Nearing the end or beginning again?

   I have been blogging daily for a while now, but most of my blogs have been a short section from one of the books I have written. Today I am sharing a few thoughts from my heart with all of you. I must admit that there have been days when I felt blogging out my books was a total waste of my time. There have also been days when I felt like it was what I needed to do. At the momemt I am not certain about either of those thoughts. I have less than a month to go before I finish posting my current work. I wonder if that should be or will be the end of my posting of these books. Am I nearing the end of this effort in my life or am I reaching a new beginning in it? I am uncertain of which it will be.

 I am nearly done writing the third book in this series. I could probably have it finished before I am done posting this one. I could easily begin posting the third book in the series when I finish with the second I am posting now, but I question the reason or need for it. I seem to have a few dedicated readers, but I seldom hear any comments... so I wonder if they really read what I write or if they just recieve it and haven't bothered to let it go, even though they aren't interested anymore. Lots of questions in my life, but few answers, at least few clear answers. That is the way life usually works for me though. I seldom have been blessed with clear and certain answers. BUT I have indeed been blessed greatly in my life! I have been blessed beyond words to explain, and I still struggle to understand why I have been so blessed when I have wasted so many of my blessing over the years.

 As I have said, I do not know if this in an end or a beginning. In truth, I suspect that each day of our life is both and end and a beginning all in itself. With each new day we leave the old day behind and with it our past. The good things and the bad are both done and finished with for the day we have left behind. There is seldom much we can do to change what we have already done in our lives. BUT... with the new day comes a new beginning, a new chance to restart and rebuild. A chance to learn from our past mistakes and past successes. A chance to grow and improve our lives in the days ahead.

  While we can't change the past we can change the future. It is my hope and prayer today, as we leave another year behind, that each one of us will take a moment to consider the days we are leaving behind. We should all remember the past sometimes, but not try to live in it. The past is behind all of us and it is the future we should look towards. Open you eyes and hearts to the future! Leave your past behind you and move forward into a new day and a better day. May the Lord walk with you all the days of your life and may you remember to walk with the Lord as well. We often seem to forget that while He will never leave us... we often leave Him.

  I plan to try and walk closer to my Lord in the days ahead. I hope to see and hear from all of you as I continue walking with faith. This past year has been filled with failures and triumphs. I suspect that the new year will have both of those in it as well. I sincerely hope and pray that each of you will have far more success than failure in your lives in the New Year. I don't know what it holds in store for me, but I do know that with The Lord's help I can handle it... and so can each of you!

Randy

Chapter Seven - part three

  General Patrick Michael Hodges remained seated. He sat there in silence just looking at James. He did nothing. He said nothing. He just sat and watched this young man who stood before him. His mind had been dead set against this young hotshot pilot from the start. He was certain of what he would be like. They were always the same when you looked close enough. Those hotshot hero's just chased the glory and the casualties could be damned; as long as they weren't personally among them. But somehow that wasn't the impression he was getting this time. In fact the more he had seen and heard the more doubts he had about what kind of man James Cooper really was. This guy didn't look much like any of those hotshots he had known before. He didn't sound like them either. But looks and words could be deceiving. Still one thing did ring true about James. It had rung true, loud and clear, during everything. That was his faith. This young man really did believe. He believed in his duty. He believed in his nation. He believed in his God. Hodges wasn't sure how he felt about that last one, but he knew how he felt about the first two. Pat Hodges believed in his nation and his duty to that nation too. As he sat there he had to ask himself if he believed in those enough to stand up for them once again. Should he stand up with this man in order to do his duty to the nation he loved? Could he stand up with this man? That was the question he had just been asked and question still in his mind now. Could he put everything else aside and do his duty no matter the cost? Was this actually his duty at all?

   James stood waiting and watching as the older man sat watching him. He knew what he had asked of this man. He had asked him to put all his personal beliefs aside and do what needed to be done out of a sense of duty. James knew how hard that could be. While James couldn't imagine actually putting aside his faith in God, he did understand putting aside his own best interest to do his duty for God. It had been tough enough being asked to stand up with faith even with God standing with him. He knew that he was asking this man to stand up alone with only his own personal faith; his faith in duty and honor to support him. He knew that just as he had been forced to do things he hadn't wanted to do or enjoyed, this man was being asked to do the same things in the name of duty rather than God. While duty and God went hand in hand for James they didn't always go together for other men. James had no certainty of how this man felt about God, but he knew how he felt about his country and his duty. General Hodges was a man of honor who had often made great sacrifices in the name of duty for his nation. General Hodges had spent a lifetime proving his faith both in and to his nation, but now he was being asked to prove it once more. Only this time by standing with a man he thought was a fool! James wasn't sure if he could do that himself, but he had just asked this man to do just that.

   Finally Hodges took a slow breath and spoke very softly. "If I do this... you need to understand that I won't sacrifice my men. I will never let you waste their lives trying to prove that you know best. I will help plan things and I will help execute operations, but if I am convinced you are wrong I will be no part of it." James smiled and nodded his head as he spoke. "That is fine, but you need to understand that though I am just a Colonel, the President has given me this command. I will have the final word and you will obey my commands even though you outrank me. I need you to plan and execute the operations, but I want you to coordinate those with me. Together, I believe we can do what must be done without any more damage and death than is absolutely necessary. The first time you refuse my orders I will have you removed. I also expect you to step aside without disrupting my command if you no longer feel you can be a part of what I am doing. I will have your word on that right now or I will send you back to the President and he can decide what to do with you."

   Now Hodges smiled for the first time as he stood up. "You have my word on that. I would never intentionally disrupt any command structure I was ordered to work under, even if I do outrank the man in command. Now what exactly do you have in mind for me. If it seems reasonable I am ready to offer you all the help I can, but first I want to hear what you have in mind to do." James offered his hand and as they shook hands he spoke quickly. "That all depends on you. The first thing I need you to do is put together a list of people you want to help you coordinate all of the operations to restore order in the cities. You should have a lot of them already in place, but we will need more. For now I will give you some of the best people I already have to assist and brief you on the current situations we face, as we know them, in the area. As you probably know my area of operations has suddenly increased rather dramatically. We went from the west coast states to the entire area west of the Mississippi River. We are still trying to sort a lot of things out on the supply side of things. I think I have the right people in place to handle the supply side, but I am depending on you to bring in the people we need to restore order and then maintain that order. Unless we can maintain the supply side while we are trying to restore order we won't have a chance of success. This has to be a two sided operation, but both sides have to work together." James had picked up a phone and spoke quickly into it. Within moments the room was filling up with people and information. James looked at General Hodges and grinned as he spoke to him again. "I need that list of people by the end of the day and I want a rough plan of action from you by tomorrow. This room is now your temporary planning center. Now if you will excuse me I have work of my own that needs my attention."

   James turned and was out of the room before Hodges had a chance to say anything. He looked at the door James had just walked out of and then turned to look around a room that was very quickly becoming a planning room for him.  Shaking his head he stepped forward to take charge. He still wasn't sure about any of this, but he had committed to help. That young man might prove to be a fool in the end, but he was clearly a leader, regardless of anything else he might be. James had shown a bit of temper and it was easy to see the signs of a man with such a tremendous burden of responsibility resting on him, but neither had diverted or distracted him during their confrontation. Hodges smiled as he considered what he had expected, and how much different it had turned out to be in the end. Maybe he would prove to be a fool himself in the end, but for now he was willing to stand and to walk with a man who might not be as foolish as he had believed him to be after all.

Chapter Seven - part two

   He had just gotten up when the jet with General Hodges arrived. James waited for the General in a secure meeting room rather than the temporary office he had been given. He had little doubt as to how this meeting would go and he didn't want everyone to overhear what was said. When the General arrived James was relieved to see it hadn't required restraints to get him to come. Once the escort was out and they were alone James started to speak, but the General cut him off. Hodges was clearly still very angry about the entire ordeal. "The only reason I agreed to this meeting was so that I could tell you face to face what an idiot I think you are. Oh, I have seen your record and you have been lucky enough to have great success when the stunts you pulled should have resulted in disasters. But you aren't going to be fighting this battle in the air from the safety of your cockpit! Maybe you will be up there, but the real battles will be fought on the ground! And they won't be in some nation half way around the world this time either. These fights will be right here in your own country among your own people! You don't have the training or the experience to handle this kind of operation. You may think you can just send in enough supplies to keep everyone happy and all will be good again, but that isn't going to happen! Until we move in with force and take back control of the major cities nothing is going to get better. Eventually it will get even worse than it already is. It will be no better here than it already is overseas. Riots and chaos will become the way of life! The strongest will take what they want and the weak will be killed or die! I suppose you think that if you love your brother he will love you back, but this is the real world son. In this world if your brother sees weakness he will just take control! You will do what he says or he will eliminate you and never think about you again!"

