RJ couldn't help but notice all the activity going on as they headed away from the temporary chopper pad and traveled towards the base of the mountain. “Things look busy,” RJ pointed out.

“Yes Ma'am, ever since General Fitch took over. Within three weeks of his getting here, they'd tripled the number of people working here. This continues night and day.”

“It seems to be a long drive from the chopper pad to the facility,” RJ noted.

“True, but the pad is temporary; eventually there'll be several permanent ones near the west tunnel entrance but unfortunately, they won't be available until most of the construction is completed.”

“What kind of security do you have here? I haven't seen any guards.”

Parker responded, “There's a perimeter fence one mile out. Your aircraft didn't start descending until you'd cleared it. There are two gates, manned round the clock. Guard and dog patrols inside the perimeter. The rumor I heard is that the orders are to shoot anyone who breaches the perimeter. There are also more guards at the tunnel entrance.”

Parker drew to a stop in the central tunnel and they took the elevator down to the Command Center. General Fitch was sitting at a desk in the back office, working on a computer.

“Sir, Doctor Anderson is here,” Parker announced.

Fitch stood up and held out his hand. “Glad you're here, RJ.”

“Thank you, Sir.”

He shook his head. “Feel free to call me Matt; you aren't military anymore.”

“Okay, Matt. Are things always this hectic around here?”

“Yeah, this is about normal. I've been here three months, and if anything, things are getting crazier.”

As they spoke, RJ was surveying the setup. The command center measured about twenty-five feet square, and there were computer monitors everywhere. Four seats were congregated around a large central console and each station appeared to be identical.

One of the stations seemed to be configured for communications and monitoring external environmental factors. The second monitored internal systems, including the reactor. The third was for controlling the sleep chambers. She couldn't determine the purpose of the fourth station.

“Okay RJ, are you ready for the grand tour?”

“Sure, let's get started.”

Stepping into the hall, RJ was immediately aware of the thick blanket of dust in the air.

“When this complex was first built, there was going to be a total of about eight hundred people working here. We're now planning for ten thousand. Over the past three months, we've been enlarging everything. The Health Center is now twenty times larger than it was just three months ago. The mess hall is fifteen times larger, and we've added a second level specifically for food storage. There are several warehouse-size freezers, all with multiple redundant systems. There should be enough food stored for your team for about two years.”

RJ was impressed with the amount of work that had been accomplished in such a short amount of time.