The Hasten the Day Trilogy

by Billy Roper

  The old flight plan he’d do ctored to look current satisfied the warrant officer on the hoses, especially when he saw the names on it. The famous Ambassador and the President, both so-signing a top secret mission? Wait until the guys heard about this at the poker game tonight!

  Fifteen minutes later, Josh took off, headed to Kelly, who was at that moment discussing the situation in Wyoming with two Council members, both men in their late fifties and bearded. One, she knew, was more fundamentalist than the other, whom she focused on as being the most open-minded. The Council meeting always struck her as being anticlimactic and small, considering how much power emanated from the room. This situation with the New Americans, she told them, could blow up in their face. Tensions were high in California, where Bakersfield was under contention between the two nations. The cease-fire in Colorado still held, but shakily. And now, this situation in Wyoming, they needed to put a lid on these extremists before there was another nuclear war, and this time they would be in it…her measured responses to their questions were reassuring and feminine, but firm. Just in the middle of an excellent point she was making about the need to not fight two foes at once, the internal intercom buzzed raucously. “Yes?” one of the Council members, the one who liked her, asked, in obvious irritation.

  “Umm, Sir, we have an intru..um, an un, unauthorized visitor, here, Sir, requesting admittance. His access code is valid but outdated, Sir.” the D.P.S. security officer stated.

  “Oh, for…who is it?” the Councilman asked. His counterpart, the fundy, had nodded off during the discussion of relative troop strengths in Wyoming, and was blinking rapidly to try to wake himself up.

  “It’s….”IT’S JIMMY AND I HAVE PROOF THAT SHE IS A TRAITOR!” the guard was interrupted by a voice screaming over the intercom. Kelly’s blood ran cold, but she kept her face very still.

  “Well. How very interesting.” The FLDS inclined Councilman said, now fully awake. I think we should see what he has to say. Don’t you, Edgar?”

  Jimmy stood there, still trembling and stammering, looking like he hadn’t shaved in a week and had slept in his clothes. He had spent the last five minutes since the guard had escorted him in accusing Kelly of being a whore and an adulterer and disloyal to the Church because she was in love with the Texican Ambassador. Only after that, as if it was secondary, did he discuss her lack of religious faith, her disregard for civil and religious laws, and her past criminal activity. “Oh, poor Jimmy, is that all you’ve got? Really?” Kelly said, before a warning glance from the friendly Councilman silenced her.

  “We…appreciate your patriotism and your concern, Jimmy. Of course, your suspension has not been rescinded, so your presence here is not lawful or advisable. And, considering this display today, I think we’ll have to make the suspension a more permanent separation.”

  “What…that…why….?” Jimmy began. He looked at Kelly like a whipped puppy. She felt sorry for him, for a moment.

  “Of course the Council knows about Miss Johansen’s relationship with Mr. Walker. After all, it was you who ordered her to run around with him, wasn’t it? In service to the Church, for which all is allowed for the greater Glory of God?” the Councilman nodded reassuringly at Kelly, who made herself look embarrassed and meek.

  Jimmy shrank visibly. “Oh, but I never told her to..she really…and she isn’t even a believer!” she whined pitifully.

  The other Councilman leaned forward. “This is childish, you’re acting like a jealous boyfriend. Who among us has not, from time to time, had a crisis of belief? Miss Johansen’s actions, though those of a frail and imperfect woman, speak more of her loyalties to the Church than any meaningless professions of faith.” His disgust for Jimmy was palpable. He saw him as weakened by a woman, and that was intolerable.

  Jimmy said nothing. Kelly moved in for the killing blow. “Jimmy.” Hearing her say his name, softly, he flinched, and looked at her, expecting the worst. “Jimmy, it’s okay. I understand. Maybe in a different world…but we had to be professionals, and not get involved that way, I hope you understand, now. But it’s okay, Jimmy. I understand, and I forgive you.”

  The guard led him out to spare the former director further embarrassment. The two Councilmen shook their heads in sadness at the interruption. Inside, Kelly felt victorious. Any further accusations of disloyalty or treason, by Jimmy or anybody else, could be discounted as jealousy and resentment at her being a woman in a high position of trust. She was shielded.

