From The Ashes: America Reborn Read online

  WWJ: Let’s take a break and when we return I’d like to discuss medical care in detail . . . and lawyers.

  BOOK #6

  WIND IN THE ASHES

  “And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out.”

  –Matthew 5:29

  Ben is at his camp quietly meditating about the Rebels’ struggles. He realizes that they are going to have to face their adversaries to the north and west if they are ever going to have control over their own destiny. Sam Hartline and Georgi Striganov of the IPF still control the territory in Nevada, northern California, and Oregon (including everything west of Highway 97). He is reluctant to take responsibility for such an important undertaking, but he finally realizes that he may be the only one who can.

  Ben gathers up his officers to plan their attack. The first troops will be airlifted from the main base into enemy territory. The twenty-three-year-old Sylvia Barnes, a Rebel airborne specialist who will very soon become his lover, heads the operation. The Rebels parachute in and quietly take over enemy airbases in Redding and Red Bluffs, California.

  By the time Striganov and his ally, Sam Hartline, become suspicious of the interruption in communications to their airports, the Rebels have already begun joining with the local communities to establish their positions in California from Yreka all the way down to Napa.

  While Ben and his Rebels are engaged in an extensive guerrilla war with what remains of the IPF, Hartline’s mercenaries, and a group of motorcycle-riding warlords, intelligence reveals a new, more intimidating threat. The IPA, a mixed group of descendants of several Middle Eastern terrorist organizations led by Colonel Khamsin (the “Hot Wind”), have brought forty to fifty thousand troops to American shores at Savannah, Georgia.

  Striganov sees that he is committed to a battle he cannot win, and he has lost sight of his original goals. His people begin to pull out and retreat to Canada in order more peacefully to work out their socialist experiments.

  The Rebels anticipate another confrontation with Hartline and the warlords, and they have received disturbing information that Hartline has been in contact with Khamsin, who is getting uncomfortably close to the Southeastern Rebels’ settlements. Ben discovers that there is a security leak inside the Rebel band. He confronts Sylvia and finds that she has been giving information to IPA. She pulls a knife on him, and he shoots her. Back in the Rebel settlements in the Southeast, Nina is kidnapped by Colonel Khamsin and tortured by him. Ike leaves for Georgia to rescue her.

  Ben decides to bluff Hartline into a false confidence by circulating a rumor that he has been killed. Hartline sends in three battalions before he senses the trap and hides out in a hole to wait for the end of the battle. Ben discovers him there and the longtime enemies slug it out hand to hand. Ben kills him.

  Ben Raines and his Rebels pack up and begin to head back East, where an even more difficult battle will be facing them, this time against Colonel Khamsin and the IPA . . .

  SEVEN

  On the short drive to a local restaurant, I noticed that nearly everyone had a garden in their backyard. Some a very tiny plot of cultivated and planted land, others taking up half an acre.

  Ben Raines: We encourage people to plant gardens.

  WWJ: I see that almost everyone has a fence around their property, front and back.

  Ben Raines (after a smile): Fences make very good neighbors. And they help in any investigation.

  WWJ: What do you mean?

  Ben Raines: Suppose some citizen shoots an intruder. If he has a fence and locked gate, right off the bat the punk is guilty of trespass. Add home invasion to that, and the investigating officer can usually close the book on it very quickly.

  WWJ: The SUSA is really a hard law-and-order nation, isn’t it?

  Ben Raines: Yes, it is. And damn proud of it. The money and time and effort others spend dealing with punks and crapheads and other assorted lowlifes, we put to better use.

  WWJ: Such as?

  Ben Raines: Medical care for the law-abiding citizens of the SUSA, to name just one area.

  WWJ: You have very little sympathy for the criminal, do you?

  Ben Raines: I don’t have any sympathy for the criminal. And most residents of the SUSA feel the same way. Look, back before the Great War and the revolution, there were approximately seven hundred thousand cops in the United States. I doubt that we have four thousand cops spread out over the entire SUSA and satellite states.

