USN Bureau of AI
USN AI Presents:
EBCDIC Time
Part 14
Mick is walking around his truck giving it the once over. He whacks the tires with his rubber mallet to make sure that they are good, checks break lines, and
makes sure the diesel cap is tight. Dispatch says that load has to go to Maywood. A nice short strip. He grabs the papers off the side of the container slips
them on his clipboard and goes to the cab. He writes the information into his log book. Auto body parts it says. He writes in all the codes and fills out
everything. Its an unusual billing code but just as long as he gets paid its fine with him. After he drops off the container he will be maxed out on hours so
he will drive the cab home and get some shuteye. He turns off his cell phone and throws it on the passenger seat, he stars up the truck and pick up the mic on
his C.B. radio,
"Dispatch this Mic Barton C-G-K-3-8-9"
"Go ahead 3-8-9."
"I'm leaving the port of Long Beach for Maywood with one container, after delivery I'm over hours and am going home."
"OK, . . . Hey Mick, the Lakers are playing tonight against Bulls."
"Sounds good I'll get some shut eye in before the game, out."
Mick turns off the radio because of the static, its been bad since the bomb went off in China. He drives out of the port of Long Beach and gets on the Long
Beach Freeway. He doesn't realize that the dispatcher is desperately trying to call him on the radio and his cell phone, after he left the port a phone
call came in to put a hold on a certain container with auto parts in it.
Driving up the freeway he is starting to pass the Atlantic Ave exit when he notices Police cars in his rear view mirror coming in hurry, he thinks to himself
its another high speed chase. Then he's dead.
The Los Angeles area is rocked by a 4kT blast. Fires break out all over the area, as far north as West Hollywood, and to Anaheim in the other direction.
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Three ships stopped at sea. A truck at the Port of Miami a mile short of blowing up. A train stopped in China. The documents on the bomb in Oakland and records of a similar shipment on a train to Baghdad lead to a single source in Manchuria . . . near the boarder with North Korea.
