by G. R. Carter
Amidst his thoughts, Fredericks finally arrived at the conference room door. As usual, Phil and Olsen were already seated with coffee in hand. Fredericks wasn’t sure how much sleep these two got, but both clearly had aged a lot since he met them.
“Glad you could join us, General,” Olsen joked groggily.
“A general has to have an army, just like a sheriff has to have deputies. I’ve seen your deputies, but I can’t seem to find my army,” Fredericks replied, continuing a running joke. “You could call a bunch of farmers a Self Defense Cooperative, but you have to be able to get them all together in the same place before you can use them that way.” To himself: And I for sure never wanted to be a General.
“I’ve got the duty roster and the equipment requirements for the convoy to Old Main College. This is the largest group we’ve ever sortied, so I really wanted to run it by you both,” Fredericks said, changing to a more serious subject. “We’ll need to make sure to take plenty of our own food; I’m not sure how much they would like to feed our troops for three days.”
“Well, they’re almost as good at food production as we are, albeit in a different way. But I suppose you’re right,” Phil said as he worked a second cup of what passed for coffee.
Old Main College was the biggest outpost of civilization anywhere close to Okaw Valley. Once each side figured out the other meant the best for their people, trust between the two developed quickly. Phil made the still-dangerous forty-five-mile trip twice to meet with College President Julia Ruff, and she spoke for not only the college but what was left of the town surrounding the campus.
Phil continued, “Julia said that with all we’re contributing, they’d be happy to provide rations for our troops, but I know I’ll get sick of those cereal bars they have.” The other two had visited Old Main, also, and their cringes acknowledged their agreement.
“Commander, what does Old Main College have in the way of defenses?” Olsen asked, looking more tired and aged by the moment.
“They have a lot of people available, almost as many as us and less spread out. But very little military discipline. Their campus police chief has organized enough to respond to problems around the part of the town they still occupy. The football coach still commands the militia. That’s mostly just the college campus itself. Of course, they don’t have hundreds of square miles to defend like we do. I believe once they get the walls constructed around the main buildings, they’ll be able to defend against any ditchmen problems with just a couple hundred front line troops.
“We’ve got their Applied Science faculty helping produce Turtles and Mark 2s at their workshops; those will be stationed throughout the town, outside the walls. Have you decided if we’ll share the plans for the new Mark 3s yet?”
“I believe we will,” Olsen replied. Martin sensed this was the sheriff's decision backed with the Founder’s blessing. To Fredericks’ relief, the two men seemed to be working together just as well as they had before Phil was hailed as Founder. “We need to produce them as soon as possible. And we’ll need Old Main’s workshops. The Mark 2s are needed for farming as much as defense. The Mark 3s will allow us to have what you call a ‘dedicated weapons platform’ out in the towns and patrolling the farmsteads. We can produce twice as many with the Old Main College staff.”
“All right, Commander. President Ruff has agreed that you will have two hundred athletic young men and women to train the second day of the Summit. You’ll be spared the grind of a meeting hall, and instead be in the field, training former college students for battle. I have to say, I envy you,” the Founder said with a smile.
“I’ll go make sure that the final duty rosters are complete. This delegation is nearly too big, already,” Commander Fredericks concluded as he gathered his items and headed for the exit.
The fate of thousands hung over their head again. Actually, more than they could accurately count. Old Main College was turning to them for leadership. Decatur still had people coming out of hiding. Every tiny outpost for several miles was now petitioning for inclusion. Most of the time, these communities were just barely hanging on. With very poor communications systems still hampered intermittently by the Solar Storms, messages might take days to get back and forth to these peripheral areas.
Olsen wasn’t convinced they should be stretching themselves and their resources too thin for people outside the original communities. But the Founder of the SDC had different ideas. The specter of the Grays hung over their heads every day. So far, they fought only skirmishes along the north-eastern border since taking Decatur, however, they continued to expect some sort of conflict every day.
Olsen was concerned that each small town that allied with Okaw Valley meant another point that had to be defended. But Phil believed each could be fortified as another barrier to Gray advances against their own homeland.
“Commander Fredericks, please wait a moment,” Phil called out. “Do you have an assessment of how many of the new community petitions we should accept? We’ve got a lot of prospects coming to the summit meeting. I think we all need to be on the same page with what we can handle. I don’t want to embarrass anyone when they ask…even if we’re not going to accept them,” Phil said.
“Well, per Clark’s suggestion, we’ve sent out Raptors north and south to find existing communities we might ally with. There’s nothing but ditchmen west to Springfield, that whole area is GangStar controlled so there’s nothing for us there.” He recognized the look of concern on Olsen’s face. “Don’t worry, we haven’t been inviting the survivors to join, just inviting them to attend the summit,” Fredericks replied.
Always in pairs, the air tractors now known as Raptors were searching the area outside of Gray territory for civilized groups still hanging on after the Reset. The airborne scouts also searched for more hangars, hoping to find idle planes matching their own. Small airports containing good candidates were marked on the map. Heavy equipment dealerships held interest also, featuring parking lots full of potential vehicles for armored conversion.
