Percy's Mission (15 page)

“I want to put up a dirt berm in front of all the doors of all the barns. We’ll use the straw as a vertical backstop. I’ll use a Unimog to move the dirt from the stockpiles I had Reynolds build. This is the future construction I was talking about. Mattie, I want you to keep an eye on the news and fix us something to eat about midnight. It’ll be that late by the time we get finished.”
It didn’t take quite that long. Percy picked up speed on each circuit from the stockpiles to the barns. It was the same with Susie. She was good on the Bobcat anyway, but her speed picked up significantly as she took straw bales from their stack near the storage barn and stacked them in a curve in front of each of the barns where the doors were located. They didn’t need to do the houses. Susie realized that one of the design elements of the houses was a berm similar to what they were building, but as part of the total design of the structures.
She thought they should go higher, but Percy pointed out that any radiation coming over the berms from ground level would only hit the roof projection that covered the space where the doors were located. Susie had never seen the need for the awnings Percy had put on the projections. They seldom extended them. There’d been a few times when they’d worked under them in the heavy rains when they needed to work on a piece of equipment.
Their use in this situation became obvious when Percy finished the first berm. He’d taken one of the rolls of plastic from the shop barn and tucked one edge under the top layer of straw bales before he started piling dirt. Susie thought it was just to protect the straw. When he piled the dirt on the slope the tiered straw created, then brought the plastic up and over it, to tuck under that top row of bales again she realized that the awning would direct any fallout that would have fallen between the berm and the building onto the plastic covered slope of the berm.
There was enough room to allow the Bobcat 5600T to get through and into the barns. The only one they did differently was the equipment barn. They had to leave enough room to bring out the equipment. On that one, Percy had Susie build a row of bales two high about where the berm was on the other barns. He laid down a sheet of plastic between the berm and the short wall, forming a channel that would catch anything from the awning. With the slight slope he put on it, he would be able to wash any accumulation of particles to outside the area of the berm.
“Clever,” Susie said when she saw what he was doing.
“I’ve been thinking about things like this for years. Let’s just hope it’s a big waste of time,” Percy replied.
“Yeah.”
Mattie had the snack ready, despite their having finished by shortly after eleven. “Things still the same,” she told them as they ate and watched the news. “Just more posturing on everyone’s part.” She sighed. “And aid efforts. Everyone that can is sending teams and equipment. Or at least getting them ready to go. No way they can travel at the moment.”
“What’s the US response to the nuke on Seoul and the activity on the China coast?” Percy asked.
“Nothing,” Mattie replied. “At least nothing on the news. I can’t believe they’re just sitting there doing nothing, though.”
“They aren’t. Have there been any shots of the President’s helicopter landing or taking off from the White House?” Percy asked then.
“Why?” asked Susie after Mattie had indicated there had been.
“Probably means he’s headed for an airborne command post or a bunker. I’m glad we got things ready. I guess we might as well go to bed. Nothing we can do and tomorrow may be a long day.”
When they got up the next morning they saw the reports. Japan had asked for help, since some of the islands were in the fallout path of the detonation in Seoul. Two carrier battle groups were headed that way to support the one normally stationed in the area. There’d been three communist coups in the Russian republics and more seemed likely.
The Germans were demanding the US turn over the nuclear arsenal within their borders to them so they could protect themselves against the newly communist Russian Republics. France was rattling sabers at everybody. Great Britain had finally ordered her subjects to come back home, rather than the strong suggestions given before. Brazil warned all the involved nations to leave them out of the mix. They all but said they had nuclear weapons and would use them if attacked.
Little additional information came to light that day. The next day was different. They woke up to reports that the US Navy had used a nuclear cruise missile to hit Pyongyang and issued an ultimatum for North Korea to withdraw from South Korea and for China not to interfere further. The ultimatum included a warning that the US would help defend Taiwan if there was an invasion.
Percy was debating on whether to call Sara and try to talk her into coming out to the estate again. He didn’t have to. Sara called him. She was excited.
“Percy, have you heard? The federal government has announced a new Sheltering Plan. Information and instructions are in the process of being issued to implement it. It just came in a little while ago in the state offices. We’re supposed to start distributing as soon as we can. From the little I saw, it looks like they are following your advice.”
“That’s good,” Percy said, quickly adding, “Not that they’re following my advice. The fact that they’re doing anything at all. Let’s just hope it’s in time.”
“I know. Percy, would you have Mattie prepare a room for me? I’d like to start coming out there the way you suggested. I’m scared of what is happening.”
“Of course I will. She’ll have a room ready for you tonight. The gold room.”

