Project Reunion (40 page)

“Guys,” Carlos barked at us. “Your stats can wait. This can’t.”

-o-

The Speaker of the House had just finished laying out, in brief but brutal detail, the case for the Calm Act, the statistics that had inspired Congress to pass the law by such overwhelming majorities. She sketched the goals and accomplishments of phase 1 and 2, including extraction from all foreign ‘entanglements.’

I feared for the integrity of Emmett’s molars as he ground his teeth when he watched that part. He was not OK, to put it mildly, with the unilateral world-wide withdrawal of U.S. troops and bases. Our forces simply picked up their toys and exited, as fast as transport could scramble, without even a week’s notice and planning, a full-scale rout under enemy fire in some places. I suspected most armed service members felt the same way. And that Speaker Krause’s glib treatment had just earned their permanent and active hatred.

Speaker Krause’s Calm Act progress summary continued with impacts to date on climate leading indicators like carbon dioxide levels and emissions. And ‘progress toward sustainable population distribution,’ an extra opaque euphemism for the largest mass murder – premeditated, first degree murder – in history.

“Dammit, Carlos,” I said. “Did we have a mature audience warning on this?”

“Yeah, we caught it in time. Amiri live on video. Profoundly disturbing, we strongly urge parents, yada-yada.”

I was glad of that, at least. My jaw hung open in horror as Krause barreled on, in calm and reasonable tones, to explain her infographic comparing the estimated 120 million American deaths in the past two years, to the 80 million lives snuffed out over 6 years in World War 2. She summed up with ‘this is discouraging,’ possibly coining a new catch phrase. But then she went on to explain that the American death toll ‘wasn’t so bad,’ by presenting another infographic showing how small that really was, in comparison to the deaths of over 2 billion in the eastern hemisphere.

“Cut it,” I bit out. “We will
not
air that!” Mangal would have beat me to the veto, except he was in the bathroom retching.

Popeye had his head tilted, just staring at the frozen infographic in morbid fascination. Mel spoke for both of them. “Give her rope, Dee. Let her hang herself.” Dave looked sympathetic to both viewpoints, theirs and mine.

Carlos gnawed on a lip. “I OK’d a slice-and-dice. We’re chopping at each segment, inserting Amiri’s reaction. Warnings that it’s about to get worse. Distancing PR from her tone. But uncensored.” He cracked his neck and shoulders, to relieve the strain. “Could still change our minds. Amiri’s comments expand our delay.”

I nodded agreement, and gave him a half-hug. He shot me a sharp look at that. But I think he appreciated it. I glanced down at my phone. Emmett headed the list of my text messages. KILL HER, was his comment. I chose to interpret this is as venting, not an order to terminate the broadcast.

We resumed our preview to hear Speaker Krause confirm that phase 2 was over, effective immediately, and that phase 3 was now in force.

Then she officially disbanded the United States of America, and abolished martial law.

Chapter 31

Interesting fact: The famous preamble to the United States Constitution was added by the Committee on Style. It reads:
We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common Defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

Despite dying of curiosity, we had to handle the fallout there at Amenac–Project Reunion headquarters before watching any more. General Schwabacher called Carlos Mora directly to demand –
demand
– that Project Reunion either stop broadcasting that woman, or black out Ohio–West Virginia. While Carlos handled Schwabacher, I had to leap in and direct Amiri, who was broadcasting live and stalling, basically.

“Ah, I have a live spokeswoman on the line,” Amiri pounced. “Dee Baker, public face of Amenac and the Project Reunion websites. Dee, you’re on with me live. I bet it’s a madhouse up there in Totoket, at PR headquarters.”

I sighed. I should have expected that he’d put me on the broadcast. “It sure is, Amiri,” I agreed. “Say, we have a slight problem, um, continuing this broadcast of the Speaker of the House. I’d like to apologize to our audience –”

“We’re not responsible for what Speaker Krause is saying,” Amiri assured me. “She is. We couldn’t have foreseen this.”

