The Tsunami

by Marshall Miller

  “Commissioner Miller told me that some of the best cops he had worked with had a previous life that was not exactly sterling. To put it bluntly, he said sometimes it takes a thief to catch one.”

  “I wasn’t a thief,” David jumped in. “I killed someone. Unless he wants me to be an assassin, I don’t know what he could use me for.”

  “Son...” the Ranger began.

  “No, Dad. This is mine. I appreciate everything you did for me to get me up here. But it’s my life, pure and simple.”

  Andrew Jackson saw his own stubbornness and hardness reflected right back at him. David had always been a bit of a hard case even before winding up in prison. He definitely had not been softened by his experience of some two years before a Tschaaa strike had freed him. The Ranger had been surprised he had even come back home, instead of taking off with some of his cell mates when the walls were knocked down. He could have easily become a Kraken.

  “I think that iron you have in your gut and backbone may have something to do with it,” George answered. “Like I said, Paul Miller has already checked you out. But he is not the type to beg someone to take a job. Just the opposite. He wants people with fire in their bellies who want to do something. Your choice.”

  The three men stood silently for a moment. Then David spoke. “No charity. Dad, y’all didn’t have anything to do with this, did you?”

  “Dammit, son, don’t be so hard.”

  “Why not? You are!”

  “And it nearly killed me.” Andrew Jackson, possibly one of the last Texas Rangers took a second to compose himself. “I never told your Mother how close I was to going kamikaze on the Squids around Houston. I’m not used to defeat or failure. So, yeah, I quickly learned a little humility. That’s why I’m here. To give my family and myself a second chance at life, and at fucking up some Squids. In that order.”

  George had never known a Texas Ranger before. Now he could see where the expression “One Ranger, One Riot” came from. No one spoke. The David broke the silence.

  “Okay, I’ll talk with the Commissioner, and see what he has to offer. But I’m nobody’s bitch. So if he has some hidden agenda, or he’s doing this to make himself feel better…”

  George broke in. “David, there are those people in the world that are straight-up, with no hidden agenda. Paul Miller is one of them. Will he get something out of this bargain? He thinks so. I’ll let him tell you what it is. But no, this is not charity. Like a lot of people who suddenly came out of the woodwork after the Pit and the Five, it’s a second chance to matter. Madam President has given many a person a full pardon. The past, pre-Squid, is the past, period. You can be part of history, or you can watch it go by. Your choice.”

  David stared George directly in the eye, holding the gaze for few moments. Then he extended his hand. “Thank you, Sir. I can tell you’re what they used to call in the old west a straight shooter. I always liked that history. Guess today we have another frontier like the west was then.”

  “You won’t regret it, Son,” his father said. “The Commissioner has a bit of the old breed in him, like we used to call them in the Rangers. What you see is what you get.”

  “Okay, I guess it’s in the Commissioner’s ball park then. Let’s find out if he likes what he sees.”

  Just then, the private secure line of the President rang. George started to intercept it but Madam President beat him to it with an “I’ll get it.” She answered it with her typical cheery, “Good Morning”, then stopped to listen. Suddenly, a wide grin broke across her face.

  “Thank you, General. That news just made my day. You have a Merry Christmas as well, Sir.” She put down the phone, began to pump her fist and cry, “Yes!” Then she danced around the house—twisting, twirling, and laughing.

  “Mother? Are you having a fit? What’s going on?” Her daughter asked as she came in from the kitchen.

  “What was the call about, Ma’am?” George asked.

  She suddenly danced over, and grabbed George. “Excuse me, Meagan, while I borrow your husband for a dance partner.” George’s wife began to laugh as she saw the woman everyone else knew as the President, cuttin’ the proverbial rug with her husband.

  “Alekssandra Smirnov just gave birth. Two outstandingly healthy baby boys, as Abigail Young predicted. Mother and sons are doing great.” Then she laughed again. “Though our prodigal Major just messed up two local news reporters who snuck in to get some unauthorized photos. That boy. Always in the mix with somebody.” She stopped dancing.

