Unfinished Business
Lorenzo Guardiola sat in the forward stateroom of the nuclear submarine USS Mendocino, still in shock when told about the preceding event just ten minutes ago. Ten minutes ago, the submarine experienced a massive shockwave, which threw him out of the bunk of the guest stateroom. Ten minutes ago, the people of Alaska saw the rise of a second sun. Ten minutes ago, the US Space Command in Cheyenne Mountain Arsenal saw what it never wished it had seen. Ten whole minutes ago, the Four Horsemen galloped through the lands of Planet Earth. It would never be the same again for the CEO of Vault-Tec Corporation and a previously another distinguished business visitor, Mr. Lorenzo Sarzinho Guardiola Jr.
Shining rays poured into the porthole of the now deathly quiet "boomer" which sailed normally through the now sterile Pacific Ocean. The grand irony failed to strike into the brain of the sub's Captain, Janson Murakama. He continued to give orders as though everything was normal. Behind the steely visage, Lorenzo thought lay the heart and soul of a brave man, which defied the mad order of his penultimate CINC, the now probably dead President. Capt. Murakama had refused to arm his nukes and send them into the heart of Beijing, Forbidden City. He had obeyed the ultimate law. The law of the land. The Constitution. Lorenzo walked around the silent red-lighted control room. The digital panels that replaced the timeless gauges blinked endlessly with data streaming in from anyone of the five outer sensors of the submarine, including the ELF antenna, which the nuclear order had come. Why did all you arseholes had to blow yourselves up? He pondered aloud. He pondered again. He stopped. There was one thing he suddenly remembered he hadn't done. He pulled out an enhanced PIPBoy satcom transceiver, its compatriot satellite hardened against any gamma pulse. The PIPBoy figured smiled at him as he activated it. He grimly smiled, as he fought back memories of the golden age of humanity, which was all-permeable barely twenty minutes ago. The green screen popped out and the little figured gave him the thumbs up. Video feed established with Vault-102, Oahu Island Sector Four............ The feed opens.
"Bzzzt... Zzt........Renny, is that you?" a teary eyed woman mumbled. Lorenzo was relieved and a tonload of worries dropped from his back
" Carmen, thank God you made it to the Vault. How, how.. dddiidd.. did you know that the nukes would fall?
" Sgt. Gomez was at our house around two hours ago. He had orders to evacuate the whole shoreline in case of tsunamis, you know when nukes blow up in the sea...Oh Renny, Mikey and Felicia missed you. We had just closed the inner Vault doors when the earth started shaking .It was awful, the kids were crying and the old folk were simply lost for words. It was lucky that Sgt. Gomez and the 3rdLID/443th company were stationed inside too. They helped to comfort all of us. The Vault computers told us not to open the blast doors for at least 3 months ........Dammit Renny, how are you going to get back here?????I can't bear to see you die outside like god knows how many............" Carmen continued to blubber. Lorenzo could see the titanium alloy plated walls of the Vault behind his wife. He made a promise to his wife that he would return.
"Bzzttt..........click!"
Lorenzo turned around and saw Captain Murakama and his XO Gabriel Harrington II watching intently. The Captain walked towards him and put his arm around Lorenzo's shoulders. Consoling him, Janson stripped off his rank and told him in straight terms that they would head to Oahu Island and surface.
" I've got nothing left except this craft and my crew. Duty demands that I safeguard their security and well being. I will never abandon them. Say, Mr. Guardiola, do you know the exact capacity of Vault 102?" Janson queried.
" Look Captain, I don't exactly remember but I don't mind you guys coming with me. It's the last thing I can do for this once-mighty nation."
Answered Lorenzo.
"So it's decided. I'll tell the crew; oh and at our current speed we will be in periscope view of Oahu Island in approximately one hour."Janson moved his hand over the controls, caressing it as he spoke.