Fredericks continued: “We’ve found twenty-three communities thus far, and you’ll have written reports in your red files tomorrow morning,” referring to the security folders Fredericks gave them whenever something of importance needed their review. With all the information Hamilton and Olsen were presented, they requested a system of prioritization.
“Would you mind addressing the big ones right now? Anything stick out so far?” Sheriff Olsen asked.
“Vincennes, Indiana was the biggest surprise. I don’t know how they escaped our detection before. They’re as big as we are…maybe bigger. Even with the Decatur assimilation,” Fredericks replied.
“Will they be sending anyone to the summit?” Phil asked hopefully.
“Indications are that they will,” Fredericks replied. “Sounds like they’ve got some trouble of their own that they want to talk about. Not like our problem with the Grays…they have a problem with groups coming up the river from further south. They attack the river towns using boats. Insert at night, pillage and kidnap, and then they’re gone as quick as they came.”
“Are there any assembly plants near them still standing? If so, we could get more production of the Mark 3s from there. And parts that the Wizards are having trouble machining here might just be sitting there also. If Vincennes can help us secure the Indiana side of the river, we could safely secure our side with Little Egypt’s help,” Phil said, hopefully. “I wonder if we can find some more engineers who survived the collapse. The Wizards could use more help.”
“The other Indiana towns not yet under Walsh’s Reconstruction should be there at the Summit. We can ask them, also. A lot of folks stayed in that area after retiring from the big manufacturers. I wonder if they’re having trouble with these river pirates, too.” Fredericks asked.
“I’m thinking we can help them with some solutions to that. We might be able to loan out a couple of Raptor teams to search the rivers. I imagine that would establish a lot of good
will, regardless if we actually find anything,” Olsen added.
“Ok, I’ll make that part of my brief when the defense folks get together. Do we know what the official agenda is for the two days?” Fredericks asked.
“Four days, not two,” Phil corrected. “Too much going on for just two days, so we’ve expanded it. Clearly, not everyone can afford to be gone from home that long, so we’re putting the most important stuff in the middle two days. But there will be things happening at the start and the end.”
Hamilton laughed at the disgusted look on Fredericks’ face. The news of more meetings came as the last thing this career military man wanted to hear. “Don’t worry, Commander. The field training exercises are still your responsibility…the meetings will be taken care of by the sheriff and myself. However, I hope you’ll use the extra time to get to know some of your peers. Common defense is on the schedule for discussion.”
Relief washed over Fredericks. “I’m going to take Alex and Eric with me if that’s ok,” Fredericks said. “I was very impressed by their field craft while we were smoking out the rateaters in Decatur. Some of the troops who joined us after we defeated Major Stillman still hold a little grudge against the uniform, even me and the Ten Vets. But everyone really seems to like those two. Especially the younger guys.”
Fredericks shook his head and continued. “I don’t know what it is with that generation; they just seem to be handling this whole ‘collapse of the known world’ thing a lot better than we are.”
“I appreciate the vote of confidence in our sons, Commander. I really do. I know what you mean about the younger generation. We sit and pray for the return of the United States, and the young bucks strut around bragging about beating the ‘Americans’. It’s beyond disconcerting,” Hamilton told him.
“Right. The real kicker is that these men who served together in the Decatur campaign just accept the fact that ultimately Alex will be in charge someday. I mean after you retire. And they all think Eric will be sheriff and director of security,” Fredericks informed them.
“None of that has been decided,” Hamilton replied defensively. The fear of a strongman government originally made the Founder reject his new position. The SDC founders discussed how to keep a balance between quick decisions and input from everyone. Nothing was ever decided, except that Phil would be in charge for now.
“We want to stop that kind of thinking right now. We’ve already got a quasi–feudal system establishing itself around the Fortress Farms. Land Lords and Tenants…how did we let that happen?”
Olsen continued for him: “Commander, I think what Phil and I are worried about is what happens if one of our offspring goes off the rails. Then they’ll be no better than the Grays or this madman in Aurora your Gray spies told you about.”
Fredericks held up a hand to deflect the criticism from himself. “Gentlemen, please don’t shoot the messenger. I understand your concern. I just wanted to let you know what the undercurrent is. The troops can see what life is like outside the protection of the SDC. We didn’t spend our formative years wondering if ditchmen were going to drag you out of our beds. If we wanted to feed our babies, we went to McDonalds or we flashed our SmartWatchs at the Get–Mart. Even before the Reset, most of the teenagers in this area didn’t have much hope for a brighter future. The trauma of the last couple of years made them grow up at an alarming rate.
“These guys like the security. And if they like the guys in charge, they don’t see a reason to change. They look at elections and term limits as distractions for those with too much time on their hands. They like Alex and Eric, and they’ll follow them into battle. I’ve seen it with my own eyes,” Fredericks concluded.
“And you think the other communities will respond the same way that the Decatur troops have?” Olsen asked.
