As the lieutenant quickly scanned the sheets, he saw the red mark by the entry made for an army captain and wife―Bishop, M. Gen. “Yes sir,” he said as he saluted and waved them through. As they continued to drive past the long line of vehicles, the first thing that entered Keith’s mind was what this little parade was costing and if it was really accomplishing anything.
Having made it to the tunnel’s entrance, they were stopped once more. This time the officer in charge was a full bird Colonel. Once he had gone through the same routine, they were allowed to pass into the shadow of the famed mountain facility.
Friday 11:30am
As they made their way into the interior of the mountain itself, they were distracted by all of the commotion. Both military and civilian personnel were giving directions sounding and seeming to be little more than organized chaos. What was happening outside was mild in comparison. The corridors were lined with conduits, encased lighting fixtures, and signs signaling where they were, and what was to be found further along each passageway. It appeared to be very clean and orderly, aside from the present events. They finally arrived at the Generals’ outer office. Captain Lucas offered them a seat while he went behind his desk and pushed a button on his phone. “We’re here sir,” he announced. “Yes sir. No sir. Yes sir,” he said before hanging up.
“Let me guess,” Keith said from his chair, “The General has another engagement and he regrets to inform us we won’t get our bologna sandwiches today.”
“Keith,” Terri said in an exasperated voice, “Will you stop it.”
Captain Lucas smiled at the couple. “Something did come up, so I am going to give you the grand tour and have you back here by 2:45pm for your luncheon.”
“Super. Do you know if we still get the bologna sandwiches?”
“You’re not as funny as you think you are,” Terri said before adding, “Try to behave. We’re only here for a few hours.”
Captain Lucas handed both visitors a plastic badge to hang around their neck. “Why don’t we start at the bottom? We’ll go to the lowest level your ‘general visitor’ security clearance will allow, then work our way back here. It should take us about that much time until the General expects you.”
Friday 2:35pm
General Bishop, third in line at USNORTHCOM, but the senior ranking member on site, picked up his phone after the first ring without looking at it. “General Bishop,” he said into the receiver while still concentrating on the report before him.
“Colonel Forrest, sir. Sir, we still have over fifty vehicles to process. There is nothing holding us up, but I just don’t think we will make the 4:00pm deadline.”
The General looked up from his report, but at nothing specific while saying, “The deadline will be met Colonel. I’ll leave it up to your discretion as to how that gets accomplished. If you need to start retaining the vehicles inside without unloading the cargo, do it. If a vehicle has a trailer, then leave it, and release the tractor. Keep a civilian bus outside to transport anyone who is not remaining with us. We can work on relocating everything afterwards,” he ordered.
“That’s gonna piss a lot of people off Frank,” the colonel replied. James Forrest and Frank Bishop had been both classmates and close friends from their first year together at the academy.
“I know Jim, but that’s the way it’s gotta be. I’ll expect to hear from you again after the mountain is sealed, and the perimeter is secure. Make sure the officer in charge places the outside security detail on ‘stand to’ alert until further notice. Do whatever is necessary, with my authority, to make it happen.”
“Yes sir,” the Colonel said as he hung up the phone wondering if it was really worth upsetting all of the people they were going to upset just to reach a deadline for an exercise. Putting the troops on heightened alert without an explanation was one thing. Treating the civilians as if they were in the military was quite another.
Friday 2:45pm
After they had witnessed the fortified design of the facility, and were briefed on the many functions therein, they were truly impressed. It was much more than they anticipated and nothing like they imagined. The lower levels were still clean and well maintained, but they were more in line with what one expected to see in such a structure. Not all of the walls were covered by man-made materials, and none of the people who worked there wore fancy attire. The floors were a mixture of concrete and crushed stone. On the upper levels, everything was painted metal, glass, and concrete. It was a sterile environment. To Keith’s surprise, his father was waiting for him when they walked into the outer office.
“It’s good to see you,” he said as he extended his hand to his son, “You’re looking good Terri,” he said as he briefly embraced her. “So what do you think of our little operation here?” he said as he turned and escorted them into his office.
Apparently, Keith thought, it was just going to ‘lunch en famille,’ as his father closed the door behind them. “Quite a place,” Keith said.
“I thought it was amazing. I never knew it was this big. And your aide said the places we couldn’t see are even bigger,” she finished.
“Yes. We have large amounts of storage facilities, and other operation areas within the complex. You just never have enough room for everything you need.”
“I can’t believe you actually have a tractor trailer driving inside a mountain,” Terri said.
The general smiled at her while leading them to a table set for three.
When they had finished their meal, they made small talk catching up with current and career events in each other’s lives. At the time, Keith thought his father was a bit distracted. Generals obviously had busy schedules, and a forty-five minute luncheon with family seemed like quite a luxury considering everything that was happening around them. While these thoughts were still in his mind, his father said he wanted them to meet someone. A doctor no less.
“Are you still going to school Terri,” the general asked.
“Yeah Dad; I hope to eventually get out of nursing and into research.”
“Then, I think you’ll enjoy this,” he said with a smile as he led them into a corridor they had not traveled earlier.
After a number of turns, they came to a desk with an armed guard seated behind it. When he saw the stars of a general officer, he immediately rose to attention. “As you were,” his father said. “I need to sign these two in.”
“Yes sir,” the young man said as he handed over a clipboard a bit uncomfortably in the presence of a General officer.
While his father looked at his watch, wrote their names, date, time, and destination into the corresponding blocks, Keith took the time to look around. He noticed for the first time all of the pipes and conduits running along the ceiling, and not just the walls. He saw lines for water, both hot and cold, electricity, gas, cable, and one other, which he could not identify because the tag was turned. Each line was painted differently to signify what it held, while also having a metal tag attached to the lines to label it. It was redundant, but that was the way of the military. By then they were on their way. He had not counted on being here quite this long, but Terri seemed to be enjoying herself, and he did not get to spend much time with his father, so he would endure. The young airman opened the door so they could pass through, then secured it behind them.
“How do we get out,” Keith asked when he felt the change in pressure and heard the door being locked.
“We’ll call him from there,” his father said pointing to a phone on the wall, “He’ll ask for the word of the day and then he’ll open the door.”