The Forgiven The Fallen The Forsaken (24 page)

He had a late
dinner with the farmers and listened to each of them carefully.  The only thing
he asked of them was for them to go home and tell their people what they had seen. 
He knew that all of them would.

After dinner, Jim
flew back to Las Vegas in a B1 bomber that was being relocated to Nellis.  The
pilot, Major Jenkins, was one of General Whitman’s, and was appreciative, if
wary, of the two hour flight with the Commander in Chief.  Jim noticed the
tension and shattered it by talking openly with him about the military and
morale.  Before long, Jim had the entire crew sharing filthy stories of various
tours around the world.  By the end of the flight, they had almost forgotten
his position.

Once on the
ground, Jim said goodbye to pilots and was thrilled to see Susan waiting for
him at the airfield.  He hugged her like there was no tomorrow. 

She told him,
“I wish you wouldn’t take such risks.  It makes me crazy waiting to see if you
make it home or not.”

He held her and
said, “You know I’ll always find a way to come home to you.  I love you.”  He
grabbed her hand pulled her toward the car where their driver waited.  “Let’s
go have some fun!”

She laughed and
said, “Are you sure there isn’t something more presidential you could be
doing?”

“I’ll show you
presidential!”

Susan laughed
and thoroughly enjoyed the rest of the evening.

CASPER,
WYOMING

Julie and Helen
were shuttling people and light supplies around the Midwest in a twin engine
Piper Navajo Chieftain plane that Rob had assigned to them.  Today’s flight was
flying vaccine and communications equipment into Casper, Wyoming. 

The plan was to
set up at a commercial or military airport in a region, then use it to resupply
smaller missions to the surrounding areas.  This morning they had flown out of
Idaho Falls Regional Airport but were working their way to Cheyenne, Wyoming. 

Everywhere they
went, they were met with people who were delighted to see them.  Today was no
exception.  They flew circles around the area and would land once they were
sure that they had been seen and people were coming to them.  After only a
short wait, they had several old pickups pull up to the runway.  They waved and
welcomed the group of people. 

The first two
to walk up were a couple in their 50’s, Jeff and Marie Miller.  After
introductions, Jeff said, “Boy, are we ever happy to see you!” 

Soon the group
was over thirty people.  Julie gathered them all and said, “Here’s what you
need to know right now.   There is a vaccine and we have several hundred doses
with us to start with.  More will be flown in as needed.”  The group cheered. 

“Our elected
government was wiped out, but we do have a legitimate president and are moving
rapidly toward elections.  We are looking for state officials in order to
determine if the governor or someone in the state chain of succession
survived. 

Governors are appointing
Senators and Congressmen to represent their states until special elections can
be held at the earliest possible date.  President Ambrose is insistent on
elections taking place as soon as they can be done correctly, preferably within
six months to a year at most.

“We’re
rebuilding quickly and we need your help.”

Julie sent them
to bring more of the population to be vaccinated.  By the time several hours
had passed, they had used up all of the prefilled vaccine syringes.

The big
surprise came when Jeff and Marie returned with Governor Martin.  Helen set him
up with a satellite phone immediately and called Jim on it.  Governor Martin
talked with Jim for almost an hour before coming back to talk with the girls.

“I’d like to
send my two Senators, one Congressman, and a couple of staff members back with
you.  President Ambrose said that would not be a problem.”

Helen answered,
“It would be our honor, Governor.  When can we expect them?”

“It will be an
hour or so to get them all here.  I believe you have met Jeff and Marie Miller? 
Good.  They are my appointments to the Senate.  We had a vote two days ago that
made my friend here, Nick Larson, a legitimate Congressman.”

Nick stepped up
and shook both the girls' hands.  "I'm delighted to meet you two.  What
are they doing for the rest of congress?"

Helen said,
“The Supreme Court has ruled that the House of Representatives may be appointed
by state governors to serve until special elections can be held.  If a governor
cannot be found for a state, the President can appoint one until a special
election can be held.  The ruling only applies to the current crisis and cannot
be used as a precedent. 

“The president
is legitimate as is the Supreme Court, but we’re hanging on by our fingernails
maintaining the fiction that there is a government,” said Helen quietly, “but
if we can keep that up a little longer, there will be an actual government in
place and we get to continue to be the United States of America.” 

The governor
nodded.  “The stakes are enormous, but I’m not sure how I feel about the
nation’s capitol being Las Vegas, though, even if it is temporary.”

“I know what
you mean, Governor Martin.”

Representative
Larson said, "Well, I, for one, am grateful for what you and your family
are doing.  I'm looking forward to working with you more."

"Thank
you, sir," said both Julie and Helen.

They refueled,
called in a flight plan, and departed with their VIP's for Hill Air Force Base
in Ogden, Utah shortly before dark.  A few hours later they were settled into
temporary quarters at Hill, and would be transporting their passengers the rest
of the way to Las Vegas in the morning.

LAS
VEGAS, NEVADA

JULY 1
^st

Jim listened to
General Whitman’s briefing and was pleased at the progress that had been made,
as were the room full of new senators and representatives. 

“In a nutshell,
we are rapidly regaining control of the country through a strategy of providing
initial food and vaccinations, working vehicles, and fuel.  This lets
communities and local governments work on essential issues and assist with
helping others with in their sphere of influence.

“We have
military forces throughout Mexico and Central America, where we are eliminating
all drug cartels and other hostile elements.  We vaccinate and feed those who
assist in that cause, but we are not there for purely humanitarian purposes yet. 
We are there first and foremost to retaliate against the gangs and cartels for the
slaughter of our citizens in several of our southern cities.”