“Exactly, Amiri,” I said gratefully. “Here at headquarters, we’re scrambling to preview the broadcast, decide what to do about it, and figure out how, all at the same time. While our jaws are hanging open. I have never, as an American, been so profoundly offended and ashamed of what a politician was saying. And when I think back on some of the sound-bites I’ve heard over the years – that’s saying a lot. Here at Amenac, we are not big on censorship. But to have this…
insensitivity
…promulgated via the Project Reunion servers. That’s just too much. Project Reunion is a humanitarian mission. I feel violated.”

Amiri easily kept up his end of the banter. “I understand completely, Dee. This reminds me of that awful presidential race. Was it 2016?”

“So many idiots over the years,” I replied. “I don’t want to remember them. Aha! I’ve just been handed an announcement. General Charles Schwabacher – we just met him, on this broadcast. He’s the military governor of Ohio–West Virginia. He commanded the Army team that vetted the Calm Act. Anyway. General Schwabacher promises to clarify and restate the content of Speaker Krause’s speech. ‘In non-inflammatory and appropriate language.’ As quickly as he can get around to it. The problem here, Amiri, is that Schwabacher wants us to either stop mirroring the Speaker’s speech, or black out Ohio–West Virginia from our broadcast.”

“I see that on the chat feed, Dee,” Amiri confirmed. “He’s ordered his troops to log off and stay off. Called Krause’s speech ‘offensive, incendiary, and destructive of military discipline.’”

“Well, I can’t disagree with that,” I said.

Amiri chuckled. “Colonel MacLaren just ducked his head in here and said, ‘Amen!’ Well, that, uh, restatement will be welcome. But I think we need to tell people something here tonight. Oh! Eureka! Dee, I have a video feed from the Resco of Long Island, Major Cam Cameron.”

“Thank God,” I agreed. On air, unfortunately. I scrambled to equip myself with microphone and video camera.

“Hello, Amiri! Hi, Dee!” Cam greeted us, with a relaxed and assured smile. He sat back on a couch, wearing everyday cammies in Tom’s office. “Greetings from Camp Suffolk! I’ve been designated as a replacement spokesperson, standing in for General Cullen and Colonel MacLaren tonight. We’d like to say a resounding
‘ditto!’
to General Schwabacher’s request that you black out Speaker Krause.”

My video feed went live, immediately joining the screen with them. “Request granted,” I said, and gave my best smile. “We’ve also heard from General Link of New England. Project Reunion will not mirror the rest of that speech. Cam – Major Cameron – have you seen through to…?”

“I was watching the direct feed from the Congressional Ark until just a minute before I joined you. She was still speaking.” Cam managed to say this without the slightest concern. I bet the man was an awesome field officer under fire.

“Well,” Amiri stepped in bravely. “Which of us feels they can adequately paraphrase the third phase of the Calm Act.”

I was about to punt when Cam surprised me by offering first.

“I can do that,” Cam said smoothly. “I’d like to preface my remarks, though. For all members of the armed services watching tonight. I’d like to remind you – as you know – that you are under the orders of your commanding officer. So am I. I am speaking to you tonight because Colonel MacLaren ordered me to jump onto this broadcast and speak to you.” He smiled at the camera, attractive, assured, amused. “We do not take orders from an offensive crazy lady we saw on the Internet. No matter what her title is. We obey our chain of command. And until your commander tells you otherwise, your orders are unchanged. Carry on.”

“Excellent point, Major,” Amiri underlined. “‘As you were,’ soldiers and sailors, right?”

“Absolutely,” said Cam. “Now as to what Speaker Krause said tonight, that caused such an uproar. To quote Shakespeare’s Macbeth, ‘It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.’ She essentially said the United States is no longer united, no longer functioning as a nation, and hasn’t been for over a year. Part of phase 3 of the Calm Act is to observe that the U.S. doesn’t exist anymore. Which is painful to hear, for a patriot. And it begs some important questions. But the real problem, I think, was that she said it so poorly.”

“With the entire speech,” I concurred. “Said very, very poorly.”

“Yes,” agreed Amiri. “Thank you, Major Cameron. The way you just said it, it’s hardly upsetting at all. It’s sad. The way
she
said it – it felt like a sucker-punch.”

