Russia’s population finally seemed to settle out at around one hundred and one thousand. Most had settled around Moscow but a few remained in outlying areas. Food production was one of the major focus points of Matskevich’s cabinet. While production was getting better they were still dependent on canned food that was produced before The Event. At some point that would give out.
They had exported some food to Spain who seemed to be in the most dire straits. Germany had sent some as well but Spain was still in need of further help.
America was preparing to send a ship load to Valencia. The major problem was that the population of Spain was fairly equally spread out between Madrid, Valencia and Barcelona. This would create a serious problem if the food was not distributed between the three major cities.
America had agreed to send the food but it had made it clear that once it was unloaded at the Valencia port, they would have no further part in the distribution.
France, Germany, and Austria seemed to be working fairly closely with each other. Germany for the most part had disbanded the military leaving only a few soldiers for internal matters. France had followed suit. This gave them the ability to concentrate on civilian needs.
Italy, due to location more than anything, was pretty much on their own. Most of the population had settled in Naples, Rome and Milan. While General DeRossa was holding the country together fairly well, Naples was the most obstinate.
The General appointed an emissary to Naples but crime was rampant. In many ways it was starting to resemble what was taking place in Utah. Gangs were roaming the city, taking whatever they wanted or needed.
At one point the General asked Russia, America, and Spain to send troops to help rid Naples of the gangs but all three declined since it was strictly an internal matter and the Convention Charter prevented outside countries becoming involved in internal affairs.
China had made the most significant changes since Zorn had taken over. While free elections were still a ways off, he had effectively turned the government over to Feng Zhijian.
The military had been reduced by sixty percent and another fifteen percent reduction would take place later in the year.
Many of the military men had a hard time adjusting to becoming regular citizens but Feng was a strong leader and made it clear that he would not tolerate any intimidation by the former soldiers.
Food was not a problem as such. Even though the population had swollen to nearly one hundred and sixty-six thousand, it was nothing compared to what Beijing and the other cities had previously held. Like the other countries, they were on a vigorous campaign to start growing crops again.
The biggest setback for all the nations was the lack of insects to help with pollination. While a few had survived just like people, the balance was not in proportion causing harvest yields to be much lower. This was a reoccurring problem for every country. The one plant that seemed to flourish was rice. It was still their most prodigious crop.
At one point Zorn disappeared for almost three weeks. Feng was certain something ominous had happened to him. He was, after all, a man who could find trouble easier than anyone he had ever known.
He was wrong. Nothing portentous had happened and he hadn’t found any trouble. He had been out talking to the people to find out what they wanted from the government. Feng was shocked that he had actually gone among the common people to find out what they desired.
Zorn gave him a list and the number one item mentioned was the freedom to be involved in the government process. The second most mentioned was the ability to engage in private enterprise without the government’s interference.
Food and being taken care of were way down the list but before a strong military force. While the list helped them to understand what the people wanted, how to accomplish that was still the real question.
Communications continued to plague most of the European countries. Russia had a better handle on it than most but was still lacking the infrastructure to make it viable from one city to another.
The two satellites that they finally were able to make operational helped little in that regard. This was mainly because one was a communication satellite and the other was a military weapon system. China had made no progress in this area and both Russia and America had promised to help them once the problem of travel was overcome.
Germany was the leader in air transportation. They had immediately set to work on resurrecting some of the first jet aircraft ever developed. Within a few months they were adapting larger aircraft to accept pulse jet engines. The downside was that they would still have to fly VFR for the most part.
Visual Flight Rules did not lend itself to crossing the ocean so that would have to come at a later time.
All in all, progress was being made. In a world that was once hurry, hurry, run faster, people were being forced to slow down and for the most part and that was considered a good thing.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
- COLORADO SPRINGS –
Randy was drinking a Diet Coke while sitting in the broadcast room at the radio station. Since they now had local phones, callers could actually ask questions while he was on the air.
“Go ahead caller,” the host said.
“Okay, I get that we are making a universal currency so past presidents don’t make a lot of sense and I guess the buildings don’t either but why are you considering taking ‘In God We Trust’ off the bills?”
“Uh well, that’s an interesting question and one that we have been struggling with for some time. The argument for removing it is that since this is a universal currency, it may be best to just eliminate that phrase,” Randy replied.
“So we just give in and take it off because someone might be offended?”
“No, not exactly. You have to remember that we are trying to make this truly a one money economy. To do that it needs to be relatively non-descript. By that I mean, the less controversial the better.”
“I think that’s just dead wrong.”
“Honestly, I’m not too fond of it either. If any of our listeners have suggestions about how we can have both ‘In God We Trust’ and a universal currency that is accepted by all countries, I would love to hear them,” Randy replied.
