Something to ponder on as you wander on


Some liars are born that way, some are self-made; but the really great ones are elected to Congress…
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Wednesday, July 2, 2008

END OF TOMORROWS...........

…………
Silken clouds float over the city below,, reflected in the
windows of the empty skyscrapers…Monumental works of man reaching for the sky,, all empty and silent now…The streets below are quiet,, nothing moves…The traffic lights continue their endless blinking from green to yellow to red,, but there is no car that will ever use them again…No birds in the sky,, no animals of any kind…The wind stirs the trash around…A city abandoned like every city on the planet,, a few remains of the citizens lie on the sidewalks or in the street,, some just sit forever frozen in their cars as if ready to drive away…Only cockroaches stirring about the dead,, perhaps the last creatures left on earth…A yellow tattered newspaper drifts along the gutter,, on page 1 it tells the story…

(six months earlier)
“Are we ready to broadcast yet?...Ok,, cue me when your ready”…

5,, 4,, 3,, 2……

“This is Stan Gelman with Nova and we’re here today in the Valley of the Kings with Dr Zahi Hawass Secretary General
of the Supreme Council of Antiquities,, to discuss this extraordinary new find in the Valley of the Kings…
Dr Hawass can you tell us just what is so important about this new find?”…

“Certainly Stan,, it would be of course my pleasure…We have here what we believe to be the tomb of Imhotep,, untouched and unopened for over 2000 years”…

“And what is the importance of Imhotep,, was he a Pharaoh?”...

“No,, we believe he was the master builder of King Djozer’s
stepped pyramid,, we have been looking for his tomb for over seventy years and now we believe we have found it…He is the one we believe,, that first designed the Kings pyramid and who oversaw its construction more than 2000 years ago…The secret of how it was built may lay inside his tomb”…

“How soon before you’ll be able to open the tomb?”...

“We expect to open the tomb tomorrow morning,, all the
debris has been removed and now we just have to remove the cover stone and we soon will be able to see what’s inside…We shall be the first humans to look inside since the reign of King Djozer’s,, I’m very excited”…

“Will you allow our Nova cameras to come with you?”...

“Certainly,, but only a small group”…

“Thank you Dr Hawass,, until tomorrow then”…
“This should be quite a discovery for the world,, Imhotep was the genius behind the pyramids and hopefully his tomb will be intact and can help science understand how the pyramids were built”….

(3 days later,, in the Oval office)

“Mr. President,, we believe we have a RED 3 event”…

“Where and what kind?”...

“Cairo Egypt,, Mr. President…we’re not sure of the type…
All we know right now is that 321 people have died within the last 24 hrs of an outbreak of some kind at a hospital in Cairo”…

“Have you contacted our ambassador there?”...

“He’s the one that contacted us,, he heard about it from one of his staff members that has a girlfriend who’s a nurse in the hospital”…

“What’s the Egyptian government say about the deaths?”…

“Ambassador Hillmer has contacted his sources in the Egyptian government and apparently they don’t know anymore than we do,, or their trying to keep a lid on the thing”…

(click)…”Maggie”…

“Yes Mr. President”…

“Get me Ambassador Hillmer on the phone”…

“Yes sir”…

“Ok Jim,, lets have an emergency staff meeting in 2 hours,,
Uhh,, alert the VP,, General Warner,, Bob,, and contact the
head of the CDC to make sure he’s available for a
conference call”…

“Yes sir Mr. President”…

(click)…”Mr. President,, Ambassador Hillmer is on the line”…

“Good day Frank,, what’s the situation in that hospital?...

“I’ve tried numerous times to reach Dr Abdel Gamar, who’s the administer of the hospital and I haven’t been able to reach him…About 45 minutes ago there was a news message on the radio that said the army has quarantined the whole area and are not allowing anyone in or out…not even emergency vehicles…I have some unconfirmed reports that 28 other people where taken sick and have died at a nearby restaurant which is just a few blocks from the hospital”…

“Any word from the Egyptian government or the Health Minister?”...

“No word so far,, they’ve been pretty quite about the whole thing…ah,, hold on Mr. President,, I’ve just been handed a note…ah,, Mr. President,, the note says that Dr Abdel Gamar will be making a live broadcast in 1 hour”…

“OK,, Frank…I’m going to have an emergency meeting here in about 2 hours…stay on top of this and let me know as soon
as you have more details”…

“Will do,, Mr. President…

(2 hours later in the emergency staff meeting)

“Thank you all for coming,, I’ve asked John Snyder
of Homeland Security to join us,, because we may have to take drastic measures concerning securing our borders and
may need to put all available emergency personnel throughout the country on alert”…

“What kind of emergency are we looking at,, Mr. President?”...

“About an hour ago I spoke with Ambassador Hillmer in Cairo,, the Egypt government has declared Marshall law and has closed its borders,, both to incoming and outgoing
personnel,, furthermore they have grounded all airlines and
stopped all shipping…The government has reported that there have been numerous deaths in and around Cairo,, the Valley of the Kings,, Luxor and nearby cities…The Egyptian heath ministry has alerted all doctors to report to their hospitals and to be on 24 hr call…It looks bad gentlemen… It’s a viral outbreak of some kind,, and it’s a quick killer…
Dr Williams,, what have you heard at the CDC?”...

