William Johnstone - Phoenix Rising

So as not to taint the SPS with any of the misdeeds of the former agencies, no one who was a member of those agencies will be authorized to wear the coveted uniform of the SPS.

I believe that the steps I have taken so far—the pullback of all U.S. military from overseas, the seventy-five percent reduction in the number of personnel in our armed forces, the dismantling of all offensive and defensive missiles, and yes, even the rejection of fossil fuels—have created an environment of peace that we will be able to enjoy for years to come.

Thank you, and good night.

Karin hit the mute button on the remote. “He can’t do that, can he?” she asked, shocked by what she had just heard. “He’s assuming dictatorial powers, and he can’t do that. Surely the Supreme Court will stop it.”

“Of course they will stop it,” Jake said. “He’s gone way too far now. Maybe this will all turn out for the good.”

“Good? How can it be good?”

“I can’t see any way that the Supreme Court will let this stand. They will stop it.”

“Do you think so?”

“Yes, they have to. How can they not?” Jake asked. He leaned his head back and closed his eyes. “Or, maybe not,” he added. “It may no longer be our problem.”

“Why do you say that?”

“If we activate the survival team, we will be cutting ourselves off from the rest of the country.”

“I know.”

“I said I was choosing all the members of the team based upon their particular skills. You know what my particular skill is?” he asked.

“You have a lot of skills,” Karin said. “You are one of the most accomplished men I know. You are rated in how many aircraft? You have instrument ratings, you are a qualified flight instructor, you know electronics, you are a whiz with the computer.”

Jake started laughing, and he laughed so hard that tears came to his eyes.

“What is it? What did I say?” Karin asked.

“Think about it,” Jake said.

Karin thought for a moment; then she shook her head. “Oh, wow,” she said. “Am I really that dumb? If there is a total breakdown, none of that will matter, will it?”

“My skill is the way I spent my youth,” Jake said. “I never rode in an automobile until I was eighteen years old. You went to Lancaster with me, you know what my life was like. I was raised without electricity, without running water, without telephone, radio, or television. We farmed with mules, and what the mules couldn’t do, we did with our bare hands and muscle. The first time I ever sat in an aircraft was when I went to flight school. I know how to live in a world that never even entered the twentieth century, let alone the twenty-first century.”

“When we went to Pennsylvania for you to visit your family, I confess that I felt a little sorry for those people, dressed in plain clothes and riding around in a horse and buggy,” Karin said. “I thought of how deprived they are. But now it holds a strange attraction for me. I could almost see myself living that life.”

“Under circumstances like we are facing today, yes, the Life is very seductive,” Jake said.

Karin smiled. “Seductive,” she said. “Yes, you were very masculine, very seductive in your plain clothes.”

“Who seduced who?” Jake asked, returning her smile.

“That isn’t fair. You can’t blame me. I was disoriented, not thinking straight, discombobulated.”

“Really? You mean you just tolerated me in bed?”

“I had to. You outrank me,” Karin teased.

“So, you will do anything I order you to do?”

Karin leaned into him, shut her eyes, and raised her lips to his, but stopping just short of a kiss.

“Captain Dawes, reporting for duty, sir,” she mumbled.

Jake did not close the distance between their lips. Puzzled, Karin opened her eyes and looked at him.

“Haven’t you heard? We are an all-volunteer army now,” Jake said. “If we go any further, you are going to have to volunteer.”

“Shut up and kiss me—sir,” Karin said, pressing her lips against his.

“I need you, Karin,” Jake said. “I don’t think I’ve ever needed you more than I need you at this moment.”

Karin stood, then started toward the bedroom. “Give me a moment.”

“Make it a quick moment,” Jake replied, his voice husky with desire.

CHAPTER TEN

Base hospital, Fort Rucker—Monday, June 18

“Captain Dawes?”

Looking up from her computer, on which she was filing a report, Karin saw Sergeant Julie Norton. Julie was a clerk in the office of the hospital commander.

“Yes, Sergeant Norton,” Karin said, smiling at the young black woman. Julie was twenty-two years old and two years earlier, had been first runner-up in the Miss Georgia beauty contest.

“I thought you might like to know that Colonel Chambers just died,” Julie said in a sad voice.

“I was afraid of that,” Karin said. “He beat the infection, but then pneumonia set in, and he couldn’t beat that. Pneumonia is hard to fight when you are young and strong. His body was weak; I’m surprised he lasted as long as he did.”

“Yes, ma’am. The doctor said the only reason he lasted as long as he did was because of the way you took care of him,” Julie said.

“It’s a shame,” Karin said. “He was such a fascinating old man. And so pleasant.”

“Did you know he listed you as his next of kin?” Julie asked.

“What? No, I had no idea. Why would he do something like that?”

“I don’t know, either. Maybe it’s because he doesn’t have anyone else. I pulled his records after the doctor told me he had died, just like I do for everyone when they are being released, either discharged, or by dying. His wife died last year and their only son was killed in Vietnam.”

“Oh, what a lonely man he must have been,” Karin said.

“He left this letter for you.”

Julie handed a sealed envelope to Karin. Opening it, she removed the letter. Despite the colonel’s age, the penmanship was bold and very legible.

Dear Captain Dawes,

I want to thank you for the loving care you gave me during my time here in the hospital. The sad thing is, I know I will not survive this stay. It is not sad for me. I have lived more than my prescribed years, and I am ready to shuffle off this mortal coil. But it may be sad for you, because you invested so much of your time and effort in tending to an old man.

As you may already know from a perusal of my records, I was at Bastogne in December of 1944. I was a company commander for one of the forward units. The German commander sent a note to General McAuliffe demanding the surrender of the Americans. The general sent back a note that angered the German commander, and the German commander threw that note away.

I found that note and have kept it ever since. I am leaving that note to you.

Sincerely,

Garrison J. Chambers

Col U.S. Army (ret)

Karin looked back into the envelope and saw another piece of paper, folded into a square, the paper browning.

“Oh, my God, this can’t be real,” Karin said.

Karin removed the brown piece of paper, then opened it up. There were only nine words written on the paper, only one of which was the body of the note. But that one word had come down through American history as a symbol of duty, honor, and country.

To the German Commander

NUTS!

From the American Commander

The Dunes, Fort Morgan, Alabama—Monday, June 18

Bob Varney was standing on the beach looking out at the now deserted offshore gas drilling rigs. Until Ohmshidi halted all domestic drilling, the rigs were ablaze with lights each night as for twenty-four hours a day, every day; they pumped gas from the rich deposits just off the Alabama Gulf Coast. Now the rigs were dark and deserted.