Eden's War (A Distant Eden) (2 page)

This burden weighs heavily on his shoulders; broad as they are, it must be incredibly heavy all the same.

Chapter 2

R
ace walked into Linda’s kitchen. It was a large room, and the most-often used room in the house. There were two lights, powered by solar panels and batteries the village had scrounged from somewhere. A nearby spring, pipe, and gravity provided the sink with running water, a rarity these days. An old-style wood burning cook stove had also been installed. Sitting around the large table, Race saw Adrian, Linda, Adrian’s uncle Roman and aunt Sarah, and the Admiral. Their conversation stopped as Race entered.

Linda quickly stood, “Race, you’re just in time; sit down while I get you a cup of tea and a sandwich. We’ll have a hot meal in a bit.”

Adrian said, “Continue Admiral. Race obviously has our full trust and confidence.”

“Of course.” The Admiral was the highest ranking military officer in what was left of the former USA military, the man that had maneuvered Adrian into becoming the CIC, and involved Adrian in the war with Mexico. “The state of the former United States Military can be summed up simply as… dismal. Almost every landlocked military installation went through the same decline and abandonment as Fort Hood. After the power stopped they ran out of food and discharged over ninety-percent of their personnel so they could try to make it on their own. The few who remained eventually died of starvation or disease or just wandered off. Coastal based military fared a little better, having the ability to get food from the ocean. Still they are down to only about fifteen percent. Missile facilities have been maintained at full force though. We’ve taken special care to keep those troops on the job and fed.” The Admiral shifted in his chair and took a sip of tea. He had, as the surviving senior military leader, found himself trying to keep a steadily deteriorating military in some semblance of order.

“Special care is being taken to provide food for the troops at the nuclear weapon sites, such as missile systems and at Pantex. Keeping those sites at one-hundred percent has been extraordinarily difficult, but per your orders we have continued to do so. The Navy and Marines are in the best shape of all, but that’s only by comparison. While we have maintained forty-percent of our sailors and Marines, our fleet is only thirty percent operational, or slightly less. And those ships are not fully operational. Without satellites we are functionally down to radio and radar. The ships are coming apart little by little every day. Maintenance is severely hampered by a shortage of repair parts, no dry dock facilities, no repair infrastructure. We have located and scavenged every warehouse we know of for parts and munitions, but obviously new repair components and munitions are no longer being manufactured.

“Aircraft are in far worse shape. They take an incredible amount of daily maintenance and even a single parts failure can ground them permanently. Cannibalizing parts from grounded aircraft has reached the point of diminishing returns. Within two years we won’t be able to fly anything at all, and there’s not much we can fly now. Nuclear rods are no longer made, and they eventually wear out. Within four years we will be down to a small fleet of diesel-powered ships. Without a manufacturing base for repairs and re-supply we are grinding to a halt. We use our aircraft and ships only for imperative functions, giving us extra months perhaps.” He took another sip of tea, then looked at Adrian with intensity.

Slowly he continued, “It sounds far-fetched… but in ten- to-fifteen years we may be looking at sailing ships again, as that will be about the only technology that a slowly emerging industrial base can handle. On top of that, we are ever more likely to get into a major confrontation with China any day now. That’s why I am questioning your continued use of aircraft for these political forays you’ve ordered.” The Admiral was uncomfortable questioning orders from the Commander In Chief, but felt it was his duty given the diminishing air-craft availability.

Adrian set his cup down carefully, paused for a long moment and then replied, “I understand all of that Admiral. With no electricity we have no manufacturing. We can’t manufacture a simple wooden pencil anymore, much less the kind of manufacturing required for high-tech military applications. In plain words, where we once had over three-hundred-million people and a thriving high technology industrial base, we now have about ten-million people that were plunged in one day back into a civilization barely above stone-age technology… living for the most part off the salvage of what we once had.”

Adrian stood and began pacing the kitchen while talking; he always found it difficult to be still. The rest of the group watched and listened; they were used to his barely contained energy.

“We have limited ability to continue to use some of that salvage, and to repair it on an on-going basis… and it’s a rapidly downward spiral. We’re not going to see a return to anything remotely like we once had within our lifetimes. We
are
going to see the end of our ability to use what little we can use now. It will be generations before we return to a technological society. If ever. Unless we can get this country organized, create an environment that allows for rapid recovery.”

Adrian picked up his cup and went to the wood stove and poured himself another cup of tea. He held the pot up, a non-verbal question asking if anyone wanted a refill. The Admiral nodded and so did Race. Adrian filled their cups, returned the pot to the stove and sat back down.

