by Hall, Gerald
“Africa still has some very important mineral resources that we still have to have access to for some of our industrial processes, Sir.”
“Then our corporations who need those minerals with either find alternative sources or they will negotiate agreements with the powers that be to have that access. Otherwise, we need to focus on things closer to home.”
“What about South America, Sir? That is still well within our sphere of influence based on the Monroe Doctrine, isn’t it?”
“Yes, John. We’ve been trying to keep hands off as much as possible. We are still having a significant problem with illegal immigration coming up across our southern border. We have been working on lengthening and improving our physical barrier along our border with Mexico. But it has been difficult to get Congress to allocate enough funding to do an adequate job. It’s not difficult engineering. All it demands is sufficient amounts of steel and concrete.”
“Well, Sir. Central America has always been a mess. The Marines have had to be sent in the Nicaragua, Panama and Honduras for a variety of reasons, mostly to put down insurrections.”
“The Marines were also sent to protect our business interests there as well. But we really need to refrain from engaging in direct military interventions in Latin America. It looks bad internationally. It also plays poorly for domestic politics as well.”
“I understand, Sir. South America is getting pretty interesting though. Several of the larger nations down there have been buying war-surplus aircraft carriers.”
“We sold one of those navies a surplus aircraft carrier of our own, didn’t we?” Dewey asked.
“Yes, Sir. That was Chile. We sold them the surviving vessel that was converted at the beginning of the war from a cruise liner that had been built with a flight deck. The US Navy wanted to get rid of the ship. Chile made the winning bid for the vessel. Of course, we stripped off all of the weapons from the ship before handing it over. Latin America has been a major customer for all of our obsolescent war surplus weapons that we have chosen to dispose of rather than scrap.”
“Maybe that sale will provide for enough of a balance of power down there. I would like it very much if the nations of Latin America could provide for their security without constantly demanding our assistance. If they want our help, then our national priorities need to be considered by their governments at the same time.”
“Of course, if we can help them remain at peace with each other, that will play well both domestically and overseas, Sir.”
“That is correct, John. This is always a good thing with elections coming up.”
Chapter Two:
Nationalist Chinese Parliament Building
Beijing, Republic of China
A pair of men sat in a small but ornately decorated office discussing the direction of perhaps already was the most populous nation in the world. The discussion was quiet but it was obvious that the times were very ‘interesting’ for all involved.
“With Mao gone, not only are many of our young girls now safe from his predatory tastes, we can now focus on dealing with our other internal problems.” Generalissimo Chang Kai-Shek said with an air of finality in his voice.
“I assume that you are referring to the Cantonese warlords, Sir. They will not take your efforts very kindly, especially those who supported you during the war against the Japanese and the Communists.” Colonel Cho Mi-Lang, Chang Kai-Shek’s chief intelligence officer responded.
“It matters little what they want, Colonel. If China is to become a great power once again, then we must have a strong central government. The Chinese people need structure and it must come from here. This is the one thing that I agreed with Mao on. But the Communists do not know how to properly manage an economy, much less give them the freedom that they deserve.
The Communists are also greatly feared by the capitalists in the rest of the industrialized world. This is for a very good reason because the capitalists in many nations have lost too much of their investments because of Communist nationalization actions.
This was most evident in the Soviet Union and elsewhere that had experimented with the implementation of Marx’s Communist Manifesto.”
“Yes, Generalissimo. But we must also be careful not to fall into the same trap if we are going to encourage foreign investments into China. We badly need them in order to rebuild our economy, just as we needed aid from the foreigners before to help us fight against the Japanese invaders. Everyone must see that our government is stable and responsible enough for outsiders to risk their money on us.”
“This is true. But we must still remain vigilant. We cannot allow foreigners to exploit us at the same time that they invest in our country. It has not been all that long since China found itself under the dominion of both Japan and several European nations.”
“That will be quite a challenge. We will have to deal with the foreigners very carefully. But our own history of corruption will complicate the situation. As long as we have people who are willing to put their own interests ahead of those of our nation, there will be foreigners who are equally corrupt and will quickly exploit the situation.”
“Then we will have to deal with corruption very harshly. You should ask your wife on how the Americans manage to deal with corruption so effectively. Madame Chang and her sister were both educated there, I remember.”
“Me-Ling does have a unique perspective on America. She has educated me about that nation. However, America is not China. Their ways are not ours, although we can try to adapt some of them to our culture. But make no mistake, there is corruption all over the world, even in America. Their Mafia gangs could not exist without the assistance of corrupt public officials. But we will have to create the circumstances so that the benefits of honest behavior and government far outweigh any gain that a corrupt transaction would achieve.”