   General Hodges turned away and paced across the room before turning back and starting in again. "You Christians and your brotherly love, along with all that 'turn the other cheek' garbage, are why we are in this mess! All that nonsense may sound great, but if you would just read history you would know it doesn't work... not in the world we live in! To succeed in this world it takes strength and determination. It takes strong leaders who are ready and willing to fight for what they believe in. Why can't you people understand that the time is past when love and kindness might have helped? It is time for action! A strong force used to crush any opposition is the fastest way to end this. It is the only way to end it... period! You simply can't avoid using force. The longer you try to avoid using force the more of it you will have to use in the end. More good people will suffer and die, because you won't do what has to be done quickly. You may be a young fool, but I expected more from our leaders. I certainly expected more from the President! Oh he tried offering the people gifts and look where it got him! He finally listened to reason and was about to deal with this mess. Then Kendrick put you into it! Now we are back at square one again! How many people have to die? How many cities have to burn before you idiots will understand that only force will work?"

   General Hodges stood there glaring at James for a long minute after he finished his tirade, before shouting again. "Are you prepared to watch good men die just because you are too afraid to face the truth? Well, don't you have anything to say?" James actually smiled as he replied to those last questions. "I was waiting for you to finish. Now if you are done I will say what I have to say... and if you are willing to hear me out then maybe you will see why I asked for this meeting as my first priority." James indicated a seat by the table in the meeting room. General Hodges took a seat at the head of the table, as far from James as he could sit. James just grinned and took the seat at the other end of the table. He had been expecting much this sort of reaction from Hodges. In fact he had expected far worse than what he had seen so far, but he also knew that this was just the start. They might have the full length of a long meeting table between them, but at least they were both seated and at least for now they weren't yelling. James was going to do his best to not raise his voice, but he was just as on edge as Hodges was.

   James took a deep breath and spoke in a firm, but calm voice. "I am glad you came willingly, regardless of the reason you came. The first thing I want to say is that I regret the way you were treated by the President. A man of your experience, who has dedicated his life to the service of his nation, deserves to be heard instead of just dismissed. I may not have all the facts and maybe the President did act appropriately, but I still regret being the involved in such problems. But I want to make it clear that I asked you here for another reason. Sir, I agree with a lot of what you said, but I still believe we should use force as a last resort." General Hodges stiffened and started to speak, but James cut him off this time with sharp words of his own. "Sir, I ask that you hear me out before you say anything more!" Hodges sat back, but he was clearly still on the verge of yelling again. James continued quickly. "I asked you here, because I know you are right about the need for force. I just want you to understand that unless that force is carefully controlled I believe it will do as much damage, maybe even more than not using force at all."

   Hodges erupted at those words. "You really are a fool! We have to take action and it has to be immediate and decisive action! You can't just slap a few wrists and expect everyone to get in line again! They have to see that all opposition will be crushed without hesitation or mercy! That is the only way you can hope to restore any kind of order now! Diplomacy can be damned! Our nation is self destructing and unless we stop it now there soon won't be a nation left to save!" James shook his head and slammed his hand down on the table to stop the outburst. Then he spoke again. This time his voice was hard and sharp. "You can sit there and yell because you don't like the way things are or you can shut up and let me explain why I asked for you! This nation needs your help! I need your help! BUT... not if you refuse to listen to reason! Now are you going to hear me out or are you too proud to put the best interest for your nation before your own personal feelings?" Hodges just sat there staring at James. He was so upset he was visibly shaking, but he remained silent. James watched him for a long moment and then let out a slow breath before speaking again.

   "I don't care what you think of me or of anyone else for that matter. What I care about is this nation and my duty to it. Now if you will listen to me I will try to explain why that requires me to look to men like you for help doing things that you think are foolish. I already know that I don't have any experience with this kind of duty. This will be a slow and I fear bloody battle. It will be street by street and maybe house by house in some places. I don't believe that it must be in all cases though. What I need is someone with a lifetime of experience and knowledge about dealing with this sort of fight. That is you! You started out as a simple soldier and you excelled so much that they found a way to get you into West Point. While you never excelled in academics at The Point, you did excel as a leader. After graduating you continued to excel and have done so during your entire career. You have spent the greatest majority of your time dealing with street to street and house to house fighting around the world. You have, over the years, earned the admiration, respect, and trust of your men." James paused for a moment and studied General Hodges. He lowered his voice when he continued speaking to him.

   "That is what I need from you. I need you to lead your men. They need a leader they trust, not someone they hardly know." James held up a hand to keep Hodges silent as he continued to speak. "I know that you have no intention of leading your men to a slaughter just because I ask you to do it for your nation. If I thought you would do that I wouldn't have asked for you to be here. Sir, I need all the knowledge and experience you have to help me find a way to make this work. Despite what you believe I am a warrior. I will fight and I will do whatever must be done. I just want to be certain that we are doing what must be done... not just what can be done! Our nation has crumbled, but I still believe that we have a solid foundation that we can rebuild upon. But, if we go in and simply crush all opposition I fear we may crush that foundation too. You have the knowledge and skill to know what can be done and what cannot be done in the streets.  But I have the compassion and the diplomacy skills to help find solutions that don't require brute force in all situations. I need your head and you need my heart. Together we have a chance, though I do admit it is a tiny chance. Together we might be able to restore order without totally destroying our nation in the process."

    James hesitated before he went on again. General Hodges was watching him closely now and some of the anger seemed to be gone. Hodges was still tensed and ready to fight, but he was clearly thinking about what James had said too. James knew that he hadn't won the man over yet, but there was a chance now that he might be able to do just that. James spoke in a more conversational tone now, not friendly, but not diplomatically either. James simple spoke as he would to a stranger he hoped might be a friend rather than an enemy. "I didn't ask for or want any of this. I know that you and a lot of other people think I am just some glory seeking fool, who wants to be the hero. I am no hero and I sincerely hope that I am no fool. I will be the first to admit that I have done some foolish things. I haven't done them without a great deal of thought and prayer though. Maybe I will prove to be a fool in the end, at least to the world. But I know in my heart that as long as I remain faithful to my God I will never be a fool before Him." James saw the man stiffen again, but he just smiled and continued speaking. "I am not asking you to believe in God or even in me. I am asking you to understand that this isn't about me or you. I don't care what you think or believe about anything else. I only want to know if you love this nation enough to put everything else aside and help me try to save it. Sir, I think you know that we have been heading for this disaster for a long time. I think you know it will take a long time to restore things. I hope you understand that we have to do more than just restore order too. We must find a way to restore what the people of this nation have lost. I believe that before we can do much to restore order that we must restore their faith. Unless the people have faith in something, they will never follow anything. If they don't follow something worthwhile, then they will remain stuck in the mess they are in now or worse."

   James smiled as he stood up. "I am not asking you to restore the faith of the people in this nation, in a man, or even in God. I am asking you to help me restore their faith in the hope for good things, the hope of a better future. How can we do that if we just go in and smash them without any compassion or mercy? I don't believe you want to go in shooting either. Maybe we will have to do just that in some places, but we can try to offer them a chance for something better first. We can offer them a little hope and show them some faith. If we believe in them enough, then maybe they can begin to have some faith in and hope for themselves. Maybe they can find something good to believe in again. The President has asked me to do the impossible. I know that. I know that alone I cannot do what must be done, but I am not alone. God is with me. Now I am asking you to join me too.  I am asking you to show the people that you believe there is still hope for this nation. I am asking you to have faith in the people even though they have given you no reason. I am asking you to show your faith in this nation and the people in it. Will you show them your faith and offer them some hope? Will you stand with me and offer them a chance for something better before we try to force our will upon them?"

