Chapter 51

1235 hours, local time
Thursday, 4 June, 2015
Dubuque County Courthouse
Dubuque, Iowa

“The Justice Party is reeling from the encirclement and coalition juggernaut now. They’ve lost Decatur and Champaign, and are desperately fighting to keep Springfield even now. Between all of our forces, from all sides. More than sixty thousand of their captives have been liberated and some eighteen thousand Justice Party militiamen have been captured. Their corridor has shrunk considerably, of course. Representatives of all factions involved are convening in Wheaton to work on the rudimentary steps of creating an Illinois Free State. Judging from recent events, it’s likely a predominantly Havenite state government, in fact,” Tozroman informed the Prophet David Howard, the interim Governor of the Iowa Free State.

“So, pretty soon, there will be another state under the enlightened teachings and guidance of the Church of Haven. Things are moving along as they should. What about Indiana?” the Prophet insisted.

“The Evansville Compact Coalition has captured Fishers and is now busy taking Indianapolis from the New Democratic Movement. The Black Panthers are now fighting desperately to hold Hammond and ultimately, Gary itself, in the face of South Bend and Fort Wayne. It won’t be much longer until all of Indiana is one state...,, and our influence there is growing, of course,” the Prophetess Serena Kurtz-Howard, his German half-sister and one of his many wives, smiled at him.

“The fall of Indiana is as imminent as that of Illinois, it seems. Our influence in Evansville is rising, and with the collapse of the alliance between the Black Panthers and the New Democratic Movement, Gary and Indianapolis will soon be overrun. Meanwhile, the survivors’ communities In Ohio are coalescing pretty well, moving toward reunification. Good news there for sure ... Havenism is ascendant there, in those communities, by all accounts, with the demons as very active and helpful neighbors to the human population,” Tozroman, their own demon officer of state, observed.

The door slammed open, interrupting him. A messenger, covered in dirt and clutching a damp telegram, stumbled in, handing the wired message to the Prophet David Howard.

“ARMY OF THE PRAIRIE INVADING ONTARIO. STOP. ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND STRONG. STOP. KENORA TAKEN. STOP. SACRED DOMINION FORCES NOW FIGHTING THREE FRONT WAR. STOP. HAVENITE FLAG ATOP CITY HALL. STOP. HAVEN DECLARES WAR ON SACRED DOMINION. STOP.” David Howard read the telegram aloud, his knuckles whitening around the damp paper.

The Prophet grinned, a predatory flash of teeth cutting through the tension in the courthouse office. Western Ontario shimmered in his mind’s eye: endless forests choked by Sacred Dominion patrols, the vulnerable arteries of Highway 17 and the Trans-Canada Highway, the vast, mineral-rich shield lands suddenly within grasp. Kenora was just the hinge; Thunder Bay was the prize, the gateway strangling Dominion control over central Canada.

“Meanwhile, we still have to help Omaha resist a northward push by Russell Rao now that he’s on the verge of securing all of Lincoln. That warlord’s nothing but trouble. He needs to be stopped,” Tozroman added, “but if we can weaken him there, we can bring not only Nebraska, but Kansas into the Havenite fold.” His claws tapped impatiently against the oak desk, tracing imaginary battle lines across the Midwest.

“Kentucky is heading toward an all-out civil war between the western communities and the Church Triumphant cult under Reverend Kelsey Wallace. That woman is a dangerous zealot, too, Uncle,” Denise Howard told her uncle/husband.

Tozroman hissed, “Wallace’s forces have seized Harrodsburg and Ashland now, so they have to be taken as a real threat to our brethren in central and western Kentucky. If she goes down, the eastern Havenite communities and territories would be connected to those of us in the Midwest. The Commonwealth and Church of Haven could reunify North America or at least begin that process,” he added thoughtfully.