Restoration

by J. F. Krause

  On the other hand, George could see he had a great excuse to raise a ruckus. As each of our WEP presenters spoke, George had pointed questions to ask. He actually asked a few good ones in the midst of his pontification and exaggeration. For instance, a good question: Who would protect the WEP volunteers should there be any hostile activity in the areas where they were working? And then an antagonistic question: How did they intend to avoid burdening the more secure Coalition Communities with hoards of ignorant beggars and squatters from barely organized communities? I guess that’s a win and a loss for George.

  The WEP volunteers were very astute in their answers. They had heard all the recorded and televised meetings that were regular features of the Representative meetings, so they knew what to expect from George and never missed a beat. Like true veterans, they played George like a fiddle, complimenting him for thinking of their safety even as they revealed they had already anticipated this problem and had been assured by the military wing of the Coalition Navy that they would be standing by as escorts as part of their routine peace keeping program for any of the areas the Emeritus group anticipated visiting. Then, in answer to the more incendiary question about beggars and squatters, they indicated that they had no intention of removing anyone from their home community unless the medical needs of the patient dictated removal and that before they did evacuate anyone to a community with better medical facilities, they would secure the full permission of the receiving community. In any event, no one would be evacuated for any reason other than extreme medical need. Their mission didn’t include ferry services. The Navy did that on occasion, but George didn’t seem to know that.

  The WEP presenters never mentioned, of course, that migration between Coalition Communities is a guaranteed right of all citizens of any Coalition Community. George evidently hadn’t read the Coalition Bill of Rights and Responsibilities, or had forgotten what he read. Even after their presentation, I don’t think George actually understood what it was the retirees were proposing to do. To George, they were taking Coalition resources and giving them away. Worse, according to George, WEP was opening the door to a flood of unwelcome refugees. Most of our Coalition Communities would practically kill for a ‘flood’ of refugees. We all need people, any people.

  Fortunately, everyone one else understood what the goal of the World Emeritus Project was, and it was overwhelmingly approved. I was given the go ahead to begin making arrangements with the civilian wing of the navy to find suitable ocean going vessels for the project. Each WEP ship will have enough space to handle the living arrangements for up to 25 volunteers who will serve as their own crew for the duration of the ship’s mission. Some will be based off the east and west coasts of Central and South America while others will be based on both East and West African coasts. Most will have a specific route to cover and will go back and forth stopping at the same places for time periods ranging from a few days to a few weeks before moving on to the next locality. It’s a work in progress, and we think, based on available information now that it’s a real thing, we might have as many as 200 or more volunteers, all in their late sixties and up into their eighties.

  Theo’s group will be based, temporarily, out of Boston and will be plying a route with stops in Mauritania in the north along the African west coast moving south to Guinea. They’ll stop at Coalition Communities only, and all of them are small. They will be permanently stationed out of the Canary Islands eventually, but we wanted to get them started while we’re preparing their Canary Island base. Depending on safety, they may divide their staffs in order to assist some of the inland communities. The needs of these communities are different from what they might have been before The Sickness. With so few survivors, there is enough land and resources to easily meet the basic needs of everyone there, but, just as before The Sickness, there are still shortages of trained medical professionals, engineers, and skilled professionals generally. While the doctors and nurses help their local counterparts meet the everyday health needs of the residents, the engineers will help by training people in how to maintain and expand electricity and plumbing services in the communities. All of their target communities are very small and without some form of assistance such as that provided by WEP, there was a very real possibility of collapse or abandonment of these settlements, especially now that there is an African organization gaining viability. We’re okay with whatever the local communities choose as long as they choose for themselves.

  Most of the Coalition Communities in this part of Africa barely got organized before chaos descended on the surrounding cities and territories. For every organized community, whether Coalition or some other group, there were vast areas that seemingly lost any connection to the rest of the world. The non-organized population is several times that of the organized population whether Coalition or African Union. Every organized community, regardless of its affiliation with one of the larger networks or groups, is an island in a sea of confusion. Every day, someone walks into one of these cities and asks for assistance. Many of these survivors have, almost from the beginning, been without electricity, transportation, safe water and food, and all the amenities that organized community members take for granted even after all the dying.

  The newer refugees include men, women, and children who tell stories of being alone and often lost. Some of them were attacked by individuals and small groups that have regressed into lawlessness. Women, and even children, have been abused and forced to work as virtual slaves. The ones who can, escape and often avoid human contact after their experiences. Eventually, some stumble into an organized community and either stay there or move on to a community more to their liking. When they finally arrive at an organized community with electricity and running water, they frequently have diseases caused by parasites and malnutrition or they may have injuries sustained during their ordeals. The constant influx of needy refugees is putting a strain on the small, established communities. Up until now, we, in the more established Coalition Communities, have responded with some help, but it has often been poorly organized and unevenly applied. The women and men in the World Emeritus Project will be establishing a network to provide assistance in an organized fashion. They will start with the areas they have identified as the most in need of outside help, and then move into other areas as they establish more ships and crews. They’re already positioned to cover the Coalition Communities along the western coast of Africa from Mauritania south to Walvis Bay. This area includes large stretches of land that have no connection to the Coalition. The military side of the Coalition Navy will provide protection and support as it deems necessary. It works to everyone’s advantage to have a Navy that genuinely comes as a part of a peace force and aid mission.

