“No, this can’t be,” David complained. “They were going to rescue me.”
“Did the weapon take out the men above ground, too?” Tabby asked with wonder.
Everyone turned to David. He seemed utterly deflated. “The Solar One dish is built to redirect the energy in an arc of about 183 degrees when struck from below. It was necessary so the aircraft could bounce the signal sideways to the next one, as well as sending it down to the targets. Damn you, bitch,” he said, glaring at Kyla. “You’ve killed everyone at my central base of operations.”
Kyla took a moment, then laughed out loud. “Boom! That’s how you end a war!”
Tabby laughed too, reveling in the look of abject defeat on David’s face, but she couldn’t get deep into any celebrating yet. She turned back to the empty airfield.
“What are you thinking about?” Audrey asked.
“My parents. If the war is truly over, I want to go back to see them.”
Audrey was about to say something, but she kept talking.
“I know they’re gone, but I’d like to put up a marker for them. A reminder to those who call this land their home that there were good people here. We can do the same for your parents. For Peter’s parents. For Donovan.”
Audrey wrapped her arm around Tabby’s waist in camaraderie. Peter shuffled up and held onto Audrey’s other side.
“To Donovan,” Peter said to the wind.
“To Donovan,” she answered. “To all of them.”
Ted and Emily came up beside her group. Emily made sure Tabby was done speaking before saying, “The war is far from over. David has more soldiers than those we destroyed here in Colorado, but without the threat of his superweapon, they’ll be fighting on our terms. Our people will return home. Victory will be ours.”
The president leaned over, looking down the line toward Tabby. “But today, at this moment, I want to salute heroes like you. Average citizens doing amazingly above-average acts of bravery to survive that first day. To answer the call to arms. To fight this terrorist group in their lair. I’ll make sure the whole world knows your names.”
Tabby smiled. “I’d call it even for a ride back home.”
Everyone laughed.
The sun rose higher in the sky.
America would see another day thanks to the people willing to stand up for her.
SERIES EPILOGUE
Lamar, CO, One Week Later
“I’m excited to be flying again,” Ted remarked, as Emily sat in the chair next to him. They were part of the official presidential entourage, reviewing the American troops now marching across the tarmac of Inverness Airfield, which had previously belonged to David and his Legion. A giant four-engine Boeing 747 was parked behind the soldiers, facing the stand. A dozen military aircraft flanked the commercial plane, ready for use again by their rightful American owners.
“I am too, Colonel,” Emily replied, her voice filled with mischief.
“Colonel, huh? That’s where we are today?” He gulped up her good mood, which had been in short supply for a long time.
After he and his allies exited David’s bunker a week ago, it had cleared the way for the US military, led by Colonel Avery’s scouts, to flood back into the American homeland. The 101st Airborne Division was the first to arrive in Colorado. Their sole mission was to protect Emily and the office of the president, since she represented the only cog in the line of succession to the old America. And in the first five minutes of that week-long operation, she’d threatened to bump Ted up to a five-star general, so he could lead the counterattack on David’s remaining troops.
He had no intention of allowing such a brazen rank grab, for reasons she knew quite well. There were many decorated generals serving overseas, and most were heading back to the mainland. He couldn’t allow himself to hop over any of them. So, each day, he’d been able to refuse and whittle down her offer, dropping from five-star all the way to a single-star brigadier general. That had been yesterday…when he’d refused her yet again. Today, she was testing him on colonel.
“Yep. I’ll see if I can make this one stick on you. It’s only two ranks above Major. What’s the big deal?” She was teasing him. She knew what a big deal it was.
Kyla tapped him from the seat on his other side. “Just take the stupid thing. Who cares if it ruffles some feathers?” She spoke quieter, and in a conspiratorial way. “I don’t know if you know this, but you’re dating the president. She’s like Willy Wonka. She can make all your dreams come true.”
“She’s not Willy Wonka, Kye,” he lectured, “and the American military was built on tradition. On rules. I’ve explained it a million times. I—”
His niece cut him off. “Fine. Be stubborn.” She went back to watching the men parade in formation, probably looking for Lambert, the soldier she couldn’t stop talking about.
Someone tapped him on the shoulder. “I think you should, dude. You were the guy who led the assault. You should get the booty, right?”
Ted knew it was Peter without turning around. He’d befriended the young man over the past week, learning about his interests and goals, with a mind to get the kid into the military when he turned eighteen. He was already a fair shot with a rifle, as was his girlfriend. Both were ready to go out and kick some Legion ass.
“I’ll take it under advisement,” he said dryly.
“You will?” Peter asked with surprise.
“No,” he snapped playfully, laughing to himself at how hard his friends were trying.
The men of the 101st came to a halt, presenting a fledgling group of three understrength battalions in front of him, perhaps fifteen hundred men. They were the advanced guard of the entire division, which was still making its way to them from around the world. Also out on the tarmac were a much smaller group consisting of Avery’s Team Yankee. They’d gotten reinforcements from Alaska, too, but not nearly as many. He had fifty men, at most. That was where Kyla’s attention was drawn…
“Are you ready for this?” Emily asked with uncharacteristic formality. They were about to be forward-facing, as she liked to say, which meant they had to act the part of president and Air Force major.
