Sweetness in the Dark

by W. B. Martin

  The room went deathly quiet. Paul stood off to the side and observed the changed mood in the room. Quickly forgotten were the petty squabbles and political games that had tied the ASSC up in lassitude.

  “Is the population fighting back to prevent this invasion?” the Kentucky governor asked.

  “Fighting back? Hah! These fine citizens of San Francisco are welcoming them with open arms. Our radio operator read off the flyer being distributed around the city,” Ed said. “It says that China comes in peace to supply the basics of life to the people of California. The security people they see are there to protect them from looters and criminal gangs.”

  The security guard again opened the hall door. He held up a folded piece of paper for the general. Ed walked over and read the report. Walking back to the head of the table he said, “I’m afraid there’s more bad news. Radio operators in Los Angeles report Chinese container ships unloading at Long Beach. Again, the citizens are welcoming them and lining up for the food packages the Chinese have brought.”

  The meeting broke down with everyone speaking at once. Small discussion groups sprang up as the news was digested. The Montana governor sat down in frustration and let the members vent. There was no point in trying to get them focused until they had time to realize what this news meant.

  Suddenly, Ed had his shoe off and was banging it on the table. Everyone stopped and looked up at the general.

  “I’m afraid that isn’t the total report. There’s more,” Ed said.

  Paul stood and looked at Amanda What more could there be that would top a Chinese invasion of California? he thought.

  Ed continued. “Radio reports also show Chinese ships entering Seattle harbor and Vancouver, British Columbia harbor. They are hitting the entire West Coast.”

  This news hit like a second five-hundred-pound rock. California was bad, but if the Pacific Northwest was compromised, the entire West Coast of the United States was at risk.

  “How could they have so many ships working so soon after ‘the Pulse’?” the Alberta Provincial Prime Minister asked.

  “Just like we did. They anticipated and prepared for such a calamity. North Korea was developing the ability to launch a nuclear EMP and the Chinese would have been ready if that had been successful,” Ed said.

  “The Chinese obviously hardened their ships for an EMP attack. When the sun beat their neighbors in North Korea, they figured it was an opportune time to assert themselves on the world stage,” Paul answered. “With 1.3 billion people, many living in subsistence farming communities, an EMP attack wouldn’t cause a ninety percent casualty rate like it would in the United States. China could have a fifty percent death rate and still have half a billion people.”

  “And with the industrialized West devastated, it’s a great time for the Chinese civilization to make its move to replace the West,” Ed said. “We’ve focused on survival, not repulsing invaders.”

  “Imagine the consequences if the states represented here hadn’t taken the steps that we did take,” Paul added.

  Everyone knew that answer. The twenty member states had each suffered under the effects of ‘the Pulse’, but none of them had come close to the ninety percent death rate predicted by the Congressional EMP Commission. The rate varied from less than five-percent in rural states like Montana and Nebraska to the worse rate experienced, which had been in Missouri. Civil disorder in the greater St. Louis area led to the early estimates that Missouri had suffered a thirty percent death rate.

  Compared to the states that had made no preparation however, Missouri was paradise. People fleeing the northeast portion of the country reported total collapse of all societal norms and subsequent widespread violence. The Northeast and the West Coast were fast approaching the ninety percent rate that had been predicted.

  And that was why the survivors were happily welcoming the Chinese into their communities. It meant food, security and survival. No thought was given to any other issue. For these people, the future was strictly where the next meal would come from.

  The squabbling among the delegates suddenly stopped. Fierce determination ruled the remainder of the meeting, as all the delegates focused on the survival of their way of life. Math told the tale. If China proceeded to ship one to two hundred million people to America over the next few years and the United States had lost one hundred million citizens in the wake of P-Day, then its remaining population of two hundred million would be hard-pressed to hold the Chinese at the Continental Divide.

  “Where’s our military? Why aren’t they there to stop all this? The Navy should be sinking those ships,” the Alabama governor said.

  “If I might answer that,” General Gale said. “A lot of the U.S. military is stuck overseas. From my counterpart in Virginia, he reports that members of the U.S. Armed Forces are more concerned about protecting their own families right now. Ships at Newport News are sitting empty since their crews have fled back home. I imagine it’s the same anytime a ship comes into an American port.”

  “I can confirm that,” the man sitting next to the Texas governor said. “I’m reserve Air Force. Our planes are sitting on the runways with no crews to fly them. Everyone bugged out when ‘the Pulse’ hit to check on their family. The Army bases in Texas are the same way. The only security they have right now are soldiers that had their families on base or nearby.”

  “Where’s the President in all this?” someone asked.

  Through the three months of the crisis overwhelming the country, the President had been suspiciously absent. Everyone in the room knew of the lack of Federal leadership over the past years. That had been the reason some of the other states had banded together.

  The Governor of Virginia, being closest to Washington, D.C., answered, “When ‘the Pulse’ hit, Washington turned into anarchy. The Federal troops, as was pointed out, were more interested in their own families’ safety. Few made it into the city. The ones that did quickly left. I’m afraid the higher ups quickly left for parts unknown. Washington is now a smoldering graveyard.”