Cam nodded, and said, “Fortunately I was watching the broadcast with my husband. Dwayne has a wonderfully wicked sense of humor. We have a white board here, where he tracked ‘mortal insults’ and ‘catchy phrases.’ Like ‘this is discouraging’ to describe the greatest loss of human life in history.” Cam chuckled darkly. “The wine helped a lot, too.”

Cam sat forward and gestured with his hands, to boyishly share his perspective. “The thing is, this woman lives in a greenhouse. She’s completely cut off from reality. Surrounded by delusional friends who agree with her. They probably didn’t see a thing wrong with what she said. They don’t live in our world. Literally. If you look at it that way, and realize that disbanding the U.S. means we’re rid of
them.
Well,” he chuckled again, “shucks.”

Amiri didn’t even try to keep a straight face. “That wasn’t all, though,” he reminded Cam. Yes, and this was the part that I was ever so grateful Cam was handling, instead of me.

“Oh, no!” Cam agreed. “Then, in her ark-hole wisdom, Speaker Krause went on to declare all borders within the United States abolished. Martial law abolished. All military governors fired. All armed services disbanded. With the thanks of a grateful nation – sure!” He laughed out loud, hard. “Well. Eff. You. Too. Speaker Krause. Again, to the armed services. I can’t speak for the military governors you serve. But if they want to discharge you, I’m sure they’ll let you know. Don’t hold your breath. I know my chain of command does not take orders from offensive crazy ladies they hear over the Internet. They just…don’t.”

“And that’s the core problem,” Amiri stressed. “Speaker Krause claimed the authority to wipe out the martial law and order we have under the military governors. While offering nothing to replace it. Just – chaos. Naturally, the governors object. I object. And I think we just saw that the people approve of the plans the governors outlined for us.”

Cam nodded, relaxed. I sat in awe of his composure. He couldn’t possibly be this indifferent to Krause’s attack on the martial law governments, everything Cam and Emmett had spend their last several years to build, a new structure to give the American survivors a fighting chance. Dwayne handed Cam a sheet of notes, which he rapidly reviewed.

Amiri inquired, “Did you get a cheat sheet there, Major Cameron?”

“Yes! My husband watched the end of the speech for me,” Cam said. He looked up from the page and grinned. “Our mortal insults list got longer. The rest of this…sound and fury…can wait for General Schwabacher’s restatement..” He spun the paper across his couch like a skipping stone.

“There is one more important issue, though,” Cam continued. “So here we are, under martial law. Our country is disbanded. Sad, but true. Much less sad when I contemplate the Congress we’ve left behind. But, for over a year now, there has been no commander in chief. It isn’t urgent. We manage. Nothing has changed since yesterday. But it might be helpful to have an abbreviated form of the Reconstitutional Convention.”

“A recon-con helps? How?” I asked, surprised.

“A very simple re-constitution,” Cam said. “For instance, New York–New Jersey. I hope General Cullen isn’t furious with me for this. But, a first pass constitution that says, first, we are New York–New Jersey. Don’t worry about the name. We could argue about that for years.” We all chuckled. “We are a sovereign nation. Our form of government is martial law. Our leader is General Sean Cullen. The succession is…just list four people. By name. Don’t try to define them by roles or anything. This constitution to stand until extended and amended. Period. And voilà. We have a country, and a new commander in chief.” He shrugged.

“That’s certainly simple,” agreed Amiri. “But does it accomplish anything?”

“For New York–New Jersey?” said Cam. “I hope not. I hope we’ve agreed to that much. But it does state, formally, what we’ve agreed to, who we are. We are a country. We can enter treaties and establish a currency.

“But notice that even that much might be harder for other super-states. For instance, New York–New Jersey and New England already decided a while back – amicably – that we are separate. But General Schwabacher suggested that some state pairings west of Ohio might be unstable. And inside New England? I’m from New England. I was a Resco in New England. And today I don’t know which states would agree that they’re one new country. Rhode Island? Maine is negotiating to join Canada. Massachusetts is one member? Or remains split in two? Are there even separate states in the new New England? And – my respect to the Great Pumpkin, I love her blog. But until a recon-con can agree to that much, anything more seems a bit ambitious.” He shrugged.