  WWJ: But you have army patrols working everywhere.

  Ben Raines: That’s true. But we don’t have thousands of them on patrol. A couple of two-man units per county is all. And we only just started a civilian police force a year or two ago.

  WWJ: I will admit to still being somewhat confused about just how you go about maintaining law and order in the SUSA. And you certainly maintain it . . . that much is very obvious.

  Ben Raines: The high level of morals and values of our citizens is certainly one reason. I told you: morals and values are taught in public schools, from kindergarten on. That certainly helps. But that will never be in states outside the SUSA because those citizens are not of like mind, or anywhere close to it. And never will be.

  WWJ: So you will admit that when the Tri-States philosophy was being formed, or created, put into being, if you will, you invited the crème de la crème of American citizens to join with you?

  Ben Raines: That’s true to some extent. But the vast majority of our citizens are just like you and me: they’re just people. People who want to live and love and work and raise their kids with values and morals and a strong streak of decency. People who want to live in a society that is as crime-free as human beings can make it, but without becoming a totalitarian state. And believe me, that is a fine line to walk.

  WWJ: Would it be fairy to say that this government operates on something of an honor system?

  Ben Raines: Sure. To some degree. Back before the Great War and the revolution, there were approximately 120,000 people working for the federal IRS. The forms for filing income tax were so complicated the average citizen spent hours filling them out . . . and many citizens just couldn’t do it. Me, to name one. And while I’m no rocket scientist, I am a reasonably intelligent human being. Millions of American citizens literally begged their representatives and senators to simplify the forms. But every time Congress tinkered with the system, they only succeeded in making it worse. It finally began to dawn on me that the great majority of our elected officials didn’t want to un-complicate the IRS forms or to make the IRS more civil toward taxpayers. They didn’t want to lessen that fear-hold the IRS held over American citizens. They wanted that dictatorial and punitive club held over the heads of Americans. They wanted American citizens to live in fear of Big Brother. And that is no way to run a government. Now, it’s very true that all governments are based, to some degree or another, on fear. Including this government, to a very small degree. But a law-abiding citizen should not have to fear the very government their tax dollars go to support. Here in the SUSA we have tried, and are still endeavoring, to lessen that fear in every area we can. We want this system of government to be as unobtrusive in the lives of its citizens as government can possibly be.

  WWJ: But you do have income tax here?

  Ben Raines: Sure. Governments can’t operate without funds. Citizens here pay twenty percent of their gross income; right off the top. Everybody. That is earned and unearned income—stocks, bonds, annuities, everything. But there is no sales tax in the SUSA. The price you see on an item is the price you pay. We can do that because we don’t support a massive government bureaucracy here. We don’t pay people not to work; we don’t pay farmers not to plant crops; we don’t operate our courts the way they do outside our borders; we don’t have nine hundred government departments employing thousands of people sticking their goddamn noses into every aspect of citizens’ lives. Basically, citizens are on their own here. Succeed or fail; that’s up to the citizen. We don’t prop people up or tell them what kind of business
they can go into or how to run it or who to hire.

  WWJ: One more question about taxes, if you please.

  Ben Raines: Just one? (That was said with a smile).

  WWJ: Well . . . maybe two or three.

  Ben Raines: Go ahead.

  WWJ: How many pages in a personal income tax form?

  Ben Raines: One page.

  WWJ: One page?

  Ben Raines: That’s all that’s needed. A place to sign your name and then you include your statement of earnings and a check for twenty percent of it. What else does a government need?

  WWJ: One page . . .

  Ben Raines: You’re repeating yourself. I told you: life is much simpler and easier here in the SUSA. And we intend to keep it that way. People control their own destinies here. As much as is humanly possible and still maintain some form of government.

  WWJ: So people don’t cheat on their taxes here?

