“Are we reporters or cheerleaders for the Governor? He said he was an old friend of yours,” she shot back and realized as soon as the words were out of her mouth it was the wrong thing to say to her boss.
“Jane. You do pretty good work. You have done some good stories but you are an employee of this paper. I will put up with a lot of guff from my reporters. It shows they are passionate about their work. But there is a line that I am not willing to let them cross and you just crossed it. I am calling security to have you escorted out of the building. Your desk will be emptied and all personal items delivered to your home. As of this moment, you no longer work for this paper. I want your press pass right now,” he said holding his hand out.
“Look, I'm sorry. I didn’t…”
“Stop. I don’t care how you meant it. You as much as accused me of covering up for the Governor and I will not tolerate that. You are finished at this paper,” he said.
She stood there, trying to hold back the tears. She unclipped her security tag and press-pass and laid them on his desk.
“Security will escort you out of the building. Do not go to your desk. Wait right here,” he said and dialed.
A few minutes later two guards walked in. She started to say something but he just held up his hand.
“Don’t. I don’t want to hear it.”
Her co-workers gawked as she walked between the two guards leading her out of the newsroom.
CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
“I think that went pretty well,” Buck said as the two men exited the gondola.
“Seems pretty straightforward,” Mark said.
“Yeah, kind of like driving a Bobcat front loader,” Jones replied.
“Well hopefully it will be just that easy when you are five miles down and it is pitch black,” Buck reminded them.
“I would like to do one more trial run first thing in the morning and then we should be good to go.”
“No need for that,” Jones said tapping the side of his head, “I've got it all logged away right here.”
“Nevertheless, I would like to do a quick trial just to be sure.”
“Whatever man. I’m cool with it.”
Randal looked at Mark and rolled his eyes.
“Alright, we meet here at 8:30 a.m. If all goes well, we should have you strapped in and ready to descend by no later than 11:00 a.m.,” Buck told them.
Randal jumped in the driver side of the pickup and Mark sat in the passenger seat. Jones got in the rear and they drove back to the entrance of the mine.
“So what do you guys think?” Jones asked, leaning forward between the two men.
“I think it shouldn’t be too bad. It’s a hell of a long way down but I trust Buck one hundred percent,” Mark said.
“I mean about what’s down there.”
“Oh, heck I don’t have a clue. If I did I sure wouldn’t get in that damn thing tomorrow,” Mark replied.
“Yeah but you must have some idea or why go?”
“That’s the point. We don’t have an idea and as scientists that isn’t acceptable. This, whatever it is, could happen again someplace else unless we understand what happened. It’s kind of like an airplane crash. To fix future problems you have to reconstruct what happened. That’s what we are hoping to determine by going down there,” Randal answered.
“Why not just send a camera down?” Jones asked.
“A couple of reasons. It’s not like underwater where you can maneuver around with propulsion. Nothing like that exists yet. It may someday but not now. The second reason is that if it is something that we can stop then it will take a human. Someone who can assess exactly what we are up against and then take the best course of action,” Mark replied.
“Yeah, that makes sense. So you and I are going to kind of scout out the situation and do what we can to fix it,” Jones said leaning back.
“Or determine the best course of action to stop it, whatever ‘it’ is.”
“Got it,” Jones replied.
“You know,” Mark said after they had dropped off Jones, “I don’t trust that guy very much.”
“Me either. I saw him nosing around, checking things out quite a bit since he arrived.”
“Maybe we’re just paranoid. He could just be the curious type.”
“Maybe, but I wouldn’t count on it. Remember he is from the military so they have a vested interest in what you find. I would be pretty darn cautious while you are down there. Stay alert,” Randal warned.
“That sound like good advice,” Mark agreed.
CTV NEWS — President Toll announced today that even with the CDC twenty-four hour a day efforts, the death count continues to climb. Over thirty-one million Americans have died or been contaminated. Four states still remain free of the Chimera Virus as it has being officially named.
President Toll also noted that the number of dead around the world has topped one hundred million. These numbers, she said, do not include China or North Korea which have not released any figures.
Rioting has taken a number of lives as well. According to the latest figures, over forty thousand have died during riots all across the nation. Some of the most bloody battles have happened in suburbs of larger cities. The number of injured is believed to be well over one hundred thousand.
In other news, Governor McClain announced that he was pleased with the way the first medical treatment facility has been operating. He said that it had, “exceeded his expectations”, in helping to curb the spread of the Chimera Virus. When asked for statistics, he said that they were being collated and would be released very soon.
Senator Long sat across from President Toll sipping a cup of coffee.
“And you know this first hand?” she asked.
“No, not first hand. I mean I talked extensively with Governor McClain and he said that the spreading of the virus had taken a significant decline.”
“Significant decline. I wonder what that means? Ten percent? Twenty? More?”
“I’m sure we will know more after they release the figures. He said that they should be available within the next two weeks.”
“And in the meantime, he wants to go ahead and open a second facility.”
“Actually three more facilities,” the Senator said smiling.
“Three,” she said softly looking up at the ceiling.
“Three,” she repeated.
“Well if it is working why not? He may have the right approach. CDC hasn’t been of much use have they? What have they really accomplished? They put out a nice list of things to do and not to do but the virus continues to spread.”
“Senator I hope you are not suggesting they are to blame for all of this.”
“Oh goodness no. I was just making an observation. The virus is still here and it is still spreading. Little headway is being made.”
He was right, Toll thought. Even the DVCT had made no progress.
“When does he plan to increase the number of these facilities?
“Well, funding is some of the problem. Our economy is all but decimated. We have no foreign trade. States are out of funds as revenues have plummeted to a trickle. Federal taxes are due on the fifteenth of this month but you know it will be next to nothing. People are simply not going to or can’t pay them. These containment camps seem to be our best hope of limiting the spread of the virus,” he told her.
He was absolutely right on all counts. We had no foreign trade and Federal Taxes will be virtually a joke. Corporations have limited or no sales to speak of so revenue will be nothing more than a drop in the bucket.
“Tell the Governor I will do what I can to find some money to help him with the containment centers. I do want to see the statistics on how well this is really working before much longer. I may get some money to him but I need proof of its effectiveness,” President Toll told the Senator.