“They won’t, Mr. Secretary,” said Wong. “There is no money. Where there are no computer records, there is no money. Unless they have deposits outside of the West Coast, they are now wards of the government. But can you grasp what is happening? Millions of feet of timber are going up in flames, vegetable production has had it, we have lost a huge chunk of the nation’s productive wealth, millions of people are dead, and hundreds of thousands more are homeless refugees. With the spectacle we witnessed earlier tonight in this room, I suppose we have to ask whether or not we have the stomach for what must follow. Can our nation survive?

“Tomorrow we will have to halt trading on listed stocks that are West Coast-based or have significant West Coast exposure. Selling may be so heavy that we may be forced to close the markets. We will pour liquidity into the banking system to stave off a panic. We will declare force majeure to get the insurance companies off the hook to avoid mass bankruptcies. And, we will do everything we can to provide emergency cash payments to survivors so that they won’t have to beg. I also know that the commodity markets will be up to the limit for lumber, soybeans, corn, and wheat minutes after opening. Once that happens, gold, silver, and platinum will follow. I’ll leave it to the board to decide what happens after that.

“Beyond that,” he said with remorse in his voice, “we must acknowledge that, at least for the foreseeable future, California, Hawaii, and parts of Oregon and Washington are gone. There is not enough money anywhere to undertake a disaster loan program. What is lost . . . is lost.”

James Wong sat back then, and said nothing more. The entire room was silent.

Then Al Augustus said, “I have just been handed a message. It indicates that several heads of state of our Pacific allies have been placing urgent calls to the president and getting no response. I don’t know where Vince D’Agostino is at this hour. However, I recommend that we adjourn until seven-thirty tomorrow morning. In the meantime, please continue to move forward on all your department initiatives to assist the refugees and victims. The Pentagon will work closely with FEMA and the state police, national guard, and relief agencies. All these people will be working through the night, but I suggest we each try to get some rest so we can deal with what comes next.”

One by one, the cabinet members filed from the room, weary, disheveled, and emotionally exhausted by their ordeal.

Chapter Eight

CHAPTER EIGHT