One Hour Later
Klaxons ringing in the background, USS Mendocino lifted her periscope out of the water for the first time. Oahu was about 80km away and closing. All crewmembers including Lorenzo and Janson wore the silver gray T-51B Powered Armor with rad containment systems and filter air recyclers in preparation for the arrival. Gabriel, the XO, did a final check before steering the vessel towards a seemingly rocky coast. With the information newly received from surviving elements of the Hawaiian Sea National Guard, he guided the sleek black "boomer" into a magnetically shielded underwater dock. The field deactivated as the sub glided in. Newly constructed two years ago. The dock contained a hardened survival bunker for the HSNG officers on duty. Janson took control and gave the order to surface for the final time in his long yet checkered career.
"Gentlemen, welcome to Oahu" he said, with a flourish and a bow. The sub's technicians started the process of shutting down the systems they knew by heart all these years. The rest of the thirty crew members dismantled all the valuable parts and cannibalizing it for use in their new home, Vault 102. Stoves, portable fusion packs and even the torpedoes and nuke warheads came off. Janson planned to leave the sub with just the bare minimum, engines only. The communications systems were uninstalled too.
There was a knock on the hatch. Janson went to the ladder and hit the "open" button. Down the ladder climbed a man wearing an olive-green combat armor suit with a bronze collar. He saluted the whole lot and identified himself.
" Lt. Williams, it's an honor meeting you. I am Captain Janson Murakama of the USS Mendocino, this is my XO, Commander Gabriel Harrington II, the CEO of Vault-Tec Corp, Mr. Lorenzo Sarzinho Guardiola Jr. and the rest of my crew,"announced Janson.
Within two hours, the entire decontamination procedure was done. Lorenzo was surprised when Lt. Williams led them to a seemingly dead end of the small kitchen of the survival bunker. He watched in amazement as Lt. Williams pushed a particular tile and the entire wall opened to reveal a lift. CEOs evidently knew the same as the next man. The lift reached the bottom and the doors with VT emblazoned opened to reveal cool air and fresh smelling scents. Before him, his eyes gazed upon the finest scene he had seen for his whole life. His family. He saw Carmen rush towards him with the kids in tow. Janson and his crew saw Sgt. Gomez and the company of troops. Lorenzo Sarzinho Guardiola Jr. looked at Captain Janson Murakama, USN and smiled. He was home. They were all home.
Lorenzo Guardiola sat in the forward stateroom of the nuclear submarine USS Mendocino, still in shock when told about the preceding event just ten minutes ago. Ten minutes ago, the submarine experienced a massive shockwave, which threw him out of the bunk of the guest stateroom. Ten minutes ago, the people of Alaska saw the rise of a second sun. Ten minutes ago, the US Space Command in Cheyenne Mountain Arsenal saw what it never wished it had seen. Ten whole minutes ago, the Four Horsemen galloped through the lands of Planet Earth. It would never be the same again for the CEO of Vault-Tec Corporation and a previously another distinguished business visitor, Mr. Lorenzo Sarzinho Guardiola Jr.
Shining rays poured into the porthole of the now deathly quiet "boomer" which sailed normally through the now sterile Pacific Ocean. The grand irony failed to strike into the brain of the sub's Captain, Janson Murakama. He continued to give orders as though everything was normal. Behind the steely visage, Lorenzo thought lay the heart and soul of a brave man, which defied the mad order of his penultimate CINC, the now probably dead President. Capt. Murakama had refused to arm his nukes and send them into the heart of Beijing, Forbidden City. He had obeyed the ultimate law. The law of the land. The Constitution. Lorenzo walked around the silent red-lighted control room. The digital panels that replaced the timeless gauges blinked endlessly with data streaming in from anyone of the five outer sensors of the submarine, including the ELF antenna, which the nuclear order had come. Why did all you arseholes had to blow yourselves up? He pondered aloud. He pondered again. He stopped. There was one thing he suddenly remembered he hadn't done. He pulled out an enhanced PIPBoy satcom transceiver, its compatriot satellite hardened against any gamma pulse. The PIPBoy figured smiled at him as he activated it. He grimly smiled, as he fought back memories of the golden age of humanity, which was all-permeable barely twenty minutes ago. The green screen popped out and the little figured gave him the thumbs up. Video feed established with Vault-102, Oahu Island Sector Four............ The feed opens.