Chapter Seven - part one

 Chapter Seven

Remake or Rebuild

    The first thing James did when that video conference was over had been to go to the small office they had provided for him. He sat down for a moment and just tried to let it all sink in. Then he got down on his knees and prayed. General Kendrick had warned him that the President intended to do something big, but he hadn't mentioned anything like this. James had been expecting a summons to appear before the President or Congress. He hadn't expected to be given command of the entire military in the western United States.  He was just a Colonel! There were plenty of men wearing stars to do that job! They weren't going to take any orders from him without a lot of trouble. After his prayer, James had just remained there on his knees thinking and listening for answers. He was still on his knees when someone knocking at his door finally raised his attention. He told them to enter without ever rising. It was Major Roberts. He was clearly shocked to see James on his knees. James smiled as he stood up and spoke to him. "You will have to excuse me. I was just trying to get my thoughts in order. What it is that you need?"

  Major Roberts managed a quick response, even if his voice was a bit unsteady. "You didn't answer when you were paged, sir. They sent me to check on you. General Kendrick is on a secure line for you." James laughed as he nodded his head and went to take the call. He spoke as he walked out. "Thanks, I guess I was completely lost in thought for a few minutes. Tell everyone not to worry, I am alright. I just suddenly seem to have a lot more on my mind." James picked up the phone and listened while Kendrick talked with him about what had just happened. When he was finished explaining what was now expected from James he asked what James needed for them to provide. James hadn't been completely lost in thought. He had been considering what would be needed to restore order to the cities and surrounding areas he was now responsible for. Actually he had been considering more about who he needed to help him and how to get them. That was what he asked for when finally given a chance to say something.

   James was smiling as he asked General Kendrick for the one person he wanted the most. "Sir, I need you to locate General Hodges and get him on a jet to me ASAP. I need to speak with him in person before I can begin to do anything more than continue to supply relief to those willing to accept it. Until I have spoken with him, I won't know exactly who and what else I will need." There was a long silence on the line before Kendrick replied. When he spoke it was clear that hadn't been a request he had expected from James. "Are you kidding me? You heard the President has dismissed him! Why in the name of heaven would you want me to send him to you after that? That could be a disaster! His men loved him! They are more likely to follow him than anybody else, especially you! You are going to have enough trouble getting everyone to follow your orders without having him in the same area. Seriously, just tell me what you need to get the job done and I will coordinate things to get everything to you."

   James took a deep breath and spoke again. "Sir, what I need is General Hodges here ASAP. Please just locate him and get him here. That is what I really need. Can you find him and get him here for me?" Again there was a long silence. Kendrick spoke in a much softer tone this time. "He won't be any problem to find. I put him under house arrest right here. The last thing I wanted was for him to get out where his men might decide to rally behind him. We are literally on the brink of civil war, revolution, and or collapse of the entire nation. We have to be extremely careful or we will make it happen rather than stop it. Are you sure you want him? I can promise you he won't be interested in helping you. He may not even agree to see you! He thinks you are a fool! And that we are bigger fools for listening to you. James he hates you! You stand for everything he is against!" James had listened but he wasn't swayed by those words. He just told Kendrick to put Hodges on a plane and get him to Edwards AFB even if he had to restrain him to do it. James also requested they start prepping to move troops and their equipment back home from overseas. They would be needed if they expected to maintain order after James restored it. He simply didn't have enough manpower available at the moment to both restore order and then maintain it too.

   Once he was off the phone James spent a few hours trying to get the people he already had working with him ready to handle two separate operations as well as the expansion of the area they were responsible for. They would soon have to coordinate the current relief efforts while organizing efforts to begin restoring some real order and stability inside the cities too. Each was a massive job and it would strain their resources even more to try to manage both at once until more support began to arrive. After he had started that process James stepped back to let the people directly responsible figure out the finer details. He took the chance to go and make a call to Sarah. He hadn't had a chance to talk to her or the kids since this had all started. She was with her father in Austin. Things hadn't gotten quite so bad in Texas. That was partly because the people weren't so unprepared and partly because the Texas state government had been more prepared. Her father hadn't only used Texas Guard troops to restore order. He had demanded that the President have the military forces stationed in Texas join the Guard in those efforts. James also learned that he owed her father for another action; this one an act of kindness. He had contacted the governor of Virginia and convinced him, governor to governor, to send a Guard unit to check on and assist James family. Sarah told him that his folks were all fine and hadn't needed any help, but that the unit had remained in the area to help others that did. After the call and that good news James was finally able to get some real rest for the first time in a long time.

Chapter Six - part seven

  By noon everyone in D.C. was aware of the sudden and unexpected change in the command structure. They knew because they were all in the command center of the secured bunker where the President had been staying almost since the start of the chaos. They were all watching and waiting for a video link to be established from Edwards AFB. When the screen suddenly came up they saw only one man standing in the center of it. He was still in his pilot uniform and looked very weary and well worn at first glance. A closer look made you reconsider your first impression. The President stepped forward and spoke as he came up on the screen at Edwards. "Colonel Cooper, I have been looking forward to meeting you. I assume that General Kendrick has given you at least a little briefing as to the developments here?" James gave a quick short reply. "Yes Sir." The President hesitated a minute as a frown tried to form before he could continue. "Very well then Colonel. I have been told by several people, and your record seems to confirm their opinions of you, that you are the man that can resolve the current situation we are facing. Let's say I were to put you in charge of the situation; what would your recommendations be?"

    James remained in place and showed no reaction at all to what had just been asked. After a moment he did lower his head and fold his hands in front of him. James remained like that for a good deal of time. Then he raised his head drew in a deep breath and replied. "Sir, I can't make any recommendation that will fix the situation, at least not that people would be willing to accept. That said, I can offer a few possibilities for restoring order for the short term. It will require massive amounts of coordination and cooperation from all sides. It will involve some major restructuring of your current social systems too. That will take a lot more time to make happen, but unless we start on it immediately... nothing we do will make any lasting difference. Sir, I can try to get you past the winter and spring. It won't be easy or cheap, but I think we can manage it for that long. But by summer we will have to have major changes ready to go. Then it will be another struggle to get the people to accept those changes. If we manage that and they start working with us... maybe we can eventually try to resolve the current situation for the long term. It won't be fast or simple. It will probably still be bloody too, but I see only two options and the other is a complete collapse of the nation."

   The President had been listening intently, but when James was finished he frowned and spoke in a rather stern voice. "You haven't told me what you would recommend. All you have done is to tell me the possible problems and the danger of doing nothing. I know all of that; Hell the world knows all of those things! I asked what you would do if you were put in charge!" The President was clearly not pleased with the answer he had been given. James didn't seem to be concerned by that at all. In fact he smiled as he spoke again. "Sir, what I do will depend on what you let me do, and on what the people let me do. I would start with restoring some of the desperately needed infrastructure. That will require that we actually have control of the cities and the surrounding areas. You will have to immediately pull most of the troops currently stationed overseas home. Otherwise we simply won't have the manpower we must have to secure the cities. You will also have to at least double the total number of troops within the next year. We will have to be able to start restoring strength to overseas units by the end of a year or we will lose control overseas too. If you are willing to commit and start those things then maybe by late spring to early summer I could have a majority of the cities under control and infrastructure being restored. They won't be like they were, but they will be able to function. People will be able to live and work safely again. I can't tell you more than that about how I would fix things. I am sorry sir, but I have to be hands on and adjust to the situation as I go or I am useless."

   This time the President laughed. Shaking his head he spoke to James. "So you just want me to give you control of most of the military and then double the size of it. Then maybe you can do something. Is that what you just asked for?" James showed a reaction this time. He turned a bit red as he nodded and replied. "Yes Sir; that pretty much covers it sir." The President just stood there looking at him for a long time then he asked another question. This time his voice was much softer. "Did you stop to pray before you responded to my first questions?" James smiled and nodded his head again. "Yes sir." That answer and a level look directly at the President was it. They stood there facing each other on video screens from across the nation. After a long wait the President spoke again. "Colonel Cooper, I want you to requisition whatever you need to get the west coast in order. I will order that you be given anything you want. I also want you to review and make further recommendations for the other areas where we are having major issues as well. We will try to make those recommendations work for us. You have two months to regain control of the west coast. When and if you get control of the coast you will have earned a star or two. Then I will put you in charge of everything west of the Mississippi too. Get it all under control by the first of June and I may make you the new Joint Chief. Screw this up and I may still have you shot. Are you willing to accept the terms of my new orders?" James smiled as he replied without a moment of hesitation. "Yes sir, I will follow your orders, but could you just forget the stars and Joint Chief talk? I think I would rather you just have me shot... at least that would be quick!."

