Chapter Thirty-Two
Over the Atlantic Ocean
June 18 -- 16:58 UTC/9:58 am local time
David was startled out of a dream in which he had found himself running down a long, dark hall that seemed to have no end. His heart was racing, and he felt and if he couldn’t breathe; then he was being shook awake. He stared around for a moment, wide-eyed, the panic from the dream still heavy on him. Then he realized that it was only Agent Norwalk standing over him, trying to wake him.
“What is it?” David asked, his voice thick from sleep.
“There’s a secure satphone up near the cockpit. Cromwell’s on the line and he wants to talk to you.”
For a moment David did not move. He looked up into his colleague’s face and saw something there that perhaps Agent Norwalk had not meant for him to see. David frowned.
“What’s wrong?” he asked. “What happened?”
Agent Norwalk shook his head.
“Talk to Cromwell. He’ll fill you in on everything.”
Agent Norwalk turned to an empty seat across the aisle and collapsed into it, staring up at the cabin ceiling. David maneuvered into the aisle and stood up straight, took one more look at Agent Norwalk, and then headed for the front of the cabin, passing through a curtain at the front of the cabin near the cockpit. There was a satphone stationed on the wall to the left of the cockpit door, and a grim-faced soldier with sergeant’s stripes stood near the phone with the receiver in one hand. He held out the receiver for David to take, and when David did take it the sergeant withdrew, giving him some privacy. David held the receiver to his ear.
“Agent Diehl speaking,” he said.
“David, this is General Cromwell.”
The General’s voice sounded strange, and there was a low buzzing sound beneath it. David took it for a side effect of the heavy encryption undoubtedly being employed.
“Fill me in, Hank,” David said, abandoning formalities.
“Your plane is being rerouted,” General Cromwell started. “Our plans have changed. You will be landing at PDX in about ninety minutes. Where you’ll go from there is unclear at the present time, but will be determined shortly.”
“Why aren’t we touching down at Edwards?”
“Agent Diehl…David…,” the General trailed off. “We’re diverting your flight because Edwards is too close to L.A.”
“What does that have to do with anything?”
“David, Los Angeles is gone.”
The words had no effect on David at first; they seemed too absurd to have been spoken, and for a moment he wondered if he was still asleep and dreaming. If so, he wanted to wake up now.
“David, are you still there?”
David found that he couldn’t speak, despite a lifetime of practice.
“Has the connection been lost?” the General asked someone.
“I’m here, Hank,” David managed.
“I know that must have been hard to hear, David. It happened about eight hours ago; I just got a free moment, and I thought I would tell you myself.”
Eight hours; it had happened after the aircraft had taken off from Seoul.
“Did you have any people in L.A.?” General Cromwell asked.
“N-no. No, no family. No friends, as far as I know. But Jesus, Hank, all of those people. How many have been lost?”
“We don’t have a number yet, and we may not have one for some time. Don’t think about that right now, okay? I can’t have you freezing up on me, do you understand? We need to stop this happening to any more cities.”
“Was it one of the Fireblossoms?”
“It appears so,” General Cromwell said.
“You need to send in rescue teams, a medical team, something. There might be survivors.”
“Radiation levels are still too high for anyone to enter the city. When the rad levels drop we will send people in. We’ve already had groups of people come out of the city, and they are being treated. Some of them won’t make it; they’ve already taken too much radiation.”
“But some of them will live?” David asked.
“Yes; I’ve been told that some of them will survive.”
David felt faint. He steadied himself by planting one hand against the wall of the cabin.
“Jesus fucking Christ,” David said below his breath.
“I didn’t catch that,” the General said.
“It was just Los Angles? No other cities have been attacked?”
“Not yet. Right now we think that the cell that set off the Fireblossom in L.A. might have jumped the gun. Intel tells us that the shit has hit the fan in North Korea, and Violet Dawn is feeling the pressure.”
David was quiet for a moment, thinking.
“Do you know which other cities have been targeted?”
There was a pause.
“General?”
“Not at this time. The intelligence services of a dozen nations are working on this right now. We can stop this thing.”
“Do you really believe that?” David asked.
There was a longer pause this time.
“Yes; I do,” General Cromwell said.
“What happens after we land at PDX?”
“As I said, right now it’s unclear. Things are kind of crazy here in Washington right now. Virtually all civilian air traffic is being halted for the time being, as well as most non-essential government flights. Only the military has a free hand in the sky right now. There’s talk of an evacuation of critical personnel to a secure location outside the capital. A decision like that will be made at a level above my pay grade. We might bring you back here, or we may send you somewhere else if necessity dictates. When you land I want you to get something to eat, then get some rest. I want you fresh and ready whenever I need to call on you.”
“I’m not hungry.”
“I’m betting that’s a lie. Get something to eat. Okay?”
“Yeah,” David said.
“Good. I have a meeting in less than ten minutes. Hopefully, I’ll be talking to you again soon. Be careful, David. Keep yourself safe.”
“Same to you, Hank.”
The line went dead. David hung the receiver back onto the wall unit. He moved through the curtain. The sergeant slipped passed him and disappeared behind the curtain. David walked slowly up the aisle to retake his seat. He looked over at Agent Norwalk, who was silently staring back at him. They broke the stare, Agent Norwalk looking straight ahead as David moved to the window seat and stared out at the deep blue sky and the white clouds below. Soon they would be landing at Portland International Airport, so close to where this horrid adventure had started for him. So close to the home he wished he had never left.