With an arm around Cathy, Mike watched the water cascading over the waterfall. It was the last day of their honeymoon and they had decided that they couldn't leave the area without seeing the falls. Cathy said, "I wonder how many newlyweds have spent their honeymoon at Niagara Falls and left without seeing the falls."
"I have no idea, but I'm sure that we aren't the only ones who stopped on their way out of town so that they could say they saw Niagara Falls," Mike said giving Cathy a sidelong look. She didn't look embarrassed about the fact that they had never left their hotel room.
"I understand that the view is better from the Canadian side," Cathy said repeating what the clerk at the hotel had said when they had checked into their room.
Mike nodded his head and said, "I've heard the same thing. Too bad we can't go there."
"Yeah," Cathy said. One of the problems with having their clearances was the travel restrictions. They couldn't leave the country without first informing a half a dozen government agencies. Odds were pretty good that they wouldn't have been able to leave without bodyguards.
"This was a great trip," Mike said giving her a hug. They hadn't done anything except eat, sleep, and have sex. All in all, it fit Mike's idea of an ideal honeymoon.
"Yes, it was," Cathy said in total agreement.
"Well, we can say that the saw Niagara Falls," Mike said watching the water as it roared over the falls. The sheer volume of water flowing past was nearly impossible to grasp. There was no doubt in his mind that it was a natural wonder of the world.
"We've been here a week without taking a single picture. Do you think we should take one before we leave so that we can prove that we came here?" Cathy asked.
"Sure," Mike said. He looked around and found an elderly couple walking past. With a gesture, he stopped them and asked, "Would you mind taking our picture in front of the falls?"
Taking the camera from Mike, the man answered, "No problem."
As Mike and Cathy went over to pose in front of the falls, the wife asked, "Are you here on your honeymoon?"
Cathy answered, "Yes. We've been here all week. We were just leaving for home when we decided to stop here."
The elderly woman said, "We honeymooned here forty years ago. Back in those days, a lot of young couples came to Niagara Falls for their honeymoon. I think that most young couples go to Las Vegas now rather than come here."
Cathy asked, "Did you manage to see the falls on your honeymoon?"
"Yes we did. We even rode the boat tour to the base of the falls," the woman answered with a laugh. When they returned from their honeymoon a lot of people had asked that question. It was strange to hear it asked again after forty years of marriage.
Mike and Cathy shared a look that spoke volumes about their attitude towards sightseeing. The elderly man chose that moment to capture their image. It was a very representative picture of their trip. Chuckling, he handed back the camera saying, "I take it that you almost left without seeing it."
"That's right," Mike answered.
To say that the bedroom had been fixed up in Mike's absence would be an understatement. Kim had gone all out. After painting the walls a nice pastel color, she had replaced all of the bedding and décor with items that were much more feminine than Mike had used. The bed cover was a floral print with matching pillow accents. The pictures on the wall had been replaced with large watercolors of flowers. It was definitely a woman's room.
Used to how it had been, Cathy walked into the bedroom and looked around. Tears welled up in her eyes at the thought of the effort that had gone into making it their room rather than just his. She looked at Mike and asked, "Was this your idea?"
"I wish I could say yes, but I had no idea that Kim was going to do this," Mike answered.
Cathy ran out of the room to thank Kim. It was the most amazing welcome that she could have imagined. Mike stood there thinking that he had long quit caring how the bedroom looked. Seeing the effect that a little change had on Cathy gave him a moment of pause. He looked out the bedroom door at the rest of the house and realized that there was a new lady of the house. It was time he let her know that.
Cathy returned to the bedroom wiping the tears from her eyes. Mike turned to her and said, "We'll only be here for another two months. During that time, you should make this house your home. Make whatever changes you think would help you feel at home."
"I like it as it is," Cathy said finding it hard to breath. She had never dreamed that he would make that kind of suggestion. The reality that they were going be sharing their lives from that day on came crashing down on her. She found that she rather liked the idea.
