Chapter 88
4:00 PM CST Day two of 1260 Kansas City, Missouri - Old Municipal Airport
John Roddenberg’s plane landed at the old Kansas City Airport downtown. It was used primarily as a commuter airport since KCI opened in the late seventies. The good thing about this airport was that it was located in downtown, about a ten-minute drive to the Bear affiliate on Broadway. He waited for transportation to the city.
On the flight down, he was finalizing the 5:30 p.m. Bear National News that he would anchor on-site at the Liberty Memorial Park in Kansas City. With the help of South’s people, they had set up an anchor desk with all the equipment, on the north side of the stage, which was enclosed in bulletproof glass. Tonight, Wednesday, and Thursday nights, the broadcast would air from there.
Tonight’s show would be extended, and had been advertised all day as a two-hour special from Kansas City. This would give a good look at the mass of people already there, and in some cases, those who had walked from as far away as Columbia. Columbia was where the federal government had shut down the highways except for transportation of goods and local residents. They also had placed on the spot reporters in all seven threatened cities that Jack had said would feel the wrath of God on both the eastern and southern coasts. Each on the spot reporter would be reporting on the plight of the people there and interviewing local politicians about the plans they had made.
Another part of the two-hour special would be focused on the Camp David meetings in Maryland. Even though there was a tight lid on the proceedings there, their reporter would report from outside the gates and speculate as to what was occurring.
In addition, there would be footage of the mess in California, which under normal circumstances, was where he would be. But California may well pale in comparison to the carnage that would be experienced on the coasts over the next few weeks. Besides, the real news was here, especially after Jack took the challenge of the panel yesterday, and predicted the volcano in the Pacific Ocean, on the spot. He was the most sought after news since either 911 or the Kennedy Assassination.
They also had reporters in the Middle East and Africa reporting on the rain that had already started today and the repercussions to that entire region. It had been raining between the coordinates Jack gave since this morning.
Chester Nichols, the Bear News weatherman, had been in consultation with academics all over the world today to decide on the far-reaching effects of all the weather changes. John knew that today the North Pole registered a whopping eight degrees above normal for the entire day, and based on satellite imagery, you could start to see small spots of ice breaking up near the costal ice sheets.
The only thing missing from the news was Jack and his location. The viewers wanted to know where he was and what he was doing. After he had left the building on Monday, no one had heard anything about him at all. It was as if he had disappeared.
John knew though that Reverend Marks was there in Kansas City overseeing the setup of the Rally and working with the local government – and now the federal military machine – in setting up for Thursday’s Rally. They were trying to track the Reverend down to see if he had any comments for the special.
Other news events today were unprecedented. The SEC had suspended the stock markets as well as oil trading in the U.S. There was no timetable as to when they would reopen.
The Europeans were bailing on U.S. stocks; especially treasury notes. The Chinese almost caused a run on the banks. Gold went up over two hundred dollars more an ounce. Trading of gold was also stopped, not only here, but in Europe as well.
The highways in Texas, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, and on the east coast were now jammed with cars and trailers expecting the worse. They were moving to different parts of the country they felt were safer, even though some still had several weeks to evacuate.
There was speculation that the Smithsonian was trucking valuable items from displays and moving them to safer quarters. It was the same in D.C. and other areas of the country. The Metropolitan, as well as other museums in the east, were taking items and possibly trucking them to safer places. There were no specific news sources to confirm any of this other than that the Smithsonian and the Metropolitan were going to be closed as of next Monday until further notice.
Amazing, one day ago he had to create news, now he could barely cover it.
His thoughts were interrupted by one of the stewards, who said, “Mr. Roddenburg, your chopper is ready. Please follow me.” Hmm he thought, the roads must be blocked.