Chapter 55

A Nation in Turmoil

Three weeks ago,

May 17th 2026, 2:42 P.M. EST

Secretary of State, Marsha Kelly was walking down a hall, flanked with numerous artifacts given from various world leaders since the founding of the United States. They were all priceless. However, none of that caught her eyes. She was worried.

For the first time since 9-11, the nation was under attack.

A pair of DS agents led her through a side door. They walked through classified passages only used a scant few times in the nation’s history. As Secretary Kelly walked down dark corridors, flashing red lights that lined the passageway periodically blinded her eyes. She felt the adrenaline pulse through her veins. Her eyebrows were lowered and knit together, eyes blinking and constantly traveling along the length of the wall as she bit her lip. The muted taste of metallic blood brought her focus back into the present.

Why was this happening? She kept repeating. There was no end to the questions. Just moments ago, she had been in a meeting with the President’s Chief of Staff—another Chinese jet had blared into Japanese air space. The dispute over the Senkaku Islands had been heating up to historic heights, but that was the least of her worries now. Something baffling was now demanding her attention.

First, inexplicably a holographic interface had thrown itself into her view. She thought for a moment it was a prank, but that technology was still currently under wraps with the R&D arm of the Department of Defense—it wasn’t anywhere near the White House—and the technology was still highly confidential.

Then, the President had declared COGCON ONE, completely skipping the second and third levels, and activated the contingency of government plan. The timing of the holographic interfaces and the President’s move… concerning. Now, she was being whisked away through underground passages to the Presidential Emergency Operations Center. Luckily, as far as she was aware, the President was already on his way to the Marine One Hanger.

Herself on the other hand was on route to meet with the Vice President and other members of the cabinet underneath the White House. While the President was being evacuated, emergency decisions would have to be handled by those left behind. Time was of the essence—whatever the situation might be.

She was rushed into the PEOC and greeted by its stainless-steel walls, glaring monitors decorating the entire scope of the large room. In the middle was a long steel table meant to host the President and government officials. However, at its head wasn’t the President, but his Vice-President, Cory Stump.

The man was frazzled, his old age clearly taking the better of him. However, Marsha certainly didn’t expect anything more of the man. After all, he was only chosen as a Vice-President to unite the more radical elements of the party. In an emergency? He was the last man Marsha would have wanted to oversee critical decisions.

Around the table were the Joint Chiefs, National Security Council, Homeland Security Council, as well as several other members of the cabinet, having already arrived before her. The Secretaries of State, Treasury, Defense, Agriculture, Transportation, and Education. All the others had been away from the White House performing assigned duties. Of course, those were likely moot now. They were already routing the cabinet officials and members of the Emergency Relocation Groups who weren’t present to alternative evacuation points across the nation. If this is as serious as I’m beginning to think that it is.

“Cory!” she yelled, exasperated at the sight of the Vice-President being unhinged. “What the hell is going on!?” She knew it might be out of turn—especially considering her use of his first name—but considering the stress she was under; she was in no mood for soft words or subtlety—being forcibly pulled into the PEOC a strong contributing factor.

The Vice-President’s eyes regained their focus, only long enough to look over towards the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, General David Miller, standing directly to his side. As Secretary Kelly quickly appraised General Miller’s calm and commanding appearance she sighed in relief, now that was a man that’s taking charge.

“General, please,” Martha pleaded—which she rarely did—as every other individual in the room turned their gaze towards the General, looking for some sort of explanatory answer.

General Miller stepped forward, he opened his mouth, and, as though the words had been rehearsed dozens of times, announced the situation. “At approximately 1442 local time, several wormholes opened in the skies above Washington D.C. At 1443 reports streamed in from every major city across the nation. At 1444, following a brief debriefing of the President COGCON 1 was declared—which means that should things escalate, evacuations will commence. The wormholes have lingered in the skies for the past several minutes—remaining inert. However, energy levels are showing a slowly increasing frequency in its energy resonance. We expect this resonance to peak within the next half hour. Threat level is unknown. Cause is unknown. Whether the result of a national adversary or something of extraterrestrial origin is also undetermined; however, all conceivable preparations are being made according to CONPLAN 9321-6.”

