by Rob Buckman
He knew each of them personally, his brothers and sisters, his family, all sharing a common heritage forged in blood and the chaos of war. These few were all that remained of the men and women he’d taken over the border of Iraq to avenge the destruction of three American cities. They’d followed him through the gates of hell and back, and followed him into the future without complaint. They’d given their all and helped build a new future in the strange new world they found themselves in, yet now he had to ask them to make a difficult choice, one that would profoundly change their lives in ways they couldn’t even imagine at the moment.
“All of us came from a place called the United States of America. A place now buried three hundred years in the past, a place with almost three hundred years of history behind it. That history was rich in detail, both good and bad, starting in 1776 when America separated itself from England. Now, all that has gone, including the Constitution we all swore to uphold and defend.” The foot shuffling and murmur of voices grew louder.
“Hold it down, people,” Brock called, but not overly loud.
“It might seem I’m rambling, and maybe I am, but I wanted you all to remember where we came from and what America stood for.”
“We all understand that, Admiral, so what’s the point?” Pam asked.
“Right now we have one of two roads to travel, and I’m going to leave it up to you all to decide which one we should take.” Scott stopped and took a deep breath. After much soul searching, he knew which road he was going to take, but then again he didn’t have the same perspective on the question as the rest did. His mother was English and he’d grown up under a different legal and governmental system until his father was reassigned back to the United States.
“It has been suggested that all military forces join together into one combined unit under one flag, one authority, and one all-encompassing legal system.” Murmurs broke out again and he could see the puzzled looks on their faces.
“Even now, the King of the United Kingdom and the Emperor of Japan are sitting down and working out a mutual agreement. Not through diplomats, or politicians who muddy the waters, but leader to leader as they should. From here on out, we have two roads to walk down. The first is that we continue as we are under the ad hoc systems we have created here. The other road is that we amalgamate with the forces of England and Japan under the flag and authority of a combined government.” He expected an uproar of disapproval, but instead he got silence. At first they looked at one another; the unspoken questions played on their faces. At last, as if by some tacit agreement, Pam stood and asked the first question.
“So, if we go it alone, what can we expect?”
“Not much different than we have now. Both countries will support us. The rest of the world will help with resources and such if that’s what you mean.”
“Partly, sir. But what does it mean for the future?” There it was in a nutshell.
“That is the one question I’ve been wrestling with. In the short term, things would pretty much remain the same, but what about our children and their children? What sort of world will we leave to them? At the moment we have no real government, no real legal system, and no real everyday infrastructure or local government.”
“This means that some desk weenie somewhere is going to decide who, what, where and how we fight, like before?” It was a good question.
“That was one of the things I brought up at the meeting to discuss this issue. All too often the military has been hamstrung by the government, either by too little funding to supply us with the right weapons and support we need, or cutting us off at the knees when we should have gone in and taken care of something before it became a problem.”
“What was their answer?” someone asked, and Scott blew out his cheeks.
“That was the sore point, but I had to agree with them that an uncontrolled military isn’t the answer. But then again, neither is a hamstrung military always begging the government in power for more funds, or permission to go do what we know must be done. My suggestion was that New Zealand be separate from any governing body, and can be on called to act in a military capacity when all else fails.”
“Yeah,” Bill Higgins, a Brit, spoke up, “even under my … I mean the UK government, we had the same problem.”
“Did you come up with an answer, sir?” Pam asked.
“Yes and no,” Scott answered, “I sort of demanded that funding and resources to supply us with what we needed had to be absolute. That included R&D to develop new weapons and such. We would also be the sole military force in the Sol system and act as the Earth Defense Force from here on out. That would give us the independence we need to act outside of Earth itself.”
“And the answer?”
“The PM … the prime minister put forward the suggestion that a separate, nongovernment commission be set up, comprised of both civilian and military personnel to oversee all aspects of military supply, logistics, and weapons development. He also suggested that in times of crisis, or imminent danger, all diplomatic means be used until a point is reached where the situation is turned over to the military for a solution. Without further interference from the government or restriction of the methods we use.”
“The ‘Final Option’ protocol,” Brock put in.
“Exactly,” Scott agreed.
“Sounds like a plan. Anyone who has a disagreement with the government would know that at some point military action will be taken against them if negotiations fail.”
“It’s a working solution, but the details of when that option would be used would be decided by the Prime Minister, and the Minister of Defense.”
“What about the rings?”
Scott was prepared for that question. “I have talked to the Ellises and Devon Hawking, and they have agreed to set up a private corporation to develop and manufacture the rings. All rings for the military will be free of charge, and they will charge a lease fee for civilian use. We can’t let any of that technology fall into the wrong hands, that’s an absolute. We have to protect the secret at any cost.”
Between the Ellises, Devon, and his EOD team, they’d reengineered the rings so it was even more difficult, if not impossible, to take them apart to learn their secret. You couldn’t even x-ray or ultrasound the interior, drill or cut them open, without the resulting explosion wiping out half a city. Any tampering was immediately reported back through the ring systems to the base. Now, any one ring could be locked out of the systems and deactivated. If necessary, they could cause the ring to melt down or even explode in the event one was stolen.
“Here, here,” they chorused, and one said, “I’d hate to think the damage someone could cause if they got hold of the secret.”
Scott nodded. “So, I’ll leave you all to discuss which road we should take between yourselves.”
“What about you, Admiral?”
“Please. Don’t let my decision influence you one way or the other. This is your choice, for you and future generations. At some point we’re going to colonize other star systems. What then? How do we protect them, help them grow, and what sort of government and constitution will they start with?”
Picking up his coffee mug, Scott stood and left, and much to his surprise, Brock followed. Once outside, they strolled though the gathering darkness of the warm summer evening. Brock lit up one of his cigars, and thankfully it was a better quality than those he usually smoked, and offered one to Scott. They lit up.
“You aren’t going to join the discussion, Gunny.”
“No need to. I know which road you want to take.”
“Oh, and how do you know that, mind reading?”
Brock smiled, shaking his head. “You grew up under a King … or Queen, I can’t remember which. So having one as the head of state is no big leap for you.”
“You’re right, it isn’t. Of course, this new King has a lot more say-so in what goes on in his government nowadays.”
“So I’ve heard, and the absolute right to veto any
law he deems inappropriate.”
“Yes, it tends to keep the members of Parliament on their toes, and no one tries to pass self-serving legislation. Now they get a flat salary, and actually have to ask the King for a pay raise. If he thinks they don’t deserve it, or should have a pay cut due to poor performance, that’s it.”
“Too right, and a good thing to. We saw what self-serving legislation can lead to.”
“You going to be happy living with a King as head of state?”
“Makes no difference to me, I’m a marine and go where I’m told and do what I’m told.”
“Actually, it’s Royal Marine if they go that way.”
“I can live with that. The Royal Marine commandos were and are a tough lot, well up to the standard of the old Corps and then some.”
At last they sat on a wooden bench and looked out over the beach smoking their cigars, sipping their drinks, and letting the soft sound of the ocean wash across the sand to flow over them. There was no need to talk, just relax and enjoy the moment. All too soon they would be back in the thick of battle, and this would be nothing but a wonderful, distant memory.
THE END
Echo of Tomorrow, Book Two
Copyright 2015 Rob Buckman
Published by Rob Buckman at Amazon
