Against the Storm: A Fortress Farm Novel

by G. R. Carter

  “I want them all dead, Alex! You need to walk away from this and let me handle my own business. You don’t run ARK, and you sure as hell better hope you don’t claim to run those Bible-thumping Buckles,” the voice screamed out from the cable receiver. Alex looked at the plastic speaker, state-of-the-art technology here in the post-Reset world. Attached to the box was a line running 120 miles directly to the offices of the Red Hawk Republic’s closest ally. It had taken months to complete: a cable spliced together through bandit country, natural obstacles and under one of the largest rivers in the world. But the line of communication was invaluable in a world where radio broadcasts might hope to make it a few miles without being disrupted—if the equipment generating the signal wasn’t destroyed by solar interference first.

  “Are you there? Are you hearing me?” the voice demanded.

  “I hear you loud and clear, Tony,” Alex replied. “We have to talk this out. ARK and Mt. Horab need to figure out a way to work together. You’re too close to each other for this to keep festering. How are we supposed to fight the Caliphate if we can’t even get along with each other?”

  Tony Diamante swore loud enough to be heard over the constant static that crackled through the speaker. “Enough with the Caliphate, Alex. You’ve been screaming about the sky falling for years now. You did what was needed, you built up your border. The Jijis aren’t stupid enough to take you on. Look in your own backyard if you want to find real terrorists,” Tony replied.

  “The Buckles aren’t terrorists and you know it. Just because you hate them doesn’t mean they’re trying to pick a fight with you,” Alex said.

  “Oh, they picked a fight. That’s for sure. Attacked my boats, knocked down two of my airships, and killed about thirty of my men. They have no idea what kind of fight they’ve picked.”

  Alex felt his own patience wane. ”Tony, your boats fired on them first! Then you try and pull some kind of commando raid on Grand Tower in the middle of the night? You killed almost the entire group of civilians they had working there! And to top it all off, you bomb that same facility the next day, destroying their equipment and nearly killing the ones trying to clean up your mess! I’d say you’re just mad because they kicked your ass three times in one week!”

  Static came from the receiver. Alex waited for a few seconds, then a minute, but no reply came. Finally he said, “Tony, come to Mt. Vernon this week. Let’s sit down at the summit, talk this out. We have to clear these issues up now, or the next generation will hate each other instead of working together.”

  “Everyone being together was your dream, Alex. Not mine. My dream is to build ARK. No one’s going to stop me from doing that.”

  Alex rubbed his temples. “You’ve changed, Tony,” he sighted, just loud enough for his friend to hear.

  “You sure haven’t,” came the chilly reply.

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “Poor little woe-is-me farmers, right? Except that in the space of a few years you grew from one little county with what, five thousand people? Now you’ve got a million under your rule?”

  “We don’t consider it ruling, those people chose to move to the Republic territories.”

  “Please. Spare me the ‘we’re not an empire’ speech. You took over Old Main, then Shawnee, then America, then Blackhawk territory…”

  “Funny you bring up Blackhawk territory; it’s called Riveoria, remember? They joined us willingly. Were you going to change the name back after you took it from us?” Alex paused. When there was no answer he continued. “Yeah, that’s right, we found an Article of ARK Citizenship signed by Kathy Kingsley in a dead Land Lord’s personal effects. Turns out he was going to lead the whole province out of the Republic and into ARK. You forget to tell me that part?”

  “Is that why you had him killed?” Tony shouted back.

  “Not my style, Tony. Remember, that isn’t my family business.”

  Another pause came, leaving Alex the time to regret the insult. The open air stretched uncomfortably, finally giving way to a calmer but icy voice over the cable.

  “Uncle Jack will be at your meeting to pick up Captain Oliver and the rest of his crew,” Tony finally said. “More importantly, I want those boats back.”

  Alex leaned back in his chair, feeling his heart pound and his head throb. He glanced at Bek now standing in the doorway, looking at him with misty eyes. The friendship between the Hamiltons and Diamantes was supposed to last for generations. Their vision of a broad-reaching Republic counted on the two strongest building blocks being inseparable in their shared image of the future. Those dreams were quickly turning into nightmares.