  “I can attest to that,” the West Virginia Governor added. “We sent our state’s militias into Virginia to help hold back the wave of gangs trying to get out of the hellhole they had created. The Potomac River isn’t wide enough in some places and it looked like lemmings rushing into the sea, but we held them, by God. Those damn people created this mess, they sure could live in it in the end.”

  “Yeah, I heard you captured about twenty people wanted for treason on those playing cards,” the North Carolina governor said.

  “Got them locked up as we speak. Whatever government runs the place after this can deal with them,” the Virginia governor said.

  “So, we can assume no response will be forthcoming from the President on the Chinese taking over part of our country then,” Montana’s governor said.

  “Well, if he does respond, it’ll be preceded by a bow first. That seems to be his style for showing diplomatic strength,” the Wyoming governor added. “He never seems to meet a foreign leader that doesn’t warrant a bow. The man is a disgrace. Why are we pussyfooting around the subject? We have been abandoned to our own wits here. If we are to survive as a country, it will start right here, right now. And that includes our Canadian friends, too.”

  The Alberta minister gave a small wave of acknowledgement. The Canadian government had also been absent after ‘the Pulse’. Reports out of eastern Canada exposed a similar casualty rate to the American Northeast.

  The Wyoming governor then added, “I say we vote right now to expand our group to those states and provinces that have been here supporting the same goals that we have.”

  All in the room agreed by consensus and the observing parties were voted into the full ASSC. New Mexico and Colorado were now the holdouts in a vast sweep of committed parties covering much of North America. The member states would eventually need everyone on board to save Western Civilization on the continent.

  Chapter 13

  South Island, New
Zealand (4 months after P-Day)

  Christmas Day was fast approaching and that meant the beginning of summer was just around the corner. It had been a wet spring on the South Island and the Cook Strait had lived up to its reputation for wind.

  The wind had kept the Leffingwell’s home batteries fully charged so that Noel had been able to use the shortwave radio consistently each evening. With summer approaching, work around the farm had picked up considerably. Noel had his chores to do each day, but he saved time in the evening for his conversations with the friends he had made since ‘the Pulse’.

  But Noel was concerned. One of his new friends had gone off the air. Matt Kendall in the United States had announced a month ago that he was joining the army. He would no longer be around, but he had gotten his cousin, Tyler, interested in taking over his duties.

  Noel dialed up Tyler. They had gotten used to the time difference, and both boys had adjusted their farm routine to meet at the allotted time. Both were sixteen, and each had a sister, so they had found common interests in life.

  But today, Noel had some disturbing news to pass on to his American friend. Noel had received with trepidation the news of Chinese troops settling into the American West Coast. Without British or American military might for protection, New Zealand was vulnerable to a similar invasion.

  The New Zealand government had long ago cut back on defense spending. Gone was any semblance of the New Zealand Royal Air Force that Noel’s great-grandfather had served with at Guadalcanal. Also, almost gone was the New Zealand Royal Navy. The joke in New Zealand was the ‘one ship Navy’ would protect the country. With the Army reduced to a battalion of soldiers, the Kiwi’s now sat wondering if their country would survive.

  The answer came soon after the Chinese invasion of California. Accounting for time to allow the ships to return to China for a new load, the Chinese soon showed their next move.

  Noel had continued contact with a radio operator outside Perth who had been a mate of his dad. The operator called in one night to announce that Chinese ships were unloading troops and supplies in Geraldton, four hours north of Perth.

  Australia had maintained viable armed forces over the years, but like the United States, now lacked the personnel to respond. Aussie troops had headed home after ‘the Pulse’ to protect their families. The few remaining skeleton units were quickly overwhelmed by the Chinese military.

  Unlike America, the locals did not welcome the Chinese with open arms. In spite of Australia’s misguided gun restrictions, armed resistance quickly developed. But it was insufficient to slow the Chinese advance down the Indian Ocean coast toward Perth.

  Noel was excited to pass on this information when he depressed the microphone button.

  “W7QF6. Aorere, New Zealand calling. Over,” Noel said.

  “This is W7QF6. Bruneau, Idaho. Hey Noel, great to hear your voice. Over,” Tyler answered back.

  “I’m afraid I have bad news for you. The Chinese have invaded Western Australia. They are almost in Perth. My friend there is escaping to the south. Over,” Noel said

  Noel passed the radio to his great-grandfather. On the other end, Noel heard Tyler handing the radio over to his own great-grandfather. The two old veterans of World War II jungle fighting were now in deep discussion.

  “Them sons-a-bitches. First America and now the Aussies. We should have finished them off back when we were loaded for bear,” Great-grandfather Kendall murmured.

  “You got that right, mate. Stab you in the back, the bloody bastards,” Great-grandfather Leffingwell concurred. “In our day, we wouldn’t have stood for it. Bloody hell. Now we got latte stands but no one to defend them. I guess all those smug city folk will be drinking tea now and acting like a stunned mullet. Won’t know what happened.”

