Chapter 2

Colonel Stewart watched the young woman running across the top of the four story building. She was headed across the building he was facing. He gasped when she suddenly changed directions and jumped off the building. Unable to believe what he was seeing, his jaw dropped when she grabbed the flag pole in mid-flight and then slid to the ground. Seconds later, she was headed in his direction.

Major Morgan said, “Did you see that?”

“Yes.”

Both men watched her approach them. She slowed down. After making a very obvious point of inspecting their insignia, she finally turned to Colonel Stewart.

“Hello, I’m Betsy.”

“I’m Colonel Stewart.”

“Nice to meet you.”

“That was a rather spectacular entrance,” Colonel Stewart said pointing over to the flag pole.

“Oh, that. That was nothing,” Betsy said.

“I’m assuming you came here to see me,” Colonel Stewart said.

Betsy replied, “How’s the exercise going?”

“Pretty good, outside of one young woman who managed to get on campus without going through a checkpoint,” Colonel Stewart answered rather pointedly.

“Sorry about that. The line was rather long and I really needed to talk to you,” Betsy said.

“About?”

“I’m kind of a messenger from the Governor.”

“She doesn’t need a messenger. We have direct communications with her office,” Major Morgan said.

Betsy looked at him like he was stupid and said, “There are some things that you don’t say where others can hear.”

“Like what?” Colonel Stewart asked.

“Like this isn’t an exercise. This is the real thing,” Betsy answered smiling at the two men.

Colonel Stewart laughed. “That’s funny.”

Betsy handed him a piece of paper and said, “Here are your orders. They’re signed by the Governor herself.”

Wondering who put her up to this, Colonel Stewart took the piece of paper from Betsy. He opened it up. It looked like the real thing from the letterhead of the governor’s office to the signature at the bottom. He read read the parts in between. He turned completely pale by the end of the message.

Betsy said, “In the building behind you, there is a television in the lobby. I suggest we go over there and watch it for a few minutes. It’ll explain everything in your orders.”

“Let’s go.”

Major Morgan asked, “What is it?”

“We’re being issued live ammo. It’ll be here in ten minutes,” Colonel Stewart answered. “Get over to the main gate to accept delivery of it.”

“Live ammo?”

“Yes.”

“Shit.”

Inside the building, Colonel Stewart watched the news on the television. Initially, the news was like any other news day. There were discussions about the tensions between the two political parties, a comment or two about misbehaving celebrities, and then the commercials came on. Colonel Stewart kept glancing at Betsy wondering if his orders were a fraud. If so, he was going to bury her in the deepest darkest prison he could find.

Nearly at the end of his patience, he was surprised when the news channel interrupted the commercial. Television stations never interrupted commercials. Horrified, he listened to a flustered reporter announce that the American Bank had just filed bankruptcy in Federal Court.

“That’s my bank,” he said.

“It’s not a bank anymore,” Betsy replied.

“My money,” he said still stunned by what he had heard.

Betsy said, “It’s gone.”

“God Damn It!”

Betsy said, “In less than an hour, people are going to discover that they are broke. Things are going to get real bad around here. Your orders are to protect the university at all costs even if it means firing upon protesters.”

“They’re civilians.”

“I know that,” Betsy said. She gestured around the building and said, “If you don’t protect the university, the island will sink into a dark age so black that you’d be better off killing your children than allowing them to face that kind of future.”

“You can’t be serious.”

Betsy said, “We’re stuck on an island in the middle of the ocean with a population that’s too large for the natural environment to feed. People are going to panic. They are going to be destructive. Right now, the keys to surviving this catastrophe are in the minds of the faculty and graduate students. If the university is lost, all knowledge will be lost within a generation. The university must be protected.”

“I get the point,” Colonel Stewart said.

“You might have your men call their families to come here. I’m sure that everyone will be happy to know that their family is safe. Having their families here will provide a bit of motivation for your men to defend the campus.

“That’s a damned good idea.”

Betsy said, “There are plenty of empty dorm rooms available. There’s enough food on campus for you to hold out for ten days or so. A boat will be here in ten days loaded with fish. I suggest that you figure out how you’re going to get there to re-provision your people.”

“I can do that, but how do you know that others won’t get to it before us?”

“The fishing boat will be waiting, offshore, for a signal from you. Fire a flare to let the Captain know that you’ve got control of the dock,” Betsy said.

“Okay,” Colonel Stewart said. “I better get busy issuing orders.”

“That would be a good idea,” Betsy said following him out of the building.

He paused to look around. One could almost see the burden of command settle on his shoulders when he realized what he was being asked to do. He stood up straighter, and his face turned grim.

“Where will you be?”

“I’ll be busy getting others ready for what is coming.”

“Good luck,” Colonel Stewart said.

Betsy took off at a run. In seconds, she was atop a building and cutting across campus. He watched her leave. Turning, he spotted a private.

Snapping his fingers, he said, “Private. I need you to find every officer above the rank of Lieutenant and get them over here.”

“I’ll get on the radio.”

“No. Run and fetch them,” Colonel Stewart said knowing there were somethings you didn’t say where others could hear.

It didn’t take Betsy long to reach the beach. She went over to a palm tree and started digging in the sand. There were tourists relaxing in the sun working on their tans happily unaware that their world was about to change. Few of them noticed Betsy pull up a briefcase that she had buried there the previous night.

