“We’re a hundred percent,” Forrest announced. “How do we look above?”
“No contacts… everything’s nominal.”
“Welcome home, gentlemen, and congratulations. Phase one is finally complete.”
“Hooah!” came the unanimous reply.
Forrest and Kane made their way to Launch Control, where they stashed the carbines in a locked steel cabinet, hopefully never to need them again. Each man had a key to the cabinet, which he would wear on a chain with his dog tags twenty-four hours a day for the next two years.
“I imagine the ladies are all glued to the televisions?” Forrest said.
Ulrich confirmed this. There was a TV in Launch Control too, but the volume was down. Forrest and the others had seen so much violence in their days overseas that watching it on television held no special appeal for them. They were interested in updates, but the endless repetition only annoyed them.
“Well, that should hold their attention for a while,” Forrest said. “How long do you think before the power grid begins to fail?”
“So far they seem to be keeping the fires stoked up there,” Ulrich said. “There haven’t been any blackouts reported yet, which I find remarkable. But after tomorrow’s impact I expect the entire grid to fail in a cascade effect all the way to the eastern seaboard. There’s no way it’s going to be able to sustain itself after such a large part of it is blasted out of existence.”
“I hope the aboveground cameras survive,” Vasquez said. “I don’t like the idea of being blind down here.”
“After the fires go out, we can go up and replace them,” Danzig said.
“I’m not too keen on that idea either. What if that nuclear blast of theirs radiated the whole damned asteroid?”
“That’s what the NBC suits are for,” Forrest said. “What time do you plan to lower the antenna array, Wayne?”
“Just before sunrise. I’d like to leave it up right to the end, but in case the damn thing jams again I want to leave some time for us to go up and fix it.”
“That’s what we’ll do, then.” Forrest checked his watch against the clock in the console: 0505 hours. “Almost exactly four hours to go. Are the kids asleep?”
“The women put them to bed in the cafeteria for tonight,” Danzig said.
Dr. West came into Launch Control and gave them each a time-released Benzedrine capsule. Forrest wanted them all as alert as possible, and after a day and a night of drinking, amphetamines were the only solution. They had all used amphetamines numerous times during special operations overseas and were aware of the sleep debt they were accumulating, but there would be plenty of time to repay that debt in the coming days. For now, they were on a war footing and needed to remain sharp.
“Doc, talk to you a minute?” Forrest said, beckoning him into the blast tunnel.
West followed him in and pulled the door closed.
“Is there anything going on with Lynette I should know about?” Forrest asked. “Has Price said anything to you?”
West frowned. “I think Price is worried she may not handle this very well. I’ve already talked to Mike about her. I told him I’m more than willing to let him treat any mental health issues that arise. Hey, are you… well, you and Veronica seem—”
“Nothing’s going on. Why, are people talking already?”
West smiled. “This place is wall-to-wall with women. What do you think?”
Forrest laughed sardonically. “And this looked so easy on paper.”
“Who I’m worried about is Oscar,” West said. “When his insulin finally runs out, he’s done for. You know that, right?”
“Yeah, I do,” Forrest said heavily. He had been there when Vasquez was shot during a mission in Afghanistan, losing part of his pancreas. “One day at time, Doc.”
Forrest patted him on the shoulder and made his way to the common chamber where the rest of the adults were watching two different news channels on two different televisions. All were absorbed, and a few looked downright frightened. Joann was holding Renee’s hand. At the age of twenty-three, she was the youngest mother in the group, and she looked petrified.
Lynette was the oldest woman at thirty-eight, and she appeared on the verge of tears as well. Forrest caught her attention and gestured for her to join him.
“Is something wrong?” she asked, expecting to be in trouble for something.
“Hey, Lynette, would you keep an eye on Michelle for me? She looks terrified.”
“Me?” she asked in surprise.
“You’d rather not?”
“No… I mean, sure, I—”
“I’d go over and sit with her myself,” he went on, “but I’m going to be moving all around the installation during the hour building up to impact.”
“No, no,” she said, suddenly finding confidence. “I don’t mind at all.”
“Thanks,” he said. “She’s one of the younger mothers, and you wives have all known each other so long…”
“No, I understand. It’s no trouble. Thanks, Jack.”
Price winked at Forrest from across the room as Lynette went to Michelle. Forrest smiled back and slipped into the cafeteria for a peek at the children, all nestled in their sleeping bags in orderly rows on the floor. Laddie stood up from the floor, where he’d been keeping guard among them.
“You’re fine,” he said quietly, and the dog settled himself back in.
Melissa was in the cafeteria as well, but she wasn’t asleep. She sat at one of the tables reading a book.
He sat down and offered her a stick of gum.
“Thanks,” she said. “How much longer now?”
“About four hours.”
“Do you think there will be earthquakes?”
“There sure could be,” he said. “Some of them might even be pretty big, but they won’t hurt the silo. We might jiggle around in here, but this installation is resting on giant steel springs.”
“What if the asteroid hits nearby, though?”
“Well, either everything’s going to be just fine… or we won’t know what hit us.”
“But what if we’re right on the edge of the crater or whatever?”
He couldn’t help chuckling. “Then this place will probably crack in half, and we’ll be looking out that wall over there at the biggest hole in the ground any of us has ever seen.”
She smiled. “I’ll bet you were a good dad.”
And just like that, his eyes flooded with tears. “That’s a nice thing for you to say,” he said thickly. “I don’t know if I was or not.”
“You were. Taylor said so.”
“Okay,” he said, blinking the tears away. “How about we stick to earthquakes?”
She looked over at Laddie and patted her leg. The dog jumped up and immediately came over to her. “Do you think maybe you could be my stepdad?”
Forrest was so overcome that he excused himself. He went straight to the lavatory and splashed water on his face at the sink, drawing a deep breath as he looked at himself in the mirror. “Well, you’re a fine figure of leadership.”
When he stepped out, Melissa was there waiting, a worried look on her face.
“Come here,” he said, giving her a hug. “Don’t worry. It caught me off guard. I’d be happy to.”
She hugged him tighter. “I asked Uncle Michael if he minded and he said no.”
“Well, I’ll have to be sure to thank old Uncle Mike,” he said quietly.
“You’re not mad at him, are you?” she asked, looking up at him. “I asked him not to say anything until I was sure I wanted to ask you.”
“No, no,” he said. “I’m very flattered. Thank you for asking. But you’ve only known me a couple of weeks. You may change your mind later.”
She stood back and shook her head with a smile. “I know I’m a kid, but kids know a good dad when they see one.”