Midnight by Anna Dove (books for new readers .TXT) 📕

“Now ma’am, I’m very glad you’re here. Tell me what I can do.”

Katrin explained who she was. As she finished, Tom frowned.

“Ma’am, there is something that you must do, that only you are qualified to do,” he said.

“Anything,” she said. “Anything.”

Tom nodded.

“You must inspire the man you love to do what is right.”

27.  Jack’s Reason

“Love will find a way through paths where wolves fear to prey.”

— Lord Byron

September 2021, Annapolis, Maryland. A warm evening, with pedestrians traipsing the cobblestone streets, popping in and out of the shops, carrying purses and shopping bags and chattering pleasantly with each other. Cafes stocked with young men and women, sleek white boats swaying slightly in the water. The tall capitol spire reaching into the dusking sky.

Two people in particular, a tall lean man and a petite, pretty woman, walked hand in hand down to the wharf. They were obviously very much in love. They spoke quietly to each other, and every time they looked at each other, there was a sweet sort of magnetism in their eyes. Happy, content, oblivious to all of the other humans and all of the sounds and sights and smells.

Ducking into a little restaurant, they seated themselves cattycorner at a table and read from a shared menu.

“I’d love to try this,” said the woman, with a slight German accent, indicating a pasta dish with her finger.

“That’s like what we had our first night back in the U.S.”

“Jack, you remember everything,” said the woman, smiling wide at him. She was beautiful when she smiled, her dark eyes sparkling.

Jack covered her small hand in his, and kissed her forehead.

“What will you do when I leave tomorrow,” he said quietly. “Are you sure that you’ll be okay, in that house?”

“Of course,” she replied. “They’re my relatives, however distant they are. I will be protected I’m sure.”

“I wish I didn’t have to leave.”

“Me too.”

Jack nodded.

“Maybe I won’t,” said Jack. “Maybe I’ll just never report. I’d rather be on the run with you than getting shot at halfway across the world.”

Katrin shook her head.

“Don’t say that. I believe you will come back just as you are now.”

“Perhaps,” responded Jack noncommittally.

“You always assume the worst, Jack.”

“That is because my experiences have never proven otherwise.”

“What about me?” Katrin looked at him earnestly.

“You,” responded Jack, touching her chin softly, “you are the exception.”

And the next day, Jack left, and Katrin tried to write to him, but he had been assigned to an operation in Iran with no communications. Three months later Katrin awoke in the middle of the night to a pounding on the front door of her house, and knowing that the old hunt had been renewed, she slipped out the window and fled, and then submitted her own obituary to the newspaper and vanished.

29.  The Witness

"It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to, than I have ever known."’

---Sydney Carton, Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities

There is a significant flaw in the American judicial system: in hyperpartisanship it is extremely challenging to expediently replace a Supreme Court Justice. Out of the nine justices previously sitting on the bench, only one remained alive following the attack. By majority vote, the remaining congressional members had overwhelmingly decided to proceed with the trial, the United States vs. Gilman, with one justice, rather than having to confirm eight other members to the Supreme Court--for who would nominate those eight other members? The president was a suspected criminal and the vice president was dead, and the next in succession, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, did not think it proper for him to appoint eight judges to the Supreme Court at this time. He demurred, when asked, and told the journalists that the next actual president would surely undertake that responsibility--but that it was such a grave responsibility that in no way would he presume upon the American people by acting upon it. He was a weasely fellow, the Speaker, who said few things in many words, and referenced “the American people” a good deal more than was necessary. But in this case, Congress backed him, because the House was held by Republicans and the Senate by Democrats and no one labored under the delusion that the Senate would ever confirm eight Republican-nominated justices to the Supreme Court. Rather than enter into gridlock, they all agreed to try the president before Justice Chammel, a fat, moderate, rubicund sixty-year old who had replaced Justice Clarence Thomas after his retirement in 2028. Justice Chammel was a firebrand, a genius, and a good man, who did not tolerate idiocy and spoke exactly what he thought. All members of Congress knew that he would render a just and expedient decision in order to help facilitate the process of the restoration of a proper government and bring traitors to justice.

On October 30th the Supreme Court accepted the petition filed by Mr. Stone and set the date for November 4th, five days before the election. The morning of November 2nd, the courtroom filled so quickly that police had to be stationed to prevent more people from entering. Inside, they filled the benches, the visitors’ gallery, and spilled into the aisle, peering to the front for a glimpse of the one remaining justice and the deplorable accused. All firearms were taken from every person except military and government officials.

         At 10am sharp, Justice Chammel entered the courtroom, and everyone stood. He was very fat and very red. Haley, who was seated with the Senator, Landon, and Elizabeth, looked to her left and saw Adela Gilman standing next to Reed in the front row. She was dressed in a tight red dress with pearl necklace and a loose jacket over her