“We’re not sure what the population of the capital is right now. One guess is that the population is about a third of what it was when the war started. We know a couple of hundred thousand got out in time. Yet some have moved in from outlying areas. There hasn’t been any form of a census in years. Add to that the significant increase in people taking their own lives, and we just don’t know.”
“Okay, that makes sense. I know I’d find it difficult to tell you how many families still live in my neighborhood. At least half the homes are empty.”
With that, they both went their own ways. Carl entered his office and let out a sigh. He knew he couldn’t agree more with Jan: this was terrible. It wasn’t how he had ever imagined his life.
Carl moved to the window in his office, just in time to catch sight of a helicopter just after it lifted off from the Northwest wing. In all the terrible news of the last three months, choppers coming in from and leaving for the port city was one of the few pieces of good news. The UN had managed to secure safe passage for medical-evacuation flights to the port city. Carl had gotten some expectant women and sometimes their families on those flights. In addition, some of the seriously wounded military and civilians were able to leave with family members. Once in a while one of the medical team members would stay behind for one flight, giving their uniform for someone to wear in order to get them out of the capital. These efforts weren’t enough, but they were something. In one of his more selfish moments, Carl thought, I need to get my family on one of those flights.
He could see another chopper from his window. A couple of blocks to the north of the hospital was “embassy row.” Most of the foreign governments that had an embassy in the country had them within a few blocks of each other. They often were housed in what had at one time been mansions of the well-to-do, when most of wealthy lived near the city center. Only a few embassies were still open. Those which remained were getting their expatriates out by using the chopper provided by the US government. That aircraft was just leaving the American embassy. Carl was a little concerned as he watched both choppers—their flight paths appeared to be very close to one another.
He turned away from the window and began assessing his office. It was large and the furnishings were meant to let visitors know the occupant of the office was important. There was a time when Carl would have climbed over anyone to be named the head of the hospital. Those days were gone; he had changed. He wasn’t willing to trade having power within the hospital for his relationship with his wife and kids. The war had taught him that material things, position, and power could be swept away very quickly, as could loved ones. He would hold tight to his family. Everything else just didn’t matter.
He was now in a place he had not chosen for himself. While Carl was considered by most, if not all, the head of Hartman-State Hospital, he wasn’t in the traditional sense. About eight to twelve months earlier, the exodus from the capital had begun in earnest. As the staff dwindled, Carl’s leadership skills became apparent. He became the de facto head of the hospital. When his own family failed to escape, he went to work consolidating the four major hospitals into one, due to the staffing shortage. The other three hospitals maintained an ER, but not other services.
5:55 PM
Captain Jeremy Trent snapped to attention and gave Stephen a crisp salute as Stephen opened the door to his townhouse. Captain Trent’s uniform was spotless, the seams as precisely ironed and as crisp as his salute. Lean and tanned, the captain looked the part of a recruiting poster.
“Captain Trent, sir! I am to be your driver and escort for the next few days.”
Stephen returned the salute and judged the captain to be in his early thirties. If he had guessed the captain’s age correctly, it would have made him a recent graduate of Stonecrest when the war started. Stephen noticed a wedding ring on the captain’s left hand.
“The salute wasn’t required, Captain, but thank you for the courtesy. Please come in,” said Stephen, smiling. “Have you had dinner, Captain?” asked Stephen as the captain entered the foyer.
“No, sir, but.…”
Before the captain could finish, he was ushered into the dining room and to a seat. Within moments, the extra place setting was on the table, followed with a hot, home-cooked meal. While the fare was simple, grilled marinated chicken breast and wild rice with steamed mixed vegetables, it was as good as the company which followed.
Captain Trent and Stephen quickly became friends. They spent the evening having a couple of beers and talking about shared interests, including history and American football. Stephen offered Jeremy the use of his guest bedroom for the night, but the offer was declined, since Jeremy hadn’t yet packed.
6:32 PM
Sam was surprised to see several people enter the east entrance of the Annex. Three had entered as she rounded the corner from the square, and another four or five entered before she traveled the city block from the square to the door. She could see more people apparently heading toward the door from various points within her field of vision. What’s going on? she thought to herself.
No sooner did Sam have that thought than she noticed they were all carrying instrument cases. Was there a concert coming up? As she mentally reviewed the museum’s schedule, she couldn’t think of any formal use of the Annex; after all, most of the government was in exile.
“Good evening,” greeted an older gentleman as she reached the door, and he held it open for her. Sam’s self-appointed doorman was thin, almost to the point of being gaunt. The idea crossed Sam’s mind that maybe she should hold open the door for him, but he seemed to enjoy the opportunity to be of help. The man had a full head of hair which was snow white, and fell neatly groomed to his shoulders. Sam knew of a dozen women who would be jealous of his mane. Sam started to reach for her badge, but it didn’t appear that anyone else had shown one, and this gentleman wasn’t going to ask to see her ID.
“Thank you very much, and good evening to you too,” she responded cheerfully. Sam was grateful. The door was massive, made of thick oak planks. While it wasn’t nearly the size of the front doors of the former cathedral, Sam appreciated the thoughtfulness.
Once inside, she was a little taken aback by the grandeur and detail. It had not been expected in a back hallway. She had been in the main area of the Annex many times and had just assumed the non-public areas would be less grand. The hallway was very wide, maybe eight to ten feet. The floor was slate, the walls limestone. A great deal of the limestone was carved. Some of the carving appeared to be purely ornamental, while other carvings were possibly of some religious nature.
She followed Dr. Spencer’s instructions, taking a left here at one intersecting hallway, and a right at the next. With the keen eye of an archivist, Sam noticed some details that others might have missed. It was apparent that in some locations in the various hallways, placards had been removed, or empty niches. In other cases, something had been sandblasted away. While Sam was curious, she was also on a mission and might investigate later.
Dr. Spencer had boxes of documents and all types of other artifacts moved to the Annex, as his team determined what should be placed in the vault. These items had all been rejected; while they might have been deemed important in another time, there just wasn’t room for them in the vault.
The basement of the Annex actually had three levels. While it had been built on the surface levels to be a neo-Gothic church, the basement levels housed more modern devices, like HVCA units, huge electrical panels, and a maze of storage rooms. Looking for her proof might be a little daunting, but at least Dr. Spencer was a man who believed in organization. The various sections were labeled “A,” “B,””C,” etc., then by aisle number and shelf number. He had told her that he thought what she was looking for was between section “JJ” and “MM” on the second level. With that information, Sam should be able to limit her search to a reasonably small area of the complex.
CHAPTER