“Who deserted, Karin? Did they desert the Army? Or did the Army desert them?”
“Yes, I see what you mean. When you think about it, I don’t believe they deserted the Army, and I don’t believe the Army deserted them,” Karin said. “It is Ohmshidi who has deserted us all.”
Jake lifted up one of the steaks to examine it; then he looked back at Karin. “That’s about the size of it,” he said.
They had an early dinner, then sat out front and watched the sun go down over the lake.
“Karin, have you given any thought to what lies ahead?” Jake asked.
“I try not to. Every time I think about it, I just get more frightened. Have you thought about it?”
“Yes, I have given it a great deal of thought. It’s like flying, and always anticipating the worst so you can be prepared for what might happen. I believe we must think and plan ahead.”
“Plan and think about what?”
“Survival.”
“I know what you mean. Unemployment is now at thirty-six percent, or so they say. And I wouldn’t be surprised if it is much higher than that. If we are riffed, it is going to be very hard to get a job in civilian life.”
“I’m not talking about getting a job,” Jake said. “Very soon there aren’t going to be any jobs anywhere, for anyone. I’m talking about survival as in staying alive—the kind of survival when there is a complete and total collapse of civilization.”
“Jake!” Karin gasped. “You don’t mean that, do you?”
“I do mean it,” Jake said. “Believe me; it cannot go on like this. I believe our republic is going to have a complete breakdown.”
“If that happens what will we do? What will anyone do?”
“I’ve already started,” Jake said. “Actually, I started a couple of months ago, but I didn’t say anything to you about it then, because I didn’t want to worry you. As if you didn’t have enough sense to be worried, just by listening to Ohmshidi.”
“You already started what?” Karin asked.
“Do you remember when I told you I was going to see to it that you and I would survive? I am putting together a team,” Jake said. “A team of survivors.”
“By team, you mean there will be others?”
“Yes.”
“Who do you have in mind?”
“Sergeant Major Clay Matthews, for one. I’ve already got him getting things ready. He is the kind of person I will be looking for, people who possess skills that can contribute to the survival of the team. Like your medical skills.”
Karin hit him on the shoulder. “What? You mean the only reason you want me is because I’m a nurse? And here, all this time, I thought you wanted me because I am me,” she said in mock mortification.
Jake laughed, and pulled her back to him. “Well, yes, that too,” he said. “The steaks are done.”
Jake returned to the grill and started picking up the steaks when he saw Karin just staring out at the lake.
“Karin, what is it?” he asked. “What’s wrong?”
“This,” she said, sweeping her hand across the lake.
“What? I think it’s very nice here. Don’t you like it?”
“Oh, I love it, Jake, but have you considered that this might be our last time like this? I mean, if things really do get worse, much worse, if we actually do have to go into a survival mode, something like this will be only in our memory.”
Jake leaned over and kissed her, lightly. “Then, let’s make this a good memory,” he said.
“Yes.”
They were just finishing their meal when Jake glanced at his watch. “It’s about time for the news,” he said.
“Are you sure you want to watch? I mean all the news is so depressing now.”
“Do I want to watch? No, I don’t,” Jake said. He sighed. “But I don’t think we have any choice. I am now morbidly obsessed with watching this man to see what he is going to do next. It’s like being unable to turn away from a train wreck.”
They moved over to the sofa, where Jake opened the wine, then poured each of them a glass. Handing a glass to Karin, he sat down beside her, then clicked on the TV.
Thirty-one people were killed and at least one hundred eighty injured when riots broke out in Louisville today, protesting the lack of fuel, [the announcer said.] This is the fifteenth riot this month, resulting in loss of life. The worst was the riot last week in Detroit, where one hundred and fifty-three were killed, and two hundred and forty-seven injured. The amount of damage done to private property as a result of the riots is incalculable, due to the fact that there is no longer a measureable value to the dollar.
In Cleveland, a spokesman for the national trucking industry said that if an allocation of fuel is not set aside and administered just for trucks there will soon be a nationwide shortage of food. Such a shortage is already occurring in the smaller towns across the nation where trucks are their only source of supply. Governor Coleman of Missouri has asked that a state of emergency be declared for the small town of Advance, which he says is completely out of food.
On another front, the national commissioner of baseball announced today that after the games this Sunday, all league play will be suspended. Since the president ordered the fuel embargo, airline operations are at the lowest they have been at any time since 1931 when air travel was still a fledgling industry. The airlines have said they could not guarantee Major League Baseball that they could offer enough flights to maintain the team schedules. Plans are underway to have a truncated World Series between the two teams with the best record in the National and American Leagues. The commissioner admitted during a press conference that the future of Major League Baseball is uncertain. The winner of this series may well go down as the last World Series Champion in history, he said.
The National Football League and the NCAA have already announced that there will be no football season this fall, and are unable to make any predictions on the future. As these games are played a week apart, they might be able to continue their schedule by train, though Amtrak has cut its operations by more than half.
