The Manhattan Incident (9 page)

Meredith Parker saw a lot of commotion as she approached Grand Central Terminal. She felt the moist air and ignored it. Meredith saw people running in all directions and wondered what’s up. Looking around, she saw nothing to worry about. She did not look up, having no idea that the craft was above. All Meredith could think of was getting the Amtrak train to Rutland. She hurried into the terminal and down the stairs. She just caught the shuttle as it pulled away toward Penn Station. Meredith had just left her last class at NYU and was on her way to meet her boyfriend, Anthony, in Rutland. He attended Green Mountain State College and would be on his way home to his parents’ house in Rutland. Anthony Ianelli would pick her up at the Rutland train station. A great weekend of skiing and parties was ahead. She could hardly wait. Having her last class on a Thursday morning early was the cushiest schedule she ever had. Anthony had to cut some classes to meet her, but she knew he didn’t mind. Any excuse for a party and sex, she mused.

Mists were released from all the crafts over the major US cities, in fact, all over the world’s major cities at the same time. Often, it went unnoticed except for a few individuals that happened to be looking up or felt the wetness of the mist or those who had seen the Wedgies rapidly and quietly descend and then ascend just as quickly. The Wedgies not over cities elsewhere did nothing, except remain on station. Numerous exposures, mostly unknowingly, took place in all the major cities. People hurried onward doing their business, their errands, and their daily routines. All the exposures were at high traffic areas such as Grand Central Station in New York, Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco, Colaba Causeway in Mumbai, and Las Ramblas in Barcelona.

Tech Sergeant Munger at NORAD observed the sudden descent and ascent and then departure from the major United States cities through the radar satellite images. He immediately picked up the phone to notify General Straub. General Straub puzzled over the news. He had requested Munger to notify him where the departing Wedgies were going as soon as possible. What were the bastards up to, he wondered.

After the events of 9/11, biological sensors had been placed in strategic locations, especially in New York City. Shortly, these biological “sniffers” began to detect something that was no longer ambient. No alarms triggered at the sensors, but alarms at the NYC Homeland Security Office began to trigger. The first signals were at Grand Central Terminal; and then they spread to nearby subway locations. The duty officer at the NYC Homeland Security Office sounded the klaxon to rouse the on duty crisis response team. He then notified Director Richmond Garrett of his actions. As they donned their biological hazmat suits and collected their sampling gear, the duty officer notified the NYPD and requested an emergency quarantine situation. The special NYPD quarantine team donned their protective equipment and raced to the scene. There was no protocol for notifying the National Guard, as normally they would be called later if the NYPD thought the situation warranted it. Given that the Guard was on duty in the city, the duty officer thought it might be prudent to do so. He called their headquarters. Their duty officer passed the information on to the Commandant of the Guard.

In the NYC National Guard Headquarters, Commandant Gerald Lohnstein had already issued earlier biological protection orders for the National Guard troops out in the city until further notice as a precaution. He worried about the age and reliability of the protective masks. At least his was new and reliable, he thought, as he pulled it from his desk and put it on. He issued orders to the on duty staff to do the same. The Commandant then remembered General Straub’s order to notify NORAD of anything out of the ordinary, given the hostile craft. The biological alert from Homeland Security certainly was not ordinary. At this point no one had made the connection between the biological warning and the mist from the “Wedgie.” Commandant Lohnstein picked up the phone and insisted it was urgent that he speak to General Straub immediately. When General Straub hung up, he now knew what the bastards were up to, biological warfare. “God preserve us,” he muttered. It had been 20 minutes since the incident at Grand Central Terminal. There was no question in General Straub’s mind anymore about the intent. It was hostile.

Just then, his Aide, Sergeant O’Malley, dashed in out of breath. “Sir, there is an urgent request from EADS. He listened to the report. “Where is the Wedgie right now?” Lieutenant Colonel Hopper responded, “The alien craft is now over the Atlantic Ocean and turning to head due south. The Squadron is running low on fuel and will have to turn back soon.” General Straub makes a split second decision. “How many and what missiles are you carrying?” “General, we are carrying Sidewinders and have a total of 24.” “EADS, please confirm and relay the following order. Have the squadron lock on with all 24 missiles and fire from overhead as much as possible.” General Straub was counting on the fact that defensive armament would be weakest at the topside of the Wedgie as was the case with our own jet fighters.

