Sam, Jose, and Sally went to see Carson and Dorothy to ask them to recheck their calculations to verify if they were correct. They too were monitoring the situation and making their own predictions.
Dorothy said, “One problem we are all facing is that we need a group of people to control the launch from the space center controls. We do not have any personnel skilled enough yet.”
Carson further explained their predicament, “And the launch console inside the space center does not seem to be functioning correctly yet. Dorothy and I had thought we could work on the problem over the next two years, but now we only have months to fix it. Unless we can fix that problem, we won’t be able to take off.”
“We’ll have to talk to Sam’s dad about this. These are urgent matters, and we’ll need to find or train people who we can depend on,” said Jose.
Chapter 41 – Scrambling
Tom Burns, The Imagine, Rocky Mountains, CO
Tom had a long discussion with the leaders of the other spaceships about the ongoing difficulties they faced. The commanders of the other ships all hoped to have more time to prepare, but if the catastrophes continued at this alarming rate, they could not wait. Could they still launch by November 1st?
Tom told them to keep working as hard as they could even if it meant twenty-four hours a day. They would all keep in contact with each other, monitor the situation, and then try to set a new date as soon as possible.
They hung up with each other and returned to work.
Five minutes after the meeting with the commanders, Tom got a call from President Stevens, calling from Air Force One with his family and a full staff on board.
His plane would be landing nearby in fifteen minutes. The situation was precarious.
He and his entourage were going to the Rocky Mountain launch site. The president explained that he needed to station himself near the nuclear warheads in North Dakota, Montana, Wyoming, and Nevada. They could not afford a natural disaster that would blow up the atomic bombs in the silos. He’d received a report that the recent disasters in California had destabilized the ground near some of the nuclear missiles.
The army decided to try and disarm all of them except for a few in North Dakota in case of an emergency. Since Denver, Colorado seemed to be the only air landing strip big enough for Air Force One, the president had decided to land there.
Tom, focused on the situation for his spaceship, did not want to see the president. However, with the terrible disasters occurring in the United States, he could not ignore the immediate plight of hundreds of thousands of citizens.
While he waited for the president to show up, the German captain called on the view screen to let Tom know that Europe was now experiencing extreme flooding. The snow in the Alps had been melting rapidly due to all the smoke. Since their ship was in the Alps, it remained all right for now. The other main problem for the Germans would be volcanic eruptions in Iceland or Mt. Vesuvius. Years ago, the ash and smoke plumes from the Iceland volcano had disrupted air travel all over Europe. It was also entirely possible from seismographic reports that Mt. Vesuvius was going to explode sooner. This volcano had been responsible for the destruction of Pompei and could also disrupt the German launch.
On the spaceship and all over the United States, cell phones and web services started shutting down. Verizon and AT&T were experiencing massive failures as cell towers failed to work. The phone lines were either extremely overloaded with too many people trying to contact each other, or they were damaged and needed to be repaired. People were having a difficult time trying to communicate with each other to either find out what was happening or get instructions about what to do. All over the world, including the United States, people were panicking.
However, the spaceship communicators and view screens were still working, allowing them to communicate with each other. The problem was they couldn’t contact people they knew in various parts of the world. Many of them were heartbroken or in a state of panic now that their phones had stopped working. Tom felt terrible for the loss of communication with people outside the ship. There was nothing he could do about it, however. The best thing to do was for people to focus on their duties and keep busy. Tom knew they needed to leave immediately. He gave the order for all officers and department heads to check preparations to enable the ship to lift off. Crewmembers raced to their stations and performed their duties with the expectation they would be leaving soon.
Shortly after that, the president showed up with his family along with a few cabinet members and secret service members at Denver International Airport. He asked Tom to meet him there.
The president spoke. “I am so sorry that I could not do more to reverse the effects of climate change as president. But I am glad that we are here with you considering all the disasters happening right now. I am lucky that I have access to Air Force One and can go where I need to be. Dr. Burns, you were right. The time has come. I’ve brought the twenty-five people you agreed to accept onboard Imagine here. It’s now come to this.”
Tom decided to use the shuttle to meet him at the airport as it was only twenty minutes away.
Tom noticed the president looked like he was not too worried that he needed to supplicate to feel some mercy still existed somewhere in the world. The number of catastrophes and the sense of urgency that would shortly position itself at the center of the president’s every waking hour would demand all of his attention, and Tom could sense his dire need for relief.
“This is very difficult for me. I love my family very much. As a husband and parent, I will try and do anything to save them including sending them into space. I am comfortable knowing you will care for them as you care for your own family. The other people standing here are people that have worked with me for a long time and whom I value not only as colleagues but my dear friends. They’re deserving of a second chance at life and will prove their worth to you regardless of what tasks are assigned to them. These people have left their families behind. Many were unable to locate their families and do not even know whether they are alive or dead.”
Tom watched as some of them began crying, while some of them clutched each other’s hands. Although Washington, D.C., was not experiencing widespread damage, it was hard to fathom if the government could function any more under the Constitution. Indeed, the Founding Fathers could not have imagined anything like this would take place. It was entirely possible that new laws, rules and regulations would have to be written. There was no way to know how many government officials were alive. In parts of the country like California, it was also very possible that a lot of criminal activity was going to take place, since some people would have to rob or kill to ensure their survival. It would be almost like a nuclear attack had taken place.
Tom, as he had promised before, welcomed the president’s group.
“Your family and everyone on Air Force One are welcome to join us on our travels in space. We will assign them quarters as soon as they board and will provide necessities for them. The only requirement I have is that all of them will be expected to contribute to the everyday functioning of the spaceship. Mr. President, are you joining us?”
All eyes were on the president.
The president replied, “Once more, I am afraid I will not be going with you. I would love to join you on your travels. I hate the idea of separating from my family and friends, knowing that I will never see them again. As we agreed before, I am President of the United States, and the citizens need me here. They will be looking for me to make any decisions that may help them survive these tragedies. Also, I need to command the armed forces to save people wherever possible. I cannot abandon everyone here. It would be a disgraceful act. I am certain that if any trouble develops on Imagine, you would be the last person left to disembark. I know you would sacrifice yourself for your family and the many wonderful people that are going with you. So, no I will not be joining you. I will watch you take off and then go about my job as president, regardless of what happens after that.”