The Forgiven The Fallen The Forsaken (39 page)

He could tell some
of the women were wary of him, but he couldn't concern himself with that.  He
expected that they would leave him tomorrow morning anyway.

He left the
girls to their own devices and turned in right after dinner.  He locked the
bedroom doors behind him and slept through the night in his own bed.

Kemp woke the
next morning feeling better than he had in years.  He also felt confused about
his overall plan until he realized that he really didn't have one. 

He had been horrified
when he heard a shortwave radio news report about Russia and Flagstaff being
destroyed.  Larson must have had the targets reprogrammed.  Kemp never would
have launched them had he known. 
One thing is certain, the US government will
never forget about me now
.  He only wished that Foster were still alive so
he could kill him again.

And who
would have thought that someone like Ambrose would have been put in charge? 
Once he knew the Russians would launch, he didn't hesitate.  The man is
completely ruthless.  By the time the fools are back in charge, it will be too
late to change course.  And he will be very dangerous to me.

What the
hell am I trying to do?  I need to find a deep hole to hide in, and instead,
I'm busy screwing around, pretending I have real options while he's busy
sharpening the executioner's axe.  It doesn't make sense.

I need to
lay low and get my head straight.  The goal has to be just to survive for now
.

He trimmed his
beard, showered, and dressed, then went out to the kitchen.  He was relieved to
see that he was the only one up as yet.  He made coffee and turned on the
television.   

He was
surprised to get a TV signal after so long without one.  He was watching a
station out of Los Angeles, and a news show that was detailing the status of
repairs to the infrastructure.  The electrical grid was working again in
cities, and rural areas were gradually coming back on line too.  There were
plenty of working cars now, though gasoline was expensive.  A company called
Kunoichi Imports & Exports was even bringing in ship loads of electric
vehicles and hybrids from Japan and Korea.

What really
surprised him was that the US was already an exporter of food again.  It didn't
seem possible.   Finally, he was shocked to hear about the US giving people
$100,000 seed money to get started.  It seemed crazy, but made sense in terms
of jump starting the economy.  All he had to do was walk into a New American
Bank and present Frank's ID to access his accounts, assuming that they wouldn't
be checking fingerprints.  It started him thinking, and by the time the women
started to get up, he had the rudiments of a plan for the next few days.

Over breakfast
he told the women about the federal give away.  All of the women looked
ecstatic.  He said, "It means freedom for all of you.  You can buy a small
house and take a job or live off of it for a while, or do whatever the hell
else makes you happy.

"I'm going
to fuel up and resupply at Dana Point today and could use a hand with that.  In
the next couple of days, I'm thinking about sailing up to Northern California
for a few weeks.  You're welcome to stick around to help with the boat or take
off whenever."

Maria said,
"We're staying with you, Skipper."

"You don't
need to decide now."

Sandy said,
"Look, we discussed it last night after you went to bed.  We're staying as
crew.  That goes for Lisa, Sonya, and Pam, too."  The other three young
women nodded aggressively.  "But you're going to teach us how to operate
this boat and to defend it."

Kemp thought
for a moment, and said, "Okay, but I think you may feel differently when
you get your accounts at the New American Bank."

Sonya said,
"Not on your life."

"Can I ask
you why all of you want to stay?"

Lisa said,
"You locked your door last night instead of trying to drag us into the
bedroom like most men would have done.  You saved our asses from a living hell
without asking anything of us."

Kemp said,
"None of you ever have to sleep with me.  From here on out, you never have
to sleep with anyone you don't want to.  That's non-negotiable.  Nothing that
has been done to you defines your worth or who you are.  You know this."

With tears
running down her face, Pam said, "You're damaged goods, just like us, but
we're keeping you."

Is it that
obvious? He felt his once perfect control slipping away.  Something in him had
broken in that mine and would not ever go back to what it once was.  He would
never again be the man who he had been.  Maybe he didn't want to be.

Kemp wasn't
even aware of his tears until he felt them running down his cheeks.  His new
crew each came up and wrapped their arms around him.  There was a bonding starting
that was much deeper than anything he would have thought possible a few weeks
before.  Maybe this group was his new mission.  Or maybe he was slipping down
the drain.

Once he finally
regained composure, he started the engines, pulled up the anchors and gave the
women their first lesson in steering a yacht.  A few hours later, he was
putting his new crew to work refueling the boat and securing it at the marina. 
Afterward, he sent them out to check into their government start up funds and
to have some fun while he painted the cabin where he had found the body.  He
used two layers of quick drying sealant on the walls, ceiling and floors before
the crew returned.  Hopefully it would be enough.

The girls came
back with loads of groceries, cleaning supplies, computers, movies, and even more
painting supplies.  They bluntly informed him that they would be staying in
port a few days until the ship was livable.  He was actually relieved for the
break and looked forward to the chance to do some maintenance on ship systems and
to remove more barnacles before the next trip, but he never would have imagined
this twisted reality even a few weeks before.

NORTH EASTERN UNITED STATES

Jamie carefully
drove the rig through the snow.  They were in Maryland in a convoy transporting
heating oil up the coast to New Jersey.  It was a light snow, and they hoped it
would stay that way. 

They still
drove primarily in convoys with lead cars whenever possible, though hijacking
attempts were seldom now.  The truth was that the roads were still dangerous
even if lawlessness was now the least of their worries. 

He and Jamie
had been working their way through college lectures on US history and Luke
found it very interesting to be driving through some of the countryside that
had been so prominent in the early years of the nation.  It seemed like the
appropriate material for this trip.