She paused to look around, knowing that it was the calm before the storm. She figured that the news about the bank closing would soon reach the vacationers. She was in a race against time now.

Betsy hit the first large hotel. Already there was a sense of panic in the air. Guests who were trying to check out were discovering that their credit cards were no longer being honored. The hotel management team was trying to keep things under control, but was losing the battle, quickly. They had their own concerns.

Betsy spotted a manager heading towards the checkout counter. She intercepted him before he could reach it. Without being too gentle about it, she turned him around, and led him back into his office.

He shouted, “Let me go.”

“You are about to have this whole place blow up in your face,” Betsy said before releasing him.

“We’ve got the beginnings of a riot out there,” he said.

Betsy opened the briefcase and pulled out a paper. She shoved it at him and said, “Tell everyone that their room is theirs for the next week. In three days, ships will be arriving in port that will take them back to the mainland.”

“How do you know that?”

“The Fusion Foundation booked three Alaskan Cruise ships to come here.”

“The Fusion Foundation?” the manager asked surprised to learn that they were already active.

“Yes. That should calm things down.”

“It should. What about the room charges?”

Betsy said, “Don’t worry about them. Get everyone back in their rooms. Tell them that their rooms are comped. Let them know that maid service will be limited to washing sheets. Guests will be responsible for cleaning their own rooms.”

“You expect me to let them stay for free?”

“It’s either that, or watch your hotel burn down by sunset, tonight. Either way, you’re not collecting another night of room charges from tourists.”

“I guess I can comp their rooms,” the manager said.

Betsy said, “Good. All of the details you’ll need to know are on that sheet, including a location where there’s a cache of food that you can use to feed your guests, and pay whatever staff remains in service. I’ve got a hundred hotels to hit in the next few hours.”

“I hope you’re not too late getting to them.”

“Please get someone to make calls to the other hotels and let them know that things are being taken care of.”

“I’ll get some people on that right away.”

Betsy said, “Good. I’ve got to run.”

The manager walked out into the lobby and shouted, “All hotel charges have been dropped. You are invited to stay in your rooms for the next few days, free of charge until we know the extent of the financial crisis. There will be food and lodging provided for you. You will not be stranded here on the island. I have just learned that cruise ships provided by the Fusion Foundation are on their way to the island to provide transportation back to the mainland.”

Betsy smiled and headed to the taxi stand. There were ten taxis waiting in line. It was that time of day when a lot of people were headed to the airport. Normally there would have been more cars there, but the news over the radio had sent a number of them home.

Once there, she shouted, “I need every taxi driver over here right now! I’ve an announcement to make that concerns all of you.”

The drivers got out and crowded around her. Betsy pulled out a stack of manilla envelops. She said, “As of this moment, cash is king. Banks are closing, the credit card machines are turned off, and people are worried. I’m sure that all of you are worried. Well, I’ve got an errand for you to run and will pay cash for you to do it.”

Most of the drivers nodded their heads particularly every time she mentioned cash. Two of the drivers went back to their taxis and took off. The rest stayed to hear what Betsy had to say.

“I’ve got an envelope for each one of you. Inside each envelop is a list of five hotels. I need you to visit each hotel on that list and drop off a copy of the instructions for hotel owners and managers. You may have to get a little forceful to get access to the manager, but they’ll appreciate it.”

“You were talking about money,” one of the drivers said.

“I’ve got a hundred dollar bill for each of you for when you go and an additional four hundred dollars in twenty dollar bills that I’ll give you when you get back,” Betsy said.

“You’re paying us five hundred dollars to stop by five hotels?”

“That’s right,” Betsy said holding out the envelopes.

The men grabbed them. One asked, “Where’s the hundred dollar bill?”

“Inside the envelope,” Betsy answered.

The drivers tore open the envelopes. The pleased looks on their faces gave silent testimony that they had found the hundred dollar bill.

Betsy said, “I’ll be waiting for you in the parking lot of the post office that’s just down the street.”

The drivers took off. Betsy headed to the next hotel down the beach to repeat what she had done there. She knew that the last few hotels would probably be in trouble, but there was only one of her and way too many hotels.

An hour later, Betsy was seated in a beach chair in the parking lot of the post office waiting for the taxi drivers to return from their errands. One of the taxis pulled into the parking lot. The driver got out and approached Betsy.

“Where’s my money?”

Betsy said, “I’d pay you except you couldn’t have gone to all of the hotels on your list. I timed all of the routes last week. You shouldn’t be back for another half hour at the earliest.”

“I’ll tell you what. How about you hand over all of the money,” the man said pulling out a knife.

“How about I kick your ass all over the island and hang your naked body off the palm tree over there as an example for the next guy who thinks he can rob me?” Betsy asked with a smile.

The man stepped forward three steps and then flew backwards five steps. Betsy was all over him like fleas on a mangy mutt. The next thing he knew, he was hanging upside down from a palm tree by a rope tied around his ankles. He had been spared the indignity of being naked although he was stripped down to his pair of tighty-whities. He had shouted at her until she stuffed one of his own socks into his mouth.

Betsy returned to her chair to wait for the next driver. Five minutes later another taxi drove into the parking lot. The driver got out. He noticed the other driver hanging upside down on the palm tree behind Betsy.

“What happened to him?”

“He first tried to convince me that he had run his route, and objected when I told him that that was impossible. He then tried to rob me, so I decided that a little vigilante justice was in order. The next guy who tries that will hang by the neck rather than the feet,” Betsy said.