"Bzzzt... Zzt........Renny, is that you?" a teary eyed woman mumbled. Lorenzo was relieved and a tonload of worries dropped from his back
" Carmen, thank God you made it to the Vault. How, how.. dddiidd.. did you know that the nukes would fall?
" Sgt. Gomez was at our house around two hours ago. He had orders to evacuate the whole shoreline in case of tsunamis, you know when nukes blow up in the sea...Oh Renny, Mikey and Felicia missed you. We had just closed the inner Vault doors when the earth started shaking .It was awful, the kids were crying and the old folk were simply lost for words. It was lucky that Sgt. Gomez and the 3rdLID/443th company were stationed inside too. They helped to comfort all of us. The Vault computers told us not to open the blast doors for at least 3 months ........Dammit Renny, how are you going to get back here?????I can't bear to see you die outside like god knows how many............" Carmen continued to blubber. Lorenzo could see the titanium alloy plated walls of the Vault behind his wife. He made a promise to his wife that he would return.
"Bzzttt..........click!"
Lorenzo turned around and saw Captain Murakama and his XO Gabriel Harrington II watching intently. The Captain walked towards him and put his arm around Lorenzo's shoulders. Consoling him, Janson stripped off his rank and told him in straight terms that they would head to Oahu Island and surface.
" I've got nothing left except this craft and my crew. Duty demands that I safeguard their security and well being. I will never abandon them. Say, Mr. Guardiola, do you know the exact capacity of Vault 102?" Janson queried.
" Look Captain, I don't exactly remember but I don't mind you guys coming with me. It's the last thing I can do for this once-mighty nation."
Answered Lorenzo.
"So it's decided. I'll tell the crew; oh and at our current speed we will be in periscope view of Oahu Island in approximately one hour."Janson moved his hand over the controls, caressing it as he spoke.
One Hour Later
Klaxons ringing in the background, USS Mendocino lifted her periscope out of the water for the first time. Oahu was about 80km away and closing. All crewmembers including Lorenzo and Janson wore the silver gray T-51B Powered Armor with rad containment systems and filter air recyclers in preparation for the arrival. Gabriel, the XO, did a final check before steering the vessel towards a seemingly rocky coast. With the information newly received from surviving elements of the Hawaiian Sea National Guard, he guided the sleek black "boomer" into a magnetically shielded underwater dock. The field deactivated as the sub glided in. Newly constructed two years ago. The dock contained a hardened survival bunker for the HSNG officers on duty. Janson took control and gave the order to surface for the final time in his long yet checkered career.
"Gentlemen, welcome to Oahu" he said, with a flourish and a bow. The sub's technicians started the process of shutting down the systems they knew by heart all these years. The rest of the thirty crew members dismantled all the valuable parts and cannibalizing it for use in their new home, Vault 102. Stoves, portable fusion packs and even the torpedoes and nuke warheads came off. Janson planned to leave the sub with just the bare minimum, engines only. The communications systems were uninstalled too.
There was a knock on the hatch. Janson went to the ladder and hit the "open" button. Down the ladder climbed a man wearing an olive-green combat armor suit with a bronze collar. He saluted the whole lot and identified himself.
" Lt. Williams, it's an honor meeting you. I am Captain Janson Murakama of the USS Mendocino, this is my XO, Commander Gabriel Harrington II, the CEO of Vault-Tec Corp, Mr. Lorenzo Sarzinho Guardiola Jr. and the rest of my crew,"announced Janson.
Within two hours, the entire decontamination procedure was done. Lorenzo was surprised when Lt. Williams led them to a seemingly dead end of the small kitchen of the survival bunker. He watched in amazement as Lt. Williams pushed a particular tile and the entire wall opened to reveal a lift. CEOs evidently knew the same as the next man. The lift reached the bottom and the doors with VT emblazoned opened to reveal cool air and fresh smelling scents. Before him, his eyes gazed upon the finest scene he had seen for his whole life. His family. He saw Carmen rush towards him with the kids in tow. Janson and his crew saw Sgt. Gomez and the company of troops. Lorenzo Sarzinho Guardiola Jr. looked at Captain Janson Murakama, USN and smiled. He was home. They were all home.