“Not real gold, I hope,” Sara said the humor evident in her voice.
“Just gold colored trim and accessories like the one we refer to the green room has green accessories and the…”
“I know, Percy. I was just making a joke.”
“Oh. Okay. Well, we’ll see you when you get here. You still have the gate opener I gave you? I’m keeping the gates closed now.”
“Of course I do. I should be there about seven. Do not wait supper for me.”
“Okay,” Percy agreed, fully intending to wait to eat until she got there.
“I heard,” Mattie said, after Percy put the telephone receiver down. “I’ll get that room ready shortly.”
“Okay. Good. I…” The phone rang again.
It was Melissa Bluhm. “Is that offer still good about coming out there? Jock and I are both worried.”
“Of course it is, Melissa. Figure on supper about seven. Bring anything and everything you want.”
“Thank you, Mr. Jackson. I love my new house, but we didn’t put a shelter in it the way you suggested we do. We were foolish. And I’m pregnant.” She was crying now.
“Don’t think about that now. Just bring what you need tonight, and we’ll take a truck over and bring everything else you want, tomorrow. We’ll put you in one of the houses here. You can stay until this is all over.”
“Thank you, Mr. Jackson. Thank you.”

“Another room. For the Bluhms,” Percy said. “Plan on supper at seven.”
“I heard,” Mattie said.
“It sounded almost like she was crying,” Susie said.
“She was, there at the end. She’s really worried.” Percy didn’t feel that it was his place to announce Melissa’s pregnancy. She could tell the others when she wanted.
Brian Epstein called and said he wasn’t going to be able to pick up the milk and eggs again. Percy decided to take the goods in. He was fairly certain there would be plenty of days in the future where he wouldn’t be able to do so. They held out enough for their own use for several days, not just the one day they usually did, bringing their stock up to a two-week supply of fresh, rather than the week supply they normally kept. Percy took the rest into town to the dairy.
He didn’t stay long. He did stop at one of the grocery stores and pick up a few things Mattie wanted. Then he stopped at Jimbo’s place. He was glad he did. Jimbo was closing up shop and headed to the hills the way Smitty had. Only Jimbo was heading for the Ozarks.
“I was going to keep it up for you,” Jimbo said, “using my current stocks. Prices have gone through the roof. I’ve had more business in the last three days than I have the last three months. Gold and silver, anyway. The other stuff isn’t moving. How much do you want this time?”

“All of it,” Percy replied.
“All of it! But that’s most of my stock!”
“Jimbo, you knew this day would probably come.”
Jimbo sighed. “Yeah, I guess so. I should have done a little better keeping my own stocks. Yours has been like the reserves in a bank for me. It’s yours, and of course you can have it, but I sure need to figure something else than what I had planned.”
Percy suspected Jimbo had quite a bit more stashed than he was letting on. Jimbo had a habit of making things sound rather worse than they actually were, at least when it came to his finances. His little so-called coin shop dealt with a lot more than coins. Legal things like alcohol. His was the only source of anything except beer and a tiny selection of wine the grocery stores carried.
He had a thriving business of cashing checks. Doing that wasn’t illegal yet. Only the banks were restricted to the ten percent rule. He charged a minimum of a dollar and it was one percent on checks over one hundred dollars.
There were no feelings of guilt for Percy when he took the tubes of gold and silver coins. “Just keep the fractional ounces left and keep trading for me, if you will. We’ll settle up when this is over,” Percy said. “And just to say thanks for all your help, here’s a tenth ounce gold coin and a roll of silver dimes as a tip.”
“Well, thanks, Purse. You didn’t really have to do that, but I’ll sure take it. These are worth nearly eighty bucks now.”
“Take care of yourself, Jimbo. We’ll see you after this is all over.”
“You bet, Purse. I have a good little thing here. I’m stashing my tinkers stuff out back, just in case. Uh… Don’t tell anyone, though, will you?”
“Of course I won’t,” Percy said.
“I tell you what. If you kind of keep an eye on things for me, you can take a few things if you really need them.” Percy was probably the only person alive he’d trust with the secret of his stash. Jimbo showed Percy how to get down into the room off the basement of the small shop. It was filled floor to ceiling with all types of household goods. It was obvious why Jimbo had called it his tinkers stuff. They were all items an old time tinker would have dealt with in the historic past.
“Okay, Jimbo,” Percy said. You’ve got a deal. Anything I use, or if I think it’ll help someone and I can do a trade, I’ll get the best deal I can. If you don’t want me to do that, I’ll just promise not to let anyone know anything about it.”
