Julie asked, “How did you recognize them?”
“Oh, we have satellite dish and computers now. Those forgiven folks dropped them off when they did our vaccinations.”
“I’m glad to hear that!”
Once Matt, Ricky, and Dave returned with the other trailer hooked up to Ron’s rig, they fueled up both trucks at several times a reasonable cost before leaving town. Luke shrugged it off. Things would stabilize soon.
He was just glad to be on the road again after this morning’s breakdown. He couldn’t wait to be back in Flagstaff.
They pushed through to Reno that night and slept for six hours straight before getting back on the road.
FLAGSTAFF, ARIZONA
AUGUST 26th
Denise and Rob sat outside their fifth wheel on the wooden porch Frank had made for them after Denise had told him about the Escalante trip. Rob had been devastated since that night.
“I’ve lost people before, I don’t know why this time is so much more difficult,” Rob said.
Denise said, “It wasn’t supposed to be this way. Not here. Not both of them.”
“I’m worried that I’m losing my touch. If the world were regular, this would be where I’d be and calling it a day and putting in my retirement papers.”
“You’re good at what you do. Doing the right thing working outside of the rules is where you excel.”
He sipped his scotch out of the tumbler and said, “I’m devastated by this. I don’t know if it’s the accumulation of deaths over the years, or if it’s just these two.”
Denise looked at him sadly, and then her expression hardened. “Look Rob, I love you more than anything, but I don’t have time for this bullshit today. The kids are due in this afternoon from a mission that the grownups should have been doing. If they run into any problems in the last few hours of the drive, you’re the one who knows how to fly that chopper, not me. And you’re sitting here getting hammered when you need to be getting your shit together. Now get your ass in there and shave, shower, and pull yourself out of this funk. Frank would have told you to quit being a chicken shit, and Rita would have said far worse than that.”
Rob started laughing from the gut. “I knew there was a reason why I married you. You're right. Aye, aye, Captain.” He stood and walked into the fifth wheel, heading for the shower.
Denise looked down at her hands and said to herself, “I hate having to do that.” She thought of the collection of rings that she had been looking over and wondered if she was doing the right thing. A wedding or even an engagement party would be just what the doctor ordered right now.
She heard the helicopters descending to land on the airfield. That will be Jim and Susan, thank God! Hopefully Rob won’t hear them over the shower.
ON THE WAY BACK TO FLAGSTAFF
EARLY AFTERNOON,
Julie and Helen talked by the plane while Ron and Skeeter were finishing eating at the airport café. Helen said, “I need to bring something up that I’ve been thinking about a lot lately.”
Julie looked worried and said, “What's that?”
“What would you think about us getting married?”
“Oh my God, you scared the hell out of me there for a moment. Of course we’re getting married and we’ll have kids at some point, too.”
“What about in the next couple of weeks?”
“Are you serious? It’s too soon! There’s too much to do!”
“That’s what I told him!”
“What?!”
“Uncle Jim asked if we could do it next week.”
“It’s not even legal in Arizona yet!”
“He tacked it into the first bill to go through congress.”
Julie was stunned, and a little angry. “This had better not be for politics.”
“Julie, I love you more than anything. It’s not for politics. They’re really worried about your dad. Frank and Rita’s deaths broke something in him. Your mom is hoping that it might shake him out of it, and if we’re going to get married anyway, what’s the difference between now and ten years from now?”
Julie melted. “I’m sorry. Of course we’ll do it. But not for dad. I’m doing it because I intend to lock you in before you can get away, you bitch.”
Helen laughed and kissed her, saying, “But I’m your bitch.”
“And don’t you forget it.”
By the time the guys came out of the restaurant, they both had their sunglasses on and were somewhat composed.
EARLY EVENING
The small two engine plane descended gradually to a landing at the village airstrip and taxied to the nearest hangar. Rob was holding it together, but he felt more lost than he had ever felt in his life. Still, seeing Julie and Helen get out of the plane was wonderful. The two of them almost glowed.
The girls ran up to him and hugged him tightly. Julie said into his ear, “We got it Dad! 20 palates of hundred dollar bills! And we’re getting married!”
Rob found himself crying and held them even tighter. He kissed Helen on the cheek and said, “About fucking time!” All three of them were crying now.
Watching from the edge of the runway, Denise held Jim’s arm and said, “Thank you so much. I can’t ever thank you enough.”
Jim put his arm around her and kissed her on the top of her head and said, “The girls are doing the heavy lifting here. I’m just directing traffic.”
Susan’s hand was on his other shoulder. She said, “And you’re doing it brilliantly.” None of them even noticed Samantha snapping away with her camera.
***
When Samantha looked at the shot of Denise, Jim, and Susan, she knew she had something special. The photo exploded across the internet as soon as she released it. Everyone read something different into it, but mostly people saw the human moment they needed to see from Jim. With that photo he became Uncle Jim to the entire nation.
