The Forgiven The Fallen The Forsaken (31 page)

"We have
been blessed with a Native American population that was resistant to the bird
flu.  Once again, the Native American population has stepped forward during a
crisis and willingly done their duty without expecting anything in return.  I
wish to thank the Native Americans for their decency and assistance." 
There was a standing ovation at this. 

"One
result of the new flu is that the Native American population is now
approximately sixteen percent of the total American population.  This is a
power shift that I, for one, am pleased to see.  We will do our best to do
right by our Native American brothers and sisters."  Everyone in the room
was standing and applauding loudly.

"As you
can imagine, the federal government will be assuming ownership of a tremendous
amount of land for which heirs cannot be found.  We will turn over as much
sacred and quality land to the Native American tribes as possible.  We will
invest in their success because it is our success.  Hear me now, the era of
stealing Indian land, opportunities, and their children's future is
over."  There were loud cheers at this. 

"Finally,
you have a bill in front of you giving each American citizen $100,000 in seed
money to use as they see fit, whether to start a business, buy a home, or just
spend foolishly.  The purpose of this is to restart the economy and create
opportunity.  After this we will have an economy again.

"Many of
you helped to write these bills. I would ask that you pass them without delay
so that we can get started on the next phase of rebuilding.

"Finally,
I am nominating my temporary appointments for the Supreme Court for permanent
seats.  I would ask that the Senate confirm them quickly as well as my nomination
for vice president, Robert Mullins." There was applause throughout the
room.  "As you well know by now, Rob has been a relentless force in making
today possible.  Without him, none of us would be here.

"Here he
is, Robert Mullins."  Everyone in the room was now on their feet cheering
loudly. 

Rob walked out
in front of the room, waved, and walked over to Jim and whispered to him,
"You son of a bitch!"  Jim laughed and turned the podium over to
him. 

Rob growled,
"We have been hit hard.  We're bleeding and worn, but we're still in the
fight and our enemies are now an endangered species."  The room exploded
in cheers.

"Humanity
has turned a corner and there is no going back.  The future will be on our terms
and we will never again allow an attack on the whole of human kind to be
propagated by any person, group, or nation.

"From
Louisiana fisherman to Silicon Valley technology companies, we are moving ahead
rapidly.  The American people will not be kept down and God help anyone who
tries."  This time it took several minutes for the legislatures to sit
back down. 

"I proudly
accept the nomination and look forward to your confirmation.  Thank
you."   The cheers went on for some time.

Jim stepped
back up to the microphone and said, "Thank you, and God bless
America!"

The two of them
exited to the side of the room as the audience roared. 

As soon as they
were alone, Rob said, "I can't believe you did that to me!" 

Jim answered,
"You're the right choice and, besides, Denise thought you needed a new
project."

"Whitman
was in on this, too, wasn't he?"

"Of
course!  See you at the wedding on Saturday," said Jim, still chuckling as
he left the room.

FLAGSTAFF, ARIZONA

From the day
the wedding was first announced, there had been an international obsession with
it. Rob's nomination and swearing in as vice president hadn't done anything but
drive the interest into a frenzy. 

The wedding was
to be held at the NAU Walkup Skydome in honor of the people of Flagstaff who
had started the rebuilding.  At this point it was clear the entire country
wanted to be there.  Rob allowed reporters from the newly launched networks and
online newspapers full access to it, and the day was being treated like the
wedding of the century.  Everyone from the original village was highly sought
after for interviews and photos and Pia was even offered a news show.

Helen and Julie
were surprised at the number of celebrities that were trying to get in to the
wedding.  Movie stars, rock stars, and even former professional Athletes.  They
had no idea how so many got there on such short notice, or even that that many
were left, but it added to the perceived prestige of the day. 

In the end the campus
looked more like a rock festival than a wedding. Huge flat screens were set up
in different areas for those who weren't able to fit inside the dome and
various bands were playing on stages throughout the campus.  The estimates were
that more than forty thousand people were there for the event. 

Julie wore a traditional
white dress and Helen chose a dark red satin dress.  They were both stunning.  

"Are you
ready for this?" Helen asked.

"When the
hell did we turn into the royal family?"

"Oh,
they're here." 

"What?!"

"So are
the prime ministers of Australia and Japan, a boatload of EU leaders, and
ambassadors from pretty much everywhere else, and you don't want to get me
started on the list of countries sending journalists."

Julie said, "I
told you we should have done the drive through wedding in Vegas."

"And miss
out on this great dress?" 

Julie laughed
and asked, "How's your plan for becoming indispensable turning out so
far?"

"They're
delaying the unofficial summit until after the reception, so I guess that's
something.  And I think we're making a statement about how the world continues
to progress and won't be turning back.  You know, we're going to have to live
up to all of this later or get crucified over it."

Julie held her
hand and said, "And we will.  But for now, here we are living a fairytale
moment and all I can think is how grateful I'll be to get through it without
falling on my face." 

Helen smiled
and said, "This isn't a fairytale.  It's as real as it gets."

"Stop,
you're going to make me mess up my make up." 

Susan, Denise,
and Emiko came in at that time.  Emiko said, "You two aren't supposed to see
each other before the wedding!" 

The wedding
went perfectly.  In the end, it was a fairytale wedding with the Chief Justice
performing the ceremony and the stadium filled to the rafters.  Helen and Julie
were driven to the Student Union building for the reception afterward and, despite
being more political event than wedding reception, the party was fantastic. 

There was a
congressional delegation there led by the new Speaker of the House, Congressman
Larson, from Wyoming.  He walked up to them and said, "Congratulations,
you two.  We're all very proud of what you've been able to do for the nation
and very happy for both of you."  They both thanked him.  

