Author's Note- Well it looks like ate all of the reviews for last week's chapter. Only Bookwormly review made it through. Despite the mix up, I hope that everyone enjoyed it. Also thanks to Prunua for Betaing this chapter.
Disclaimer- Don't own Hetalia…or any nuclear weapons for that matter.
Chapter 10-Out of Rubble
It was a quarter to eight and Canada rubbed his eyes again, stifling a yawn. He couldn't afford to fall asleep now, not with so much work to do. After all, America had decided to not only come up with an ambitious plan, but also an incredibly ambitious timeline. He was planning on rebuilding Alaska before winter set in a few months. The goal made sense from a community sustainability stand point, if they didn't get people into houses before the snow flew again, the citizens of that town would have to be relocated, but such a massive construction project would be one of the most challenging construction projects America ever undertook.
"What do you think about focusing our dock repair resources towards Whittier?" Canada was jerked from his thoughts by America's simple question.
"What?" Canada asked, his mind not following his brother's line of logic.
"What do you think about us focusing our dock repair ships and supplies on the town of Whittier? Out of the four large warm-water ports, Whittier is the only one with a functioning dock and the current reports seem to indicate that the rail spur wouldn't take too much to repair." America explained.
"I believe it would work." Japan agreed.
Canada let his eyes scan across the damage reports for the various communities. He noted the fact that Whittier was the only warm-water port in Central Alaska that still had a functioning dock. He also noted that while the rail line from Whittier to Anchorage was nearly intact it had dropped several feet in elevation. Now the railway tracks would be underwater at high tide. Canada decided to point out the problem.
"You do realize that the train tracks will be underwater half of the time."
"Then we will simply have to schedule are train runs based on the tides. Boats do it all of the time so I don't see that much of a problem. Besides," America smiled, "if we open up Whittier, we can get the supplies to make all necessary repairs to the port of Anchorage. That way it can be running at full capacity by the time the ice melts."
California wasn't a morning person. If he had the choice he would go to bed sometime after midnight and wake up past noon. Unfortunately when you are in a hospital, you are forced to follow their rhythm. That means that means a lot of rude awakenings when the other state in the room goes into cardiac arrest. This time the alarm went off after nine in the morning. California couldn't help but groan as he turned over holding his pillow over his head.
Despite the insensitively of his action, California wasn't intentionally being callous. He was sore, jetlagged, and exhausted. He also didn't really know his 'younger sister' very well. To California, Alaska had always been a frigid icebox with a tiny population. The state's only saving grace seemed to be her abundance of resources. Alaska had fish, coal, oil, metals, wood, and a list of other commodities that the industrial world desired that could be cheaply shipped south on large ships.
Despite the seeming inexhaustible list of natural resources California still couldn't figure out why America decided she was ready to be a state, and the aftermath of this recent earthquake only seemed to support his viewpoint. Still, Alaska was technically family, which meant he was required to treat her with a certain level of courtesy. Once Alaska's heart was once again beating in a strong even rhythm and the medical staff had left the room, California spoke up.
"So, I am guessing that you are pretty new to big earthquakes." California said with confidence. "I know they are rough, but you don't need to worry about them too much. We get them all the time in California and America has gotten pretty good at responding to them. In fact…"
"Don't give me that crap." Alaska hoarse voice cut him off.
"What crap?" California asked taken back.
"That you know what I am going through right now." Alaska said as she pulled her blanket tighter around her shoulders and squeezed her eyes shut. "Hawaii tried to do something similar when Novarupt went off, and it was a complete lie then, too."
"Novarupt?"
"The largest volcanic eruption so far this century."
"And it occurred where?"
"In Kansas." Alaska said sarcastically. "Come on, Novarupt is an Alaskan volcano."
"I had no idea…" California admitted.
"Most people don't." Alaska said flatly, as she struggled to sit up. "Half of the time it is a struggle to convince other people we exist, so it is not to shocking that you haven't heard of any of our past disasters."
The two states drifted into silence for a few moments. California picked up his book and started leafing through the pages until a metallic clatter on Alaska's side of the room startled him upright. He glanced up to see the younger state transferring herself from the bed into a wheelchair.
"Wait, where do you think you are going?"
"Outside." Alaska said as though it explained everything.
"You are not supposed to do that."
"Bite me."
Without another word, Alaska was maneuvering herself out of the room. In shock, California stared at the state's retreating form. Then he swore and got out of bed. As California went to chase down the medical staff he could help but mutter under his breath.
