Clark did not care to hear it. He had feasted on enough bad news to choke him. No, he thought, not now. 'Alright,' he said. 'No time like the present.' Sometimes you had to keep going in life no matter how awful you felt. Sometimes sheer obstinacy was the only thing for it.
'Colorado is under martial law. The cadets of the Air Force Academy were armed and mobilized until they were relieved. Reinforcements of regular Army troops, namely the 82nd Airborne and the 10th Mountain Division, are doing what they can to secure the state. This amounts in the most to blocking all the highways leading out. The interior of the state, by all accounts, is without governance.'
Clark had pretty much seen that for himself. He nodded.
'Nevada and Utah have both declared state-wide disasters but the relevant authorities remain in control. I spoke with a very nice radio operator in Salt Lake City and he told me that large parts of the city are quarantined but they believe they can hold the infected back from the central region. California is gone.'
Clark opened a box of pens he had found in one of his desk drawers. He had been arranging them in a pen holder while he listened. He stopped and set down the pen holder carefully on the edge of the desk blotter. 'What does that mean?Los Angeles or San Francisco?'
'I mean that the entire state has stopped communicating with the outside world.' Vikram didn't shift on his feet, didn't so much as blink. 'It was a gradual process, of course, and did not happen all and at once. Until this morning there still were units of the Marine Corps in Sacramento who I could speak with, though they were very busy. The last I heard was that they were expecting reinforcements from the sea'a carrier group, called in to help maintain order. Then silence only.'
Insanity. Bringing in sailors to do the job of soldiers. The Navy trained excellent warriors but it gave them little experience in dealing with threats while onshore. The desperation in the plan was obvious. Clark wondered if he could have come up with anything else.
'The infection has spread as far east as Ohio. We expect to hear about Pennsylvania in a few hours'there have been isolated reports of infection in New York City, whole neighborhoods under quarantine. The overseas picture is murky at best but we know that both Mexico and Canada have mobilized troops and that they are asking for help we cannot currently provide.'
Clark nodded. He picked up the pens again and started sorting them by color. 'Bad, bad, bad, worse. So. We need to find out what to do next. Are you in contact with the Governor right now?' He dropped the pens in their cup one after the other. 'Normally I would take this time to liaise with the Adjutant General of Colorado but he, I happen to know, is dead.'
'The Governor is not available, I'm afraid. His current whereabouts are unknown.'
'Alright, so find me a General somewhere. Or a Colonel. Somebody who can give me an order.' Vikram shook his head. 'A Lieutenant Colonel? I'll take a Major.'
'I am saying that in the whole of the COARNG, I cannot find an officer that outranks your good self. I think you are it.'
Not possible and yet' many of the best officers in the Guard, and therefore the highest ranking, were deployed still in Iraq. Many more had died in Denver. Was it possible that not even a single Major had survived? Well, there hadn't been that many to start with.
The implications, however, were devastating. If a mere Captain was in charge of the Colorado Guard' well, at least he had his masters in the Pentagon. 'Alright,' he said. He placed the pen holder at the top of his desk, on the left side, then moved it to the right. It looked better there. 'Alright, we're tucked in here. If I have to be in charge I'm going to at least get a night's sleep before I start barking at people. Unless there's something more you need to tell me,' he added, seeing the look on Vikram's face.
'Bannerman, there is more to tell but I think it is better if you should see it for yourself.'
Clark raised an eyebrow.
'First Lieutenant Desiree Sanchez could use a moment of your time. Down in the Bag,' Vikram explained.
Monster Nation
Chapter Six
Mood: Pissed Off!