Against the Storm: A Fortress Farm Novel

by G. R. Carter

  A tall man with a cane and an eyepatch stood in the open entryway, flanked by two of the largest dogs Oliver had ever seen. Both animals sat rigid, at attention and sizing him up for potential threats. Each had a long tapered nose and large ears, a head the size of a small horse’s and paws resembling that of a bear. Oliver nearly choked at the size of the shoulders, as broad as a full-grown man even without the bushy brown-and-white fur. One looked up at the tall man, as if to ask what needed to be done to the unwelcome visitor. Subconsciously, hsi master reached down and scratched the beast’s ears. The dog seemed satisfied, and went back to just observing.

  “Sammy!”

  “Hello, big brother. Great to see you up and around!” Sam grabbed his older brother in a bear hug that nearly knocked them both off balance.

  “Bek finally took my chair away, said if I wanted cookies I’d have to walk for them.”

  “She always knew how to get the best out of you. AJ, let me introduce you to someone. This is Captain Liam Oliver, Ranking Squadron Officer, naval forces of ARK,” Sam said.

  “Founder Hamilton, it’s a very real honor to meet you, sir,” Oliver stammered. “I’ve heard so much about you and Commandant Hamilton, this seems quite surreal to meet you.”

  “I told him to call me Sam,” Sam laughed.

  “And please call me Alex,” the Founder replied. “I have never really gotten used to ‘Founder’; still seems a title only fit for our father. Come in, both of you. Having you here will give me an excuse to sit down again. Please, follow me…and Captain Oliver, please don’t mind Tyr and Fen. They’re called Guardian dogs for a reason. My children crawl all over them and they don’t even raise a whimper. Just don’t try to kill anyone here and you’ll get along just fine,” he laughed. He waved an arm to show the way, then limped ahead himself, with a Guardian on each side.

  “How’s the leg, AJ?” Sam asked, throwing an arm around his brother’s side.

  “Not progressing as well as the shoulder. Stiff in this weather. By bells and fire, I don’t think autumn lasts long anymore!” Alex cursed in what Oliver guessed must be a Red Hawk oath.

  “No doubt about it. Celeste says there’s no question the growing season is getting shorter,” Sam replied. “We have to figure out a way to start growing crops to fit that situation.”

  “Ah, yes. How is my favorite sister-in-law? Been a month since I’ve seen her. Though she dutifully submits reports so vague she could be building a rocket ship and I wouldn’t know it. She assumes I can’t read between the lines! Anyway, I’m supposed to meet her in Philippi next week. Will you be able to stay, Sam?”

  “That depends on you, AJ. More like depends on what we need to hash out here. If not, I’m still going to fly over and see her after this,” Sam replied.

  Alex nodded in agreement. “Yes, I hoped you would. I keep you two apart for far too long, asking you to do the work I’m not capable of. I need to make sure you two spend more time together, otherwise I’m going to have to count on Essie and Lori to give this family more heirs!” There was a clever smile on his face even the eyepatch couldn’t hide.

  They arrived at a set of high-backed leather chairs, the seating platform slightly higher than typical and stuffed for maximum comfort. They were arranged in a pattern so each faced an immense stone fireplace. The mantle stretched at least ten feet across, empty save for a large intricate clock and the individual paintings of four children. The fire was already roaring, but Sam stopped to poke at the flames anyway.

  Alex reached into his pocket, pulled out a leather pouch and handed it to Oliver. He opened it and felt his heart leap. Inside was a brand new pipe, stashed on top of a large quantity of tobacco, finely cut and high quality if the aroma held true.

  “Go ahead, Captain Oliver. You smoking gives my brother the chance to light his also. That way if the real power behind the Founder’s Chair arrives home early he’s got cover for being a bad boy,” Sam laughed. “You wouldn’t believe the Quarters it cost him to get that tobacco from the Creeks.”

  Alex just shrugged and pulled out his own well-worn pouch, dipped the bowl in and tamped the overflowing leaf down with expertise. “Shawnee doesn’t grow it as well as Clarksville yet. Some things are worth the price.”

