Post by papaof2 on Apr 29, 2019 19:35:57 GMT -6
Chapter 15 is short so here's a bonus: Chapter 16 ;-)
Chapter 16
10 December, 4:43AM
beepbeepbeep! beepbeepbeep! beepbeepbeep!
That's the sat phone's secure ring.
'Footloose.'
'This is Brady. DefCon will be raised to 3 at 0500 your local. I'm aware of your unusual weather conditions and that's part of the level change. Possibility of DefCon 2 after the President makes some calls on the red phone. Slim possibility of DefCon 1 after the calls but we think we have enough 'who and where' evidence to hold things at DefCon 3 while the heads of state talk and the military shuffles assets. Notify local law enforcement if you can. More info on the DIA15 downlink, including some of our sleepers in your area if you need more bodies.'
'Damn!'
'Problem with your shelter?'
'Problem explaining a possibly very long stay in the shelter to my somewhat claustrophobic nine year old daughter.'
'Good luck with that. It's WAY above my pay grade. Brady out.'
'Footloose out.'
"And how bad will things get?"
"Sorry, Love. Didn't mean to wake you."
"A 'Damn' before 5AM tells me that 'Something Wicked This Way Comes', to steal a title from Mr. Bradbury."
"DefCon 3 at 5AM local. The President will be on the red phone for multiple calls. Possible DefCon 2 after those calls, with a slim possibility of DefCon 1."
"We need to start telling Emily."
"And Bill, but let Em sleep until her usual wake up time. And I need to do some downloads from DIA15. I'll go start those and see how much of the info Bill should have and how much I think Em can handle - probably in several small doses instead of all at once."
"Sounds like you'll be giving some lap time."
"Very likely."
---
"The waffles smell good, Daddy! Why are you fixing them today since we almost never have them more than once a week?"
"Remember the Arabic broadcast I was translating yesterday?"
"Un huh. You didn't like the words or the way they were said."
"It seems I'm not the only one that didn't like them as the military has upped their readiness level…"
"That DefCon thingy?"
"Yes, the 'DefCon thingy' was raised to 3 at 5AM. The President has been on the red phone with the leaders of other countries and DefCon could go to 2…"
"Lower numbers mean things are worse, don't they?"
"Correct. There's also the possibility it could go to 1 but that's not likely today and maybe not at all."
"A 1 means nuclear war?"
"Correct. You look in need of lap time."
"Yes!"
---
"You want to sit here while you eat or just be held?"
"For a while, just hold me."
"One long hug coming up."
"You goof!"
"I made my favorite daughter smile."
"You're good at that. Are the waffles still warm?"
"Yes. So is the maple syrup."
"Yummy!"
"I think that might be a sign you're ready to eat."
"But not to get out of your lap."
---
beepbeepbeep! beepbeepbeep! beepbeepbeep!
"Daddy, is that gonna be bad like some of the stuff you already told me?"
"I won't know until I answer it."
'Footloose.'
'This is Brady. DefCon going to 2 in thirteen minutes. Air, rail and truck cargo will be delayed by nuke-aware scanning in all 50 states. This is an 'all cargoes' directive, from USPS planes moving mail to WalMart trucks carrying toilet paper to tankers hauling milk.'
'Grocery shelves will be empty in two days because the "just in time" delivery to maintain three days of stock won't be there until the fourth or fifth day.'
'At best. Rioting in the larger cities in four or five days. National Guard is being activated nationwide but a large number are not answering their phones or a knock at the door. The highest rates of unavailability are in the most volatile locations. The things we're doing to prevent an attack may be almost as bad in the short term as an actual attack.'
'Only in the short term. No radiation and no fallout if detonation can be prevented. Most and least likely cities for finding the nukes?'
'Chicago and anywhere in California are clustered at the "not likely" end of the list. Denver at the "likely" end. DC and NY/NJ are somewhere in the middle.'