  We still experience the odd raid on some of our Coalition Communities now and then, even here in North America, but the worst of it is in Africa. Since Coalition Communities are so much better organized than anyone else, the raids are mostly nuisances, but there have been fatalities. Mombasa, on the east coast of Africa has seen a number of attacks, but thanks to their own militia, and the fact that we maintain a small naval station and airfield there now, we don’t have much trouble dealing with them even though they can still inflict suffering. None of the marauding groups have more than a handful of members. One of the biggest reasons for the raids is to acquire women. I don’t know of any women who have chosen to live under such primitive conditions so they resort to kidnapping them, which means, of course, that we chase them down and do our best to rescue our female citizens. Consequently, many of these lawless survivors have become bands of wild men bereft of female companionship. Every now and then, one or two marauders turn themselves in and become productive members of their new societies.

  May 28

  Elections will be held for one third of the twenty-five Representatives this week. All the candidates have announced, and since George was only given a one-year term, he had to announce his candidacy as a candidate from North America, meaning from the Panama Canal n
orth. There is only one true opening from that election zone and that is currently filled by a man from Mexico City, and since he has already announced his intention to run again, and since he is well thought of, I don’t believe George will have a chance. There are several candidates running for each of the eight openings this election year, and most of the incumbents are not only running again, they are also well liked among their constituents. I suspect that after the elections we will be pretty much the same as we were before the elections. That is, except for George.

  June 4

  Not surprisingly, George lost his election. Of course, he claims it was rigged. He even started claiming that before the election. But since George came in a distant last place even among the English-speaking voters, no one believes it. George didn’t have any endorsements among the various Coalition Community Speakers, not even Panhandle.

  Unfortunately, George has decided to remain in SLO. We are hoist on our own petard, I guess. Coalition citizens can live in any Coalition Community, hence, George can live in SLO if he so chooses. He’s been assigned to the food distribution guild. He requested the Salvage Crew but they said ‘no’ based on his physical condition. After a medical review, our medical team concurred with the Salvage Guild. He was offered a physical trainer, but he declined. He then requested a news crew assignment, but they turned him down based on his impetuous and opinionated nature and his inability to write cohesively (he meanders from thought to thought). They suggested he take remedial writing courses, but he declined. Next, he requested a work assignment from the Electricity Guild, but when they informed him he would have to take classes and pass a test before he was given an internship, he refused their offer. I’m guessing he’s not a lifelong learner. There were other things he talked about with the career center, but for one reason or another none were deemed a good fit. He was finally given the choice of intercity food and produce deliveries or intra-city deliveries. He chose intra-city and will be hauling produce between some of our farms to some of our cafes, food courts, restaurants, and distribution center. He’s been complaining ever since about the fairness of his work assignment, but from what I’ve been told, that’s a pretty cushy job. He doesn’t even have to load and unload anything since that’s done at the sending and receiving sites.

  He promises to attend all the SLO Council meetings. Lucky Lydia.

  July 2/3

  Normally, if I write, I do it on Monday morning. But yesterday I was busy getting married. In the end Kevin and decided we didn’t want a circus for a wedding. We kept everything between us and a few friends and the pastor. We married in the church at 9 AM with just a very few friends present. We had to bring several people back from some pretty distant locations, but we did it and there were no cameras present, except our own of course.

  Todd and Cynthia and Jovantha came back from their Gap Year but only for a couple of days. Enrique had to fly in all the way from France where he’s just begun training with the successors to the French Foreign Legion. That’s not their official name anymore, but we all know who the Legionnaires really are. Anna and Zach had to get special leaves from Colorado Springs where they are in the Coalition Air Force Academy and were just getting settled in. Every time I pull a few strings to get something done that’s a little out of the norm, like getting Anna and Zach special leave, or getting Enrique home from France, I think of the old phrase ‘Bob’s your uncle’, only this Bob isn’t really anyone’s uncle. Anyway, it does sort of keep me in check. I certainly don’t want to resurrect it over something I did. On the other hand, it was my wedding for Pete’s sake! (I wonder what Pete did to start people saying that!)

  I invited the Representatives and their families, and all the members of the SLO Council. Kevin invited several of his friends from the hospital, but other than that, there were only the friends we have had since just after The Sickness. I think most people in SLO knew what was going on, but, pretty much everyone helped us just have the wedding our way.

  Of course, after the wedding, we had a great big reception in the old food court down at the fairgrounds. It wasn’t decorated or anything, but all the memories made it beautiful. Most of the town people took some time to come by and congratulate us. It was two hours before the television crews showed up, and we were all finished with the private things by then.

