entire city on Mars just to cover their escape. And they were willing to kill tens of millions of citizens in Luna City.
'Do we put their people in concentration camps? No, but they do. I know, because I escaped from one of their death camps. I was the only survivor of that camp. The victims were tortured and murdered by Elle Ahmi, literally by her hands.
'As Abraham Lincoln said, 'Those who deny freedom to others, deserve it not for themselves; and, under a just God, can not long retain it.'
'You might be worried.
'And the answer is not just no, but hell no!
'It was George Washington who said, 'If we desire to avoid insult, we must be able to repel it; if we desire to secure peace, it must be known that we are at all times ready for War.' Those words are as true today as they were more than six hundred years ago.
'For the past two terms, we've done everything in our power to cut the size of government and return authority to the local level. We've sought to shrink government intrusion into individuals' lives and decrease the outrageous regulatory burden Americans had fallen under, while striving to keep our borders safe and our military strong and well-trained.
'How does this prepare us for war, you ask? It means that not only do we have the most professional, intelligent, and prepared military in the galaxy, we have the economic strength, public vitality, and flexibility of manufacture to support a war.
'And I can promise you one thing—with the new jump technologies, that war will be prosecuted so fast it will make those Seppies' heads spin. They may think they sprang a surprise on us here today, but they haven't.
'My friends, the forces of the
'Again, it was the very first Republican president, the great Abraham Lincoln, who said, 'Those who won our independence believed liberty to be the secret of happiness and courage to be the secret of liberty.' All I ask for, my fellow citizens, is your courage, and your belief in liberty. God bless you all, and God bless these United States.'
Alexander took a deep breath and checked to make certain Abigail was already giving the orders to put the vast American military machine in gear.
Then he said, 'As you can guess, I have important things to do today, so please forgive me for taking no questions at this time.' Moore turned to his Secret Service contingent and his wife and motioned for them to move out.
Chapter 12
July 1, 2394 AD
Sol System, Oort Cloud
Friday, 2:17 PM, Earth Eastern Standard Time
Dee sat in the copilot's seat of the passenger shuttle and watched as Colonel Fink handled the controls like the seasoned Marine pro he was. She was still ecstatic from her short stay on the nation's flagship and getting to fly in real mecha with real ace pilots. The day couldn't get any better as far as she was concerned. Well, it would've been better if she had shot down DeathRay, but that little maneuver he had done was amazing and was tempting Dee to sway toward the Navy ROTC program instead of the marines. Her mind raced with the torment of such a decision. She didn't have to make it for two years tops, so she tried to put it out of her mind and focus on the wonder that was her trip thus far.
'You should have seen her, Clay,' Jay said to her bodyguard. The two of them were sitting in the two seats behind the pilot and copilot's couches. 'She was all over the place, thinking she was all badass. But I'll tell ya one thing, that Captain Boland really stuck it to her and the other marines.' Jay laughed just a bit. Dee knew her wingman loved it if he