“The thing about machines is they break down in storage almost as fast as they do when in use. Gaskets and O-rings get old and crack, electrical connections corrode, tires get stiff and brittle, corrosion runs rampant. Entropy doesn’t stop just because you store something. We have a limited window of opportunity to use these machines. So, the question becomes, what use we can put them to during this limited time… use that is to our maximum advantage. Using them to try to recover our previous technological abilities isn’t practical and neither is saving them for a future confrontation; although that is a major temptation.

“The United States of America no longer exists, and never will again. But something will. Something will take its place. We can either try to plan and direct that replacement, or we can do nothing and see what happens.”

Adrian was up and pacing again. “Waiting to see what happens is a total crap-shoot. Given the history of mankind, odds are that nothing good will come of waiting. If we aren’t smart… and lucky… the Chinese will take us over to serve their own purposes. They are generations ahead of us in returning to where we were. If we are going to have at it with China, then we need to organize – and we need to do it damn fast.”

Adrian sat and shifted his chair forward a bit placing his arms on the table. He stared down at the wooden table top for a moment, then looking up again he said, “There are major stumbling blocks to reorganizing, and speed of travel is one of them. But it’s one we can still do something about, because we still have some operational aircraft available. Sending our people to the other former states to help them organize and join together in a coalition is the best use of what we have, while we have it. A unified America will meet the Chinese threat far better than the current situation. A unified America with a society based on law and order, one that encourages entrepreneurs, one that encourages commerce, is also the best hope for our future generations to pull themselves out of the crude salvage civilization we’ve become and build a better and more solid future. The plan I’ve come up with, the one I am working hard at, will create a new kind of government, one that will best see to our children’s and grandchildren’s future.”

Adrian paused, then with a rueful smile said, “Good Lord, I sound just like a damn politician don’t I?”

Adrian stood and stretched. “Gentlemen, let’s take a break. I want to hear Race’s report and then she can eat a hot meal and settle down to relax a few days.” He gestured to Race to follow him, “Race, let’s go.”

They walked along the Fort Brazos barricade, defensive fortifications that would make it a dear effort to try and take the village by force. The day was clear and mild. The pleasant smell of wood smoke from village homes was in the air. Bear walked ahead of them.

“Not much to report Adrian,” said Race. “I traveled from here to Hillsboro, then on to Corsicana, down to Tehuacana, across to Mexia, then back home by way of Waco. I found and settled six individual raiders, and on the way back, near Chalk Bluff four more. Those four had killed a married couple and stolen the horses from their ranch. Didn’t take long to catch up to them. Brought the horses in with me, rare things that they are. At times I think half the population turned into criminals when the grid dropped.”

Adrian paused alongside one of the black-powder cannons that Matt had made. Made of heavy steel pipe, they were loaded with short pieces of chain saw blade and had demonstrated their deadly efficiency in battle. Resting his hand on the barrel he said, “About half is probably close, assuming some take to crime only when opportunity presents itself. Criminals were better suited to survive the starvation than law abiding folks were. They didn’t hesitate to take what they wanted, so they lasted longer. We’re making inroads into their numbers, though, and the word is getting out and dissuading some of them from continuing to raid productive people, or to think twice when opportunity arises. In time we’ll get them down to a manageable number, but it’s going to take a couple of years at least.”

They started walking back to the house and Race said, “I hadn’t thought much about how we’re going to build our country back up. Hearing you talk about losing what technology we’ve been able to salvage was depressing. Don’t you think maybe we can get back faster than that?”

“Well…I’d love to be wrong…but I just don’t see it. There are a lot of similarities between war strategy and politics. More than I would have believed a year ago. I’ve come to believe that the most important part of what a government provides its people is a safe, law-abiding, environment. A place where individuals can put their efforts into having new ideas and creating things, instead of putting their efforts into fighting off bad guys for every ear of corn they grow. You and the rest of the Rangers are instrumental in that goal. Pushing back the raiders gives the farmers and ranchers the time, and room, to work on expanding. Expanding their operations means more food. More food means there’s more time for some young genius to educate himself, and then to invent something that he can manufacture, and sell to others. It has a snowball effect, each person whose life is touched by that genius’s idea or thing has a chance of sparking another new idea, or they figure out how to improve on it.”

As they reached the house again Adrian stopped Race at the door. “You’re living a dangerous life, Race. A hard life that is exhausting and brutal. But what you do has a direct impact on how fast and how far we can go in this new world we live in. You are doing good work, helping all of us. Remember that on the days that you judge and execute the criminals that are holding us back. I’m proud of you Race, as proud as I can be.” Adrian gave her a long hug. “Thank you for what you are doing. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.”