  The President began to chuckle and then started laughing. "You're dismissed Cooper. I will be in touch. You have command of everything west of the Mississippi effective immediately and you still have only two months. Get to work!" He turned away from the screen even as James saluted and did the same. Smiling he looked at General Kendrick. "I am glad he didn't decide to go into politics instead of the military. I think he could have been a real force to be reckoned with. He is everything you told me he was and more. I understand now why you went to him when this all blew up. He is definitely fearless! He never even blinked!" Shaking his head the President began giving orders to his staff and cabinet while asking questions about what would be required in order to do what James had suggested. General Kendrick moved back and took a seat to one side of the room. Fearless, that was a good description of what he had just seen. He remembered the way a young inexperienced boy had looked into his eyes and faced him so many years ago. That had been no inexperienced boy standing there looking into the eyes of the President of the United States today though. That had been a man! A man tried and tested, a man with enough faith to risk everything in an effort to save his nation! 

Chapter Six - part six

   At the end of the day things were still very uncertain. People were coming out in large numbers, but there were still large numbers who were refusing to come out. James was just grateful that so far those who wouldn't come out hadn't tried to force anything either. He was hopeful that they were just waiting to see what happened before they did anything. James was also relieved that they had stopped the fighting in the other cities. There wasn't any effort being made to get supplies into those other cities yet, but for now everyone seemed to be tired of fighting. Jeremy had been given orders to relieve James and his current squadron, but James had politely informed Kendrick that he wasn't leaving yet. Kendrick hadn't argued the point. He just made sure James had fuel and kept the supplies flowing in all night.

   The next day James was still in the air, but he was no longer over L.A. by dawn. He and Colonel Phillips had managed to convince other Army units to try the same approach in other cities. James was now covering supply drops in San Diego with yet another squadron under his command and Jeremy had moved the 21st to San Francisco. Major Roberts had resumed command of his squadron and was still over L.A. as the relief efforts expanded. As the day progressed things seemed to be improving. It was still a long way from being back to normal, but the cities were quiet. People were still frightened and many were hiding, but as time passed more and more were coming out for help. By that night James was ready to break off for a while. He needed to rest and he needed a chance to figure out what his next step should be. Nobody else seemed to be ready to take over yet. A little sleep and maybe then he could think straight again.

   The President had watched the developments along the west coast closely. By the end of the first day he was beginning to have some hope that it might work. Late that night and early into the next morning he had his entire staff working to organize and coordinate similar efforts along the east coast. It took them all that next day to get things in place to try and do the same things along the east coast. That was partly due to the fact that the riots had never been allowed them to dig out many places after the winter storm. They had mixed results. General Hodges had used the troops he had selected to go in to regain control at all costs to try this new method. They had tried, but those troops were often too quick to use force at the slightest incident. That often resulted in battles erupting and the relief efforts being stopped short. James hadn't returned to the air. He was now working directly out of the command center at Edwards. James was now coordinating the relief effort along the entire west coast. 

   General Kendrick had been summoned to D.C. and was about to meet with the President at the end of the third day since James had stepped into the center of everything once more. When he walked into the room Kendrick found only the President and General Hodges waiting to meet him. He snapped a sharp salute and after it was returned by both men he smiled. He took the seat they had offered him. Once they were seated the President addressed him. "Pete, would you care to explain how we managed to arrive where we are at in this operation? I am sure Pat would like to hear the story." Peter Kendrick actually laughed before he replied. "Sir, I would be happy to explain what I can." Turning to face General Hodges he grinned as he spoke directly to him. "I have little doubt that you would have me shot for treason if you could, but that is why I did this the way I did. Pat, I have known you since we were both freshly minted 2nd lieutenants from the Academies. You had very little humor even back then and less compassion. Over the years your humor hasn't improved and as for compassion, well I think you killed that off long ago. You are one of the best tactical and strategic thinking men I know, but you have almost no compassion left. You are a cold, battled hardened soldier. Casualties are a fact of war and as long as yours are less than the enemies they are acceptable to you. I wish I hadn't had to go behind your back, but I know you too well. I did what I thought was best and I will face the consequences for my actions."

   Turning back to the President he tried to smile, but failed. "I owe you an apology too, sir. I know you are my commander and I should have come to you, but I couldn't and wouldn't take that risk. Sir, I was afraid of what might happen if we didn't stop that first air strike. If we had intentionally bombed our own forces I think the entire military chain of command might have collapsed. Even if it didn't, how many people would we have had to slaughter before we could have gained control of the major cities? In fact would there have even been anything left of the cities in the end? I made a tactical decision of my own. Sir, we have been watching the situations in this nation and around the world for years. The last few months some of us had formed a network so that we could react to something like this. It was those people who have been working to try and regain control without destroying everything in the process. I assure you that everyone involved was prepared to carry out the strikes and do whatever was required to regain control of our nation. We just weren't willing to do that until we had exhausted every possible way of doing it more peacefully."

   The President nodded when Kendrick was finished. Hodges was about to speak up, but the President held up his hand to silence him. After a moment the President finally spoke again. "Tell me about this Colonel Cooper. I knew that name when I heard it, but I didn't make all the connections until I had his records pulled. I know what the record says now, but I want to know what you say. I want to know why you sent him and what you told him to do." Now Kendrick did smile at the President. He spoke easily this time instead of reluctantly. "I would be happy to do that sir. Colonel Cooper as you already know is one of those born hero's. He never wanted to be a hero and he doesn't try to be a hero. Heck, he doesn't even like it when you tell him he is one. He is a man of honor and a man of compassion. He is also a man of faith sir. That is why I sent him! We had to have someone in charge with enough compassion to risk everything for a stranger and enough honor to do his duty no matter what! Cooper was that man! Sir, unless you meet him and get to know him... well you just won't understand him. All I told him to do was take command of the strike force and try to diffuse the situation. I sent him, because that was all I knew to do. There wasn't anything or anyone except him that I thought had a chance. He was our last chance! Sir, if his efforts had failed he would have done whatever was required to obey his orders and regain control. I sent him knowing that he would do his best to avoid killing, but that he would be willing to kill as many as required to restore order. He was prepared to kill comrades to save his nation or die to save them if they could find a way to save it together. He was the last choice and best choice we had!"

   General Hodges finally had heard enough. He stood up and was almost yelling as he addressed Kendrick. "You actually expect us to believe that some 'Holier than thou' Christian Colonel went in there and worked a miracle? Damn it Pete! Do you honestly expect me to listen to this garbage? I know you are a Christian too, but you never let that silly religious garbage affect your attitude or the performance of our duty before. What the..."  Kendrick had come to his feet and was clearly about to start yelling back when the President stood up and yelled first. "SILENCE, I will have no further outbursts!" He glared at both men until they resumed their seat. Only then did he shake his head and begin to speak without sitting down. "Regardless of what either of you say or think; it seems that one man went in and has done in three days what all of my best generals and advisors couldn't do in almost a month." General Hodges started to speak but was cut off again. "Oh I know he hasn't succeeded at restoring order yet! But Pat, you have to admit that he has managed to make a start. I don't know how he does what he does, but I do know that according to his records he does almost seem to be a miracle worker." He was silent for a moment before turning back to face Kendrick.

   "Peter, I want you to have Colonel Cooper reporting directly to me from now on. I think..." Once more General Hodges came to his feet and raised his voice, though he didn't yell this time. "Now wait just a minute sir! I don't..." The President cut him off and he did yell. "I don't care Pat! I will not wait! You are relieved of your command!!! Now get out and leave me to work this mess out!" He stood glaring at Hodges until he left the room. Then he turned to Kendrick again. "Well, it seems I am in need of a Joint Chief. As I was saying before I want Cooper reporting directly to me; and as for you...? We will talk about your future later, but for now you have just become my temporary Joint Chief. I suggest you get to work. You can use the office assigned for Air Force command until we can talk again.  Send my secretary in as you leave and stay available. I may have need of you shortly; I have more work to do myself for now." That was the end of the conversation and the meeting.  General Kendrick did as instructed. He was both stunned and relieved. Stunned by what had happened and relieved that he wasn't facing a court martial.