FLAGSTAFF, ARIZONA
AUGUST 27th,
The trucks arrived in to the village early in the morning. All of the teens were thrilled to arrive, but a problem ensued when the secret service insisted on inspecting the truck. In the end, Rob intervened and came up with the compromise of parking the truck on the other side of the property and putting his own guards on it. The agents weren’t happy, but went along, knowing that the President would throw them all off the property if they didn’t back off on this.
By the time that was resolved, Luke, Jamie, Matt, and Ricky were attacked by the tailors, seeking measurements in order to provide them with suits for next week's activities. Jamie was asked to shower then tried on several dresses. There was a black one that was just amazing on her. She picked that one and asked, “Can I go to bed now?”
All of them slept like rocks, grateful to be home.
The next day, Julie, Helen drove a van down to the warehouse they had leased for the year. Not surprisingly, the place had been broken into, but they had intended that, anyway. They took a few minutes to clean it up and remembered the crazy times filling and emptying it several times a week. It seemed like a lifetime ago.
Later in the day they arranged for the rest of the last mission team to meet them at the warehouse with the semi trailer loads of cash. They quickly divided up the palates of cash inside the warehouse and transferred the cash into medium sized moving boxes lined with large garbage bags. As each box was filled, the bags were sealed and the box was taped and marked, "Books" before being loaded into smaller cargo trailers. Each of the team took three palate's worth of cash.
The team surprised Helen and Julie by insisting that the last two palates be a bonus and wedding present for them. Helen was hesitant but Julie proposed using the money in starting businesses that would get the country up and running again in a better direction.
Helen and Julie left the warehouse with eight palates' worth of hundred dollar bills between them. They spent the rest of the day at the lookout house trying to figure out where to stash all of the money. In the end, they were left with the realization th
at they needed a larger house.
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA
AUGUST 29th
Jim addressed both houses of congress in nondescript room at a convention center on the Las Vegas Strip. As he walked into the room, he was pleasantly surprised by the roaring applause from the entire room. He stood in front of the room in his black suit, blue shirt, and red tie and waited for the applause to settle down. Finally, he had gesture to the crowd to quiet down before he could start the speech.
"It's time for some serious truth telling tonight.
"I would like to thank all of you for what you are about to do in the next few weeks. Not only will you be charting a course for the future of the United States of America and restoring rule of law, you will be making my wife very happy as you take a tremendous load off of my shoulders and allow me to be home for her Cajun meatloaf a little more often."
The roomful of newly appointed politicians laughed.
"We have been given a clean canvas, for which we have paid a devastating price. I would give anything to bring back all those who have been lost, but that will never be an option. The best we can do to honor them is to lay the foundation for a sustainable future of prosperity and peace. That is my intention tonight.
"Before the virus, very few of us would have chosen to be politicians. I never would have considered such a sleazy profession and neither would most of you." The intended uncomfortable silence was profound.
"Today, we have the opportunity to change that reality. We have the ability and responsibility to be the most functional government the world has ever seen. Today is the day that rule of law returns to the United States and government returns fully to the people. Before you are a number of bills that I would ask that you read, debate, improve where possible, and pass by the end of the week. These bills are what we need to get the country off its knees and back into the modern world.
"We are ready to resume police services and court services. Our corrections departments will turn criminals into hard working Americans helping to ensure the survival of our population, whether they want to or not. Prisons will now pay for themselves and any able inmate who refuses to work will not be fed.
"We have resumed using the US dollar and debts will be honored appropriately. Most assets for which the owners are deceased and heirs cannot quickly be found will become property of the United States Federal Government. All assets and accounts of enemies of the United States have already been confiscated.
"We have all of the data from the last day of business from banks across the nation. We will honor those accounts of people still living or with readily found heirs. All others will become property of the US government.
"This makes the United States Government the majority stockholder in all of the American banks still in existence. We will be combining all of the government owned banks into the New American Bank. While this may seem extreme on the surface, we cannot restart the banking system without clear ownership of assets. By transferring the accounts into this new bank, we buy ourselves time to determine which accounts have owners and which do not.
As the country recovers, the government will be gradually removing itself from the banker role, but we are essentially rebuilding the banking system from the ground up and starting over.
"We will forgive all mortgages and loans owned by these banks. Anyone with a mortgage held by one of these banks will now own their homes outright.
"We will pay a fair wage to those who have been working tirelessly to keep America alive during our darkest hours. They are heroes, each and every one of them, and to them we are grateful." There was much applause at this.
Jim waited for the applause to stop before continuing. "We must create an environment in which people can start businesses quickly and provide needed services immediately. Individuals and small companies will be crucial to this. Business loans will be available for companies providing crucial services.
"We have come to an end of intolerance based on race, gender, and sexual preference. Bluntly stated, we can no longer afford it, and we need the best that all of our citizens can give.
