Surge Forward (Book 2 of the Sheffield Chronicles) Read online

  Surge Forward

  Book 2 of the Sheffield Chronicles

  Nate Castle

  Contents

  1. Aftermath

  2. Staycation

  3. Educate Yourself

  4. Wayfarin’ Stranger

  5. Build, Builders, Buildings

  6. Wrong Side Of The Tracks

  7. There’s No ‘I’ In Team

  8. Twisted

  9. Trouble Is His Middle Name

  10. Hardly Presidential

  11. Ace In The Hole

  12. Memory Loss

  13. Caravan

  14. Worth The Gamble

  15. White Picket Fence

  16. Comatose

  17. Popsicle Stick

  18. Screw Politically Correct

  19. Hell Breaks Loose

  20. Are You Fired Up?

  21. Exit Strategy

  1

  Aftermath

  “Just tell me honestly, I can’t decipher all of this medical jargon. Is he gonna live or not, it’s a simple question?” Garrett said to Dr. Sumesh. It was two weeks after the incident, and they were at a downtown hospital.

  3 Weeks Earlier

  If you asked Logan Sheffield, about his outlook for the year 2037, he never could have fathomed what a shift his life would take. When the aliens created a surge to disable the cell phones in the United States that killed God knows how many hundreds of thousands of people, Logan knew from that point on his life would never be normal again.

  Simple pleasures such as sitting down at the TV to watch a ball game was no longer an option, as there was no more NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB. Sure, a handful of players from these leagues had survived the alien attack, but most had perished. To make matters worse, one couldn’t even turn on the TV and peruse through the stations to find a show that looked interesting. There was only one available channel and that was the local news channel, which had been able to reboot and restructure after the alien attack had put its anchors out of commission.

  Logan was thankful for a couple things though. First, he was thankful that Shelby McNamara was in his life. He had met Shelby six months ago, when survivors of the attack congregated at the White House to enact a survival plan. They were now dating and couldn’t get enough of each other. Shelby had the ability to find a positive in any bad situation. Second, Logan was thankful for the fact that he was making a direct impact in the world. In Logan’s job when he was living in the Pacific Northwest, his job description was a Data Analyst at the Department of Motor Vehicles. He would spend all day behind a computer looking for patterns and similarities that he could report on about how to make improvements to the workflow structure at each local office. Making decisions on things like: ‘If we have two employees working general inquiries desks and three handling driver’s license inquiries, when we get a rush of customers does it make sense to add another employee from the back room or simply shift a driver’s license employee to a general desk. It was a bunch of bullshit and everyday he went into work and tried not to show his peers how much he hated his job and thought that it was a complete waste of time and energy.

  Putting that life behind him, Logan could see the direct impact he was having. He was a key player in defending the White House from the aliens and their crafts. His bravery and ability to make quick decisions on the spot, catered to the group being able to disable and kill all but one of the aliens. After saving the U.S. from total destruction, Logan and a group of a thousand others decided to stick around the White House and help with the cleanup efforts. After all, the White House had blown up, when Hank, for the greater good of everyone’s survival, had lined it with C4 and ignited a blast to slow down the aliens.

  Logan felt like a he was the foreman of a construction company; there were so many physical labor tasks that needed to be completed. He made a list and ordered the tasks from most important to least important and assigned specific crews to work on the tasks, while he oversaw the whole operation, but also dabbled in some of the manual labor himself. At the top of the list was filling in the sinkhole that surrounded the White House, so people could once again enter and exit the grounds on foot or by vehicle, rather than having to leave through means of a helicopter.

  The sinkhole was too massive to fully repair so he decided to do it in sections, with the overarching goal being to get two usable entrances/exits to the White House. It was a challenging task because the team that Logan assigned to repair the hole couldn’t simply fill it with something and call it good because the hole was too deep and they didn’t have a crane at their disposal. Instead, the team found ways to build a platform, if you will, inside of the hole and secure the platform to the each wall of the hole. The platform was created using steel rods that were remnants of the frame of the White House before it blew up. After the platform was in place, a few of the guys were able to locate a cement mixer truck about a mile away. They drove the truck as close to the sinkhole as they could and began funneling cement onto the platform. What resulted was a makeshift two lane bridge, that a car or person could now safely cross.

  A second order of business that Logan placed importance upon was stocking up on food and other necessary supplies. This project occurred simultaneously with the sinkhole one and so in order to bring food back to the White House, Logan constructed a zipline mechanism. Groups who left the White House grounds via helicopter returned with semi trucks full of nonperishable foods from local grocery stores that had been deserted following the attack. Items were placed in a crate that was secured to the zipline and with a forward momentum, the crate would make it to the other end of the line that was connected to a tree on the White House side. Logan estimated that they now had enough food on hand to last about nine months.

