As they entered the room, the president looked at the huge missiles on display. He developed a real sense of just how terrifying things could be if they exploded. No president had ever been asked to or decided to fire such lethal weapons. If they had been fired at a target such as Moscow, it was doubtful that any citizen would survive.
As they approached the missiles to disarm them, the colonel reminded him to proceed with extreme caution. Sweating through the next few hours, the president watched and helped when he could. A missile combat crew proceeded to dismantle the missiles, disposed of all the fuel, removed the warhead explosives, and prepared everything for transport to safe disposal sites. In order to save Nevada and anyone in the fallout range, they removed the explosives and plutonium from the primary in the warhead. Nuclear teams removed the highly-enriched uranium and fusion fuel. They would transport it off-site to dilute it.
Within a few nerve-racking hours, the missiles had been dismantled.
The president commended Colonel Derse and her crew for showing such bravery in protecting and disarming the missiles.
The major then said to the president, “Thank you, sir, you are a hero. You probably saved half the people in the United States with your actions today.”
The president said, “It was my pleasure, Major. You and the others are the real heroes, not me. You have sacrificed your lives and spent most of your time protecting America from its enemies including the Russians and Chinese. If we do survive this disaster, you can be sure the first order of business for me will be to get everyone to shut down their nuclear weapons. Now, let’s get out of here. Please put on these spacesuits. You are about to experience an unbelievable ride. It is too bad the United States does not own this device.”
They ran into the shuttle and buckled in.
Major Johns asked, “When did the government build this thing? It looks fresh and modern.”
“This shuttle is not ours, and the government had nothing to do with it. It belongs to a bunch of geniuses.”
“Welcome, everyone, to the new space shuttle. As a small reward, I think I am going to take a spin around Las Vegas and the Hoover Dam for a minute so you can see what is happening there now.”
The shuttle took off smoothly and flew over Las Vegas. They could see the strip where all the neon lights should be. Instead, it was mostly pitch black. There was no electricity, and the smoke from California was swirling around. The president wondered if anyone was still in town or if they had all evacuated. People could not last long there, as the heat would be unbearable. Before all this occurred, people won and lost fortunes in Las Vegas all the time. It was once an exciting place if you had the money and the stomach to play. He wondered if anyone had any casino chips with them. They were now virtually worthless. Even if people were still alive, the water would be severely contaminated, forcing them to leave.
The president thanked Marvin for flying over Las Vegas and told him to return to the spacecraft.
On the way back, the major asked to co-pilot the shuttle. Everyone enjoyed the twenty-minute flight. The soldiers could not believe the speed at which the shuttle flew. They flew right into the main spacecraft with ease, landing in perfect position.
When they opened the doors to the shuttle, Tom was waiting for them and gave a salute to everyone including the president.
“Well done, Mr. President. I assume your mission was a success. Due to the disasters, it has become difficult communicating to people around the country. Did Marvin do a good job?”
“A great job. Without you and the shuttle, we would never be able to stop the nuclear weapons from blowing up.”
“Well, you can relax a little bit. My staff will give your men a tour of the ship, and they can shower and get a good meal of bio-engineered food.”
The major asked, “Engineered food?”
“Wait until you try our engineered steak and potatoes. Chef Luis can make anything. We have terrific pizza too. While you tour the ship, if you can think of anything we might be missing. Please let us know. You can also inspect our weapons. I know you must have great expertise in this area.”
As the men began their tour, the president was able to reflect on what had just occurred. Virtually every president since World War II had been responsible for the safekeeping of the most destructive weapons on Earth. Billions of dollars had been spent to ensure that these weapons, if fired, would provide the most destructive and deadly force unimaginable to any human being alive. Every time the Russians or Chinese decided to upgrade their atomic missiles, the United States kept pace with them. While all of the leaders and countries continuously ordered new weapons, it must have been sickening to any leader to know that in one minute any one of them could have been responsible for the destruction of every person on Earth.
Chapter 43 – Is It Worth it or Not?
Sam Burns, The Imagine, Rocky Mountains, CO
About an hour later, the soldiers were eating in the cafeteria. Sam and Jose noticed them in part because they had so much food on their plates and asked if they could join them.
The major said, “Sure, have a seat.”
They had questions. Sam wanted to know what life in the armed forces was like. All of them had served in Afghanistan and various places around the world. He also asked the soldiers, “Did you ever kill anyone?”
Each of the soldiers said, “Yes, but only when we had to.”
Jose asked them if they had families.
“I was married for a short time, but I was away from home for too many years, and my marriage fell apart,” said the major. Other soldiers had also been married. Two of them had just lost their spouses who lived in California.
“How can you guys still do your job even when you suffer the loss of family?”
“We have a job to perform, or at least we had a job until today. We try not to stop and think about our family all the time. We have no idea what will happen to us or where we will go next. I am sure it will sink in very soon about what we have lost.”
Sam asked, “Was it all worth it?”
Each nodded that it was worth it and said if they had to do it all over, they would do it again. They explained that it was a great honor to serve the United States of America.
One of the soldiers said, “This spaceship is very exciting, and I would like to know from you guys if this is worth it for you and what do you see in the future for you?”
Sam asked Jose to respond first, except Jose needed some time to think about his answer.
Sam said, “You know I graduated from high school only three years ago. I imagine I would have gone to college and then maybe into the military like my dad did. Soon after graduation, my dad told me about the mission and how important it was to keep the human race alive. I was excited about the idea of saving the world, but sadly I am leaving. Both Jose and I were made junior officers, which is great for me, since I will see my dad every day at work.
“I have no idea what the outcome of this trip will be. Maybe we will land on a beautiful planet and set up a new human race. Maybe we will find new alien life among the planets, and I have no idea what it will look like. I doubt new life would look like the little green Martians you see in the movies. It is also possible that this ship will find no planet at all to live on. In that case, we will fly until we are all dead. Or even possibly have to fly back to a future desolate Earth if we survive saving humanity.