  “Beverly, there are a couple of bottles of Cold Duck in the pantry. This calls for a toast.”

  “George, you’ll have to give Alesha Taylor a call. She’ll have you smooth over things with the local news media. They just got started last month in the larger cities, trying to regain some of what we have lost. Can’t have them thinking we’re going to beat up on them just because they piss us off.”

  “Yes. Madam President. I’ll get right on it...”

  “You’ll do no such thing. You will first drink a toast to the birth of two sons of our future.”

  Quickly, glasses were produced, the bottles opened, the Cold Duck poured. Everyone had one, the President leaving it up to the parents about the minors drinking. But even her Granddaughter would get a sip to mark the occasion.

  Possibly the most powerful woman on Earth raised her glass.

  “Ladies and gentlemen. A toast to our newborns, to two young boys, who will grow into men. They will be the type of men our world will need in the future if we are to survive. How fitting that their births are on the same day we celebrate another’s birth that gave us hope, and shaped our futures. I think the result of that birth still watches over us, and is smiling at the two baby boys, Gage and Tristen. To the newborns and their parents. Good fortune and a Merry Christmas.”

  The toasts rang out. For a moment, hope was suspended in time. Hope and joy would not disappear in the coming year, but both would sorely tested.

  Chapter 24

  MALMSTROM ARMED FORCES BASE

  GREAT FALLS, MONTANA

  Aleks had finally gotten their sons to both drift off to sleep. Torbin was snoring in the easy chair next to her. She smiled. It was getting late in the evening. This first day of life outside the womb had been primarily one of eating, sleeping, and repetition of both. But the majority of the time had been nursing. Somehow, Aleks’ milk supply had held up. The special protein shakes that Bettie Bardun had developed were a godsend.

  They knew that the Russian’s body had been modified to work at a higher metabolic rate during pregnancy, as had her sons’ development. Without the support of a strong scientific community, the higher need for sustenance in the womb and by the newborn might lead to a high degree of infant mortality through miscarriage, as well as late illness due to immune systems weakened by insufficient food. The Tschaaa had really been pushing the envelope, walking a tightrope between life and death of the young. But since it was human young, what was the cost to them? A lesser number of veal steaks? Every time Aleks thought of this, she became very angry. She could not of losing her two sons. They had all been put in increased danger by the Tschaaa meddling with human genetics. Future mothers may not have her toughness, or the level of care that the military hospital could provide. Even one unnecessary death due to the Squids’ selfishness was one death too many.

  Her twin sons were sleeping in twin bassinets near their bed. She would stay awake until Torbin woke up. No way would she allow the two newborns to go unattended during this first twenty-four hours.

  She sensed someone was watching and looked up. There was a young enlisted woman, medium height with a runner’s slender body, looking in the room. She was an E-4 by the stripes on her sleeve and wore the field uniform of an EMT. She was not one of the normal support staff assigned to the floor Aleks was on. However, she had been checking up on Aleks between the normal rounds of the floor nurses.

  “Pssst. Young lady. Please come here.” Aleks tried to say a
s quietly as possible so as not to wake her sons or Torbin. The young woman paused, as if unsure whether she should come in or just leave. Then, decision made, she came in.

  “Ma’am? Is everything okay? Do I need to get the assigned nurse…” She spoke in very quiet tones, as had Aleks.

  “No, young lady. Everything is just fine. The men in my life all have full stomachs and are sleeping.”

  She noticed the EMT had a necklace with what appeared to be some kind of silver cross on it that she was handling like someone would a traditional worry stone, rubbing it between her thumb and forefinger.

  “That looks pretty. May I?” Aleks gestured with her hand.

  The E-4 suddenly realized what she had been doing, and turned pink.

  “Sorry Ma’am. I should keep this out of sight due to uniform regulations.”

  Aleks smiled. “I won’t say anything if you don’t.” With that, the young enlisted soldier stepped close so that Aleks could hold the necklace piece.