  Next on Logan’s list was research and development. Six months ago when they were able to ‘defeat’ the aliens, all of the alien crafts but one were disabled. This was a major asset, Logan figured, because now they could study the crafts, possibly even reverse engineer one, but also study the dead aliens in the crafts. This newfound knowledge would be a huge asset to have, if god forbid a new group of aliens decided to attack again. Logan constructed a temporary building around the alien crafts in order to get them out of plain sight. It would have been impossible to transport the crafts to another location, especially since the only option on the grounds would have been in the tunnel under the White House, since the White House was no longer structurally intact.

  Logan assumed that many of those who stayed at the White House to assist with the aftermath of the attack were mainly there for their own piece of mind. It was ‘strength in numbers’, and they felt safer here in the event of another alien attack, then elsewhere in the country where they were on their own. Some stayed though because they wanted to make a difference. You had Garrett who was transporting people and goods via helicopter on and off the property. Carter was in charge of scheduling and coordinating the use of the aircraft and choppers that they had on site.There was Hank who drew up new blueprints for a rebuild of the White House without any guidance. Sierra and Christina were spending tireless hours in the ‘lab’ running tests on the alien bodies and their crafts. There was Sumesh who perused the Eastern seaboard to locate enough doctors and nurses to bring back to DC and reopen hospitals. General Kaplan located and set up the thousand tents that were needed to house those on the White House property. President Taylor was coordinating with other big cities to set up camps to house survivors by providing the resources and manpower that they needed to create a ‘safe haven’ similar to the one at the White House. Shelby and Noel were dabbling in a bit of everything, but most importantly, they went
around to the different workstations and kept everyone’s morale up.

  “Hey bud, let me talk to you for a minute,” It was President Taylor who approached Logan.

  “For sure Big T, what’s up?” Logan replied.

  They had been through so much together that Logan was no longer calling him sir and was comfortable calling him by a nickname.

  “I would like for you to take a break from this for a bit. You haven’t had a lick of sleep in the past six months,” President Taylor said.

  “Well there isn’t jack-shit to do here besides help with the cleanup effort. It’s not like I’m just gonna go in my tent and not come out for a few days,” Logan said.

  “I realize that, which is why I’m offering you my place in Nantucket. I want you to go there and stay for a month or two. You know, enjoy the peace and quiet and try to have a ‘normal’ stress free day for once,” President Taylor said.

  “Geez, that’s a generous offer T, but I think there is too much going on around here for me to dip out.”

  “And it will all be still going on when you get back. Take as much time as you need and when the time feels right again you can head on back. You should bring Shelby with you too, she will be a nice distraction.”

  “Okay I’m not going to argue with you on that one. How will you get ahold of me if there is an emergency?”

  “The house is equipped with satellite phones that are linked to the White House secure line. I had someone rewire the phones a few weeks back, so although I don’t currently have an office, I at least have a phone,” President Taylor said.

  “Alright, I will pack a few things, gather Shelby and be ready to go within thirty minutes. How will I get there, chopper?”

  “Yeah I have Carter on stand-by with the Air Force Two chopper,” President Taylor said.

  Logan nodded at President Taylor and left White House lawn. He last saw Shelby in the research and development tent, so he decided to check there first. When he walked into the tent there were approximately 75 people hunched over tables, examining microscopes or whatever the new and improved version of a microscope was called. These things weren’t the handheld deal that were used in high school science class, but rather each one of these ‘microscopes’ was the size of a small car and you didn’t have to squint one eye to look through it because there was a large LED screen that magnified whatever was being examined.

  It didn’t take Logan long to spot a woman with natural bleach blond hair standing at 5’9 with glowing green eyes and a contagious smile. She had taken a liking to Logan’s new look. In the past he used to don a well-groomed chinstrap beard with a brown crew cut that never got long enough to look messy, but lately he had let his hair grow long enough to become curly and gave the babyface look a try, with no noticeable facial hair. When he wore a flat bill hat, all that was missing was a pair of sunglasses with multi-colored lenses hanging off the back, for him to be mistaken for a pro baseball player. He was 5’10 and hadn't yet reached the stage in life yet where he had to watch what he ate.

  “Hey sorry to interrupt, but you and I are going to take a little staycation, be ready in fifteen minutes okay?” Logan said to Shelby, who was hunched over a table examining what appeared to be an alien body part.

  He had gotten used to seeing this sort of thing on a daily basis over the past six months, but to an outsider, it might be a traumatizing experience. For that reason, the tent was guarded with a security team who would only let people in that had the proper clearance. New arrivals at the White House, those who weren’t present for the battle with the aliens, were not allowed in the research and development tent unless they demonstrated that they had a specific skill that would be invaluable.

  “Ok? I’m going to trust your judgment and not ask too many questions,” Shelby said.