  Oliver duplicated the Founder’s action, then accepted Sam’s offer of a long match lit off of the fire. He moved to do the same for Alex, then stopped. “You tell Bek I let you do this, I’ll deny it and tell her where you hide everything.”

  “Like she doesn’t already know,” he said with a wave of his hand. “I learned a long time ago she lets me think I’m being clever so I don’t actually work at being really clever.

  “You see, Captain Oliver,” Alex continued, drawing in the rich smoke, “people think that this is a big, powerful job. Being Founder of the Republic, I mean. They think all these servants cower at your feet, that everyone around you is terrified of your disappointment…your wrath.” He snickered, lighting the pipe again and puffing on it. “In reality, you’re just the one thing others can agree on. See, you bring people together by being something others rally against. Take for instance my loyal brother and my beautiful wife, always conspiring to keep me in this cage, out of the way so they can get the work of the Republic done.”

  Sam burst out laughing. “Captain, you’re being misled. There’s not a single thing that happens from Lafayette to Riveoria to Evansville to Mt. Horab my brother doesn’t know about. He figured out he can sit in his office and read reports while the rest of us spend our nights sleeping on the ground. A plan that lets him avoid boring meetings about asset allocations and harvest quotas.”

  “Delegation, my dear Samuel, taught to us by our father,” Alex replied. His mood turned serious. “I guess there are a few things I don’t know about, though. Captain Oliver, let me be completely frank. I’m in a tight spot here. Two organizations—nations, I guess I should say—that I care about deeply can’t seem to grasp the big picture. More importantly, they can’t seem to get along.”

  “You mean ARK and Mt. Horab, sir?” Oliver asked.

  “Precisely. You know ARK has been allied with the Hamilton family since nearly the beginning. Premier Diamante did business with the farmers of the Okaw even before the Reset.” Alex leaned over a bit in faux secrecy, “Not all that business would be approved of by the government of the late great United States.”

  He leaned back and smoked a little more. Oliver waited in the silence, figuring it best to be asked a direct question before speaking.

  “Captain Oliver,” Alex continued, “all of us have done things since the Reset that we can only pray the Creator will forgive us for. I see the faces of some of my decisions when I sleep at night. People’s fates I have held in my hand…I even have nightmares about allowing my brother to put himself in harm’s way flying attack craft. I make my peace by saying the greater good justifies the risk, justifies the costs.”

  “Does it, sir?” Oliver asked. He wished he could take back the question in an instant, but Alex answered it without hesitation.

  “I don’t know, Captain. I sincerely don’t. But I’ve come to the conclusion whatever decisions I make will haunt me all my days. Even after I’ve grounded my brother and forced him to take the Founder’s Chair, I’ll run these things through my head until I am relieved of this life,” Alex said.

  “You’ll have to forgive our philosopher king, Captain. He gets a little melancholy and reflective this time of the year,” Sam chuckled.

  “Ah, you flyboys are all the same. Cocky jerks, no sense of true depth. Doc says the altitude is causing air bubbles in your brain, and I believe it!” Alex fired back.

  He looked over at Oliver for the first time, face to face. Oliver felt the uncomfortable weight of the single-eyed stare, like he was being scanned by RenOne. For the first time he noticed how old the Founder looked. If memory served, the Hamilton brothers couldn’t be more than early thirties, an age Sam seemed to fit perfectly. Alex, on the other hand…Oliver noticed
the lines radiating out from his visible eye. Strands of gray streaked his close-kept beard, barely covering scars beginning at the corner of his mouth. His breath seemed slightly shallow, as though even natural action took extra effort. Alex’s voice shook him out of the stare. “Captain, tell me what you were doing on that river. Tell me what your real mission was, I need to know.”

  “Honestly, Founder Hamilton, what I’ve told everyone is exactly what I was doing. I really thought I was chasing river pirates. I saw a boat matching the descriptions given by our settlers at Prairie de Rocher, and I gave the order to fire. I promise I wouldn’t have done that if I knew they were Buckles,” Oliver replied.

