reasoning process had to be slightly more streamlined and predictable. A third Enlightened Dead Tour was hastily put together with scheduled stops at American military bases in New York City, North Texas, Upper Peninsula Michigan, and Nebraska. Rabbis Theodore Lerner and Albert Mankowitz, who both hailed from Cleveland, Ohio, were personally drafted by President Haverson to serve as paid 'spiritual advisors.'
7
London, England
Two Months Later
William Tennyson snatched a quick peek at the picture of his deceased wife that he kept tucked inside his wallet. In a rare closed session, Lord Cedric McCool had just whipped both chambers of Parliament into a froth of knee-knocking fear as he painted a dire picture of a post-Bill 84 England, replete with starving waifs and beggar nobility. While the floor waited for him to take his turn at the podium, his mind drifted sideways to his wedding day. To his Emma, floating in virgin white at the altar, unmindful of how lovely she looked, her eyes only for him. Many men in authority enjoyed to publicly boast of their love for their wives; he knew that these were primarily empty attempts at appearing trustworthy to their constituents. But in his case, it had been true. He had loved her. Fiercely. Most of the time. Yes, there had been the occasional tryst, but it was Emma who reigned supreme in his heart. She had stumbled upon him lying numb in a deep pool of easy successes, and had brought all manner of joyous chaos into his perfect and dull life. The pain of losing her was still raw and bloody. I should have hated her instead. Perhaps she would still be alive today. Because today he so desperately needed her unflinching love.
Emma? Luv, can you hear me? Wherever you are, can you please be with me now? I need you.
He put his wallet away and made his way to the lectern. "Gentlemen and ladies, as our esteemed colleague has so vividly reminded us, yes, we do indeed gather here today under inauspicious skies. Lord McCool is correct: If Bill 84 passes and we approve the request for enhanced North American aid, we will increase our military involvement, and we will dip slightly into the Reserve Fund. But if we do not pass Bill 84, we will flirt with unparalleled economic and social disasters not only for the kingdom and America, but for the entire world!"
Cries of dissent went up from every corner of the chamber.
"This is not a flawed piece of legislation. His Majesty has gone on public record to say that he will give his Royal Assent. And I can rightfully attest to the fact that he is not a reckless man. If he believes in this bill, then I say so should we all."
He found his chair and let the ensuing hubbub wash over him. It was only when the Labour Party's leader launched into a tirade against Washington's inability to gain control over the chaos engulfing their country that he charged back into the fray. "I implore you. Do not allow yourselves to become overly alarmed at the events shaking our friends across the ocean. For these dark days have been foretold from old. God's word says that—"
Lord McCool shot out of his chair, bristling with indignation. "Don't you dare invite the divine delusion to these proceedings! It is NOT welcome!"
The gentleman seated next to him thundered, "Sir, I ask that you please keep a civil tongue in your head!"
There came a smattering of emphatic applause.
Tennyson pressed on. "We knew that times such as these would eventually come. However, we perhaps did not fully appreciate the complexity of the details." He paused for dramatic effect. "Nor did we fully appreciate the opportunities that these times would present to us."
There were grudging murmurs of assent.
"For these troubles, which do afflict the spirit, also goad it into action! We can now envision the empire spreading out beyond the confines of our atmosphere, and into the cosmos itself. What was once the province of science fiction writers—a colony of humans in space—now stands before us in the flesh, fully armed and prepared to serve at the king's will. But this will only happen if we do not forget our constant friends across the ocean, and pray give them every comfort and every solace now in their time of need. "
There came a torrent of hearty whistles and stomping feet. Tennyson felt encouraged to go on.
"Gentlemen and ladies, our people are not slight in spirit. We have endured wars, plagues, famine, poverty, and unfathomable heartbreak ... for millennia. And time and time again we have overcome these bitter fogs and been made more worthy servants for the Sovereign Lord!"
Lord McCool twisted in his chair but held his tongue.
Tennyson dramatically drew breath into his lungs. "We now face an even greater challenge. One that has loosened the very seams of our reality and shaken our precepts to their cores. We are daunted to be sure. But I implore you to stand firm. Do not let your courage escape you. And do not abandon your charity towards our friends. We must be resolute in our conviction that together we will defeat these troubles and emerge victorious again! Man and woman will survive! God save Britannia!"