Colonel Hopper received the confirmation order from EADS a short time later. As luck would have it, they were positioned above the Wedgie almost directly overhead at 2,000 feet above it. “Squadron leader Hopper here, team arm all Sidewinders and fire on my mark.” “Armed and ready came back” from the other three F-16s. “Fire!” All 24 Sidewinders streaked downward toward the Wedgie in the video. Almost immediately laser beams flash at the approaching Sidewinders. All but four explode. Time had run out for the Wedgie defensive ordinance because of the close quarters and missile number intensity.” Four Sidewinders hit and Hopper noted multiple explosions as shown in the video. Suddenly the craft wobbled and started an erratic downward spiral. Somewhere above the Atlantic Ocean, it split in two pieces and then sank below the waves. General Straub is highly pleased when the EADS reported back. Good, they can be destroyed, he thinks.

The scene shifted to the train carrying Alexi to Greenwich, Connecticut. Alexi sat rigidly in his train seat. As a reporter, he thought it was his obligation to report the mist incident over Grand Central. Yet he worried that were he to do so, it was highly likely he risked being quarantined by NSA as a precaution. He rationalized that since he felt fine, there was no problem. Didn’t nerve gases act real fast? Yes, they did, he confirmed on his mobile google app. A nagging thought said what if it was a biological agent? He rationalized that his prompt washing ended the threat. Finally, he knew what to do. He called the Times desk and reported in as being on a train to New Haven (throw them off a bit, not mention he was getting off in Greenwich just in case) and that he had several tweets from his highly reliable street sources that a mist had been observed coming from the craft over the Grand Central Terminal. He closed with the comment, “You might want to check it out with the authorities.”

2. VIDEO: THE INCIDENT, DAY 1 THROUGH 3, PI

VIDEO: THE INCIDENT
. General Straub sat at the head of the table with the NORAD Crisis Management Team. “So, to date we have confirmed reports of biological sensors triggered in New York, Los Angeles, Atlanta, and Philadelphia. Lockdown and quarantine have been established as best as possible at these sites by the National Guard, Homeland Security, and local police. I have ordered the Guard to enact quarantine protocols for all cities where a hostile craft had been present. We’ll have to assume that mists were released at all these sites, unless we determine differently following air testing. That will be up to the CDC once they receive all the samples. We have unconfirmed visual reports of mists originating from the hostile craft, but only at some of the major cities. Our most reliable data appears to be in New York with the Times reporters asking questions of people near the terminal earlier this morning. Their lead comes from their reporter, Alexi Utkin. He indicated tweets from anonymous sources stating that the mist came from the hostile craft. The NSA has checked his cell phone calls. There are no tweets dealing with the mist other than his and his present location is on a Metro North train heading to New Haven, Connecticut. We have requested the FBI to pick him up for questioning. They’ll board the train at Greenwich.”

“There are no known casualties yet. Air samples from Atlanta and New York are on their way to the CDC in Atlanta. Additional samples from all the other cities will be on their way by special couriers before the day ends. No activity over military bases, biological labs or the Mount Weather Facility has been detected. The hostiles are just maintaining a stationary presence there. Does anyone have any thoughts?”

The first to speak was Lieutenant Colonel Kyle Lanzo of Military Intelligence. “Sir, from the actions so far, given their probable weapon superiority, it is likely that they wish to preserve as much infrastructure as possible. Otherwise, they would have deployed nukes like they did in Iran. Therefore, it is likely that their goal is occupation and exploitation of our resources and possibly slave labor. However, the hostiles have a critical balance problem. Too many people would be hard to control and use too many resources. A rather large occupation force would be needed far beyond the capacity of the number of hostile craft currently here. It is our belief that they will likely thin out the population to a more manageable level. Thinning would be best aimed at the softer and weaker among us. We think they are starting the thinning at the major cities right now. Our projections are that the mist is a biological weapon, likely some type of fatal infection over which we currently have no medical defenses. Sort of like when AIDS first occurred. Think of this as the first wave of the invasion. They are setting us up for the occupation force, the second wave.”

Dr. George Chrispeels interrupted. He was the psychologist on the team. “Yes, that makes sense from a psychological perspective. Of course, that assumes they think and act like we do.” General Straub looked at Chrispeels and spoke. “Why haven’t they attacked the military bases, or labs, or the Presidential hide-out?” George answered. “Of course, I can only speculate, but here’s what I think. They want the strongest of us for their slave labor. What better than the young men and women in the military. They are in superb physical condition relative to the rest of the population. They are also younger and likely to last longer than the average city dweller. They are used to deprivation, so the perfect labor force. The hostiles have already demonstrated their weapon superiority, so they don’t expect a counter attack from our forces. So, we only have a one-time chance of a surprise attack against them. There might also be the element of respect, one warrior to another, you know, the fair treatment of prisoners of war. Although another possibility is that they are toying with us, like the hunter with its prey, the cat with the mouse. If the latter is true, I would expect that now their city wipeout plan is complete, the remaining hostiles will join the others over the non-city targets. At that point I would expect a call for surrender or an all-out attack.”

