week.”
“The entire Brigade Combat Team?”
“That’s the plan. Advanced elements left Fort Drum this morning.”
“I need to secure hangar space for my battalion—before it’s standing room only. Something out of the way, with quick access to a gate,” said Alex.
Captain Adler stood up and walked to the window, pointing across the main runway.
“See those long hangars? Two in front, along the taxiway, and one partially hidden behind them?”
“Got it,” said Alex, feeling the heat pour through the thin glass as he neared.
“We cleared the aircraft out yesterday. The hangars have their own gate and access road. Easy in, easy out. A straight shot down Airport Road to Route 109. How much room do you need?”
“I’ll take all three hangars,” said Alex, staring past the waves of superheated air rising from the asphalt runway.
“Why not? First come, first serve. Perfect timing, too. Your conex boxes arrived on that convoy. I’ll send them over to the hangars,” he said, nodding at the three trucks Alex had followed into the airport.
“Were the conex boxes delivered to another airport?”
“This is where it gets really interesting. They’re dragging container after container out of an old business park behind Walmart. Started two days ago.”
“Want to take bets on when that business park was abandoned?” Alex asked wryly.
“About the same time the runway was reinforced. I had a talk with the mayor,” said Adler. “The company that owned the business park let the leases expire on several local businesses between 2015 and 2016. They may have bought out a few of the longer term leases.”
“I’m starting to get a bad feeling about this,” said Alex.
“Starting?”
Alex considered the implications raised by his conversation with Adler. One thing was certain. The federal government had been planning for a catastrophic, national-scale disaster since 2015, possibly earlier. The complexity of the Category Five Response Plan was mind-boggling. Hundreds, possibly thousands of active duty and reserve military commanders received orders governing and coordinating the deployment of their units. Countless thousands of equipment containers had been pre-staged across the United States for the express purpose of supporting Category Five requirements—or the Federal Recovery Plan.
The relationship between the two looked hazy. Declaration of a Category Five Event triggered specific military missions, like Lieutenant Colonel Grady’s immediate deployment to Boston, but it also appeared to set the Federal Recovery Plan wheels in motion. Adler received orders to secure the airport and start building an inner perimeter, all tasks designed to support the Regional Recovery Zone. Maybe the declaration of a Category Five Event was synonymous with the activation of the Federal Recovery Plan. He didn’t know, and he was too exhausted to give it any more thought. He’d oversee the delivery of his battalion’s conex boxes to the distant hangars and head back to Limerick after he had a look at the contents.
Chapter 5
EVENT +5 Days
Limerick, Maine
Kate checked her watch and shook her head.
Where the hell is he?
Alex had been gone for nearly five hours, two hours longer than he had estimated. His absence was conspicuous given the circumstances. At first she had been angry, but now she was worried that he had run into trouble with the supposedly friendly militia group. Or worse, he had decided to ignore her repeated warnings about staying away from Eli Russell’s base camp and had been ambushed. She sensed a presence in the bathroom doorway.
“I’m sure he’s fine, Kate,” said Tim Fletcher, Alex’s dad and Kate’s father-in-law.
“He should have been back already,” she said, mopping at the hardened mixture of drywall dust on the tile floor.
“We’d know if something was wrong. The Marines would get a distress call and respond.”
“Unless they were taken out by an IED or a
“The entire Brigade Combat Team?”
“That’s the plan. Advanced elements left Fort Drum this morning.”
“I need to secure hangar space for my battalion—before it’s standing room only. Something out of the way, with quick access to a gate,” said Alex.
Captain Adler stood up and walked to the window, pointing across the main runway.
“See those long hangars? Two in front, along the taxiway, and one partially hidden behind them?”
“Got it,” said Alex, feeling the heat pour through the thin glass as he neared.
“We cleared the aircraft out yesterday. The hangars have their own gate and access road. Easy in, easy out. A straight shot down Airport Road to Route 109. How much room do you need?”
“I’ll take all three hangars,” said Alex, staring past the waves of superheated air rising from the asphalt runway.
“Why not? First come, first serve. Perfect timing, too. Your conex boxes arrived on that convoy. I’ll send them over to the hangars,” he said, nodding at the three trucks Alex had followed into the airport.
“Were the conex boxes delivered to another airport?”
“This is where it gets really interesting. They’re dragging container after container out of an old business park behind Walmart. Started two days ago.”
“Want to take bets on when that business park was abandoned?” Alex asked wryly.
“About the same time the runway was reinforced. I had a talk with the mayor,” said Adler. “The company that owned the business park let the leases expire on several local businesses between 2015 and 2016. They may have bought out a few of the longer term leases.”
“I’m starting to get a bad feeling about this,” said Alex.
“Starting?”
Alex considered the implications raised by his conversation with Adler. One thing was certain. The federal government had been planning for a catastrophic, national-scale disaster since 2015, possibly earlier. The complexity of the Category Five Response Plan was mind-boggling. Hundreds, possibly thousands of active duty and reserve military commanders received orders governing and coordinating the deployment of their units. Countless thousands of equipment containers had been pre-staged across the United States for the express purpose of supporting Category Five requirements—or the Federal Recovery Plan.
The relationship between the two looked hazy. Declaration of a Category Five Event triggered specific military missions, like Lieutenant Colonel Grady’s immediate deployment to Boston, but it also appeared to set the Federal Recovery Plan wheels in motion. Adler received orders to secure the airport and start building an inner perimeter, all tasks designed to support the Regional Recovery Zone. Maybe the declaration of a Category Five Event was synonymous with the activation of the Federal Recovery Plan. He didn’t know, and he was too exhausted to give it any more thought. He’d oversee the delivery of his battalion’s conex boxes to the distant hangars and head back to Limerick after he had a look at the contents.
Chapter 5
EVENT +5 Days
Limerick, Maine
Kate checked her watch and shook her head.
Where the hell is he?
Alex had been gone for nearly five hours, two hours longer than he had estimated. His absence was conspicuous given the circumstances. At first she had been angry, but now she was worried that he had run into trouble with the supposedly friendly militia group. Or worse, he had decided to ignore her repeated warnings about staying away from Eli Russell’s base camp and had been ambushed. She sensed a presence in the bathroom doorway.
“I’m sure he’s fine, Kate,” said Tim Fletcher, Alex’s dad and Kate’s father-in-law.
“He should have been back already,” she said, mopping at the hardened mixture of drywall dust on the tile floor.
“We’d know if something was wrong. The Marines would get a distress call and respond.”
“Unless they were taken out by an IED or a
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