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Edwin W. Biederman, Jr.

| EDWIN W. BIEDE RMAN, J R.

Edwin W. Biederman, Jr. resides in Pennsylvania with his wife, Peggy-Jane, and his cat Blueberry Muffin.

IMPROBABLE FUTURE A Novel

E D W I N W. B I E D E R M A N , J R .

Improbable Future Copyright Š 2015 Edwin W. Biederman, Jr. All rights reserved. This novel is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to locations, organizations or individuals, living or dead, is purely coincidental. No part of this publication, except for brief excerpts for purpose of review, may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior written permission of the publisher.

ELDERBERRY PRESS, INC. 1393 Old Homestead Drive Oakland Or 97462 Cover: Terri K. Sheets ELDERBERRY PRESS books are available from your favorite bookseller.

Library of Congress Control Number: Publisher’s Catalog-in-Publication Data Improbably Future / Edwin W. Biederman, Jr. ISBN: 978-1-934956-69-4 1. Politics.

2. Government.

3. Religion.

4. Conservativism.

5. History.

I. Title Written, designed, printed and bound in the United States of America.

A Novel

E D W I N W. B I E D E R M A N , J R .

Elderberry Press | Oakland

Improbable Future

C hapter 1 ◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆

Ken James sat back in his chair and quietly thought back over his very recent trip to Moscow and his brief, although important, discussion that he had had with the Russian president. Ken hoped that he could relax now that this highly stressful trip was over.

The first thought that came to his mind was how the powers-that-be in Washington D.C. were going to react to his rather bold statements on behalf of the American people. Oddly, enough, the Russians seemed to have a better idea of what the liberty-loving grassroots folks in the U.S. really felt about their leadership.

As usual, his most profound and worrisome thoughts were interrupted by the ringing phone.

The voice was Jane’s, and it had an agitation about it that Ken recognized immediately.

“Why didn’t you take me with you?”

Ken responded with a slow, measured voice.

“First, it was a dangerous trip. I had no idea of how things would go. Secondly, I needed your view of how the D.C. politicians were reacting. I trust that you and your power broker lady friends have a complete idea of what 1

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D.C. thinks.”

“It is not complete, hut you sure worried the State Department. I’ve been on the phone with practically everybody. They want to know what you are up to.”

“Calm down a little, and I will summarize the whole thing.”

“Why don’t I come up to the Big Cat Inn again, and we can get into more detail from both sides over lunch?”

“Sounds like a good idea to me. Do you think you can make it by noon?”

Her voice was muffled as she checked her to-do list.

“Yes, I’ll shoot for noon at the Big Cat Inn. Take care.”

She hung up with a more optimistic tone. ✽ ✽ ✽

Ken was sitting close to the front desk at the Big Cat Inn and noted that Jane was five minutes late. This was not like her usual punctuality, but as he looked out of the window, the driving rain—along with the thunderstorm—provided an obvious reason for the delay. After a half-hour of waiting, he decided to get his cell phone out and check out what might be causing the delay.

As he fished around to dig out the number, Jane came through the door, both wet and flustered.

“Do you always have toad drowners like this up here in the mountains?”

“Your umbrella should have helped.”

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“The wind kept making things tough. Let’s get into the dining room. We have a lot of ground to cover.”

They sat down at the usual table near the window, and Jane asked hurriedly, “What caused you to fly to Moscow?”

“I received a written invitation, and my friend Tom Hopegood, whom I call ‘Superspook,’ thought that he could handle the arrangements. Since the Russians offered to pay the bill, we took them up on it. Remember that there are no barriers to tourism.”

“So you took off on short notice.”

“As you well know, both of us are on the ‘must watch list,’ so Superspook rounded up some of his friends who performed as bodyguards, plus a protocol expert from the former administration, and off we went.”

“You sure didn’t keep me on the loop,” she said.

“We figured that you would start getting calls, and the less you could tell the reporters, the better.”

“You are sure right about the calls, but let’s get down to what you and the Russian president said to each other.”

Ken took a deep breath and began his story.

