"Don't worry about it. We're even in my view," Tess said. She looked him in the eyes as she said it to make sure he understood her meaning. In doing so, she realized she had not seen Eric without tinted eyeglasses before; his eyes were such an unusual shade of gray.
An unforgettable eye color might explain why he hid behind tinted lenses, but only if he didn't want to be remembered. Since most of the people she knew spent untold amounts of money and effort to be noticed, why did Eric hide?
"Not in my mind. When I saw you fall into the water I had the ulterior motive of not wanting to deal with something happening to you while you were on my land. What you did, coming here to help me instead of leaving, you did because you're the type that does the right thing, regardless of personal feelings of dislike—or risk of danger. That's the definition of a hero, or heroine in your case, Tess."
"There's a hero in you too, hidden along with your other personas, I'm sure. But right now I can't tear my mind away from the storm and how to get myself, and my boat, through it in one piece—preferably still afloat. Now I've got the added worry about what to do with you. Keeping in mind that this morning my intentions centered on putting as much distance between us as possible; I'm conflicted here. Help me out."
"Whatever cosmic chance brought you and this boat up the creek to my property is one thing. But when you consider each of us sits here now only because the other one happened to be nearby at a crucial moment for the other, it get's a bit more intriguing. You see that, don't you?"
"Eric, I see a myriad of things fighting for my attention, and all about how precarious my position is with Robin again aground, no dinghy, radios not working, and more storms coming. Intriguing conundrums about why you're sitting on my boat isn't even on the list. A way to get you off my boat, so I can get out of here, is."
"Okay! Okay, I get it. Here's what I can do. I need to grab some more clothes and my emergency reboot case from the house. Then I'll get the kayak and take your anchor out, so we can winch the boat out of the mud. There's only one catch; you have to take me with you."
"A deal I can't refuse since I don't see a way to leave without your help. Where am I taking you?"
"The next place we come to with transportation out of the country. I'll tell you more later, if we have a deal."
"Deal."
While Tess again tried the radios Eric went to his SUV, now on its side with pieces of the house's roof draped over it, and began looking for a waterproof briefcase. Once he found it and pulled it from the wreckage he moved to where Tess would not see him, and he opened the case. Inside the case was a BGAN terminal (Broadband Global Area Network) and a tablet computer that allowed him direct access to Inmarsat communications satellites for voice, fax, and email from almost anywhere on Earth.
Even though the Internet had been shut down in the U.S., and the massive radio interference kept most radio frequencies unusable, the finely aimed transmission from his terminal aimed straight up to a satellite would get through and be "parked" on the satellite until picked up by the recipients. He was anxious to see if any messages were waiting for him.
After firing up the terminal and using the built-in compass for a rough aim, he was able to fine-tune it by signal strength and lock onto a satellite. When the tablet came to life he brought up his encrypted email program, plugged in the key, and waited.
[email protected]—Inbox (decrypted)
Message 1: From Ethos@uscybercom
USCYBERCOM will keep firewalls in place to prevent public and International access to an Intranet it is attempting to bring online between U.S. Government agencies. Eventually, State and local law enforcement will have access and be able to coordinate with Federal law enforcement agencies. The President and his Cabinet have evacuated to an undisclosed, fortified location where the government will reconvene and attempt to use the new U.S. Intranet to gain control of a nation in chaos.
Martial law is in effect nationwide, including a dusk to dawn curfew. Looters are to be shot on sight. Interstate travel is restricted to only those with approval from the regional military commander.
The limited amounts of communications now coming through from regional offices are reporting widespread urban looting with a dwindling police presence to control it. Violence is escalating as supplies of food and fuel are exhausted. No functioning alarms, no streetlights, and no police patrols exacerbate the problems.
Outside of the cities, in areas not already paralyzed by winter weather, railroad and trucking-based supply systems have also been attacked. Gangs of looters have barricaded railroads, Interstate Highways, and the Nation's seaports; the flow of essential supplies has come to a halt across the country.
Message 2: From Duenna@NOAA
The agency's ability to gather data from both land and space-based assets has been severely curtailed for the last 72 hours. Based on data gathered earlier and computerized models, NOAA estimates winter storm Abe is moving offshore over New Jersey. Winter storm Blanca is now forming over the U.S. Southwest and will follow roughly the same track as Abe over the next week. For the next 10 days little change is forecast in the atmospheric pattern that is causing the current storm track.
Message 3: From Reeve@NSA
NSA was especially hard hit requiring much of the hardware to be replaced. A number of reliable reports from Europe and Asia say NSA files were unprotected for more than 24 hours. No one knows how much data was compromised before public access was cutoff. There is little doubt the leak has caused an International crisis due to evidence of rioting surrounding many U.S. Embassies.
After reading the messages from his group a smile spread across his face. Parts of the international community had taken notice and piled on with cyber attacks beyond those he had initiated.
He decided to let the group know he was still alive and attempting to escape the military crackdown that would soon envelop America. He knew police forces would soon merge with the military in trying to control the population as hunger and the cold of winter continued to build.