“I am,” he declared dutifully.
“Knock ‘em dead,” Tabby whispered from the second row.
He smiled briefly, then got back into character. He allowed President Williams to walk to the podium while he trailed behind. The men out on the runway all saluted.
“Good morning,” Emily said into the mic. She wore black flats, a pair of black slacks, and a white cotton long-sleeve shirt. Her hair was washed and tethered inside a bun-like ball on the back of her head. She’d tried to find the same type of pencil skirt she’d worn back when they’d met, but the town of Lamar had been lacking in business attire. The last piece of her ensemble was a .357 Ruger LCR in a hip holster, which was the exact model revolver she’d used to save his life on Air Force Two. She looked more like a politician from small-town Middle America rather than Washington D.C., which he found incredibly attractive.
She turned to him momentarily, a streak of nervousness evident. He nodded, supporting her first official speech since landing the job as leader of the free world.
“You got this,” he mouthed.
Emily faced the troops, put her hand over her heart, and began the pledge of allegiance. He saluted the flag, which fluttered in the wind on a makeshift flagpole set up between the podium and the troops.
When done, she said, “At ease.” After a pause, she continued, “Ladies and gentlemen, before I start, I wanted to take a moment to recognize my predecessor, Kirby Tanager. It will be difficult for historians to piece together what happened in those fateful seconds when millions of our friends, neighbors, and family disappeared, but in a quirk of fate, I met President Tanager after the attack.”
Some gasps rose up.
“It’s true. He survived the attack thanks to the quick action of his security detail in the White House. However, David’s people captured him and imp
risoned him in their bunker, perhaps intending to use him as a hostage to get what they wanted from our overseas citizens. Since David and all his men in this base are now gone, we’ll never know for sure what negotiations were struck. However, as every person who was present in the bunker that day will attest, David pushed Kirby over the railing of a very deep pit. David erased our people, but he personally murdered our president…”
That got the crowd agitated and angry, as expected. He and Emily had talked about Tanager at length over the past week. They included Meechum, the kids, and Avery in the discussions as well. They agreed unanimously to leave out the part where Tanager said he was working for David. Since the man wasn’t alive, they couldn’t properly interrogate him to learn the truth. But even beyond that, the consensus fell toward making a clean break with Tanager’s administration. It would do no one any good to have Emily become president with everyone wondering if she was going to betray the country next.
“That is how I came to hold this office as your president. However, that’s all I want to say about me. This is about you and our nation. I never dreamed this day would come for our homeland, the United States of America. Over the past two weeks, we’ve seen her kicked, punched, and dragged into the darkness. Evil men with dark intentions made it their purpose to erase the American spirit from the world, intending to reboot her with their own warped vision of equality and ownership. The light on the Statue of Liberty was almost extinguished.”
She let the words settle into the gathered crowd. In addition to the soldiers, hundreds of civilians had been flown to Lamar to help staff and run the air base and critical infrastructure inside the town. It was a big deal to get them all together for the speech. They sat on a few bleachers taken from the local high school.
Emily went on. “But the American people would not be so easily defeated. These few men and women—” She motioned to the VIP stands behind her. “—were part of the resistance against David’s Legion. They survived his terrible weapon. They survived being alone out in the emptiness of our forsaken country. They survived the roving enemy troops and their robotic minions. And they joined together!”
The crowd clapped.
After allowing it for a few seconds, she continued. “Once these Americans found each other, David’s days were numbered. Tabby Breeze was one of those young heroes. She started her struggle by rescuing her friends from inside an abandoned lead mine. She kept those kids alive as they searched for their parents. They went to Chicago, always seeking what they would never find. Their families. And when Tabby was finally captured, she fought David in his own lair, eventually leading in the strike force which took him down. Please give Tabby and her good friends Audrey and Peter a nice applause.”
Everyone stood up and cheered for the kids. He turned to see Peter yelling and screaming, probably louder than anyone else. Tabby had tossed her blue outfit the first chance she’d gotten and now wore a simple white sundress. Next to her, Audrey was hollering, too. Oddly, she’d gone and found one of the spare blue jumpsuits from David’s bunker. She wore a little pair of black shorts over them, to be discreet at the big rally, she’d said, but it was clear she’d donned them to impress her boyfriend. Those three were going to be handfuls, Ted thought, but the good kind of trouble.
After things settled down, the president went on, diligently commending everyone who was there at the end.
“Colonel Avery, for successfully engaging the enemy in multiple locations, and for providing direct support for the final assault…”
“The Fleet Anti-terrorism Security Team, or FAST, Marines are here with us today.” She pointed to the platoon of Marines standing at parade rest next to Avery’s men. Meechum, a woman he credited for saving his niece’s life, stood in the front row. Her CO, Carthager, was a hulking figure of a man next to her. “They were instrumental in ferreting out the traitors of our nation and sending one of their own, Lance Corporal Angelina Meechum, into the cauldron of destruction.”
