Smart took her blood pressure, asked to draw blood and send the results back via Cal and O’Neil in a sealed envelope, and examined her teeth closely. He commented that dental health deteriorated and was lost ahead of other medical services. He was happy to hear she brushed but strongly suggested getting a supply of dental floss and using it.
“Normally, I’d put a young woman like you on low dose pills, but given your residence in the autonomous zone, I’d suggest a five-year implant. I have both. The pharmacy in the supermarket closed, unfortunately. I stock what I can. Do you feel it would be a burden to visit to have it renewed?” Sharp asked.
“Who knows what is going to happen in five years, Doc? We may have bus service here by then, or the aircraft we flew in on may run out of hours and stop flying. The pilot isn’t any spring chicken and may decide to suspend service. We may even live someplace else, though it doesn’t look like that in our plans.” Vic said.
“Does the implant have to come out after it runs out of drug?” Eileen asked.
“No, not if it isn’t giving you trouble, but obviously you won’t be protected,” Sharp said. “It can be taken out earlier if your situation changes too.”
“Stick one in then,” Eileen demanded. “That’s one thing at least that we know what is planned for the next five years, probably the only thing.”
When he was done with Eileen, and all the warnings about how to treat the small incision. He repeated three times how long it would take to be effective and not to get impatient and shave the time short. Sharp gently suggested Vic have his blood pressure checked and some basic lab work while he was here.
“Do it, I don’t want you croaking on me to save a couple of dollars,” Eileen said.
“It actually will be a very minimal charge,” Sharp said. “Almost all my services are cash not insurance in this practice now. I’m just fortunate as a rural doctor serving a wide area that I’m exempt from the special draft of medical personnel now in place. I can charge much less even though some costs have soared. We are regarded as being on the fringe of the area under law. The road to Fernley is barricaded and manned by the local deputies and the side roads around it bulldozed shut. But Fernley really stops much of anything getting through from Reno. There isn’t any local mail delivery now, but the post office is open for the boxes, and a truck comes Wednesday almost every week. If you don’t have a box you have to be there to receive it unless it’s marked to be left on the counter for open pickup. If I send lab work to Reno the driver is checked out that he has valid business to get back in later. It’s not very safe down towards Reno.”
“I may have to go to the bank to pay you,” Vic worried. “I didn’t bring much cash and need to pay our pilot.”
“We can take your credit card if you have one,” Smart offered.
“That will be interesting,” Vic said. “I’m curious to see if it is accepted. I haven’t used it in several years, but it is on auto-pay so it can’t be in arrears.”
While he worked on Vic, the doc asked Eileen, “I’m curious how far you had to walk to a safe area? You owned property to retreat to?”
“We started from east of LA and had to stop and winter over. My father already had a head start on us from well north and beat us to my grandfather’s place a year ahead of us. My uncle lived all the way down by San Diego and we never heard from them. We figure they are dead given the area and their lifestyle.”
Sharp looked alarmed. “Be careful, please. In the USNA it’s a hate crime now to use religious prefixes for towns and areas. You can be fined heavily or even jailed if it’s a notorious and deliberate usage in print. San Diego is now just Diego and the San Gabriel Mountains are the Gabriel Mountains.”
“And yet Gabriel is still OK?” Vic asked, amused. “Is Los Angeles permitted or is it just Los now? I mean, angels are pretty religious.”
“Do us a favor and don’t ask. You’ll give the damn fools ideas and make it even harder.”
Vic nodded agreement, but quipped, “Glad you took my blood pressure already.”
After his exam, Vic stuck his card in the machine for the receptionist.
“Wow,” he said, when the screen showed APPROVED.
At the receptionist’s raised eyebrows Vic explained. “When you’ve been living off the grid for a couple of years it seems like magic.”
“I’m told the card companies have set up to watch closer and approve charges for necessities like medical care, vehicle repair and food over possible fraudulent charges for merchandise that might be resold,” the receptionist told them. “They even extend expiration dates for people cut off and out of contact.”
“That’s us,” Vic agreed. “But now we’ll go down the street and do some business with them face to face.”
* * *
“Why does it take them so long to do everything?” April asked.
“The Earthies? If you are talking about Irwin, I thought you didn’t want them to bring him to trial at all.”
“I don’t, but I know they are going to make a show of it. I’d just as soon get on with it. If I react now a lot of sensible people will think I am overreacting and any North American response is justified. I can see them saying that they might have released Irwin if I hadn’t got in their face and forced them to retain him or look weak and need to save face.”
“That sort of posturing is the epitome of Earth Think,” Jeff said.
“It’s theatre, and I’m not going to start reading act three before they have had a chance to do act two. The public is trained to expect a certain progression of these things, even if they are not consciously aware of it. I’m just going to disrupt their narrative when they expect to make an example of him in a show trial. Right now they are controlling the progression. After they shoot their mouths off again then it’s my turn.”
