by Billy Roper
“Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end.” The announcement of Gerta’s resignation came as a surprise to Randall, who asked Kip to look into whom the NPD might select as her successor, and reach out to them. She
had been a staunch friend to New America, despite her opportunistic alliance with the Republic of Texas. The new Greater German leader would be an unknown element to contend with.
At the weekly cabinet meeting, Speaker Balderson had asked Secretary Bullens to liaison with the Republic of Texas’s intelligence division within the Texas Rangers, with Gen. Ball’s assistance in technical resources, while the Secretary of State focused on the diplomatic reapprochement with Austin. Kip was absent from the discussion this time, already on the way to meet with the Republic of Texas President. Scott Hampton had always been a cunning bastard. Who knew if they could trust him?
General Ball would continue to move forward with the armament emplacement on the Lunar surface, to defend the base if necessary. Ongoing expansions financed by oil exports and tariffs were anticipated to open habitat for additional staff by the end of the summer. The population would reach 1,200, then, Matt reported to the group.
“As far as that known thorn in our left side, how ready is the fleet to deal with whatever Moerdani might have left up his sleeve?” Randall asked the Secretary of Defense.
Gen. Ferguson looked at Victor Brown before nodding and answering. “We’re ready for whatever, Sir. We have him bottled up.”
“Good. So, the re-deployment of the 3rd didn’t harm our combat readiness in the Pacific?”
“No, Sir, Mr. Speaker. We shuffled some ships around, left Anchorage a little short, but Ivan’s distracted with looting China, it’s a safe enough gamble.” Gene assured the Speaker.
The General of the Army concurred. “If they move south of Java, we’ll engage. As Matt can verify, the Caliph is scouring the South Pacific for anything that floats, though. So, it’s just a matter of time before he tries something,” Victor added. The Old Capitol’s basement war room went still with anticipation.
Randall looked at Gen. Ball, who nodded. Tommy Bullens also agreed. “Every port from Ho Chi Minh to Manila, he’s emptied. Satellite confirmation is consistent with our other data.”
“So, he can only go one direction,” Ferguson said. “South. Right at us. Where we’ll see him coming.”
“Which means that he plans on taking out our eyes, or surprising us, somehow,” Gen. Brown interjected.
“I just had a sick thought.” Attorney General Roberts mentioned. “Is he capable of genetically engineering a virus that would target us, Tina?”
The doctor steepled her fingers together and touched her chin to them for a moment, before answering. “It’s not impossible. The human genome is mapped, and there ARE diseases which Caucasians are more susceptible to, but not with the assurance that we had with the Turkish Flu…” Jason raised his eyebrows at the Surgeon General’s use of the word ‘we’.
“I want to know what his capabilities are A.S.A.P.,” the Speaker ordered Tommy, who nodded. “Will do.”
“And what are OUR capabilities in that area, Dr.?” he asked. Tina’s frown receded to invert into a smile.
“Six of the test subjects have survived the final trials, and the rapacity of the militarized strain is quite remarkable. We should be ready for mass production of the agent in a dispersable form in a matter of weeks,” Edwards proudly announced.
“Excellent.” Randall smiled. Tina wasn’t through, yet.
“But, this viral contagion will be more expansive than any we saw previously. Not only could any whom the DNA tests indicate have a genetic proclivity be infected, they could be carriers for a jumping off point, a hybrid mutation between strains, if you will. The testing and quarantines must be absolute.” She looked nervously around the room. Noone in this strategy session underestimated the risk involved.
“Okay. After the over-eighteen year olds are tested, and they see it’s nothing to worry about, we’ll do a second round of tests, on those under eighteen, to make sure that everybody is covered,” Balderson decided. Dr. Edwards made a note, and nodded.
“What else is on the agenda for the next week?” the Speaker asked. Attorney General Roberts tapped his pen beside the next item of business.
“Well, the general elections are coming up in two weeks. You have requests from four sitting Governors and two challengers to visit and give promotional campaign speeches on behalf of candidates, and from nineteen Congressmen and six challengers in the legislative races.”
