Yocto

by Timothy Jon Reynolds

  Sid got excited, “I like it, and then we’ll put the NSA in the investigative seat and start punishing these scumbags. I don’t like what I am reading, Walter. These assholes have to be stopped. These towns are under siege.”

  “Agreed, Sid, now how do we get the prisons under control?”

  The Vice President spoke in a tone that meant he was not happy to be delivering this news, “We are going to have to enforce Martial Law. We are going to have to start openly and quickly shooting rioting prisoners. Walter, we simply do not have the resources to do this any other way but by being resolute. We’ve lost over a hundred prison guards nationwide. We either do this, or there will be walk-offs from prison staffs very soon.”

  The President looked at Gary Salisbury, his Chief of Staff, who was always present nowadays when they had one of their talks, “Make it happen, Gary; Sid is right, we simply don’t have the resources to be dealing with this with kid gloves. These are prisoners, and the ACLU can go ahead and start filing lawsuits, because by God, these prisoners are going to have to be put under control again. The soft days are over; it is now hard time in prison again.”

  Gary was reluctant to leave to start that assignment though, and Sid knew why. Gary was sure some major decision would be made in his absence, so the President reassured him there would not be. Sid was inwardly smiling at the thought of Gary’s little legs flying as fast as they could to get back here in time.

  He walked over to Walter’s desk and slid a file over. Walter looked at him suspiciously, seeing they just made Gary a promise. Then he opened the file.

  “It’s one of the many towns we talked about, Walter, and it happens to be the town that my best friend in the world’s parents founded out in the California desert. I had some people check in on him two days ago. Walter, they found him dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound and four dead bikers in his yard. Those same helpful individuals I had checking also took the time to gather some intel, Walter. These shitheads have taken over the local casino and currently their hierarchy is nestled on the top floor of the building, just like kings.”

  “What are you saying, Sid?”

  “I’m saying you send in an attack squadron and wipe out the top three floors completely. Maybe if we sever the head, the body will go running all spread out, which will make them easier to deal with when they run into the Federal boys who’ll be waiting for them. All I am saying, Walter, is there are at least forty of these towns to deal with, and I want to make this one the first. Jesus, Walter, Bill Hager won the Congressional Medal of Honor, for Christ’s sake. He knew Eisenhower as a very young and wounded soldier, and now his son is dead at the hands of these scumbags, so I am asking that you steer your little sycophant Gary to do this one first. You don’t need to tell him why; you’re the Chief. I need to know this is done before the Good Lord takes me one day. Walter, this one is personal.

  Walter placed the file inside his desk just as Gary re-entered the room. He could tell he missed something, and very curtly asked what they were just talking about. Again, showing sides of himself that Sid had never seen, Walter lied right on cue, “Sid lost a very dear friend, we were just reminiscing.”

  Feeling slightly embarrassed, but still sanctimonious, Gary quickly moved on, convinced they were not making plans without him. As Gary now led the meeting, Sid had a moment to reflect while Gary was going over troop placements with the President. His reflection was on Walter. He had only taken the nomination because he thought he could exude his will over this apparently weak man. Who knew that Walter Kessel was the man to get things done? Sid mused, sometimes they were ruthless things, but necessary things that only men of the highest resolve could enact.

  China thought that they had made strides in naval technology, but they had no idea where America really was. Walter might have removed the Navy’s surface fleet, but America had some new stealth nuclear subs that had done anything but retreat. In fact, he’d ordered them closer to their attack points than they ever had been before. If Walter Kessel had any inkling that China was going to turn aggressor, their ancient country would become a memory in mere seconds.

  Gary was covering world events, and they were very interesting. Since the oceans had been unaffected, massive numbers of people were migrating from burning, inner cities and moving back to the countryside they’d abandoned to have a more prosperous life. People were quickly becoming fishermen and farmers again. Strangely, in the midst of all the panic, war and human suffering, a voice was arising to be more responsible to our oceans.

  Gary had given the worldwide death toll estimates, and it was staggering. Over fifty million people had perished as a result of the die-offs. Every country on Earth had rioting and many fires. Because of this, there was now going to be a monumental global climate change effect for at least two years.

  Experts were comparing the amount of ash in the atmosphere to the Kilimanjaro volcanic event of the early 20th century. That event affected worldwide crops and caused famine in many regions of the world. It was not lost on Sid Langston that this was a huge kick in the pants while humanity was down. They’d already lost so much of their food chain, now they were looking at a lack of sunshine to grow the crops coupled with a lack of bees to pollinate them; all from of this horrific predicament. It was like mankind was on a craps table at two in the morning; they were winning earlier, but now no matter what they did, there seemed to be something blocking any good from happening. Seven out.

  Gary had switched to discussing the further utilization of the Coast Guard and Sid checked out of the conversation again, because something he just thought of was bugging him. Sid loved a good classic novel and in one particular book where the villain was being revenged upon by an unknown former victim.

  As his life was falling apart and everything he did quickly turned to one disaster after another, he thought to himself that it was almost as if someone were behind the scenes orchestrating the whole thing, causing all his endeavors to fail. Then, as it turned out, he was right, there was somebody behind the scenes causing everything.