General Miller paused for a moment, and Secretary Kelly took the opportunity to survey the faces around the room. Urgency was rife across everyone’s faces. All except the Vice-President. His hands were currently clasped together, and harsh whispers of frantic prayer emanated from his mouth. For all his ineptitude… This level of detachment was particularly concerning considering he was currently the de-facto President of the room, she thought.

“CONPLAN 9321-6 is activated should an unidentified object be discovered making hostile overtures over multiple major American population centers. FEMA has been activated and shelters being erected in predetermined locations across the nation in the event of a mass exodus should the situation deteriorate. Government officials are being evacuated in anticipation of a potential cataclysmic scenario. As of now, the Congressional Leadership is en route to the Mount Weather Emergency Operations Center in direct accordance with COGCON ONE.”

General Miller then took a step back and resumed his position behind the Vice-President. Everyone sat in relative silence, with some exchanged whispers. Secretary Kelly stared daggers at the Vice-President, but he was utterly absent. No one was taking charge, and Marsha would be damned if she let the country fall apart when she was in a position to do something about it. She knew that the President was likely out of the communication loop until he was airborne. That left the Vice-President in charge.

Secretary Kelly stared daggers towards Vice-President Stump, she exhaled. He was useless. An absolute buffoon. The practice of choosing an inept Vice President to make the sitting President look better was irking her to no end. Especially today. This was the worst of times to have an incompetent Vice-President.

She stood from her seat, resolved to take charge, “General Miller we need to probe those wormholes. We need to know now whether or not they are benign or belligerent in nature. Then, we need to send out an EAS to evacuate the cities to designated shelters away from these wormholes. If things go South, we need to save as many lives as possible. If we fail to react, the fallout could be enormous. I’d rather be overly cautious than fatally optimistic.”

The General glanced slightly towards the Vice-President, before turning, and smiling towards me, “orders received Madam Secretary,” he responded.

The General promptly began ordering aides to deliver the communications to make it happen.

Secretary Kelly paused for a moment, before making one final request, “General, until NAOB and the President are online, direct information to us; we cannot lose even a second of the time we have. If these resonances are counting down to something, then we need to be ready for when it reaches its climax. We cannot wait for the President. Activate the reserves, get planes in the air, and get these people evacuated, proper line of authority be damned. If I am relieved of my position once the President returns, then so be it.”

A nod from the General, and then shouting across the room from various Departments Heads, Military Officers, and Government Officials. America was racing to react in time.

Several minutes later the first substantial reports began streaming in. Rapid response of FEMA at predetermined locations across the nation was currently underway, National Guard regiments, Army Reserves, and the Air Force were being scrambled. Already news of mass hysteria was being reported across the country’s major cities and population centers. Before Secretary Kelly’s eyes, the nation was falling apart. The worst part of it? The wormholes had yet to do a single thing beyond their accelerating pulsing.

Additionally, calls were made to begin the withdrawal of America’s military from around the globe. With the situation facing the homeland, the armed forces received orders to cease global operations and return the military to the nation’s interior. If this was a false alarm, then the United States would be humiliated across the world stage.

However, if their worries proved justified, then they were screwed the moment those portals appeared. That was because it would take at least a week to recall the entire military apparatus of the nation. But at least the first waves of forces should return within a matter of hours.

It was a nightmare scenario, and Secretary of State, Marsha Kelly was at the center of it all, and she was all too aware of it. Years of peace, of complacency, had resulted in a state of unpreparedness. The absurdity of the matter didn’t help either. Only twenty minutes had passed since the first reports of the wormholes appearing above American cities. Already there were three hundred—and counting—locations where they had appeared. If this was an attack, then Marsha was already fearing the worse—the collapse of the nation that had once been hailed as the arsenal of democracy.

She shook her head to rid herself of the thoughts. Ever since she had begun issuing orders just moments ago, the rest of the cabinet had begun to look towards her as their primary source of leadership in this nightmare scenario. The Vice-President was effectively out of the picture as he continued his mental breakdown.