  After that, they both listened to her next half hour of weighing the pros of having the secured Mormon communities in Wyoming with the cons of having an enemy at every corner, and paid attention. Just as she was winding down, emotionally exhausted by the day, the intercom buzzed again. “Yes?” the elder Councilman asked it again, almost in amusement, as he winked at Kelly in a conspiratorial ‘What Now?’ gesture.

  An audible sigh. “Sir, I apologize for the interruption, again, but I thought you might want to know. A fighter het from Texas came into our radar fields in Tucson and was pinged by surface to air defenses. When they locked on, the pilot hailed them and identified himself. He asked for permission to land and was denied…so he ejected.”

  “He ejected!? Over southern Arizona?” Kelly blurted out. Neither of the Councilmen seemed to care.

  “Uhm, yes, err, Ma’am. His chute deployed and a team was sent out to recover him.” The confused guard responded.

  “Wait, you said he identified himself? Well, who is the maniac?” Edgar asked.

  “That’s the thing, Sir, it’s…it’s the Ambassador from Texas.”

  Both Councilmen looked straight at Kelly. “Okay, young lady. It looks like you’re going to Arizona.” Edgar informed her.

  Wise men say, only fools rush in

  But I can’t help falling in love with you….

  Gerta had been calling twice a day, asking if the Greater German government could help negotiate a peace settlement between all of the parties concerned. John understood her position, but he also understood that the N.P.D.’s interests lay more with fluffing the Republic of Texas to gain tariff-free access to their ports, than anything to do with Deseret or New America. The same was true of the British Ambassador’s daily courier notes of advice. The Australians, Argentines, New Zealanders, and South Africans weren’t in the game. The French, with their close alliance with New America through Quebec, didn’t have divided allegiances favoring Texas, but they weren’t in much of a position to intervene anywhere west of the Mississippi, where it was needed, either. They were in this one alone.

  President Hampton cursed softly under his breath. “Look, John, it just ain’t that simple. I can’t have my boys cross the Red River and fight their way all the way across the continent through a million jungle bunnies, not when there’s a thousand miles of open territory over the Rio Bravo just waitin’ to be had.”

  “Ignoring for a second that we’re comparing apples and oranges, some of the best farmland in the world with desert, and comparing part of America with part of Mexico…there is the little fact that we had a deal. You might recall that detail, Scott,” the Speaker growled into the radio. The encryption only caused a couple of seconds delay, as did the digital decryption on either end.

  “No, no, I ain’t forgot what I said, but that was before my flippin’ Ambassador pulled a Rudolf Hess on me. I’ve got to make a separate peace now, it’s all over the BBC.”

  McNabb couldn’t argue with that. The evening broadcast had featured a hospital bedside interview with Josh Walker, laying there nursing a broken ankle from a bad parachute landing, with Kelly Johansen beaming by his side. She’d held his hand throughout the interviews. “Star Crossed Lovers”, the London Daily Mail said. “Modern Romeo and Juliet”, the Chicago Tribune, even, trumpeted. He had made sure that editor was fired the same day, but the edition had still gone out. “My God. What kind of deal did they offer you, to get to you like that?” he asked.

  “They made me an offer I couldn’t refuse, ha
ha…they give up their territorial claim to New Mexico, in exchange for me pushing two bills through the legislature,” Scott answered, dryly.

  “What legislature?” John spat. The rubber-stamping Texican Congress was a joke.

  “Sure, exactly, so that makes it easy enough. The Republic of Texas agrees to let the Mormon cultists already in New Mexico stay there unmolested, and we make polygamy legal. Consensual polygamy, was my stipulation, that is.” The President clarified. “Not that it’s any of yours or New America’s business.”

  “Did that come from Prophet Rammell, or the Council?” John pushed. He needed to know how much power and influence Kelly was wielding.

  “Heck, I don’t know, my loverboy told he’d negotiated it with them personally after that Director of their Department of Public Safety broad he’d been laying up with came and got him. He said he didn’t intend to bail out an a multi-million dollar jet we can’t replace, but their radar locked on him and they threatened to shoot him down.” “So, you’re not sure?” McNabb asked.

  “All I know is, the peace treaty I’m about to sign, after calling you as a courtesy to let you know, is signed by the Prophet Rammell and a half dozen Council members, so it looks official.” Hampton said.

  “Probably Kelly got them in the same position that Josh got you in, making the deal public before it was actually made. That could be a dangerous play for her. Scott, this is just you and me talking, here. Did you send him to do it?” John was curious.

