“Hannibal didn’t go for the kill, didn’t use politics to his advantage. We won’t make that mistake,” Mary Ann declared. “We can take that bastard down.”
“I won’t hesitate to go for the kill when the time comes,” Carl replied, making his own declaration, “especially if we can find a way to decimate them without a face-to-face battle.”
“You’d kill the women and children inside NORAD just to avoid a fight?” Mary Ann raised her eyebrows, but her gaze was direct and unwavering. He wasn’t sure of the answer she was looking for, but he wouldn’t have lied even if he knew she wouldn’t like it.
“Yes. I’d kill them all to end that threat. They’ve proven they are our enemies. America’s enemies. I hope I don’t have to, believe me, but if the chance came to end this? Yes, I would.”
“Good. I’ll fill you in later. For now, just know that we have to solidify and expand the Confederation. We have to strengthen the alliance with New America or maybe formally join, and we need to find new allies. Maybe even the Empire itself, if we get a chance to make a deal with a leader we could trust without holding a knife to his throat.”
“You’re thinking of the intelligence reports we got from questioning Empire survivors and defectors.” It was a statement. Carl already knew the answer.
“Yes, and there were many. We’ve discovered that northern Michigan kicked the Empire’s ass like we did. So did some group west of the Empire, though details are more sketchy there. If we can get the Empire to join the Confederation, as partners or as a member nation under New America’s authority, then we can put the pressure on the Mountain that we need. Sooner or later we’ll spot a chance to kill them all, and then it’ll be over. We have to find out what that is when the time comes, but that’s for the future. Right now we have to think about spring planting.”
Carl nodded. “Nice dreams. For now, for tomorrow, for this week, the future looks pretty bright. Maybe I’ll schedule an appointment with the Sewer Rats’ Alpha. See what she thinks.”
Mary Ann’s eyes glinted mischievously. “Maybe you should. After all, you Alphas have to stay in touch. Besides, rank has its privileges…”
* * *
Cassy sat in her recliner, which had been pushed back practically into her small kitchen to make room for everyone. Her house was tiny, and fitting the whole Council in it was always a hassle. Choony had volunteered to act as server rather than have more people bumping elbows in her tiny kitchen, and he handed her a glass of fine, sparkling hard apple cider. It had aged well and tasted like nothing she had ever had before.
“Everyone set?” she asked, and the others nodded. Cassy moved her wireless mouse and the laptop, connected by HDMI cable to a projector, threw the image of her desktop onto the bare wall for all to see. She clicked the button to call Taggart.
Eagan answered, and smiled. Cassy really liked that guy—insubordinate and stubborn, but good-hearted and extremely loyal, all qualities Cassy admired. He wore a Sergeant Major’s insignia lately, according to Michael, but she had noticed Taggart went back and forth between calling him Private and Sergeant Major. Or ‘shitbird,’ when he forgot to turn off the call before barking at his sidekick-slash-subordinate.
A few seconds later, Taggart came into view and sat down facing his laptop, the one they had managed to send him. “Good evening, Chancellor,” he said to Cassy, using her official Confederation title rather than calling her his Secretary of Agriculture. That little cue let her know the nature of tonight’s conference call. “I was pleased to learn of the timely arrival of my reinforcements.”
“Yes, Mr. President,” Cassy replied, using the title he officially wore and hated to no end. The game amused them both. “They arrived at a key moment, and turned the tide rather spectacularly. We had many losses before they arrived, but we held out. Just long enough, as it turns out.”
“Excellent. So, Cassy, I thought I’d share my own bit of happy news. General Ree, who controlled New York City, New Jersey, and southeast Pennsylvania, has been defeated as well. He still has the City and much of New Jersey, but he’s hemmed in. I have to guard against raids and the like, but in terms of offensive capacity, he’s been rendered ineffective.”
“You were in New Jersey. And now?”
“Now we’re in northern Jersey. His chunk of the state is where we had started implementing your permaculture program, so we’re back to square one here, but it will go much faster this second time around, I think. So what’s the status of the Midwest Republic threat?”
Cassy glanced to Michael, who stepped into view. “If I may, Mr. President, we’re happy to report that their offensive capacity is greatly reduced. Our rough estimate is that they must have sent about a quarter of their entire force, up to as high as one half. The remaining enemy strength must only be adequate to hold on to what they already have, given the growing threats to their northern and western borders. The few details we have on those threats were in the briefings we’ve sent.”
“Yes, thank you, General,” Taggart replied. He had taken to calling Michael that even before the Empire War, given that he was ultimately in charge of all Confederation forces. “Good, so that takes pressure off of all of you, too.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Hooah. For the remainder of spring,” Taggart said, “my plan is to clear a path for trade between the Confederation and New America.” Cassy knew he disliked that name too, but New America was what everyone seemed to want to call it, so he had decided to run with it. “We are also reaching out to other nearby survivor groups and trying to integrate them into New America.”
Cassy nodded. It only made sense, now that they had all seemed to weather the storm of chaos more or less intact. “We’re doing likewise. Expanding both the Clan and the Confederation to the east and south. West is blocked by Hershey, and we can’t go much further north without hitting the Pennsylvania invader cantonment. We’re also scrambling to find more ammunition.”