"This brings me to my next point. You have legislation in front of you formally declaring Islam to be a terrorist philosophy rather than a religion. It gives the government the power to deport, imprison, or execute Muslims who refuse to give up open practice of Islam on a case by case basis.
"Eighty-five percent of humans alive this time last year are now dead because of jihad. There is no other interpretation of the situation. We are now engaged in a long term effort to eliminate Islam from the face of the planet. Almost every Islamic nation in the world has already been completely destroyed in retaliation." There wasn't a sound in the room as he paused.
"I have also retaliated against criminal elements that chose to massacre the populations of many of our southern cities. I have assigned those with gang affiliations to life sentences of hard labor without chance of parole. The fallen are being punished for the forgiven and forsaken they slaughtered and their sentences will remain until their own deaths.
"With this, our forces are now in control of Mexico, Cuba, Haiti, and all of Central America. These former nations are now US territories and the people of the New Territories have been freed of the corruption and criminal tyranny of their former governments. Their populations will be our responsibility once this is formalized and we will do right by them. My intention is that all of them who wish will be allowed to work in the US.
"Also in front of you is an immigration bill. I have invited non Muslim immigrants from various English speaking nations to come here and become Americans. Every day, plane loads of Australians and Europeans are arriving in Los Angeles. We will soon add Indians, Africans, and Filipinos to that. We need these immigrants and they need to have a stake in the country that they will be helping to rebuild. I am giving a preference to English speakers because we don't have time to deal with multiple language barriers. Later, we will reopen immigration to non English speakers as well.
"We have been blessed with a Native American population that was resistant to the bird flu. Once again, the Native American population has stepped forward during a crisis and willingly done their duty without expecting anything in return. I wish to thank the Native Americans for their decency and assistance." There was a standing ovation at this.
"One result of the new flu is that the Native American population is now approximately sixteen percent of the total American population. This is a power shift that I, for one, am pleased to see. We will do our best to do right by our Native American brothers and sisters." Everyone in the room was standing and applauding loudly.
"As you can imagine, the federal government will be assuming ownership of a tremendous amount of land for which heirs cannot be found. We will turn over as much sacred and quality land to the Native American tribes as possible. We will invest in their success because it is our success. Hear me now, the era of stealing Indian land, opportunities, and their children's future is over." There were loud cheers at this.
"Finally, you have a bill in front of you giving each American citizen $100,000 in seed money to use as they see fit, whether to start a business, buy a home, or just spend foolishly. The purpose of this is to restart the economy and create opportunity. After this we will have an economy again.
"Many of you helped to write these bills. I would ask that you pass them without delay so that we can get started on the next phase of rebuilding.
"Finally, I am nominating my temporary appointments for the Supreme Court for permanent seats. I would ask that the Senate confirm them quickly as well as my nomination for vice president, Robert Mullins." There was applause throughout the room. "As you well know by now, Rob has been a relentless force in making today possible. Without him, none of us would be here.
"Here he is, Robert Mullins." Everyone in the room was now on their feet cheering loudly.
Rob walked out in front of the room, waved, and walked over to Jim and whispered to him, "You son of a b
itch!" Jim laughed and turned the podium over to him.
Rob growled, "We have been hit hard. We're bleeding and worn, but we're still in the fight and our enemies are now an endangered species." The room exploded in cheers.
"Humanity has turned a corner and there is no going back. The future will be on our terms and we will never again allow an attack on the whole of human kind to be propagated by any person, group, or nation.
"From Louisiana fisherman to Silicon Valley technology companies, we are moving ahead rapidly. The American people will not be kept down and God help anyone who tries." This time it took several minutes for the legislatures to sit back down.
"I proudly accept the nomination and look forward to your confirmation. Thank you." The cheers went on for some time.
Jim stepped back up to the microphone and said, "Thank you, and God bless America!"
The two of them exited to the side of the room as the audience roared.
As soon as they were alone, Rob said, "I can't believe you did that to me!"
Jim answered, "You're the right choice and, besides, Denise thought you needed a new project."
"Whitman was in on this, too, wasn't he?"
"Of course! See you at the wedding on Saturday," said Jim, still chuckling as he left the room.
FLAGSTAFF, ARIZONA
SEPTEMBER 1st
From the day the wedding was first announced, there had been an international obsession with it. Rob's nomination and swearing in as vice president hadn't done anything but drive the interest into a frenzy.
The wedding was to be held at the NAU Walkup Skydome in honor of the people of Flagstaff who had started the rebuilding. At this point it was clear the entire country wanted to be there. Rob allowed reporters from the newly launched networks and online newspapers full access to it, and the day was being treated like the wedding of the century. Everyone from the original village was highly sought after for interviews and photos and Pia was even offered a news show.
The Forgiven The Fallen The Forsaken Page 22