Sweetness in the Dark (10 page)

“I call this meeting to order. Let the minutes show that the Idaho Working Group of the American States Security Compact is in session. As outlined in the Charter of the ASSC, we are responsible in times of national disaster to oversee the continuation of a civil society here in Idaho. Governor, it’s officially all yours now,” the Idaho governor’s Chief of Staff said as he opened the meeting.

Paul and Ed sat at the table waiting for the governor to begin. They both knew that Idaho had taken action to protect the state’s power grid and civil society in general. When the Congressional Commission on Electromagnetic Pulse had issued their report in 2002, everyone expected the Federal government to act quickly to protect the nation.

The EMP Report outlined the effects of an EMP/CME event. The number that stuck out over everything else was an estimated ninety percent fatality rate for America. As the report stated, an event would mean that of the roughly 300 million people living in the United States, 270 million would die from violence, starvation or lack of medical care.

The Federal government had digested the total report and by 2007 had done nothing. Whenever an action was introduced in Congress to widespread support, representatives would attach riders to the measure, pushing funds for alternative energy or some other popular-sounding spending scheme.

After five years of inaction, Idaho state officials had decided to stop waiting. The governors of Idaho and Montana were the initiators of an Intermountain States Agreement. The two states agreed to work together to solve problems from an EMP event.

Wyoming and Utah soon joined in the effort, and by the end of 2007 a common approach had been reached. The four states outlined several additional things that would happen over the next four years.

First was the establishment of a tax credit in each state for the power utilities to harden their generation facilities, power lines, transformers and control units. This technology had existed for decades, ever since the military had discovered the EMP effect of nuclear weapons.

Military hardware was routinely hardened to protect it from attack. The will was needed to spend the money to add protection to the power grid. Paul had estimated that the typical Idaho household would spend thirty cents extra each month for a protected system.

Next, the four states began requiring all trains passing through their jurisdictions to be hardened. Shielding was added to protect the vital electronic parts in the locomotives. The railroad companies again were won over with tax credits for their efforts. Trucking companies were also added to the list requiring them to harden their rigs against attack.

With power and transport protected, work began on keeping the food production functional. Again tax credits were offered to farmers to harden their farm equipment against an electronic pulse. Each state set up and trained inspectors to make sure that trains, tractors and trucks were in compliance for their earned tax credit.

The last major thing that was needed was a source of oil to keep the four states operational. The governors sent a delegation to North Dakota to appeal to them to join their effort. With the huge oil and natural gas discoveries in the state, North Dakota and Eastern Montana would supply the fuel, diesel and natural gas to move and heat the five states.

North Dakota was ready to join and brought South Dakota along with them. The six states all signed a new intergovernmental agreement setting up the Intermountain State Security Compact or ISSC.

That was when Paul and Ed had met each other. Both were on Idaho’s Working Group, evaluating the state’s effort in reaching its goals. Much had been done to prepare for the day the sun attacked earth. At least part of the country might survive.

For General Ed Gale, Commander of the Idaho National Guard and Dr. Paul Kendall, Economic Advisor, it had been a quick one-day stay in Bruneau. Both men had gotten their children and grandchildren settled onto the Kendall ranch.

Paul’s dad had shown him the supply of food they had stored around the farmhouse and root cellar. It would be needed along with a number of farm animals on the ranch to survive the coming ordeal.

Besides Paul’s two children and Ed’s two grandchildren, John Ewing had brought his three kids. He had also brought Julie, one of his students at Pine Mountain. She was a University of Oregon student from the East Coast. All the other staff and students were from the Pacific Northwest and had quickly made plans to walk or bicycle home. But John couldn’t bring himself to leave Julie, as he knew she would never make it back to her home.

She was happy to have a safe place and showed her gratitude by taking on the duty of watching the small kids. Along with Paul’s parents was Paul’s grandfather, all living in the old homestead. Amanda’s presence made a total of fifteen individuals sharing the space. Everyone squeezed into the rooms as best as they could, all glad to be together.

Everyone, that is, except John’s daughter Brittany. She was still mad that her mother had been left in Eugene. No amount of explanation could convince her that her mother had chosen to stay behind. Being around her cousins and grandparents helped her adjust, but a lingering rage at her father simmered below the surface.

Consequently, John volunteered to drive Paul and Ed into Boise. Amanda joined them on the pretext of returning to her job as the Meridian mayor’s assistant. Ed was antsy to get to National Guard Headquarters, and upon arrival, discovered that the governor had convened a meeting of all his top officials. Boise was quiet at the moment and the four traveled to the Statehouse.

Amanda and John were sitting in the back of the meeting room when the governor gaveled the meeting open.

“OK, I need some answers. I see we finally have General Gale here. Good to see you survived, Ed. Where are we with getting security in place? There are still too many reports of mob attacks coming in,” the governor said.

“Governor, I only briefly checked in at headquarters before I came here. I’ve been two weeks getting back to Boise from the Salmon River. I can personally report that there are mob attacks going on. Dr. Kendall and I fought one off near Riggins. But there’s also citizen security in some towns. Our veterans are stepping in the breach and putting valuable experience on the line,” Ed said.

“Good, we need more of that. I want you to get the word out that we need every veteran in the state to volunteer. All of our efforts over the past four years will amount to a hill of crap if the criminals take over,” the governor said. “Dr. Kendall, I’m glad to see you lived through the experience. I’m expecting answers on how we get our economy back up and running. We need to show we’re in control and things are getting better.”

“We’re way ahead of those states that did nothing to prepare. Even the states that are the last ones to join our Compact will be ahead of those still waiting for the Feds to finally respond,” Paul said.