'The current surface wind map at hint.fm/wind/ tells me that a nuke in California might have some of its fallout taken to Montana and Idaho right now and then into the midwest. What about the higher altitude winds, Colonel?'
'The jet stream is staying a little north of its usual track so your location would likely be clear of any fallout from a nuke in central to northern California. Not so much for DC and NY/NJ. That might also depend on how soon the jet stream starts dropping fallout particles and the winds in the midwest. If there's enough north-south wind, some California fallout could end up in Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and to the northeast of Arkansas.'
'We should plan for some shelter time?'
'If any nukes detonate in southern California. I wish the other people I've spoken with today were as calm about this as you are, Jack.'
'Colonel, we're prepared for things like this. We don't have the latest and greatest smartphones or subscriptions to Netflix and Hulu but we have food, water, shelter and radiation measuring equipment.'
'I'd expect that of you, Jack, but I'm still a bit surprised at how well your family seems to be handling the news.'
'I do have a girl who's almost too big for my lap snuggled up in my lap with her head on my shoulder.'
'I've heard no sobbing. Is the girl who doesn't want to be in the shelter that calm?'
'She's a pretty terrific kid. I might like her if she wasn't mine.'
"Daddy!"
'What was that about?'
'Private joke, Colonel.'
'You have a nine year old who knows the situation and still sees humor in things? I'd like to swear her in as my backup today as most of the adults here are near hysteria.'
'She's shaking her head "No" so you won't get any help from here.'
'It helps just to know that there are people like you who love your kids enough to teach them how to deal with bad news. I'll contact you if - maybe that's when - DefCon changes again. The India/Pakistan border clashes are escalating as we speak and we know that at least one of those leaders is less than fully stable. More details on that and other things on DIA15's download area. Brady out.'
'Footloose out.'
"So we get the shelter ready?"
"Yes, Em. We get it ready, even though it sounds like there's less than a 50% chance we'll need it. Better to…"
"Have it and not need it than need it and not have it."
"Have I said that before?"
"Almost every day, Mr. Wilson. But it always sounds like an 'I love you' to me."
"Glad you feel that way, Mrs. Wilson."
"Are you two gonna get mushy on me?"
"Not right now. We have things to check in the shelter and I think you might want to include our new 'toy' in those things."
"I'll get the radio and the manual I printed out!"
"And I'll go dig out the random wire antenna matcher so we can use whatever antenna might be up if I can't get out to clear the ice off them."
"What about the thaw that was in the forecast?"
"It WAS in the forecast, Love. It is no longer. The forecast is for the freezing rain to stop tomorrow or the next day or maybe not until two or three days after that - nowhere close to typical forecast accuracy - but even the most optimistic forecast says the daily high temperatures won't be above freezing for at least five days."
"The Guard can keep the temporary shelters up and warm?"
"The Sheriff thinks so. I don't know how many days of food they have available but the shipping slowdown will eventually affect them."
"Riots at the camps?"
"Possibly, but the current weather may control that. Very little is worth standing in freezing rain to complain about."
---
beepbeepbeep! beepbeepbeep! beepbeepbeep!
"More bad news, Daddy? I know, you won't know until you answer it."
"That's my smart girl."
'Footloose.'
'Brady here. You want the good news or the bad news first?'
'Start with the bad - then things should get better.'
'The nuke in Sacramento went off three minutes ago. Satellite images indicate major damage at the state government complex. You can guess how the public's response to a nuke at the capital will affect farm output and exports from the state. With no one to provide direction, people won't have any idea which things are safe to harvest or where the dirt should be scraped off and buried.'
'That's a blow for all the produce and milk products that California exports to the rest of the country. What's the good news?'
'Of the other dozen locations, eleven nukes have been found and neutralized. The one for Groton, CT, either didn't arrive in time or they've been unable to detonate it. NEST hasn't found any signs of a nuke and we're well past the detonation deadli…'
'Colonel?'
'Colonel?'
---
Author's Note: You can see the current DefCon level here:
defconwarningsystem.com/
and you can get notification when it changes. The site has Windows 7 and up warning software and Android warning software available for download.