  “Oh, and Alex, one more thing,” Tony’s voice hissed through. “Uncle Jack will present our demands for reparations from Mt. Horab for all the damage they’ve done. There will be no negotiation.”

  The static died down to barely audible, the sign that the other end was switched off. Alex flipped the power switch, marking the first time ever the line between the two was completely cut.

  “What are we going to do, Alex?” Bek asked him. She walked over and sat on the edge of the chair, slipping one slender arm around his shoulders and kissing the top of his head.

  She was half expecting him to be in tears, but his piercing blue eye seemed set on something else. “As bad as I want you here, I need you to make one more trip. I need you to go to Mt. Vernon, meet with Maleah Olsen. Do it under the auspice of preparations for the summit.”

  “Okay, that’s not a problem. Mom would be there so I’ve got plenty of reasons to go early. And I like Maleah, she’s very bright. Without question the entire Hunsinger family is a good influence on Eric. What do you want me to tell her?”

  “Tell her I’m willing to do anything in my power to fix this rift between our families. That includes sharing the Founder’s Chair with Eric. Maybe do a triumvirate with Sam, also.”

  “Whoa. That’s a really big step. Just a few days ago you were about to accuse Eric of conspiring against us, now you want to make him one heartbeat away from Founder?”

  “I killed his father, Bek. The fact he hasn’t taken a shot at me tells me he still cares about what we’ve built.”

  “You made a war time decision. You had no idea Clark would get killed.”

  “I’ve been over this a thousand times. If I was qualified to lead this Republic by myself, I could have seen what was going to happen. Eric was right, I was blinded by my hatred for Walsh.”

  “Well I disagree. But I know I’m not going to talk you out of feeling this way. So what are we going to do now?”

  Alex’s jaw muscle tensed as future scenarios flashed in his brain. “The same thing we’ve always done, my love. We protect the Okaw…we protect our family.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  Tecumseh House – Governor’s Mansion

  Mt. Vernon – Capital City of Grand Shawnee Province

  Year 12.10 A.G.R. (After the Great Reset)

  Two Weeks after the Battle for Grand Tower Island

  “So you’re telling me that you still have a connection to GRAPEVINE? How’s that even possible?” Marcus asked.

  “Nicole Diamante thought it would be a good idea to keep monitoring the network, even while she was building RenOne,” Timothy Maxwell replied.

  Marcus turned to Renaldo, who appeared just as stunned as he was himself. “How did they not get infected, then? With the virus, I mean? Everything electronic in the world got the shut-down order from GRAPEVINE.”

  “Not everything. They kept the gateway to GRAPEVINE in a secure room, totally cut off from everything else. It’s just been sitting there all this time, completely quiet.”

  Maxwell took a deep breath and smiled. “Here’s the really wild part. A few months ago, it turned back on. All by itself!”

  Marcus couldn’t believe his ears. He felt his heart leap and his stomach churn at the same time. He once dreamed of having his Profile live in Continuity, only to have that wish dashed by the end of th
e electronic world. Now Maxwell was telling him it might be possible once more.

  “Do the Diamantes know?”

  “Of course, they seem to know everything. It’s frightening, really. But they don’t understand what GRAPEVINE is all about.”

  “So what did it say? Were there any commands?” Renaldo demanded.

  Maxwell shook his head. “The screen just said ‘Begin Migration.’ I tried to log in, but as soon as I started keying the screen went blank again.

  The three sat in silence, trying to make sense of having their gods appear to them briefly, then once more slip from their grasp.

  Finally Renaldo broke the quiet. “What did the Diamantes say?”

  “Not much,” Maxwell replied. “But ever since they’ve been working double time on some kind of secret project out towards Kansas City. More than top-secret. Nobody in the City knows what’s going on except the top Citizens.”

  “I can’t believe they let you have free range of Renaissance Tower,” Marcus said.

  “Only because Tony hates Julia Ruff; she’s a Buckle sympathizer, always pushing Hamilton to help them. Since Ruff hates me, he figures I must not be all bad. Nicole likes having my brain around, since I’ve networked the entire City for her. She has no idea I could open every gate and secure door with one click!” Maxwell bragged.

