Chapter 17

The morning after my presentation was viewed on Channel 80, my Administrative Assistant and Bond Mate Joan Reppa received a phone call.

“Good Morning. You have reached Jon Reppa’s office. I am Jon’s Administrative Assistant Joan Reppa. How can I help you?”

It was, intentionally, a slightly officious greeting. We found that people were less likely to call to talk with me when they encountered Joan’s greeting. I was more than willing to talk with people who had an important topic to discuss. What I wanted to discourage were the people who just wanted to chat or argue with me. Joan was my filter and it was her job to stop most of the people who called in to tell me what they thought. It was usually enough for her to just listen to what they had to say and tell them she would pass the message on to me. Since they rarely called back, the approach seemed to work.

“Yes. This is Senator Walter Donnelly. I and my fellow Congressmen need to meet with Jon today. Please put me through to him.”

“I’m sorry, Mister Donnelly, but Jon isn’t available right now. I can pass a message to him when he returns.”

“No ... and it is Senator Donnelly. A message just won’t do. We need to speak with him face-to-face.”

“Did you want to schedule a meeting with him, Mister Donnelly? The earliest opening he has is a one-hour appointment at one-thirty tomorrow afternoon.”

“That just won’t do. We need to talk with him for much longer than that.”

“I’m sorry that won’t work for you, Mister Donnelly, but that is the only opening he has for this week. There is a three-hour time slot open three weeks from now. Will that work for you?”

“No that’s too long from now. We’ll take the opening for tomorrow afternoon.”

“Alright, Mister Donnelly, I penciled you in for tomorrow at one thirty. What is the topic you wish to discuss with Jon?”

“Tell him it is about the formation of the Ark’s new government. Maybe he will reschedule some of his appointments if he understands the importance of our meeting.”

“Alright, I’ll see you at one-thirty tomorrow, Mister Donnelly. Goodbye.”

A few moments later, Joan knocked on Jon’s door and went into the office. “Jon, I just got off the phone with Walter Donnelly. I handled him the way you instructed. He really didn’t like being addressed as Mister Donnelly, so I laid it on at first emphasizing Mister like you told me to do.”

“Good job, Joan. So what did our ex-Senator want with me; as if I have to ask?”

“He said he and his fellow Congressmen need to discuss the formation of the new government with you. I gave him a one-hour appointment at one-thirty tomorrow afternoon.

“I told him that was the only long opening in the next three weeks. You actually have all of tomorrow open if you feel it is needed.”

“What about Clara? Is she available for the meeting?”

“Yes, but she has a three o’clock meeting scheduled for tomorrow.”

“Good! Pencil her in for the meeting. I have a good idea what our former Congressmen want to discuss, and if I’m right, the meeting will end in far less than an hour.

“Thanks, Joan. Mike wants to talk with me tomorrow, so call him, and tell him we can have a working lunch in my office tomorrow starting at twelve.”

The men of Seal Team 4 and Bravo Company had been pulling floating trees out of the lake for a couple of days and they were close to clearing the floating trees from the area near the filter grid.

Seaman Dylan Samuelson said to CPO Bryn Gaither, “Chief, I was thinking about how we are going to find the submerged trees. Diving and searching the area in front of the grid by feel doesn’t seem like a productive way to search below the surface and once we get away from the grid, we will end up swimming in circles”

CPO Gaither said, “Diving is what the Ensign suggested, Seaman Samuelson. Do you have a better way of finding submerged trees in muddy water?”

“Yeah, I think so, Chief. My thought is to tie a grappling hook to a line. We can throw the hook out and let it sink to the bottom. Then we can pull it along the bottom outside the grid with our dive boats.

“When we snag a tree, we can have someone take a tow line and follow our hook’s line down to the tree, disconnect the hook, and connect the tow line to the tree. We should be able to do that by just free diving. We can crisscross the area in front of the grid in our dive boats until we don’t snag any more trees.”

“Now that does sound like a good idea, Samuelson. I’ll bring it to the Ensign’s attention.

Looking around, he spotted Ensign Rand just down the road talking with someone and headed that way. He stopped a short distance from the Ensign, so the Ensign could complete his current conversation in private. Ensign Rand saw Chief Gaither looking at him, so he turned to the Chief and said, “We are going to be a while Chief. Do you need to speak to me about something important?”