“With all due respect, Sir, the security arrangements for…” Victor paused a moment, calculating…”thirty-one cities in a fourteen day period, it’s just not feasible, I’m sorry.”
“Now, hold on a moment. Jason, if I gave one speech in one stop in which I endorsed every candidate in that state’s elections that I wanted to, how many would that be?” Randall inquired, shifting his bulk at the head of the table. He pulled a comb from his pocket and swept back his trademark pompadour. The hot Missouri sun beat in from the window behind him, even with the armored blinds closed. The air conditioners hummed as background music.
The Attorney General counted and thought. “Eleven states, Sir.” The comb disappeared back into the Chief Executive’s pocket with a flourish.
“There ya go, Gen. Brown. Eleven states, the lawyer says. Surely the S.S. can protect me in eleven cities?”
Unable to make a face at his boss, Vic stuck his tongue out at Roberts, who snickered goodnaturedly back at him. “Yes, Sir.”
“Good, good, and make the night before the election stop be in Winnipeg. Paul Martin has been calling and asking me every day for a month.”
“Winnipeg it is,” Gen. Brown repeated, scribbling furiously.
“For what is a man, what has he got? If not himself, then he has naught. To say the things he truly feels, and not the words of one who kneels.”
In Austin, Kip had found Scott Hampton to be more open-handed and serious than ever. He acted like a man who had seen his own mortality, and maybe he had. The New American Secretary of State had no illusions. He knew that Hampton would continue to do solely what he felt was in the Republic of Texas’s interests, even to the exclusion of every other player. Even their allies. But that was to be expected. That he could deal with.
In the diplomatic negotiations, it was underlined that New America would accept Greater German presence in the Gulf and their possession of Guantanamo, since that was a fait accompli, anyway. Likewise, the British colonists in the new Texican possessions. President Hampton agreed not to seek to expand their claims further into the Caribbean. Most importantly for this meeting, Scott pledged continued cooperation along the New Mexico/Colorado/Deseret quadrant. Fundamentalist missionaries had crossed over to attempt to radicalize the more liberal Mormons living on the New American side of the border, and that was worrisome to the local authorities, there. They had been calling St. Louis for help. Kip’s next stop after leaving Austin was to fly to Pueblo and see what could be done about that situation, before it unraveled.
After meeting with the Governor of Colorado, Kip McNabb’s motorcade ventured into Reformed Latter Day Saint country. The local church wasn’t a recognized civil authority in the SouthWestern corner of the state, but as their numbers had grown, they had assumed a lot of power, regionally.
Kelly knew that Kip had expected her to be at the meeting, but she was reassured by how warmly he welcomed her. It had been a long time, and so much had happened. They stayed on topic while Mayor Smith and the Bishops were present. The discussion centered around how best to exclude the F.L.D.S. missionaries from radicalizing their local youth and recruiting them to return to Deseret.
“Really, we’ve seen the same kind of problem arise in California, along the border in the Central Valley,” the Secretary of State said. “So, while it is urgent, your situation isn’t unique, and we do know, from experience, how to deal with it.”
“Alright
then, Mr. McNabb,” Mayor Smith replied, em phasizing the obvious last name. “How do those of us who have to live here in their shadow, after leaving them behind, ‘deal with it’?”
“The best way to fight a closed society is with openness,” Kip answered. “And the best way to fight extremism, is with an equal level of exclusion to their missionaries.” “So, your advice would be to not let them in?” Kelly asked. Kip nodded, gratefully. “Our job is to secure the border. If they do get across the border, your job is to not let
them infect the minds of your children, and take them from you. The best way to do that is to close them out.”
Mayor Smith and the Bishops considered this. They would have to talk it over, in a closed door session, but they would see the sense in it. While they were pretending to make up their minds, Kelly invited Kip to their home for supper.
“Well, that depends,” he answered with a grin. “Can you feed a dozen S.S. guards, too?”