  One of the things Logan loved about her was how easy going she was; she wouldn’t throw a fit if she didn’t get her way, and she thought things through first rather than blurting out the first thing that popped into her head. This made for intelligent conversations and very little arguing.

  Once packed, they walked to where the Air Force Two chopper was parked and got on board. To Logan’s surprise, President Taylor was buckled into one of the seats, apparently he would be accompanying them to Nantucket.

  “I just want to check on the house and make sure it’s still intact and that the security system is operational. I wouldn’t feel comfortable dropping you off there if it has been compromised,” President Taylor said.

  “Makes sense, I guess you can never be too careful,“ Shelby said.

  But for Logan, it didn’t make sense. What was the real reason the President was accompanying them?

  2

  Staycation

  “The house looks secure, y’all are good to go. Enjoy the peace and quiet while you can,” President Taylor said to Logan and Shelby.

  They were at his Nantucket estate, which was a very impressive 5,800 square foot home, with a path that led from the backyard directly to the beach. The house was shingled with a light brown accent and a very fitting modern design for the area it was in.

  “Is there anything else we should be aware of, Big T?” Logan said to President Taylor.

  “Yes, I wanted to tell you this in person, which I why I came along for the ride. I will be stepping down as President when I get back. I will appoint General Kaplan to the position. I’ve thought long and hard about this.”

  “Oh for god’s sake,” Logan said, with a tone of displeasure,“You knew that if you told us this back in DC, we wouldn’t have left the White House to take this little vacation.”

  “Precisely,” President Taylor said, “I want to try to start a life with Sierra, you know live it up while I still have the chance. Also, the guilt of being acting President and not being able to do anything to stop our country from being attacked by aliens, keeps me up at night.”

  “Are you talking about Sierra the science chick? The one who helped Christina make all of the superchips?” Logan said.

  “Yes, it’s been a secret for awhile, but we grew quite fond of each other over the past six months.”

  “So what happens when the US is attacked again, you’re just gonna be chilling on a beach in some remote island and look the other way, pretend like it’s not happening?” Logan was angry.

  “No, I’ll still be around. I might not reside at HQ, but I’ll be there when needed. I just can’t handle the burden anymore of being President, but don’t worry I’m not going anywhere.”

  President Taylor stuck his right hand out towards Logan to initiate a handshake. Logan accepted the invite. It was the type of handshake that close friends would do, rather than a business transaction handshake; one where the hands are in a vertical position and the participants can choose to pull the other guy in close for a modified hug following the shake.

  “General, let’s go for a walk,” President Taylor said. He had just returned to the White House and found Kaplan standing inside the Research & Development tent checking up on the operation.

  “What’s up?” General Kaplan said.

  “I’m appointing you to be the President, if you’re up for it. I appreciate everything you’ve done these past six months and I can’t think of a better man to be in charge,” President Taylor said, and proceeded to explain to the General his reasoning for stepping down from office.

  It was hard to tell if General Kaplan was thrilled or not to have newly added responsibility, but there weren’t really any logical alternatives to him accepting the President’s offer.

  “We will make a formal announcement this evening,” President Taylor said.

  “How close are we to being able to fly one of these things?” Garrett said to Christina.

  Garrett was of medium height with flowing red hair, the type of guy that could pull off the messy hair look even in formal situations, simply by removing his camo ball cap and swiping with one hand to the right. He was the scrappy guy that you always wanted on your
team when a fight broke out for his sheer ability to connect with a left hook, but also had a huge heart.

  “If we had to we could fly one right now, but I’m not comfortable with all of the controls yet, I wouldn’t feel safe doing so,” Christina said.

  They were in the R&D tent standing next to the large alien craft that Garrett was referring to.

  “This could be a game changer for us, having the ability to fly these crafts around. It would save loads of time in terms of getting from point A to point B. Also, I’m pretty sure that we could fit a few hundred people in each craft, maybe more,” Garrett said.

  “How do you figure?” Christina said.

  “Well, once inside the craft there’s one of those deals that disrupts the space/time continuum and basically produces an alternate reality. So to the human eye, it looks like there is room for a craft to hold about 30 people, but it can actually hold 15 to 20 times that amount,” Garrett said.

  “You’ve been watching too many movies Garrett,” Christina said.

  Noel, who had been standing nearby overhearing the conversation interjected, “Have we figured out what makes the craft run, like what can we use as a fuel source?”

  “I did the best I could to duplicate the individual parts of an alien craft. It’s not perfect because some of the metals used on the craft don’t exist on Earth yet. To make a long story short though, after doing a bunch of tests, I am pretty certain that the craft is powered by Biomass. This is good news because there are many different ways to create Biomass fuel, it can be made from things like woodchips, certain farming crops, and even waste produce,” Christina said.