The original six states had been joined in 2009 by Nebraska, Oklahoma and Kansas. In 2010, the States of Texas, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, Iowa, North Carolina, South Carolina, West Virginia, and Louisiana had all inquired about joining. They soon passed the necessary legislation to be admitted by the following year.

At that same time, Arizona, Nevada and the Canadian Province of Alberta had sought admission. Arizona was a problem since it wasn’t contiguous to any other member state. If Nevada joined, that would solve Arizona’s problem, but Nevada balked at the member states policy that only priority facilities would be served with any limited electrical power. Since casinos were way down the list of essential services, Nevada was reluctant to join.

Alberta was assured that in any emergency they would be included, but the member states were reluctant to enter into any international agreement which would assuredly raise strong objections in Washington, D.C. Alberta went ahead and passed all the same requirements as outlined by the ISSC. Manitoba and Saskatchewan soon joined Alberta in a three-province consortium.

By the time of the sun’s attack, Colorado, New Mexico, Virginia and Florida were the only holdouts in forming a continuous area from the Old South through the Intermountain West that was protected from the CME. Even parts of other states had seen the action being taken by their neighbors and attempted a local solution.

The State of Oregon made no official effort at protecting anything. However, the local county governments of Eastern and Southern Oregon worked with their utilities to strengthen their local power grids. Northern California, always at odds with the powerful legislature in Sacramento, followed the local Oregon counties lead and worked to improve their power grid.

Parts of Virginia, New Mexico, Colorado, Ohio and Indiana all saw independent local communities working hard to protect their citizens in spite of a lack of foresight by their state governments. Even parts of northern Florida saw local governments work for their own protection.

But the Northeast was ripe for disaster. An area stretching from Minnesota through Michigan, Illinois, New York, Maryland and New England had state governments that put their faith in Federal action. Equally dependent on a Federal response, the West Coast was stymied when the CME hit. All were to feel the full brunt of the EMP.

“I’m afraid that Sid Smith didn’t make it back. His plane was scheduled to fly from New York to Boise on P-Day,” the governor said.

“P-Day?” Paul leaned over to the woman sitting beside him. He forgot her name but knew she had been at these meeting from the beginning.

“Pulse Day. Just our little abbreviation,” she offered.

Paul turned back to the governor’s remarks.

“As you’ll recall, Sid was my Science Advisor and was instrumental in getting many of the protections in place that we have. He will be missed,” the governor said. He bowed his head and everyone joined in a minute of silence. Many people had been killed outright when their planes lost power in flight and had plummeted to the ground. Paul shuddered at the thought.

“Mr. Governor. Might I suggest a top person here that might be willing to fill in until a new science advisor is named,” Ed said. Paul looked at him in surprise. “Dr. John Ewing is an astrophysicist with the University of Oregon, but he grew up in Idaho, so we won’t hold the Oregon thing against him.”

“Dr. Ewing, please come forward. Are you willing to join our advisory group until we find a replacement?” the governor asked.

John walked up to the table. “Governor, whatever needs to be done, I’m at your disposal.” John moved to the spot offered.

“OK, let’s go around the table and everyone give me a five-minute picture of where we’re at,” the governor started.

The first was General Gale’s adjutant. He had attended the meetings in Ed’s absence and gave the security report. The Search and Rescue Units of each county had been activated and had seen good response. Some members had stayed home to protect their families, but the majority had reported. Now armed with personal weapons, these units were the local security needed to help the police and sheriff’s offices maintain control over the criminal elements.

The adjutant continued reporting that road blocks had been set up at the predetermined positions to stop people from wantonly roaming through the state. This limited any armed gangs from wandering around the state and confined them to known areas. Regular troops were being brought in to deal with these threats.

Troops were being moved on the local trains and trucks still running. If not killed outright, any criminals arrested were transported back to secure holding facilities. After ‘the Pulse’, the Governor had immediately declared martial law for the state, so anyone disobeying the law could be incarcerated immediately.

“McCall is being brought back under control. We have had quite a problem up there, but it appears that the few remaining thugs have escaped up into the hills. That may work until this winter. If they come down, I think the locals can handle it,” the adjutant finished.

Next to report was the Communication Advisor. She reported that the state phone system was slowly coming back on line. The State of Idaho had worked with the phone company to have a limited hardened switching capacity ready. Consequently, the state was in contact with local county officials soon after P-Day.

“Yes, I got a call through to Helena yesterday. And the lines to Cheyenne and Salt Lake City are open, so we’re in touch with our adjoining states. I can report that our phone tree with all twenty states is generally working. News is a little slow to get here, due to only one person to report to, but we have at least some picture of the situation in each state,” the governor added.

The Food Advisor stated that with the hardened local trucks, food was being distributed to local schools where food centers had been set up. An inventory of all the food in the state was almost complete, and as long as people didn’t get tired of potatoes, there was enough food to get through the winter.

But everything depended on the safety of the trucks delivering the food. If the system broke down because of security, then people were going to suffer.

“And northern Idaho, any reports?” the governor asked.

“As we discussed long ago, northern Idaho is untenable. With no natural barrier between Spokane and Idaho, we knew mobs of people would flee the city and head into the rural parts. We’ve set up secure lines along the Montana-Idaho border because of the mountains. Also, the Clearwater River line is defended and we’re ready to blow the bridges at the first sign of trouble,” the adjunct offered.

The adjutant added, “Eastern Oregon has performed admirably. They have communication by shortwave radio with our headquarters and they have taken steps already to cut off access from the Willamette Valley. The John Day River bridges have been blown and the Columbia and Snake River bridges from Washington are out. Southwest Washington and Eastern Oregon have thrown their lot with us.”

“That’s good news. If Portland and Seattle send their millions our way, we’re all dead. We barely have enough food to take care of our citizens. But remind the front lines that any veterans or people with essential skills like farming or machining skills should be considered for admittance,” the governor said.