“That’s her first name?” Kyla blurted, too loud, behind him in the stands. “I never knew that!”
Clapping flooded the stage, hiding Kyla’s breach of decorum.
“And I’ve been told by our friends in the Royal Air Force that the crew who flew the nuclear bomb to David’s twin headquarters in the Indian Ocean was led by a heroic pilot named Major Priscilla Clairmont. She singlehandedly made sure the bomb took out the island, averting greater loss of life on this side of the planet.”
Emily faced him as the crowd clapped, privately acknowledging that his ex-wife was gone. Ted’s response was muted. He felt a nostalgia for the early good times he’d had with Priscilla, but he had no doubts their divorce had been for the best. He did take comfort in their final correspondence. She was definitely a hero to him.
“And, on a personal note,” Emily said into the microphone, leading Ted to tense up that his moment was coming, “I want to congratulate Kyla Justice. Kyla was a programmer working on the John F. Kennedy, fifteen hundred miles to our east. Somehow, this amazing woman made it all this way, to this very spot, and parked that plane over the muzzle of the Legion superweapon.” She pointed to the corner of the airport where the disabled SACA still remained over the silo exit.
Screams and cheers broke out, preventing Emily from saying another word. Kyla was forced to her feet in the stands, and Emily turned to applaud her.
His niece was completely different than the time before the attack. She was bruised and beat up, for sure, but she’d lost most of her awkwardness and seemed confident and poised. She met his eye when she noticed him clapping for her and went on to cheerfully wave to the rest of the crowd. Her mom would be amazed at the transformation.
When the place finally settled down, and he turned back to the podium, Emily was looking right at him. She winked before facing the formation.
His chest once again tightened in anticipation.
“And I’d like to thank all the sailors, airmen, and Marines on the USS John F. Kennedy and the USS Iwo Jima…”
Ted let out his breath. She was playing with him.
“Your commanders bucked orders and stayed in the fight on the shores of our nation. I assure you those commanders will be rewarded for doing the right thing.
“Thank you to those of our countrymen who miraculously survived the initial attack but fell victim to the ruthless invasion of our lands. Your stories may never be known, but your actions will not be overlooked. You are the unsung heroes.
“And thank you, God, for watching over all of us here on this airfield today. I hope we can honor you as we rebuild the bounty you’ve once more bestowed to the American people.” She bowed her head, holding a quiet vigil with those gathered for about twenty seconds.
“Finally,” she said with enthusiasm, “I’d like to thank a personal friend and protector. An airman who saved my life from an assassin’s bullet during the first minutes of David’s attack on America. A pilot who saved my life a dozen times over the following week. A warrior who navigated the politics of survival inside and outside Legion strongholds from New York City to Minot, North Dakota. From Minot to Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado. And, finally, to the base under our feet.”
She motioned for him to get up.
“Before I introduce him formally, I want to take a moment to explain our personal relationship…”
Ted’s stomach turned into a titanium block. What was she doing?
“Ted MacInnis is one of the finest gentlemen I’ve ever had the pleasure of knowing. I met him in the heat of battle, when he saved my life on Air Force Two. He was a backup pilot, waiting for his chance to prove himself. Well, I assure you, he did. Over the next week of constant danger and endless challenges, he allowed me time to grieve my lost husband. He remained a perfect gentleman during those long, desperate nights. In fact, the only thing we ever disagreed about was whether I could promote him for repeatedly saving the life of the President of the United States of America.” She chuckled. “To be clear, I wanted to p
romote him, but he refused any talk of promotions. I think he keeps a list of reasons in his wallet.”
The crowd cracked up, though Ted could dispute the point with her. She’d also resisted the promotion to president for a long time.
“So, in the spirit of openness as your new leader, I have two actions I’d like to take today, and I hope I have your blessing to do so.”
That shut everyone up.
“To lead off, and as one of the first official actions of my station, I would like to promote this man to colonel, overseeing the Presidential Airlift Group. As president of an entire nation spread over vast distances, I will need to travel these lands in Air Force One with the oversight of someone who knows the aircraft as well as the war taking place below us. Colonel Ted MacInnis, will you accept this well-earned promotion?”
He stood there on the razor’s edge of decision. All his misgivings were still present but taking over for the whole air wing was directly in his wheelhouse. It made sense. She couldn’t have picked a better spot for him.
When it seemed like the decision was going to extend beyond a few seconds, Kyla yelled from the stands. “Take it!”
Then everyone yelled.
It became obvious he couldn’t deny the request of his boss.
“I accept!” he said, to more applause.
It took over a minute to settle everyone down. He suspected Kyla and Peter were doing their best to keep the cheers coming. Their hooting and yelping were the loudest.
When it became possible to speak, Emily tapped the mic. “And I do have a second action, though this one is off the official record, because I’m not sure there is precedent for this.” She turned sideways at the podium and radiated a smile toward him. “Colonel Ted MacInnis, would you honor me by taking a second promotion to the office of First Gentleman?”
Minus America | Book 5 | Hostile Shores Page 25