She could, but Abby and Julia had to end the clucking of four more of the families’ hens to do it. Kelly and the girls prepared them for frying while Josh showed Kip and his men how a modern farm on the edge of the desert was run. Things had been a lot easier around the kitchen before Karen had gone and become the Mayor’s third sister wife. Still, there was plenty for everyone, and the visitors enjoyed a home cooked meal.
After the dishes, the men followed Josh back out to help with the evening chores. While they hayed and watered the cattle, Kip and Kelly retired to her parlor to speak privately. At first, it was a bit awkward. She asked him about Hope and the kids, and how they liked St. Louis. He asked her about the last few days as things had fallen apart for her in Salt Lake. They compared notes on the packages they had been sent. Both agreed that there was more to the story than just Mrs. Hampton’s letters had stated. Kip made no accusations, and asked no specific questions, since he already knew, and she knew that he knew. As a mutual courtesy, neither of them acknowledged it.
In a quietly understated way, Kip made it clear to her that nobody in St. Louis or even in Austin bore her any animosity. In fact, they needed her leadership in this corner of the frontier. Things could get ugly at any moment in California. With the Fundies in control, you just never knew. He asked her about what connections she still had in Salt Lake, and which members of the Council who remained were the most reasonable, comparatively speaking. She gave him everything she knew, as well as the names of Deseret military commanders who chafed under the restrictive FLDS leadership. He would confirm her information with Bullens’ office, but it sounded solid.
Before they rejoined the guys they could hear laughing and talking on the porch, Kip gave Kelly a sad smile, the kind which could be shared only between old enemies who had hurt and been hurt so badly that it was way too far to care. She smiled back, understanding. The future was all they had, and it was always what you made it.
As they loaded up the S.U.V. motorcade with sacks of leftover fried chicken for snacks on the way back to the airport, Kelly’s oldest daughter Julia handed him an envelope. It had Jack McNabb’s name on it. Kip nodded gravely to her, and put it securely in his pocket.
“It ain't me, it ain't me, I ain't no Senator's son, son. It ain't me, it ain't me, I ain't no fortunate one.”
After his mid-term exams, which were on double the usual number of subjects, Jack was mentally exhausted. Fortunately, there was a week’s break for the mid-Summer ‘Founder’s Day’ holiday that Congress had just enacted, in honor of his father. He could think of no better way of spending it than to visit his family. Tracy was a bit put off that he wasn’t going to spend the week with her, at her parents’ home, to meet them. That set off some alarm bells in the young man’s mind. He kissed her goodbye and promised that he would see her in a week.
Although it was close to the national election day, Hope thought that this trip home would be a good opportunity for the two of them to tie up some of the loose ends of their inheritance. There were still some foreign accounts to liquidate. She wanted some extra funds to redecorate the Warehouse’s ground floor and her suite. The kids needed their own furniture. Mary wanted her own room. Hope showed Jack the one she was in now, with newspaper clippings and pictures of him covering the walls. The younger kids crawled all over their uncle, wrestling with his feet and legs and begging him to play.
His living allowance made the Lieutenant comfortable, but Jack had been thinking about buying some new clothes and a car of his own to use when he was off deployment, so he agreed to go with her for an overnight trip to Montreal. The day before, they made their plans, talked it over with Kip, and got all of the financial paperwork necessary from Jason to close out their parents’ account there. They had no idea how much it would be, but they couldn’t do an electronic funds transfer between the two countries, so they’d have to bring whatever was in the account back, themselves. Rather than take guards and be obvious, they would just slip in and out themselves with a couple of extra suitcases that would be empty on the way in. Mary pouted that Hope wouldn’t let her come along. She wanted to see Montreal, too, she’d insisted. Hess was home from the Academy on a visitation pass, and asked Jack to tell him about Freeport Beach, again.
