The Manhattan Incident (10 page)

As he was following the others out the exit door, a voice came from one of the hazmat suited men near the exit.  “Alexi Utkin, please come with me.” Alexi could see that the man was holding a picture of Alexi like the one the newspaper used. Alexi blurted, “Who are you? Why should I go with you?” The speaker flashed an FBI badge at Alexi. “OK, I’m coming, said Alexi as he followed him into what looked like a plastic tent. Once inside, another hazmat suited individual said “Take off your clothes, including your underwear, and stick them in the red bag.” His voice was somewhat muffled by the respirator. Alexi thought better about arguing, given the rigid army guy in biological gear standing there with his M16. “Step under the shower.” A blast of cold water smelling like disinfectant made him shiver. “Walk through and stand under the purple light.” Alexi guessed it was ultraviolet sterilizing light and closed his eyes. “Here, put this jumpsuit on.” He was handed a red jumpsuit. Hard to hide in that suit, he thought. Alexi doubted that he would get the chance to escape anyways.

Alexi was led to a table and told to sit. The two hazmat suited men sat facing him. “Alexi, I’m agent Arlo Donaldson and this is agent Stanley Tauck. We were wondering how you might explain the following. You contacted your Editor by cell phone. You told him you had information, tweets from anonymous sources stating that the mist came from the hostile craft. Your phone records indicate that there are no tweets dealing with the mist.” Alexi knew it would do no good to lie. “OK, I am the source. I was there and saw and felt the mist. It definitely came from the alien craft. Given that it wasn’t nerve gas and I felt fine, I didn’t want to be quarantined. I figured it was just water vapor, you know, like the contrail from an airliner.” Agent Donaldson looked at Alexi and said. “Well, you are now going to be quarantined. We are putting you and all the train passengers into isolation wards, thanks to your stupidity and carelessness. They have all been exposed to you or the mist as far as the CDC is concerned. Hopefully, in a few weeks or so and monitoring and various tests, all of you will be deemed non-contagious and be released.” “Where am I going,” asked Alexi? Agent Tauck responded, “You are going to Kings County Hospital Center in Brooklyn. They have the best isolation ward.” Alexi was led away to join the others for the bus ride to the Hospital. Just before he got on the bus, Agent Donaldson held a note in front of Alexi’s face. It said, “I wouldn’t mention that your exposure has caused all these people to be quarantined. It might not be good for your health.”

Back at NORAD headquarters, General Straub looked up as his Aide came into the office with a smart salute. “At ease, Sergeant O’Malley, what do you have for an update?” said the General. “Two items, General. First, we now have verifiable confirmation from a highly reliable source that the mist came directly from the hostile craft over Grand Central Station. The FBI has confirmed this fact as coming from the New York Times reporter, Alexi Utkin, before he was placed in quarantine. Secondly, reports are coming in that the hostiles that disengaged from the misted cities are moving toward previously established targets, likely joining up with the other hostiles in place at those sites based on tracking early trajectories. Interestingly, one hostile over the cities remained behind, the one over Atlanta, Georgia. Those over the other bio-facilities have not moved. We now have confirmed 99 Wedgies in play over the United States. Spy Satellites indicate 100 over China, 100 over Russia, 40 over India, 10 each over the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Brazil, and 10 each over Japan and Turkey. Of our 72 Active and Reserve Air Force bases, roughly three quarters of them are within proximity of the 68 Wedgies not tied up with cities or bio-safety facilities. The patterns are similar throughout the other affected global powers.”

The General thought this was bad news. He knew what he would do in the enemies’ position. He would first destroy the Air Force bases to eliminate air power, thus castrating the nation. Next, the enemies’ best outcome of population thinning through a biological agent would be to eliminate our ability to counteract their biological attack with a vaccine or medication. No, they would first hit the bio-safety facilities to destroy our ability to identify their bio-weapon and eliminate our ability to fight back against their bio-weapon. Crap, at least the bases could fight back if attacked, but the bio-safety facilities were sitting ducks. On that basis he thought that the next attack would be aimed at the CDC and the other bio-safety level four labs in Bethesda, Boston, Galveston, Grafton, Hamilton, Kent, Manhattan, Richmond, San and Antonio. Other important facilities such as Plum Island will go too, as well as any major biological lab facility operated by the military. Even though the 1972 Biological Weapons Convention international treaty outlawing biological warfare had resulted in destruction of offensive biological weapons at the Pine Bluff Arsenal, the facilities such as those at Fort Detrick remained operational. How would he assure their survival, too? The General reached into his desk and poured a stiff blast of Laphroaig single malt scotch into a glass and sipped it slowly. It was much better than the Kentucky bourbon that was empty now. Options for dealing with the situation had essentially become trapped between a rock and a hard place.

