by Tom Tryst
The fact that there has been no communication with them since their sudden exodus added to her apprehension. Although Daniel doesn’t know it, their conversations in private add to her feeling of dread, for not only does he believe the aliens will return, he is doom and gloom regarding mankind’s ability to direct its fate. He is sure that nations will quickly abandon the working communal system of government, and that the resulting attempts to return to a monetary base will create chaos, interfering with the delicate system of food distribution. The corrupt politicians and their wealthy sponsors would again be in control. The once wealthy, privileged class would again begin amassing new fortunes.
Adding to her growing depression is Victor’s absence. The Army unit, of which he is now an officer with the field commission of Captain, is on a four/ten schedule. During his four days of duty, he seldom is able to see Tabitha but for brief moments. She calls him several times a day when he was on duty, but he usually can’t talk long. On many occasions, his unit would spend the entire four-day shift off the Compound. She begins spending more off her off-duty time with the Davies, not wanting to be alone.
Whether or not the aliens return, all know their time in the compound will sooner or later come to an end. The United Nations has been reassembled, generally simply transferring those assigned to the alien’s World Government to be representatives of their various governments. Daniel’s team had been in the process of installing an even larger computer system that would replace The Compound’s system when the proverbial ‘shit hit the fan.’ They might be transferred to New York . . . or not. If Victor’s unit was transferred, she might not be able to go with him.
To add to her anxiety is the fact that she thought - no, the fear - that she might be pregnant.
Life in the village of Kentland, Indiana changed little. The old mayor is back in office and continuing his governing of the village. He did little before the invasion; he does even less now, letting the communal system continue. Their surplus of corn and grains is, for the time being, traded for staples, as is the excess dairy products. If anything, life is better, for the winter skies are a deep blue on clear days; the atmosphere is noticeably cleaner. They have not had a severe storm in the past two years.
The Davies family gladly turned their phasers and helmets over to the Sheriff’s deputies, once again being normal citizens. The two dozen sets they had been provided just the day before the revolution were now in the hands of local peace officers and military reservists. It was the military who now manned the Court House bell tower around the clock. The town now also has a radar unit.
David is now again working days, so the family is able to have dinner together, something Janet insists upon.
As is their habit, it is a time to discus their days - and to bring up any concerns or problems. But Janet insists that the subject of the aliens possible return is taboo. David agrees. There is no need to discuss the issue; there is little they can do anyway. What they never told either Debby or Darrel was that they would be marked people; the aliens could read their minds and know of their involvement in the revolution. They hope the fact that they never had to act might spare them.
They are having desert, a local favorite, apple pie, made from the fruit of a local orchard. Debby has been unusually silent.
Noticing this, Janet addresses her, “You’re awfully quiet tonight, Dear. Is anything wrong?”
The teenager just shakes her head, taking another fork-full of pie.
“Now’s the time to talk things over,” Janet presses, then looks to Daniel to say something.
“Is it something at work?” he asks. She had graduated from high school but had begged off going away to college. She is working with her father at the dairy.
“Come on, Girl,” he presses, “I know when something’s bothering you.”
She just glares at him and snaps, “Nothing’s wrong. Everything is just peachy!” Her voice is filled with sarcasm.
“Well, excuse me!” David responds curtly.
Janet reaches over and places a hand on his arm, silently telling him to drop it. He nods, knowing she will have a mother/daughter talk in private.
He just hopes she hasn’t gotten herself pregnant.
Debbie is dressed for bed when Janet knocks on her door, waits for a response which doesn’t come, then enters anyway.
The girl is sitting on her bed. It is obvious that she has been crying. Janet quickly sits beside her, placing an arm around her. She, too, is hoping it isn’t an unwanted pregnancy that is the reason for her dismay.
“Honey, I’m your Mama,” she begins. “I’ve always been here for you. I know you’re eighteen and considered an adult, but you’ll always be my little girl. I hope you’ll always feel free to come to me if you have a problem.”
Debbie leans heavily into her arms, bursting into tears. She lets the girl have her cry, patiently waiting. It seems a long time before the outburst subsides. Debbie sits up, an embarrassed, weak grin on her face, and reaches to her night stand for a handkerchief. She wipes her eyes, then blows her nose.
Finally Debbie speaks, head bowed, “He dumped me,” she says softly.
The mother knew that Debbie had been dating one of the boys working at the dairy, but always double dating. The ‘he’ had to be Eddie Campbell. She didn’t think anything was serious between them.
“I had lunch with him at work.” Debbie continues. “He was real serious. I thought he was going to ask me to go steady. Instead, he tells me ‘this just isn’t working out.’ Just out of the blue.”
“Oh, Honey, I’m so sorry!” She doesn’t know what else to say for a moment, then adds, “Well, better now before things got serious.”
Debbie started crying again, blubbering, “It was serious!”