[email protected]—Outbox (to encryption)
Message 1: To the following recipients: Ethos@cybercom, Duenna@noaa, Reeve@nsa
Home location blown. Relocating outside US. No contact possible 2 wks.
Eric shut down the BGAN terminal, removed the encryption key from the tablet, shut it off, and repacked the equipment in the briefcase. Now he needed to find a backpack that held the rest of his essential gear and the funds to get established in whatever country he could get to. Before the tornado hit it had been beside the bed, he had looked for it when Tess dug him out. He promised himself he would sleep wearing the damn thing if he could find it.
~~~
Noise from items being unloaded from the kayak into the cockpit let her know Eric had returned. "Coming," she said as she climbed into the cockpit. "If I hand the anchor to you over the side can you take it out while I pay out the rode?"
"Sure."
By evening Robin floated just off the dock, temporarily anchored on short scope. Eric climbed into the cockpit to discuss the next step in their plan.
"What I said earlier about finding transportation out of the country has to do with what's going on as a result of the attacks. When I was last able to read the news, the topic of martial law, and how it could expand throughout the country, dominated the headlines. Our nationwide, just-in-time supply network for essential food and fuel is highly computer dependent, and that system has been attacked.
Food shortages create refugees that are more than willing to hijack food being distributed by anything less than armed convoy. All of this is a good opportunity for the Government to escalate the level of emergency-response to include military personnel and equipment. Police and military will complete their merge and be indistinguishable from each other in appearance or demeanor.
Which means Abe and his infamous radical-environmentalist allies could succeed in reducing the average American's lifestyle, if not lifespan. None of this is a healthy environment for a reclu
sive sort like me. All of those things added together have convinced me I'd rather observe the settling dust from afar."
For a few minutes Tess watched the patterns the rain made on the water. The news probably meant the end of her cruise south. She doubted the Intracoastal Waterway would be open to civilian pleasure craft during martial law, if it came to that. Then she had a thought. "How long do you think before they declare restrictions around here?"
"Baltimore could have them now, but Washington, D.C. will probably be the last place in the country, just for international face-keeping. The important people in our government have most likely been evacuated by now, so there's no need to put it in place to protect them. Why do you ask?"
"Eric, do you remember your BS answer to me about need-to-know?"
"Okay Tess, I apologize. I assure you, in looking back I regret my arrogance."
"Accepted. It occurred to me that there are two ways to the open ocean from here: continuing south the length of the Chesapeake Bay, or through the C&D Canal and down the Delaware. Once in the Atlantic we have options, especially the Bahamas. They were already on my agenda, right after Florida, so I have the necessary charts aboard."
"You can do that?"
"Conceptually, yes. In practice, I've not made an ocean passage of that distance. Then there are a couple of other concerns like weather systems and how to deal with the Gulf Stream. Plus I've never done more than one overnight on a single-handed passage."
"But you're not single-handing, you've got me along."
Tess held eye contact with Eric while running scenarios through her head. First, she envisioned a seasick Eric lying prostrate, with his head lolling over the rail, while she vainly fought sleep at the helm—or ultimately getting run over by a container ship—or getting pasted by a squall and never being heard from again. Then her visions switched to being confined to a slip in Baltimore for a long, cold winter—under martial law—with National Guard troops trying to keep order in the food lines. Neither scenario looked inviting to someone that had planned on a leisurely cruise to the Caribbean, via the docile Intracoastal Waterway; solo.
"It probably won't work and it could end in disaster. Besides the fact that we don't even like each other, do you know you can die of seasickness? While you're sick you are afraid you won't die, until the minute you do. It is a miserable way to go, from what I hear. Hold on a minute," said Tess. She went below momentarily to check some details in her reference books.
"It's probably an 800-mile passage, that's maybe eight to ten days, plus a couple of days to get from here to the Atlantic. So let's just say ten days minimum, and it could take double that. That is a long time to be ill. There's barely enough food aboard to get there, if we get there. When we raise the Islands we'll probably be hungry and starve shortly afterwards, if the value of the dollar tanks, or credit cards don't work due to the Internet being down."
"Tess, I rode every ride in the amusement park when I was a kid, and I can read while in the backseat on a curvy road, so I don't think I'll get seasick. Money is not a problem, I've got the finances covered if you can handle the transportation."
"You have no idea what a 35-foot boat crossing the Gulf Stream can be like; reading on a curvy road doesn't compare. I can only tell you that everybody can and will get seasick in the right conditions.
"Tess, for argument's sake, let's say you have decided to go and take me with you. In that case I suggest through the canal and down the Delaware as a much safer route than the southern part of the Chesapeake, with the Potomac and the Naval base at Norfolk. I'm sure the Coast Guard and the rest of marine law enforcement will be doing everything they can to restrict access in those sensitive areas."
"You've got a point there. Anyway, here's what I'll agree to right now. We go through the C & D Canal and down the Delaware, but then we either stop at Cape May or Cape Henlopen to regroup before jumping offshore. If things have settled down we can go south and enter the mouth of the Chesapeake at Norfolk, and you can get off there."
