Out of the Ashes

At the gate at the end of things.

“Some gate,” Ben muttered.

“I beg your pardon, sir?” an aide asked.

Ben shook his head and walked up the steps.

SEVEN

The visitors from the Tri-states were ushered into the White House, taken upstairs, and seated in the president's office. The contingent of Rebels remained downstairs, having coffee and chatting with the secret service agents; both groups attempted to make the best of a nervous situation.

The press was very much in force, snapping pictures and asking questions.

Logan made his entrance, strolling in all smiles and cordiality. The head of the Joint Chiefs was with him. Ben immediately distrusted the general. Russell had been a major in Vietnam; a politicking, ass-kissing coward.

“Ladies and gentlemen.” Logan smiled. “Welcome to the White House. So nice to see all of you.”

And if you expect us to believe that, Salina thought, you're a bigger fool than you look. But she smiled in return.

Ben shook hands with Logan and smiled a grim smile at General Russell. The two men immediately understood each other's position; Ben realized that while America had a president, Logan shared the power with the military. Ben knew then why free elections had been postponed year after year. The military was setting up to take over total control of America. The rumors his intelligence people had intercepted and decoded were true. But Ben also knew there was discord among the military; not all commanders wanted the military involved in government, and the troops were taking sides ... quietly.

The silent message in General Russell's eyes was easy to read: Play along with me, Raines. Take my side.

Ben minutely shook his head and the general smiled and fired a silent dispatch: You've had it, Raines.

Ben returned his unspoken reply: When you try, General—you're a dead man.

The messages concluded, there were a few moments of small talk about nothing at all until Mrs. Fran Logan gushed in, all smiles and southern hospitality, for everyone except Ben. She was very cool to Ben. She hesitated for just the smallest second before shaking hands with Cecil (it rubs off, you know), but then breeding took over and she gallantly took the offered hand, fighting back an impulse to wipe hers on her dress. A few moments later, the ladies left, much to the disgust of Salina and Lila. In the Tri-states, all government meetings were open.

“Gentlemen,” Logan said, “we have a great deal to discuss—shall we get on with it?” Without waiting for an answer, he ordered coffee sent in. There was quiet in the large room until the aide poured the coffee and left. General Russell stood across the room, away from the seated party from the Tri-states.

“If you wish to rejoin the Union, Raines,” Logan said, “it can be arranged.”

I just bet it can, Ben thought. “What's the catch?”

Logan smiled and General Russell laughed aloud. The president said, “Absolutely no diplomat in you whatsoever, right, Ben?”

“Lack of diplomacy is just one of my many virtues. I'll ask again: What is the catch?”

“Straight from the hip?”

“Shoot.”

“Your dictatorship has to end.”

“There is no dictatorship in the Tri-states. I was elected by popular vote.”

Logan waved away his words as if they had not been spoken. “You must fall in line with the other forty-seven.”

“No way.”

“You must open your borders, allowing any person who so desires to live in the Tri-states.”

“No way.”

“Your laws must conform with the rulings of our Supreme Court.”

Everyone from the Tri-states laughed openly at that.

Logan flushed, then said, “The gun law must cease.”

Ben placed cup and saucer on a coffee table. “Here is what we will and will not do, Logan: I will not tolerate your federal police coming in and setting up in our area. Our system of government works for us, and that is all that matters. No gun control; no flower-plucking, sobbing social workers telling us how to deal with punks. And no mumblings from your Supreme Court.”

“Raines, I'm offering you statehood in return for a few concessions.” He glanced at General Russell, then swung his gaze back to Ben. “You know, of course, what is going to happen if you refuse?”

Ben's stare was cold. “And you know what will happen if you wage war against us.”

Logan laughed. “I don't believe you have those ... zero squads.”

But VP Addison looked worried.

Logan said, “You must know we have the power to crush you like a bug. We didn't for a while; I'll admit that. But now we do.”

“Yes, you probably do, Logan,” Ben said. “But all you'll accomplish is a civil war, and it will, in all probability, tear this country apart.”

“Raines, you've done some good things out there—I won't, can't, deny that. I could even find a place for you on my team. I could use you. But your state has to fall in line.”

“Absolutely not.”

“Then the Tri-states is through.” Logan said it maliciously.