  “Me? No way. I’d have ordered him shot out of the sky myself first if I’d known ahead of time, losing the plane or not. But now that it’s done and they made sure it was public, I have to go with it, or look like I’m not in charge down here…since it’s just you and me talking, son.” Through the bitter sarcasm, The Speaker heard the sincerity of Hampton’s words.

  “I bet that’s how they wanted it, too. But that doesn’t affect our deal about the Church of the New Dispensation, man. With Ike dead, they’re on the ropes, all it would take is a push….”

  “I’m sorry, son, but with the way things are, I’m going to need every cowboy that can ride on this roundup. If Josh Walker and Kelly Johansen are trying to play both their countries like puppets, I’ll have to kick tail in the west just to make sure I don’t end up wearing their brand,” the President admitted.

  “Well, the F.L.D.S. won’t be the only ones happy about you decriminalizing polygamy. A lot of the dual seedline Christian Identity folks will prefer it, too. How many first ladies you plan on having?” John lightened the subject to air away some of the animosity between them.

  “I can barely stand the one I got most of the time, son. Why do you think I stay on the trail so much?” Scott joked back. “Look, I’m sorry about this, but I hope it doesn’t come between us, long term.”

  McNabb hesitated a second, and chose his words carefully. “Mr. President, if you would ask any my enemies, they’d tell you that I’m the best friend or the worst enemy that anybody can ever have. Of course, they’re hard to find, these days, because I’m ruthless and relentless and never forgive or forget. Once I turn cold on somebody…out is out. The fact that I tell you that, means that I still consider you In the ‘friend’ category. I’m disappointed. But I’ve gotten used to being disappointed by people. Even my friends.”

  “I guess I get that. So, what about the Ambassadorial situation down here? My guy up there doing okay? He hasn’t fallen in love with any of your spies or anything?” Hampton joked.

  “No, he’s doing fine. And I hope that our Ambassador is staying healthy, and will continue to, as well. If he should have an accident, or a heart attack…” John left the thought hanging, unfinished.

  “That makes me ashamed of myself, because I reckon I’d feel the same way, in your boots. Our herds might not be at the same watering hole on this ride, but we’ll round ‘em up next time, partner.” Scott drawled in his affected cowboy accent. He was becoming a true Texican politician.

  I saw the light, I saw the light

  No more in darkness, no more in night….

  The way back from the Battle of Vicksburg for the defeated and dejected Church of the New Dispensation army was long and chilly and exhausting. Out of the 1,000 or more who made it back across the river, a couple hundred fell by the wayside before they staggered back into New Orleans to lick their wounds. In that dark hour, one man stepped forward to rally the believers.

  Joe Bob Clearly had at times been a Klansmen and a professional wrestler. Years before Cinco Day, he had become a Fundamentalist pastor on a religious satellite tv channel, playing second fiddle to more established figures, but building a name around his soupbowl haircut and flapping jowl. His actual church was in Baton Rouge. At the time of the collapse his congregation had been about 70% black. By the time the White migrations and ethnic cleansings had wound down, it was over 90% black. Clearly, a consummate opportunist and career confidence man, had quickly moved to work out a deal with the New Black Panther Party which took over the state capitol. In exchange for their protection from other blacks, Clearly would give them 90% of his income from tithes and offerings, off the top.

  That kind of deal was the only way he could stay in operation, and probably the only way that he could stay in one piece. Fortunately for Rev. Clearly, the N.B.P.P. accepted, after cutting the Nation Of Islam in for twenty percent of the take. With few other legally sanctioned churches still operating in the city, Clearly’s congregation actually grew after the secession of Louisiana became official. He found that, even just keeping 10% and skimming a bit here and there, he and his girlfriends could live comfortably. Especially if he switched them out every few weeks so they didn’t get too demanding.

  When Rev. Ike had moved his base of operations to Lake Charles, Joe Bob had seen an opportunity to combine forces with someone who shared his vision of a multiracial church. Unlike Huckleberry, Clearly had maintained a more closed attitude towards homosexuality, which Ike demanded he moderate before they joined their congregations. A divine revelation opened Joe Bob’s heart to different kinds of love, and he shared that new acceptance with his congregation. He lost a few church members that way, but when Rev. Ike’s Faithful made their way north through Baton Rouge, Clearly was ready to contribute four-hundred active supporters, a third of them able to march and fight, to the C.N.D. .