"Fair enough. Is this the point where I get to say, 'Aye, aye, Captain?' "
Day 8
Andy, Jennifer, Tye & Reb - East Texas
Reb walked onto the porch where Tye stood surveying the farmstead and the still-smoldering pile of rubble that had once been his workshop. It had been a place where generations of his family had fixed, constructed, and kept the farm operational. He took the offered mug of coffee from his wife and asked, pointing with his chin to the rubble, "Bringing me coffee as a reward for getting all my junk reduced to one pile?"
"It's a bigger pile than I had hoped for, but I can see you're trying. I like how the view of the barn and pasture opens up without the shop in the way. Now you won't even need to get off the porch to check on your cows."
"Got rid of the mouse problems that shop had too.
"Cheer up old farmer, the insurance is paid up, so you can build a new shop, laid out just the way you want it."
"If the insurance companies are still solvent when the ice has melted, we'll all be happily surprised. It feels like we're back in the 1800s, being raided by the Comanche. This time it's gangs, but it's still a turf war, and we're on our own for now. I'm hoping for, but not planning on, money from insurance in the near future. It will be a long damn line of claims with the widespread damage Abe has inflicted; it may take years to settle all of them."
"You think it's that bad?"
"Well, let's see. The shop and its contents were an essential part of the farm, losing it changes how we will operate in the future. Sam has been shot and the death toll, so far, is four men; two of them died on our front porch—with one of them killed by our own daughter. To my way of thinking that's as bad as it can get, and last night I prayed that I was right about that," Tye paused and then while looking at the ashes of the shop suddenly remembered the news he had been looking forward to telling Reb. "Oh, on a happier note; your kitchen helper is sweet on our daughter. And wondering what we think of him."
"And you replied?"
"I told him I couldn't understand what he sees in her—Ouch! You have the sharpest darn elbows!"
"I'll keep trying to dull them on you, if you don't tell me what your answer was."
"We saw the shop on fire right about then, I don't remember saying one way or another."
"You would've said yes. You like him as much as the rest of us."
"Jen's my Little Girl."
"Your Little Girl grew into a Woman quite some time ago, with a mind and a say of her own. Any predictions as to how she might answer Andy?"
"Far be it from me to predict what any woman will do, especially those I'm related to."
"Pay more attention to us and it might be easier for you. I'm going to start breakfast."
"Bye, Dear."
Reb made a few detours on her way to the kitchen. Because Sam, Melissa, and Leo were using the extra bedroom, Jennifer and Andy were left to make do with the living room furniture for beds. She checked to find Jennifer wrapped in a blanket and asleep on the couch with Andy in the recliner next to her. Since it was cold she retrieved a blanket from the closet and draped it over him.
With only the early morning light coming in the bathroom window Reb faced her reflection in the mirror. Images of the burning shop and of Jennifer shooting a man were haunting her. She felt like she had entered a new era with a completely new set of rules.
If so, the best thing she could do for her family would be to set a pragmatic example. After her husband's bleak assessment of the farm's future, with the loss of the shop and no insurance money to rebuild, it became obvious a life-changing event was taking place. The scariest part for Reb came from the realization that she and her family were better off when compared to most of the people in the immediate area, which also made them a target. When she could once again dial 911 and reasonably expect help to arrive she would follow the old rules. Until then she vowed to do whatever it took, for as long as it took, to keep her family safe.
~~~
>
Midmorning Jennifer, Andy, and Leo went out to join Tye in trying to salvage tools and equipment from the piles of ash. When they arrived he warned them that everything was still too hot to touch without heavy gloves.
"Is there anything left, Daddy?"
"Where the fire didn't have much to burn I'm finding some useable stuff, but in the back where we stored bulk lubricants, everything either burned or melted. Those bastards used my own can of gas I had set by the door, probably just because the opportunity presented itself. Guess there's a lesson here about assuming you live in a safe place."
"Pure meanness, they wanted to draw us out of the house and they didn't care how they did it," Jennifer said. A shiver went down her spine as she thought of what might have happened to her before they killed her. She looked at her dad, "I'm glad we killed them before they accomplished everything they'd set out to do."
Tye took his gloves off and hugged his daughter. "When I was very young, my grandparents told stories of how tough life around here had been when their European-immigrant parents first settled here. 'Whatever it takes,' is the phrase I remember the most. A bunch of stubborn men and women doing whatever it took, laboring or fighting, to stay alive. Until the power comes back on we need to do the same. None of us would be alive if those men were, so I'm glad they're dead too. I just wish you hadn't been the ones to kill them."
"Someone's coming," Leo said, running up to Jennifer.
"That's Ben finally showing up. Good, I've been worrying," Jennifer said.
"Looks like he survived whatever slowed him down, and he brought Deputy Wes," Tye said as a second pickup and fifth-wheel came into view. "Be interesting to hear the latest."
When the lead fifth-wheel stopped next to them and the driver's window rolled down, Ben leaned out and said, "We're sure glad to be here even if it is a day late."
"Hi Ben. You a dollar short too?" Tye asked.
"More'n a dollar, that's for sure. How's Sam doing?"
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