Chapter 78 -- NCRUGPRRTLSPXKPUCSDIZRF
Grant Page and the other members of the committee got into two of their trucks
and drove over over to the compound where Luther's group now resided again. The
congregation, as they thought of it, had returned. Five of their number had died
in the assault, and several more wounded. The feds had rounded up a few of
those who fled after the assault and they had remained jailed until the
armistice, as he now thought of it, for lack of a better word.
It seemed that Brad and Alex, the two men who had visited prior to the attack
on the capitol, were indeed part of the organization that had started the war.
In the chaos that followed their preliminary attacks on the national
infrastructure all federal law enforcement resources became in the effort to
stop them, so they had no time for tracking down the remaining fugitives. The
ones who had been captured and jailed had been released and the charges
against them dismissed without any possibility of being reinstated.
Not that it would have been likely. The League of Freeholds, as he now knew
they were called, had negotiated a concise but thorough agreement with the
federal government, effectively making it impossible to prosecute any person
for acts committed prior to the treaty. It covered all participants on both
sides, as well as the independent operators. The government didn't like it
much, but they had little choice. The damage done would take literally years
to repair, and they had been against the wall.
The League had been both bold and clever, he reflected. Taking the chance on
launching an insurrection was gutsy and spoke of a confidence that might be
backed by considerably more power than they had shown. And in winning, they
had gained concessions that would have been impossible in years, decades of
political fights.
Time will tell, he thought. Meanwhile it was time to help their neighbors to
rebuild. He and the others had come to like Luther and his people, quiet and
affable, not unlike the Amish and Mennonites he had occasionally dealt with.
Yet when a certain line was crossed, they did not back away.
"Grant, Bill, good to see you," Luther greeted them as they dismounted. The
other committee and Luther's elders shook hands all around.
"Come with me," he said, turning toward a small cottage off to one side of his
house. Inside he led them to what looked like a dining room, or maybe it was
a conference room with a fancy table. The long, heavy oak table looked like
an antique dining table.
"That's from my grandfather's home," he said, noticing their interest. "I'm
not sure how old it is. My family and I had many holiday dinners there when I
was young. It ended up with my family after my parents passed, and we've used
it here for a meeting table. The elders will be joining us shortly."
"How are things?" Grant asked as they waited.
"With the obvious considerations, quite well," Luther answered. "You know, of
course, that we lost five of our members in the attack. Several were wounded,
and unfortunately some were imprisoned. They are all back now. And of course,
you spared our children being exposed to the danger, and the unpleasantness of
what occurred. We are most grateful for that."
"We're happy to have been of service," said Arthur. "Were any of the children
affected personally by your losses? Parents or other close kin?"
"Sadly, yes. One of the men who died was the father of two of the children.
Their mother fortunately survived, and we're a very close community.
We really are like one big family. They are young, one is six and the other eight.
We can't bring back their father, but we hope they will live in a better world
now. There at least seems to be a realistic hope."
"It would seem so," Arthur said, as the six elders entered together. They all
exchanged greetings and sat down.
"I conveyed our gratitude to our neighbors for their assistance," Luther told
his brethren. "They've come to see if they can render any further help."
All nodded and briefly voiced their thanks.
"We were honored to be of service," Arthur said. "If there is any more we can
do, let us know."
"Our thanks again," said Luther. "At this time we are, fortunately, mostly
just cleaning up and repairing damage. You saved us from the worst
that could have happened, considering the things that have happened in the past."
"That's good to hear," Douglas said. "Have you been keeping track of the
affairs of government?"
"Somewhat," Luther replied. "We look at the major events that affect us, how they
are being addressed. At this point we are praying that this, process, is
successful. What is your assessment?"
"We're hopeful," Arthur said. "It seems evident that the government was not in
a position to continue to resist. Their apparent capitulation, however, is by
no means guaranteed to last. I suspect that even now they are seeking ways to
undermine the League's victory, and only by constant vigilance will they be
thwarted. It will probably be a while, years perhaps, before we have a really
clear picture of this new America. And before we can see if it will last."
"One of the things you are interested in," said Gerald, "is the education law
they used against you. It was one of the first ones repealed when Congress
reconvened. It apparently was deemed a small sacrifice in view of the big
picture. Still, it is a welcome development."
"On that subject," Douglas said, "if there are any ways in which we can help in
educational matters, we'd be happy to. Sharing resources, techniques."
"We may well wish to do that," Luther said.
"Most of the major things, the really big ones," Grant said, "will probably come
quite a bit later. The voting reforms will be contentions - it's one of the
primary weapons the enemy used to gain unopposed control of the government.
If that isn't fixed, the new republic may not last long. But the weapons laws
are certain to be fixed, essentially codifying a prohibition of regulation at any
level of personal weapons."
"There'll be weeping and wailing in a few states, some of the big cities, but
they're over a barrel too," said Arthur. "One of the things that will take a
long time is rebuilding them. The central government has leverage there. But I believe
election reform will go a long way toward preventing a recurrence of what went
wrong, at least for a while."
"It's always just a while," Luther said. "We'll do our best to make it a long
while, as I'm sure you will."
"That we will," said Douglas. "We're looking forward to being neighbors for a
long time."
"As are we," Luther said.