General Straub made a quick decision. He called his Aide in. “Sergeant O’Malley, I want to divert some of the Warthogs currently on their way to our bases. Thirty of them need to go to the following destinations for new assignments. They are to go to the CDC and the other bio-safety level 4 labs in Bethesda, Boston, Galveston, Grafton, Hamilton, Kent, Manhattan, Richmond, and San Antonio. Assign three each to those sites. Have the logistics teams determine which ones to divert in terms of rapid deployment, but not at the expenses of thinning our protective layers around our military bases. Check on the readiness status of our defenses. Update me as each base reaches readiness state. The minute all the Warthogs are in place and every weapon is a go, notify me immediately.” God, he thought. I hope we have enough time before they strike again.

Concurrently back in New York, the round-up of exposure cases was proceeding at a rapid pace. Homeland Security Rapid Response teams in conjunction with the National Guard had secured Grand Central Station, Penn Station, the train traffic, cabs, buses and subways. All traffic out had been locked down. Anyone present in the terminal, subways, cabs, buses or trains that were associated with the misting incident time frame were firmly placed under quarantine. Their numbers were substantial so Yankee Stadium was used as a temporary holding pen until sufficient isolation quarantine facilities were available and effective transport could be arranged. Numerous portable shelters with propane heaters had been set up, as winter conditions prevailed. Much grumbling ensued and two things were very clear. Armed soldiers were needed to maintain order and to prevent breakouts. The second parameter was all this had be accomplished rapidly, not only because it was cold, but to assure better quarantine function. Knowing that even this major, rapid response couldn’t guarantee getting 100% of those exposed, scare tactics were used to corral the rest. Messages in several languages went out by reverse 911, tweets, radio, television and the internet. Essentially, the message was if you were exposed, you must be placed in quarantine for your own good and the health of your loved ones. Many who were unknowingly exposed and had left just before the lockdown turned themselves in to the authorities. While the quarantine roundup was thorough, some infected individuals probably escaped the dragnet. All those who responded were marched off for observation in isolation. These scenes were repeated in cities throughout the United States and in varying degrees across the globe. So far, no one showed any signs of illness or disease.  Homeland Security’s rapid response to order protective biological gear for the responders and rapidly instituting quarantine undoubtedly limited the spread of the unknown biological.

Little reporting went on about seizing of trains, buses, subways, and putting people into quarantine. Cell phones were confiscated from all the exposed individuals very early on prior to the chemical disinfectant showers and UV light treatment. If asked, the action was cited on grounds of possible contamination. Few asked questions beyond that, but for those that did, the use of the Emergency Powers Act was cited as the legal precedent for confiscation. A few had called friends or family before the confiscation, but the Homeland Security PR staff stonewalled or evaded the questions from the contacted families and friends, hiding under the Emergency Powers Act. Those that pushed too hard or got too close soon found themselves “in protective custody.” Given no one seemed to have died yet, even when definitely exposed, pushback was minimal. Martial law, curfews and the Emergency Powers Act tended to keep a tight lid on the matter. People were more concerned about what the alien craft were going to do and why the President seemed to say so little other than to declare martial law and close off travel to and from major cities.

Meredith was jarred awake in her seat on the Ethan Allen Express train to Rutland. She felt the train starting to slow down. She glanced at her watch. No way, she thought, we can’t be at the first stop in Vermont, Fair Haven. She decided to scroll down her emails on her I-Phone. One caught her eye. It was from a classmate who had taken the Metro North from New York to New Haven to visit her boyfriend at Yale. She read “Meredith, what a disaster. The train was stopped and we are being marched off to God knows where. No one is talking. I thought I overheard someone say quarantine. Got to go; here they come. They’re confiscating our cell phones. WTF. Hugs, Jane.”