  “So what are we going to do?”

  “We’re not going to do anything,” Renaldo replied. “It took us weeks to arrange a meeting that wouldn’t raise suspicions. Even now I think the Tri-S is watching us.”

  “I thought the Olsens were wrapped around your finger,” Maxwell said with an accusatory look at Marcus.

  “Maryanne is,” Marcus replied. “Eric doesn’t trust anyone except his pretty little wife. That Maleah is a knockout, but she’s got brains, too. She comes from the family that held Harrisburg together after the Reset. Second-largest city in Grand Shawnee, rich with coal and fruit. Plus they’re Buckle sympathizers. Not afraid of anything and suspicious of everything. Just the kind of thing we don’t need right now.”

  “Well, we have to figure out what ‘Begin Migration’ means,” Maxwell said. “If the Continuity community is going somewhere, we need to join them. I can’t take the idea of staying here with these people if the Enlightened still exist.”

  All three nodded, distant in their own thoughts and dreams. “Okay,” Renaldo said. “Let’s get to work discussing this communications system between Vincennes and ARK. For our cover to work, we at least need to get something accomplished. So tell me how we get messages across Grand Shawnee without being intercepted.”

  “Why can’t we just go straight across the province using cable?” Marcus asked. “ARK and the Republic are allies. They both get along with Vincennes, so what’s the hush-hush?”

  “General Hopkins doesn’t want the Red Hawks to know,” Renaldo replied. “That’s part of the reason he demanded that Julia Ruff be replaced as ambassador. He’s given up trying to join the Republic in any meaningful way. He’s got big plans to expand Vincennes east. He knows the Red Hawks will try to stop him getting rid of Evansville and the Creeks to make it happen.”

  “How do you know all this?” Marcus asked.

  “Hopkins figured the Olsens hated the Founder enough they would help him pull this off. He reached out to Maryanne, that’s why she sent me to negotiate with them,” Renaldo replied.

  Marcus couldn’t help the hurt look on his face. Renaldo reached over and grabbed his arm. “Marcus, don’t be offended. Eric has you Tri-S following you all the time. You’re too close to Maryanne, she needed someone with a lower profile.”

  “She had Eric name you a provincial Senator, Louis. That’s hardly low profile.”

  “In Eric’s view it is. My position was the perfect cover for meeting with Hopkins.”

  Marcus begrudged the point, still wondering why Maryanne hadn’t told him. “Regardless, I don’t see a way we can hide any sort of communications system.”

  “ARK has developed a type of short-range wireless shielded from interference. They’re using it for the skyships to communicate. Maybe if we set up a series of repeaters across Grand Shawnee, the signal could bounce back and forth,” Maxwell said.

  “Sketch up a plan to place them along the Salem railway. It’s the perfect east-west corridor; the Red Hawks wanted it because they thought it would tie ARK, the Republic and Vincennes all together.”

  “I guess they didn’t know how right they were,” Renaldo laughed.

  “That project is under Shawnee jurisdiction, not Okaw or Old Main. I don’t think anyone will notice as long as the antennae aren’t very big,” Marcus said.

  “Great. Problem solved in the span of fifteen minutes. Amazing how much we get accomplished without all the mouth-breathers around.”

  “Speaking of which, did you hear about the guy who landed in Vincennes not too long ago? The Creeks tried to bring him from out east, but Hopkins’ men captured them before he got to Evansville. He was telling everyone who would listen that the federal government never really disappeared, they just went into hiding after the Reset,” Maxwell said.

  “Why do these huge things just get brought up like they’re no big deal?’ Marcus asked. “Are you saying Washington, D.C. didn’t collapse?”

  “The city was pretty well destroyed, yeah. But according to this guy, the whole Reset was planned ahead of time. It was a way to reduce the population to a more manageable number.”

  “And ARK knows about it?” Renaldo asked.

