85 Iowa DHS&EM, Windsor Heights, Iowa, 1027 Hrs, (1527Z)

Iowa DHS&EM, Windsor Heights, Iowa, 1027 Hrs, (1527Z)

Addison was standing in a conference room off the Operations Room floor with a phone up to her ear. She was looking out across the Operations Floor at the Emergency Operations Center Manager, who was looking at monitors that were mounted on the wall above her head, frowning. "I understand, Rachel, but this guy is not listening to any advice I'm giving him. It's like he doesn't believe that I've been embedded with this group for the last six months." She smiled at Mollie. "Your intel on this group has been invaluable, Addy," Rachel said. "Don't let him bother you. So, as I'm sure you noticed," Addison missed the rest of the statement as the room was plunged into darkness. There was a collective gasp from the Operations floor as the room went dark except for the monitors and phones. A few seconds later, the generator kicked in and most of the lights came back on. "Addison?" Rachel said. "Sorry, Rachel," Addison said, glancing at her laptop. "We just lost power here momentarily. I'm pretty sure we just switched to the generator." "Ok, I'll make a note of it here. If you discover the cause, let me know. From what you've given us, and what we have gathered from the site, we are still at least thirty six hours from 'go time.' Go do your thing." Addison sat the phone back in it's cradle and walked out onto the Operations floor. "Someone call MidAmerican and see what happened and if they have an ETR!" The EOC Manager shouted. "I got it!" Someone shouted back. The EOC Manager glared at Addison. "This had better not be a trick of yours, I will have you arrested if it is." Addison had never seen the hostility in an EOC that was present in this room. The EOC Manager, Roger Yarnell, she thought his name was, seemed to be hostile toward everyone in the EOC. The director was too, but not to the level that Roger was. "Sir," Addison began, "How am I going to cut power to your building sixteen hours after I get here without leaving the room?" "You were on the inside with the terrorists, you probably just called them and told them to do it." Addison briefly wondered about the possibility of federalizing the Iowa Department of Emergency Management. "Yeah," Addison said. "I totally called them and said cut power to this one place... Get the EMA director down here, please." Turning to look at the screens, she took in the information present on them and pulled her phone out of her pocket to compare with the WebEOC dashboard in Washington. "Fine, I'll let him know that you're the reason why the building lost power..." Roger said. "Ok, you do that..." Addison said, not looking at him. She typed on her phone, sending a message to Rachel about FEMA taking control of the Iowa EMA, and about how to do it if she needed to. As an investigator, she could run any position in the room. She glanced up as the EMA Director walked in the room, his face red. "What happened to the power?" He asked Roger, while glaring at Addison. "I don't know," Roger said, "But I bet that she or that girl that's with her had the terrorists cut our power..." "Is it true?" The EMA Director asked. "Sir," Addison said, leveling her eyes at the EMA Director. "I don't have the ability to turn the power off in a building I've not left in sixteen hours. Furthermore, I'm a little dismayed by the lack of redundancy in your Power system and that will be going in my report." The EMA Director's face turned red. "I'm not sure who you think you are, but I will not be spoken to in this manner." "MidAmerican says a car struck a pole at 73'rd and Hickman. ETR is two hours..." someone said. "Sir," Addison said, looking at EMA Director. "My name is Addison Roberts, and I'm an investigator with the United States Department of Homeland Security. Now, would you like to trust me and work to stop a potential terrorist attack or would you like me to Federalize your agency and take steps to protect the lives of innocent Iowans?" "You can't do that!" The EMA Director shouted. "Someone get units from the Patrol in here!" "Addison, put me on speaker, I have Director Watson here with me." "Stand by, Rachel." Addison said, pulling her phone out of her pocket and putting it on speaker. "Ok, you're on speaker, Rachel." The first voice out of the phone was not Rachel, but Director Watson's. Two officers from the Iowa State Patrol were led into he room by a staffer. "Mr. Greenwold, This is FEMA Director Watson." Director Watson's gruff voice came out of the phone. "As of this moment I am putting Addison Roberts in charge of your EOC and Federalizing the Iowa Department of Emergency Management." "I'll call the Governor!" Isaiah Greenwold shouted. "You're overstepping your bounds!" "Actually, The Governor has been on the line with us for a little while and has heard everything." "Isaiah and Roger, I want your resignations on my desk by the close of business today. Miss Roberts, Welcome to Iowa and I'm sorry you've been treated the way you have. If you need anything at all, please don't hesitate to give my office a call." Addison motioned to the troopers from the Iowa State Patrol; they walked over. "Could you please escort Mr. Greenwold and Mr. Yarnell from the EOC, please? They are not allowed back in this room." Addison said. "Addy, We're gonna get some of the folks from the Region Seven office up to help you. Just let me know if you need anything specialized." Rachel said. "Will do," Addison said and then hung up the phone. Looking around the EOC, she realized that everyone was looking at her.