  Aleks looked at the small piece of jewelry and quickly saw it was not a cross.

  “Is this supposed to be a small sword, a blade of some type?”

  “Yes, Ma’am.” Then her demeanor became very guarded.

  Aleks looked into the eyes of the young woman.

  “Corporal, is it? I noticed you checking in on me and mine, and I know you are not assigned to this floor. May I ask why? But first, you know my name, what is yours?” She looked closely at the uniform name tag in the reduced light.

  “Anderson.”

  “Your first name?”

  “Ashley, ma’am.”

  “So why the interest? Does it have something to do with your necklace?”

  With great hesitation, the young woman answered. “I… just wanted to make sure you were okay. I’m sorry if I seem weird, if I offended you….”

  Aleks grunted. “Why would I be upset that someone cares about me and my children? Now please, I’m not used to what you Americans would call a fan club.”

  Ashley then explained, reluctantly, “The piece of jewelry is a blade. It stands for cold steel.”

  Then, Aleks knew. Even when on maternity leave, being in intelligence, Aleks kept her ear to the ground. She had heard that some of the younger women seemed to be closely following Abigail’s “adventures” and using her as a role model. This role model business went so far as to have led to some kind of small, private group. Of course, word of Abigail’s little demonstration with Stalin had spread through the rumor mill like wildfire. Abigail had even remarked that every young woman she saw, whether military or not, seemed to be treating her with the utmost deference.

  “This has to do with Captain Young, yes?”

  “And you, Major. Cold steel is a symbol, a symbol of what we women must do to insure our children survive in a better world. It means we must be like blades of steel—strong, but flexible. Sharp and deadly, but controlled.

  “We are the Sisters of Steel. It has been a secret, up until now. We didn’t want people to think we are some weird fringe secret society, not to be trusted.”

  “Instead, like the Three Sisters, the unofficial group my Russian compatriots and I formed,” Aleks suggested.

  “Yes Ma’am.”

  Aleks sat in her bed for a few moments, processing this information. She beckoned Corporal Anderson to come closer. “Would you like to hold one of my sons… sister?”

  Ashley nodded her head with a smile. “Yes, Ma’am. It would be an honor.”

  She and Ashley carefully picked up Gage and Tristen, trying not to wake them. Their stomachs being very full with mother’s milk, they slept the sleep of the innocent. Torbin kept sawing logs in the recliner.

  “They are so handsome, healthy, Major. I hope I can have such a family someday.”

  “If you want to, you will. By the way, do you mind if mention this… special group to Captain Young? I’ll make sure she does not think it is weird.”

  “Yes, Ma’am. She would hear eventually anyways. I don’t want it to be a source of trouble or embarrassment.”

  “Of course not. Here, help me put my sons back to bed.”

  Soon, Gage and Tristan were once again dreaming the dreams of babes—warmth, mother, milk, and love.

  “I must go back to the ER, Major, in case we get a call out. Thank you again for letting me hold your sons.”

  “Thank you for being a guardian angel, Corporal. My sons appreciate it.”

  Ashley reached into her top pocket, and pulled out a small folder envelope. She opened it, and took two silver items out.

  “I just remembered. I picked up another order of these that Hannah just finished.”

  “Hannah Weitz?”

  “Yes, Ma’am. She makes these symbols for us. Here. One for Captain Young. One for you. Befitting the persons who are the basis for these symbols of hope.”

  Aleks teared up a bit, and motioned Ashley closer once again. She hugged the Corporal, kissed her on both cheeks. “You do us honor. Remember that.”

  “Yes Ma’am. You show us what honor is all about.” With that, Corporal Anderson stepped back, gave a quick salute, and was gone.

  Sisters of Steel. How befitting the times, Aleks thought. She looked at her sleeping sons. You two are going to have such a large number of unofficial aunts watching over you.”

  Just then, Torbin began to wake up.