  Alex stared at him through wafting smoke, waiting several uncomfortable moments before settling a bit and replying. “I believe you, Captain. More importantly, my brother believes you, otherwise he wouldn’t have brought you here,” he said. “The good news is you’ll be returned to ARK within the next day or two. They’re going to come and pick you up via airship. I’m working to get your men and your boats released also. Though apparently we’ve hit a snag in negotiations. I’m trying to get an agreement as to who can build what settlement where.

  “Captain, my wife will be home soon. She’s been traveling around trying to organize a summit meeting of all the nations of the Midwest. That’s why Sam was at Mt. Horab when you arrived. He and my sister Essie are particularly close to them. Essie’s even engaged to one of the men you met at the table.”

  “Bolin gave the Captain a real hard time,” Sam told Alex.

  Alex nodded and looked at his pipe. “Shouldn’t surprise us. John’s a good man, a good Elector. I’m glad Essie’s with him. But there’s a lot of anger at the Electors’ Table towards ARK. Some of which should probably be directed towards me instead.”

  Oliver couldn’t help but feel some level of surprise at how open the Hamiltons were being with him. The two were either working some sort of angle, or they were the most confident men he had ever met.

  Alex looked back over at Oliver. “We’ve got to try to get these bad feelings ironed out once and for good. I hope you’ll agree to have dinner with us this evening. If you don’t care to, I won’t force you, you’re free to eat in your quarters instead.”

  “I’d be honored, sir,” Oliver said as Alex waved over a woman in an officer’s dress uniform. This one had the Red Hawk symbol on the arm, but still retained the green shield on her chest.

  “Now if you’ll excuse us, Captain, my brother and I have some things to discuss. I want you to have a grand tour of Fortress Farm Aronia Point while there’s still a little light. A couple of my Home Shield senior officers will escort you. Feel free to ask any questions about the farm you like. We’ll meet back at six o’clock sharp for supper. And Captain, thank you again for your honesty.”

  *****

  “What in bells and fire are they up to?” Alex asked Sam. He reached down and scratched Tyr’s ears, a move noticed by Fen who nuzzled his master’s hand, begging for the same attention.

  “I don’t know, AJ. They barely return my cables any more. We don’t see any Peacekeepers up on the Caliphate border. Only an occasional airship to fly a few bombing sorties, and those are always new ships with new crews. Like they’re just using it as training. You’re the one with a direct line to Tony and Nicole. What do you think is going on?” Sam replied.

  “I’d only say this in front of you, but I’m not sure the family business of the Diamantes stopped with the Reset,” Alex sighed.

  “It’s not like anything is illegal any more. They make the laws, don’t they?”

  “Yeah. Tony essentially told me that one time. ‘The family business’ is exactly the term he used when he proposed we take out Colonel Walsh.”

  “That was still the right thing to do.”

  “Agreed. But you and I would have never thought of it. The whole thing was just second nature to Tony,” Alex said.

  “Funny you mention that. Right before I left to come here, Elector Huffman said we needed to be careful.”

  “Who did he mean by ‘we’?” Alex asked.

  “I didn’t know at the time. But I think he meant you and me.”

  “I never took Elector Huffman as a man to make threats against us. Is he really that angry?” Alex asked.

  “No, no. I don’t think he was threatening us at all. He said it more as a warning, like there might be someone out to get us,” Sam said.

  “Did he say who?”

  “I didn’t ask and he didn’t offer.”

  “Okay, let’s lay it out then. We’ve got ARK and Vincennes trying to get Eric to let them ship material back and forth across Grand Shawnee. I’ve got no reason to say no, but at the same time they won’t tell me what’s on the trains.”

  He took a drag off his pipe, then tapped it to his lip in deep thought. “ARK’s clearing the river to the south. Evansville’s governor sent me a formal note saying that Vincennes is harassing their vessels on the Wabash and Ohio…”

  Sam interjected, “They’re going to try and consolidate their hold on the whole river system. ARK and Vincennes are. Evansville is standing in Vincennes’ way, and Mt. Horab has always been a thorn in ARK’s side.”

  “You’re onto something. Does Eric have a hand in this?”

  “I don’t think so. He’s a lot of things, but not a traitor. He’d sooner try to take over the Republic than betray it.”