A NEWS BREAK notice flashed on the screen.
We have this just in. President Ohmshidi has asked for network time to make an announcement. We go now to the Oval Office in Washington, D. C.
Ohmshidi was staring at the camera, obviously waiting for the signal to proceed. A slight nod of his head indicated that the signal had been given, and he began speaking.
My fellow Americans. When I was elected president, I inherited a nation that was in chaos. Because of the reckless policies of the previous president, the gap between the haves and the have-nots had widened precipitously. We were seeing big business run amok, and greedy banks foreclosing on hardworking Americans. My predecessor made no real effort to stem our insatiable lust for oil; indeed he sat idly by as our environment was destroyed and global warming increased. In addition, by fighting unnecessary and unjust wars in which innocent women and children fell victim to American bombs, he made this country the most hated in the world.
I began immediately to tend to these shortfalls. My first step was in ordering the return of all American troops, and I am happy to report that no longer is the uniform of an American soldier seen anywhere beyond our borders. I also ordered a cessation to any new oil as a way of forcing scientists to develop a new and sustainable source of energy. And though our nation is going through a period of belt-tightening and some hardships, we are weathering this storm together, knowing that there is a bright and shining future ahead.
Last night, in a midnight session, I asked Congress to pass the Enabling Act. The act passed by an overwhelming majority, though I am sorry to say that the opposing party proved, once again, to be the party of no, because not one of them voted for it. To bring about the fundamental change the people of this country voted for, and to deal with the inherited problems I have enumerated, it has become necessary for me to ask for increased presidential powers. The Enabling Act gives me those powers.
You may ask, and well you should, what is the Enabling Act? Under this act the roles of the president and Congress are reversed. As it is now, I can propose a bill, but I must wait for Congress with all its petty jealousies and bickering to act upon it. The sheer number of people, egos, and differing ideas make it almost impossible to get a bill through, and by the time it does come through Congress, there are so many compromises and amendments that it might bear scant resemblance to the bill I had proposed. This is unacceptable. In this time of crisis, a crisis I inherited from my predecessor, action must be decisive and immediate. We wait for the dawdling outcome of Congress at our own peril. When the bill reaches my desk I may ratify it by affixing my signature to the document, or I might refuse it by veto. If I veto the bill it will require a two-thirds majority to override that veto.
Under this new act this system will be reversed. I will replace Congress in the order of bringing a bill into law. There will be no need for bickering, compromise, amendment, or vote. Any proposal I make will become law as soon as I declare it so, unless it is vetoed by Congress, and that will require a two-thirds majority of both the House and Senate.
A new era of government has begun and I, Mehdi Ohmshidi, promise you efficiency and progress such as this country has never seen before.
In conclusion, let me share with you three more decisions I have made.
First, I have ordered that there be a one hundred percent stand-down in our Strategic Defense Initiative, better known as Sky Wars. I want every anti-missile missile to be withdrawn and destroyed. Secondly, I hereby order the immediate and unilateral dismantling of all our nuclear weapons in any guise, whether they be delivered by rocket, aircraft, or any other means.
And finally, I am, today, closing down the FBI, the CIA, the Secret Service, and the Homeland Defense Agency. I am doing this because of all the questionable activities that have been carried on by these agencies over the years, from the persecution by the FBI of innocent citizens during the long, dark, and oppressive years of the Cold War, to the torture and murder perpetrated by the CIA, to the illegal spying and violation-of-privacy acts conducted by Homeland Security. I am creating a new agency, answerable only to me. This new agency shall be known as the State Protective Service, or, the SPS. This new agency will have, in addition to their other many responsibilities, the task of protecting your president. Therefore the Secret Service will no longer be required.
So as not to taint the SPS with any of the misdeeds of the former agencies, no one who was a member of those agencies will be authorized to wear the coveted uniform of the SPS.
I believe that the steps I have taken so far—the pullback of all U.S. military from overseas, the seventy-five percent reduction in the number of personnel in our armed forces, the dismantling of all offensive and defensive missiles, and yes, even the rejection of fossil fuels—have created an environment of peace that we will be able to enjoy for years to come.
Thank you, and good night.
Karin hit the mute button on the remote. “He can’t do that, can he?” she asked, shocked by what she had just heard. “He’s assuming dictatorial powers, and he can’t do that. Surely the Supreme Court will stop it.”
“Of course they will stop it,” Jake said. “He’s gone way too far now. Maybe this will all turn out for the good.”
“Good? How can it be good?”
“I can’t see any way that the Supreme Court will let this stand. They will stop it.”
“Do you think so?”
“Yes, they have to. How can they not?” Jake asked. He leaned his head back and closed his eyes. “Or, maybe not,” he added. “It may no longer be our problem.”
“Why do you say that?”
“If we activate the survival team, we will be cutting ourselves off from the rest of the country.”
“I know.”
“I said I was choosing all the members of the team based upon their particular skills. You know what my particular skill is?” he asked.
