The Shelter, Book 4: The New World

by Ira Tabankin

“That’s why Jay can win. He’s not a politician. People are fed up with the normal, they want real change. They want someone who can really improve things. They want REAL change, they want immigration control, they want real tax reform, they don’t want regular politicians. Please, for all of us, give Jay a little time to think about it.”

  “I won’t promise anything right now.”

  Chapter 19

  The group takes a break after dropping the bombshell on Jay. After the last rep leaves the patio, Jay and Tony grab a beer together, Tony looks at Jay.

  “What do you think?”

  “No fucking way! You and I both know I’m not the right man for the job. I’d end up pissing off everyone within the first hour. I’m still worried we’d end up fighting three or four different opponents. Can you imagine what would happen if they decided to link up? They’d quickly overpower us. I don’t think this is a good idea. I'm not convinced seceding is a good idea. I don't want to end up in a civil war plus having to fight the Cartel and ISIS. There's no way we can win a three front war.”

  “It would be fun to watch you take on the press.”

  “No, it wouldn’t. It would be more fun listening to Ricky whine for 24 hours straight than standing in front of the media giving a press conference.”

  Tony laughs, he pauses asking,

  “How is the son of a bitch?”

  “Fred or one of his sons drops off two MREs a day, he told me a couple of days ago Ricky is dirty, depressed and very unhappy. I’m hoping he gets so unhappy he decides to leave again. If he leaves on his own, it will solve a lot of problems.”

  “No, you don’t. If he left and got himself in trouble, you’d end up having to bail his ass out again. He’s better off where he is. He can’t bother anyone and no one misses him.”

  “I hope you're right and I didn’t make a mistake.”

  “What are the next steps for the meeting?”

  We need them to sign up to the valuation of their labor for the new currency and a start date when their people will arrive.”

  “Sounds good to me, let’s wrap this puppy up.”

  “I agree, let’s put this one behind us.”

  The two men take their seats at the conference table, the representatives were already seated, most were sipping their beer. Jay smiled saying.

  “If we set aside the new proposal, why don’t we agree to the value chart and discuss when your people will be able to begin clearing the new fields.”

  One of the representatives smiles saying,

  “Jay, this isn’t over yet. We want you to be our new leader, we’re going to spread the story, we’re going to push for you to be the leader to make the South rise again. We have pictures of you, we’re going to use to make posters with. We're going to start making FB posts.”

  “We have more important business to finalize before we discuss new business. The growing season has started; we need to quickly clear the land so we can get the crops in the ground. The quicker we plant, the more we have to eat. Please don't post anything. I don't want the feds coming around here thinking I'm leading a revolution.”

  The others smile, saying.

  “Jay, our people will be here in two days. We agreed to an approximate value of our labor, the Huntsville chart is a better deal for us. We knew we’d reach an agreement. Since there’s not much to discuss on the old business, let’s return to the new.”

  “You’ve surprised me with your suggestion. I need a couple of days to sleep on it.”

  “We thought so. Do you have a place for our people to stay?”

  “Yes, Lacy can show them to you. I suggest we break for the night; I’ll make sure we’re ready to start again at breakfast.”

  “Agreed.”

  The parties break for the night; each side is deep in thought.

  @@@@@

  While Jay and Tony are meeting with the local town’s reps, The Mayor of Huntsville and James Borne, the Commanding General of Redstone began reaching out to other towns and cities to pitch their currency idea. The Mayor of Birmingham quickly agreed as did Mobile, Alabama. The small towns of Alabama quickly fell in line. The Huntsville leadership sends people to meet with the leaders of Atlanta, Savannah and Macon, Georgia. Other groups traveled to Florida to hold similar discussions. Fred has taken on the position of field supervisor to manage the fifty new people who are quickly clearing and planting new acreage. Eighteenth and Twenty-first-century farming technologies worked side by side on the farm.

  The new workers quickly merged with the farm’s existing families, they fit right into the extended families. Three weeks after the new workers started working in the fields, Fred smiles reviewing the progress with Jay,

  “We now have 1,200 acres planted, the new people are currently working on two new plots across the street.”

  “Please don’t tell me they’re working on the land we planned to give the Army as their HQ to move them off of our farm.”

  “No, they’re clearing the lands to the left of the farms, you remember the dense woods which go to the corner. We’ve had problems with people trying to hide in there before. I thought it was a good place to clear.”

  “I don’t think that land has ever been cleared before. How long is it going to take?”

  “I hope to have the first five acres ready for planting in two, maybe three weeks, a lot depends on the weather. The rest will take much longer. It’s very rough land. I don’t know if we’ll get a crop in this summer or we’ll be limited to a fall crop. We have to clear all of the trees before we even look at the ground. Once the trees are down, we’ll clear the stumps and then we can bring the tractors in to level and prepare the soil.”