Hoping that she would let him keep his chair, Mike hugged her and said, "I'm sure that you like it as it is, but by the time you're done decorating... Well, you'll love it."
"Yes, dear," Cathy said melting into his arms. It was only two months and there were only a few changes she could make in that time. Soon she would have a whole new house to arrange and decorate.
Echoing her thoughts, Mike nodded his head and said, "Just think. In just a few months you'll have a brand new house to decorate."
Sunday afternoon, Mike stopped by the Internet Café to view the results of his intelligence collection requests. It took him ten minutes to bring up the results, but the information was unstructured. After pouring through it for an hour, he realized that he needed a better way to view the data.
Mike started trying to generate drawings from the telephone, internet, and surveillance data. He wanted to see who was talking to whom. A rough picture emerged, but there was a lot of data that he couldn't add to the figure since the various data sources didn't correlate on individual identity.
What he could tell was that a guy at the top talked to an aide. The aide talked to a group of messengers. The messengers talked to each other and the results were passed up to the aid and then to the guy at the top. The lowest level was a rat's nest of connections among hundreds of people. Mike was pretty sure that the messengers didn't even know what the information they passed along meant.
After an hour, he was able to show a single link between two of the names of his list of possible leaders. It wasn't enough to act upon and at the rate he was able to tie together people he would be at it for years before the full upper level became clear. He needed to be able to automate it.
Mike grabbed a pencil and wrote out a very quick description for a program that he felt would allow him to better analyze the information. Sitting back he reviewed what he was requesting the technical types to do. He could visualize it working in his mind, but that didn't mean that he had conveyed what he wanted done. If it worked, he'd be able to untangle the upper level that was the real power behind the Jihad.
He wrote a note and dropped the specification on Cathy's desk. He'd tell her about it before leaving on his trip to the Middle East with the President. He definitely wasn't looking forward to that trip.
The plane landed outside the area that had once been Tehran. They had flown around the pile of rubble twice while Mike handed out satellite pictures of the once great city. After the plane, along with its escorts filled with troops, had landed, Mike went to the door and turned to face the occupants of the plane. The leadership of both parties and all of the candidates running for the office of President were aboard the plane. They looked out the windows bored and more than a little irritated at being taken off the campaign trail.
After clearing his throat, Mike said, "Welcome to Tehran, Ladies and Gentlemen. For eight millennia this area has been occupied by human beings. If you look out the window, you will see that today it is a ruin. No one lives here.
"Before we landed, I passed out some pictures. Look at them. They were taken of this city less than six months ago. You'll see that it was home to millions of people. It was home to men, women, and children who thought that this city would live beyond their lifetimes. It didn't. Maybe I should be a little more accurate and say that their city died along with them."
Mike patted the wall of the jet as he said, "There were two possible futures the day that jets were used as weapons against the United States. The sight you see outside the windows is the future that came true. The future that didn't come true was the one in which Washington DC would be nothing more than a pile of rubble. It was inevitable after September 11, 2001 that we would have to choose which future we would have to live."
Mike looked out a window of the jet and said, "We choose this one. Splendid, isn't it?"
He straightened up and faced his audience. He wasn't smiling. He said, "This situation was not inevitable. Sixty years ago we could have made different choices and this would not have come to pass. Americans would never have been killed by suicide bombers. Tehran would still be a bustling city. But we didn't make those choices and now we have to reap what has been sown.
"I am not here to place the blame on the Republicans or the Democrats for this situation. If you were to ask me, I'd tell you that they are both at fault. However, they are not alone in being responsible for what has happened. The whole world participated in bringing this situation to fruition. America is a superpower, but it was not the only voice on the world stage.
"It is easy for Liberals to place the blame on Conservatives and vice versa. Socialists can blame Capitalists. The Capitalists can blame the Socialists. God knows that everyone is to blame," Mike said. He turned and shouted, "Everyone is to blame!"
