Confederation -- 40
Chapter 40
We sent all of our shuttles down to Denver and spread out from there, looking for any remaining artillery batteries. There were several, but the Motherland gunners had run away for the most part.
The KEWs had killed a lot of men simply with the concussion wave. The high-velocity impact was fierce. The camps had been mostly vaporized, and a lot of debris was left surrounding the impact craters.
We flew out to the east and observed some small groups of men fleeing, but didn't bother them. I thought that their stories would probably be a great deterrent. Anyone hearing about the KEW bombardment would have to be a total fool to try another attack.
It seemed like the Motherland Army threat was gone. If they managed to pull another force together, well... rocks were cheap. I wouldn't wait until they were so close to Denver, though. We could hit them out on the high plains just as easily. There were fewer things to damage with a poorly aimed shot out there.
For her part, Judith dispatched armed scouting parties and patrols to retrieve the remaining guns and supplies. She wanted to add the cannon to the city's defenses. If that made her feel better, I didn't want to discourage her, but, as far as I was concerned, all of the cannons in the world were nothing compared to the destructive power of one of my spaceships.
Judith and I jointly made plans for additional patrols far out to the east. She'd sent out some scouts immediately after the Motherland's defeat. They tailed the survivors back to the old Kansas-Colorado border and then set up a watch for any repeat incursions. So far, there were none.
My contribution to the intelligence-gathering effort was to fly daily sorties with one of our shuttles. Our spaceships also provided coverage from orbit, although it was not continuous. Our orbits were such that we covered the high-plains region four to five times daily.
The orbital video was good enough to detect individual men, but it was easier to simply set the computer to alert us to larger groups heading west. Otherwise, we'd be constantly checking out individual travelers.
The area decimated by the Motherland Army's invasion wasn't heavily populated. The invaders had chased many of the residents away and killed many of the rest who were foolhardy enough to try and stay. Even so, most of the refugees were now filtering back to their homes with the intent of rebuilding. This created a considerable amount of westward traffic that we needed to inspect to prevent any infiltration by the enemy.
We used the computer to create a target list for the daily shuttle flight to check on. The shuttle often found groups in distress, under attack by remaining invaders. The pilot usually made a couple of passes with the cannon when that happened. That customarily solved the problem. The Motherland survivors had apparently learned their lesson. They'd attack a group of farmers, but the sight of the shuttle sent them running for cover.
Rudy and I took one of the mid-sized shuttles back to the East Coast to check on the Motherland's response to their defeat. We'd waited for a couple of weeks to give them time to hear the news and to formulate a response.
What we saw didn't give me any great feeling of security. They were gathering more men. Extensive camps surrounded the Washington, DC area, and there were long supply trains of wagons bringing food to the gathered forces.
The Motherland President hadn't accepted defeat, and I expected him to send his army back towards the mountains. It would take them some weeks to arrive if he did, since they were limited in speed. That should give us enough time to respond. This time, I had planned to respond quickly. I wasn't going to allow them to get so close. If they showed signs of moving towards us, we would use KEWs to strike their camps at night.
Flying over the Washington area, we tried the radio and eventually got through to their President. He was no more conciliatory this time than the first time we'd rebuffed his invasion forces. The guy simply gave me a headache. I considered how best to get rid of him, but we had no idea where he was. Somewhere in Washington, of course, but most likely not in a location where we could reach him easily.
The entire conversation was one-sided. He spent the whole time making various threats about what was going to happen to us. When he paused for breath, I delivered an ultimatum, telling him that we'd wipe out his forces again if they persisted in invading.
The message had no effect. He just made more threats, so I turned off the radio. I could only take so much of the bombast anyway. It was starting to make me angry, and Rudy was looking at me out of the corner of his eye the way he did when he thought I was about to do something stupid that I would end up regretting. I figured it was time to head back.
We flew directly up to orbit and docked with my ship to let me out, then Rudy and Whistle continued around the globe to their ship. Liz was waiting for me when I got through the airlock.
"It's about time you made it back here," she said, "I'm getting tired of this. All we're doing is floating around and around, and it's boring."
I replied, "Look, Honey, the Motherland forces are rebuilding, and I feel like I've got to keep an eye on them. We don't want them taking Denver. Grand Lake will be next after that, and I don't want them messing with our cabin."
She said, "That's just the point. We now live in this spaceship, and, as nice as it is, I'm tired of it. We aren't making any progress towards rebuilding human civilization, and we aren't going to be able to simply retire to our cabin. What are you going to do?"
She was right. Thinking about it, I realized that I'd been marking time in a way. It was past time to start implementing my organizational plans. I figured I'd start the process with Judith. The next day, I flew down and met with her.
It was a cool, clear day, typical for Denver. Now that the automobile-caused smog had cleared, Denver was clear and pleasant most of the year. Judith and I sat in the upper seats of the old stadium and discussed my concept of a confederation.
She agreed with me that it might be a way to rebuild gradually. Neither of us thought that the surviving human settlements would willingly renounce their autonomy instantly. It had been over five years since the EMP event, and the survivors had lived through some difficult times. They had gradually formed groups, and each had its way of dealing with problems.
We decided to send out messengers to spread the word that Denver was open for trade. Anyone who wanted to join the confederation could send representatives, and we'd form a deliberative body. There would also be a promise of mutual assistance for everyone involved.
I gave her my list of basic principles, expecting some argument, but she read through it and agreed without any quibbling. I hoped that other potential confederation members would feel the same.
Since Judith was a capable administrator, probably more so than Jake had been, I left it in her hands to get the ball rolling. It wasn't something that I wanted to do anyway. The last thing I could see myself doing was becoming some kind of governing authority and dealing with long lists of human problems. Besides, I had another couple of organizations to create. I was intent on my vision of the Inter-species Space Confederacy and the Earth Space Protection Force.