“That was a perfect landing!” Ensign Johnson said.
“Sir, do you know the definition of a good landing?” Tim asked with a smile.
“What’s that, Sar’ Major?”
“Any landing you can walk away from is a good landing,” Tim said, drawing a big laugh from Johnson.
The plane taxied right up to the hangar, and the engines shut down, props spinning to a stop. The rear side door opened, and then Holly, Jimenez, and Robyn stepped out. All were smiling, and walked over the where Tim and Johnson were standing. Holly came up and wrapped her arms around Tim’s neck, giving him a huge kiss.
“Isn’t that against regulations, Flight Lieutenant?” Tim asked with a smile.
“Oh blast the regs! Give me another kiss, Sergeant Major!” she exclaimed and kissed him again. Her face split into a grin. “I think our Mr. Jimenez is a miracle worker. It’s even better than our first Herc!”
“I’ll have to take your word for it, Ma’am,” Tim said, then looked at the nose of the aircraft. Hand painted on the side, under the pilot’s window, was the word “Bandit” in red paint. “What’s the story with that, Taco?”
“It was already there when I found it, Sar’ Major,” Jimenez said. I thought it was fitting, since we’ll be heading back east. You know, like that old Bart Reynolds movie, Smoky and the Bandit, ‘East bound and down!”
“You mean Burt Reynolds? Yeah, it is apt.” Turning back to Holly, Tim said, “Babe, you remember Mr. Johnson, don’t you?”
“Yes, I do,” Holly said, holding her hand to shake, but Johnson came to attention and saluted Holly smartly. Taken aback, Holly came to attention herself, and saluted back in the British way, palm facing outward. Then she shook his hand with a smile. “It’s a pleasure to see you again, Ensign.”
“Ensign Johnson here and a few of his people will be flying back with us, at least as far as Phoenix,” Tim told her.
“Oh, really?” she asked, then added before Tim could answer, “That’s something I wanted to talk to you about. We might not have to go to Phoenix. I might be able to get us close to Williams on the way back.”
“Tell me,” Tim asked, folding his arms across his chest.
“I was looking at some maps, and saw that there’s an airport south of the Grand Canyon, in Tusayan, only a short drive south to home.”
“Is it big enough?”
“Aye, its 9,000 feet long, plenty long enough for the Hercules. If you could get a recent overhead off one of your satellites, we can see what condition it’s in,” she said gleefully.
“That is good news. I’ll do it tonight when we get home.”
“Good,” Holly said. “Ensign Johnson, why are you heading back with us?”
Johnson, now feeling more relaxed, told her of his plans, and of the Liberty Ship. Robyn and Jimenez had disappeared somewhere, and Tim looked around to see where they had gotten off to. Not seeing them, he turned back to Johnson and Holly.
“I think that’s a splendid idea,” Holly said. “What do you think, Tim?” “I’m okay with it if we have room. There’s several people coming back with us, and I’d like to fit at least one Hum-Vee into the hold too. That’d be up to you, you know what the bird will carry.”
“I think we should be alright. We’ll have the jetstream on our tail, so it shouldn’t be too much of a problem.”
“There’s another guy, one of the Aussies. He wants to come too,” Johnson said. “He worked for some Australian railroad for a lot of years, wanted to take a look at that Grand Canyon railroad, and maybe even get a train running between your place and San Francisco. I’ll have him talk to you.”
“Tim, I’m sure we have enough room,” Holly said. “I’ll draw up a list of people and things we want to take, and I’ll let you know if it’ll work. Worst case scenario, I make two trips.”
“What about the baby?” Tim asked in concern.
“Timothy, I’m pregnant, not an invalid,” she said with a twinkle in her eyes.
His heart always melted when she did that, and being pregnant gave her this glow about her that made her sexy as hell, and he’d never be able to say no to that. “So the Herc is ready for the trip?”
“Aye, it’s ready.”