  Ben Raines: Sure, they do. But we don’t have a nation of cheats as it was in America before the Great War; everybody looking for a way to hedge on their taxes. We catch a large percentage of them here.

  WWJ: Then they’re prosecuted?

  Ben Raines: Oh, no.

  WWJ: No?

  Ben Raines: No. We just work out a system of payment and tell them if they do it again, they’re going to be booted out of the SUSA.

  WWJ: And that has happened?

  Ben Raines: A few times, yes. But not very many. We sit them down and point out all the advantages here in the SUSA, as compared with the outside. Relatively free medical and dental care. Very little government in their lives. Practically crime-free. Once they give that some thought, they usually play by the rules after that.

  WWJ: So banishment is a punishment here?

  Ben Raines: Yes. But it isn’t used much anymore.

  WWJ: The people who lived in the SUSA, who were permanent residents, how did they react when you people moved in? Was there much resistance?

  Ben Raines: The SUSA takes in a big area. But in answer to your question, we’re still getting some resistance from scattered groups of people. We’re not forcing them to adopt our philosophy, just obey our basic laws. If they don’t wish to do that, we’ll buy them out at a more than fair price. If they still refuse, then they can stay right where they are, but they receive no free medical care, no protection, no basic services. Our security forces will not respond to any type of trouble call from them.

  WWJ: So they are just on their own?

  Ben Raines: Totally.

  WWJ: Are they forced to pay taxes?

  Ben Raines: No. But since they are not permanent residents, they don’t have an I.D. card. So they can’t ride the trains or planes or busses, or buy any type of weapon or ammunition. They can’t get a driver’s license or buy a vehicle or get insurance. We won’t hook them up to electrical services or sewage or water. Their kids can’t go to school . . . unless it’s a church school. Yes, some are still hanging on back in the swamps and hills and mountains. But each year their numbers decrease.

  WWJ: You people don’t play around, do you, General?

  Ben Raines: No. We’re building a nation here.

  I reached over and turned off the tape recorder. I wanted to take the rest of the day off and get my notes in order.

  Ben Raines: You want to knock off for a time?

  WWJ: If you don’t mind.

  Ben Raines: I’m ready for a break myself. Tell you what—I have to meet with President Jefferys later on this afternoon. Would you like to meet him?

  WWJ: I would very much like to meet him. Also, some of the others who have been with you from the start.

  Ben Raines: That can be easily arranged. We’ll drive over to the capital complex and you can meet Cecil. Then we’ll track down Ike McGowan, and then I’ll introduce you to our chief of medicine.

  WWJ: And your son and daughter, Buddy and Tina?

  Ben Raines: We’ll make all the rounds. How about just taking a day or two off and we’ll drive around. You can visit some of our schools.

  WWJ: Sounds good.

  Ben Raines: Let’s go. I was getting tired of sitting around anyway.

  BOOK #7

  SMOKE FROM THE ASHES

  I leave this rule for others when I’m dead,

  Be always sure you’re right—then go ahead.

  - David Crockett

  In the area outside Kansas City, about thirty-five hundred people are living under the protection of Big Louie and Lance Ashley Lantier. Their society is loosely based on the organization of Tri-States, but morally perverse. People of other races are used as slaves, and anyone who disagrees with Louie is burned alive.

  Dan Gray’s Scouts led by Ben’s daughter, Tina Raines, are in the area checking it out. Horrified by the behavior they encounter, they intervene and, in the process, rescue, Denise Vista, a beautiful Native American, who will join with the Rebels, as Ben’s personal assistant and then lover, to fight against Big Louie’s army.

  In Missouri, now a young man in his twenties, Buddy Raines, Ben’s illegitimate son, has escaped his mother (Sister Voleta) in search of his real father. While traveling toward the Rebels, he also has some conflicts with some of Big Louie’s people, and it is in Big Louie’s territory that he runs into his sister, Tina Raines, who is stunned by the family resemblance. Buddy is brought back to camp and reunited with his father.