The flight from St. Louis to Chicago was uneventful. They were pestered a bit by gawkers, even in first class, but that was the cost of not flying privately, as they normally would have. The international flight from Chicago to Montreal usually required extra screening, coming and going, but their passports and faces got them waved right through. A stewardess asked Jack for his autograph. For her little sister, she said. Hope winked at him and said that she bet she didn’t even have a sister.
In Montreal, they were met by Quebecois state security. At first the police refused to speak English, and even though they both could speak it passably, Jack and Hope refused to speak French. Finally, out of frustration, the police told them that they were there to assist them, and to avoid any public disturbances. To help them. That was the last thing either of them had expected.
Jack told them that their reason for being in the country, just as he had just told customs, was to do some banking business. Their return flight left in four hours, so they wouldn’t even be staying overnight. The police were relieved to hear that, once they understood. They agreed to give him a police escort to the bank and back to the airport. In exchange for an autograph, mais oui?
“For your sisters?” Jack asked them, grinning. The blue -uniformed cops mumbled to one another in French for a second in confusion.
“Non, pour..for my wifes.” The younger one answered. Jack laughed as Hope rolled her eyes and produced a pen.
The front counter cashier at the Banque Nationale was alarmed to see a group of policemen escorting the two foreigners into the lobby. Her manager was even more alarmed when she saw the balance of the account they were seeking to close. And the safety deposit box.
Jack had never known just how heavy fifty pounds could be, especially when it was in fifty sixteen ounce gold bars. In monetary value, the suitcase he muscled out of the doors was worth slightly less than the over two million New American dollars Hope drug behind her in her suitcase, on its’ rollers. He figured she could get some nice furniture, with that.
The Quebecois police had radioed for backup because of the withdrawal. French military police joined their parade back to the airport, past security, and right back onto the plane, an hour early for takeoff. Hope was disappointed that they wouldn’t let her stop at a souveneir shop along the way, for some wine and cheese.
Their connecting flight was to Winnipeg, where Randall was giving a speech and holding a dinner. They couldn’t wait to see his face, when they showed him their carry- ons.
“Freedom, well, that's just some people talking. Your prison is walking through this world all alone.”
Yvette had been working as a secretary for a week, before she found an excuse to run some paperwork over to the Governor’s Office from the consulate. The stupid fax machine, always bre
aking. Her silly sense of direction, getting lost in the Governor’s Office, and walking right in on him as he ate lunch alone. But he had been so nice, accepting her apology and inviting her to stay and share his disgusting roast beef sandwiches.
It had been too easy, telling him that he should eat better, that she would make him a good dinner with real food, good French food, the next night, as repayment. They’d seen each other three times since then, as much as his busy schedule allowed. The last time, she had let him have what he thought he wanted. The next morning, she had gotten flowers, along with a card inviting her to go to the Speaker’s campaign fundraising dinner and speech with him. ‘When was it? Oh, the night before the election? Why yes, she was free…’
On their second date, Paul had told her, casually, about the reason for the ongoing DNA tests, as he had heard it. It was time to finish off those dirty Muslims, once and for all. ‘Those who didn’t remember their history, were doomed to repeat it’, he’d said. Yvette couldn’t agree more.
She sent the confirmation code to Quebec City. Their mission was completed. Hers was almost done.
“When I first saw you with your smile so tender, my heart was captured, my soul surrendered.”
Jack and Hope left the airport in Winnipeg, and went directly to their airport. After ordering lunch through room service, they called up Randall’s security detail to tell them where they were, and their room number. Then they ate and watched the news. The Russian Empire was announcing that the last Han villages along the Yang-tze had been eradicated, and central China was now pacified. The Czar’s fleet sailed south from Hokkaido, towards Taiwan. A Russian submarine had sunk a Javanese salvage vessel off the coast of Vietnam. Riots had begun throughout Angels City after F.L.D.S. missionaries had been arrested by New American authorities in Fresno. Argentina announced a new trade deal with the Republic of Texas. The Former German Chancellor had passed away in her sleep after retiring recently from a lifetime of public service. Greek and North Italian border guards had exchanged fire over a wine producer’s strike…