  “Well, they know the guy said it. But they haven’t been able to confirm anything. There’s a lot of no man’s land between here and the coast. Only the Creeks know how to navigate it without getting killed, and they’re not going to help Vincennes. Hopkins told Diamante as soon as he found out. They were going to send this guy to ARK for interrogation, but they didn’t want anyone else finding out. I only overheard it by accident, they didn’t know I was there working on some of their computers during a family meeting.”

  Renaldo tapped a finger to his chin, deep in thought. “What is it, Louis? Something’s on your mind,” Marcus asked his friend.

  “If it’s really true, and it wouldn’t be the first time a rumor about the government surviving made its way here, that would go a long way to explaining this urgency of ARK’s. The top secret projects, the move to control the river system, Vincennes being anxious to expand east…” Ronaldo paused and leaned back, hands holding up his head. “I’m not sure what their play is, but I think it would be in all of our best interests to find out.”

  Maxwell nodded. “I’ll see if I can come across anything else without raising any suspicion. In the meantime, Louis, why don’t you see if you can get another visit to Vincennes?

  Renaldo returned the nod. “Those people give me the creeps. That crazy religion of theirs…bastardized a bunch of Norse mythology and crossed it with ancestor worship. Hopkins refers to his men now as ‘Jotnar.’”

  “What’s that mean?”

  “That’s what the Norse called giants. Hopkins and that nutty professor of his are crazy as loons, but dead serious about conquering and converting,” he replied. It was absurd to him for someone to follow any religion besides Continuity. “Evansville is the appetizer, and a return to the East Coast is the main course.”

  “Marcus, I suggest you start putting a bug in our dearest Maryanne’s ear about the rumors. That woman can spin the gossip wheel with the best of them.”

  “Won’t that tip off the Red Hawks?” he asked.

  “I doubt it. If she thinks she can find one little edge to hurt them, she’ll do it, and do it discreetly.” Renaldo started to say something else, then thought better.

  “What? Come on, spit it out. What were you going to say?” Maxwell demanded.

  “Too many coincidences. Continuity is coming together, guiding our path. I think we need to be ready to act immediately, prepare for the Awakening. This migration has something to do with it. The time is coming very
soon.”

  *****

  “Mother, I know you hate the Hamiltons, but what you’re talking about is treason against the Republic. That would be the Republic that my father helped build, remember?” Eric demanded.

  “Oh please, son. Wake up! That’s not the Republic your dad and I had in mind. It’s become some sort of monstrosity, just a way for the Hamiltons to build a memorial to themselves,” Maryanne said with disgust. “They exiled you so you’d be out of the way.”

  “Funny you should say that, because Maleah tells me Alex and Sam want me to join them in a triumvirate type government.” He smiled a little as she gasped. ”Yeah, that’s right, Rebekah and Maleah have been talking. They figured I would ignore any message from Alex. Of course, that’s on the off chance you would even let me see it. But those two conspired to get us to reconcile, and you know what? I’m seriously thinking about it,” Eric replied.

  “How dare you! You ungrateful little brat!” Maryanne yelled. “Your little wife tries to undo everything we’ve built, and you just go right along with it! Haven’t I taught you anything?”

  Eric replied calmly, surprising them both. “Yes, mother, in fact you have. You’ve taught me to think strategically. I’m grateful for the lesson, but you’re going to have to live with how I apply my education.”

  “Strategic is looking out for us, not the Hunsingers.”

  “Before you go accusing Maleah of dirty dealing, remember her family held Harrisburg together just fine before we got here,” Eric countered. “They’ve been a lot more help to Grand Shawnee then we have to them.”

  “But they’re Buckle sympathizers! Get in bed with them and ARK and Vincennes will both turn their back on you,” she insisted without realizing the irony of her statement.

  Eric’s eyes narrowed. “Do you realize what your friends in ARK are trying to pull off?” He stopped for a moment, realizing with some trepidation how much he had changed of late. Maybe it was marriage, maybe the influence of his well-grounded in-laws who were considerate of the people they led. Eric knew his relationship with the Hunsingers benefited their family’s coal mines and orchards, but so too did their economic experience help Grand Shawnee grow.