“I wasn’t figuring on you moving the stuff for me. I guess that’d be okay. You’re almost as good a horse trader as I am. Whatever you want to do. But I want gold and silver only. I trust you to make the best deals possible.”
“I will,” Percy said. “Or, better yet. How about I just buy you out? What would it take to buy everything you showed me? You still have time to convert.”
A crafty look came onto Jimbo’s face. “I’ve probably got ten grand tied up in that stuff. And to convert to gold, with the price what it is right now…”
“I’ll give you a check for twenty thousand, right now,” Percy said.
“Done,” Jimbo said immediately. The two shook hands and Percy wrote him the check before he left the shop.
He stopped at the clinic on the way back to the estate. Jock and Melissa were both there, getting ready to load some items into their small cars.
“Why don’t you just throw that stuff in the back of the Suburban? I’m headed back right now.”
“I guess it would be easier,” Jock said, looking from their two cars to the Suburban that dwarfed them. “We’d still like to take the cars. We’re going to need to get back and forth. And I haven’t had a chance to thank you, yet. This means a lot to me, you taking us in at a time like this.”
“Think nothing of it,” Percy said, opening the rear hatch of the Suburban. “You’re a valuable addition to this community. If things get worse I want to keep it that way.”
“You don’t really think they will, do you? They’ll stop this madness some way. Someone will. They have to.”
Percy didn’t respond, except to say, “I hope so.”
He was leading the way toward the estate, listening to the news on the radio. The radio went dead and he saw the two cars following him begin to slow. “This is bad. Really bad,” he muttered aloud as he stopped, and then backed the Suburban up to the Volkswagen. He realized that the vehicle that they would have met in a few seconds coming toward them on the highway had stopped, too.
“I don’t know what happened,” Melissa said, having popped the hood of the small car before she stepped out. “It just died. The radio went off, too.”
“EMP,” Percy said when Jock walked up, telling the same story. “Hurry. Let’s get them moved onto the shoulder and get to the estate. There’s nothing we can do about the cars at the moment.”
“What’s EMP? And can’t we at least try to get them running?” Jock asked.
“Come on, Honey,” Melissa urged her husband. “I think Mr. Jackson is right. ElectroMagnetic Pulse is what an atomic bomb does when it explodes up high. It zaps electronic stuff like computers. Like the ones in our cars.” She looked at Percy. “You must have a different kind of electrical systems.”
Percy didn’t try to correct the small mistakes in Melissa’s explanation to her husband. It was correct enough for the circumstances. “I do,” Percy replied. “I switched when I converted the Suburban to three axles and installed the diesel engine. Let’s get these moved. Melissa, you get behind the wheel. We’ll push.”
It took only a minute or so to move each car. As they were hurrying back to the Suburban, Melissa suddenly stopped. “Oh, my God!” She moaned. “I just realized! We’ve been attacked with atom bombs!”
Again, Percy didn’t try to correct the errors. “Yes,” he said. “Let’s get to the estate and into shelter. We’re not near a target, but you never know what might happen.”
They’d barely settled themselves in the vehicle when Melissa looked down at her stomach and wailed. “My baby! What will happen to my baby?”
“Your baby will be fine,” Percy reassured her. “The houses at the estate… barns, too, are earth sheltered, as you know. A protection factor of well over a million. Any radiation we might get would be less than one millionth of that we’d get out in the open. There are several places inside the houses double that protection factor.
Percy held up a meter so Melissa could see it from the rear seat. “We aren’t getting anything and I have it on the most sensitive range. That occasional tick is background radiation we get all the time. Normal.”
Percy put down the meter and put both hands on the wheel. The driver of the vehicle ahead of them was flagging them down by waving his arms in the air. Percy stopped and rolled down his window.
“My car just quit and I guess we’re out of range of the cell system. My phone doesn’t work. Could you call someone for me when you get where you’re going? You are local, aren’t you?”
“Yes,” Percy said. “Normally I’d just turn around and take you to town, but this lady is ill and I need to get her home. What’s the name and number? I’ll try it when we get home. Can’t promise anything. We lose the phones out here occasionally.”
The man gave Percy the number of a hotel in the city and a room number. “Ask my wife to call Triple A and order me a tow truck.”
“I’ll do what I can,” Percy said.
“Why didn’t you tell him what was going on?” Jock asked.
“I doubt if he’d have believed me. And I’ve never tried to save the world, just my little piece of it. Your wife is more important to me. I’ll come back after I drop you off and take him into town.”
“Oh,” Jock said, looking at his still distraught wife. “I’m not thinking too straight right now.”
“I don’t like leaving someone like that, but I have my priorities. You two come first. You three.”