After glaring at everyone on the plane, he said, "As problems across the entire world festered, we argued. We went decades without making any real attempt to solve the underlying causes. We threw bandages at the symptoms, but never proscribed the proper medicine.
"Why? Perhaps it was because the medicine was a bitter pill to swallow and no one wanted to be blamed for the unpleasantness. I don't know. Maybe we weren't wise enough to identify the proper solutions. All that I know is that the solution that we were forced to accept destroyed a city that existed since the dawn of time."
Mike paused and looked at the faces of the men and women in the plane. The expressions on their faces reflected their unease at his words and the view outside the plane. Taking a deep breath, he said, "In a moment I will open the door of this plane. I ask that each of you step outside and look around at what was once a great city. After you have seen all of the sights of Tehran, come back aboard this plane and we shall talk about the future that you, as leaders of your political parties, can help shape."
Mike opened the door and the odor of the city seeped into the cabin. The stairs to exit the plane had already been brought up to the door. Mike stepped out of the plane and made his way to the ground. He made it ten steps from the foot of the stairs before throwing up. Wiping his mouth, he said, "I guess I should have warned them about the smell."
He looked up in time to see President Archer step out of the plane. The man's face was ashen. Mike swore that the President's hair turned gray on seeing the devastation and smelling the air. He didn't quite make it to Mike before losing his lunch. No amount of mental preparation could adequately prepare him for the smell.
The other members of the tour came out of the plane one at a time. Some didn't even manage to make it out the door before they were sick to their stomach. Mike stood and watched their reactions. President Archer made his way to Mike after being sick. In a tired voice, he said, "You should have warned them."
He looked over at President Archer and said, "I'm pretty sure they'll figure out what is making them sick to their stomach. There's nothing like the odor of rotting human flesh."
President Archer said, "They will never forget this smell. It will live with them until the day they die."
"It is better this way," Mike said watching one of the candidates getting sick by the tire of the jet, "They have to understand what it is they are inheriting."
President Archer watched the head of the Republican Party crying by pile of rubble. He said, "You have done all that I have asked of you. I will take over from here."
Thirty minutes later the plane was in the air on its way to an American base in Iraq. The tour of Baghdad had been canceled. President Archer had decided that it wasn't necessary. Instead, they were going to visit the oilfields.
President Archer stood in front of the leaders of the two parties. He looked down at the candidates and thought about how little they understood the pressures of the office. Knowing that one of them would learn for himself what it was that aged the man who held the office, he said, "I speak to you as the President of the United States and not as a member of the Republican Party. When Mike asked that I bring you here so that you can see the real issues that must be faced in the upcoming Presidential Election, I was tempted to disagree. I had wanted to restrict it to the Republicans, but he convinced me otherwise. He reminded me that as Commander in Chief that it was my duty to end this war such that the country was better and stronger than when the war started.
"The war is coming to an end. My term as President will be coming to an end. The man who succeeds me as President must have a vision for the future and the moral strength to see our country along that vision. I beg you, on behalf of the nation, not to put forth radicals or idealists as candidates. We need a leader of commonsense who will work with others to achieve something great. We need a leader who will rebuild the world without warping it into some twisted parody of some compromised ideal that no one can live within.
"The American model of government is an ideal that Americans strive to make a reality. It is a model of government that Americans have adopted. It is no more and no less than that. Does that mean that our model should be applied to each and every nation? At one time I thought so, but I don't think so now."
President Archer clasped his hands behind his back and looked up at the ceiling of the cabin. He said, "What I have learned in my tenure as President is very simple. Countries expect other countries, and the citizens within them, to behave in civilized manners with each other. When that stops happening, then the consequences that we have just experienced follow.