“Good. Now where do those two get off to?” he asked, and then saw Jimenez come out of the cargo hold carrying tie-down chains, followed by Robyn, who was dragging rubber chocks, and they busied themselves with tying down and securing the aircraft.
“I’d better be off as well. Mary will be wondering where I got off to,” Johnson said. “When do you plan on leaving?”
“I’d say five days, maybe a week, after we get everything together,” Holly said.
“Alright then. I’ll get home and start making the preparations. I know Billy is really excited about flying.”
“I’m sure that the pilot can make arrangements for a cockpit tour,” Tim said, holding his hand out for a shake, which Johnson took in a firm grip.
“Thanks again. I’ll talk to you both soon,” Johnson said, and headed off around the side of the hangar.
Tim turned to Holly and asked, “Are you sure you’re up for this?”
“Aye, I’m ready,” Holly said.
Jimenez and Robyn came up to them, finished with their work.
“Dad!” Robyn exclaimed. “Holly’s teaching me to fly!”
“Is she now?” Tim asked, looking over at Holly with a raised eyebrow.
“She’s a natural,” Holly said.
“That’s fantastic,” Tim said, rolling his eyes. “Let’s get home, shall we?” He took Holly’s hand and walked towards his Hum-Vee parked behind the hangar.
They piled in and made their way towards the bungalow on the beach. When they pulled up outside the cottage, Robyn and Jimenez jumped out, and Robyn called out that they were going for a swim, leaving Holly and Tim alone.
The pair walked into the house, and into the kitchen. When Tim saw it was past noon, he opened the fridge and pulled out a bottle of beer, and another of Coke. He held up the soda bottle and looked at Holly questioningly.
“Aye, I’ll have one,” she said, sticking out her tongue. “I’d love one of those beers, but I know I can’t.”
When he had popped the top on both bottles and handed her the soda, he sat down across from her.
“So what’s bothering you now?” she asked, taking a long pull of the Coke.
“Nothing,” he said flatly.
“Don’t give me that. Something’s eating at you, I can tell.”
“I don’t know. Maybe it’s all the people.”
“What do you mean?”
“For a long time it was just me and Robyn. Then you and Izzy came along. That seemed like enough. Ironic, really. Ever since the Event, I had been hoping to find other people, and now that there’s people, I want to be back at our little place in Arizona again, alone. It looks like that’s not going to happen now.”
Holly set her bottle down in front of her on the table. She was silent for a moment, as if gathering her thoughts, and then reached across and took his hand. She looked into his eyes for a moment, then said, “Timothy, babe, I do understand. But I know, with your brains, and ability to motivate people, your leadership, we can have a nice little settlement back in Arizona.”
“That’s just it. I don’t want to lead anymore. The last time I had any leadership, I nuked an island and made several hundred square miles of ocean a radioactive wasteland.”
“You did what you thought was necessary, Tim.”
“I think I know what Harry Truman felt like in 1945,” Tim said, rubbing his temples. “I don’t want that kind of responsibility, ever again.”
“We’re going back to Williams. It’ll be the same. The people who want to come with us are just regular people. Some, like us, are starting a family. There are a few farmers, cattle ranchers. Even a geologist wants to come along. Sure, a few of them are soldiers that Jerry trained, and were with us on Volivoli, but it’ll be different.”
<
br /> “Until the next joker comes along that wants to rule the world.”
“That may never happen. If it does, I know you’ll do what you have to do again.”
“That’s the point. I never want to be put into that position again. Jerry said a few weeks ago that some kid was caught breaking into a house. The old problems we lived with before the Event have never gone away. They’ll follow us forever.”
“Not if we don’t let them. When we get back to Williams, we set down some very basic rules. We use your American Constitution as a guide. People will have to follow the rules if they want to stay there. Make it as simple as that. You always said that the people in charge lost sight of that document years ago, and that we should go back to those principles. Here’s your chance to actually make it work,” Holly said. She picked up her Coke and took a sip, knowing she had hit a home run with that last statement.
“I’ll think about it.”
“Don’t let what those smart men did a few hundred years ago be in vain,” Holly said.