* * *
Walking in the Chase branch you’d never know The Day happened except for a few things different. Several of the windows now opened for ventilation instead of having air conditioning, and there were two guards instead of one or none, and they had shotguns.
When they were approached, Vic asked if the other people seated there weren’t ahead of them? The lady informed them a lot of residents could no longer afford cable or internet service but bank customers were welcome to use their public network.
The number two lady at the bank had no problem with Vic’s photo ID being out of date and offered them both new bank cards with photo ID on them. They were set up to create and laminate them on the spot. She assured them many places and even agencies now accepted their ID as readily as government ID.
Vic got some cash to pay for their flight and buy a few things to take back so he wouldn’t be depleting the cash he kept at home.
When he expressed surprise how ay accommodating they were and admitted he expected things to be more difficult the lady looked grim.
“Wells Fargo that was based in Frisco no longer exists. Their data was saved and their accounts have been apportioned to three banks, including us, to be held in trust without expiration, until such time as the owners or next of kin can be located or accounted for. Normally, the state would handle abandoned accounts, but the state agency and their people are missing too. It may take a century or more to sort out as things normalize as most people are found. I doubt it will ever be entirely finished.”
“I’m aware gold coins and bullion are prohibited,” Vic said. “What is the status of owning jewelry?”
The lady’s eyes went to their rings and she replied. “Gold jewelry is permitted, except the courts have ruled just hanging a coin or bullion bar on a chain after 2072 is an attempt to circumvent the law. Chase will loan money on jewelry held in trust in a local safe deposit box for which we keep both keys, but be aware that is subject to changing government regulation without notice. Also, no allowance is made for precious stones due to the uncertain market for them. When she finished she silently shook her head – no. Vic got the message.
“Eventually
we intend to emigrate off Earth,” Vic said. “What is our status if we wished to buy passage or send funds off-world?”
“The Nations of Home, Central, and The Lunar Republic are substantially embargoed by North America. It is impossible to do almost any business with them, even in items that have a humanitarian impact. All the other habitats and colonies are the same as traveling to the foreign countries that have jurisdiction over them. If you announce you are emigrating you need to pay an exit fee and tax on your assets before leaving.
“If you depart unannounced your assets can be attached or seized in their entirety. Currently, none of the bank settlement systems in which North America shares freely allows transfer to the off-world nations I mentioned. I would be fined or jailed if I facilitated such transfers by making you familiar with the other payment systems that still deal with off-world banks. The gold-based tokens that the USNA denounces as not money, the unofficial currency of Home, is the solar. Possessing them or keeping accounts anywhere in them is forbidden. I’m so happy to hear you have no gold in any form to do business with us.”
“Got ya,” Vic agreed. “There’s a lot happening out here we haven’t kept up with. I can see we are going to have to proceed with caution being so out of touch. We’ve found already there are things we thought normal to say, that are prohibited now. Just out of curiosity how much gold is one of these tokens?”
“A solar is twenty-five grams. Why they abandoned the troy ounce I have no idea. Now, if I may ask, you have accounts with us and seem to have other assets. You are able to come out of the autonomous zone and return. Are you a property owner there?”
“Yes, I’ve got a ranch and hard print documents to establish ownership. I don’t have to worry the county copies will be… lost.”
“I’d suggest you obtain a satellite phone. It is a relatively large expense, but the service can be paid automatically from your accounts. It can be used as a modem to access the internet to keep current on all these external events and changes in laws and regulations. It will access most foreign domains if they are not blocking them from within, so you can compare all your options.”
“Can Chase facilitate getting one?” Vic asked.
“Not directly, but I can help you order one here today using my computer, and if you name an agent to receive documents and packages for you,” she offered. “We will hand over whatever we receive here in your name to them. We don’t advertise the service. We might get legally challenged on it, although there is not a shipping or mailbox service in town we’d be competing with. We already do this for a dozen customers in the zone.”
“Let’s do that right now,” Vic agreed. Eileen was nodding agreement too. “We’ll need a solar charger for it,” she reminded Vic. “A good one.”
“You can also use it to access your Chase account, and if you get a message asking if you are pleased with your recent Chase service this office would appreciate a positive response.”
That’s no problem.” Vic said. “You’ve exceeded my expectations for service today.”
* * *
Judging by the meals that were his only clock, it had been several days since anyone spoke to Irwin. He was effectively in isolation. He remembered that was now considered a form of torture in the estimation of psychologists, but he found it easy to sit quietly and consider all the possible consequences and scenarios in his mind. He’d never been the sort of person to need constant stimulation from music or video like some people. If anyone thought solitude would break him down and make him more pliable to accepting a plea deal or making coerced political statements they didn’t know Irwin.
The monitor screen in his room hadn’t displayed any communication since the first simple instructions about eating and returning his meal tray and the farcical interview with his court-appointed attorney. Irwin hadn’t called out to see if voice monitoring was active or if they would respond to an attempt at communication. He didn’t touch or inspect the inactive screen to see if he could summon a keyboard of speech input either. There didn’t seem any point in doing so. Nothing he could say at this point would alter the forces determining his fate. At most, it would be a display of weakness on his part.