  “Pissants, all of them. Where are the Marines when you need them? I’ll tell you where? They’re checking their diversity quotas. And that’s after they ‘don’t ask and don’t tell’ the jarheads to death,” Great-grandfather Kendall said.

  “Hold on, mate. Noel says there’s a call coming in from Auckland. Be right back. Over,” the Kiwi said. Noel switched the dial and answered the call. The room in Aorere grew very quiet as the news from the North Island wasn’t good. In fact, it was catastrophic.

  Noel switched the radio back to the U.S frequency and called Bruneau.

  “Hi Noel. Where’s your grandfather?” Great-grandfather Kendall asked.

  “He couldn’t talk. He asked that I relay this new information. They’ve arrived here, I’m afraid,” Noel said.

  “The Chinese are landing in Auckland?” Tyler grabbed the microphone as his great-grandfather welled up in tears.

  “Not Chinese. They said the Chinese ships were carrying Indonesians. Thousands of troops and supplies. They’ve already taken Whangeria and are heading south toward Auckland. Or what’s left of Auckland,” Noel said. He held back the tears as he spoke. “My friend said that the Indonesians have made it plain that they’ve come to stay and that we can just move or die.”

  The two boys signed off as Noel’s great-grandfather returned to the room. He held his hunting rifle in one arm and his shotgun in the other. He announced that he and Noel would be making the rounds to tell their neighbors of the news. The South Island would be ready when the invaders came.

  * * *

  The news from Down Under stunned the room in Bruneau. They had been absorbed in their own predicament. A quick calculation showed that the Chinese seemed to have about thirty ships available for moving people across the Pacific. That meant about 150,000 settlers per month could be transported to the West Coast, or almost two million a year. And that assumed no other ships become operational.

  Isaac and Matt had already answered the call for volunteers to enlist in the Idaho State Army. General Gale had received orders from the provisional government of the ASSC to form training camps and seek recruits. The response had been overwhelming.

  Setting a goal of two divisions from Idaho, recruits had been selected while the remainder were put on a waiting list for the next call-up. Veterans were given priority and General Gale had quickly established a first-rate boot camp at Mountain Home Air Force Base.

  The Federal military facilities had been under suspicion as to where their loyalties would lie. The states in the ASSC were flirting with rebellion in many people’s eyes and the base commanders had kept their distance.

  That had been the situation up until the U.S. President had finally appeared. The President had shown up at Plattsburgh Air Force Base in New York. Although many in the country could not receive the speech due to burnt out radios, enough shortwave operators had received it for it to be widely distributed.

  The President continued to blame his predecessor for the collapse of the country. He charged Congress and the three preceding presidents for failing to act on the EMP Commission report. But it was when the President thanked China for coming to the aid of hard pressed Americans that he lost all credibility. When that message was received on the military bases around the country, the local commanders within the ASSC states got on the phone to their state governors and reported in for duty.

  At military bases outside the ASSC states, planes and ships left their bases bound for bases within the ASSC states. The plea of the President during his speech for all military units in the ASSC states to leave and report to loyal Federal states was met with silence.

  The United States was irrefutably split now, but the balance of power had shifted also. With the high death rate in the former liberal states, the conservative states now held the majority of the nation’s citizens. Even the conservative states with large urban populations saw the majority of their casualties inside the urban areas, traditionally liberal bastions.

  ‘The Pulse’ had rendered the United States a very different political animal. While America had always polled over 50% of the people conservative to 30% claiming liberal persuasion, the influence of the big city media had kept the liberal Democrats in pow
er. Now that was all gone. At the news of the Chinese invasion, the delegates at the Cheyenne Conference had voted unanimously to move as quickly as possible to clear the intruders from North America.

  Now a month later, all the states in the ASSC were busy training recruits. They were progressing on getting society back to work with improvements to the infrastructure. There was much to be made up, but things were improving.

  The resumption of electricity allowed businesses to restart. America’s need for individual transportation was being met by entrepreneurs that were casting new intake manifolds for truck and car engines. Other manufacturers were producing carburetors. The combination of the two got numerous vehicles back on the road.

  The few remaining environmentalists complained about the increased pollution of these carburetor-equipped vehicles. They wanted to wait for the electronic companies to return to manufacturing electronic fuel injection. They were practically lynched on the spot by a crowd waiting for gasoline.

  Farms would come to life when spring planting season arrived. The states had made sure that manufactures of the new engine components had the majority of tractors ready to go. Simple crystal radios became available so that people could receive news and music from the rebuilt radio stations.

  The important parts of the economy were coming together. Transportation, communications, food, housing and water were all gaining ground. While certainly not robust yet, at least it allowed people to build confidence that the ASSC states would return to normal. But when news spread that New Zealand and Australia were suffering similar invasions, people took on a new resolve to defend their way of life.

  “General Gale, I have the reports you wanted. Things are to the point that we can conduct operations as planned,” the adjutant said.

  “Very good. Our first round of recruits will be ready in March. That leaves April to get them into their units and positioned for the start of the campaign,” Ed said. “My reports from the regular forces is that the Air Force has reached a thirty percent operational status and the Army is at fifty percent.”