Without warning

‘Barb, we didn’t do it. They weren’t our bombs. It’s not our issue, and even if it was, all of the navy’s missile boats are still at sea. I think. Most of them, anyway. Nobody is going to bomb us.’

She was shivering violently, and kept looking over his shoulder to the lounge room, where Kip could now hear Buzz Lightyear hamming it up. ‘To infinity… and beyond!’

‘You’re seeing Blackstone today, right?’ said Barbara, almost accusingly.

‘Right,’ he replied, with some care.

‘Well, if you get one thing out of that useless cocksucker today, make sure it’s a good idea about whether we’re on a target list. Because I mean it, Kip, we’re so gone. We are out of here if he even hints that Seattle might get hit.’

‘Okay,’ he said, still holding her. ‘I can do that. It’s the sort of thing I would ask anyway. But you need to stay calm, all right? Don’t go losing it in front of the kids. Do you still have everyone coming around for the home-school thing today?’

Barb shook her head, but didn’t look up. ‘I don’t know now.’

Kip pushed her away gently. ‘You should. Suzie needs it. That rain’s cleared out and people will be looking for you. They’ll be looking to you. You need to hang tough, Bub,’ he said, invoking a pet name he used only in the rarest of circumstances. ‘I’m not going to sit here for the sake of it. If we had to leave, we would. Straight away. But if people panic, this place will unravel so quickly that nobody will get out. Do you understand?’

His wife looked up and wiped away a few tears. Her eyes were swollen and red and she had to sniff to clear her nose. But she nodded. ‘I’m sorry. It’s just… on top of everything, you know?’

‘I know. Be strong, okay? I do have to go. I have to get to Fort Lewis this morning and pick up a bunch of guys coming up from Olympia.’

‘You’re not driving down there, are you?’ she asked, suddenly fearful again. ‘Olympia’s much closer to the Wave.’

‘No,’ he assured her. ‘They stayed in town overnight. They’re just coming out to coordinate the relief effort through the rest of the state. What there is of it, anyway.’

Kipper kept his misgivings to himself, but he really didn’t know how much use they’d be. The state government had lost about a third of its people and was still reeling around in shock. He couldn’t blame them. The city would be exactly the same in their position. He just didn’t want to get sucked into their death spiral.

‘I’ll be late, but I will be back. Don’t worry. And don’t spend the day hovering over the radio while we have power. That stuff means nothing to us now. It’s somebody else’s problem.’

He saw Barbara gather her forces and quell her fears. She was so much smaller than him, but stronger in many ways. He wished he could have taken her to sort out General Blackstone. One of Barb’s patented maulings and the old prick would run up the white flag for certain.

He kissed her on both eyelids and went through to say goodbye to Suzie and Emma, knowing it would probably be the last pleasant moment of the day.

* * * *

FORT LEWIS, I CORPS HO, WASHINGTON STATE

‘Release them now!’

‘Now is not the right time.’

‘Now is completely the right fucking time, or I walk. My people walk. Every fucking city council employee walks and you can deal with the consequences,’ said Kipper, stabbing at the tabletop for emphasis.

General Blackstone, half hidden in shadow under the shaded light, folded his arms and leaned back, disappearing further into the darkness. ‘The consequences will be that you go down in history as the man who destroyed America,’ he replied, just as implacably.

Kipper snorted. There were at least twice as many military personnel as there were civilians in the underground conference room at Fort Lewis. Blackstone had obviously insisted on scheduling the meeting here to keep them off balance, but Kip was determined it wasn’t going to work. He wished he had Barney with him, though. Two axe handles across the shoulders, and dangerously impatient with bullshitters and idiots, he’d have made a great shotgun rider for this mission.

‘America is more than just a name on a map or a bunch of business interests,’ said Kipper. ‘It’s not the military. It’s not the President. In fact, it’s none of those things anymore. It hasn’t been since they disappeared. I’m not destroying America, you are, General. America is an idea – of the people, by the people. You do the math on the rest of it. Because locking up the people’s representatives, no matter how useless and fucked up they might be, that is destroying the idea of America. And I’m here to tell you that we won’t stand for it. Release the councillors now.’

Blackstone, who had been sitting back, absorbing Kipper’s attack, suddenly exploded forward into the light and slammed both open palms down on the table. ‘How dare you! You march in here, under the pretence of amity, and lay down a subversive agenda…’

‘Oh please – what are you, channelling McCarthy? The only subversives here, my friend, are toting guns and pretending the fucking Constitution doesn’t exist. Well, it does, and if you won’t defend it, we will.’

Blackstone gaped as though struck and Kip wondered if he might have gone too far. But no, damn it, he would be heard. Even if it meant he ended up in the cells too. He didn’t dare take his eyes off Blackstone, lest it be interpreted as weakness, but he could sense the presence of Dave Chugg and Marv Basco on either side of him, and of the state government people beyond them. They weren’t exactly supporting him yet, but they weren’t backing Blackstone either.

‘Haven’t you seen the news, son?’ asked the General. ‘Are you a complete imbecile?’

Kipper smiled, but without warmth. ‘The news? Is that what you call it? I’ve seen the censored bulletins your media people let out.’