“Well, you are going to have a notation on the bills identifying each country aren’t you?”
“Yes, right after the serial number.”
“So if you already have an identifying mark, why not just add ‘In God We Trust’ right after that or someplace else? I mean even if it was just IGWT, using initials would be better than nothing.”
“Hadn’t thought of it like that. Maybe that wouldn’t be a bad idea,” Randy conceded.
“I think that would make a majority of us happy,” the caller said.
“Thank you for your suggestion. We’ll toss that around at the next meeting.”
“It would sure make me feel better. Thanks for listening,” the caller said.
“No, thank you for speaking up. I truly appreciate your call.”
“Okay,” the announcer said, “What about this metric thing. A lot of people seem to be unhappy about that.”
“Well, as you know, we are the only country not using the metric system. We have tried for years to move America toward that but for one reason of another it doesn’t seem to really get done. This seems like the best time to make that change. It will undoubtedly cause some confusion at first but after a while it will become natural. We all resist change but what better time than now?”
“So you intend to go through with this metric thing?”
“Yes. We have already committed to it with the other nations and they agreed to use our money system in return. I don’t see how we could change horses in mid-stream at this point in time.”
“All I can say is ‘good luck’ with that.”
“Nonetheless, we are going forward with it,” Randy assured him.
“Go ahead caller,” the announcer said.
“Okay, I get we have to have a money system
, but I guess I don’t understand how it is going to work. I mean, essentially everything is free now. So far we haven’t needed any money. Even if we had it, what good would it do?”
“Now that’s a great question. But before I answer let me say this is still a work in progress. Nothing is set in stone and we are still debating how all of it will get in place. The idea is to start allowing for some services to become ones that will shift to the private sector, for lack of a better term. Things such as trash removal, restaurants and maybe even some construction at first will be added. The charges will be controlled initially to make sure everyone is treated the exact same.”
“I still don’t get it.”
“Let’s look at a restaurant for example. Say you thought, hey I can do better than what we now have. You bring your idea to the council. If we agree you have a valid idea, we will help you get set up. We will let you have space rent free, electricity and water will be free but some things you will have to pay for. Labor, food, and beverage will have to be purchased. Since we control most of the food, we will have set prices for items. Same for labor, everyone will get paid a certain rate. Now we don’t have a tax and I hope we never will but I can’t see that far down the road yet. Anyway, you will be allowed to set prices so that you make a profit if you run the business right. The percent will be initially set by the council. Eventually we will expand the number of businesses. One that comes to mind is advertising. An agency will probably be started so that new businesses can advertise. Profit, at least initially, will be controlled so that no one gets ripped off,” Randy explained.
“So it isn’t really a capitalism system. I mean, if you are only allowing people to make so much profit you are really not allowing the market place to determine the value of the product,” the caller said.
“You’re exactly right. Capitalism may come back but it will be sometime before it will be like anything we previously had.”
“I don’t see that being much of an incentive to get people to start a business. It’s a hell of a lot of work to run a small business.”
“I understand your point but I think you are dead wrong. Lots of people are inherently entrepreneurs. They want to be their own boss. I think you will be surprised at how many new businesses crop up.”
“Guess we’ll just have to wait and see,” the caller replied.
“I agree and thanks for calling. Good question.”
“We have time for one more caller. Go ahead, you’re on the air.”
“This is kind of a follow up to the last caller. Where do we get the money to start a business? It will cost for the food and workers to train. Where do we get the money for that?”
“Another excellent question. Right now we are looking at giving everyone a ‘starting bank’, for lack of a better term. Each adult over the age of eighteen will receive a predetermined amount. They can do with it as they please. Start a business or just hold on to it. We haven’t determined the amount yet but it won’t need to be huge since most things are free at this point. The money would be spent as the person sees fit. Some will want to go to work in the new businesses to create additional income and that’s fine. It will be an individual choice.”
“You’re just going to hand over a lump sum of money to everyone?”
“That’s the plan at the moment.”
“When it this going to take place?”
“Not sure yet. We have just started printing the new money so it will take a little while for the plan to be formulated and put into place. We hope by the end of the year at the latest,” Randy said.
“The government handing out money. That’s gotta’ be a first.”
“Well actually, we don’t have a real government in place yet. Once we hold our first elections, then we can really form a true government.”
“When are the elections going to take place?”
“Right now we are hoping to hold them in November.”
“Are you going to run for President?”
“Nope. I am more than happy to let the people elect whoever they think should lead. I do not intend to seek office,” Randy said.
“Why not?”