“Its as you have stated Mr. President…There’s no other way to put it,, but to say its very lethal and it strikes quickly…I’ve been in contact with Dr Gamar,, and he informed me that he received a text message from a friend of his at the Cairo hospital…It said that patient zero may have been Dr Hawass
the Egyptian archeologist,, apparently he came in complaining of chest pains and had a high fever,, with a rash over 80% of his body…After only a few hours he passed away,, then the doctors and nurses who treated him began to have similar symptoms…Dr Gamar has been unable to contact his friend at the hospital,, and he assumes that he is dead also…One other thing Mr. President…I’ve had reports that animals are dieing also…Birds,, dogs,, cats,, donkeys,, in large numbers and just as quickly…If this virus is a cross species contaminate,, there may be no way to stop it in time,, before it reaches here”…

“What are your suggestions Dr Williams?”...

“I’m really not sure,, it may burn itself out,, or a cure may be found by the Egyptians…For right now I would get ready to
try and close our borders…But if this thing gets into the bird
population and is transmitted thru the air…Well,, I just don’t
know how we could stop it from entering the US”…

“Thank you Dr Williams,, stay in contact with your counterparts overseas and keep me informed”…

“Yes sir,, Mr. President”…

“Any thoughts gentlemen?”...

“My God ,, Mr. President…if this thing gets on an airplane it could be half way around the world in a matter of hours…
Dr Williams is right…if its an airborne virus,, and can go from animal to human then….well I just don’t see how we can stop it from entering the US”…

“The first thing we should do is to try and get a sample…
Then we might know what we’re up against”…

“Without knowing exactly how its transmitted,, I don’t
want that thing brought into the States…It may be an
airborne virus or it may be absorbed thru the skin,, or
both”…

“My thoughts exactly,, lets see where it goes from here,,
maybe the Egyptians already have a sample and can
figure out how to stop it”…

A yellow tattered newspaper drifts along the gutter,,
on page 1 it tells the story…

London England (Reuters)------
The British health ministry has just issued this
communicate: The source of the virus has been discovered to be from the burial tomb of Imhotep …
Ancient bread mold found in the tomb along with the remains of Imhotep has been indentified as what is now called the Cairo virus…Speculation is that once the tomb was opened that moisture and modern day pollution in the air caused the 2000 year old bread mold to mutate and to become the killer pandemic of mankind……..



Special editors note:
Oops,, I killed everyone again,,
I must have hidden issues……..

9 comments:

Marvin said...

I think you're just enraged and helpless. ;-)

Didn't Howard Carter die of histoplasmosis, contracted from bat guano when he opened Tutankhamen's tomb? Same deal. I always tell the wife that what mankind really needs is a nice vicious smallpox epidemic. That will reorganize people's priorities REAL quick.

gt281 said...

to Marvin:
still hoping that all humans will die before you take over huh?...

I believe Carter died from a bug bite that got infected...not a curse or anything strange...

how do you have bat poop in a sealed tomb?....Martian teleportation perhaps?...

there is no more smallpox,, except
in military labs and at the CDC...

Swubird said...

gt281:

Carter died from a fungus infection.

Keli said...

I know the Egyptians were an extraordinarily intelligent group as well as avid breadmakers. I only wish this virus had been more selective...wiping out anyone who uses less than five percent of their brain power. That would be about 3 of every 4 persons, according to my latest stupidity studies.

gt281 said...

to Keli:
Nice of you to drop by,, you must be new here...I have a bad habit
of killing my story characters...lol...
I'll try to wipeout just the French next time...

Come back again anytime,, the donuts are free...

Bob Johnson said...

Excellent, you have to make a series on this, you could like have a lone survivor with a dog that discovers a cure for a bunch of people living in a mountain side compound, then the martians could take over, just think of the possibilities.

gt281 said...

to AStroBob:
No can do,, I killed everybody...
Besides I'm sure that you'd want
royalites... ;-)
How about you doing it?...You know,, the shuttle comes back to Earth and everyone walks around in their moon suits...
I just read that their opening up
a mile long tunnel under a pyramid in Mexico,, hope they don't find
any nasty little bugs....

thanks for the read......

MYM said...

Yeah, this killing everyone doesn't bode well for you. lol

Have you ever read the book A Canticle for Leibowitz? If you haven't I think you might like it, given what you write and your love of language ... here's a wikipedia link.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Canticle_for_Leibowitz

gt281 said...

to Drowsey:
Yes I like to play with words,,
they get all squishy between my toes...
I'm afraid I don't read much,, I find it slow and boring...The last book I read was 'white fang/call of the wild' when I was trying to find something else besides moron TV...
And now I've found Blogging and spend all my time writing stories that almost nobody reads and of course having lots of fun annoying you...Isn't that great?....