“Mutantism on the March” :Chapter 123 Vermont Nuclear Meltdown Swells the Ranks of the Mutants

A terrible human error at the Four Kilometre Nuclear Plant in North Hero, Vermont thrust thousands into the ranks of mutantism. Employees were too busy watching a baseball game on television and forgot to flip a control switch causing a reactor to overheat and explode and melt not only Alburg but North and South Hero and a toxic cloud of radioactive dust blanketed Burlington. Thank goodness for Canada the poisonous cloud was moving southward down to Boston. Vermonters were severely poisoned if they were not melted. The United Sates government was brutal in its “solution” of the problem herding thousands of contaminated Vermonters into surplus navy ships, towed them out to sea and set them adrift with food, water and medical supplies. 65,000 Vermonters were set adrift in the ocean like stateless refugees. They were warned by their federal government should they set foot on American soil they would be “terminated”. Embarrassed governmental bureaucrats in Washington bet on the probability that these contaminated Vermonters would all be dead in a week. Washington called this vile action a “quarantine” to protect further contamination.

Hence the birth of the Vermont “boat people” drifting aimlessly on the ocean with no fuel and dwindling supplies but with lots of morphine! Americans were frightened with this “accident” but the federal government assured them they were safe and it was a one in a billion accident. The Vermont boat people were outraged with their treatment many of whom were quiet and loyal Americans formerly lulled by the chanting’s of their government about how safe nuclear power was. Most of these Vermonters died a horrible death. Rumours were circulating amongst the Vermont boat people that those who did not die would be “finished off” by their government to prevent embarrassment of federal officials whose slack training and safety protocols were to blame and the greed of the public utility salesman always willing to cut corners as far as safety was concerned.

The Vermont boat people drifted about hoping some country would give them refuge. Perhaps Cuba. But as they landed on the shores of foreign countries nobody was willing to give sanctuary to these contaminated souls instead giving them supplies and towing them back to sea. Some of these countries had nuclear power plants and who did not want their population to think they were next! Canada had actually sold uranium to this Vermont nuclear plant. Uranium was a valuable export. Count the cash and keep quiet.

The first Vermont boat person recorded was seen in Newfoundland by a hunter who was terrified by the horribly disfigured space creature and shot it and returned with a local reporter. Squid and the Montreal mutants had gotten wind of the killing and pressured the Canadian government to admit these poor souls and if it was concerned about radiation, they could move the Vermont boat people to the Yukon in Northern Canada. The Canadian government expressed “deep concern and sympathy” for these unfortunates but mimicked the U.S. governments position that the “quarantine” was necessary and only temporary. Besides these Vermont boat people lacked proper immigration papers.