“Well,” said General Straub, “I have to tell you that we have already destroyed one Wedgie in a limited engagement off the Eastern Seaboard. It took several missiles. It appears they are not invincible, but it will take large numerical superiority to assure results. Costs in lives and equipment will be very high undoubtedly. We don’t know if the remaining Wedgies know yet what happened, but eventually I’m sure the missing craft will be noted.”

General Straub was rubbing his temples and thinking to himself. Was the wait and see approach the best one? If they had attacked the hostiles either when they arrived or once it was clear they were moving toward major cities, it would likely have failed and the hostiles would get to the cities anyway. Perhaps they might have been pissed and nuked a few to demonstrate their pique, like they did in Iran. Also, an earlier aggressive attack by us probably would have destroyed most of our fighter jets, too, given their demonstrated weapons superiority in the Chinese incident. His head hurt. Being outgunned was not something the military liked. On the other hand, the wait and see might have doomed a large number of civilians to some type of plague. Either way the casualties were going to be high. Well, if the CDC boys can do their magic and stop whatever is coming, we’ll still have military and civilian infrastructure. Maybe the wait and see was right. The problem now was what to do about the military bases, labs and presidential hide-out. Order a preemptive strike, or more wait and see? Time to bring the President up to date, concluded the General. He closed the meeting with a request to work out various scenarios for dealing with the hostile crafts over the non-city targets.

But first, he would call his son. Ever since his wife had died in that tragic car accident, Brian and his family were all he had left. They were very important to him. Brian Straub answered on the second ring of the cell phone. “Brian, are you at the cabin? “Yes, Dad” answered Brian. “Good,” said the General. “Listen carefully and do as I say. Your family’s survival depends on it. There might be a major disease epidemic caused by the aliens. Go to town no later than tomorrow and stock up on food, medical supplies, lanterns, batteries, lamp oil, blankets, polyester or wool winter underwear and other warm clothing,  and 9mm ammunition plus 12 gauge shotgun shells.  Don’t tell anyone where you are staying.” “Dad,” said Brian, “you know my position on guns. We have agreed to disagree on this issue.”

“Brian, listen to me. If the plague strikes near you, people will panic and flee. Some might come to my cabin, like those who built it or serviced it over the years, or maybe hunters or the mail carrier. The drive-way perimeter alarm will alert you to anyone driving in. It also has a battery back-up that lasts quite a while. If they walk in, the dog should alert you. They will likely be armed and throw you out or kill all of you. You need to warn off anyone coming near. You can’t be a credible threat with just your empty hands. If they continue coming, fire a warning shot. Kill them if they continue on, as you can’t take a chance on whether they are infected. Your survival is your highest priority. Leave the bodies there as a deterrent and for heaven’s sake, don’t touch them. Keep the dog away, too. We don’t know the vectors yet. We don’t know the contagion level or how it spreads. I suspect all law and order will break down, as will the veneer of a polite society. Don’t go to town after tomorrow. We have no idea of what this plague might be or how fast it will spread. Take no chances.”

“I expect that the electrical grid will fail at some point. You have enough firewood on hand to ride out a winter, if need be. Winter underwear and warm clothing will help. Buy some if you don’t have any with you. There is a generator, so buy some gas. There are two five gallon cans in the garage. Fill them both. Use it sparingly. Since it is winter time, you can keep food cold in the garage. Under the master bedroom bed, there is a radio that can run on batteries or by hand crank. The gun safe code is L-24, R-56, and R-12. Write it down.  There is a shotgun, a 9mm Smith and Wesson semi-automatic pistol, a 9mm Marlin camp carbine, and a Browning BAR safari with scope. The magazines are interchangeable between the pistol and the carbine. The BAR is your first line of defense for stopping at the maximal distance. The shotgun and carbine are good for medium distances or when there are several targets. The pistol is your last resort for close encounters. Make sure you buy hollow point 9mm ammo and the heaviest grain, 150 or higher, for the 30-06. You should buy as much ammo as possible. If the store owner asks why so much, just say a bunch of your buddies are coming and you are going hunting. Promise me that you will fire all the guns at targets so that you familiarize yourself with their operation. Have the kids and Mary practice, too. Promise me.”

“OK, dad,” said Brian reluctantly. “Son, I’ve got to go. Say hello for me to Mary and Thomas and Cathy. I’ll contact you when it is safe to emerge, assuming cell phones still work. Keep listening to the radio, also. Good bye, son,” said the General. As he hung up, he hoped it wasn’t the final good bye for either of them. Brian looked out the window at the snowy Maine landscape. He would go into town first thing in the morning, as it was now late afternoon.