Just then, an announcement came that the train was being stopped due to unforeseen technical difficulties. As they came around a curve, Meredith could see into the distance. She saw flashing lights, lots of them. Crap, she thought. Either there was a hazardous chemical spill or gas leak or maybe what Jane was talking about. Meredith decided it wasn’t going to ruin her skiing weekend trip with Anthony. Meredith made a rapid decision. She grabbed her backpack, put it on, and moved to the rear of the car as if to change cars. As she exited the car, the train was slowing even more because of the sharp curve. The flashing lights ahead seemed even more numerous.  Meredith leaned over the connecting platform between the two cars and noted lots of fresh plowed snow along the track. She took a deep breath and jumped. She hit the snow hard and started to roll, but her backpack dug in and stopped her. She was a bit sore, but was not hurt in any way that she could tell. Meredith could see a nearby road paralleling the tracks with cars and trucks moving along. She figured based on the time that she was near the Albany/Rensselaer stop. Good, she thought, should be easy to hitch a ride to town and figure out a bus route to Rutland. Worse come to worse, she could use her fake driver’s license that showed her as 25. Besides bars, it was good for renting cars to those who were below the minimal renting age.

What luck, she thought, as the big rig pulled over. As she pulled herself up to the cab, she said, “Hi, I need a lift to town.” “Hop in” said the driver, “I’ll be going through there. My name is Jake.” “Pleased to meet you, I’m Meredith. Will you go near any car rental places or the bus station?” “Sure thing; I’ll drop you off at the Avis place. Did your car break down?” “Yah,” replied Meredith. It was better than the truth. About 20 minutes later, she thanked Jake as she exited the cab and walked over to the Avis place. Good, it was still open. The young women behind the counter looked totally bored and engrossed in music through her ear bud. She barely looked at Meredith’s license. The credit card was in good shape, so no problem, Meredith thought. Soon she was on her way to Rutland. Meredith called Anthony. “I’ll be a little late. I had a little trouble along the way. I’ll explain later. Keep the party going,” she laughed. She synced her I-Pod to the Ford’s media system. Who needs a radio, she thought. Not using the radio, she didn’t hear any of the Homeland Security’s messages about exposure at Grand Central Station and the quarantine.

Back at NORAD, General Straub’s Aide came running into his office. “Sir, thirty minutes to complete readiness for all bases. About 75% are ready. Should I issue attack orders now for those that are ready?” “No, Sergeant O’Malley, we don’t want to tip our hand. If we launch the attack, those bases not ready will be destroyed rapidly in the counterattack by the enemy. If must be all at once. The minute the last site is ready, let me know immediately.”

The samples from NYC and San Francisco jetted in by special courier have arrived at the CDC in Atlanta and been logged in. “Who should they be transferred to,” asked the office manager, Jill, in Director Soule’s Office at the CDC. “Give them to Amy Wang. She’s the best one we have for DNA and RNA detailing and identification.” Those were the last words spoken by the Director, or indeed, anyone else at the CDC in Atlanta. The entire facility vanished in a blast of bright light and heat, as did the immediate neighborhood. The alien craft sped off, having launched a surgical strike missile armed with a tactical nuke. Plum Island and several other major level 4 biological facilities at Bethesda, Boston, Galveston, Grafton, Hamilton, Kent, Manhattan, Richmond, and San Antonio met a similar fate at the same time. Alarms sounded at NORAD and the Mount Weather facility.

Back at NORAD, a sense of panic set in. “Mr. President, we have lost the CDC, Plum Island, Fort Detrick, Pine Bluff Arsenal and the top level bio-safety labs in Bethesda, Boston, Galveston, Grafton, Hamilton, Manhattan, Richmond, San Antonio and. Looks like surgical strikes from small nuclear missiles launched from the alien crafts. Satellite imagery also shows that the BSL-4 labs in the other 19 nations have been hit simultaneously. I think we can’t sit back any longer about the tactical nukes. We must hit the remaining crafts with everything we have, including nukes. No, I can’t guarantee that it won’t be suicidal. We have to try, for God’s sake. They’ll pick all our air force bases off one by one next and then move on to the army and navy bases. We have pussy-footed around long enough. Too many lives have been lost already, with due respect, because of your inaction. No, contact with the crafts is useless. They don’t respond to any radio or laser signals, regardless of what language is used. Yes, we can wait until they ask us to surrender, assuming they intend to leave any of us to surrender.”