Curtain Fall: Second Edition, Disaster, Preparedness, Survival, Awakening (The Gatekeeper Book 1) Read Online Free PDF Page B

main coverage, plus one local channel.”
    “Sure. No problem.”
    “And I haven’t forgotten that I owe you lunch. Will today work? I like to settle my debts quickly.”
    “I don’t know,” Terry said with mock apprehension, “us tech folks don’t like mingling with you money types. It’s like the enlisted mixing with officers.”
    “Ha ha,” replied John. He knew Terry made that comment because he also served in the Army, if only for a few short years, but it was enough for Terry to get the training he needed to land himself a comfortable civilian job in the tech sector. John sighed and added, “But maybe you’re right. How about I just order you a pizza and have it delivered to your office?”
    “You do that and your internet access will never work again.”
    John laughed out loud and said, “Okay, so lunch it is. Let’s do the corner deli, and eat in the park. It’s a nice day today. Plus, that way we can talk shooting strategy for the upcoming team shoot. How about 12:30?”
    “That’ll work for me. The lobby?”
    “Yes.” replied John.
    “Before you go,” added Terry, “Did you get that new holster you were talking about?”
    “I did, and I’ll show it to you at lunch, but I gotta go. I’ll catch you later.”
    “Okay, see you then.”

J ohn hung up the phone and glanced at his clock. He saw that he had about five minutes before the staff meeting was to start, and he had yet to review his notes, so he quickly pulled opened his briefcase and laid the spreadsheets on his desk. As he sorted through some of the supporting files, he happened to glance up and see a familiar image on the silently running news channel across the room.
    The screen momentarily jumped back to the newsroom, and then back to what looked to John like a shot of the Old’ Faithful geyser at Yellowstone National Park. A female news reporter, dressed in a warm looking light- blue parka, with a yellow scarf wrapped tightly around her neck, occupied center screen. She was gesturing behind her with gloved hands, and she appeared harried, even nervous.
    John grabbed the TV remote and released the mute, and then thumbed the volume to a higher setting. When the volume reached a discernible level, he stood and dropped the remote on his desk. He just managed to catch the last few seconds of the reporter’s delivery, but it was enough to make the hair on the back of his neck and arms stand up.
    Now unrestrained, the reporter’s voice continued with, “. . . an increased level of seismic activity in and around the Yellowstone Caldera. However, I’ve just learned from the USGS that the increased activity is nothing to be concerned about. The recent tremors, though more powerful than they have been in many years, are not unusual given the area’s long history of seismic activity.”
    John’s immediate impression was that she was lying. Well, not actually lying, but she definitely wasn’t telling the whole story. He knew thisbecause she wasn’t very good at masking her body language. She was emotional, scared even, and could barely contain herself on the camera.
    He wondered what she wasn’t saying, and why it upset her so much. There was clearly more to the story than she was allowed or willing to say. John was captivated by the report, and he continued to read everything he could, taking it all in, processing what he saw and felt, and looking for patterns.
    The image on the screen returned to the newsroom, and the anchor, also a female, but older and much more distinguished and in control of her emotions, asked, “Is there any reason to be concerned about what’s happening there, say a possible eruption even?”
    For some reason the reporter seemed irritated by the anchor’s question. It was as if the dreaded question was finally asked, and she really didn’t want to answer it. John thought it was a good question, but he could tell it was canned. Still, America was watching. The reporter from Yellowstone National Park said,