Deluge (The Best Thrillers Book 2) by James D. Best

Author:James D. Best [Best, James D.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Queen Beach
Published: 2018-05-28T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 22

Bob Mandel was arrogant, bombastic, politically incorrect, and extremely popular. As a San Francisco talk-show host, he went against every assumed norm of his Bay Area audience. Many believed that he ran his show for national fans, but those people would be wrong. Mandel’s ratings in the Bay Area were off the charts. Some listened as converts, some to keep an eye on the opposition, and some just for the clown show.

Baldwin had explained that to put pressure on the governor’s people, they needed to make their recommendations public, to make inaction an unattractive decision. Before people could pressure the government to do something, they first had to know there was something that could be done. Once everyone in the vehicle had concurred, she cautioned that they shouldn’t be overt. Just a few bored technocrats on I-80 wanting to talk to Mandel about some out-of-the-box ideas that would possibly lessen damage, suffering, and death.

By the time they had a game plan in place, Vacaville was close, so they decided to wait until after they’d stopped to call the radio show. Due to a large and unruly crowd, refueling and a potty break took over an hour. After buying food and drinks, and filling the Land Cruiser’s tank, they pulled back onto the highway, destined for San Francisco.

They had called the Bob Mandel Show immediately upon getting on the road again. Now they waited for a decision from a call screener. In a moment, they heard her say that Bob would take their call after he finished with his current guest and took a station break. After about fifteen minutes, the call screener came on to tell them that they would be on the air in less than a minute. They had prearranged that Smith would take the lead.

“This is Bob Mandel. To whom am I speaking?”

“Hi, I’m Dr. Tom from Caltech. I’m with three other PhDs, and we’re bored stiff, stuck in traffic on the I-80. One of us is from the U.S. Geological Survey, and the other two from UC Santa Barbara. First off, we want to make clear that this weather is not our fault. No, siree. So, don’t kill the messenger.”

Mandel laughed at the lame attempt at humor.

“Well, Dr. Tom, what kind of doctor are you? Are you an astrophysicist or a gynecologist?”

Since the call screener had their credentials, Mandel already knew the answer to that question.

“Seismology, Bob. I head the seismic department at Caltech. My second PhD is in civil engineering, so I know how to build dams, and I know how to shake them down to the ground.”

“Hey, if I recall, seismology is about tremors and upheavals and such,” Mandel said. “Maybe we need to talk to Chicken Little instead of you. Terra firma seems to be living up to its name at the moment. It’s the sky that’s falling. This darn rain is messing up my golf. Wise men from on high say we have an atmospheric river overhead, but all that water doesn’t want to stay up in the sky.

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