by J. F. Krause
“I see. Then I move that we ‘censure’ George with that definition of censure.”
Again, there was a roomful of ‘seconds’.
We went through the steps of passing a motion to ‘censure’ George. It passed and I directed April to draft up a letter of censure to be sent to the various communities. I don’t think it phased George because I think George was sent here to be a nuisance. I had come to believe that Panhandle wanted to rock the boat and that they hoped to advertise their existence and their philosophy in order to drive a wedge between the member communities.
I also believe Panhandle will slowly wither away. Time will tell. Did I mention that Samantha Enderle is pregnant? I overheard her talking about it after dinner. One of the other representatives, the one from Poland, said she was pregnant, too.
And today, I’m having lunch with the SLO Leadership Team. Marco is back and I’ll get to hear all about the Gap Year group. In a couple of days, the fifth cohort will be arriving at Pendleton. Thank goodness Pendleton is a huge base. I’m beginning to think of it as one giant beach party. I hope the first group is willing to go home at the end of February. All we need is for a few thousand fit, bonded, young people to take over the whole place.
October 30
Lunch was fun. There are only 12 people on the SLO leadership team, but it includes my oldest friends. Because I was there, and so was Marco, several of the team brought their significant others. Kevin even managed to join us, but he came late and missed the food. He did get there for the conversation and that was the best part. The group was over twenty when we all sat down to our sack lunches. Food court food can be pretty basic. If you want to take something home to prepare, you can order the ingredients and they’ll be waiting for you after work, as long as it’s one of the four or five menu items for that day. Of course, you can also go by the farmers’ market, but I’m usually in too big a rush to do that. Then again, every few weeks we have more small restaurants opening. Those only take reservations though. For a group lunch like this one, it’s usually best to just bring in a sack lunch for everyone. Call ahead; pick it up. The nice thing is that it’s fresh and wholesome and very healthy and always includes a cookie, a big cookie.
At lunch, Marco started us out by regaling us with stories from the Gap Year. His first was about Enrique. “It seems that when Enrique first got off the bus from SLO, he started attracting quite a following. First of all, the entire July cohort was dedicated to the military. They all came dressed in their uniforms that look alike except for their home country flag insignia and community colors. They also all sort of present themselves with a little more confidence, or perhaps swagger, than the typical kids arriving at Pendleton. So Enrique comes walking down what we call the ‘belt line’ that is becoming a tradition at Pendleton. It’s the complete opposite of what a belt line used to be; this one is just to give them a warm welcome. It started when the staff lined the entryway for the very first Gappers. The veterans line the street and cheer them all on as they walk about two hundred yards to the intake station. Lots of kids cry, even the veterans cry. Of course, Enrique didn’t cry; he laughed. It was clear that Enrique was having the time of his life, and his laughter just added to the joy of the group. Unfortunately for Enrique, the first installment of the TV show about the Gap Year was filming all of this, and here comes tall, dark, handsome Enrique with the most heartwarming smile around. He was carrying a bag with his guitar hung over his shoulder. Enrique became the poster child, literally, for the TV show. Next to Bobby, he’s now the most recognized name and face in the world! Officially, he hates it, but unofficially, I think he kind of likes it, too. The fact that he was a bodyguard to Executive Caldwell and fought in the Battle of Indianapolis is just icing on the cake.”
“Now, Anna and Zach keep a pretty low profile, but they’ve created their own little stir anyway. They’ve both been accepted to the air force academy when they leave their gap year. The military has discovered Pendleton is a great shopping mall for talent and they’ve set up some pretty impressive recruiting programs. So Anna and Zach decided they both want to fly everything they can get their hands on and the best way to do that is to be part of the first reconstituted class of the Coalition Air Force Academy. The academy is accepting only fifty students the first year, but I understand that will increase each year until they have a full complement. They’re starting off in Colorado Spring next July. Zach has already taught Anna how to fly his family plane which he keeps at the local airport down there. They’re a cute couple. And Lydia says I need to tell you, Bobby, Anna isn’t pregnant.
In fact, we’ve only had one pregnancy so far. The young woman decided to stay and since she’s in the first cohort, I think she’ll make it. We may have to adjust some of the workout routine for her, but she doesn’t complain. The boy was an American, and he was so apologetic. He offered to marry her, and even move to Brazil with her, but she didn’t want to take him up on it. She wants the baby and says she’ll get all the help she’ll need from the people in Sao Paulo. They were using protection, too, by the way. It just goes to show that nothing’s 100%.
By the way, Bobby, why did I have to mention that Anna wasn’t pregnant? Did I miss something?”
Before I could answer, Irma jumped in. “I think Bobby may be concerned that before long we’re going to be drowning in babies?”
“Wait a minute. That’s not really fair. There are more pregnant women now than I’ve ever seen in my whole life. Dr. Mary said so, too. And two, at least two, of the Representatives are pregnant. I found that out yesterday!”