“You have a lot of skills,” Karin said. “You are one of the most accomplished men I know. You are rated in how many aircraft? You have instrument ratings, you are a qualified flight instructor, you know electronics, you are a whiz with the computer.”
Jake started laughing, and he laughed so hard that tears came to his eyes.
“What is it? What did I say?” Karin asked.
“Think about it,” Jake said.
Karin thought for a moment; then she shook her head. “Oh, wow,” she said. “Am I really that dumb? If there is a total breakdown, none of that will matter, will it?”
“My skill is the way I spent my youth,” Jake said. “I never rode in an automobile until I was eighteen years old. You went to Lancaster with me, you know what my life was like. I was raised without electricity, without running water, without telephone, radio, or television. We farmed with mules, and what the mules couldn’t do, we did with our bare hands and muscle. The first time I ever sat in an aircraft was when I went to flight school. I know how to live in a world that never even entered the twentieth century, let alone the twenty-first century.”
“When we went to Pennsylvania for you to visit your family, I confess that I felt a little sorry for those people, dressed in plain clothes and riding around in a horse and buggy,” Karin said. “I thought of how deprived they are. But now it holds a strange attraction for me. I could almost see myself living that life.”
“Under circumstances like we are facing today, yes, the Life is very seductive,” Jake said.
Karin smiled. “Seductive,” she said. “Yes, you were very masculine, very seductive in your plain clothes.”
“Who seduced who?” Jake asked, returning her smile.
“That isn’t fair. You can’t blame me. I was disoriented, not thinking straight, discombobulated.”
“Really? You mean you just tolerated me in bed?”
“I had to. You outrank me,” Karin teased.
“So, you will do anything I order you to do?”
Karin leaned into him, shut her eyes, and raised her lips to his, but stopping just short of a kiss.
“Captain Dawes, reporting for duty, sir,” she mumbled.
Jake did not close the distance between their lips. Puzzled, Karin opened her eyes and looked at him.
“Haven’t you heard? We are an all-volunteer army now,” Jake said. “If we go any further, you are going to have to volunteer.”
“Shut up and kiss me—sir,” Karin said, pressing her lips against his.
“I need you, Karin,” Jake said. “I don’t think I’ve ever needed you more than I need you at this moment.”
Karin stood, then started toward the bedroom. “Give me a moment.”
“Make it a quick moment,” Jake replied, his voice husky with desire.
CHAPTER TEN
Base hospital, Fort Rucker—Monday, June 18
“Captain Dawes?”
Looking up from her computer, on which she was filing a report, Karin saw Sergeant Julie Norton. Julie was a clerk in the office of the hospital commander.
“Yes, Sergeant Norton,” Karin said, smiling at the young black woman. Julie was twenty-two years old and two years earlier, had been first runner-up in the Miss Georgia beauty contest.
“I thought you might like to know that Colonel Chambers just died,” Julie said in a sad voice.
“I was afraid of that,” Karin said. “He beat the infection, but then pneumonia set in, and he couldn’t beat that. Pneumonia is hard to fight when you are young and strong. His body was weak; I’m surprised he lasted as long as he did.”
“Yes, ma’am. The doctor said the only reason he lasted as long as he did was because of the way you took care of him,” Julie said.
“It’s a shame,” Karin said. “He was such a fascinating old man. And so pleasant.”
“Did you know he listed you as his next of kin?” Julie asked.
“What? No, I had no idea. Why would he do something like that?”
&n
bsp; “I don’t know, either. Maybe it’s because he doesn’t have anyone else. I pulled his records after the doctor told me he had died, just like I do for everyone when they are being released, either discharged, or by dying. His wife died last year and their only son was killed in Vietnam.”
“Oh, what a lonely man he must have been,” Karin said.
“He left this letter for you.”
Julie handed a sealed envelope to Karin. Opening it, she removed the letter. Despite the colonel’s age, the penmanship was bold and very legible.
Dear Captain Dawes,
I want to thank you for the loving care you gave me during my time here in the hospital. The sad thing is, I know I will not survive this stay. It is not sad for me. I have lived more than my prescribed years, and I am ready to shuffle off this mortal coil. But it may be sad for you, because you invested so much of your time and effort in tending to an old man.
As you may already know from a perusal of my records, I was at Bastogne in December of 1944. I was a company commander for one of the forward units. The German commander sent a note to General McAuliffe demanding the surrender of the Americans. The general sent back a note that angered the German commander, and the German commander threw that note away.
I found that note and have kept it ever since. I am leaving that note to you.
Sincerely,
Garrison J. Chambers
Col U.S. Army (ret)
Karin looked back into the envelope and saw another piece of paper, folded into a square, the paper browning.
“Oh, my God, this can’t be real,” Karin said.
Karin removed the brown piece of paper, then opened it up. There were only nine words written on the paper, only one of which was the body of the note. But that one word had come down through American history as a symbol of duty, honor, and country.
To the German Commander
NUTS!
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