Nuclear Winter Series by Akart, Bobby (recommended ebook reader .TXT) 📗

“Mr. President, have you given any more thought to the power grid situation?” asked the FEMA administrator.

His reply was sarcastic, reflecting his mood. “Yeah, great idea. Kick the entire Western United States in the teeth while they kneel on the ground with their arms outstretched, praying for help and mercy. I may go down in history for a lot of things, but that isn’t going to be one of them.”

“I understand it’s coldhearted, Mr. President.” The FEMA administrator bravely pressed the subject. He was a native New Yorker, so he might have a bias in favor of the East Coast. “Sometimes, we have to consider unpopular decisions to serve the greater good. I can make an argument that our rebuilding effort will be more effective if at least half the nation is fully functioning.”

The president bristled, and he was about to give the FEMA head an earful when his chief of staff stepped in to diffuse the situation. “Sir, I don’t think it’s a decision that needs to be made at this particular moment. As I understand it, the rolling brownouts orchestrated by the power companies have proven to be effective at marshalling that asset, so to speak. May I suggest that each agency head continue to monitor how their sphere of influence is impacted by the issue?”

President Helton jutted out his chin and glared at the man from FEMA he’d inherited from the prior administration and never got around to replacing. Without saying a word, the conversation turned to the environmental impact. Representatives from the National Weather Service and NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, were present for the first time in the afternoon briefing.

“Mr. President, I’d like to bring your attention to the monitors at the far end of the room,” began the woman from NOAA.

He stood from his chair and approached the forty-eight-inch screen.

“You’re looking at an animated GIF generated from a series of images captured by NOAA’s Suomi NPP satellite.”

The Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership, or Suomi NPP, was designed to collect data on climate change and unusual weather patterns. Launched in 2011, it had been instrumental in studying the effect of Western United States wildfires on long-term climate-change models.

The NOAA scientist continued. “As you can see, this is time-lapse imagery of normal cloud cover being driven by the prevailing winds toward the West Coast. The bright flashes—here, here and here—represent the nuclear warheads detonating in SoCal, San Francisco, and Seattle.”

She paused while everyone took in the images before continuing. “After the mushroom clouds rose skyward, brown smoke began to billow and cascade into the Pacific Ocean. This smoke cloud has already traveled in a westward direction for approximately thirteen hundred miles, forcing the moist air contained in the clouds away from the U.S. mainland.

“As this continues over the coming weeks, this will create extreme drought conditions in some parts of the country, namely the Midwest and Southwestern states. These extreme conditions coupled with the fallout circumnavigating the Northern Hemisphere following the Indian-Pakistani nuclear conflict could result in an extended drought across America’s breadbasket.”

The president stared ahead, emotionless, his face appearing to be devoid of comprehension.

Chandler noticed his lack of response to the NOAA scientist’s statement and immediately jumped in with a question. “How long will this condition persist?”

“Which one, sir? The wind reversal or the heavy haze commonly referred to as nuclear winter?”

Chandler shrugged. “Both.”

“Mr. Chandler, because the moist air is driven back into the Pacific Ocean, the Santa Ana winds are not tempered. In other words, these strong, extremely dry downslope winds that originate inland will remain in place until the Pacific moisture displaces it. What we’re looking at is a massive Arctic high pressure in Canada generating cold, dry air masses for months on end. Coupled with the remnants of all three regional nuclear exchanges, we’re facing an event unimagined by all of our nuclear aftermath models.”

“Well, hell’s bells!” shouted the president as he slammed both fists on the table. “Aren’t you people a bundle of joy. You know what? Misery loves company, and I’ve had enough of all the misery brought into these briefings. You’ll know where to find me.”

President Helton abruptly stood and stormed out of the room.

Throughout the briefings that day, Chief of Staff Chandler had taken a more active role in controlling the discussions. He knew President Helton better than anyone other than the man’s wife. He was starting to see the signs of his old friend having a nervous breakdown.

Earlier, Chandler had had a private conversation with the White House physician who accompanied the president everywhere. It was natural, under the circumstances, for the president’s mind and body to be subjected to extreme mental and emotional distress. However, Chandler was starting to notice the president’s inability to cope.

His recent uncontrolled outbursts and angry fits were just one of the many signs both Chandler and the president’s physician had observed. The president was suffering from insomnia. His doctor had suggested an Ambien before bedtime, but the president refused. He insisted upon being coherent in the event China or Russia decided to attack the U.S.

The president wasn’t eating, and when he did, he complained about stomach cramps and constipation. The stresses he endured had triggered a flare-up of irritable bowel syndrome, which contributed to the president’s refusal to eat.

With each passing day, his condition seemed to worsen. Discussions were held in private between cabinet members, leading to the suggestions the vice president might need to step in to lead the country. Just that afternoon, a staffer loyal to Chandler overheard a conversation about the Twenty-Fifth Amendment, a provision in the Constitution that allowed the president to step down, temporarily when appropriate, if he was deemed incapacitated.

The vice president, who was at Raven Rock in Pennsylvania with the military leaders, balked at the thought of invoking the Twenty-Fifth Amendment to force the president to step aside until he got well. Chandler believed the VP might think otherwise if he actually observed President Helton’s actions.

Fortunately, America hadn’t been