Julie
particularly enjoyed seeing Ron and Skeeter running around in tuxedos drinking
out of beer cans.  Watching them talk with the British Royal Family
representatives was classic.

Samantha worked
her way around the room with her camera catching pictures of all the fun when
Helen and Julie caught up with her.  Julie told her.  "We're taking off in
about twenty minutes.  You're coming with us.  Your bags are already in the
plane."

Their limousine
and security took them to the airport where they changed clothes and jumped
into Helen's plane and took off after a quick preflight check. 

Helen asked Samantha,
"So what did you think?" 

"You two
were amazing.  I don't think you have any idea how big that was, though."

Julie said,
"What do you mean?" 

"Ever
since satellite TV and radio went up, the public has been following everything
that gets reported on the president's extended family and their adventures.  
There's footage of you two making the first food drops all over the country. 
When something big has to be done, you're there, usually armed to the teeth,
too."

"Anyone
would do that," Julie said.

"No, you
don't get it.  You two are like comic book heroes.  Except you're the real
deal.  When something's screwed up, you're right there in the middle fixing
it."

Julie said,
"That's going to be a lot to live up to."

Samantha said,
"I saw an interview with Skeeter and Ron."  Helen groaned. 
"They said that they you needed their truck on the way back from an
important mission and they flew security with you the whole way back.  When the
reporter asked what you were hauling, Skeeter said they couldn't talk about it
but it was extremely important for the good of the country."

Helen said,
"Oh, God."   

"You two
obviously haven't been following your fan pages."

"We have
fan pages?" asked Helen.

Julie said,
"This is a nightmare." 

"Right now
there are little girls all over the world dreaming of being you.  Beyond that,
your wedding just made the bold statement that things are going to be very different
from here on out."

Helen said,
"Wow."

"There are
even some great pictures up of you two brutalizing Dave and Stewart back in the
village."

Julie said,
"Hey, you took those pictures in the dojo."

Samantha
grinned and said, "Guilty.  So where are we headed?"

"It's
supposed to be a honeymoon.  We need beach pictures, so we're going to San
Diego.  Then we're going to San Jose to buy some tech companies.  But tonight
I'm flying into a little town called Yucca Valley where we bought a house on
the airport.  You're here to get great shots and make it look like we're
actually taking a honeymoon.  Sound good?"

Samantha said,
"Of course, but you know we're being followed?"

Helen sighed
and said, "That's our fighter escort. You got it right when you said that
things will never be the same." 

LATER THAT EVENING

Helen landed on
the small runway and taxied to the hangar at house that they had purchased.  Once
the propeller had stopped, the girls stepped out of the aircraft.  Julie
unlocked and opened the hangar door, and then the three of them pushed the
plane tail first into the hangar before closing the hangar door again.  Helen and
Julie opened a cabinet and pulled out gas cans filled with aviation fuel and
began refueling the aircraft. 

Samantha
started to pull her bag out of the plane until Helen said, "Wait."  Helen
opened up the door to the storage compartment and pulled out a small plastic
box and set it down on the floor.

Julie opened
the hangar door again and they pushed the plane back out.  Julie closed and
locked the door.   A few minutes later, they were airborne again. 

Samantha asked,
"You two are nuts, you know that don't you."

Julie put her
index finger in front of her lips.

They flew back
to Arizona in silence and landed the plane on a lighted airstrip in front of an
isolated house they had purchased the week before.  Helen taxied the plane up
to the house and parked in front of the open hangar.   They pushed the plane
into the hangar and refueled it before closing the doors and walking to the
house.

Samantha asked,
"What the hell was that all about?" 

Julie answered,
"There was a tracking and recording device that someone hid in the plane
and I don't know who put it there.  The military was infiltrated by the folks
trying to pull a coup.  Their agents are still there and we just became the
biggest targets around." 

"Why did
you bring me?"

The front door
opened and Matt stepped out.

Samantha said,
"Oh," and ran up to him and threw her arms around him.

Julie and Helen
looked at each other, dumbfounded.  Helen said, "I didn't see that one
coming."

Julie answered,
"Me either.  Weird."

They went into
the kitchen and pulled wine glasses out of the freezer.

Julie said,
"We're the ones who just got married and they went straight to the
bedroom!  At least they went to the guest bedroom."

Helen looked at
her slyly and said, "Don't worry; you'll get your chance.  I'm just glad
that the master bedroom is on the other side of the house."

"I'll
drink to that!"

"And
you'll get a real honeymoon, too, as soon as we can pull it off."

SEPTEMBER 2
^nd

Matt and
Samantha left in the morning before Julie and Helen got up.  Julie made coffee
and opened the curtains to see the morning sun over the desert. Helen stepped
up behind her and held her closely before noticing the note.

Julie,

Dad asked
us to move the trailers down here to get them out of the village now that
Flagstaff is getting too much attention.  Most of the original crew asked us to
stash their shares for safe keeping.  Matt, Jamie, and I are going to get a
place in San Diego.  We'll take our shares with us, but Dad's are with you.

We've
left everything you should need and a lot of stuff we thought you might like. 
Ron and Skeeter made a video of the wedding for you.  BTW, we're hiring them as
drivers and whatever.  They grow on you after a while.

Congratulations
you two!  Love you both!

                                                                                 Matt 
 

Helen said,
"How do you like that?  Your little brother stole our photographer.  He
probably left the room for us to clean up, too."

Julie
chuckled.  "But we have the place to ourselves, finally."

The house was
beautiful, with wide open rooms that fit the views and space perfectly.  It had
its own well system and an indoor swimming pool and spa.  The place was perfect
for them.