Chapter Six - part five

   Yesterday, the President had ordered the military to take whatever action was required to restore order within those cities. It had been a month since the first small riots had begun. Now, thousands were dead and billions of dollars in damage had been done. It would take years to restore what had already been destroyed. The President had tried to get shipments of food and other supplies into the cities early on, but it had proven to be almost impossible. It had been like trying to supply relief to people in a third world nation in the middle of a war; only everyone was heavily armed and wanted to fight first. The military, on his orders, had begun moving in force last night. This morning the first of the heavily armored reinforcements were rolling up to the cities. The President was in a secure bunker watching and listening to the events as they were happening. There was heavy fighting in some locations and lots of people, on both sides, were dying even as the military was still preparing to actually move into the cities again. Los Angles seemed to be the worst of all. The military had literally been forced to withdraw most of the initial forces that had been sent in to restore order early on; at the very start of things. However, a lot of those initial forces had refused the orders to withdraw. They were now dug in to fight against the heavier forces now being sent in to 'restore order'. The President listened as his Joint Chief, General Hodges, handled command of the action.

    "I don't care if they are members of your own unit! They are no longer obeying orders, they are armed, and they are opposing us! That makes them enemies at the least and traitors at the worst! Now I am ordering you to advance on those positions!" General Hodges was yelling, over the radio, at the commanding officer leading the heavy armored units into L.A. this morning. He lowered his voice as he continued talking. "Listen to me. I don't like this any better than you do. I was the commander of those men... once. I know Colonel Phillips and his family. We have fought side by side at times. That changes nothing about what is happening now. We have to take control of this situation and if he isn't with us, then he is against us. Now move forward and be prepared to move in quickly. I have called for an air strike on his fortified locations. He may be able to stop you now, but once those strikes happen he won't be able to stop anyone immediately. If you move quickly, you can roll right over him. Just be ready before he can try to regroup. I don't want to kill any more of those boys than I have to in order to take this city back." There was a moment's pause before a quiet, "Yes Sir", came back. Then it was silent except for the sound of more orders being given to move the armor and troops into position for an assault following the air strike.

   The general turned his attention to other matters across the nation. There were many small battles already going on and more that would soon begin. The air strike on L.A. had been planned ahead of time; it should be only moments before it began. A young captain monitoring all communications in the bunker suddenly called out for the general. "Sir, I think you need to hear this. It isn't on a standard broadcast, but the commander of that Air Force strike unit is talking to Colonel Phillips." The general rushed towards the young captain. "WHAT THE DEVIL! Put that idiot on the speaker and get me a line to him...NOW!!!" The captain responded quickly. As the speaker came on, a calm voice could be heard speaking. "Kirby, you know me and I know you. This is pure stupidity. I am not going to turn on you or anyone else who is willing to listen to reason."

   The general grabbed up a microphone and began talking. "This is General Patrick Michael Hodges. Who the devil is this?! I gave the orders for this air strike to Major Roberts personally and you are not him! He should be in command of this mission and I want to speak with him right now or know why not!" A long silence hung in the room before that same calm voice spoke once more. "This is Colonel James Cooper, Sir. Major Roberts is on my wing today. I have taken over command of this mission. Now if you will allow me to finish, I hope to avoid armed conflict with our own brothers in arms. We are fully armed and prepared to carry out your orders as required, but not if this fight can be avoided." General Hodges hesitated just long enough for the President to step in. It was the President who took the mike from him and spoke now. His voice was calm and showed no sign of any emotions at all as he began to speak. "Colonel Cooper, what do you have in mind? None of us wanted it to come to this, but we must regain control, and quickly, or I fear this will be beyond anyone's control short of an all out civil war."

    After a short moment Cooper responded. "Sir, we have been ordered to launch an all out attack on our own forces. If that isn't an act of civil war, I don't know what is. With all due respect sir, things are already completely out of control! I know Colonel Phillips. I served with him during some of those "peacekeeping" missions in the Europe. He didn't take up these positions as an act of treason. He is trying to avoid a slaughter and maybe worse, a civil war among our own armed forces. The people in the city are out of control and he believes that he has no other option available. He could have slaughtered thousands or he could withdraw, but now he is trying to keep those people contained and more forces out to avoid a slaughter.  Please Mr. President, you first tried to restore order with food and supplies, but we must have both order and supplies together, if we want to make it work. The planes are still loaded with supplies and if we can all come to terms we can make your idea work." The President asked one more question. "How do we do that? If the people see supplies coming in they will riot again, just like the last time we tried." 

    Once more that calm voice spoke from the speaker. "Sir, I have spoken with General Kendrick." (General Kendrick was in charge of entire North American Air Force) The voice continued. "We now have every available aircraft, west of the Mississippi, either in the air or on standby. If Colonel Phillips is agreeable we will use his knowledge of the immediate area, and those heavy armored units about to overrun him, to secure sites just outside the problem areas. Then we will bring in supplies and give the people a choice. Stay where they are and destroy themselves, or come out peacefully and receive the help they need... with no questions asked. I was just making that offer to Colonel Phillips. I was trying to assure him that we won't attack him, but that we would defend his troops if anyone else did. That is including the heavy armored units that you were about to send in behind this strike. This can work. Please sir, let us try this." The silence that followed lasted only a short time before General Hodges tried to speak. A raised hand from the President stopped him short. After a long moment the President spoke. "You can try, but if this fails I will see that you face a court martial and are shot for disobeying direct orders. Is that clear?" The only reply was a firm, "YES SIR!"

    That firm declaration was followed almost immediately by another question from James. "Kirby, are you with us? Will you try to stop this madness or will you force me to try this alone?" The radio was silent for a long time. Then a rough voice spoke. "There is a small strip just behind our positions. I doubt you can land heavy planes there, but it is secured and will handle lots of choppers and support. Drop me the supplies, but have the armor back off. These people aren't ready to let the military take control. They are scared, hungry, and mad at anyone wearing a uniform. I lost a third of my men and equipment when we had to start killing people to save ourselves. A lot of those men actually went over to the people we were fighting. They are still armed and prepared to die to defend those same people now. They might still listen to me, but I don't think they will if they see more troops waiting in heavy armored vehicles to confront them. I am counting on you, Cooper. Honor your word to defend us and them too if I ask for it. Give me your word on that and I am willing to try this."

   Without hesitation Cooper spoke. This time it was on full broadcast to all forces on all channels. "You have my word, Colonel Phillips. I will defend you and anyone else who approaches peacefully to receive supplies and food. I will take out anyone that comes in looking for a fight of any kind. General Kendrick, send in heavy choppers loaded with supplies. Make sure they come in without military escort. My squadron is on site, fully fueled, and fully loaded for ground support missions. We can secure the position against any attacks as long as we have Colonel Phillips help on the ground.  We don't need further support. Have another squadron standing ready to back us up if it is required later though. We will maintain our positions to defend the landing area from anyone who doesn't come in unarmed, except of course for you Kirby. You leave your heavy units where they are and take the bulk of your light units in to keep that strip secured once those supplies start offloading. I want to see choppers landing within the hour. General Kendrick, we will need in flight refueling made available for my squadron. I intend to stay up here, until this either works or comes apart around me."

    The President quietly whispered something to General Hodges and then walked back to take his seat once again. After only a short time of listening to the new orders being given and the reports coming in, General Hodges had all other forces hold where they were in the other cities he had been moving against. He moved over to speak to the president once that was done. "Sir, with all due respect I thought I had command of these operations. If you don't trust my decisions I think it would be best if I stepped aside and let you name someone else to take my place." Frowning, the President shook his head and spoke quietly. "Oh sit down, Pat. I am not sure I trust myself at the moment. Look around us Pat. Our troops are killing American citizens and in some cases even our own soldiers. We are watching cities burning down and the destruction of our own nation. If this Colonel can get control of L.A., then I think we have a chance of stopping things. If he can't... what have we lost? I meant what I said to him. I will see him shot if this fails and makes things worse. Now just sit down and let's see if he really can make this work. You were taking heavy casualties in all the other cities, even without a major military force dug in to oppose you. Not to mention the amount of damage that would have been done in order to secure each block of those cities. If this does work, then it will appear to be my plan working and we can do the same in other places. If it fails, history will see just another traitor causing more chaos. Now just sit down and wait to see which it turns out to be at the end of the day." 