When the tone sounded again Irwin looked at the screen with his poker face.
“Ah, Mr. Brooks. I’ve been wondering when you would inform me of my arraignment.”
“That has already happened, and I automatically entered a plea of not guilty.”
Irwin blinked, unbelieving. “I get no opportunity to stand before the court and hear what I am accused of doing?”
“You were given those documents at the time of your arrest,” Brooks said.
“Indeed, and you were informed they took those documents from me when I was processed here,” Irwin said. “Did you make any effort to have them restored to me?”
“It seemed pointless,” the attorney said. “The charges are highly technical and most defendants aren’t versed in law sufficiently to understand their import. That’s my job.”
“If you were my attorney I’d fire you for that alone,” Irwin said. “However, since I never hired you and don’t acknowledge you it seems pointless for me to order you to do anything. I’d point out I am an international banker and well informed of the complex laws and regulations governing banking. Probably better than you if it is not your specialty in law.”
“I’m informing you now,” Brooks told him, irritated. “You will be tried on this matter in two weeks. They wish to move right along and brought in a special visiting judge so the matter wouldn’t be delayed into next year.”
“Yes, if you delayed it that long it will have completely passed from the public’s short memory and have very little propaganda value. Just out of curiosity – what would you do if I wished to plead guilty?”
“Why would you possibly consider that?” Brooks asked, horrified.
“It would completely destroy the theatre value of the trial,” Irwin said. “I’m sure the prosecutor has a real circus planned and a guilty plea would short circuit all that. What is the downside since the outcome is predetermined anyway? It saves both of us the need to sit and listen to all that crap.”
“If I tried to plead guilty for you the judge would probably remove me as your attorney. There are important questions that need to be examined and established here as a matter of law that a guilty plea would leave unsettled.”
“Silly me, I thought it was all about me personally,” Irwin said. “But what will you do if I call out in open court that I want to plead guilty?”
“Oh, there’s no danger of that. The court will be closed to the public because so much of it touches on national security issues. No excerpts of the record will be released to the news agencies before it is carefully examined to avoid damaging government agents and confidential policies. You will observe remotely by video hookup and have an open channel to me if you wish to make any comments or ask any questions.”
“Nice little star chamber you boys got there.”
Brooks didn’t dignify that with a response.
Chapter 8
Vic and Eileen found the two stores open in town were a small grocery and the store that served farmers. The food section was consolidated to about half the store with most items available in one brand. They had cheese and some meat, mostly pork, but no fresh milk and only the easiest vegetables to ship. No lettuce, stone fruits, or exotics like avocados, but surprisingly, bananas, and one kind of bagged apples.
The rest of the store was given over to hardware, housewares, and sewing supplies. A set of shelves on one wall was given over to consignment items.
Vic was happy to get bagged socks and disposable razors, Eileen got sanitary napkins and a big bottle of aspirin. They got lined paper as pads. The only loose sheets were printer paper and it was both plain and heavy. A couple of two-kilo bags of beans weren’t bought to eat but as seed. They picked four bananas as a treat and then decided to buy six to include Cal. They had no canning lids but the farm s
tore did, as well as the thermometers they needed. Vic took a deep breath, smiled, and ignored the price.
They got two nine-volt batteries, and carrot seed packaged for last year. The clerk pointed out the expiration date, but Vic was willing to take a chance it might not all germinate. He bought feed corn to plant, there being no certified seed corn. They’d need it if they got chickens. There wasn’t much else left in their garden stock that they couldn’t get from seed savers at the festival. They filled Cal’s truck up all the way, since he hadn’t asked any rental fee for its use, and went back to his house.
When they returned to Cal’s they said they didn’t see anywhere in town to stay and asked if there was a boarding house or something? He was amused. There were two houses taking borders, and both had waiting lists. He said he just expected that when he brought passengers out and that a room was part of the fee. He seemed indifferent to being named their agent at the bank and didn’t ask another fee for that. That made the cost they’d already negotiated seem even more reasonable to Vic, and Cal was pleased with the bananas. They were an expensive treat.
* * *
“I don’t understand,” April said. “They aren’t splashing big headlines about arresting Irwin and charging him across all the news services like I expected. What is the point of taking such a major risky action if they aren’t going to publicize it? It’s listed in the docket and a couple hard to find news articles.”
“You’re asking me?” Jeff said. “You are the one I go to for social things and to try to make sense of all the crazy things people do, well, you and Heather too. Maybe they don’t see it as risky for all I know. Maybe they believe their own propaganda. Or maybe they think it will have more impact later after they actually convict him. Who knows?”
“I’m not going to wait that long,” April vowed. “Certainly not let them convict him and sit back waiting to see how they use it. I’ll make a statement tomorrow.”
Jeff nodded. He didn’t expect April to show a lot of patience if there wasn’t any action to move things forward. It just wasn’t her personality.
All in Good Time Page 12