“Without a doubt. Here’s the other thing. We’re splitting these Decatur troops up and sending them to the four corners of SDC territory. That way we can keep any of the ones with questionable loyalties separated. They’ll all have to earn their keeps out on the Fortress Farms, and should integrate nicely with the communities there. Become part of them just like me and the Ten Vets did here. When those men go out to the remote farms, they’ll be taking the legend of Alex and Eric with them,” Fredericks said, pausing to make sure both men understood what he was about to say. “Nothing binds communities together like legends of young heroes. Whatever you may think of the process, the greater good of our alliance is served by giving folks a common belief in the future. Alex and Eric are the kind of guys people will follow, trust me.”
Phil put his face in his palms then rubbed his temples. “Clark, once we get this summit behind us, we’ve got to speed up the process of electing a House of Neighbors. You know, like the one that Old Main College is implementing. We have to get the power out of this office as soon as possible. Get the final decisions out of our hands and into someone elected by the people. Agreed?”
To Phil’s shock, Olsen hesitated. “I'm not so sure anymore, old friend. I’m starting to wonder if a big election process is the right move. So far, the Founder position has been pretty successful in my book.”
Phil sat and stared at Olsen. An uncomfortable moment became a minute, and still Hamilton said nothing.
Finally, he spoke: “We’ve spent hours talking about elections. You promised when I took this post we would get the power out of my hands as soon as we could. What happened to a return to a United States-type republic?”
“Oh please, Phil. You and I both know that the United States was no more a republic than the old socialist empires we learned about in history class. I mean sure, it started that way. But do you really want to create another Federal DC? Just to repeat the mistakes of the past?” Olsen asked.
Fredericks was noticeably uncomfortable watching the two men argue. Typically, they were of one mind on major issues.
Hamilton replied: “So what? You want to set up a dictatorship? Those never last.”
“Neither did the United States! And I’m not talking about a dictatorship. I think this House of Neighbors plan is great. For the everyday stuff and certainly to give input on the big stuff. But someone like you has to be the final word. Call the shots without having to worry about raising money to buy an election. Make the hard decisions because it’s right, not because it might gain a few votes,” Olsen concluded testily.
“And you think our boys are the ones to do that?” Hamilton asked incredulously.
“Not right now, they’re not even married yet. Although I hear Alex has struck up quite a friendship with the oldest Ruff girl,” Olsen said, finally smiling again. “Haven’t you noticed how often he volunteers to take the message packets over to Old Main?
“And Eric and Lorraine stop and talk to each other every chance they get,” he continued, referring to his son and the oldest Hamilton daughter.
“Why do I never know this stuff?” Phil complained.
“Because, sir, you’re always here or on one of the farms. Making inspections and helping out. It’s not my place, but may I suggest you spend some time at Schoolhouse Hill before attending the alliance meeting? I think it would mean a lot to all of them,” Fredericks added.
“Don’t call me sir, Commander. And I will take your suggestion under advisement.” He quickly smiled and nodded at Fredericks as soon as he realized the tone of his words. He hadn’t meant to snap at him.
“All right, Clark. We’ll pick this up again as soon as we get the summit behind us. I think we really need to do some major soul-searching and put a plan on paper. With the way the world is these days, we never know when we might need a succession plan,” Phil concluded.
As the men all stood to gather their materials, Phil stopped them again.
“Oh, hey, Commander Fredericks. Make sure that the Raptor teams visit Raymond. I felt bad we couldn’t help them before, and now maybe we can at least loan them one or two of the old Snapping Turtles to shore up their defenses. Or maybe get them combined wi
th another community closer to them. That mayor of theirs deserves the help, making the trip all the way here by himself,” Phil said to the SDC officer.
Fredericks looked dejectedly over at Olsen, hoping that the sheriff might relieve the burden of telling Hamilton what they both already knew.
Olsen took the lead after a moment of hesitation. “Phil, we didn’t want to tell you this, because we knew you’d take it hard. Probably blame yourself. But remember, just like you said before, there’s only so many of us, and we can’t be everywhere,” the sheriff said to his friend.
“What? Tell me what? What are you guys talking about?” Phil demanded.
Olsen sighed and looked the Founder of the Okaw Valley Self Defense Cooperative right in the eyes. “The Raptor teams have already been to Raymond. The whole town was gutted…attacked by someone a few weeks ago. They didn’t find any survivors.”
Old Main
The flies. Never imagined the flies could ever be this bad, Phil thought as he feigned attention to the speaker at the front of the assembly hall. Fine, let’s go do it then instead of talking about it, Phil pleaded in his head to the stuffed suit. Since the world lost reliable heating and cooling, the only way to even out the Midwestern climate was to have every window and door wide open or sealed tight depending on the month. Even with screens (when they had screens, anyway) industrious little insects and rodents made their way into every room.
Between flies and mosquitos, post-Reset life became a world where every room had both old-fashioned paper paddles to provide a breeze and flyswatters to swing. Phil made a mental note: next salvage mission, DDT was on the pick list. Abandoned homes and cities made perfect breeding grounds for mosquitos. There was no way to prevent the diseases that came with the biting insects or the infections they caused without killing the culprits at the source. I wonder if Rachel Carson ever had to witness the effects of West Nile virus, Phil thought. Sometimes free speech comes with a price.