“Well the truth is, I never thought I would ever be in the position I am in now. I don’t know the first thing about starting a nation. I mean, I did what I thought was right but I have no way of knowing if the decisions were good or bad. I need to step aside now and let someone else take it to the next level,” Randy replied.
“All I can say is that I think you have done a hell of a good job so far. Don’t take yourself out of the running. I think you would make a damn fine President.”
“Thank you. I truly appreciate your kind words.”
“Okay. That’s about it for tonight. I just have one question I would like to ask,” the announcer said.
“Sure. Ask away.”
“What about the Utah Freemen? What are our plans for dealing with them?”
“Actually, as of now we have no plans. We know they have had spies trying to gather information for them but we really don’t care. We are eighty-four thousand strong and they total no more than eighteen thousand. We have a well-trained Army and Air Force so if they want to do something foolish we will simply destroy them. They need to just keep going away from where we are or we will take whatever action is necessary. It’s not a threat but a simple fact,” Randy said.
“Okay then. Sounds like you have already thought about what you would do.”
“We have indeed.”
“On that note. This is Brian Keller and Randy Boling signing off. Thanks for calling in. Tomorrow night we have Eric Riker from the power facility talking about what to expect in the way of upgrades to the system. Until then, chill.”
He shut of the board and turned to Randy, “You really mean it about not running for office?”
“I do indeed. Look, honestly, I was thrust into this position because of General Webber. We need to have someone who is elected by the people. I’m not a politician, never have been and don’t ever want to be one. It’s better all the way around if someone else takes over from here on out.”
“That is very interesting indeed. I, like the caller said, think you have done an amazing job. I couldn’t have done one tenth as well as you have done. I know I sure the hell would vote for you.”
“I appreciate that, honestly I do but it’s time for me to move on. Goodnight Eric. Thanks for having me on the show.”
“Thanks for doing it. You sure gave everyone something to think about.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
- COLORADO SPRINGS –
“Just like that?” Laura Quin asked.
“Yep, just like that,” Major Miller replied.
“You’re just going to toss me out with only what I can carry?”
“Correct. If you can’t carry it, it doesn’t leave the colony.”
“This sucks,” she said angrily.
“You think this sucks? Originally they were going to hang you for treason but decided since all you had done was provide the Freemen with information, they would let you live. I guess I should say disinformation. We have known for some time you were supplying them with material. We have been feeding you a line of bull. If you get to them, you can tell them we are not the least bit interested in what they do as long as they stay in the west. They come near here, we will destroy them.”
“Big talk,” she said, picking up her back pack.
“Actually, a big military force with lots of weapons. You had better get on your way. It will be dark in a couple of hours,” Miller said, starting the old jeep up.
“This is not over yet,” she shot back as she climbed out of the jeep.
Miller didn’t bother to answer, he just put the jeep in gear and drove off. He could see her giving him the finger in the mirror.
When he finally cleared the border check point he drove over to city hall. Randy had been waiting for him.
“Get her off okay?”
“Yep. No problem.”
<
br /> “Good. Hopefully they will get the message eventually.”
“It will take her a little while to get to Danzick and his thugs.”
“Doesn’t really matter one way or the other. We have a fix on them and will respond as necessary, which brings me to why I wanted to talk to you alone.”
“I’m all ears, shoot.”
“I want you to consider revamping the military. I don’t mean eliminate it, just making sure the make-up of it is right. We know that every young man starting from High School graduation will serve two years in the military. Of course our young girls are going to be encouraged to do the same. For now we aren’t going to require them to serve.”
“Why not?”
“Well...”
“It’s a new world Randy. Let them do their two years as well. Only those determined to be medically unsound should be excluded.”
“Yeah, I know. We decided that earlier but somehow it just seems wrong.”
“It’s not. Look, the way I want to structure it is that the women can volunteer for combat positions. It will be their choice. A lot will step up but some won’t and that works for me.”
“But the men don’t have that option do they?” Randy asked.
“No. No they don’t.”
“Why not? If you are going to treat everyone equal it should be all or nothing,” Randy said.
“Okay, you’re right. Their aptitude test will determine their specialty rating. Those that don’t score high enough to have a specialist rating will basically be grunts. Men and women alike,” Miller replied.
“I also think it would be good to do away with the different branches. Just combine the Army, Air Force and Navy into to just the New American Military. That way fighting over budgets will be less likely to happen.”
“What budgets? Everything is free.”
“Yes but it won’t always be. At some point all of this will change. And in a way we do have a budget: manpower. Where it is allocated and where it is needed most,” Randy replied.
THE REVELATION - Book 3 (THE EVENT) Page 19