“Ok, before we go on with this, some of you men need to know that women don’t just stop working after they become pregnant. Most women will continue to work through most of their pregnancy and then, as soon as they feel up to it, they’ll be back at their jobs, or at the very least, they’ll be volunteering at the crèches. Right after The Sickness, we had so many volunteers for the crèche here in SLO, we had to turn them away. We already have more than enough volunteers to handle all the babies we can conceive of. Pun intended. And no I’m not pregnant. I’m waiting until the second wave hits.“ As Lydia said that, Marco actually blushed. Even through his tan it was evident to everyone, which, of course, made it even worse.
“So rest easy, gentlemen. Women have been taking care of business for thousands of years, and we aren’t stopping now. And with all due respect, Bobby, this is a local issue. Here at SLO, we have it handled. But thank you for your concern. Oh, and by the way, Bobby, three of the Representatives are pregnant.”
I look around the room and couldn’t help seeing the suppressed smiles. So I laughed, and then we all laughed together. I felt like saying the line from ‘Gone with the Wind’: “I don’t know nothin’ ‘bout birthin’ babies!” I could have used my best Georgia accent, too!
What I said instead was “Nelda’s pregnant!”
That started the laughter all over again.
“You didn’t get her fixed? Is Cedric the sire? You didn’t get him fixed either, did you?” Carl has mentioned more than once that I needed to get Nelda spayed and Cedric neutered. We don’t have as big a problem as we had a few months ago, but we still have lots of house pets being fostered here in SLO, and, for that matter, in most communities, everywhere, at least that I know of. Almost all of them have now been spayed or neutered, including the other two dogs Kevin and I foster. I got Nelda from the guys across the cul-de-sac from my apartment on the day after The Sickness, and she’s been with me ever since. She’s a miniature schnauzer and, even though I knew better, I just never got around to getting her fixed. Then, when the animal control people found a litter of miniature schnauzer puppies who were around three months old at the time, I impulsively took one of the little males home with me, Cedric. Now, Nelda was a little over a year and a half old, and pregnant by Cedric who was just over a year old. And of course, I never got around to having Cedric neutered either.
“I know. I knew better, but what with everythi
ng going on, I put it off, and then I forgot. They’re just puppies still.”
“Puppies having puppies!” And we laughed again.
November 6
Malta endured another pirate raid a few days ago. We keep a coast guard cutter in port there, and our sailors and marines made short work of the raiders, but it’s a reminder of just how dangerous the world is now. Malta has always been sort of a watery crossroads in the Mediterranean between Africa to the south and Sicily and Europe to the north and west. We have identified several hot spots so far necessitating clusters of our small navy in the Mediterranean, around the coastline of Africa, the Persian Gulf, and the area from the South China Sea down to Darwin in Australia. By far the worst area is the Mediterranean. In the Mediterranean, we’ve identified two zones that are particularly problematic. One is the Lebanese and Syrian coasts and the other is the Libyan coast. Both these areas are under nominal Sunni Muslim Caliphate control, but that isn’t saying much. In reality, no one has enough people to actually occupy any areas that don’t want to be occupied. Nevertheless, they cause enough problems that it’s hard to create and maintain any organized survivor communities. The Tunis area communities are constantly on alert and we have permanently stationed a ship there along with a small naval and air base. Additionally, we have an increasingly skilled civilian militia that keeps order for several miles around their settlements. Because of all the efforts put into security, the communities there, particularly Tunis, are growing as individuals and tiny groups of people make their way across North Africa to the security and social life they provide.
The SMC has taken exception to Tunis being part of the Coalition. The raids on Malta are a sort of a ‘tit for tat’ thing since Tunis is no longer a very vulnerable target. It was the initial raid on Malta that helped lead to the creation of the Coalition in the first place. A couple of speed boats with a dozen or so raiders landed on the peninsula where the Valletta community was located. It was just forming at the time and was attacked almost completely by surprised. The residents fled as soon as the boats were spotted and several of them were able to stage a defense that led the raiders to give up after losing three of their members to Maltese resistance. Unfortunately, the pirates were able to abduct a 14 year-old girl before leaving.
One of the pirates survived long enough to give enough information that the Maltese knew where their attackers had come from. The Italians were able to arm a group of volunteers to come to their assistance, and we haven’t had to deal with an actual landing by the pirates since. At least, they haven’t attempted another landing until now. I don’t think they knew that Malta was no longer an easy target.
Until now, they limited themselves to ‘streaking’. They would send in a speedboat to streak close to the shore firing off a few shots and then streak back out. It was actually very helpful to the Maltese who were able to test their radar and self-defense warning systems on the actual threat they were facing.
About a week after her kidnapping, the girl walked into one of the Tunis communities accompanied by a 15 year-old boy originally from Tripoli, Libya. He had been one of her guards on her very first night in captivity. He boldly unlocked the room where she was being held and somehow explained to her that he was taking her back to her people. Knowing the empty streets of Tripoli far better than the newly arrived SMC toughs, young Yousef easily eluded re-capture and was able to get even younger Sofia to Tunis. As I mentioned earlier, it’s far easier to claim ownership of an area than to occupy it.
