Chapter 23

While reading her book, Lucy occasionally glanced over at the television to watch the election coverage on the television. It was kind of sad, but the news coverage only addressed a few of the state elections. When they failed to mention the race in Texas, she shook her head and said, "The news services really make me mad."

"Why?" William asked moving his book aside to look at Lucy.

"They are only covering some of the races we're interested in," Lucy said gesturing over at the election coverage that was on the television.

William said, "They are covering most of them."

Lucy shifted around so that her head was in a more comfortable position on his lap. She said, "That's because they are rather surprised that their candidates of choice are losing."

"You knew that was going to happen," William said. His hand drifted down to stroke Lucy's breast. Even though she was fully dressed, he could feel her body reacting to his touch.

"They don't even realize the significance of this election," Lucy said glancing over at the television.

"No one does. The majority of political analysts won't realize what happened tonight for years to come," William said. The power structure of Washington had just become a lot more moderate and less divisive. Several major committee leaders had just lost their seats in office. The policies of those committees would change directions significantly.

"A third of the Senate Armed Services committee just changed," Lucy said.

"That's nothing compared to the ethics committee," William said. There were going to be a lot of shakeups in Washington over the next few years.

"I didn't realize that," Lucy said. She was going to have to spend the time to come up to speed on the nature of Washington politics. She thought about the display thinking that none of the lines displayed even hinted at things like that.

"There's still so much work to do yet," William said. There were elections overseas that had to be addressed.

"We've got to start finding the candidates for the elections in two years," Lucy said. There were a couple of radical Senators and Representatives that hadn't been up for reelection this year that had to be removed.

"I've already got Victoria working on it," William said.

"You know that you overwork that poor woman," Lucy said with a grin.

William laughed and said, "She loves every minute of it."

"You're right," Lucy said. It amazed her how that woman spent nearly every minute of the day at the computer searching out information about every subject possible. She added, "She's going to have to get a personal life."

"We're going to have to find her a boyfriend," William said.

"You're right," Lucy said wondering how he had managed to get the topic of discussion away from the election results. Of course, neither one of them had been surprised by the results despite the shock the various pundits on television had expressed. She asked, "Do you have any men in mind for her?"

"No," William answered.

"Neither do I," Lucy said. Unlike a lot of women, Lucy didn't really go for the match making bit. She had never tried to set up two people in the hope that they would like each other.

William was quiet for a moment. He said, "We've got a wedding to attend in a few weeks. I still haven't come up with a good wedding present."

"What do you think of Bill Strauss?" Lucy asked.

"I like him. The family has needed another man in it for a long time," William answered. With four women and only three men, the family had been out of balance for a long time.

Lucy thought about it. The young man was going to college. He was currently working in a wire company to pay for his education. She wondered how easily he would adapt to having the kind of power that marrying into the Carter Clan would give him. She said, "He seems kind of naïve to me."

"He's young," William said.

Lucy frowned at the characterization of Bill as being young since he was a couple of years older than both of them. She said, "He's older than us."

"We're older than us," William replied dryly.

"You're right," Lucy said after thinking about it for a moment. At twenty years of age, she had an advanced degree in mathematics and control over billions of dollars. It was easy to forget just how much she had experienced of the world compared to most people her age.

William said, "He's not like my father, but he's going to be important to the future of the world."

"What do you mean?" Lucy asked sitting up to face William.

"Daddy John invented the fusion cell and saved the world from an energy crisis. It cleaned up the air and eliminated much of the pollution. He made it possible for people in remote areas to have a standard of living unimaginable in the past. I think that Bill Strauss will solve another major problem facing the world," William answered.

"What?" Lucy asked.

"The decline of natural resource reserves," William answered.

"What do you mean?" Lucy asked. She knew about the young man's desire to deal more effectively with the trash an advanced civilization produced.

"Think about it. What is in the trash we create?" William asked.

"I don't know. Stuff, I guess," Lucy answered still not following him.

William said, "I'm talking about materials of which the stuff is made. You throw away a television and it has metals in it. A million televisions get thrown away and that is a lot of metal."

"Oh," Lucy said realizing that it was all about numbers. One item wasn't much, but a million of them made it a lot. There were six billion people on the planet consuming resources and throwing away their trash. With a global increase in the standard of living, there was an awful lot of trash getting generated.

William said, "There is more than just the stock of metal reserves at stake. Just think about all of the other material that is in trash. All of it can be recycled into new products. Glass, ceramics, and plastics can be used in all kinds of things. Even organic material can be transformed into oil and fertilizers."

"We don't need oil," Lucy said.

William said, "We still need lubricants. We still manufacture plastics out of petroleum."

"I guess I never thought about that," Lucy said.

William said, "When Bill realizes his dream, he will have taken a huge burden off of the planet."

"You're right," Lucy said. She didn't need to ask if he would realize his dream. With the support and resources of the Carter Clan behind him, he could make those dreams come true.

"He's going to be very important one day," William said.

"What about the age differences?" Lucy asked. Kelly was starting to show her age. There was more than a forty year difference in age between her and Bill. Ling was nearly thirty years older than Bill. Linda was twenty years older. Even Claire was ten years older than Bill.

"I wouldn't worry about that. Even though Mom Kelly and Ling are still attractive women, it isn't the physical appearance that is the foundation of love. I'm convinced that he loves them for all of the right reasons," William answered.

"You're right," Lucy said hoping that he was correct.

"Of course I am. I'm William Redman Carter."

Lucy started tickling him. Laughing, she said, "You are going to get punished for that."

An hour later, the young couple returned their attention to the television. William said, "The election results are in."

"All of our people won," Lucy said tracing a finger along the scars on his chest.

"I suppose that I should call them and congratulate them on their victories," William said with a sigh. He reached down and cupped her naked breast. He ran a thumb over her stiffened nipple.

"Call them tomorrow," Lucy said moving her hand down his body.

"I can't," William said. He frowned while thinking about the nature of the conversations that he was going to have. In a sad voice, he said, "We have to remind them how they got to where they are."

"You're right," Lucy said while sitting up. She patted him on the thigh and said, "Go make your calls."

After dressing, Lucy made her way to the laboratory to enter the results of the election into the model. She knew that it would take almost a week to calculate the new projections out fifty years, but she would know the short-term consequences within a couple of days. For now she would have to live with that.