Nick bent over for a moment, then collected his senses and peered around the carriage. Everything looked normal, shoppers and school children. He had no idea where he was going. He stood by the door ready to depart at the first station and get on a train to the airport.
Chapter Sixteen
The army Veto landed softly on a plateau in the wired and heavily guarded compound in the hills of Pennsylvania, three hundred kilometres north of the capitol Washington, DC.
General Worth eased himself out of the pilot’s seat, and Porter Douglas grunted as he pushed his overweight frame from the passenger’s seat and followed Worth toward a large steel shed. Built against the mountain, it seemed to melt into the side of the earth and was surrounded by scrubby bushes that gave it an unkempt appearance. Most of the iron wall panels were rusted and two or three had detached themselves in varying degrees from the side of the building. The entry door stood slightly ajar. A light breeze flapped a faded poster advertising Coca Cola on its rusty exterior.
‘Why the hell would they advertise Coca Cola here, in this remote place.’ Douglas commented as they entered the shack.
Hundreds of black dots danced in front of his eyes as he adjusted his vision to the dim light inside. He looked around amazed by the collection of items: a dust-covered vintage tractor, broken wooden crates, tools and other dilapidated farming equipment. As he moved around small clouds of long accumulated dust swirled around his ankles, clouding the mirror finish of his regulation boots.
‘What the hell’s this?’ He wheezed.
‘It’s an old storehouse.’
‘I can see that, but what’s it doing here?’
Ignoring him Worth walked to a rusty panel at the rear of the building and pushed aside a ratty bail of hay to reveal a square black box attached to the bottom of the panel. He pulled a key from his pocket and opened the box. Inside was a panel of buttons that he quickly pressed in a combination and stepped back. Seconds later the panel opened with a slight whoosh as trapped air escaped revealing a darkened entrance. Worth stepped inside and bright white light instantly flooded a corridor ahead of him.
‘Good God!’ Douglas exclaimed. ‘This’s the President’s entrance to Mt Rockwell? I never would’ve found it.’
‘That’s the idea. We’ve got two others even better concealed than this. Ingenious isn’t it?’ Worth’s gave a crooked smirk that rather than show amusement made him appear malevolent.
The two men walked down the long corridor and stopped in front of another door. This time the security panel was in full sight and Worth punched out the numbers to open it. They stepped inside a large room to find an armed M.P. standing by the door.
He saluted briskly and led them to another door where the MP directed Worth to place his palm over a panel. A door slid silently into the wall. Ahead of them was a small area that contained an electronic weapons detection screen. Once the generals had passed through this screen, the MP ushered them to another door to a smaller cubicle and closed it behind them.
‘Christ. This is more secure than Forth Knox.’ Douglas quipped. ‘What now?’
‘This is the decontamination chamber.’ Worth said. ‘Once we’re through here we’re on our own.’
A red light flashing above the door signalled the all clear and they stepped out into a cavernous room where artificial light gave off a curious daylight effect. Offices with glass partitions enabling the inhabitants to be viewed from the outside circled the ground floor, and above them high on a mezzanine floor were as many offices again. People dressed in Navilon body hugging blue uniforms, with a storm cloud embroidered above their name on their chest, hurried back and forth busily carrying out their duties.
‘For such a huge area it’s so quiet in here.’ Douglas commented.
‘Yeah, they renovated this place two years ago, replaced all the old glass with Navilon, upgraded all the electronics, just about rebuilt the place. The Navilon makes the offices almost soundproofed.’
‘That stuff’s so versatile. Christ, next thing they’ll come up with a way to use it as food.’
‘Yeah, the invention of the twenty-first century. Bit like how the invention of the world wide web changed everything.’
Douglas turned his head. ‘This’s bloody incredible!’ He wheezed. ‘What are all these people doing?’
‘Running the utilities for a small city.’
Douglas gazed around the enormous open area. ‘How long have they been here?’
Worth led the way to an area where a row of padded seats were arranged beside a freezer cabinet that contained an assortment of drinks and snacks. ‘Some of them are new, but most have been here for years. It’s just a skeleton staff right now, but it’s about to expand rapidly.’
‘How the hell have you kept this hidden for so long?’
‘Well, you know the army, we can do whatever we want. I’m surprised you’ve got so many questions.’ He paused and narrowed his eyes. ‘You should’ve been aware of all this being a one star.’
‘Yeah well, I am. I figured it’s not something I needed to care about. Thought it was just stock piling food and equipment for an emergency. I didn’t realise there was a sophisticated city under here.’
Worth selected a drink from the cabinet. ‘There wasn’t until the renovations, it was old, dusty and dingy – Jesus, eighty years old I believe, and as you said, a place to store emergency supplies. The staff have the highest security clearances and they’re highly paid, they’ve got first class accommodation for their wive’s and kids here as well.’
‘Kids? How can kids have security clearance? They wouldn’t understand.’
‘Staff families are restricted to one child, so it’s not hard to keep them quiet.’
Douglas narrowed his eyes. ‘How the hell can you control that? This’s the US – not China.’
‘Ah, the wives need to be willing to be sterilised.’
‘What! That’s bloody barbaric, and they agree to that?’
‘It’s a contract for life. They get looked after by the government in return. Everything they want. Kid gets the best education and opportunities, all their living costs are paid for plus holidays, Christ we even provide high yield investments for them. Why wouldn’t they?’
‘Well, if you put it that way, a good incentive. Although I’m not sure my wife would’ve done that.’
‘Dunno what’s going to happen now though. Their cushy lives are about to be turned upside down, and as for contracts…well.’
‘How did they get all this stuff in here without raising questions?’ Douglas said.
‘Through more secret entrances on the other side of the mountain. We haven’t put this together overnight. They’ve been funnelling stuff in here since the seas started rising back in fifteen. Here comes our transport.’
An electric two seater open car pulled up in front of the Generals. ‘Tour.’ Worth commanded.
Douglas sat back quietly and marvelled at the scenes unfolding around him. They drove through long narrow streets tunnelled into the earth, lined with concrete and lit by strong fluorescent lights overhead. They travelled for miles, along the way passing several other similar cars carrying army personnel. In places where the earth permitted it, buildings had been plunged into it’s heart; stark structures of steel and glass propped at curious angles, as a method to provide accommodation, and at the same time to shore up the earthen walls around them. Each building was identified by identical utilitarian signs bearing block numbers, and every now and then larger buildings appeared that General Worth described as various commercial complexes.