“As you might guess, I asked him what he wanted from me. His answer was that the polls that his government had been taking in the U.S. pointed out that most of the grassroots folks in the middle of the U.S. did not want someone for president who was connected to the D.C. establishment in any way.”

“What did you say?”

“I wondered whether his government asked the same 3

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questions of his people.”

“What did he say to that?”

“Well, he said they had their own methods for finding out what his people thought. Anyway, he went on to point out that my name had come up in their research as someone to watch.”

“Why?” “It turns out that they had read my two short novels and had noted a few things that they believed were important from their perspective.”

“What on earth did they come up with that put you on their watch list?”

“Slow down. I am coming to that. It seems that they respected the fact that I had commanded military operations in the far north.”

“What does that have to do with anything?”

“The answer to that is they have military bases in their north country, and as he phrased it, they respect my military experience in the Arctic.”

“Okay, what else did he have to say?”

“He noted that I have experience in the oil business, and this economic resource is an important key to their economy. They respect someone who has this kind of know-how. Lastly, he noted that I was related to Stonewall Jackson, and they study his tactics in their military schools. They respected me for that.”

Jane sat back and commented, “That’s not likely to mean much.”

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“As long as they ‘respect’ me for that, I’ll take it.”

“Now let’s get down to brass tacks. What did you contribute to this discussion?” Her voice was firm and challenging, like that of a prosecuting attorney.

Ken took a good swallow of his coffee and began again.

“I said that the press had been saying that he, the president of Russia, was trying to regain the borders of the old Soviet Union. His response was that he was merely trying to regain areas where most of the people spoke Russian.

I commented that others had used the same logic with negative results. He did not like my comment. At this point, I took the bull by the horns and attempted to point out that his people had suffered a great deal in World War II and that they deserved leadership that benefited their whole economy and that they should develop their vast resources. He asked me to name one of their resources that could be developed, and I mentioned natural diamonds.”

“Okay. What did he say to that?”

“He asked how I know about that, and I told him that geologists look on a worldwide basis for valuable resources. He didn’t particularly like me lecturing him on how he should run things.”

“I am not surprised. You do not tend to hold back on your thoughts. I speak as one who has a feeling for how you operate.”

Jane folded her arms and looked out the window. She then continued.

“How did you get around to the part where you 5

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suggested that our peoples should cooperate?”

“You’ve been getting quite a bit of information from the Washington insiders, or you wouldn’t know that this was mentioned,” said Ken. “My contacts merely say that the walls have ears.

Come on now. Tell me the rest of the story.”

“All right. I pointed out that Iran was going to have atomic bombs in the near future and that their leadership does not care how many people they kill in order to achieve worldwide dominance. The fact that Russia is a lot closer to these Islamic radicals than the U.S. means that they are likely to be the first target.” In short, we have the Star Wars technology, and both our countries will need it. The president seemed to like that thought, so we had a great dance, a banquet, and a final concert.”

Ken sat back and looked at Jane. Obviously, she was not satisfied with this last quick summary.

She began slowly.

“My contacts tell me that there was more to it than that. How about the beauty you danced with before the dinner?”

“I don’t want to get her in trouble. She had been an exchange student and had experienced our culture, so she wished that the peoples in both our countries should get along and not be adversaries.”

“Keep going. This is getting interesting. I assume she told you this while you danced.”

“Correct.”

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“Anything else?”

“She clued me in on the fact that she and our protocol person had been students in music and danced together, and that the protocol person was an excellent concert pianist.”

“So what good is that?”

“She also clued me in on the fact that both of us would be tested by being asked to finish the last movement of the Tchaikovsky 1st Piano Concerto in A-flat minor.”

“Good Lord!” Jane was obviously upset on how Ken was going to get out of this one.

Ken continued, “The dancer had clued in the protocol person as to what was going to happen, so she was supplied with the music and a room with a piano for practice.”

“And you?” The incredulity in her voice was obvious.

Ken said quietly, “I was able to take care of my part with the Lord’s help, and my protocol person did a magnificent job.”

