Upon notification that the radioactive fallout is relatively low, the governor of California boards a helicopter to survey the destruction.
Flying along the perimeter of the blast before going to its center, he thinks back to cities he read about in school that were bombed in World War II. Visually he estimates buildings were either totally destroyed or nearly so within a radius of ten miles from the center of the blast, due to the explosion itself or the shockwave that followed.
The National Guard is posted on the perimeter of the blast wearing protective clothing to minimize the effect of radioactivity. They will also be well prepared to handle crowd control, the president having promised the governor that Washington will rush ‘Silent Guardians,’ also known as ‘active denial systems,’ a joystick and computer screen innovation from Raytheon that employs wave technology to repel individuals without causing injury. That’s one thing I don’t want more of – injury, the governor thinks as he surveys the carnage. The people of California have suffered enough merely for the crime of being Americans.
One thing he is pleased about is that the president has agreed to back up his order that looters will be shot on sight. Every television station and radio station is broadcasting that information every half hour. If some jerk misses it, tough shit. After twenty minutes over Oakland and part of San Francisco, the governor directs the pilot to return to his base. He is sickened by all he has seen, and now faces the biggest effort of his political career.
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