“Okay, you’ve made your point,” Tim said with a laugh.
“Besides, you won’t be alone. Izzy is coming back with us, and I think he’s pretty intelligent, to use your words, for an officer!”
“Yeah, that’s true. He was an officer. Officers, making easy shit hard since 1775.”
“We’re not all bad,” Holly said. “You be careful, Sergeant Major, or I may have to rethink the whole fraternization regulation!”
“Oh, really? I think you enjoy it as much as I do.”
“Be that as it may, Sar’ Major, I still outrank you.”
“That’s true, because you have ovaries,” Tim agreed playfully. “How is Izzy, anyway? I haven’t seen him much since I’ve been up and around.”
“He’s keeping himself rather busy. He and that Australian doctor that operated on you on the HMAS Newcastle have set up a clinic in town. They’ve even got a few nurses working with them. They’ve had nothing major as yet, a few broken bones and children with the sniffles.”
“I think he missed being a doctor, and that kid, Billy, kind of pulled him out of the rut he was in.”
“Aye, I agree. He’s eager to get back to Arizona with us though. He wants to do the same thing in Williams.”
Tim finished his beer, got up from the table, and discarded the empty bottle in the garbage can. He got another from the fridge and sat back down.
“So, how many people are coming back with us?”
“Twenty people now, including Johnson and his mob,” Holly told him. “The flight won’t be first class, but I’ll be able to manage.”
“We really will have a little settlement, won’t we?”
“Aye, that we will. I’ve met most of them, and they seem like nice people. A few won’t be staying with us, they want to head out and explore, see what they can find and make useful.”
“It’s a whole new experience, for me. Hell, for everyone,” Tim said, looking out the window at Robyn and Jimenez romping playfully in the surf. He turned back to Holly and smiled. “I’ll do my best, babe.”
“I know you will, Tim,” she said, taking his hand. “I almost forgot, Jerry was by the base the other day, and he wants to have a going away party for all of us. He suggested a luau. Cook a pig in the ground and everything.”
“That sounds like a great idea!” Tim said. “If he wants, he can do it right here in the backyard and it can spill out onto the beach.”
He heard a knock on the door, and went to see who it was. Through the open door, he saw Jerry standing there. He smiled and called out, “We were just talking about you! Come on in, we’re in the kitchen!”
Jerry followed Tim into the kitchen, accepted a beer Tim offered, and took a seat next to Holly.
“This hits the spot, Sar’ Major.” Jerry said appreciatively. “I heard the 130 flying earlier, so I take that as a sign you guys are about set?”
“The plane is ready, and we should be ready to go in about a week or so,” Tim confirmed.
“I’m sorry to see you go. I understand, though. I wanted to let you know that the water is on. Run your taps for a few moments before you do anything, to get any sediment out of the pipes.”
“Will it be potable?” Tim asked.
“That I’m not sure of. I’d boil it before you drank any of it.”
“I’ll have to remember to turn on the breaker for the water heater.”
“Oh, to have a hot shower!” Holly squealed with delight. “I dream of a hot shower!”
“Ma’am, you’ll be able to have one in a few hours,” Jerry said, smiling. Holly leaned over and kissed him.
“If I could blush, I would right now,” Jerry said in an ‘aw shucks’ tone.
Tim went to the sink and turned on the water at the tap. For a minute, nothing happened, and then a whoosh of air, a little banging, and a stream of brownish-red muddy water came out. After another minute, it started to clear, then became a steady stream of clean water.
“We’ll have to do that to the rest of the taps in the house,” he said to Holly, “and it’ll be nice not to have to flush the toilet with buckets of seawater.”
“Aye, that was getting to be a pain. Like when Izzy and I were at his house in Colorado.”
“Thanks to a few of my guys, work is getting done, and everything else is coming along fine, too.”
“So tell me,” Tim said, “what are your plans here?”
“I did a rough count last week, and I figure between here and the Big Island, there are almost a thousand residents.”