  News Anchor Shevonne Babcock was really annoyed, but she reserved her greatest anger for Kathy Kreske, the woman from Spearfish, South Dakota who single handedly restarted a lot of radio stations in the early days. Of course, Kathy not only outranks Shevonne in the Telecommunications Guild, she also isn’t afraid of anything or anyone, at least not that I’ve seen. Kathy was a big reason our wedding was a private event. Also, thanks to Kathy, we had some really good film to give to Shevonne and her news crew, so she can’t be too angry.

  And of course, the kids were over the moon. We decided to dress the male members of our household in tuxedoes, and very pretty morning dresses for Chanelle and Dinah. One thing I hadn’t expected was how grown up a twelve year-old girl can look in the right, or perhaps, the wrong dress. Our daughters were wearing similar dresses, but got totally different finished products out of them. Dinah was adorable, but Chanelle was stunning. I noticed Kevin had the same reaction I did. What I was surprised at the most was how Jerry stood and simply stared at her with his mouth slightly open. I would have laughed except several of the young males in the room seemed to have the same expressions.

  I wasn’t aware how much she had developed already, and even though the dress had looked quite modest when Kevin showed it to me on the hanger, it looked completely different when she put it on. Before the wedding, when she had briefly modeled it for our approval, it looked quite safe and becoming for a girl of twelve, just a few months shy of 13. Now, with her hair up and filled with flowers, and with just a bit of make-up, she was transformed. What on earth happened?

  We all changed into something more casual when we left for the food court after the service and a brief reception in the church’s fellowship hall. I don’t think I could have relaxed if we hadn’t, what with Chanelle looking so much like a young woman. It’s one of those things that once you’ve seen it, you can’t unsee it. Chanelle has become a young woman, and we can’t put the genie back in the bottle.

  The new school year started on the second of July, so, as part of our wedding plans, we stopped at the school on our way to the old food court. We wanted to share the moment with the teachers and kids who are all our friends, too. After all, Kevin and the children are there everyday, and I am even able to get there at least once a week to practice sign language with them. We had cake and hugged everyone we could, then we drove over to the food court where even more people were waiting. We didn’t have long before the news crew showed up and from then on it was the circus we were expecting.

  That evening, the full wedding itself was broadcast courtesy of Kathy Kreske and her husband. (I think we preempted something.) With Kevin’s and my permission, she had quietly managed to film the service without creating much of a disruption. Shevonne wasn’t too happy, but the public got to see us getting married from beginning to end and we got to preserve our privacy. It just wasn’t live. At least the broadcast televised version wasn’t live. All in all it was pretty modest. I went to weddings in my hometown that were bigger. In the end, we decided to do the church thing for the kids since just signing a form didn’t really convince them we were married, and they really wanted the two of us to be married.

  July 9

  We had our first meeting of the new Representatives. I was worried during the campaign that we were developing parties. That didn’t happen this time, but I suspect it will sooner or later. The thing that triggered my concern was how much they discussed a couple of aspects of our current life. There has been quite a public discussion over the last few months about Social or Humanitarian Libertarianism. Both of those terms have morphed into just Socialism and Existentialism. I don’t know when or how it changed from Humani
tarianism to Existentialism, but the fact that it did tells me there is some actual structure forming in the background.

  In a nutshell, Socialism, for us, means that the current way of doing things is the way we will continue to do things as a matter of policy, not just as an emergency measure. Existentialism views our current way of doing things as a temporary matter of survival and that we’ll get back to what we had before as soon as possible.

  I’m a bit of both, and after all is said and done, I think most of us ended up feeling the same way. We will almost certainly change how we govern ourselves over time, but right now, we are just doing the best we can as we muddle through. Not having actual money is worrisome to segments of our population. For good or ill, we don’t know what to do about it though.

  For the foreseeable future, it looks like anyone can simply move into one of the many scattered abandoned towns and live high off the hog as long as they don’t mind living without electricity and running water, unless they can do that for themselves. There are even scattered flocks of chickens that have managed to survive as well as horses, cows, sheep, goats, and other formerly domesticated animals. At this point, it’s still easy to re-domesticate the now feral farm animals. You just throw a fence around them and feed them. Easier said than done if you have no experience with animals.

  Something that works well for me on a personal level is my reluctance to speak in public. I’m not a politician by nature, and I’m surrounded by budding politicians who seem to like to talk a lot. I think my reluctance to speak is turning out to be a good trait. At least I don’t speak much in our Representatives’ meetings. When I’m out on a mission, I tend to talk a lot more, and since all these different meetings are televised, I find I end up having far more influence than I’m comfortable with. No one has thought of telling me what to say on one of my trips so I find I just speak from my gut and that seems to be enough. Who am I kidding; I’m probably just as much a politician as any of them except I don’t have to run for office.