  So Sid once again tried to think outside the box and tried to come up with a country willing to risk everything in order to do what? What was the endgame to all this madness?

  Before they were done with their meeting, Gary was called out again. This time he was gone scant minutes before he was back with a look of total fear. He spoke to the President and Vice President, “The man you beat out in the primaries has just recommended that you be removed from office for incompetence. He says he has proof and they are lobbying the Senate right now for the impeachment procedure to start. They are making you culpable for Pyongyang.

  “They’re saying your actions gave China de facto approval of aggression simply by us abandoning and destabilizing the region, which in Governor Anderson’s opinion, started the human floods from North Korea, which in turn triggered the attack by China. They are furthering that the move to bring the Navy into the cities shows your total lack of military knowledge, and they are trying to convince everyone who will listen that your lack of military leadership is unacceptable on the world stage at this juncture.”

  Walter tried to ease his Chief of Staff’s nerves, “Now, Gary, you’re a lawyer. You know there is no precedence for turning a bad decision into a crime. Not that I made one, but still, where is their case? I am the Commander in Chief, and the American people have largely agreed with the moves I’ve made, as all our cities have stopped burning. So where is their fuel going to come from?”

  Gary looked at his boss and said one word, “Fabrications.”

  “Well then, Gary, we will meet them head on. That’s why I have you. Besides, let them. At the rate things are going, they will have nary time to impeach me before this madness is over. Now our dear friend from North Carolina is a very tech invested man, as is every person on his support list. Some people were actually making money over there, and I am sure the financial trail leads back to a consortium they control. What you need to do Gary, is sh
ow how much money would have been lost if the North’s plan had been carried out in the South. My guess is about a hundred times worse globally as the South is a huge producer of many electronic components.

  “Looks like we will need to be leaning on the Chinese for that proof immediately. With them to substantiate my reasoning, this should all go away.

  “Your number one priority, Gary, is to get their documentation that shows a clear and present danger was posed to South Korea. Once that is in the open, there are people with a lot bigger coconuts than Jarred Anderson invested in South Korea, and this will all blow over.”

  Once again, the people around Walter Kessel were amazed at his calmness under fire, but not just his manner was impressive. His calculative and savvy mind was proving to match that of some of our greatest American Presidents.

  * * *

  Karen watched the verbal exchange end the minute she entered the service module to get something to eat. Anatoly and Commander Zardonov were sitting at the six-person table that they kept for meals. It was really quite ridiculous seeing they had to tether and Velcro everything down just to sit there and eat, and oftentimes it became quite comical to see it all in action.

  The Commander excused himself, and Karen was looking into the eyes of the most chivalrous man that Space had yet to know. Either that or he was a complete madman, and she just had opted to lock herself in an aluminum can with him. Currently the future Jack Torrance of Space was making a peanut butter and honey sandwich and he looked as harmless as could be. She chided him, “That sandwich would be like ten grand back on Earth.”

  He looked at her as he bit and asked with his mouth half full, “What is a grand?”

  She forgot that although he mostly spoke English without missing verbs, conjunctions, and prepositions, he often did not get American slang, “I meant ten thousand dollars, my Dear. Now can you make me a sandwich, I’m hungry and I feel like knowing what it’s like to live like the other half.”

  She could tell she had perplexed him again, “That means like rich people live, dear.”

  He said through another bite, “I knew that one, I was just having a hard time swallowing.”

  He smiled revealing food particles, yet regardless, she melted anyway. Of course, she just had to ask the question, it was built into her nature; so even though it was risking stressing him beyond all hope (as they were T-minus six hours out), the question came as she feared he was cracking under the final pressure, “What was that all about?”

  This time, she believed he took a bite to avoid having to answer in a clear way, “He asked me if I was okay? He wanted to know if there was anything he could do for me back home.”

  Karen knew she looked so vulnerable when she asked the question, but all her defenses were gone. She was an open book to her man, emotions included. She had made an inward promise to herself to keep her man happy in Space, so she would not allow him to be unhappy for even a moment. And if the Commander was trying to get into his head, she wanted to know. Anatoly was going to be happy, even at her own expense, “What did you say?”

  Anatoly was all about character, and she understood that things American men might cower away from, he would hit head on, “I told him to tell my parents that I chose to die with the woman that I love. Nothing more.”

  Karen looked bewildered by this, but he furthered, “In my family we have talked about this, Karen. After all, I shot myself into Space. I have three brothers, and all of them take care of my parents, but more than that, we are all men of honor. Dying for us is different, for as long as we die with honor in service of something we believe in, then there is no sadness in that. Right before I left the planet, we saluted this tradition as a family, with the best Russian vodka money could buy.”

  Karen had tears running down her cheeks as he finished the story. They were tears of sadness and joy as both of them were going to become famed lovers, a modern version of Romeo and Juliette sans the quarreling families. It was such an act of selflessness that it required tears.