“Still, The Cantonese are going to be particularly resistant to you imposing much more centralized control over their affairs and, most importantly, over their finances. They have been making significant financial arrangements with the Western administrators in both Hong Kong and Macau.”
“We need to take care of our own affairs, not rely upon foreigners to manage our business.” The Generalissimo harshly answered back.
“I know, Sir. But the English and Portuguese have done very well in those colonies. They have succeeded in creating civil societies that has brought to heel the corruption that has been so endemic to China for so much of our history. The civil servants in both of those places have earned quite the reputation for integrity, in fact.”
“Maybe so, But even if the Cantonese have dealt with the corruption that has plagued our part of the world for so long, they cannot simply divorce themselves from the rest of our nation. But first, we must deal with the warlords. Then we will clean up the rest of our issues so that China can finally take its proper place in the world once again. If the Occidentals can manage to tame the corruption in the South, so must we.
But as I said before, we must remain true to ourselves. We are Chinese, the masters of our world. We have our own manifest destiny, which is to lead all of humanity to enlightenment under Chinese leadership and control.”
“I understand, Generalissimo.”
“Now, tell me what the current situation is concerning our rivals in the South, Colonel. I need to know where we can apply the most pressure to convince them to acquiesce to our demands and rejoin our greater China. ”
“Trade is a very good place to start with, Sir. The vast majority of our outside commerce is seaborne. We have valuable ports at Shanghai and Lüshun in addition to others, Generalissimo. They should give us a significant advantage”
“They could. But, the Cantonese also have very valuable ports for commerce at Hong Kong and Macau, Colonel.“
“There is also Taiwan, Sir. The island has much to offer us.”
“This all very true, Colonel. But, you must remember that the people of Taiwan have been aligning themselves with the Canto
nese ever since the withdrawal of the Japanese occupiers. This has been causing us other problems as well. The Cantonese have been working very hard to build up their military forces. They have even seized several former Japanese warships that had been in ports along the South China Sea awaiting repairs for battle damage. If those ships repaired and put back into service, they could prevent shipping from reaching our own ports, especially if operating from Taiwanese ports.
Without that trade, our nation will starve. Of course, should we be able to take control of the sea lanes around all of the southern ports, we can greatly reduce the Cantonese ability to import goods, especially weapons. We would need to be far more delicate with our dealings concerning Hong Kong and Macau since they are technically still under the jurisdiction of European powers.”
“Then we must do something to prevent those warships from being used against us, Sir.” Mi-Lang responded.
“And how do you propose that we do that, Colonel? We do not yet have significant naval forces of our own. We also do not have heavy bombers that can strike the southern Cantonese ports where these ships are currently located.”
“Then we must arrange for someone else to destroy these warships for us. We would have to accomplish this either through diplomacy or by subterfuge. When the Cantonese are deprived of these assets, it will certainly bring them closer to accepting your proposal.”
“Then you will need to begin preparations for this, Colonel.”
“I understand, Sir. But we must also deal with the various Army officers who have set up control of key areas within the Republic of China. We will need their support if we are going to successfully reintegrate the Cantonese into the Chinese nation.”
“Ah, yes. Our China always seems to have problems with warlords believing that they can be little kings in their own right within the Middle Kingdom. They will have to agree to cooperate with the larger goal or be brought to heel.”
“Will we deal with the warlords within our own area first or will we continue to focus upon the Cantonese, Sir?”
“The Cantonese, of course. Once they are brought back into Greater China, then we can find ways to take care of the warlords once and for all.” The Generalissimo finally said.
Chapter Three:
Cavill Industries Main Office.
Derby, Western Australia
November 21, 1954
Harold had been working even longer days than usual during the past few months. The diagnosis that he had received from his doctor had prompted Harold to try to finish off as many of his various projects as possible. He hadn’t been feeling particularly well during the previous couple of weeks, especially with the growing frequency of symptoms that his doctor had warned him about.
Harold had had felt a little dizzy when he had gotten up that morning. He did his best to shake it off as he drove to his office. But a little over an hour after he arrived, Harold felt a wave of dizziness and nausea suddenly hit him as he stood at his drafting table. He staggered towards a nearby chair, hoping to sit down and rest a little in an effort to recover some.
Harold didn’t make it to the chair however. He lost consciousness and fell to the floor. It was nearly thirty minutes later when his assistant Janice Springfield opened the office door and found Harold still lying on the floor. She immediately made two phone calls. One was to the hospital to get an ambulance. The second was to one of Harold’s children, James, who was the only family member in town at the time. Eighteen year-old James was finishing up his university studies while at the same time doing work at the Cavill Aeronautics engineering laboratory.
These two phone calls caused a flurry of activity. But because of specific instructions given by Harold in the months prior to his collapse, the number of people who were alerted about Harold’s situation was kept very limited. Even his trip to the hospital was kept under the strictest confidence.