"A country that preaches the destruction of other countries can not be tolerated. A government that stands by and allows its citizens to wage war on the world can not be tolerated. A country that stands by and watches as another country destroys its neighbor can not be tolerated. A country that stands by while another country destroys its own citizens can not be tolerated. The world is too small of a place for the nations of the world to stand by and allow one country to run amuck without restraint."
President Archer started pacing as he said, "We need a set of laws that applies equally to all countries. Within this body of international law, we need a bill of rights that extends beyond the nations to the people who live within them. The law must recognize and accept that while the form of government is not important, it the function of a government that is important. We need governments that function properly. We need a mechanism that enforces that law equally."
Seeing that several people were ready to make a comment, he held out a hand to forestall them. He said, "I am not speaking of a world government. We have seen just how effective the United Nations has been in making this a better world. It was a grand experiment based on an ideal and it didn't work. The entire history of the United Nations spanned this crisis, from its very birth to today. It didn't prevent this war. It didn't delay this war. I doubt this war would have happened without the involvement of the United Nations and the pitiful decisions that it made."
President Archer turned to Mike and said, "You told me once that I would not be fit to lead this country at the end of my first term in office. In thinking about it, I realized that you were right. America does not need more politicians in Washington DC. It needs statesmen who can embrace a common goal and work together to achieve it."
Turning to the leadership of the two parties, President Archer said, "I made one promise to the American people when I ran for President. I promised that I would get rid of terrorism and make the world safe for Americans. I have done my best to keep that promise and I will see it through to the end. The war continues and other cities are coming to the same fate as that in which we just stood.
"I am making another promise now to you. I will use every ounce of political capital I have earned with the American people to destroy the political party that does not put a true world peace ahead of political goals. Americans will never be safe until there is peace on a global level."
President Archer took a seat beside Mike and, in a low voice, asked, "Did I miss any key points?"
"No, sir," Mike answered, "You didn't miss a single key point."
"I feel like a fucking hypocrite talking about peace while bombing other places into rubble," President Archer said.
"You can't have a peaceful end to a war until one side surrenders or both sides are willing to talk," Mike said.
The American Army had established a base near the oil fields of Iraq. The stated purpose was to protect the oil fields from attack by radicals. The real purpose was to keep other countries from moving in and solving their oil supply problems. Of course, no one believed either reason. After gesturing to Mike to follow him, President Archer walked to where he could see the oil wells. Two dozen Marines followed at a respectful distance. Without looking at Mike, he asked, "What in the hell are we supposed to do with this?"
"What do you mean?" Mike asked.
"This oil doesn't belong to us. The people who used to own it are dead," President Archer answered. He looked over at Mike and asked, "What in the hell am I supposed to do with all of this oil?"
"Why are you asking me?" Mike asked.
"Because you'll probably tell me something that I don't want to hear," President Archer answered with a chuckle.
"I don't have any advice for you," Mike said shrugging his shoulders. This was the last discussion he expected to ever have with the President.
"We have the strongest claim of anyone over the oil. You know what I mean, to the victor goes the spoils," President Archer said. He didn't like the idea that people would claim that the whole war on terror was really about the United States grabbing control of the oil fields of the Middle East.
"Let's see. We would control the oil of Mexico, Kuwait, Iran, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia," Mike said.
"Don't forget the United Arab Emirates. They'll fall in a few days," President Archer said.
"That's a lot of oil," Mike said.
"This war was never about oil as far as I was concerned. It was always about protecting Americans. Is history going to record that I fought for oil? It sure as hell feels like it right now," President Archer said. He knelt down and picked up a handful of sand. Looking up, he said, "I have people knocking on my office door with suggestions on what to do with the oil. Everyone wants to profit from it."
Mike looked at the oil field and asked, "So what are you doing with all of this oil now?"
"We're still pumping the oil and meeting the existing contracts. We have to continue delivering oil or the whole world will crash and burn. I'm going to suggest that we recoup some of our costs of this war from the oil revenue, but we can't take it all. That wouldn't be right. So I'm left with the problem of what we do with all of this oil."