  * * *

  The wind was hot and blowing at them in all directions. They were riding in Jack’s jeep and they were minus the top and doors as Jack felt like living a little. Christy was all covered up as a result because it was close to ninety degrees out as they headed east up Highway 132. She wore a baseball hat clipped in by bobby pins and glasses. Christy was literally covered in sunscreen on every part of her that the sun’s rays touched.

  As one looked way down the road, one could see the thermals rising and the mirages started to play their tricks. Jack intersected with Highway 49 south and after a spell he made a left turn onto what looked like a private paved road. There was no road sign and Jack massaged her leg to ease her fear, as it was well broadcasted for city folk not to stray into the country looking for safety. Reports had been piling up of attacks on people trying to seek shelter in rural places.

  Of course, Jack knew what he was doing. This road served as access to several private properties, the last of which lay twenty minutes up this road. That last property was a small goat farm, and Jack had been there while investigating a listeria outbreak in a soft cheese they made. Afterward, he had found his special place, just above the cheese farm the old couple ran. Jack remembered that they had plenty of goats, so maybe he could talk to them afterward and see about buying some cheese.

  As they got to the property on the left side, Jack saw just how wrong he had been, as the old couple had hired some helping hands, all of who had rifles. Jack was being naïve to think things would be the same. Jack loathed guns, so all he had in his defense was a pepper spray canister. “Wait here, while I go talk to them.”

  Christy did as he said. And in no time the old man he had met before came out. Jack remembered citing him, but he had also given the guy a million breaks, so he hoped this went well. As it turned out, the old man was very relieved to find that the Federal Government had much more important things to do than visit him. After giving the man what information he could on the state of things, Jack was permitted to go into the headlands that lie just up the road.

  The private paved road ended at the entrance to a thick evergreen grove and even Christy was amazed at how the landscape changed on the fringe like they were. The foliage went from being all brown, to sporadic scrub pines and oaks, to all evergreens in the course of just two miles.

  Jack simply took his jeep up the existing dirt trail to where it ended at a small creek about a quarter mile in. The creek had a trickle of water in it and Jack told her that was his surprise. Christy looked across the trickle and noticed that the forest was not going to give way for the jeep anymore, so this must be the place, but she could not fathom why? She asked Jack, “This is where you brought me?”

  Jack laughed, put his backpack on, and said, “Get your backpack and follow me.”

  They hiked upwards following the small creek, Jack making sure he was walking to her pace, as she hated when he left her behind. They talked small talk about her mom and dad, and life in Los Angeles.

  Her mom and dad had opted to stay in L.A., even though the invitations to stay with them in Modesto were real and sincere. Jack was prepared to start construction and expand their house, but there was no way her rich parents were leaving. Her dad was actually a real Angelino, as his bloodline went back to the eighteen hundreds in the region.

  Christy’s mom said that as soon as the Navy rolled into Long Beach and made a spectacle of taking over the downtown, there had been a different vibe in L.A., because right after making Long Beach and San Pedro their base of operation, they shut down the Harbor Freeway and sent an entire task force up from San Pedro to take over downtown Los Angeles.

  Jack thought it so typical of men of great hubris, that even in the midst of total social collapse, Rear Admiral Hensley Foster would not allow his naval ground forces to be labeled with Army nomenclature, so he invented his own. Instead of saying a Division of Navy troops, the terminology was Task Force, the inclination being they would be re
turning to their waiting ships as soon as possible. They both laughed at how the President tweaked the staunch warmonger with that one.

  Jack was glad for the President’s move though, as Christy did not seem overly concerned about her mom or dad, which made his life easier, of course. He let her get up in front, and looking up at her hiking in front of him, he was happily reminded that his woman had a world-class derriere. Although the other end was starting to protest, “Where are we going, Jack?”

  She sounded put out, so he caught up with her and pointed just up ahead, “I used to come here when we broke up. I was listening to some self-help stuff and one of them stated that if I radiate positive waves all the time asking for what I want, then it would come to me. The premise is that we are broadcasting all the time, but if we broadcast the negative, then we shall draw in the negative.”

  She was still unclear, “But why here?”

  She asked this question just as they had climbed up to Jack’s little secret. The trickle of a stream was fed by a spring. It was, in fact, a warm water spring, and it formed a pool that was maybe thirty feet in circumference, and four or five feet deep. It had a small granite boulder in the middle, and one on the edge that was about fifteen feet high and twenty feet across. They had come up the game trail, and that was the only clearing to get to the water, as blackberry and nettle had taken over the rest.

  The pool was surrounded by a redwood cathedral that shaded the area and kept the big rock a temperature that one could stand, which was good, because they could easily climb the lichen covered front side and sit up on the flat top looking out over the water.

  Jack opened the backpack and pulled out the tin of goat cheese and crackers that Dimitri had procured. He had also finagled some grapes and strawberries without having to wait three hours at the grocery store—Jack could only imagine how he had accomplished this. The bottle of wine was from their rack. Fortunately for them, the one thing they both obsessed about together was wine. They actually had many cases of varying wines stored in their spare bedroom because when they found one they loved, they bought a case.