  “As long as we make the fall planting we should be okay. Speaking of the weather, I’m starting to get very concerned. We haven’t had any rain for a long time, way too long. I don’t think we have enough irrigation equipment to water all of the fields. We’re at the critical time for water. Is this normal in this area of Tennessee?”

  “The lack of rain has happened before; I wouldn’t worry too much about it. I’m sure Mother Nature will get around to dumping a few inches from a thunderstorm on us soon enough. The afternoons are humid and hot enough. We see the thunderheads building, it’s just a matter of time before one dumps over us. Can I broach a touchy subject?”

  “Fred, there’s nothing off limits between us. We’ve both been shot fighting side by side. Nothing matters after that.”

  “I’m happy to hear that. I want to discuss the rumor floating around the farm.”

  “If you mean the rumor about me running for office, let’s not waste any breath on it. You know I’m too old, I don’t have the personality, temperament or good health to be a politician. There are some very large risks to what these people are planning. I’m not sure I want to be part of it. I worry it will put all of us in a deep shit hole. I don’t want to repeat the mistakes of the 1860s.”

  “Jay, if it’s not you, then who should it be? A normal politician? They would mostly likely screw things up worse than they are now. We both know most politicians have no sense of reality. We need someone who can kick aside the normal bullshit and lead us to a new future. At the same time, many of us agree we should kiss the liberal North and West Coast goodbye. What have they done to improve our lives? All they do is pass bullshit laws and regulations taking our rights and freedoms away. None of them have ever stepped foot on a farm, yet that doesn’t stop them from telling us what we can and can’t do. I remember the year before you and Lacy arrived, they tried to tell us our kids couldn’t work the farm; the land they grew up on. They forced us to hire outside labor and pay them high wages, that’s one of the reasons we got so far in debt.”

  “Fred, I love you like a brother, please do me a favor and drop this. It’s crazy to think the South can break away again. It’s been tried before, the South failed. We might have more industry this time. However, we have no idea how the American military will respond. Remember, they’ve crushed c
ountries in less than a week, how could we hope to stand up to them? Let’s drop this subject and discuss the next milestone on the expansion plan.”

  “Sure. I have an MS Project chart I want to show you. It will clearly show you all the tasks and which are linked together.”

  “Where the hell did you get MS Project? I thought I made sure it wasn’t installed on any of the computers I bought. I hate Project almost as much as I hate PowerPoint.”

  “It wasn’t. Do you remember the group you threw out of here because you said they were about as worthless as tits on a bull?”

  “Of course, please don’t tell me they gave you a copy. If they did, I’m going to hunt them down and kill them. On the other hand, I ought to throw you out of the castle for bringing an MS Project matrix in here. You should be ashamed of yourself. What next? Are you going to start presenting PowerPoints? I think you’ve been spending too much time with the Army. You need to go back to farming and get your hands dirty. Don’t click on that box on your laptop which says, “Office” on it. It’s not good for my health, or yours when I toss you off of the observation deck. Let me make it easy, Project and PowerPoint lead to the dark side.”

  Everyone except Jay laughs thinking he’s making a joke.

  Fred nods saying,

  “Fine, I’ll summarize it for you.”

  “Good idea. By the way, what did you do when you needed rain? Do you know a rain dance?”

  @@@@@

  Captain Black arrives at the farm the next morning, he’s amazed at the new construction and cleared land since he was last here. He’s met at the gate by Lacy. He notices four armed men fifty yards behind her. He notes her body guards aren’t smiling or welcoming him back.

  “Captain, welcome back. We have rooms set aside for your staff, won’t you join us on the observation deck?”

  “I’d be happy to. How’s Jay?”

  “You’ll see for yourself soon enough. Come, much has changed since you left.”

  “I can see some of it. Frankly, I’m amazed, we’ve only been gone a month. It looks like we’ve been away for a year. You guys are amazing.”

  “Are your people hungry?”

  “I’m sure they will be happy to eat, what’s on the table?”

  “Salad, steak or burgers, grilled corn on the cob and fresh lemonade.”

  Captain Black smiles, he’d forgotten one of the main benefits of living on a farm, fresh, wholesome food. He turns around.

  “Sergeant, are our people hungry?”

  “Sir, always.”

  “Good, take them around to the back of the castle, I understand Lacy and Jay have laid out a feast for us.”

  “Sir, that sounds wonderful, I’m sure everyone will be very happy.”

  “If you need me, I’ll be on the observation deck with Jay and Lacy.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  The Sergeant leads his hungry platoon to the back of the castle where they are surprised to see the spread in front of them. They quickly drop their packs and weapons rushing to the table full of food. One private looks at the Sergeant.

  “Sarge, I like it here. I’ve never seen a spread like this. My God, look at those steaks and salad. Is the rumor we’re staying here true?”

