmed under the vice-admiral's sardonic glare.
"We still have plenty to do on this bunker so we'd best get to it." the vice-admiral finished off. "Thank you, gentlemen for your time..."
"Dismissed..."
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