Tunis has become a haven of tolerance: Muslim, Christian, secular alike. There are different types of Muslims living side by side with a variety of Christians who all, in turn, live harmoniously with non-religious and non-observant residents. It looks like the people who want to segregate themselves into their own like-minded cliques have found each other somewhere other than the Tunisian communities.
The photos I have seen of Yousef and Sofia show a handsome young couple standing side by side against a background of a beautiful blue sea. It would be easy to imagine the young couple living together happily ever after. And, hopefully, they may have wonderfully happy lives, but they aren’t interested in living their happy lives with each other. So much for the Romeo and Juliet romantics in our midst. They were never even remotely a romantic couple. Yousef took very seriously his role as a rescuer and protected her in every way until he was able to hand her over to caregivers in Tunis who quickly whisked her away back to Malta. Yousef is continuing his schooling and is looking forward to what every other 15 and 16 year-old looks forward to: his Gap Year. Yousef is our second former Caliphate fighter. The Broome community has one, too.
Sofia’s safe return has turned what could have been a tragedy into a fortuitous event. Had the pirates not attacked Malta, the European area communities might not have seen the need for mutual defense, and we might never have formed the Coalition, at least not the way we have. Hit and run attacks are a constant threat in some areas. Speedboats are ubiquitous in today’s world, as are assault weapons. It takes a well-trained and coordinated response and defense team to protect some of our outpost communities. I don’t see our need for defense lessoning anytime soon. I suspect the only reason we don’t have more attacks like this one is that the only thing pirates want is people, usually young women. Aside from too few people, the whole planet is a treasure trove with way more than enough for everyone. The world is still a dangerous place, and it’s easy to forget that the problems are still out there when our own little communities seem so peaceful and safe. Nevertheless, we are continually reminded of the old axiom: Vigilance is the price of Freedom.
November 20
Several interesting developments that only vaguely relate to each other have taken place in the last few weeks. Not long ago, a couple of brothers rode into the Minneapolis-St. Paul area on their bikes. They are 12 years old and came from Apple Valley, a town about 25 miles or so south of the Minneapolis-St. Paul community. Matt and Mark are twins, not identical, but obviously brothers. They were among several survivors who were starting to get organized right after The Sickness. After a few days, the group went dark for a while. Then they came back on the air and asked for help in finding some of their original members that had mysteriously vanished. A couple of days earlier, several of their members had been out on search missions, but when they came back to their headquarters, they discovered it was empty. Their group had reached a total of 12 with six of them out on search missions leaving three women behind to look after three children, including the twins, and to receive additional survivors.
When the six searchers returned with four additional survivors, they thought, at first, that the headquarters group might have moved to another location, and they would soon report back. As the hours wore on they decided to go looking for them and sent out a couple of armed search teams. They found no sign of them. After looking all the next day they called the M-St. P community for help. Together, they looked for the next several days, but after a couple of weeks, they eventually they came to the conclusion that they didn’t have enough people to find out what had happened to them. Over and over that has been our problem, not enough people to handle any sort of emergency.
The major theory was that they had been kidnapped and taken against their wills to some hidden location, and we might never know for sure what had transpired. Again, we have a lot of mysteries that may never be solved.
The sad thing is that this isn’t the only time this sort of thing has happened. In the beginning several small groups vanished just like this one had. We lost contact with at least four other groups in the first week or so after The Sickness. We suspect now, that the bad guys have created their own little versions of Indianapolis. At any rate, we also lost contact with a group of four in Grass Valley, California, another group of 4 in upstate Maine, and a group of 5 in Missouri. Another group in Mississippi was clearly attacked leaving two adult males dead and three missing females ranging from “older kid” to ‘grownup”. We got that fro
m the one lone little girl who was found hiding in a storage shed where she’d been playing house. Hearing shouting and shots, she hid herself and escaped. She was too young to provide any information about what took place, and she’d never poked her head out of the shed.
In the Apple Valley, Minnesota case, the second group of survivors continued to look for survivors over the next few days but sent all newly discovered women and children to the Minneapolis-St. Paul community under guard as quickly as they were located. At this point, there is no community in Apple Valley.
But now we know the story of these particular missing survivors. As soon as the three search teams took off the morning everything happened, the boys and a little 8 year old girl named Becca were outside petting and feeding several of the pets the group was rescuing. They saw two men drive up in a van and get out. They waved at the children who waved back. The first adult who saw the men was a teenaged girl, Marissa, who was posted outside to keep an eye on the kids and look out for arriving survivors. The girl and the men went inside together, and moments later the girl called for the kids to come inside, too. The men promptly grabbed the two boys and bound their hands behind their backs with duct tape. In short order, the three women and the three children were under control and pushed into the van that then drove out of town.
The group was taken to a farm several miles west of Apple Valley where they were confined for the next several months. Once, they saw a helicopter fly just a short distance from them, but their captors had heard it first and had all of them sit quietly in the large farmhouse. The farm had not originally belonged to the men and had been selected by them in preparation for the abduction of the group. Had there been adult men in the survivor headquarters group, it’s likely they would have been murdered the same way things had happened in Mississippi.