"America and Virginia are going to kill me."
If there was one thing good about America's house that Canada had to admit, it was that he was prepared for nearly everything. His twin had everything from a small aircraft hanger to a nuclear bomb shelter on his property. So Canada supposed that he shouldn't have been surprised that America had a fully operational communication center in his own home. Now that Canada had used the communication center to touch base with his provinces, he knew why America had built it. There was something incredibly satisfying about sending messages over teletype in your pajamas.
Stretching, Canada stood. Then turned off the machines and walked down the hall towards the guest room that America reserved for him. He was distracted by the sound of someone banging on a typewriter in America's office. Curious, Canada peeked his head inside the door to see his brother working away on a document.
"I've finished up my teletype conference and it shouldn't take me more than a few minutes to get dressed. We can head to the hospital in about a half an hour." Even as Canada spoke, America continued to type fully focused on the page in front of him. "What are you writing?" Canada asked as he grabbed a few documents off of America's desk.
"A speech." America said defensively as he snatched back the sheets of paper.
"For whom?" Canada pressed.
"For the U.N. Quarterly Meeting." The way that America grinned as he spoke seemed to indicate that Russia would not be happy with the contents of the speech. "Also, I know that Europe usually hosts the spring meeting, but I arranged to move it to Washington D.C. I also managed to move it up it up two weeks in light of the recent earthquake and tsunami."
Canada had been nodding along until the timing of the U.N. meeting hit him. "America, are you crazy? That means that the meeting starts tomorrow!"
"Yep, and all of the arrangements for it should be completed by the end of the day."
The conference room was overly warm and a bit stuffy, but it was a welcome escape from the cold drizzle outside. America sat in an uncomfortable government chair near the podium and scanned his notes as the rest of the nations gradually entered the room. Normally at such a meeting, America would have been at the door greeting them, but today he left that duty to Canada and England. He had much more important things to focus on.
Ever since the end of WWII the two superpowers, the United States and the Soviet Union, had been locked in a cold war. The nuclear weapons that both nation possessed began the period of tension, but also inevitably became the reason neither country could directly attack the other. Instead the two made the rest of the world their battleground, each nation involved in a delicate dance rhetoric and humanitarian aid, alliance and espionage. If America played his cards right, the Good Friday Earthquake could help change the balance of the Cold War.
America stood and cleared his throat. Slowly the chatter in the room quieted. Once the room was silent, America began to speak.
"Thank you all so much for being willing to shift the location for this quarterly UN meeting on such short notice." America paused slightly for dramatic effect, and let his eye sweep across gathered nations. "As all of you know, North America has recently experienced a major natural disaster. On March 27 at approximately 5:36 pm local time, Alaska was hit by a major earthquake. As a result Anchorage, a major international air hub, was severely damaged by ground shaking. The earthquake also caused a devastating ocean wave known as a tsunami. This tsunami completely destroyed five major ports in Alaska and British Columbia as well as damaging ports from the Aleutian Islands to Hawaii." America paused again, taking a sip of water before continuing.
"The exact number of deaths caused by this disaster is unknown and it may never be known because so many of its victims were swept out to sea. That being said, we do know that fatalities were remarkably low. There are fewer than 50 confirmed deaths, with an additional 100 or so listed as missing and presumed dead. The agencies of United States government are crediting the low death toll to our nation's prior preparation for emergencies.
"As many of you who live around the Pacific Rim already know, America has been on the forefront of tsunami warning systems. Since the deadly tsunami spawned by the large earthquake in Chile four year ago, we have made it a priority to give every nation in the Pacific timely tsunami information so that they can evacuate as many citizens from harm's way.
"The other factor that saved hundreds if not thousands of lives in this disaster was America's air readiness. Since the 40's America has placed a high priority on its air force capabilities. This paid off significantly during this disaster. Not only was Alaska able to maintain air military readiness when many ports and other facilities were damaged, but the U.S. Air Force, the Alaskan Air National Guard, and the Civilian Air Patrol was able to reach every damaged community within 24 hours of the earthquake. Even now those same groups are currently flying badly needed supplies from the continental U.S. and Canada to the affected areas of Alaska. This mission is arguably the greatest humanitarian mission that America has undertaken since the Berlin airlift, and like that airlift of old, America has proven that they are up to the task.