Tennyson thrust both arms in the air as lords and MPs alike stood together in reverent ovation. The prime minister savored the resounding cheers, knowing that the sentiment behind them would be short-lived once the next disaster struck. He took his seat again and patted his wallet. Thank you.
8
Avondale, Alabama
Four Months Later
Dr. Larry adjusted his hearing aid. "Ken, I'm sorry. I missed what you said."
Kenny Riley was a stocky man in his mid-twenties. He wore a bleached crew cut and a Pittsburgh Steelers tee-shirt. He was normally a composed individual, but at the moment he seemed irritated about having to repeat himself.
"I just said that lately it seems like things are getting worse. My nightmares are becoming daymares. And they're pretty intense. Like I'm seeing everything for the first time again."
Dr. Larry nodded sympathetically. "Anything new going on at home?"
"No," Riley replied. "My brother got his leg busted up last week in a surfing tourney but he's on the mend."
Dr. Larry stroked his graying beard. "So nothing out of the ordinary has recently happened that might have triggered your anxiety?"
Riley was thinking back. "Well, last month we went surfing in Charleston. We were out all day catching sliders—low waves—and right before we got out this rogue wave comes out of nowhere. It was maybe three or four meters tall, which is definitely not normal for those parts. I freaked a bit. Mickey got on top of it but I couldn't hang on, so I took off and swam back to shore."
"Is that when things took a turn?"
"Now that I think about it, yeah. A couple of days later, I was driving to work, and all of a sudden I'm back on that airplane, looking out the window and watching the ocean coming up at us. I can hear the screaming and hollering, and I'm feeling that same choking feeling again ... like it's the end of the world, and I'm so afraid that it's going to get so high and drown us ... ." The man chewed his lower lip. "It was so real."
"Kenny, you were experiencing what we in the trade call a flashback. A memory of an extraordinary episode in your life that, for some reason, the brain recreates in incredible detail, right down to the smells sometimes."
Kenny Riley became slightly emotional. "But why would my brain do that to me? It was hell the first time around."
Dr. Larry sighed. "What the medical field doesn't know about how the brain functions could fill a football stadium."
Lisette Fuchs made a disapproving noise in her throat. "That's certainly a comfort," she said, her heavily accented voice dripping with sarcasm. Ms. Fuchs was a young Ukrainian who was a relatively new member of the group. She had not decided to disclose her EE to the others—that was her right—and she went out of her way to stay in the background. Dr. Larry figured that part of that was due to her considerable magnetic beauty, so common to the women from that part of the world. Without thinking, a man or a woman would find themselves suddenly locked onto her chiseled features, unable to break away. It must have been disconcerting for her. It certainly did nothing to cheer her mood. She had an almost molecular joylessness to her.
&n
bsp; "It wasn't meant to be," Dr. Larry replied with a serious air. "It was meant to be informative. Guys, these vivid replays—or flashbacks—may be the brain's way of trying to digest a hypernormal event. An event so huge for it that it requires several re-examinations of all the evidence for it to draw some final conclusion about it."
Kenny Riley's head was hanging low. "I don't know, doc. It just feels like torture."
Dr. Larry jumped up and retrieved a glass of water for him. "Drink this and take some deep breaths, Kenny. We don't have to sort everything out in one day."
The flagging man obeyed.
Lana Cooper sat in her chair and clutched her elbows. "Tidal waves have always fascinated me. But to actually see one ... and to see the greatest one in history. That must have been very frightening."
Kenny Riley drained his cup. "To think that you're going to drown at ten-thousand kilometers in the air. Yes, ma'am. Very frightening."
"You just have to remember two things, Kenny," Harold Thomas said. "You didn't drown, and the world didn't end. In some ways, you lived happily ever after."
Ben Kramer broke into the conversation. "Harold, I believe that you're being disingenuous now."
Ben Kramer was an accountant who had managed to escape from New Jersey one hour before the Advance South army had closed in on Spring Lake and put up electrified perimeter fences.
Harold Thomas took offense. "What