  “What? Sorry, babe. I didn’t mean to sleep so long. Here, I’ll watch the kids so you can get some rest. Anything going on?”

  Aleks smiled. “Nothing to worry about. We women have it under control. I love you, husband.”

  “I love you too, babe. Now, get some rest, please.”

  CHAPTER 25

  KEY WEST, FLORIDA

  A little over a week after the birth of Gage and Tristen, it was Adam Lloyd’s turn to be in a hospital for both of his wives to give birth. Doctor Fredericks was to oversee the births, looking for any abnormalities caused by the secret modifications and alterations by the Tschaaa that she had initially discovered. “I am surprised I have not been disappeared after spilling the beans,” she confessed to Adam as the two women went into labor.

  “I think that Lord Neptune realizes that the same abilities you possess that allowed you to discover this hidden process of change to the female genome and functions are the same abilities that will allow you to make sure they work the way the Squids wish them to work.”

  She shrugged. “No matter. I have found your wives pelvic areas have the ability to handle the births of such large babies with such ease. Although not entirely outside the size norm for human babies, they are definitely big. Especially considering they are twins.”

  She shook her head. “I will probably spend the rest of my life trying to understand the Squids’ ability to modify the basic functions of life of a whole slew of species. They are definitely ahead of us on the intricacies of reproduction and controlled growth.”

  “Do the basic sequences of DNA here on Earth make it easier to make such modifications?” Adam asked.

  “It could. That is something I have begun to look into, along with all of my other duties.”

  “Doctor, if you need help, just yell. I owe you. Humankind owes you. The first successful births of babies affected with Tschaaa modifications has just happened in the Unoccupied States. This is thanks in part to the information you developed, and passed on to their authorities.”

  Doctor Fredericks smiled. “You are glad you let a certain Captain, now Major, go are you not? Despite the complaints that you did?”

  “I’d do it all again. He’s a soldier and a man of honor. That’s a disappearing breed. And now, he’s a father as well.”

  “Ach, my assistant says the babies are crowning. Already. Excuse me.” The good doctor put on her surgical mask and reentered the birthing room.

  It was all over in fifteen minutes. As in the case of Aleksandra Smirnov’s twins, Kat and Mary each gave birth to healthy twins in short order. Kat gave birth to twin boys, Mary to twin
girls.

  Everything was sped up once again, with both women having sufficient pelvic characteristics as to not require a cesarean. The children were all born with full heads of hair. The boys, William and Adam, were blondes; the girls, Kathleen and Marian, were brunettes. All four easily came into the world, appearing very alert for newborns.

  “One, two, three…” Doctor Fredericks counted each and every digit; looked, examined and, with a gentle touch, prodded the four children. She broke into a wide grin. “Wunderbar. I wish all births were so successful. I will keep the afterbirths for tests and examination. Now, it looks as if all four are already looking for breakfast.”

  Kat’s and Mary’s breasts had swelled noticeably with milk the last few weeks, as if their bodies were working overtime in preparation for the births. They had already pumped and stored a substantial amount of milk in order to reduce the uncomfortable swelling and weight. Now, each breast had a child happily attached.

  Adam, surgical mask in place, came into the delivery room. “My God. Almost a basketball team in just fifteen minutes. They are beautiful, like their mothers.”

  Kat began to cry.

  “Hey, why the tears?” Adam asked.

  “I’m so fucking happy. A washed-up adult movie star, giving birth to two fantastic sons. No way could I have guessed this would happen.”

  “Hey, sister, I do not want to hear you beat yourself up.” Mary ordered her from the next bed. “We’re in this together. Don’t you forget it.”

  Adam had a large lump in his throat. He never could have guessed he would be a father of four children. Especially all at once. “I love you both so much,” he finally murmured. He hugged and kissed each wife in turn.

  The doctor cleared her throat. “Now my good Director, go get yourself a drink while we let these ladies rest and feed your babies. We will keep them overnight to ensure there are no surprises. The Chief has already posted himself at the door to guarantee they are not bothered.”