Chapter 14
8:03 AM EST days New York - The Network Control Room
As they watched the news from California, the screen went blank. “Oh my God,” one of the pages said. The engineer in the room started scanning channels and picked up their affiliate in San Diego where the news flashes were just coming in from the Los Angeles area, in southern California. The time on the West Coast was now 5:04 a.m.
Brad knew he should have been on the desk immediately broadcasting, but all he could do was sit and stare at the screen. The other monitor in the room showed his co-anchors, Nancy Arms and Catherine Kwan now broadcasting live from the anchor desk as the information was coming in from various sources around the affected areas.
The door of the control room opened and Joe Biggman entered the room. He looked over at Brad and said, “You royally screwed that one up, didn’t you?” He turned to the producer and said, “Your tirade is all over the internet now too; every word of it.” He turned back to Brad, “Where is the paper he gave you during the interview?” Brad reached inside his pocket and withdrew the now wadded up ball of paper, trying to smooth it out. Joe literally grabbed it out of his hand, smoothed it out on the counter, opened it, and scanned the information on the page. He then asked, to no one in particular, “What was the exact time of the quake?”
One of the news support gurus replied, “Exactly 7:59 EST, sir.”
Then he said, “Do we know the magnitude yet?”
“7.9 sir, and before you ask, it was centered in the exact spot that Mr. South said it would be, and as best as we can ascertain, it shook a little over 7 minutes. Preliminary data shows exactly 422 seconds.”
He looked around the room then focused his attention on Jonathon Langer again. “So, Mr. South tells Brad here that if he doesn’t air this interview then a certain amount of people will die and be injured, but if you do, then only around ten percent of that number. Therefore, instead of going with it, Brad cuts the show off. Then, Mr. South’s attorney tapes you threatening him with going to jail.” Joe looked to the others in the room. “So, we have 90% of the deaths on us because we would not air it, correct?” No one said a word. All that could be heard were the computers and the monitors. Finally, he said, “Does anyone know where this Mr. Jack South is at the moment?”
Jonathon piped up, “I think he is sitting on the couch in the interview room where we left him.”
“Well that surprises me. Why is he there, may I ask?”
“Well, I told him I was sending a tape to Homeland Security and he would be placed under arrest. I told him not to leave.”
“What did he say?”
“He basically said that when this was all over, I would be lucky to get a job hauling garbage in Jersey.”
“He’s probably right. Anything else?”
“Yeah, he gave everyone the Pick 3 and Pick 4 numbers for the New York drawing tonight.”
“Well, considering his track record and your unemployment as of now, I suggest you go buy a ticket. You may need the money.”
Finally, he turned his attention to Brad. “Okay, here is what we are going to do for damage control. See if you can get Mr. South on the air, live, and let him tell his story. Mess this up, Brad and you will be like this idiot,” jerking his head towards the former producer, “Who no longer works here, and will never work in TV again as long as I am around.”
Joe then stormed out of the room slamming the door behind him.