Authors: Rich Goldhaber
As the large weapon of destruction cut its
engines and coasted to a stop, Captain Sanchez
moved out onto the forward deck along with a half
dozen of his crew. He took out his bull horn. “Ahoy
fishing boats. This is the USS Jimmy Carter.
Please tie up on the starboard side of our ship
along the forward bow plane.”
Stan expertly piloted his fishing boat to the
mooring point, and the other two boats tied up to
the starboard side of Stan’s boat. Stan stepped onto the forward bow. Captain Sanchez cautiously
shook the man’s hand. The risk of infection and
death still weighed heavily on the captain’s mind.
He doubted he would overcome his fear for many
months.
I answered the phone and listened in silence as Stan announced the arrival of the submarine. “Okay, we’ll send some buses over right now,
and I’ll call Major Connors to let him know.”
Jessie and the others at the table looked at
me waiting for the bad news. “That was Stan. A
nuclear powered submarine just stopped by for a
visit. There’re 143 sailors aboard and they’re coming here.”
The news of the arrival of our latest guests
spread rapidly throughout the community. I asked
Jessie to locate the rest of the governors and then
called Major Connors. After hearing the news, he
indicated he would have Sammy fly him down as
soon as possible.
Ten minutes later Jessie, George, Manny,
Bill and I left in two yellow school buses and headed over to the fishing docks at Fort Myers Beach.
As usual there was no traffic, and we made the trip
in just over thirty minutes. We parked by the dock
area and watched as the three fishing boats and
massive submarine passed under the San Carlos
Blvd.
It took almost half an hour for all of the introductions and after helping the fishing crew unload their catch of the day, everyone crowded into
the buses and three trucks that had brought the
fishermen to their boats.
Bill drove the bus and I sat in one of the
front seats next to Captain Sanchez. On our ride
back to the campus, I briefly filled Sanchez in on
our community, and he quickly summarized the
odyssey of the USS Jimmy Carter.
We arrived back at the campus and were
immediately surrounded by several hundred residents who wanted to greet the sailors. It must have
been the ultimate port leave for the crew who
stepped off the bus and were greeted by everyone
in the area.
His smile was answer enough, and I
screamed for everyone’s attention. “Please everyone. Let’s give our guests some room. The captain
tells me they haven’t had a good meal in over six
months. We’re going over to the dining area, and
there’ll be plenty of time to meet our guests as
soon as they’ve had a chance to eat and relax.”
I led the sailors over to the dining tent
where Beth greeted each of the sailors and encouraged them to eat their fill at the never ending buffet line. There was an immediate stampede for the
food. Captain Sanchez and his officers waited until
the crew had passed through the chow-line. I
saved a large table for the ship’s officers and the
governors. Jessie and I took a carafe of coffee over
to the table and waited for the ship’s officers to join
us.
As we were waiting, I heard Sammy Lafayette’s chopper approach the area, and he expertly
landed the bird in his designated parking place.
Sammy and Major Connors walked quickly to our
table, and I made the introductions. The captain
and the major saluted each other and then embraced. Arnie left to grab a cup of coffee and Beth’s
blueberry pancakes, and we made room for him at
our table.
Captain Sanchez looked around our community with astonishment. “My God this is paradise. You’ve put the entire infrastructure back.
We’ve traveled all along the eastern seaboard, and
this is the first place we’ve seen with electricity.”
Jessie said, “There’re two other places with
power, one in California that we visited a few
weeks ago and another just west of Boston. There
may be others but so far we haven’t located them.”
Arnie Connors answered, “We can operate
our military satellite imagery from our base in
Tampa. We could see their lights at night. The survivors in California were able to start up a nuclear
power plant. We use solar power here, and we’re
not sure how the people near Boston get their power.”
I had a request for Captain Sanchez. “Captain, Mary Higgins is a nurse who’s trying her best
to take care of our medical needs. We’ve got a
woman who’s just given birth to a little boy and
another woman who has cancer. We were just able
to get her some drugs, and I’d appreciate it if your
medical officer can check them out.”
Jessie volunteered to take the doctor to see
our patients. Arnie Connor changed the subject.
“Captain, we have one more problem that’s brewing. We’ve got a group of misfits located just outside of Augusta, Georgia. They’re using Fort Gordon as their base of operations, and it looks like
they’ve got access to all of the weapons in the fort’s
armory. We just rescued over a dozen women who
were being held as sex slaves at the fort, but we
think they know we were the ones who rescued the
women. I’m guessing they’ll be heading this way in
a few days.”
“We’re guessing now, but several hundred
for sure. I have a half dozen of my soldiers helping
the California people eliminate a group of bad guys
who’ve been killing their residents, and I’m thinking we’re going to need your help if we’re attacked.”
Sanchez said, “It sounds like that movie
The Postman
with Kevin Costner about a renegade
army pillaging America after an apocalyptic event.”
Arnie said, “It is, but they’ll be using Bradley M2 Fighting Vehicles instead of riding horses.
What kind of firepower do you carry on your weapons’ platform?”
“We’re an attack submarine; we carry torpedoes and a couple dozen cruise missiles. Why,
what are you thinking?”
Arnie answered, “Jessie knew, she talked
about the country splitting up into good guys and
bad guys long before things started to go to hell.
She was absolutely right; there’re always a group
of people who don’t want to earn their way in the
world; they just want to take what others have
worked hard to create. The country isn’t going to
be safe until we rid the place of this scum.”
Sanchez looked around the dining area at
his men engaged in conversations with others and
obviously enjoying the end of their isolation. “Jim,
if you’ll let us, I think we’d like to stay a while. My
men need to be absorbed back into a real society,
and besides I’ve fallen in love with Beth and her
blueberry pancakes.”