---
Chapter 16
10 December, 4:43AM
beepbeepbeep! beepbeepbeep! beepbeepbeep!
That's the sat phone's secure ring.
'Footloose.'
'This is Brady. DefCon will be raised to 3 at 0500 your local. I'm aware of your unusual weather conditions and that's part of the level change. Possibility of DefCon 2 after the President makes some calls on the red phone. Slim possibility of DefCon 1 after the calls but we think we have enough 'who and where' evidence to hold things at DefCon 3 while the heads of state talk and the military shuffles assets. Notify local law enforcement if you can. More info on the DIA15 downlink, including some of our sleepers in your area if you need more bodies.'
'Damn!'
'Problem with your shelter?'
'Problem explaining a possibly very long stay in the shelter to my somewhat claustrophobic nine year old daughter.'
'Good luck with that. It's WAY above my pay grade. Brady out.'
'Footloose out.'
"And how bad will things get?"
"Sorry, Love. Didn't mean to wake you."
"A 'Damn' before 5AM tells me that 'Something Wicked This Way Comes', to steal a title from Mr. Bradbury."
"DefCon 3 at 5AM local. The President will be on the red phone for multiple calls. Possible DefCon 2 after those calls, with a slim possibility of DefCon 1."
"We need to start telling Emily."
"And Bill, but let Em sleep until her usual wake up time. And I need to do some downloads from DIA15. I'll go start those and see how much of the info Bill should have and how much I think Em can handle - probably in several small doses instead of all at once."
"Sounds like you'll be giving some lap time."
"Very likely."
---
"The waffles smell good, Daddy! Why are you fixing them today since we almost never have them more than once a week?"
"Remember the Arabic broadcast I was translating yesterday?"
"Un huh. You didn't like the words or the way they were said."
"It seems I'm not the only one that didn't like them as the military has upped their readiness level…"
"That DefCon thingy?"
"Yes, the 'DefCon thingy' was raised to 3 at 5AM. The President has been on the red phone with the leaders of other countries and DefCon could go to 2…"
"Lower numbers mean things are worse, don't they?"
"Correct. There's also the possibility it could go to 1 but that's not likely today and maybe not at all."
"A 1 means nuclear war?"
"Correct. You look in need of lap time."
"Yes!"
---
"You want to sit here while you eat or just be held?"
"For a while, just hold me."
"One long hug coming up."
"You goof!"
"I made my favorite daughter smile."
"You're good at that. Are the waffles still warm?"
"Yes. So is the maple syrup."
"Yummy!"
"I think that might be a sign you're ready to eat."
"But not to get out of your lap."
---
beepbeepbeep! beepbeepbeep! beepbeepbeep!
"Daddy, is that gonna be bad like some of the stuff you already told me?"
"I won't know until I answer it."
'Footloose.'
'This is Brady. DefCon going to 2 in thirteen minutes. Air, rail and truck cargo will be delayed by nuke-aware scanning in all 50 states. This is an 'all cargoes' directive, from USPS planes moving mail to WalMart trucks carrying toilet paper to tankers hauling milk.'
'Grocery shelves will be empty in two days because the "just in time" delivery to maintain three days of stock won't be there until the fourth or fifth day.'
'At best. Rioting in the larger cities in four or five days. National Guard is being activated nationwide but a large number are not answering their phones or a knock at the door. The highest rates of unavailability are in the most volatile locations. The things we're doing to prevent an attack may be almost as bad in the short term as an actual attack.'
'Only in the short term. No radiation and no fallout if detonation can be prevented. Most and least likely cities for finding the nukes?'
'Chicago and anywhere in California are clustered at the "not likely" end of the list. Denver at the "likely" end. DC and NY/NJ are somewhere in the middle.'
'The current surface wind map at hint.fm/wind/ tells me that a nuke in California might have some of its fallout taken to Montana and Idaho right now and then into the midwest. What about the higher altitude winds, Colonel?'
