“Okay, I get water treatment. What do you mean by fuel processing?” I asked.
“Crude oil has to be shipped from one place to another. Right now that happens with super tankers traveling on the oceans. After the meteor storm, we don’t know if any of the super tankers will survive, let alone be in operable condition. Next are the refineries. Crude oil is essentially distilled down into component parts, like gasoline, diesel fuel, lubricating oil and hundreds of other petroleum-based products like plastics and nylon. After the meteor storm, I doubt there will be a single refinery functioning on the entire planet. Rebuilding a single small refinery will take close to a year to accomplish.”
“So how do you plan to move supplies and equipment?”
“We will have to wait and do an assessment after the meteor storm, but right now the most efficient means of moving supplies and equipment is going to be the railroad. That’s where this country started before there was an extensive system of paved roads. I think we will have to go back to that.”
“Yes, but train engines still take a lot of diesel fuel. We aren’t going to have much of that to work with.”
“Several of our people have been buying old steam engines and reconditioning them. They run on coal or even plain firewood. It’s crude, but it should still work. Wood, water, a clear track and they’re ready to go.”
“How much track do you think will survive?”
“Probably most of it,” John replied. “The first product out of our steel mill will be railroad track. We are going to need to move food and basic medical supplies first, then fuel, tools and heavy equipment.”
“Oh no,” I said.
“What?” John replied.
“I just realized. A lot of our electrical power comes from nuclear power plants. How are they going to do in the meteor storm?”
“This is one of the great unknowns we face,” John replied. The pressure vessels may, or may not survive the meteor storm. It all depends on whether they receive a direct hit by one of the larger meteors. But the real problem isn’t the reactor vessels; it’s the cooling pools for used reactor rods. The cooling pools are fed cold water by electric pumps powered from the electrical grid. Most nuclear power plants have a backup system, but the supply for the cooling pools isn’t protected like the pressure vessels are. The meteor storm is likely to take out the diesel generators used for the backup power system. Once that is gone, the cooling pools will boil off and the radiation will quickly climb into the deadly range. All of this is likely to happen during the meteor storm, so nobody is going to be there to stop the process.”
“Do we know how far the radiation will travel?”
“Yes and no,” John said. “We know from military studies what the wind patterns are and how far the radiation will travel through the air. I have people making maps of the potential danger zones. But what we don’t know is what happens when the radiation makes its way down into the ground water and the aquifers. Entire regions of the planet may become dead zones, poisoned by invisible radiation.”
“So what do we do?” I asked.
“We monitor and advise people as best we can,” John replied. “I don’t see how we have any other choice in the matter.”
“I’d like to be part of the crew working on the electrical grid problem if that can be arranged.”
“Done,” John replied. “Hydroelectric plants are most likely to survive the meteor storm because they are built inside of huge concrete dams. The transformers are going to be the main problem. I’ll give you the name and number of one of our companies dedicated to making copper wire. You can start there.”
“Thanks,” I replied.
Activity in the communications room was reaching a fevered pace. Hundreds of companies were joining the Survivalist Network, offering their services and products at deeply discounted prices. They wanted to be part of the renewal of this country and have key positions in the rebuilding of the country’s infrastructure. True entrepreneurs had an innate sense of where things were going and how to best take advantage of what was coming. They had a clear vision of their future, and that future was with John.
Corrugated sheet metal manufacturers and suppliers were working around the clock trying to keep up with the demand, and still they were falling hopelessly behind. Redi-mix concrete companies went to hiring retirees to work extra shifts as orders for concrete soared. The mainstream media could hold the story off only for so long.
The following afternoon, a Friday, the main story broke. The Network News Channel featured the economic surge taking place across the country. I stood in awe, watching John orchestrate the events behind the scenes.
The Network News Channel covered the story and then went to a government spokesperson who warned people that the whole story was the result of fraud and not to get taken in by highly inflated prices and high pressure tactics from unscrupulous business people.
“That’s a lie!” I shouted. “There is no pressure to buy these supplies. And the prices are significantly below retail, not inflated.”
John walked over to me. “Carl, this is just how the game is played,” he said.
“Yeah, but people’s lives are at stake. They can’t do this!”
“They can,” John replied, “and they will. This is designed to stampede the sheep, the people who won’t think for themselves. We can’t help the sheep; we can help only those who are willing and able to help themselves.”
“That’s not right! It’s not fair!” I shouted. “Those people will die!”
“I know,” John said softly, waiting for me to calm down. “I can’t help it; it’s a process of natural selection.”
“Natrual selection?” I shouted. “We have to save these people. We can’t let them die!”
“Look, Carl, the reality is that in order to be saved, each person has to cooperate with the process. No cooperation, no survival. I know it’s brutal, but this is real life. It’s ugly, it’s hard, but it’s real. How many people survived the last meteor storm?”
I stopped and thought. “Less than a thousand on the entire planet.”
“And if we save a million, will this operation be a success?”
I thought about the numbers.
“And if we manage to save ten million, what then?” John asked.
With a current world population of over seven billion people, even ten million was a miniscule number.
“And if we can rebuild our infrastructure and jump start our technology?”
I remained silent for a time.
“Okay,” I said. “I do understand. I just don’t like it.”
“None of us like it, Carl, none of us.”
I looked around the room. Every eye was on us, listening to our conversation. The room was deathly silent. I looked into their faces. Each one carried the reality of life and death. Several had tears running down their faces.
“I’m sorry,” I said.
“We all are,” John replied. “But we still have to deal with reality, and this is what we can do.”
“I’m sorry,” I said to the group, “I didn’t mean to interrupt your work.”
“Carl,” John said, “everyone here feels exactly the same way you do. Everyone.”
I looked around the room. People were nodding. More tears were running down their cheeks.
“You don’t have anything to be sorry about,” John said. “You’re one of us. This is where you belong.”
Tia pushed the padded door open and entered. “John, you need to come upstairs, right now,” she said.
I followed Tia and John to the main level. A police officer stood in the doorway holding a piece of paper.
“May I help you?” John asked.
“Are you John, CEO of the Survivalist Network?” the officer asked.