Taggart pursed his lips, paused a moment, then said, “My advice is to go in and systematically loot Lancaster. It was gassed, and so there must be a ton of civilian weapons and ammunition in there. Also, I am sending Ethan my intel report on a supply depot within a reasonable distance of you guys, so you can re-arm and resupply. It was a supply point for FEMA and it isn’t on any maps, so other than squatters you shouldn’t have much to deal with in terms of opposition.”
Cassy blew out through pursed lips, relieved. “Impressive. And good timing. We burned through ninety percent of our ammunition during the Empire War.”
“Yes, well. You’ll need to stock up for the next war, then.”
Cassy was suddenly paying much closer attention to Taggart, to his facial features, the inflection of his voice. “Excuse me, next war?”
“That’s affirmative. General Houle controls Colorado and a whole lot more. We don’t know the extent of his holdings, but we do know he can’t expand westward—the whole of the southwest U.S. must certainly be depopulated by now. It’s a vast desert, and only had so many people in it because it was possible to ship in apples from Washington, artichokes from California, oranges from Florida. And the water tables hadn’t been drained yet for cities and golf courses and lawns.”
“Oh. Yes. Without infrastructure, they didn’t have the food resources to survive. And all that piped-in water they used.” She frowned, reflecting on what must certainly have been grim reality in the deserts states after the EMPs hit. “If they didn’t die in the first weeks from dehydration, they probably starved when the food ran out.” Cassy hadn’t really thought about much beyond the Clan and the Confederation for quite a while. Considering all those deaths… it was sobering.
Taggart said, “Yes. The net effect now is that Houle must expand east and north, but I doubt he could do much going north. Utah apparently split into Mormon and non-Mormon areas, and they fight each other more than anyone else. The only thing that unifies them is to resist outsiders. And, from what I understand, they don’t much like Ho
ule.”
“The land up there isn’t rich enough land to bother fighting over,” Cassy commented.
Michael added, “And beyond Utah there’s Montana, Idaho and Eastern Washington. An old song called ’em ‘nothing but a reason to keep riding.’ And plus, that whole region was half-paramilitary even before the EMPs. And they know the country.”
Cassy nodded. “Yes, he’d probably figure we’d be an easier prize to take.”
Taggart said, “We all know that the eastern state ranchers and survivalists took over and have stood against the invasion force occupying western Washington the way you just did in Pennsylvania. Before the war, the preppers called everything from Eastern Washington through Montana ‘the Redoubt.’ Houle will want their resources, but he won’t want that fight.”
“He won’t want to weaken the Redoubt anyway, at least not to the point where the invaders can break through and hold the passes,” Cassy added, nodding as she grasped some of the implications. “They’re his buffer against the invaders and desperate people along the coast.”
Ethan said, “Northeast, Houle has his Empire lackeys, so he expanded southeast, but those little settlements are more like colonies than conquests.”
The corner of Taggart’s lips turned up. “It’s a strategy I’m planning to use myself, going down the East Coast through the Carolinas. Provide protection, but make them pay to cover costs. Houle demands tribute for leaving them alone, like the Romans did. I don’t hold with that kind of extortion. The towns we protect from raiders and such can pay their own way, though, with food or volunteers or whatever, kind of how your Confederation handles it. Protection and affiliation as a trade good.”
He paused to look over his shoulder and nodded at someone, then held up a finger in the universal give me a minute sign before turning back. “But all that’s for next year at the earliest. For now, I believe we’ll be set before winter. Recruits are pouring in faster than we can arm and integrate them, so I need something to do with them anyway. They’re prepping small farms using your permaculture methods, and it’s going well.”
Cassy smiled. “Mr. President, I must say, your problems are the right kind to have.”
Taggart chuckled, nodding. “I get your point. So what are your ‘right problems’ these days?” Behind him, Cassy saw Eagan briefly throw up “bunny ears” behind Taggart’s head, and she resisted the urge to laugh. Behind her, she heard Joe Ellings snrrk, stifling his own laughter.
Cassy said, “Oh, wow, that list is endless. So much land to plant, so many seeds to spread around. I have more mulch than I know what to do with—I may have to let local independents come get wagonfuls in return for a live bullet, unless I want tons of unused woody compost. And I’m only one person, Taggart—I don’t have enough hours in the day to officiate for everyone who wants me to do their wedding this spring. It’s like a wedding flu is sweeping through the Confederation. When the Empire left, I think they all went into heat.”
Taggart laughed, his eyes sparkling. He rarely showed it, but Cassy long ago realized he had a wicked-sharp sense of humor. “So, just like me, your spring and summer is booked up. So much for that trip to Disney World.”
Cassy took a deep breath and nodded, feeling satisfied and happy. Sure there would be more problems to deal with in the future, but here and now, for today at least, her problems were the everyday ones. The ones that let her know she was alive and that there was a future for her and her family.
“Maybe I’ll meet up with you in Orlando next year, then,” Cassy told Taggart. “There’s always next year.”
“It’s a deal,” Taggart replied. “Next year, Orlando.”
# # #
TO BE CONTINUED IN BOOK 6… COMING SOON.
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Table of Contents
Title Page
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
Back Matter
Dark New World (Book 5): EMP Resurrection Page 42