General Straub picked up the hotline to Mount Weather. “Mr. President.” The General updated President Tomlinson with the latest developments and the speculative input from the NORAD Crisis Management Team. The President responded. “General Straub, the minute the CDC gives us an idea of what we are dealing with, I’m going on television, radio and the internet. The people will need the calming voice of their President.” A lot of good that will do thought the General. “President Tomlinson, what about the attack plan, Plan Omega that we discussed previously? You know, the Warthogs and advanced experimental weaponry? Well, now I think we should launch Plan Omega right away and supplement the Warthogs and experimental weaponry with tactical nukes.” “General, I’ll think on it. If we use nukes, it is almost guaranteed that the Wedgies will return fire with nuclear warheads. We know that they have them based upon the Tehran strike. We don’t want nukes going off all over the states from both sides. That would only escalate civilian and military casualties. Go ahead with Plan Omega against the enemy as soon as possible. We’ll see how things go. Keep me updated” The general hung up with a heavy heart filled with misgivings.  He wasn’t absolutely certain that the enemy could be neutralized without the use of tactical nukes.

The scene switched to the Homeland Security Office in New York headed by Director Garrett.  The first alarms had come in from Grand Central Terminal followed by subway stops below the Station. Director Garrett had sprung into action as soon as the duty officer had notified him of the alarms. A flurry of calls detailing protocols for quarantine to the Guard and his staff got the ball rolling. As he hung up, he knew the Guard was already locking down Grand Central and all transportation out. Field quarantine sites would be set up promptly and buses were being requisitioned under the Emergency Powers Act enabled by martial law. Teams with biological hazards gear had been rapidly assembled and were on their way. The National Guard Command had been notified to don protective gear against biological hazards and was locking down the Station. Subways out had been terminated. Unfortunately some had left already, but were being tracked down with the Metropolitan Transit Authority’s assistance.

Right now the Director was on the phone with the CDC Director Thomas Soule in Atlanta. “Garrett, we’ll have to assume the worse. You can’t take chances. If this is an alien, bio-engineered plague that is highly contagious and fatal, we must act now with decisive force and action. Until we get the samples of the mist from your city and other cities, we must track down all exposures and institute strict quarantine. All trains, cabs, buses and subways, and pedestrians are all possible vectors for spreading the disease. All individuals during that time frame at ground zero were likely exposed and must be accounted for. Set up field quarantine sites immediately. Keep me updated,” said Director Thomas Soule. Director Garrett responded, “We already have those steps underway. The samples left by special courier some time ago and should arrive shortly.”

Garrett hung up and thought what a logistical mess. He had authorized the  National Guard to seize all trains and subway cars that has already left the Station, stop any further trains and subway cars, find all the cabbies and their passengers, buses, and personal cars. Oh my God, what a nightmare, he thought. He would have to broadcast this on all media as a please come forward if you were near Grand Central Station today, we must quarantine you to possibly save your life and the lives of others. Yes, it was not clear how true this would turn out to be, but it would get their attention. Still, it was more likely than not that the alien mist was harmful. Better safe than sorry. Crap, suddenly thought Director Garrett, Penn station was on the subway line from Grand Central. More trains would have to be stopped and quarantined. He wondered where they would put all the possibly infected people and keep them isolated.

CDC Director Thomas Soule in Atlanta, Georgia and his staff repeated the same phone call over and over to all the Homeland Security offices at the cities where alien crafts were stationed. Similar variants of this activity were taking place all around the globe. The video showed some samples. Unhappily, the levels of professionalism and response were not the same everywhere. For some, sheer size made the logistics impossible. Such was the case for Mumbai. With others, the ability to respond with proper equipment was a non-starter as with Luanda, Angola.

Alexi Utkin relaxed in his seat on the New York to New Haven Metro North train. Suddenly an announcement came over the loudspeaker system. “Due to technical difficulties, we have to stop the train before the first stop. Given the electrified track, you are advised to stay put. We will be moving on shortly.” Alexi looked out the window and saw lots of flashing lights ahead and some buses on the nearby roads. A short stop my ass, he thought. The train or tracks are screwed such that we’re going to be bused away. Just then he thought he saw some individuals near the buses suited up in hazmat gear. Shit, must have been a toxic spill from a truck or some gas leak from nearby. Can this day get any worse, he thought. Yah, he thought, it can as he viewed the hazmat workers wearing respirators approaching the train. Belatedly, he thought, Oh, Christ, this has something to do with the mist from the craft over the Station. He watched as the engineer and crew were led off the engine car and led to a waiting bus. Gradually, each car was emptied and bused off. Then it was his car’s turn. He couldn’t help but notice that the army troops were wearing gas masks and protective clothing and carrying M-16s. He had no doubt that they were loaded.