Tim let out a whistle. “I didn’t think there were that many people!”
“Yeah, kind of threw me for a loop too. I think I told you I’ve instituted an ad hoc police department. Everyone wants me as some kind of Mayor or something. I said I’d do it, for the time being.”
“You’re perfect for the job, Jerry,” Holly said.
“There is something else I wanted to talk to you about,” said Jerry, taking another pull off his bottle of beer, looking at Tim.
“What’s that?”
“I don’t know how to say it. Do you remember that old Kevin Costner movie, The Postman?”
“Yeah, vaguely,” Tim answered warily.
“It’s supposed to be after some nuclear war. This drifter is walking along and wants to get into some walled off town when he finds a crashed postal truck.”
“Okay, I remember it now. He takes the dead guy’s uniform and mail bag, and tricks the folks in the town into believing that he’s the mailman,” Tim said, not knowing where Jerry was going with this. “He has letters for everyone and says he’s got a message from the president.”
“Yes. I want you to be the ‘postman’,” Jerry said, quite gravely.
“You want Tim to deliver the mail?” Holly asked.
“Not exactly. Look, Tim. These people have been through a lot. You know that, you’ve been through a shitstorm yourself. Right after everyone died, anyone who survived was in shock. Hell, we all were. Not knowing what had happened, if anyone was left outside of here, and what they should do, all of it.”
“Yeah, I know that. Then that fuckwit of a captain goes tearing across the Pacific, making shit even more difficult for everyone. People want to survive and get on with their lives,” Tim said, looking at Jerry across the table. “I’m not following you though.”
“They need words of reassurance, Tim, from a leader.”
“Jerry, I told you before, and I meant it, I’m done with being anyone’s leader. It’s bad enough I have a bunch of people coming back with us who expect me to lead them there, too.”
“They all want to know that there’s more, Tim, that there’s someone who will protect them. I want to tell them you’re the new president of the United States. That you’re going back to the mainland and will be putting the government back together.”
Tim looked at Jerry few a few moments in silence, dumbfounded. He started to laugh, but that passed quickly, and a dark cloud passe
d over his face.
“That’s about the craziest idea I’ve ever heard. What happens when they find out that I’m not the Grand Pooh-Bah, and you’ve just been bullshitting them?”
“I don’t think it’ll get as far as that, Tim. If I can get everyone together, more than they are now, with a little glimmer of hope in the future, things will go a lot smoother around here.”
“Jerry, come on! This is crazy!” Tim finally said, turning his head and looking out the window. Outside, Robyn and Jimenez were holding each other tightly, Robyn’s head buried deep into the man’s chest. Tim sighed and turned back to face his friend. “Jerry, you don’t need me as some figurehead. You’re doing fine without me.”
“If we held an election here on the island tomorrow, I’d get a hundred percent turnout, and you’d win by a landslide.”
“Remember Nixon won in a landslide in 1972,” Tim pointed out ruefully.
“That’s not the point. I just want to give the people some hope. And who knows? There might even be a government forming, at least somewhere.”
“Don’t you think we would have heard about that by now, if there actually was?” Tim asked skeptically.
“Tim, I do see his point,” Holly said, reaching out and taking his hand across the table.
“Yeah, I do too. In some perverse way, it makes sense, but why me? Why haven’t the churches and mosques and synagogues reopened? They’ve always been good at giving people false hope.”
“I think people as a whole have given up on religion,” Jerry said. “There was one guy, a Baptist minister; right after the Event, he started preaching from a park. He was talking about the rapture and all, how God was going to come down and rule the Earth. People listened to him for a while, and then his congregation dwindled to nothing after a few months when the messiah never materialized. I found him hanging from a tree not long after. No, people have given up on make-believe friends in the sky.”
“I agree with them. Religion has always been a sham, telling people about a fake affliction, in the form of sin, so they can sell them an imaginary cure. I stopped believing in that bullshit years ago,” Tim told his friend. “But now you’re suggesting I become some make-believe president. Isn’t that about the same thing?”
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