They stopped
for fuel and a quick bite.  As usual, they were immediately recognized and
greeted by people they had never seen before.  It was a bit unnerving, but
seemed to be important to people that Jamie and Luke talk to them.  Luke was
never sure what to make of being treated as celebrities.  He was just doing
what needed to be done, and it's not like going back to school was really an
option.

The truck stop
diner food was actually not too bad, which was a relief to both of them.  Many
of their stops were memorable only for how bad the food was.

For the next
leg, Luke drove.  Twenty minutes in to the drive, the lead car reported an
accident blocking the road.  They stopped the convoy to load the injured into
the lead car, which was actually an SUV this trip, and pushed the cars to the
side of the road.  Ten minutes later, they were on their way again.  The lead
car rushed ahead to the nearest hospital and would rejoin them later.

It was a
typical trip.  The drivers had become security, police forces, and emergency
medical transport.  All of them traveled armed everywhere they went.  Luke
couldn't imagine what it would be like to just drive. 

They steered
clear of Washington DC, which would be radioactive for some time, and slowly
made their way up the coast.

"You know,
the rest of the family isn't seeing what we see.  They don't understand on the
same level," said Luke.

Jamie thought
about it for a moment and said, "It's probably a good thing.  I'd like to
forget some of what we've seen." 

"Yeah, if mom
knew how many firefights we've been in, she'd work a lot harder at getting us
off the road.  But what we're doing needs to get done and it's important that
our family is not shirking its responsibility."  

"Speaking
of shirking, how about if we grab a couple of days off in New York?  I'd like
to see Manhattan."

"That
sounds good.  Maybe we'll get lucky and dispatch won't have anything too time
sensitive," said Luke.

"And what
are the chances of that?"

Luke laughed
and said, "Then we may have to pull rank and take a day for strategic
planning." 

"How
convenient," answered Jamie, with a smile.

In the end,
they were able to grab a few short morning hours in Manhattan before having to
pick up their next load of microchips and robotics equipment for a high
priority shipment to Michigan.  Still, a few hours in New York was better than
nothing. 

SAN FRANCISCO

OCTOBER 19th

Julie was beyond
frustrated with the pace of their progress.  They were moving things as fast as
they possibly could, but it just wasn't enough yet. 

Helen had set
up a meeting with some angel investors in their corporate offices today, not to
seek funding but to try to hire them to help with starting needed companies to
get the economy jump started.  Julie and Helen were wearing their standard
black fatigue pants, polo shirts and light jackets, but had switched to Smith
and Wesson .40 caliber pistols for concealed carry.  They were also wearing
body armor, steel toed boots, and concealed combat knives.   

Uncle Jim had
taught them that the most valuable weapons were ones that no one knew you had
on you and their security team insisted that they use the body armor from now
on, but both of them knew well the value of preparation.  Maybe it was
overboard, but the assassination attempt on Uncle Jim had driven the point home. 
Sooner or later someone would try to kill them. 

Their twelve
guests arrived and were brought into the conference rooms en masse.  The girls
greeted them at the door and talked with each of them for a moment before
getting started. 

Helen said,
"Let me jump right in."  She pulled up a slide on the computer screen
with a list of industries.  "These are the areas that we hope to impact as
soon as possible." The next screen came up showing their companies
superimposed over the first chart. "And here is where we stand so
far."  Most of the industries had nothing next to them.

She said,
"This is what you need to know to start out.  The goal is to jump start
our vital industries and the economy as a whole.  We have started a few
companies as nonprofits and several more as for profit enterprises in which
ownership will be turned over to the employees over the next ten years.  We
will keep a couple of companies, but only a couple.  

"Our
problem is that, while we are making great progress, it's a pebble in the ocean
so far.  We want your ideas, your help, your participation, and a couple of
years of your lives to help restart the country properly. 

"Everything
is negotiable as long as it leads to something positive for the workers, the
economy, and the American people as a whole."

Terry Bryant
was the first of the group to speak up.  "What you're doing is admirable,
but the way you're going about it is stupid."  He caught himself and said,
"Sorry.  What I mean is you should be putting up websites with needs to be
filled and letting people submit business plans.  You pick the folks who are
most likely to get it done and fund them to the hilt while hitting the right
balance between riding them and staying out of their way. 

"This
nonprofit stuff is not going to cut it, no matter how good it makes you two
look.  It's just not going to generate the level of obsession that is needed to
succeed.  It also loses the benefit of competition."

Julie asked the
group, "More comments?  Don't be bashful, because this is about the
country, not about us." 

Karen
Gutierrez, a Hispanic woman in her fifties was the next to comment.  "I
love the nonprofit idea for the industries that just won't be profitable for
some time.  Not everything is going to make money right away.  I also like it
for shipping because we need cheap and ubiquitous shipping to grease the wheels
of the economy.  But my time and energy is for profit driven companies that are
hungry and ready to explode out of the gates."

"Look, we
love what you're doing, but maybe you're not the ones to be doing it,"
said a young man sitting in the back of the room.  When Julie looked at him
strangely, he said, "I'm John Richards and I wasn't actually
invited."

Helen laughed. 
"Don't stop now, please."

"Here's
the deal.  You two have little or no experience starting companies, but you
have a huge pipeline of cash to direct into them.  You also are the crown
princesses of the United States and our very own modern Evitas.  We need you
front and center motivating and driving the American people, not screwing
around learning organizational development by trial and error."

"So get to
the pitch," said another of the investors.

Richards stood
and walked around to the front of the room as he talked.  "I'm proposing
that we join forces in forming a large corporation filled with smaller
companies that we turn into the back bone of the American economy until it gets
to the point at which it has to be broken up because it's too big.  Then we
cash out, wealthy beyond belief and heroes of the turnaround."