“Yes, Sir. Seaman Samuelson suggested we search for the submerged trees using a grappling hook. He thinks we can drag the hook back and forth in front of the grid to find the trees. I think his approach will work better than sending a diver down to search for trees, when they can’t see their hand in front of their face.”

“That does sound like a better way to find the trees, Chief. Standby for a moment while I talk with the Lieutenant about finding some grappling hooks.”

“Seal 4, Seal 4-1. Over”

“Go, Seal 4-1. Over.”

“I was just informed of a better method of finding the submerged trees, Seal 4. Does Bravo have any grappling hooks and light line? If not, can Bravo scrounge some for us? Over.”

“Since the trees would be too heavy to pull to the surface by hand, I’m assuming you intend hook onto a tree and then send a swimmer down to hookup a tow cable. Over.”

“Roger, Seal 4. Over.”

“Standby, Seal 4-1.”

Turning to Ahmed, Andy said, “I assume you heard my conversation.”

“No and Yes. We don’t have grappling hooks or light rope, and yes, I’ll send someone out to find some for you.”

“Seal 4-1, Bravo 2. We will scrounge hooks and rope for you. Out.”

“Bravo 2-1, Bravo 2. Over.”

“Go, Bravo 2. Over.”

“Did you monitor Seal 4-1’s transmission regarding the need for grappling hooks and rope? Over.”

“Roger, Bravo 2. Over.”

“Get with Seal 4-1 and determine precisely what he needs. I recall us scavenging rope for use when we cleaned up the area, and I don’t think we still need it. If we don’t have enough, get the grappling hooks and more rope. Bravo 2 out.”

Lieutenant Jackson tells Staff Sergeant Michael Edwards to come with him. They start walking across the dam to where the group of Navy personnel is standing. When they arrive, the Lieutenant and Ensign Rand greet each other, and the NCOs just nod to each other.

Chris Jackson said, “I got a call from my Captain telling me to get with you about grappling hooks. Do you need a specific size or type, and how many?”

“Not really. Just three hooks that can be pulled along the bottom of the lake and hook onto any submerged trees.”

Chris said, “Alright, we can probably find something like that for you at a store in Folsom that sells climbing equipment.

“Sergeant Edwards, go find Sergeant Powell and have him take Third Squad into Folsom and bring back at least three grappling hooks and some light rope for the Ensign.”

Twenty minutes later, Sergeants Edwards and Powell return to where Lieutenant Jackson is monitoring the work being done on the east side of the dam.

Sergeant Powell said, “Lieutenant, Sergeant Edwards told me what you need. I checked the phone book’s yellow pages to find climbing equipment stores, but there was nothing listed. I guess rock climbing wasn’t that popular here in Folsom.

“My dad took us out on our boat when the weather permitted boating. From what I recall, if we didn’t payout enough line our anchor would just drag across the bottom of the lake. I checked the phone book and there are a number of boating supply stores in Folsom. Could the Ensign use boat anchors instead of grappling hooks?”

“I’d say yes, but let’s go ask him.”

Sergeant Edwards returned to the work he was doing earlier.

As they walk to where Ensign Rand was standing, Lieutenant Jackson asked, “I’m curious, Sergeant, why do you call a rope a line?”

“I guess it’s habit, Sir. My dad was a sailor. Every time we were around our boat and I said rope, he would say, Ed, when you’re on land, it’s a rope, but on the water, it’s a line. He trained me to use line when talking about boats. Now, I just say line without thinking about it when around boats and water.”

Once they arrived at where the Navy people were standing, Lieutenant Jackson said, “Ensign, my Sergeant ran into a problem. Apparently there are no climbing supply stores in Folsom and they couldn’t think of any place that might sell grappling hooks. Sergeant, explain your idea to the Ensign.”

“Yes, Sir.

“Sir, it occurred to me that you could use a boat anchor instead of a grappling hook. I’m thinking of the type of anchor that has long, hinged flukes. If you use a short length of line, the anchor should drag across the bottom of the lake without the flukes digging into the bottom.”