Jane sat back and said, “I find this whole concert story unbelievable, but it matches what I’ve been told from my other informants. How in blazes did you know anything about Tchaikovsky’s first piano concerto, let alone the last movement?”

Ken laughed and said, “That’s a long, long story. I suggest that we discuss what’s going on in D.C. as the result of this little jaunt to Moscow.”

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C hapter 2 ◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆

“OK, you asked for it. So here’s what the folks inside the Beltways think of you and your trip to the Kremlin.

To put it bluntly, they are trying to get the message to you that you had better stop or else.”

Jane stopped talking and looked at Ken with one of those looks that said “We are in this together.”

“Did they tell you what the ‘or else’ involves?”

“The ‘or else’ seems to include all of my friends, the lady powerbrokers.”

Ken looked at Jane and said, “What do the power ladies think of this threat?”

“We all came up with the same answer.”

“And what was that?”

Jane took a deep breath. “You had the guts to walk into the middle of what our people see as a rapid national decline. The ladies in our group became as mad as hell that unidentified people from inside our government are employing anonymous threats to shut us all up. I don’t think they understand whom they are dealing with.”

Ken interrupted, “You realize that we are also dealing with foreign intelligence people who don’t have the same 8

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scruples as our spooks do. In short, I hope you and your people are vigilant for their own safety.”

“We’ve all acquired weapons and are obtaining permits to carry concealed firearms. We also practice using our firearms on a regular basis. We’ve also got some help from volunteers who are experts who deal with foreign criminal elements. That’s one of the advantages of living in the DC area.”

“You seem to begin to appreciate how dangerous this whole thing is.” Ken paused and attempted to recall from memory a passage of scripture that fit the situation in which both he and Jane’s group were finding themselves.

Finally, he began, “I think there is a passage from First Peter that states, ‘For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and His ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil.’”

Jane sat back and said simply, “At times like these, we tend to forget Biblical passages that put things so clearly.

Thanks for the reminder of who has the ultimate control.

Have you got any more quotes like that one? I feel that we are going to need them along with some prayers that speak to the fundamentals.” Her voice trembled as she spoke, and her eyes began to fill with tears.

Ken was reminded of another biblical quote, this time from Joshua in the Old Testament. “Here’s one for you.

‘Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.’”

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Jane wiped the tears from her eyes and asked, “Have you got a small booklet with great prayers? Our lady powerbrokers need something like that.”

Ken leaned back in his chair and said, “It just so happens that our church just published such a booklet.

I’ll get you one or two.”

“What’s the title?”

“Have you got something to write on?”

“Yes, I do. Let me dig around in this purse. Here. I got a small pad. What’s the title?”

Ken thought for a second. “It’s called ‘Everyday Prayers.’”

He continued. “You are absolutely right. Our task is so massive that this little booklet should be handy for your friends also.”

His comments were interrupted by a familiar voice.

“How about one for me?”

Tom Hopegood, superspook came over to the table and pulled up a chair in order to join the conversation.

Ken said, “Jane, I assume you’ve met Tom who is my protection and source of inside information.”

“Yes. Tom and I have met over the phone.”

Ken asked, “Tom, what’s new?”

Tom took a deep breath and said, “I’ve been rounding up more volunteer bodyguards. This time it’s for the lady power people in DC. As you two have probably discussed, these folks are on the endangered lady list. My sources tell me that foreign spooks have been hired to keep an eye on 10

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every move you make. As you might guess, I am also on the same list.”

Ken asked, “Why on earth would you be on their endangered species list?”

“I got you back and forth to Moscow, didn’t I?” “What you’re saying is that anybody who helps us is on the list.”

“You got it.”

“See that guy over there eating a Greek omelet?”

“So what?”

“He’s one of the foreign spooks assigned to our case.

He’s relatively harmless. Where we are in the Inn is the high-priced spook area. The restaurant down the street usually has more spooks from all over the world.”

“How do all these guys get here?”

“They come across the lower Rio Grande with all those people flooding the system.”

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