  While most of the Rebels are fighting against Big Louie’s people in Kansas, General Cecil Jefferys is south of South Carolina holding back Colonel Khamsin (“the Hot Wind”) and the IPA, who are preparing to invade Rebel positions in Georgia. Jefferys recruits the local people of Athens, Georgia, originally led by Jake, who is not pleased to be shoved aside. These amateurs soldiers, under the leadership of Lieutenant Mackey, become affectionately known as Mackey’s Misfits.

  As the IPA becomes a burgeoning threat, Ben surprises Big Louie’s (now Ashley’s) troops by proposing that they team up in order to fight against the more powerful IPA. Colonel West, a career soldier who worked for Louie and Ashley, becomes a valuable ally.

  From West they learn that Kansas City is not “hot,” as was assumed before. The information is surprising, but also makes the Rebels wonder about the habitability of other cities that were presumed to be dangerously irradiated.

  Fighting Khamsin in Georgia, Raines and the allies find themselves surrounded on the north and south by Khamsin and the IPA. The only escape is through Atlanta, which is not hot with radiation, but inhabited by the Night People, a terrifying group of cannibalistic mutants, who are afraid of being outside in the daytime. At dusk, the Rebels retreat swiftly into Atlanta, and Khamsin’s troops follow to their grisly deaths.

  Having won the battle against Khamsin, Ben, Buddy, and the Rebels decide to return to Louisiana, where they will implement their plan for setting up outposts there.

  EIGHT

  We drove over to the capital in Ben’s HumVee, and I sat for a moment, speechless. It was the most unassuming and unpretentious grouping of buildings I had ever seen.

  Ben Raines laughed at the expression on my face, then said; “We don’t go in much for pomp and pretense in the SUSA. We keep the cost of government as low as possible.”

  WWJ: It resembles what I would expect to find on a military base.

  Ben Raines: That’s understandable. It was built by our combat engineers. Come on.

  WWJ: Do you have security people following you around all the time?

  Ben Raines: Yes. But it isn’t my idea. They take their orders directly from President Jefferys. I could order them all to go straight to hell and leave me alone. They would just stand there and smile at me.

  WWJ: You and President Jefferys have been together long?

  Ben Raines: Almost from the very beginning. He’s my best friend.

  WWJ: And he is the first black man ever elected to such a high office in America.

  Ben Raines: That is correct. It wasn’t much of a contest. Cecil won by something like ninety percent of the
vote.

  WWJ: And you have no desire to hold the office of president of the SUSA?

  Ben Raines: None whatsoever. When I am no longer able to be a field officer, I will retire and drop out of sight.

  WWJ: You have a retirement place all picked out?

  Ben Raines: If things work out, Montana.

  We entered the largest building in the complex and everybody present jumped to attention. It was becoming increasingly clear to me that General Raines was held in awe by not just the military—universally known as the Rebels—but by everybody who was a permanent resident of the SUSA. There were pictures and paintings of past leaders on the walls: Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, Truman, and many other presidents and statesmen. But no pictures or paintings of Ben Raines. I asked about that.

  Ben Raines: I’m a soldier, not a politician. I did sit for a painting a few years back. I don’t know where the damn thing is, and don’t care.

  WWJ: Were you in class-A uniform when it was done?

  Ben Raines: I don’t own a class-A uniform. I’ve got about thirty sets of lizard BDUs, and that’s it.

  WWJ: The old French camo battle dress?

  Ben Raines: Yes. My personal team wears them, too.

  I came up short at a lighted showcase and stood for a moment. Inside the case, set on a blue background of what looked to be velvet, was a beat-up and scarred old Thompson submachine gun: the legendary Chicago Piano. I knew instantly who had once carried the old weapon.

  WWJ: Is that the original Thompson you carried for so many years?

  Ben Raines: Yes. I gave it to the capital curator last year. He told me he wanted it for the new museum we’ve opened here. I had no idea the damn thing would be displayed in the capital building.