  Because Clearly’s group was huddled around him at the rear of the New Dispensation army, over 100 of them survived, giving Joe Bob a larger share in the army’s factions than before. With no real successor having been named, it surprised few when, a week after their reentry into New Orleans, purple smoke poured out of the Smoothie King Center, indicating that a new leader had been chosen by the Board of Deacons. Joe Bob Clearly was named the next Messianic Reverend of the Church of the New Dispensation.

  In his acceptance speech, the Messianic Reverend called upon God to bless the Church, and to bless their black brothers who had misunderstood their message of love. He also began speaking in tongues and declared Ike Huckleberry to be a Saint in Heaven. Joe Bob said a prayer for guidance to Saint Ike. The Battle of Vicksburg had been the best thing to happen to him, ever. Now, he had to keep his new flock fed through the winter, which was wet and cold even in New Orleans, these days.

  Without Texas ’s help, McNabb briefly considered nuking New Orleans to excise the shrunken cancer that was the Church of the New Dispensation. He knew, however, that eventually New America would need the southernmost terminus of the Mississippi to move goods up and down from the gulf to the midwest. He couldn’t make it unusable for generations just to solve a temporary problem.

  Instead, New America began transferring the Sixth fleet and the NAS Ford carrier group from Oregon to the gulf, to support the Emerald Coast’s campaign to drive the C.N.D. out of Mobile. With Panama depopulated by the Turkish Flu, in time the canal and its locks could be brought back into operation, but for now, they would have to take the long way around. The Ford churned towards South America with plans
to stop over and visit their Argentine allies as a diplomatic gesture before rounding Tierra del Fuego. In the meantime, five Centuries of legionnaires from the Colorado line were transported to Pensacola on C-130s from McConnell Air Force base in Wichita. Their mission was to retake Mobile so that the Sixth could make their new home port in Mobile Bay…giving New America fleets on two coasts. Emerald Coast troops would focus on reinforcing their line just east of Tallahassee. Gov. Strawn would maintain direct command over them, but they were still within the jurisdiction of the Unified Command.

  He supposed that it was inevitable that he have some kind of communication again with Kelly, even indirectly. He sent Mark Smith, in his official capacity as Secretary of State, to meet with her at the Maverick Center on the Colorado Mesa University campus in Grand Junction, a Deseret held town. The Rocky Mountain roads further north weren’t safe to travel without regular maintenance during the winter months. He wanted to show strength, and confidence, so he sent an entire company of spiffy S.S. troops along with Mark. He also sent Kip and Hope. If the deal was made, then his former Chief of Staff and his adopted daughter would continue on with half of the company of S.S. guards to Salt Lake, where Kip would serve as the new Ambassador from New America to Deseret. It was a gamble, and put two of the people he cared most about in the world at risk, but it also was the last thing that Kelly would expect, and he needed people out there whom he could trust, implicitly. If the deal was made.

  It was. Mark was authorized to speak for the Speaker, and he responded to Kelly’s veiled references to Deseret’s nuclear bombs at Hill by stating bluntly that New America could absorb everything the Mormons could throw at them and still make sure that Joseph Smith’s name wouldn’t be remembered by anyone alive. And, in typical Mark fashion, he said it with a smile on his face. Kelly asked if he was descended from the Mormon founder with same last name, himself. She knew when she’d been outmaneuvered. When everything was said and done, more ended up being said, than done. The same deal that the Council agreed to with the Texicans, they agreed to with the former Marine Colonel Smith. The rest of Colorado would become a New American territory, but the Mormons living there would be allowed to stay, and polygamy would be legalized throughout New America. Likewise, southern Idaho and southwestern Wyoming would revert back to their pre-Cinco boundaries, and be ruled from St. Louis, but the Mormons could stay and keep as many wives as they could feed. McNabb confirmed via radio that the Treaty of Grand Junction was acceptable. He promised to push approval of it through the Congress, along with a proviso guaranteeing religious freedom for all White citizens. As Kip and Mark conferred, and Hope prepared herself for a new life in LDS country, Kelly interrupted the two men by asking Mark to take a personal message back to John. Afraid of a last minute crawfish on the deal, Mark straightened and looked at her intently. Instead Kelly smiled sardonically. “Tell him…that everything comes full circle.”