Mike gestured to the Presidential Candidates that were back at the tent listening to one of the Generals describe what actions had been taken to protect the oil during the war. He asked, "Why don't you give the problem to them?"
"What?"
"Give the problem to the people who want to be your replacement. I think it would make a great campaign issue," Mike said with a grin. He could imagine the candidates debating what would be in the best interests of various special interests groups.
"They'll tear each other apart with that issue."
"That's right," Mike said. He looked over at the group of men and said, "What better issue to use as a means of illustrating what kind of country we will become in the future? It all depends on which one we elect over the others."
President Archer liked the idea. He liked it a lot. Grinning, he looked at Mike and asked, "Has anyone told you that you are brutal man?"
"Yes. It seems to be a common observation of Presidents, past, present, and future," Mike answered with a grin.
President Archer said, "I hope that my successor has a Mike Bowman who will keep him on the up and up."
While the President was on his visit to the Middle East, two new countries emerged on the African continent. The first was Berberland and the other was the Zulu Nation. Berberland was cut out of parts of Morocco and Algeria. The population in the region claimed by Berberland was greater than ninety-five percent Berber. The remaining five percent was Arab, but it looked like that percentage was dropping rapidly.
Unlike the typical African revolution, this one was not led by a single individual with the rank of Colonel. It was a grass roots effort with various local communities throwing off the national government. The lack of a centralized leadership made it something other than a civil war. With each community that joined the revolution, the border of Berberland grew and solidified.
Although there wasn't a formal constitution, there was an assembly of over a hundred major leaders drawn from the entire area. They met and agreed upon some basic local governance rules that harkened back to their past.
On the other hand, the Zulu Nation emerged under the leadership of a single man. It broke from the chaos of a South Africa that was locked in a civil war between Zhosa, whites, and the Basotho. The Zulus had not participated in the civil war until the previous government broke down. It seemed like overnight the borders of Zulu Nation were drawn along their historical boundaries and defended against all other groups. Those borders had required significant defending, but they stood. Again, more than ninety-five percent of the population identified themselves as Zulu.
Joseph Senzangakhona emerged as the leader of the revolt. The man adopted the title Chief and moved into that position confident that the Zulu people would follow him. In a large ceremony, he was recognized as Chief by those who supported him. The rest of the country quickly followed. It was as if the Zulu people had been waiting for that moment for generations.
There were two interesting aspects about the rise of the Zulu Nation. The first thing was that the Zulu did not participate in a land grab. The majority of South Africa was not claimed although there wasn't really a government in place that could have prevented it. The second thing was that there was no coercion to force people to join the country. A few splinter groups of Zulu refused to join the Zulu Nation. The Zulu Chief had just waved a hand and let it be.
The establishment of a new country is not an easy process. Berberland and the Zulu Nation faced what might seem like insurmountable problems particularly since they faced them without a protective superpower. Constitutions, a form of government, monetary systems, and international recognition do not appear by magic. It is hard work and takes time. A particularly promising sign was that these two fledgling countries were tackling those issues with a tenacity that had never been observed in an African country.
Surprising the world, the United States was the first country to recognize Berberland and was the second to recognize the Zulu Nation. The first country to recognize the Zulu Nation was Berberland. President Archer's previous statements about Africa did not seem consistent with such a rapid recognition of a new African country.
Surprising the world even more, President Archer offered to provide advisors to the fledgling governments. It was the first thing that he did upon returning from his tour of the Middle East. He was not insulted when the leaders of those countries refused his offer. In fact, he was pleased by their refusal and felt that it was a major turning point for the entire continent.
While Cathy didn't have the background of a military wife, she
greeted Mike on his return in the proper military fashion. Much to
Mike's surprise, Kim was not at the house. Cathy had wanted a private
celebration of his return home. The welcome home seemed to require just
about every room in the house.