Chapter Six - part four

   Brigadier General Holt had called James to the command center she had established on base at the start of this mess. When James arrived she had just smiled as she spoke into a secure phone before handing it to him. "He is here sir, you can tell him yourself." As James took the phone he heard a short curse, followed by silence. James had recognized the voice. Putting it to his ear he spoke a one word question, "Sir?" There was a brief pause before General Kendrick spoke. When he did his voice was calmer. "Cooper, I have a job for you. You can refuse, but I need you to say yes. I simply don't know anybody else I can ask to do this job. I need you to take command of the strike force that will be supporting the retaking of L.A. in the morning. Now before you say anything just hear me out. I want you, because I need a man who can diffuse this mess. You are aware of the situation, so I won't go into a detailed discussion of things. If we can't stop this there may be no way to stop a complete disintegration of this nation. We simply cannot start bombing our own people without starting a revolt among the people and troops. Eventually I fear a civil war will result. I need you to find a way to stop this before we go any further. James, I don't know if anybody can do this, but I am still asking you to try."

   James had been silent as he listened to this request. Susan Holt was just watching him with a slight smile. Others in the room were looking at him with questions in their eyes. James didn't know what Kendrick thought he could do that anybody else couldn't do too. But he had heard the desperation in his voice. James took a deep breath and spoke. "Sir, I will do whatever I can, but I don't know what that will be." He hesitated as he heard sighs of relief over the line and from the room too. Then he continued. "Sir, I have seen and heard the orders that were given to Major Roberts. I am aware of what they have told him to do and why. You need to be aware of something else though, Sir. I will try to diffuse this mess. I don't want to use that kind of force on civilians, but I will use force... if I cannot find a way to avoid it and still start regaining control. Sir, I will follow orders and help secure the city. I hope I can avoid doing that with force, but if not... I will use force. You need to understand that, Sir." The room and the phone were both silent for a long time before he heard a short reply and the click of the phone hanging up. The reply had been very short and very clear. "Good enough, may God be with you."

  James had finally let out a long sigh and handed the phone to Holt. She just smiled and hung it up before speaking. "I knew you would go, but I couldn't ask you myself. You know that L.A. is the worst and that it will be the first place they try using air strikes to regain order. They will be watching and what happens there is going to decide what happens everywhere. James if we have to take control of these cities back with brute force we might have to kill tens of thousands, thousands at the very least. Are you sure you are prepared to do that?" James looked at her for a long moment and then spoke. "I really don't see another choice. If I don't act then they will definitely use extreme force and tens of thousands will die. If I don't try to stop this, their deaths will rest upon me as surely as if I had been the one killing them. Now if you will excuse me I need to get moving. I just hope that Major Roberts is willing to yield his command to me. I know he will have orders to do that, but..." James shook his head and left the room.

   Susan Holt had watched James leave. She could almost see the burden that he carried with him as he left the room.  There had been no doubt in her mind that he would go. The truth was she knew in her heart that this was why he was here and what he had been destined to do all along. That sort of thinking would have been totally alien to her only a short time ago. But now, after spending so long working around and directly with him it all made sense to her. James Andrew Cooper was about to start another kind of Ironman run. Only this time he would carry the future of an entire nation rather than just a single person. She had watched his eyes as Kendrick had made his request. She had seen resignation as he listened, but that had been replaced before he had replied. Then she had seen only resolve in those cool blue-green eyes. He had accepted this mission and he would see it to the end, regardless of what that meant for him. She never took her eyes from the door he had closed behind him as she spoke to everyone else in the room. "People, I am not religious. I never have been, but today I think we all need to bow our heads and pray for that man whether we are religious or not. Today I think the future of our nation rests upon him and he needs all the help he can get from us... especially our prayers."

   James walked towards his own squadron briefing room. He was in no rush, but he wasn't wasting any time either. He had told Jeremy to call up the squadron, so they should all be there by now. All base personnel had been on alert and required to be at the ready since the start of this. It took only minutes for the pilots from any squadron to be assembled for briefing and prepared to go into action. James knew that all of his pilots would be eager to go along with him. That wasn't in his plans though, unless things went totally wrong. James was going to let them know what was going on, but this was his mission to handle alone. If it went wrong then everyone involved might be in a world of trouble. If he couldn't change things enough to avoid an actual air strike he didn't want them involved in that either. He had no intention of letting them follow him into this mess. James was going to need them if he could prevent the strike, but not unless he had already done that.  

   This possible use of force had been in the works for a while. The strike force he was to command had been ready and waiting for several days. The military bases in close to L.A. had actually been heavily damaged during the early riots. Most of the major weapons had been secured or removed by now. Almost all military bases located close to the large cities were either abandoned now or locked down and isolated, virtually under siege themselves. Edwards AFB had become the center of all Air Force operations on the west coast. That was where the strike force for L.A. was staged. A full squadron of F/A- 48's was to be sent in. General Hodges meant to show everyone that he was going to regain control of the cities. Major Roberts had just assumed command of that squadron before the end of last year. James was hoping that Roberts would respect him enough from his days of flying under James command in Japan to let James take over his command. James hadn't seen much of Roberts since then, but Roberts had remained with the squadron for another year after Sarah had taken the command. That was when he had been moved to his current squadron to become a flight leader and eventually the squadron leader.

   James walked into the briefing room and stepped to the front. Once there he faced his squadron to let them know what was going on. "At ease, I need to make this short. I have been asked to assume command of the strike force designated for L.A. in the morning. I will be leaving as soon as I am finished here. I am placing Jeremy in command while I am..." The room almost seemed to explode with shouted questions and demands to go with him. James had expected nothing less. These pilots were highly trained and well disciplined, but they were still as fired up and driven as they had ever been. James gave them a brief moment and then simply pointed his finger towards heaven as he raised his hand. Silence quickly descended on the room. James lowered his arm so that he was pointing towards them and they took their seats. Then he continued. "As I was saying; I am leaving Jeremy in command. I expect all of you to follow his orders with the same respect and discipline that you show for me. I don't have time to debate or discuss my decisions with any of you, much less all of you. I am asking, and trusting, each of you to give me the same trust I have in you. I hope that I have already earned that trust from you."

   Turning to face Jeremy he sighed heavily before he spoke directly to him. "Jeremy, I would love to have you and my squadron flying with me, but I need you here for now. I hope that I will need you for something more important soon, but I must take this first step alone. You are already familiar with the current plans for the strike force. You are to go directly to Holt and tell her that I need you to be made aware of everything I am doing. If I can do what has been asked. Then I will need all of you ready to support me. If not then I need you here to deal with the consequences of my failure. Ask Holt to allow you to strip the F-35's down and load them up with extra fuel tanks instead of weapons. I want them setup for maximum flight time and light ground support only. If I can make this work then we will need to stay in the air as long as possible and shouldn't need much more firepower than we can manage with the guns. Load those with the standard light rounds and tracers we use for practice runs. I want you and the other F/A-48's to be loaded up for a major ground assault. You won't need the extra fuel, but you may need all the extra firepower you can carry." James stopped and faced his pilots for a moment before he spoke again. "I want to tell you that it has been an honor to serve with you and that I know you will be ready when you are called. I know you all want to be there with me, but all of you must remember something... I never fly alone."

   James had dismissed them and managed to limit the time they spent wishing him well. Once he was free he went directly to his office. The ground crews were already prepping his F/A-48 per his new instructions. It was being loaded with spare fuel tanks in place of all extra munitions. In addition they were loading his guns with all tracer rounds. James was hopeful that if he did have to carry out the original orders he could at least scare the opposition enough to avoid actually killing them. The rest of the squadron he would be commanding would be fully loaded and more than capable of taking out any opposition they were likely to face with ease. If he could stop the strike then he would probably need to stay in the air as long as possible. That short walk to his office gave him enough time to think of a few possibilities that might work. He wouldn't know if anything would work until he tried it, but at least he had options now. James sat down to make a call that he knew he had to make before he did anything more. He called Sarah and told her where and what he was heading into this time.