As they entered the house Adrian turned for the kitchen, but Linda waved Race over into the living room. “I’ve put a hot meal for you in the study, looks like the Admiral has a lot more to talk about and I thought you might want to eat and then get some sleep.”

“Great idea Linda… and thank you.” Race said.

Linda watched Race walk into the study. “Looks like Adrian has done it again, that girl is glowing,” she said aloud, though no one was listening. “He hates being a politician, but he damn sure knows how to inspire and lead people.”

“Adrian.” The general said calling out from the kitchen. “We’ve got new intelligence on China, and you need to hear it.”

Chapter 3

A
drian studied the Admiral’s face. He’d only known him for a year, but it had been a long year that included a war with former drug cartels from Mexico. It felt like they’d known each other a lot longer than they had. They had grown close in that year, with the Admiral being the closest thing to a mentor that Adrian had known in a long time. It was the Admiral who had cornered Adrian into becoming the civilian Command in Chief because as President of the Republic of Texas he was the only acknowledged leader of anything in what had once been the United States.

Adrian could see the tightening of the crow’s feet around the Admiral’s grey eyes, noted the lowered pitch of voice; signals to Adrian that the news wasn’t good. He knew the Admiral well enough to spot signs of tension, a here was a lot of tension.

“Sit down and tell me,” said Adrian

They sat, accepting the cups of rare coffee Sarah brought them She had bartered heavily to get a small amount of the beans. She smiled at the Admiral, then left the room to check on Race.

The Admiral played with his coffee cup for a moment, swirling the black liquid around. “Adrian, the intelligence reports we have are sketchy at best. We have two submarines patrolling off the Chinese coast that pick up occasional radio traffic and what they can see by radar and periscope. Most of that traffic we can’t decipher, so we don’t have much that’s of military origin. We catch an occasional bit of commercial talk though. Putting together what we have, we think they are going to be coming a lot sooner than we had originally thought. The bad news is they could begin moving in three months, maybe less.”

Adrian looked at his hands for a moment, not noticing the scars, not noticing his hands at all. “And the good news?” he asked.

“None,” replied the admiral tiredly. “No good news of any kind.”

“What’s their latest ship count?”

“Their naval ships have all been put back into action. Their surface ships about match ours in number, but not in capability. In an open battle we would win. They have eleven nuclear subs, those worry me some. They’ve been frantically collecting and refurbishing every large commercial vessel they can find and tow back to their harbors. Fishing boats, cruise ships, container ships, and tankers. Our best count right now is somewhere in the neighborhood of fifteen-hundred of those. Those worry me a lot. With their almost unlimited resource of personnel, they can man every one of those ships and easily put over a million total fighting men on them. Some of those men would be new recruits – forced recruits probably – but with two months of training, that is still going to be a major force to contend with. An all-out assault, using all the ships, coming at the west coast simultaneously, in spread out formation… and protected by their war ships…” the Admiral shook his head. “It could be insurmountable using conventional warfare. We could be looking at the necessity of using nukes to take out large chunks of their fleet at a time.”

“And if they come at us spread as far apart as they can, how effective will our nukes be?” Adrian asked. “Wouldn’t it be more effective to nuke their harbors right now to take out not only their ships but also their shipworks?”

The Admiral took a sip of his coffee without answering. He understood a rhetorical question when he heard one.

After a long silence, Adrian said “We can knock them out where they are right now. We have the capacity for that.”

The Admiral answered, “Yes. We can damage them to the point that they won’t be able to attack and shove them back years in their efforts, bringing them down to our level or worse; giving us time to catch up.”

“But, they have the ability to hit us in much the same way, don’t they?” Adrian asked it like a question, but it was a statement. “They have ICBMs and submarine-launched nuclear missiles. If we launch on them, they launch on us. So we use nukes as the last option. We would win in number of strikes launched… it would end the war. But they would counter-attack and we would sustain a great deal of damage. That would basically destroy us both, so I only want to consider that option if it comes to the point that we recognize that we can’t win. But, I want to maintain that capability for immediate use if needed. We have a great deal more nukes than they do.”

Adrian took a sip of his coffee. “They’re also involved in wars with Russia, Korea, India, and Japan. Wars they’re winning, but they have to keep most of their nukes in reserve because Russia and India have their own nukes. Russia has a huge stockpile of nuclear weapons and China doesn’t.”

