Stone shook his head as if to clear away the double-talk.
“For Christ’s sake, just tell me what you need to tell me.”
“Oh, excuse me, Mr. Big-Shit. Lemme just lay those cards all out on the table for ya’. Someone’s gone and broken the rules, so there’s a new element in play now.”
The ‘rules.’ The first time they met the Old Man informed Trevor there were rules governing Armageddon. What that meant, Stone did not know. Whatever they were, those rules kept the Old Man from revealing too much.
“A new element in play? What?”
The Old Man told him, “Lessee…hmmm…what to call ‘em…hmmm…okay then, let’s go and say the ‘runes’ are now in play. Open for the takin’. First come, first served.”
“The what?” Trevor never heard of the ‘runes’ before.
“The runes…ya’ goin’ deaf? Maybe I could of called them the ‘gateway’ or the ‘gate’ or the ‘key’ or the ‘multi-dimensional sequential thingamajig.’ But, gosh-darn it, ‘runes’ just seemed like the easy way out.”
Trevor shook his head again but the confusion remained.
“So what? What do you want me to do?”
“So what? Oh, Jimmy Christmas! Well, I suppose it’s not your fault for not knowing. Lemme see if I can clear this up a shade. If you and your boys goes and get the runes you can shut down every last gate on this planet.”
Trevor’s eyes widened. He knew about the gates. He did not know how many existed but he had destroyed one in Binghamton, New York that first year. Closing them off would mean no more reinforcements for the bad guys.
“Oh, yeah, hey, look it here the old timer does have something important to say. Don’t that just shake the cat?”
“So you can tell me this,” Trevor asked. “And it’s not against the rules?”
“Not now it ain’t. Someone else gone and broke them rules already so it’s fair game. Bad news being that a lot of other folks competing for living space on this rock are getting the message about now, too. They get hold of them runes and they can control the gates for themselves. Here’s a hint, Trevvy-that’d be real bad for you.”
“So where are the runes, how do I get them?”
“I’m getting there. Tell your boys to pack a warm set of long johns, hehe. Oh yeah, you going to have to haul ass, too. Now that the rules have been broken on the runes…well, let’s just say the starters’ pistol just went BANG.”
Trevor asked, “Hold on a sec. Who broke the rules?”
The Old Man’s eyes grew narrow.
“Why Trevor, you did.”
Before he could respond the Old Man added, “I mean to say, you will. I suppose from your point of view it hasn’t happened yet. For me, well I keep telling you time is irrelevant. But the long and the short of it is that you really are going screw things up, Trev.”
The Old Man smiled.
“Thought you oughtta know.”
4. Powwow
The basement of the estate had undergone significant renovations since the day Richard Trevor Stone stumbled through the front door. No more sports bar theme; no Penn State pennants or billiards table. Instead, a large conference table dominated the room surrounded by wall-mounted wide-screen televisions connected to audio/visual equipment.
For several years now, the basement served as the main conference room for the leaders of humanity’s comeback. Those conferences included either the full council or a smaller, military committee.
Thursday, August 20 ^ th began with a full conference.
Like the room, the council evolved since its inception four years prior. One key element remained the same, however: Trevor personally selected each participant. Over the years he switched, modified, or otherwise changed individual responsibilities while also expanding the council to include more people, a necessity given his expanding realm.
Reverend Johnny, the fiery black man who constantly quoted Old Testament scripture served as, “Chief Analyst of Hostile Biotechnology,” a job rooted in understanding one of humanity’s most mysterious-and dangerous-enemies, The Order.
Despite his title, ‘Reverend’ Johnny had actually been a surgeon in the old world, not a clergyman. Therefore, he originally held the title of “Secretary of Medical and Health Services.” That job now fell to Dr. Maple, a middle-aged man wearing spectacles on a very round head.
Anita Nehru was “Chief Analyst Hostile Information and Tracking.” Anita and her staff maintained a library of information on alien animals and armies. They distributed field manuals for use by soldiers and Hunter-Killer teams.
Her husband, Omar, held the position of “Director, Science and Technology” giving him responsibility for everything from power supplies to adapting alien wares to human needs.
Eva Rheimmer-a gray-haired woman who helped Trevor since the early days with food from her family farm-served as “Secretary of Food and Agriculture.” She monitored farm animals, crop yields, and food distribution, making her department the largest non-military entity. Wherever human beings lived in the new nation, you would find people who reported to Eva.
People often loved her, particularly when meat and milk arrived in starving villages. Just as often people despised her, such as when she ordered the removal of a community’s grain or livestock for use elsewhere. Such decisions often resulted in protests or riots or even gunfire.
Food logistics-like all supplies-relied on the railroads and old-fashioned steam locomotives pulled from museums. With coal literally lying around Pennsylvania, fuel was easy to find. Furthermore, tracks crisscrossed the northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions.
On the other hand, finding experienced conductors and engineers proved difficult. In the end, humanity’s logistical network relied as much on old-world railroad hobbyists as professionals; Armageddon provided a chance for modelers to turn their tabletop dioramas into the real thing.
One of the newer members of the council was Brett Stanton, a thin, dark-haired fellow with brown eyes and a drawn face. He served as “Director of Industry and Manufacturing.”
Stanton kept the factories going, including military manufacturing such as the Eagle airships at the Philadelphia shipyard and shells from Chamberlain Munitions in northeast Pennsylvania.
Brett ‘rode the ark’ outside of Pittsburgh two years earlier. In his previous life, he worked as a systems engineer for PPG. He caught Trevor’s attention by demonstrating a knack for getting the most done with the least materials, a trait as critical to the war effort as a battalion of tanks.
Every military plan required consultation with Brett Stanton before finalization. Without bullets and guns from his factories, no attack could go forward.
Evan Godfrey-one of the original council members-remained on board despite his open hostility toward Trevor’s rule.
Prior to the invasion, Godfrey studied political science and laid the groundwork for a career in office through a network of connections and a resume thick with community service.
Unfortunately for Evan, Armageddon cast aside the old-world system of buddies, favors, and political theory. Nonetheless, Godfrey helped scrounge supplies, living quarters, and other necessities as the survivors rolled in. At every opportunity, however, he opposed Trevor’s power. Even appointment to the council as the “Secretary of Housing and Needs” could not appease him.
More specifically, Evan derided Trevor’s system of naming military governors and Mayors in liberated towns. He argued in favor of a representative government and for reinstituting the ideals of democracy and capitalism, an argument Godfrey made time and again in his newspaper, The New American Press.