Arnie interrupted, “You can’t have her Captain; she’s all mine. I might be willing to share her
cooking skills for a while because your men look
like they could use some good old fashioned cooking, but long term, she’s mine.”
I laughed at their humor and then answered Sanchez, “Captain, we’d be pleased to accommodate your entire crew for as long as you’d
like to stay, but we have a rule here; every ablebodied person has to work.”
Hunter and Jasmine came running up to
the table. They introduced themselves to all the
newcomers. “Jim, when are we going to go to the
reservation?”
I answered, “Jasmine and Hunter are my
foster children. All of the children have foster parents. Some kids even have several. They were the
only survivors at the Seminole Indian Reservation.
Jessie and I are going to get married, and we promised them we would do some Indian traditions as
part of the ceremony, and they said they needed to
get the sacred objects at their reservation.”
Beth came over to our table and sat down
next to Arnie. He kissed her on the cheek just to
annoy Ed Sanchez. “Honey, I would swim the Atlantic ocean for a stack of your blueberry pancakes.”
Beth smiled, “Major, I don’t think you’d
make it much past Everglades City before the
sharks finished you off, but thanks for the compliment.”
“Just remember my offer Beth; if you come
live in Tampa I will personally get you all the gold
in Fort Knox.”
Beth answered, “I’d rather have a good pastrami sandwich. What good is the gold going to
do?”
Everyone laughed at the verbal sparring.
Then Beth got serious, “Jim we’ve got more people
who’ve moved in and I’m now estimating we’ll be
out of flour in another four months. We can make
do with cornbread if we have to, but everyone will
miss all the cakes and pies.”
“Beth, as soon as Captain Stewart and
Blaine get back, we’re going to fly up to the Midwest and see if we can trade a little infrastructure
for an ongoing supply of flour.”
“Thank you Jim, I know you’re doing your
best. And one more thing, I need to talk to you and
Jessie about the wedding. We’ll have almost onethousand people to feed and I’ve got some ideas of
what might work.”
Beth agreed and she left to go back to her
kitchen. Captain Sanchez said, “That’s one hell of a
woman; I need to ask you one thing; why do you all
eat in a community kitchen?”
“To tell you the truth, I haven’t really
thought too much about it, but I think the first
couple of months everyone worked from sunrise to
sunset putting our infrastructure back together
again, and Beth volunteered to cook for everyone.
In the beginning it made sense and then as our
community grew, everyone just wanted the communal dining to stay. It’s a time for us all to get
together and talk. I’m sure it will have to end one
day but I hope not too soon. I think eating together
makes us one big family.”
Jessie returned from our makeshift hospital
with the kids dragging her along. I stood up and
excused myself after Manny volunteered to set all
of Captain Sanchez’s crew up with their accommodations.
We took one of the U-Haul vans to make
sure we had enough room for everything the kids
wanted to bring back. Jessie and I rode in front
and Hunter and Jasmine sat in the back.
We headed east on Alligator Alley and eventually turned north on Route 1280. Ten minutes
later we entered the Big Cypress Indian Reservation. Both kids were screaming at us, so I stopped
the truck. Jasmine squeezed in between Jessie and
me, and Hunter sat on Jessie’s lap. We slowed almost to a crawl. The kids hadn’t been here since
Blaine found them, and I could see the sense of
past tragedy and personal sorrow etched into their
young faces. None of us spoke a word until Jasmine told us to turn right onto Henry Osceola
Road.
We stopped the car alongside a small cemetery. A lone backhoe stood guard over a long eightfoot wide trench dug into the sandy soil. The front
part of the trench had been filled in with fresh soil.
Both kids walked slowly up to the filled in area and
knelt down on the grass. Jessie and I sat down on
the grass behind both kids and just let them work
their way through their difficult moment. There
was no need for words of understanding because
we had all lost loved ones, and we both understood
the grief the kids were going through.
Jasmine finally ran to us and fell into my
arms. Hunter did the same with Jessie. We just sat
there holding each other for several minutes. Finally Jasmine said. “We were once a happy family,
and then all of our loved ones died, but just like
the mythical Phoenix bird in Indian culture,
Hunter and I rose up and found a new family. We
love you both very much.”
We finally walked back to the U-Haul and
continued driving slowly through the complex. I
had never been to the reservation, and I really
didn’t know what to expect, but I was certainly
shocked to see dozens of million dollar homes
spread out along the road. Casino money had certainly been able to work its magic in this community. Jasmine told us her house was the big rose –
colored stucco house just up ahead.
Jessie said, “Come on Jasmine, show us
your home. I want to see everything about how you
lived. Jasmine bolted out of the car and dragged us
both through the front door. The tour of the house
lasted a good ten minutes.
Jessie and I held hands as we watched
Jasmine collect her most prized possessions from
her room, and she created a neat grouping of dolls
on her bed. A large brown teddy bear came out of
hiding and joined the dolls.
Jasmine ran to the closet and took out a
beautiful long flowing dress made with multicolored layered cloth with a great deal of embroidery and small colorful beads. “My grandmother
made this for my mother, and she gave it to me. I
think it will still fit.”
We gathered all of Jasmine’s things and
packed them into one large suitcase. Then Hunter
directed us to his home which was located only a
few blocks away.
I parked the car in the driveway and Hunter
dashed inside his house and into his bedroom. Before we arrived in his room, he had already made a
pile of his baseball glove and other sports equipment. He showed me his most prized possession, a
complete set of Pokémon trading cards. Jessie
asked him what he was going to wear to the wedding, and he walked into his closet and took out a
multi-colored tunic, black leather pants and a pair
of bright yellow boots. He also took out a red turban-like hat with a single long white feather sticking out the side.