Janet starts counting days. Debbie had graduated late June. She almost immediately went to work at the dairy. It was now January. That would be almost seven months. She could have met Eddie right away. She wondered how long they had been dating before they became aware of it.
Debbie looks up and sees the frightened look on her mother’s face, then flatly states, “No, Mother, I’m not pregnant.”
“Oh, I never thought . . . “
Debbie interrupts. “Never mind. I’ll get over it. He just told me this afternoon.” She can’t look at her mother as she continues. “I thought he loved me or I wouldn’t have let him . . . “ She leaves it unfinished.
They are both silent for a very long time before Debbie asks, “Do you have to tell Dad?”
“It would be better if you would tell him yourself.”
“Mom! I can’t!”
Janet shrugs, “He has to know. He is your father.”
“He’ll be disgusted with me! He’ll think I’m sleeping around. Eddie’s the only one. I thought we would get married someday.”
Again, mother takes her child in her arms. “Let me tell you something about your father and me. I let him do it before we were married. You were the result. The only difference, your father is an honorable man. He married me the moment I discovered I was pregnant.”
Debbie sat upright. “Really?”
Janet nods. “He won’t think bad of you. But don’t be surprised if he punches Eddie in the nose.”
Despite herself, Debbie giggled a little at the thought.
“Look at this as one of life’s hard knocks. Don’t trust men. You’ll find the right one soon enough. When you find one that reminds you of your father, that could be the right one.”
“Thanks, Mom. I love you.”
“I love you, too, Baby.”
“Are you going to tell Dad tonight?”
“When the time is right. When you feel up to it, you can ask him to forgive you. He will, you know.”
Mother tucks the young woman into bed, as she had so many times when she was a little girl. As soon as she is in the hall, the bedroom closed behind her, she lets her own tears flow.
For the first week after the abrupt exodus of the aliens, a
strict curfew is enforced nationwide No one is allowed on the streets from sunset to sunrise. As the military is in charge, a number of violators are shot - some killed - before the general population take the curfew seriously. The anticipated looting didn’t happen, probably because the Peace Keepers had done such a good job of transporting the criminal element - as well as the fact that people already had everything they needed to survive.
The most critical issue to be immediately addressed is the assurance that food delivery from the farms and distributors will continue. Any deviation from the established communal sharing program will be considered an act of treason.
The military has also anticipated some citizens will attempt hoarding, especially regarding food. The existing system for distribution already limits amounts each person can obtain using their implanted ration chips. When citizens see that there will be no shortages, their anxieties are reduced. By the end of the first week things are back to normal - at least, the normal established by the Peace Keepers.
The word spreads quickly. All men and women with any military training, up to the age of 65, are to report to the nearest military facility. If their current civilian assignment is not critical, they could be activated. If so, they are advised that all dependent family members would stay with them. Volunteers enlistment is also encouraged.
At the same time, the call went out for all men and women with law enforcement experience to report to their nearest law enforcement agency. If physically fit, they would again be commissioned as law enforcement officers and assigned according to their experience and training. Older experienced peace officers would be assigned to the various support duties, leaving the younger, more physically fit, to work the streets.
Every college and university in the country temporarily closed their doors, leaving the students available for military or government duty. The ranks of Army and Coast Guard swelled, as did law enforcement agencies. There is little time for basic training; each recruit is assigned to an experienced man or woman for on-the-job training. They will learn by doing.
The underground weapons manufacturing program is expanded to selected Air Force bases, one of them being Lackland Air Force Base, on the south side of San Antonio, Texas. Emphasis is on making as many of the phasers as possible; the goal is to have every military serviceman and law enforcement officer carry such a sidearm, for they had to be prepared for the expected return of the Peace Keepers. While the phasers fried the electronics of the Peace Keepers, they also stunned humans, making them incapacitated for at least five minutes, leaving only a slight burn. They could also fry electrical systems of any fleeing vehicle, immobilizing them. Because the twin beams were generated in glass tubes, the hand-held frame could be made of plastic, speeding up the manufacturing process and reducing the cost of manufacture.
The Army Air Corps and the Coast Guard will have the responsibility of transporting troops and equipment, as well as handling the ground-to-ship phasers. The Army, now with the Marines attached to them rather than the old Navy, are charged with taking on any returning Peace Keepers. In the works is the possibility of re-instituting the Department of The Air Force. In most areas, civilian functions continued, with women handling the jobs left open by the men going into the military.
Most of the industrialized nations followed much the same course, having been in on the initial revolt. They, too, are holding the status quo.
