“Do you have a location on the imposter?”
“No, sir. I do not know how it is possible, but I cannot locate him.”
“Slippery bastard. He can wait. Do you have contact with the Castle?”
“I do, sir.”
“Open a vid-con. I need to talk to them. And get Sterling in here; we need his troops and we need them now.”
“Yes, sir.”
***
Maxwell and Elizabeth Harris were in the subbasement of Beck Castle staring at four walls filled with the most complex machinery they had ever seen. It was like something out of a science fiction movie. They had no idea what any of it did and grew more and more doubtful they would ever be able to get Hal’s system back online.
One of the three security robots guarding the entrance to the subbasement left its sentry post and walked over to Max and Elizabeth. The lens on its chest projected a holographic image of Richard Dupree.
“Richard! Are you okay?” asked Elizabeth.
Richard’s hand drifted to his cheek where Howard’s blood remained. “No, I’m… I’m not bleeding.” Richard forced back tears.
“What’s wrong, Richard?” Elizabeth could read the look of agony on Richard’s face and began to whimper. “Where’s Howard?”
Richard’s couldn’t bring himself to say it. Instead, he simply shook his head as the tears pooled in his weary eyes.
“Wait, are you saying Howard’s dead? Tell me he’s not dead, Richard. Goddamit, Richard, tell me he’s not dead!” Max pleaded.
“It was Butler. He stabbed him in the chest.”
“Oh Jesus! Sweet Jesus, no!” Elizabeth buried her face in her husband’s chest.
“Listen to me, both of you. We have work to do. We can’t take time to mourn— not now. The PSA is depending on us.”
“Let’s get this shit over with,” Max said, as a gut-wrenching anger threatened to overpower him. “What do we have to do?”
“Hal will walk us through it. We have to get the EMP shield up and rally our troops. Sterling is ordering a general retreat of all UAE soldiers to the PSA. We have to plan a counterattack and send the Chinese packing.”
EPILOGUE
Two weeks had passed since the Battle of Beck Estates. Simon Sterling had ordered a general retreat of all UAE forces to the Pacific States of America. The former president of the Unified American Empire was mistaken as to what his role would be in the coming fight with the Chinese. Simon had envisioned himself as a member of President Marshall Beck’s cabinet, a valued advisor given his four decades of political experience. Once Simon had been debriefed and relinquished control of his military forces to General Dupree, he was promptly thrown in jail to await judgment for a lengthy list of crimes, the foremost being the assassination of Malcolm Powers and the atrocious acts of mass murder he had committed during his tyrannical reign.
Americans from all over the broken country flooded the PSA. Highly organized militias that protected large pockets of the country from the UAE proudly joined the ranks of the PSA. Under the protection of Hal, fleets of C-130s flew across the country to retrieve refugees from The Pulse Zone. It took some convincing, but Benjamin Black finally relented and abandoned Walt Disney World, bringing with him a multitude of supplies that would help in the coming war effort.
The Chinese were not prepared to lose the PSA. Jackson Butler and their assassin, Charles, had failed to gain control of Hal and the technological marvel that was Beck Castle. The invasion of the former United States would take much longer than they had planned. The combined military might of the former UAE and the PSA’s forces, along with Hal’s tech army,proved a formidable foe. The Chinese had already lost much of California and the entire state of Colorado to the PSA. The PSA was slowly expanding her borders, but the Chinese fought viciously to hold them back.
Howard Beck was laid to rest next to his wife, Meredith, in the restored garden above Beck Castle. The failed attempt by the Chinese to breach the Castle had done only a little damage to the small garden. Meredith’s headstone had to be replaced, as did the vase of Middlemist’s Red that Howard so lovingly placed there for her. Richard and Max wanted to pull out all the stops and have a state funeral for the fallen president, but after Marshall reminded them that his father would hate all the fuss, the two men changed their minds. Howard would not tolerate such pageantry. The only thing he would have wanted was to rest next to his beloved wife. The service was small but dignified. Marshall, Richard, Max, and Elizabeth were the only ones in attendance.
Marshall Beck was sworn in as the second president of the Pacific States of America in Seattle, the newly christened capital. A quarter-of-a-million people filled the streets surrounding the Capitol to hear their new president.
“My fellow Americans, it is with great sadness that I take the oath of office today. This nation was kept alive because of the tenacity of one man, the greatest man of our time, my father. Howard Beck saw democracy being ripped away from our once great nation and pledged to keep it alive with every fiber of his being. Democracy had been mortally wounded, and he pulled it back from the jaws of death. He gave his life for this country, and for that we owe him a debt that can never be repaid.
I take this oath not as the second President of the Pacific States of America. It is my dream that one day our nation will be whole again, from sea to shining sea. We will be one nation! I take this oath on the condition that my father was the forty-seventh President of the United States and I am the forty-eighth!
The road before us will be a long one. We are at war against a nation that wants to steal our land. We will fight the Chinese until every last one of their soldiers is gone from our shores! My fellow Americans, the fight does not stop there! We must persevere! The Great Empire of Iran may have lost interest in our nation for the time being, they may not wish to enter the battle just yet, but once we have taken our nation back from the Chinese, our land will be tempting to them again, I assure you! We must be ready for the day when one war ends and another begins. We must be strong, we must be steadfast, and we must believe that our cause is true. We must fight to our last breath to ensure that this nation does not perish!”
President Marshall Beck left the podium to thunderous applause and hugged his wife. He then shook hands with Vice President Maxwell Harris and his wife, Elizabeth. The two stood in front of the crowd and raised their joined hands in pride. After several minutes, the group left the stage, followed by General Richard Dupree and his two children. They climbed aboard the presidential limousine and raced off to the new White House, an exact replica of the old one built not far from the Capitol.
“Mr. President, a fine speech if I may say so, sir,” said Richard.
“Thank you, General. I just wish more than anything I didn’t have to give it in the first place.” Marshall stared out the window, memories of his father weighing heavy on his heart.
“I miss him, too,” said Richard.
Max leaned forward and put his hand on the president’s knee. “Marshall, your father will always be with us. Anytime we make a decision, all we have to do is see it through his eyes and we will never go wrong. The coming fight will be hard, harder than anything this country has faced, but all of us will be there beside you every step of the way.”
The newly elected president thought of his father and knew that with the help of the men and women in his company, he would one day step out from under the shadow of a great man and lead his country to victory.
Connect with the author
Email
Twitter
Facebook
Blog
Other works by Richard Stephenson
Collapse (New America-Book One)
Spider: A Short Story
Book Three in the New America Series coming summer 2014
Table of Contents
COPYRIGHT
FOREWARD
DEDICATION
PROLOGUE
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN
CHAPTER TWENTY
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
CHAPTER THIRTY
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
CHAPTER FORTY
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
EPILOGUE
Other works by Richard Stephenson
New America 02 - Resistance Page 24