   After that call was finished James went to make another important call. Sarah had seen several more possible issues and she had made some good suggestions too. She had also made him realize that he didn't yet know for certain who else Kendrick had informed about this. James went back to the command center and made a secure call to General Kendrick in Colorado Springs, where he was currently located. It turned out that he had informed only a few people and nobody at Edwards knew anything yet. He was trying to find out who he could depend on. He was concerned that if Hodges got wind of the changes he would override them and the strikes would go on as planned. James gave him a couple of names he could call at Edwards. He also asked him to just get him clearance into Edwards and let him talk to Major Roberts himself. Two hours later James was on his way. Nothing was definite, but everything looked good so far. According to Kendrick most of the folks at Edwards didn't want any part of this air strike as it was planned. They were prepared to carry it out, but they didn't like it. James spent several hours after he arrived convincing them to let him try something else first. They finally agreed and the next morning James was the acting commander when the strike force took off.

Chapter Six - part three

   The days passed and became weeks. Congress had managed to get a few things ironed out and were about to pass a long overdue budget. There wasn't much good news in that budget as far as James was concerned. They hadn't actually cut spending at all. In fact they had increased it far beyond all expectations. The real problem was they had made cuts in some things and some of those were drastic. They had reduced foreign aid by a little, but it was military spending that was to be slashed. It wasn't all at once, but within two years the military budget would be cut by more than a quarter of the current annual budget. They gave few specifics. Those were being left for the people in charge of the military itself to decide. James knew that it would make little difference what was cut. If they made cuts that large they would have to gut the military. There would simply be no way left to support the manpower or the equipment needed to maintain an effective military. It required lots of men, machines, and munitions in order to have a strong military, and those in turn all required a lot of money.

   Everyone in D.C. was ecstatic about the new budget. It was a long term plan that would almost double the spending over the next decade that was being provided to support the people who couldn't find work. The news media was proclaiming a great victory and a clear path towards a brighter future for everyone. The only problem was that they weren't mentioning the drastic cuts in other areas or the drastic increase in various taxes either. A lot of people listened to the news reports and cheered about the coming changes, but not everyone. In fact a lot of very important people became very upset and concerned. Those were the people who had jobs and businesses; the people who would be facing those huge increases in taxes or the major cuts in other programs. They weren't happy at all, but they also weren't the direct cause of what happened next either.

   The world financial analysts had looked over the budget that was about to go up for a final vote and they reacted. They stepped out and announced that if that budget was passed they would be forced to lower the credit rating of the United States. That had happened before and it had seemed to have little effect. This time it was different though. All of the major firms had come together and made the announcement in union. They also made it very clear that if the budget passed they expected their first reduction to be followed very rapidly by more reductions in the credit rating, though they couldn't or wouldn't say how fast or how many more might follow. They couldn't have expected everything that did follow that announcement though. First, the vote on the budget bill had stalled.  Next the stock market took a huge hit, forcing it to close before noon the day after the bill had stalled. Then other world markets fell dramatically too. That was when some countries in the world seemed to smell blood and moved to take action on their own. Their first step had been to refuse credit and demand payment of what was owed to them by the United States. The second item, and the biggest hit, had been refusing to accept the dollar in any further transactions. That event alone was enough to cause total chaos among all of the world markets, but that had just been the beginning of the chaos that now virtually held America and much of the world captive.

   The timing of all this seemed to be the worst it could possibly have been too. The winter had turned far colder than normal and there were lots of small storms in various parts of the country that were slowing down transportation and production. A lot of large cities were running very low on fuel and food supplies. The people were beginning to panic. The government was trying to rush supplies to critical areas to reduce that panic, but that resulted in reducing supplies to other areas and spreading the panic instead of reducing it. As the panic spread the protests became riots. Those riots caused even worse shortages and more panic. The government had soon lost all credibility with and control of the people. The only thing left for them to do was call in the National Guard. The Guard had quickly learned that regaining and then maintaining control would require the use of extreme, often deadly force. Many of them weren't willing to use such extreme measures on people they lived with and knew. The situation had rapidly gotten beyond the ability of the Guard to handle.

   James and Susan had been alert and watching before it started; so had a lot of other people. But that had made no real difference either. They had too little warning and they had too little time to even try to formulate a plan before things had gone totally out of their control. They weren't standing by totally helpless though. The military had been preparing for action. The commanders at the top had also been watching and they knew almost immediately that the military was likely to become involved eventually. They just didn't know exactly where, when, or how much they would be involved. They had seen enough action in other nations around the world though to recognize what was now happening in their own. They knew that the only way to restore order was going to be with force. The question for them was how much force their troops would be willing to use against their own people. Everyone was looking for a peaceful way to diffuse the situation, but there didn't appear to be any peaceful ways left.

   Susan Holt hadn't wasted any time when it had started. She had called in all forces and ordered an immediate lockdown of the base. She had also contacted all of the other commanders she knew to urge them to do the same and she began an effort to form a network across the nation. The first major riot had happened on a Saturday. By the next Monday most major cities had seen protests turned into riots and not riots that could be controlled. These were major riots causing major damage, injuries, and deaths. By Wednesday a lot of cities had declared curfews and some had implemented martial law. It was sort of like watching dominoes starting to fall, one after another, until everything was collapsing at once. A massive winter storm late that week had shut down much of the country just after all the chaos had started. That had been both a blessing and a curse. Many roads were closed and most major airports had shut down. Trains had even been stopped due to the heavy snows. All of that had helped to contain the riots in the middle of the nation, but it had also seemed to feed the riots on the coasts at the same time. That Friday the President had also ordered the military to begin emergency shipments of food, fuel, and supplies into the worst spots. That sounded like it should help, but it didn't! It was the next Monday before the first shipments began to arrive and they were met with violence rather than joy.

    The storm had shutdown most routes of travel by ground, stopping almost all commerce. Due to the political bickering and the long holiday, most of the major cities had already been on short rations for the huge number of people who now depended entirely on government aid to survive before this began. Those limited supplies of food and other essential items that had been the cause of the protests and riots were now almost completely gone. There was simply no food, fuel, or medicine available in many major city centers. There were places where they no longer had power for lights and heat due to damage done during the first riots. Even water had become limited in many cities along the west coast due to the riots causing damage to the main water systems. Many of those same cities were now burning out of control, because of the lack of water too. They couldn't get supplies in or repairs made because of the combination of the violence within the cities and the winter storms that were limiting movement nationwide. It had indeed become total chaos in most of the major cities within a matter of a few days, especially those along the west coast. The President declared a national curfew as well as martial law and ordered the military in to contain things and restore order. The chaos had seemed to become frozen in place by the storm hitting for a short time and where the storm hadn't done the job for them, the military had managed to contain the worst of the rioting; especially along both coasts. But they hadn't managed to regain any control inside those cities. In fact, it seemed that they were losing control of more ground each day as time passed.

   A lot of the people Susan and James were talking with were directly involved in the efforts to restore order. Some of the commanders were eager to rush in and some were reluctant. As the days continued to pass the situation grew worse and the divide between the two groups also grew. It wasn't anything that could be called a revolt, but some of the commanders weren't willing to rush in regardless of their orders. Others were charging in despite their orders to use restraint. The two groups were becoming more clearly separated as time passed. One group followed orders from D.C. without question. The other group, the one James was involved with, were more inclined to question things they felt were wrong.  And there were a lot of things going wrong all at once. The two distinct groups within the military both wanted this to end, but how to go about it was a huge divide between them. The only thing that was good about the split in military approaches was that everybody was still trying to obey orders. They might question them and try to get changes made to their orders, but when all was said and done they still followed orders.