Jim addressed
the room, “I ordered the invasion after seeing what had been done in Phoenix by
Hispanic gangs and the cartels."  He struck the podium with his fist. 
"Mexico, Cuba, and all of Central America are now United States territory
and will remain so from now on.  We are recruiting for the US led Territorial
Army and we are making those who join it live up to their oath of loyalty to
the US.

“For too long,
that entire area of the continent has been slowly bled to death by corruption,
sometimes with the help of the United States.  That problem has been dealt
with.

“We will soon
be exporting a surplus of food from that area and from the US.  This means that
there will be significant world trade again very soon.  It also means that we
will be able to recruit desperately needed population for our nation from our
territories and from parts of the world that were not as devastated by the flu.

“What I need
you to understand is the importance of this moment as a shift in all of human
history.  Life will never be the same from here on out.  We cannot tolerate
cold wars that breed state supported terrorism, nor can we allow even small
wars to be fought around the planet. 

“What will be
difficult for some of you to swallow is that we can no longer tolerate Islam
anywhere in the world.  It’s had its run and we paid with 9-11, a plethora of
wars, and now a virus that has eliminated most of humanity.  We will not allow
the practice of Islam to exist anywhere.”  There were heads nodding all over
the room.

“I am fully
aware that the constitution guarantees freedom of religion.  Based on the
severity of the attack on humanity by those of the Islamic faith, I have passed
an executive order declaring Islam to be a terrorist ideology rather than a
religion and practicing Muslims to be enemies of the United States. 

“Now for many
of you, this may seem extreme.  Know that the Middle Eastern nations,
Indonesia, and Pakistan essentially no longer exist.  Between their own
fighting and the retaliation of others, there are not many Muslims left in the
world.  Most of those who are left are in Africa, which now has less than five
percent of its original population alive.  We will deal with the Muslims who
remain there at a later date.  Make no mistake. 
This is a war against jihad
and we will win it definitively."

    Most of the
new legislators were sitting back, wide eyed at what they were hearing.  None
of them had expected this.

Jim took mental
note of this and chose to confront it.  “Most of you look shocked.  I want to
make something crystal clear.  We will not tolerate any nation, religion, or
organization that chooses to be a threat to the rest of human kind.  Nor will
we tolerate any kind of home grown extremists who conspire against their own
nation or the recovery.”  Some of the audience now looked fearful. 

“What you
haven’t been told yet is that Vice President Smith was assassinated in a coup
attempt.  One of my first actions as president was to bring justice to those
responsible and to destroy as much of their organization as we could discover. 
Understand that the situation we are in is not entirely due to external
enemies.

“Your job is
going to be to give the best representation possible for your constituents and
to rebuild a functional congress so that we can move back to a fully constitutional
government as quickly as possible. 

“As you well
know, we don’t now have the ability to follow the Constitution as we understood
it this time last year.  For example, we don’t have the resources to feed
prison inmates, and we can’t and won’t protect a religious group that committed
the most massive genocide in the history of mankind. We also have no real legal
system in place. 

“Once we have a
functioning House, Senate, and Supreme Court, then we’ll revisit these items,
but until then I will do everything I have to do using all of the authority
that I have to maintain the existence and sovereignty of the nation. 

“As for the
presidency, the next election will be undertaken just over two years from now. 
When the next president is elected, I fully intend to turn over a nation that
is functional, strong, and sustainable.”  He paused and looked around the room
at each Senator and Representative.  “And I will be fully accountable for my
decisions and actions, as will we all.

“For now, I
will not hesitate to use all of the power at my disposal to meet the goals I’ve
stated.  I have no intention of being a dictator, however extreme my powers may
be in the short term.  I know you have questions.  I will do my best to answer
them now.”

Congressman Nicholas
Larson from Wyoming said, "I think I can speak for all of us when I say
that we are grateful for what you have done and that we will back you as much
as possible in your endeavor, though we would like to see checks and balances fully
functional as soon as possible." 

Jim answered,
"As would I.  That's all that I'm asking for now."

Jim and General
Whitman spent the next couple of hours answering questions and had won over all
of their audience by the end of the session.

IDAHO

“I can’t
believe we’re being recalled from convoy duty,” Luke said to Jamie and Dave. 
“We’ve done a lot of good out here.”

“Welcome to
government work, kid,” answered Dave.

They were in
Twin Falls, Idaho, waiting for pick up at a small municipal airport.  Helen and
Julie were due in any time now.

“Well, I’m
going to be glad for a break,” said Jamie.

Dave laughed,
“Who said anything about a break.  You two turned yourselves into political
assets last week.  The footage of you two leading efforts to bring food to
Americans everywhere has gone all over the country.  There is a picture of the
two of you standing in front of your shot up rig that is everywhere on the
internet now.”

“And it’s not
just you.  Expect your entire family to now be front and center in the effort
to get the country running now.  You’re American royalty whether you like it or
not.  Very soon now you’re going to miss the anonymity of convoy duty.”

They heard the
sounds of a small plane engine and could now see the plane approaching.

Luke said,
“Somehow that doesn’t sound like fun.”

“No sane person
would think it should be.”

The plane
landed and they walked over to where it parked.  Helen and Julie both jumped
out and everyone hugged.

They loaded
their bags into the plane and were soon airborne again. 

Dave asked, “Do
you two know what’s going on?”

Julie said,
“We’ll stop to refuel and then we’re flying to meet Uncle Jim, Dad, and
everyone at the village.  That’s all I know.”

It was a
comfortable flight in the Piper.  The plane was originally designed as small
corporate passenger plane and was plush, if not roomy. 

They used the flight
to catch up on the events of the past couple of weeks.  Helen teased Jamie and
Luke about when they were going to get married and start repopulating the
country. The two of them looked sheepish at the ribbing but took it in stride.