Ensign Rand said, “It sounds to me like you are talking about a utility anchor, and yes, it should work, so get us at least a dozen anchors. There is a spit of land to the east of us where we’ve been beaching the boats at night and tying them to rocks. The anchors will be a better way to ensure they don’t drift away during the night.”

“Yes, Sir. We should be back in a little over an hour.”

“Take your time, Sergeant. We will be busy for the rest of the day removing floating trees, so we won’t need the anchors until later in the week.”

“Yes, Sir.”

Two hours later, Sergeant Powell delivered a dozen anchors, a dozen one hundred-foot packages of half-inch polypropylene rope, and a dozen one and a half-inch, eye-and-eye swivels to the Ensign.

“Thank you, Sergeant, but why do I need swivels?”

“It was my dad’s idea, Sir. He cut our anchor line about two feet from the anchor and tied each of the two cut ends to one eye of a swivel. That way our anchor line never got kinked up when we pulled in the anchor and coiled the line.”

“That is a good idea, Sergeant. Thanks.”

At one thirty the next day, the door to the reception area of Jon’s office opened and eight men walked in.

“Good afternoon, Joan. We are here for our meeting with, Jon. Is he ready?”

“Mister Donnelly, if you and your party will be seated, I’ll let Jon know you are here.”

“Thank you, Joan, and it’s Senator Donnelly.”

“Let’s get a few things straight, Mister Donnelly. I am an adult female and I have not given you permission to address me as Joan. So the proper form of address is Mistress Reppa. You and the other gentlemen were members of the US Congress. Since that organization is no longer in existence, the titles associated with membership in that organization are no longer valid. Here in the Ark, your proper title is Mister, so I will continue to address you as Mister Donnelly.”

After turning and walking away, Joan knocked on Jon’s door and walked in closing the door after her.

“Mister Donnelly and his associates are here for their appointment, Jon. You were right, Clara. He called me Joan and again insisted that I call him Senator. I put him in his place in the way you and Jon suggested last night at dinner. It was fun and I really enjoyed the looks on their faces.

“What do you want me to tell them?”

“Tell them that Mike and I are just finishing our conversation and he will be leaving shortly. Thanks, Joan.”

Leaving the office, Joan addressed Donnelly, “Jon and Clara are just finishing their meeting with Mike Henderson. When Mike leaves, you can go in.”

A few minutes later, the door opened and Mike Henderson left. Jon was standing in the doorway and said, “Gentlemen, come in and make yourselves comfortable.”

As they entered, the former Congressmen looked at the table. Clara was seated at one end of the table and it was apparent that Jon would return to his position at the other end of the table. The Congressmen took seats along the sides of the table, four to each side.

Knowing that Donnelly did not have a high opinion of women in government, Jon and Clara decided that Clara should handle the meeting. She led off by saying, “I understand that you gentlemen wish to speak to Jon and me about the formation of the new government. Which part of the process do you wish to talk about?”

Without looking at Clara, Donnelly said, “Jon, we listened to your announcement on TV the other day, and we reviewed the document you posted on the Government Channel.

“We believe that our experience in government service and politics will be very valuable to the committee you are forming and to the Ark’s new government. Based on the document you posted, there is no way that all of us can serve on the Summary Committee where our experience would be of the most value.”

Nathan Block, a former member of the House of Representatives added, “That is correct, Jon. Between the eight of us, we have over a hundred years of experience. It would be criminal if you did not use that experience for the betterment of the Ark.”

Clara responded, “I understand what you gentlemen are saying. If you wish to serve on the Summary Committee, I suggest that you submit your name for consideration of the people who live in the respective ten-residence group in which you live. If you are elected, you will be eligible for membership on the higher tiers of the Committee.

“I personally see no reason to make an exception for you to become members of the Summary Committee. The structure of the Committee is clearly defined and we have no positions available for direct appointments.”

The former Senator Jack Rogers looked toward Clara and said, “What about the block of seats reserved for your Advisory Council and the members of your current government. Surely you could use our services.”

“Sir, you are correct about Jon and I having a block of seats on the Summary Committee. However, those seats have already been allocated to key members of the Ark’s managerial staff. Jon, I, and our Advisory Council will not be serving on the Summary Committee. We will all be available in an advisory capacity if called on, but we are not eligible to become members of the committee at any level.