“John,” I said, “we aren’t getting the message out to enough people. We need to get the mainstream media in on the process. Right now, they are ignoring us and the warnings about the meteor storm.”
“There’s a process at work,” John said. “The first step for the government and the mainstream media is to ignore the problem. The second step is to deny. The third step is to ridicule, and the final step is to acknowledge the problem.”
“Deny and ridicule. Just like they did to me on the Cy Cobb Show.”
“Exactly. You got on the show because they viewed it as entertainment, not news. Now that it falls into the category of news they will ignore it as long as they can.”
“So how do we get the story into the news?” I asked.
“By creating a story so inviting that the media falls into the trap of running with it. We have something now that just might do that. One of our business members acquired a bankrupt steel mill. In this economy that’s real news, but what we are doing with the steel mill will be the irresistible part of the story.”
The following day we all watched in the communications room as the story broke on the Network News Channel.
“This is Kayla Hunter, reporting for Network News. With me today is Alexis DeVille, new owner of Old City Steel. I see that you have a large crew taking down the walls of the mill and covering the equipment with rust preventive. Is this steel mill headed for China?”
Alexis was dressed in a typical dark blue business suit. Her blonde hair was drawn back in a bun and she wore small diamond pierced earrings.
“No, Kayla, this steel mill is staying right here. This facility will play a critical role in rebuilding this country’s infrastructure, and we are preparing it for that future.”
“By taking it apart?”
“Yes. The entire facility is being dismantled and placed in a concrete cocoon so it will survive the coming meteor storm.”
“I don’t understand. What meteor storm?”
“In fifty-two days the earth will be hit by a massive meteor storm that will last for two months. Everything will have to be rebuilt and this steel mill will be the primary supplier of steel in that process.”
The reporter turned toward the camera with a blank expression on her face.
“That’s crazy,” the reporter said. The segment ended.
“How does that help?” I asked. “It makes us look like nut-jobs.”
John smiled and waved me over to one of the computer consoles.
“Watch,” he said.
The console was monitoring visitors to John’s meteor storm website. The current visitor count was just over 600 visitors. Within seconds it began to climb. The visitor count passed 1,000 and then 2,000.
“Bring the two back-up servers online,” John said.
“Both online,” a computer tech answered.
The visitor count continued to climb past 5,000 and within two minutes was well over 10,000 current visitors on the website.
“How many Bunker Builder’s Books are being downloaded?” John asked.
“Twenty-two hundred… twenty-three hundred,” the tech paused. “Twenty-five hundred books being downloaded at this time.”
John smiled. “First crack in the foundation of silence.” He turned to face the room. “What’s happening on Facebook and Twitter?” he yelled.
“Facebook visitors up by a factor of ten… make that twelve,” a tech answered.
“Twitter comments are exploding with over ten thousand comments per minute.”
“Positive or negative?” John asked.
“Hold on,” a tech said. “Looks like roughly seventy percent positive and thirty percent negative.”
John turned to me. “Not bad for a nut-job.”
I laughed. He really did understand people and the system.
“Tomorrow we launch Phase Two,” he said.
The next morning I was again awakened by a knock at my door just as it was getting light outside. “Time for a walk in the woods,” John said softly.
I quickly got ready and headed down to the kitchen to join John and Ed. After coffee and a bagel we headed out, this time to a different spot in the woods.
“Okay Ed, what have you found?” John asked.
“I have an old teammate who is connected to the DIA. Word is they are looking for Carl Palminteri,” he said. “That’s what the mole in your organization will be after.”
“With that in mind, who can we eliminate from our list of suspects?” John asked.
“At this point the only people who actually know who Palminteri is, are you, me, Tia, the pilot and copilot of your plane and the driver of your limo.”
John thought about that for a minute. “Okay,” John said. “There are actually two limo drivers, one during the day, and one at night. Only the night driver knows who Carl is. The day driver doesn’t know. So if Carl is the target and someone who actually knows Carl’s true identity is the mole, they would have him already. That should narrow our search down to the day driver, the Learjet 45 pilot and the co-pilot.”
That’s my take on it, too,” Ed replied.
“Suggestions?” John asked.
“I say we give them Carl Palminteri,” Ed said.
“What!” I shouted.
“Calm down,” John said. “Let Ed explain.”
“I know a guy in San Diego, an actor, who is Carl’s height and build. With some make-up we could make him look just like Carl Palminteri. We hire him, let him keep his own ID so the feds won’t hold him for very long, and use him as bait. We leak that we are bringing Palminteri into the fold, but each suspect gets a different time and place. Wherever the feds show up, we have the mole.”
“And what do we do with the mole after we find him?” I asked.
“Nothing,” Ed said. “Once the feds know his cover is blown, they’ll pull him. End of problem.”
“Won’t they just send in another mole?” I asked.
“Sure,” Ed said. He turned to John. “How long has the day driver, pilot and co-pilot been with you?”
“The day driver has been with me for over a year, pilot and co-pilot for almost three years.” John replied.
“And how long was the vetting process before you hired them?”
“Six months,” John replied. “The meteor storm will have come and gone before they can create another mole. Once we find out who it is, it’ll be over. No more threat.”
“How long do you want to take to set up the operation?” Ed asked.
“We need to do this slowly so it doesn’t look too suspicious,” John said. “We need to leak this over the next week or so. How long do you need to get your actor ready?”
“Couple of days,” Ed replied.
“Okay,” John said, ”let him know he has a job and start prepping him.”
“You got it.” Ed replied.
CHAPTER 15
I approached John privately. “What about the electrical grid?” I asked. “Everything in our society depends on electricity and the distribution grid that delivers it.”
John sighed. “There are certain parts of our infrastructure that are going to be difficult to restore: the electrical grid, water treatment, fuel processing and distribution — all of them are going to take a long time to rebuild. We have to focus on water treatment first. Too many lives depend on clean water. Supplies need to be moved, so fuel processing and distribution has to come next. The electrical grid will have to wait.”