Harold had been in the hospital bed for only a couple of hours when his son rushed into the room. Four armed members of the Derby militia were guarding the private room where Harold was being treated. No one was taking any chances since the first time that Harold and been threatened.
“Hello, Dad. How are you feeling? I got here as quickly as I could after I heard that you had passed out at your office.” James asked Harold.
“I’ve felt better, son. I’m afraid that time has finally caught up with me.” Harold weakly replied from his hospital bed.
“Nah, Dad. We know that you are going to be with us for a lot longer.”
“I wish that I could. Have you heard anything from your sisters yet?”
“They are on their way back home. I called them right after I heard what had happened. They caught the first available jet airliner back from the States. Hopefully, they will be back here sometime tonight.”
“I really hate that I made them cut short their visit with the American rocket engineers. Even with von Braun working for us, there is always something that we can learn from the rest of the world.”
“Or at least, we have to make it appear that way, don’t we, Dad?”
The cancer had not been diagnosed until it was far too late for the doctors to do anything for Harold. Pancreatic cancer was hard to treat even when Harold was known as James Stevenson in the year 2040. Harold had tried to keep his illness from his children for as long as possible. But eventually, he had no choice when he collapsed at his desk a couple of days earlier.
James Cavill held his father’s hand for hours as he waited. He suddenly heard loud female voices and the sound of running before the door to the private hospital room burst open. In ran all three of James’ older siblings,
“Dad, we came back as quickly as we could. You should have told us that you were sick. We would have stayed home to be with you.” Twenty-two year old Judith said with tears in her eyes.
“I know, Sweetheart. But staying with wouldn’t have helped anything. The work that the three of you were doing in California is very important. We have to think of the future, you know.” James replied.
“It’s not too important to be with you, Dad. We don’t want to lose you.” The twenty-one year old twins, Sarah and Beatrice replied in unison.
“You all knew that this day would eventually come though. Still, I’m glad that you are here now. At least I get to say goodbye. I know that you didn’t get to do that with your mum.”
Harold could tears running down the faces of all three of his daughters. James was trying hard not to cry himself. But Harold could still see the tears welling up in his son’s eyes as well at the thought of their father’s imminent death.
“Dad, whatever happens, we are going to continue the work that you started with the project. This is something that we all promise to do.” Judith said as she struggled in vain to hold back her tears while reaching out over the edge of the hospital bed to hug Harold.
“Thank you. I know that you will do everything that you can to make this world right. You know, kids. I’ve still lived a tremendous life. A big part of that has been the four of you. I can’t tell you just how incredibly proud I am of all of you.”
Harold’s children all remained with him for his final three days in this world before he finally took his last breath. Nearly everyone in the small city of Derby mourned with the Cavill family at their loss. But for anyone who thought that things might change with the death of Harold Cavill, the energetic team of his four children quickly put that idea to bed.”
Within a few hours of Harold’s passing, the news of his death had already traveled all the way around the world. Messages of condolence and tribute poured into the Cavill’s office from a wide variety of people including the current Prime Ministers of both Australia and the United Kingdom. There was even a quiet message from Albert Einstein where he mentioned his sorrow over ‘the man of the future’s death.’
One of the most interesting messages came in among the flood of messages. James Cavill had been looking through the various telegrams when he spotted a very familiar nam
e. He quickly gathered up his siblings to look at the message.
“We just received a request from Mister Churchill via telegraph. He wishes to come here to pay his respects to our father at the funeral.” James told his sisters.
“We will have to immediately contact our Cavalier flight office in London to arrange for the former Prime Minister to have first-class seats for him and his family made immediately available. I’m sure that we have at least one of our flying boats there in England right now.” Judith immediately replied.
“Yes, there are two Cavaliers in England presently. We can easily task one of them immediately to transport the Prime Minister and any others here. They would arrive here in about two days from the time that they lifted off from England.” Beatrice responded.
“Let’s do that as quickly as possible. I know that Father and Prime Minister Churchill had a very special relationship. So it doesn’t surprise me at all that Churchill would want to personally pay his respects in person.” Judith instructed.
“I’ll get on it right away.” Sarah pitched in, before everyone got busy with their individual roles of both running their late father’s business interests and preparing for his final resting place.
The massive Cavalier flying boat gently landed in King Sound near the Cavill Shipyards complex less than forty-eight hours after the receipt of Churchill’s message. Then the transport carefully taxied across the water towards the nearby seaplane ramp. A few minutes later, the giant seaplane rolled up the ramp on its beaching gear and then came to a stop. The large nose cargo door and side personnel door both soon opened up in preparation for unloading.
Judith Cavill walked up towards the seaplane when a familiar figure stepped through the personnel door.