Extermination Day by William Turnage Page A

Chen too glanced at the man, pausing for a second before continuing.
    “As today, D-Day, approached, I urged the general to look at evacuating the Boston area or at least issuing a warning. A few days ago he contacted me and said that there was no valid intelligence indicating any type of attack. They’d been closely tracking governments and extremist groups to see if there was any chatter, planning, or movement in the Boston area, and he said there was none. He saw no reason to create a panic by evacuating a large city. I discussed with him the real possibility that we had changed the time stream, that an attack was being planned but with all the attention on Boston, they had changed the target city.”
    Jeff knew how hard it was to get the government moving on anything, even a threat like this. There were always doubters and there were always lazy bureaucrats who didn’t want to get off their asses for anything. He could imagine what the leaders in Boston had been thinking. That if they evacuated the city and nothing happened, they would look like idiots and probably lose their jobs. Besides, what would they tell people, that a video from the future told them there would be an attack? The resulting panic would cause millions of dollars in damages and probably result in deaths as well.
    “The general felt that there was a small possibility that another city could be attacked,” Chen said. “So, as a contingency, since the president’s State of the Union address was planned for that night, he thought it might be wise to send an elected member of the government to this location for safekeeping. We are underground here, after all, and security is tight. I specifically asked for Vice President Paulson because if something were to happen, with his experience he’d be able to take charge. No offense, Mr. Madison.” Chen raised a brow at Jeff, his sarcasm clear.
    “None taken, Doctor. Paulson is a seasoned military and political veteran, and certainly able to take over the presidency at a moment’s notice, just as he has done in the last few hours.” Jeff directed a smile at the asshole, wondering if he’d get another shot at punching the old man’s face in.
    “The vice president had a scheduling conflict and apparently needed to be somewhere else,” Chen said, disgust coloring his voice. “So, I told the staff here a few days ago that we had information that a terrorist attack could happen on the fifteenth, but that we didn’t know the extent of it. I told them to warn their families but to keep it quiet to avoid a panic. Some people have simply become desensitized to warnings and chose to do nothing. Others, like Dr. Conner, quickly built safe rooms for their families in case something did happen.”
    He opened his hands, as if offering a rationale. He certainly wasn’t apologizing, Jeff guessed.
    “So I did everything I could with the information I had. If I had known the attack was going to be so extensive, then I would’ve tried to warn more people. Although I'm sure many wouldn't have believed me, and from what we’ve seen, there is really nowhere to hide from this virus.”
    “Oh, I think you could have done more, Chen,” Jeff said. “A hell of a lot more. It may be hard to get the government moving, but that’s no excuse. By the way, where is your family?”
    “None of your goddamn business,” Chen said, fire in his eyes. He jumped to his feet, though Jeff hadn’t moved any closer to him.
    As they glared at each other, fists clenched, Mullins drew his pistol and stood between them. He was an imposing figure.
    “They’ll be no more of that, gentlemen.”
    “He’s right,” Jeff said. “We need to keep our heads.”
    “What should we do?” Holly asked.
    “For now we continue with our work,” Chen told her. “Let’s head back to the control center and see how the launch preparations are going. If we can send enough information back in time about this attack, we can prepare a defense next