  “Abbott, that’s above my pay grade. I do what the Captain tells me. He told me to take you to lunch and then show you to your rooms. If I were you, I’d enjoy myself while you can, anything can happen at any time.”

  “Got that right. You don’t have to tell me twice. I’m digging into lunch.”

  Captain Black follows Lacy to the back of the castle where he’s surprised to see an elevator.”

  “Lacy, we didn’t build that, where did it come from?”

  “I have no idea. We woke one morning to see the crates outside, Franco and his sons installed it and now we have an elevator. It makes it much easier for Jay to get up and down the tower. My gut says Tony had it stashed away someplace. It seems like he’s got tons of stuff hidden away.”

  “All the comforts of a five-star hotel.”

  “If you look down over your left shoulder, you can see your people having lunch on the patio. From here, they seem happy and are going to be well fed.”

  “I bet they are. They’ve had nothing but MREs for a week. They must think they’ve died and gone to heaven. I bet they eat you out of house and home.”

  “Good, I hope they do. I’m still looking for a way to pay you back for pulling our asses out of the fire the last time you were here. I owe you for rebuilding our homes. Plus, I owe you for sending Sergeant Johnson and his platoon back. As to the MREs, been there, tried them, not bad for an emergency. I wouldn’t want to live on them for a week. We’re happy to feed your people.”

  Laughing, the Captain replies,

  “Neither did they. If I were you, I wouldn’t leave any food around them. They’ll eat all of the steaks you grilled and be looking for more.”

  I’m sure they will. It will put them in a better mood when they see their rooms. We have a large group of workers staying at the castle. Hence, your people are going to have to double up in a room. Two of them will have to share a bathroom this time.”

  “Lacy, they’ll be sleeping on real beds, only two of them sharing a room and bath will seem like they died and went to heaven. I wouldn’t worry about them if I was you, they'll be happy. They may end up worshipping you. Grilled steaks, fresh salad, hot water and real beds. They’ll go through hell for you after this.”

  Lacy leads Captain Black to the Observation deck where Jay and Tony are sitting with a beer next to them. Jay looks at the Captain,

  “Captain, welcome back. How do you like our additions?”

  “Frankly, I thought I’d been gone a year. I also see you’ve got a lot of new land cleared.”

  “Enough additional bodies to clear and plant additional land.”

  Major Walker enters the deck from a side door. He looks at the Captain,

  “Captain. It’s good to meet you. Jay and Tony speak about you like you’re a miracle worker.”

  “I assure you, I’m not. Major, you’re with the TFM?”

  “Yes, I report to General Arthur.”

  “I left him a couple days ago outside Memphis. I’m sure he sends his regards.”

  “He does, and he told me to tell you he again thanks you for the air support. He said he couldn’t have cleared the infestation from the Mississippi without you. He told me you were on your way here, and I should welcome and assist you with anything you need.”

  “Major, thank you. I’m sure the General told you, I left most of my people under his command. Are you here on a specific mission.”

  Laughing, the Major nods he opens the side door to allow Staff Sergeant Johnson to join them.

  “I received a distress call from your Staff Sergeant. I brought my people here to pull his nuts out of the fire. We stayed to help clean up the local infestation and to help broker a deal with the surrounding towns. Why don’t I fill you in over lunch?”

  “Thank you, I’d appreciate that. Sergeant, how are your people?”

  “Sir, only six of us made it. The rest lost their lives in the battle for the farm.”

  “Jay, do you attract war? I thought you were a man of peace? All I hear about are people trying to kill you. You are one of the most popular men I know. Have you ever thought of running for office? If you did, I’d understand why so many people want to kill you versus being a farmer who hasn’t hurt anyone who hasn’t lifted a weapon against you.”

  “Captain, that BS about being a politician isn’t funny. Why don’t you pull up a chair? I think we have a lot to talk about.”

  ”Jay, that look on your face speaks louder than words. Are you considering running for office?”

  “Captain, just pull up a chair, let’s chat over lunch, okay? Here’s a beer.”

  Chapter 20

  Admiral Jefferson smiles when the radar operator on the Missouri reports to him that three Chinese fighters have ignored TF66s war
nings. He picks up the mic, he presses button number one. “Air Combat Officer, TF 66.”

  “TF 66, ACO, over.”

  “If the three intruders break the fifty-mile line, splash them.”

  “Roger, splash the intruders if they breach fifty miles. Aye, sir.”

  Admiral Jefferson smiles, sitting in his command chair he looks at the radar repeater screens in front of him. There is a computer generated red circle around his task force reflecting the fifty-mile line. He sees the three fighters referenced by red flashing triangles breach the red line. A moment later he sees three green triangles quickly moving towards the incoming flashing red icons. Without realizing it, he’s holding his breath as he watches the green and red icons merge. A moment later the radio over his seat says.