'The jet stream is staying a little north of its usual track so your location would likely be clear of any fallout from a nuke in central to northern California. Not so much for DC and NY/NJ. That might also depend on how soon the jet stream starts dropping fallout particles and the winds in the midwest. If there's enough north-south wind, some California fallout could end up in Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and to the northeast of Arkansas.'
'We should plan for some shelter time?'
'If any nukes detonate in southern California. I wish the other people I've spoken with today were as calm about this as you are, Jack.'
'Colonel, we're prepared for things like this. We don't have the latest and greatest smartphones or subscriptions to Netflix and Hulu but we have food, water, shelter and radiation measuring equipment.'
'I'd expect that of you, Jack, but I'm still a bit surprised at how well your family seems to be handling the news.'
'I do have a girl who's almost too big for my lap snuggled up in my lap with her head on my shoulder.'
'I've heard no sobbing. Is the girl who doesn't want to be in the shelter that calm?'
'She's a pretty terrific kid. I might like her if she wasn't mine.'
"Daddy!"
'What was that about?'
'Private joke, Colonel.'
'You have a nine year old who knows the situation and still sees humor in things? I'd like to swear her in as my backup today as most of the adults here are near hysteria.'
'She's shaking her head "No" so you won't get any help from here.'
'It helps just to know that there are people like you who love your kids enough to teach them how to deal with bad news. I'll contact you if - maybe that's when - DefCon changes again. The India/Pakistan border clashes are escalating as we speak and we know that at least one of those leaders is less than fully stable. More details on that and other things on DIA15's download area. Brady out.'
'Footloose out.'
"So we get the shelter ready?"
"Yes, Em. We get it ready, even though it sounds like there's less than a 50% chance we'll need it. Better to…"
"Have it and not need it than need it and not have it."
"Have I said that before?"
"Almost every day, Mr. Wilson. But it always sounds like an 'I love you' to me."
"Glad you feel that way, Mrs. Wilson."
"Are you two gonna get mushy on me?"
"Not right now. We have things to check in the shelter and I think you might want to include our new 'toy' in those things."
"I'll get the radio and the manual I printed out!"
"And I'll go dig out the random wire antenna matcher so we can use whatever antenna might be up if I can't get out to clear the ice off them."
"What about the thaw that was in the forecast?"
"It WAS in the forecast, Love. It is no longer. The forecast is for the freezing rain to stop tomorrow or the next day or maybe not until two or three days after that - nowhere close to typical forecast accuracy - but even the most optimistic forecast says the daily high temperatures won't be above freezing for at least five days."
"The Guard can keep the temporary shelters up and warm?"
"The Sheriff thinks so. I don't know how many days of food they have available but the shipping slowdown will eventually affect them."
"Riots at the camps?"
"Possibly, but the current weather may control that. Very little is worth standing in freezing rain to complain about."
---
beepbeepbeep! beepbeepbeep! beepbeepbeep!
"More bad news, Daddy? I know, you won't know until you answer it."
"That's my smart girl."
'Footloose.'
'Brady here. You want the good news or the bad news first?'
'Start with the bad - then things should get better.'
'The nuke in Sacramento went off three minutes ago. Satellite images indicate major damage at the state government complex. You can guess how the public's response to a nuke at the capital will affect farm output and exports from the state. With no one to provide direction, people won't have any idea which things are safe to harvest or where the dirt should be scraped off and buried.'
'That's a blow for all the produce and milk products that California exports to the rest of the country. What's the good news?'
'Of the other dozen locations, eleven nukes have been found and neutralized. The one for Groton, CT, either didn't arrive in time or they've been unable to detonate it. NEST hasn't found any signs of a nuke and we're well past the detonation deadli…'
'Colonel?'
'Colonel?'
---
Author's Note: You can see the current DefCon level here:
defconwarningsystem.com/
and you can get notification when it changes. The site has Windows 7 and up warning software and Android warning software available for download.
---