  “Maybe that’s his play. ARK and Vincennes would help him,” Alex asked, playing out the scenario.

  “He’s smarter than that. He’d know once they put him in the Chair, they’d expect him to be their puppet. Or they’d take him out next.”

  “And he also knows he’d become our mortal enemy.”

  “There’s that, yeah. No, Eric’s a young man. He’ll be playing the long game, figuring to wait you out, then talk me out of wanting the Chair. Which wouldn’t be too hard at all.”

  Alex rubbed his temples, fighting off the headaches that always accompanied life-and-death strategy sessions. “Doesn’t surprise me about Vincennes. Julia told me they’d never be a part of the Republic. But of all the things we’ve had to worry about over the years, I thought we’d always be able to count on Tony and Nicole.”

  “Things change, brother. Uncle Jack once told me ‘An alliance ceases to be an alliance when the reasons for the alliance cease to exist.’ I don’t know if he could see this coming or if he was just trying to be clever,” Sam said.

  “Probably both. I’m sure he’s terminated a few alliances in his time.”

  “What about Nicole?” Sam asked. “Her and Bek used to be best friends.”

  “They still talk now and then. Bek sent one of the Old Main professors over to work on ARK’s RenOne, supposed to learn how to network our older system at Old Main so we’d have computing power again. Nicole never sent the guy back, made a bunch of excuses why. Julia told Bek not to worry about it, the guy had been a real troublemaker for her in the old days. We wound up finding enough refugees with computer experience that we’ve been able to get the Wizards something to work with.”

  “Yeah, Celeste mentioned that. I didn’t know that about the computer guy, though. Seems strange…but I guess it wasn’t rare for companies to steal employees in the old days,” Sam said.

  Alex shrugged. “This Maxwell guy was spying on Julia back before the Reset. Reporting back to the government on everything Julia was doing. She put up with it because UNASA gave her a big grant to work on the lunar base.”

  “Money talks.”

  “I guess so. I’m going to cable Tony in the morning to talk about Captain Oliver, I might bring the subject up and see how he reacts. Still can’t help but think there’s a piece of the puzzle we’ve missed. You and I, we’ve seen too much to believe in coincidences,” Alex said. “There’s either the hand of God…”

  “…or the hand of man, there are no coincidences,” Sam interjected. “I remember, big brother, it’s been preached to us since we were at
Mayor Steinbrink’s school table.”

  Alex leaned over and grabbed his brother’s hand. “I miss you so much, Sammy. I think about you every moment of every day. I wouldn’t have made it through these dark days without you. Mom either. What I wouldn’t give to sit and talk with you all night! I hope I’ll get the chance next week in Mt. Vernon. I’m going to insist we go through with this summit. And I’m going to insist that everyone attend even though it’s at Harvest.”

  He leaned back into the soft warmth of the chair looked into the crackling fire. “And I aim to invite each and every free nation to join our Republic. How do you feel about that?”

  “I trust your judgment. Steinbrink always taught us that truly free people won’t fight each other. At least not shooting wars. You figure to give everyone a place to settle their differences without resorting to fighting?”

  “Exactly. A Republic that stretches for thousands of miles, shelters millions of people, feeds all them and maybe more.” He stopped and rubbed his head again. “It might cost you a chance at the Founder’s Chair someday, Sam. I aim to pass the job off if it helps get this deal done, and they might not want another Hamilton after I’m gone.”

  “Is that supposed to talk me out of the idea, AJ? Because I’ll be happy to forgo the Chair. I’m serious, I really don’t want it. I’ve got Schoolhouse Hill to worry about, and my planes. Most important, I’d get to spend more time with Celeste and the kids,” Sam answered.

  “Right, Celeste and the kids. A man’s only real treasure is his family,” Alex mused. “Let’s get you out of here right now, while there’s good light for your flight. I made sure that the guys got your plane fueled and ready. So as much as I’d love to sit and talk to you for the rest of the day, help me score some much-needed points with your wife. Go see her now, before another war starts and we all have to be away from home for a long, long time.”

  Chapter Eight