It is a different matter with some of the third world countries, most of whom had suffered greater losses during the transporting campaign of the aliens. The order for distribution of food and medications quickly collapsed. Old conflicts flared. Starving people are fleeing the upheavals with nowhere to go for relief. Weak governments fell to hastily organized rebel forces consisting of nonviolent people seeking relief for the masses. For the time being, the rest of the world must ignore them, for they are pressed with their own defense preparations. Those illegally attempting to cross national borders are usually fired on by troops of the defending country, for allowing the hoards to enter would impact their own food supply. The troops often kill out of fear of such consequences, temporarily stemming the flow.
It soon becomes obvious that many more millions of people will perish in the next few months, for the first priority worldwide is to be prepared for the return of the Peace Keepers.
Tabitha solves the problem of frequent separation from her husband, Capt. Victor Wells. She joins the Army. Because of her computer skills, Victor manages to have her assigned to his detail at the Compound as a communication specialist with the rank of Corporal. He assumes the responsibility to train her to be a soldier, by necessity a very abbreviated course.
Using The Compound as their camp, they are organized into mobile patrol units, going into potential problem areas in the Hill Country, usually for a week at a time. They would return to camp for rest and resupply before the next detail. The draft has been reinstated, ordering all males between the ages of 20 to 30 to report to the local recruiting station. Not all are complying. Capt. Wells and his unit have the task of seeking them out and taking them into custody. For her part, Cpl. Tabitha Sullivan-Wells accesses public and private computer files for the last known locations of all men in that age bracket.
It is winter, often making their tours of duty cold, wet and miserable, but they almost always find shelter each night in vacant houses or at local law enforcement departments. They are always in communication with the camp.
Much to Victor’s disappointment, Tabitha has cut her beautiful blonde hair short - very short. It was just too hard for her to take care of while they were on detail. With the wool watch cap and hooded coat, from a distance she blends in with the men. The area they are assigned to patrol is rural rolling hills with low growing trees between areas cleared for grazing of cattle. It had been a popular vacation area, with most businesses geared to the tourist trade, now nonexistent. There are also many homes of retired people, totally dependent on the continued flow of goods.
It is midmorning when their seven vehicle detail enters Garner State Park, where air surveillance indicates there are still campers. It is supposed to be closed and vacant. The front gate is open, the locks broken. The main office is closed, its parking lot empty, but as they roll deeper into the park and come to the first campground, every shelter is occupied.
Victor rolls to a stop adjacent the first site. Four people stand in front of the open shelter; a young couple with two children. The man is cradling a rifle.
With his phaser in hand, but not pointed at the armed man, Victor coldly demands, “Drop the weapon! Now!”
He is of draft age and appears to be in good physical condition.
When he doesn’t respond, Victor points his phaser at him. “I am Captain Wells, United States Army. This weapon won’t kill you, but they say it’s very painful. Don’t make me use it in front of your family!”
The man resignedly lays his weapon on the ground. Tabitha cautiously approaches and retrieves it. Victor holsters his weapon. “This park is closed. Why haven’t you reported for assignment?”
“What, and leave my family on their own?” the man replies defensively. “I couldn’t do that. The whole system is screwed up.”
“No, it isn’t! The system of communal living is still working.”
“Not where we lived!” the man snaps. “We would have starved there!”
Victor has run across others like him, people who distrusted the government, feeling they are on their own.
“You were given instructions where to report for assignment,” Victor states, assuming that to be true. “They would have assigned you to an area still receiving supplies. And new duties.”
“Yeah. In the Army!”
Victor changes the subject. “How long have you been camping here?”
“Since the day you guys started the rebellion. We were originally from San Antonio. I moved the family here to get away from the crime and corruption. I knew they would start shutting down Leakey. Probably sen
d us back to San Antonio and the shit job I left, waste management. I wanted to get my family somewhere safe, and the park was just a few miles away, so . . . ” He finishes with a shrug.
“Then you had an assignment.”
The man nods. “Before this crap started, I had a decent job selling real estate. Then the aliens came. The schools were ten times better than the Bexar County system. And with the lousy economy, we weren’t getting anywhere back in the city.”
“We all made adjustments,” Victor countered. “Nobody was happy with the situation, but most did their part. They didn’t just run away.”
The man is silent for a moment, then mutters, “That’s easy for you to say. You were probably always a soldier.”
“My duties are to take all stragglers to the nearest processing center,” Victor advises. “And to arrest draft dodgers. By your own admission, you’re a draft dodger. You are under arrest!”
Another soldier handcuffs the man and searches him for weapons. He hands Victor the man’s identification.
“This verifies you are from Leakey,” Victor reads from the identification, then looks at the man. “All in that area were to report to the Real County Courthouse there in town. The town is classified as a tourist town that no longer serves a purpose. The area is to be developed into agriculture. You and your family would have been relocated.”
Tabitha has been looking around. She sees at least twelve open shelters, all occupied. The map they have shows there are hundreds of camp sites scattered in several separate sections along the Frio River. Some had open-sided shelters, some enclosed, plus a few cabins. Most campsites were open with fireplaces for cooking.