"This said, I am not telling you that responding to this earthquake has been easy. Alaska has a number of unique challenges caused by the cold weather, steep topography, and relative remoteness. These challenges are creating a number of inconveniencies for the international community. I know that the fact that Fairbanks is currently the gateway to the polar fight route is causing increased costs and delays in international fights worldwide.
"I also know that Soviet Union has expressed some concerns that the new flight paths will infringe on their sovereign airspace. Though at this time it the fear may seem unreasonable, the United States is committed to recognizing the Soviet Union's concerns. To do this the U.S. Air Force has increased the number of patrol flights along North American airspace, allowing the U.S. Government to guide civilian aircraft into Fairbanks International Airport with greater precision. Are there any questions?"
Russia raised his hand and it was pretty clear that he was about to open his mouth to speak…America didn't give him a chance.
"Great, then I would like to open this conference with a new initiative. As you all know in recent years the Soviet Union and I have been involved in a friendly competition, colloquially known as the space race. This is a scientific." England interrupted with a cough was sounded suspiciously like a laugh. America glared at the older nation and continued. "It is a scientific endeavor that has the opportunity to benefit everyone at this table. The United States would like to sponsor an international program to study earthquakes and tsunami in the hope that we may someday be able build earthquake proof communities and possibly even predict future earthquakes."
"Why now?" China needled. "There are hundreds if not thousands of earthquakes every year. Many have significantly more deaths, yet it takes a relatively small earthquake on your own continent to actually lower yourself to recognizing them."
"Japan, why don't you explain why this recent earthquake is so scientifically valuable?" At America's request, Japan made his way to the podium and pulled out a large stack of notes.
"In the past decade there have been two earthquakes that have been unique. While these two earthquakes have not measured particularly large on the Richter scale, these two earthquakes have caused massive destruction to infrastructure and spawned tsunami that have been felt around the Pacific Ocean. America and myself have agreed that performing and in depth study of this most recent earthquake could not only help us understand the properties of earthquakes and tsunami's but also greatly expand our understand of the earth itself."
"How would it tell us about the earth?" France asked, his interest piqued.
"Well," Japan couldn't keep himself from smiling as he spoke, "it turns out that earthquakes produce a number of different types of waves. Each of these waves can only move through specific types of substances…"
After a full day of U.N. debates most of the nations had been sent back to various hotels or embassies that they were staying at. America, Canada, England, and Japan went to America's house for a beer and a good night's sleep. As the four nations sat on one of America's sagging couches, Canada could tell that his twin was clearly exhausted. Despite that, America did look rather pleased with himself.
"So do you think the rest of the world bought your argument?" Canada asked the question that was on the back of every ones minds.
"It is too soon to tell for sure," America said soberly as he put down his beer bottle on the coffee table, "but I think most of them believed our story."
"It probably helps that you actually admitted to having a natural disaster." England commented. "After all, the Soviet Union refuses to admit that it has any weaknesses. You showed them pictures of the disaster site and talked about rebuilding. All Russia does under these circumstances remove the demolished town from the map and pretends that it never existed."
"Even when the earthquake was large enough to spawn tsunamis that destroyed lives and properties far from their borders." Japan added quietly.
"Hopefully everything will work out." America sighed and picked up his drink again. "Because if it does, then we can hopefully stop fighting in Vietnam soon and fight over international aid instead."
Historical Note- The Cold War refers to the conflict between the western powers and the communist world which lasted from 1947 to 1991. The bulk of the conflict was between the United States and the Soviet Union. Due to the fact both countries had nuclear arsenals direct conflict between the US and the USSR would have lead to worldwide destruction, so the countries found proxy battles. These include four wars the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Yom Kippur War, and the Soviet War in Afghanistan.
In addition to actual on the ground battles, the US and the USSR also competed with scientific and humanitarian goals. This competition lead to the space race, the green and megafarm revolutions, and the creation of the fast planes on earth. On the humanitarian side, both countries worked to prove that their ideology was superior by providing food, to poorer or disaster stricken areas of the globe. The two of the largest humanitarian airlifts (the Operation Vittles in Berlin and Operation Helping Hands in Alaska) were born out of this competition.
End Note- Did you enjoying the story so far? Leave a review.
Next Chapter- War, Waterlines, and Paper Flowers- The Vietnam War begins to demand more and more of America's attention. England and Canada are forced to return home in order to care for their own domestic issues. Alaska is released from the hospital which allows America to gain a better understanding of her unique skill set.