“The next question to consider is whether or not making that plain to the Chinese leadership would avert the war. If I called up their Chairman and told him point blank that we will launch an all-out nuclear attack on his homeland if the invasion attempt isn’t called off – would he call it off? And if he did, for how long? They couldn’t have started this without fully considering that possibility. I have to believe that they are willing to bet – are already betting – that we won’t launch. Calling them up and threatening them won’t do any good, and it won’t stop the invasion. So I don’t see any reason to even try it. Better to keep silent and let them worry about it on their own. They already know that they face a mutual suicide situation, no need for me to tell them what they already know.”

Adrian fell silent, in deep thought again. Linda came into the kitchen and sat down with them. She saw the strain on Adrian’s face and asked, “What’s the latest then? It can’t be good from your expression.”

Slowly Adrian looked up and into Linda’s eyes. “It amounts to this; China is going to hit us with an overwhelmingly large number of ships and soldiers, numbers that we don’t have a chance of stopping. We can launch nukes on them now or later, but in either case they’ll retaliate – and they have enough nuclear capability to do too much damage to us to risk it. So, either we figure out a way to beat them without nukes, or we surrender, or we commit suicide by nuking them out. So we have to figure out a way to beat them.”

Adrian smiled at Linda and continued, “And I think I have an idea.” At this announcement Adrian stood up. “Admiral, I need to go for a walk and talk this over with Linda. I want to see what she thinks of my half-baked notion. If she thinks it has a chance, I’ll get back with you and we’ll get the ball rolling.”

The Admiral stood. “I’ll come back for dinner and you can let me know then. And Adrian… I hope it’s a damn good idea, because I am at my wits end for ideas right now.”

As Linda and Adrian strolled through the village, Adrian explained his plan. “Their navy and ours are more or less evenly matched right now. We’re better equipped, and have far better attack and defense systems. In a straight up fight we’d win. The Chinese know that, so it won’t be a straight up fight. Their primary advantage is that they can resupply their weapons with ammunition. They are making replacement missiles and torpedoes and we aren’t. One of the first things they fired back up after the solar storm was ammunition manufacturing. They are years ahead of us on that. Right now we can’t even make a single new .22 caliber bullet. So if I was them, the tactic I would use would be to push as many targets at us as they can, sacrificial targets they can stand to lose, hoping we’ll use up our finite armament supply and then… then their fleet has the advantage.”

As they walked they came to Matt’s blacksmith shop. They found Matt busy working on yet another new invention. Matt saw Adrian and Linda approach and greeted them with a large smile. “Hey guys! You out for a stroll or did you come to see me on purpose?”

Adrian shook Matt’s large hand and clapped him on the shoulder. “A bit of both actually. I want to ask your opinion on something.” Adrian explained what he had in mind, then he and Matt and Linda talked about it for half an hour, bouncing ideas back and forth. Matt made a quick sketch as Adrian watched, then said, “Something like this?”

“Yes.” Adrian said, something like that indeed. “Can I borrow this? I want to show it to the Admiral tonight.”

“It’s all yours Adrian, let me know if there is any way at all I can help.”

Adrian rolled the sketch up and replied “If you could make a detailed drawing along with instructions and specifications on the same sheet that would be a tremendous help… especially if you could figure out some way to make several hundred copies.”

“The drawing is easy… several hundred copies…” he scratched his head. “That’ll take some thinking. I’ll cypher on it and get back to you as soon as I have an idea. You kids enjoy the evening as best you can. Oh, and Adrian, you need to know that I, we all, understand the tremendous load on your shoulders and that we all have faith that you’re the best possible person to see us through this. We know it’s hard… just wanted you to know.” Matt finished with an embarrassed smile at his less- than-adept way of expressing himself.

As they walked slowly back home, they came across a number of their friends and stopped to chat briefly with each of them before detouring to the horse pasture. Horses were fairly rare these days, most of them having been eaten during the great famine that followed the grid dropping. Whenever he could, Adrian bartered for horses, adding them to the slowly growing remuda. Taking a bucket of corn from the feed shed, he and Linda stood at the fence and lovingly hand fed the horses that came up to greet them. It was an almost daily ritual, visiting the horses in the evening.

Adrian and Linda stood side by side, not talking, not needing to talk – taking a short break from the hardness they faced.
These are the best moments
, Adrian reflected.
The horses taking food from our hands, sunset glowing red in the west, quiet… just a few bird calls as the night birds take over from the day birds. The rumbling of the horses jaws as they eat the hard corn, their aroma, pungent, yet pleasing in an earthy way. The woman I love standing quietly beside me, knowing my thoughts, sharing this with me. These fleeting moments of deep and simple pleasure sustain. This is the way it should be all the time...