     The orders given by the President to regain control had been given to General Hodges who was the current Joint Chief over all military branches. What those orders actually meant had been hotly debated, but they were being carried out one way or another. The results had been mixed. In some of the less extensive riot areas the Army had made some progress, though very limited. In the worst spots they had been stopped or even driven back. The next step had been to order in heavier units, but they could make little progress without even heavier air support. The President had listened to advice from his cabinet, but it was the Secretary of Defense and the Joint Chief who had pushed for armored units to be used along with Air Force back up in order to break down all resistance and restore order. General Hodges hadn't been among the people who James was talking with. However the current head of the Air Force was among those people. General Kendrick wasn't ready to bomb his own cities, not if he could find a way to avoid it. He hadn't really disobeyed his orders. He was just changing who he assigned to carry those orders out. General Hodges had called only the people who he knew agreed with him and they had assigned people who would carry out his orders without question. General Kendrick had changed some of the key people involved in the Air Force portion of this new attempt to restore order. James was to be one of those people. 

Chapter Six - part two

   James spent the few days he had before Christmas with the kids and Sarah. Those few short days were wonderful, but far too short. Christmas arrived to sweep James and Sarah up into the family events and the family politics as well. Newly elected Governor Davis made a point of showing off his daughter and his son-in-law at several political functions. James didn't mind being there too much, but he would have preferred to just be with his family. Sarah was as much to blame as her father though. She made a point of introducing James to several people with a lot of connections. These were people who might share their concerns with James about the state of the nation. A lot of those folks were well connected not only politically, but also in the business world as well. Some knew more about things in Texas and some were more familiar with the situations nationwide. A lot of these people were connected with major corporations. Texas was one of the few places where the major corporations were still expanding.

   James spent a lot of late nights after the rest of the family was in bed talking with friends he had made who were scattered around the nation and the world. It would have been much harder to make some of those connections if he wasn't staying with the future Governor. James had talked with him on his first night home after the kids were in bed. It had actually been a family discussion, but this wasn't a typical family. His in-laws were very much aware of the state of the nation. One brother had been a very powerful Senator and was now the next Governor of Texas. The other brother had ended his distinguished career in the Air Force as the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs. Both men had been directly involved in both the defense and governing of the nation. That night James learned that he wasn't alone in his concerns. Both men were quick to agree with his concerns and both shared their own concerns. James knew that they had been concerned for a long time, but he was still surprised by the intensity of their concern for the sudden calm that had come over the nation. Both men seemed to feel it might literally be the calm before the storm too. Neither of them knew what kind of storm was building though.

  Those long distance chats with his friends weren't much help in identifying what the building problem might be either. They did make it more certain in his mind that a major problem was building. They all agreed that it would be tied either directly or indirectly to the world economy, but none of them knew exactly what to expect. Overseas it seemed to be more likely that the military would be where things started. It might be a conflict between nations or it might be more coup attempts. It was even possible it could be the military putting done a revolt for the ruling government. The main idea was that the military would be where the problems were. They expected those problems to rapidly involve the public, but the military would be at the center of everything overseas. It wasn't that clear cut inside the United States though. The feelings about something building up were almost universal though, but ideas of what it might be were varied.

    James spent hours trying to sort out what he was hearing from the people he contacted. In the end he couldn't pin any one thing down. It seemed like there were many problems that were all working together to build up pressure. In the United States one of the biggest issues for the moment was fuel, both for vehicles and heating. It seemed like supplies were getting more limited as the winter had progressed. It hadn't been a terribly bad winter so far, but it had started early and seemed like it was going to remain colder than normal too. The other issue was jobs. There were a huge number of people already out of work and things seemed to be slowing down even more than normal this year. It was always slower in the winter months, but a lot of people said this was different and worse this time. Holiday sales had been the worst in over a decade. That was now translating into cutbacks and layoffs, both in manufacturing plants and in retail stores. To James it seemed like things in the big cities had started to follow the trend that had started in the smaller cities and towns years before. Businesses were closing and life was grinding to a near halt. What had been easily available was hard to find and the normal, easy way of life was no longer normal, or easy. It didn't look like things would improve anytime soon either. A lot of people seemed to be watching and waiting for something to happen. The only question left to be answered was what that something would be. Nobody seemed to know what was going to happen and few people even wanted to think about it, much less to talk about it.

   James had returned to base at the start of the second week in January. It was near the middle of the week before he had a chance to meet in private with Brigadier General Holt and discuss what they had learned. She had come to see him in his office this time. James was even more concerned about the situation within the nation now than he had been before. A lot of people he knew were stationed along both coasts or overseas. The majority of the military was still deployed around the world, but it had made little difference where they were. Everyone he had talked with had been concerned. It wasn't just the United States that had suddenly gone quiet. It seemed like the entire world was holding its breath, waiting for something to happen. The problem was that nobody knew what that something was. James had told Susan everything that he had learned. In the United States the major concern was the way the economy just seemed to be stalled out. Nobody was spending any money, but that was because very few people were making any money to spend. Overseas it was worse. The major concern there was staying warm and having food to eat. There were still protests almost daily, but the people didn't seem to have the drive to do much... not yet.

   Susan had heard much the same sort of thing, but with a few added concerns. A lot of her time had been spent at parties and formal dinners with various generals in all of the various military branches. One of the big items on the agenda for the politicians in Washington was cutting wasted spending in the military. They wanted to allocate those funds to something more useful, such as housing and subsidies for those who weren't able to support themselves. The military had been cutting spending everywhere they could for years. The only place left to cut was in personnel. They had stopped virtually all of the weapons development programs and scaled back a lot of the planned purchases during the last budget battle. Most of those cuts wouldn't actually take place for several more years, but they had been cut. The only thing left was a force reduction. The problem was that at the moment they didn't have enough manpower to handle all of the current deployments. They were running short of men and supplies everywhere. And now they were being asked to cut even more!

   James listened as Susan explained the major concerns of all of the ranking military officers she had spoken with. They felt that instead of making more cuts the military should be expanded and dramatically. The rest of the world militaries were doing exactly that. Most of them were building up huge stores of weapons, munitions, and manpower as if preparing for major conflicts. The largest expansions seemed to be going on in the nations with the worst economic problems. That was also where military force was being used the most often to control the people. It was happening everywhere, but it was worse in some places than in others. It was even happening in the United States, though in very limited amounts. The brass seemed to believe that if Washington, D.C. made the cuts they were talking about making it would effectively render the United States military almost useless. They simple wouldn't have the manpower or the equipment and support needed to maintain any kind of large scale actions. In fact they would be hard pressed to even handle the most minor conflicts, unless they took place very close to an active base. They felt it would be disastrous to make those cuts and almost as bad if they didn't actually start to expand due to the expansions in the rest of the world militaries.

   The top brass had all been eager to talk, off the record, about possible problems and what would need to be done. Susan wasn't certain that anyone had a good handle on what was really going on or even a workable idea of how to deal with what they thought was wrong. They all seemed to be trying to put the blame and responsibility for finding solutions on other people. The one thing that Susan had been stunned to hear was that all of the military brass was seeing more danger of the real problems being with the people rather than from other world governments. They all seemed to be convinced that the next major problem they would face was going to come from inside America, not outside. They had spent a long time talking and debating about what could be done about that. Their conclusion had been that no matter how much they hated it; there was little the military could do to change the immediate future. Their only hope was to try and be ready to deal with whatever did happen. The question was how to do that when faced with the spending cuts and further limitations which they had to deal with. They had no good answers, but Susan did tell James that a large group of the highest ranking officers had agreed to stay in touch with each other. They had also made a very limited commitment to work together in a coordinated effort to keep control of any major conflicts happening inside America out of the hands of the politicians. They had all agreed that if things became bad enough to require military force it would be far better if that force was controlled by them rather than by politicians.

   James and Susan weren't comfortable with what they had discovered, since it seemed to validate their own concerns. However they were both glad they had decided to ask questions. It seemed that a lot of people in the military, hopefully the right people, were doing just that. James had spent a couple of hours talking with Susan about things, but they couldn't decide on a course of action until something at least started to develop. Until then they would simply have to do what everyone else seemed to be doing... wait! They would be doing something besides just waiting though. They intended to make a real effort to stay connected with the people they had spoken with. Maybe if they all stayed in touch and alert somebody would see something to indicate what was to come. Then they could use that to form a plan of action. There were a lot of ifs and maybe's, but it was all they had at the moment. James did make one other suggestion to Susan. It was the same one he had made to everyone he had talked with. That was a simple suggestion that they do a lot of praying while they were watching and waiting. That was about the only thing they could do for the moment. James figured it was probably the best thing they could do too.