Chapter 10

"Merry Christmas, Gunny," I murmured leafing through the instruction manual for one of the control consoles. "If you need any help with the computer side of this stuff, just let me know, but it looks like it's fairly straightforward to set up and program. Tell me who you think you can trust to help with the placement and hookup of these units, and I'll send 'em down. Anything you don't need to deploy should be moved out of that cave to a more secure location, but this little spot might just be a good one for a fire control center."

Garcia, like a kid on Christmas morning, barely heard what I was saying. It took him a while to process it enough to answer, "Will do, Gav. Uh yeah, you know, I think maybe Nguyen can help me for now. Those gang guys are all about loyalty. He'll keep his mouth shut. If I need any other help, I'll let you know by walkie-talkie."

"You sure one guy's enough?" I asked skeptically.

"Probably not, but I don't know who else I can trust that far besides you two, and you've got enough on your plates."

"Hmmm. I think I know somebody. I'll check it out and send 'em down. Also, this is important, so if you need my help and/or Amanda's, let us know and we'll work it into our priorities. Don't just assume we don't have time, okay?"

"Gotcha. Thanks, Gav. Now, can I get back to unwrapping my presents, pretty please?"

"Me and you are gonna have to have a little wall-to-wall discussion about that mouth of yours as soon as Amanda gets done teaching me how to kick your ass, Gunny!" I joked.

"Well, Amanda hasn't kicked my ass, yet, so you might want to wait for the outcome of that contest before you decide to take me on!" he winked in Amanda's direction.

"Hey, anytime, jarhead!" Amanda bristled.

"Now, now, we're all supposed to be on the same side here!" I said.

"Well, he started it!"

"Actually, I started it, and I shouldn't have. I wouldn't mind seeing a friendly bout between you two, just to see how you match up, but I was joking about kicking Gunny's butt, and I believe he was doing the same."

"Naw, I was serious as a heart attack... Of course I was joking, Amanda. I've been watching how you teach these folks, and whether you can beat me up or not, you're a hell of a lot better instructor than I am. If you want to spar a few rounds, we can do that, but I don't worry about whether my friends can kick my ass - I just want all of us to be able to kick the bad guys asses."

"Guy humor!" Amanda shook her head in disgust. "Will men never grow up?"

"God, I hope not!" I laughed, taking her arm. "Come on, Number Two, we have other work to do."

As we made our way back up the tunnels, I asked Amanda, "What do you think about Carmen Sanchez? Can she keep her mouth shut?"

"She comes out of the East L.A. gangs, same way Colby ran with the Vietnamese. If she identifies with us as her 'gang, ' and I think she does, she'll be loyal. The biggest difference between her and Colby is she put that stuff behind her and worked her butt off to get an education. To be able to do that without getting popped by her own or a rival gang would have to take guts and savvy. Yeah, I think she can keep her mouth shut. I also think that with her brains, she'd be a damn good choice for that high-tech stuff."

"Good," I mused, half to myself. "I guess I should be honest with you - I'm also trying to do a little matchmaking here."

Amanda stopped and gave me a hard glare, but it didn't come off very well in the dimness of the reflected light from our flashlights. "You want to match the Mexican Marine with the Mexican accountant? Whatever happened to all that 'race doesn't matter' bullshit?"

"It doesn't matter," I told her. "I have reason to believe that Garcia might be interested in her, and that she might be receptive, that's all. It has nothing to do with their ethnic origins, at least not from my point of view. I don't know about theirs."

"You want to share those reasons with your partner here, cowboy?"

"Yes, I do, but I can't because they are from personal conversations, and I need to keep those confidences to myself or I'll lose the trust of those who shared them."

"Ah. Hmmm. Okay, but keep in mind that some personal confidences can be about things that affect all of us."

I gave her a 'give me some credit' look as I answered, "Sure, you'd be told - after I clued in the person who told me. If I've got to betray a trust, I don't want anyone blindsided by it. "

"That's fair enough. So what are your plans today?"

"I want you and I to go over my draft of rules of conduct for our community. We also need to plan the next foraging mission. We've got two fairly large population centers - or what were population centers - within a day or two of us, plus the military bases that we haven't yet looked at. I think we need to plan on picking up a few more people and figure out what kinds of armament we want to acquire, and what to do with what's left after we get what we want. Then there are the foods and other supplies. Once those needs have been filled, I want to start acquiring knowledge. UNLV is not far away, and its bookstore and library can provide us with a great deal of printed material in instructional formats."

"Why do you want to bring that stuff here? Surely scavengers aren't going to bother books and such."

"Maybe they won't, but I don't know that. For all I know, somewhere down the road, they'll start using 'em for firewood, and I'd rather make sure as much of that knowledge survives as possible."

"What about the basics? Numbers, alphabet, reading, writing, arithmetic, on through elementary and high school - we'll need those to educate our own kids."

"Good point! There I go thinking too far out again. I was thinking of archives for future generations, but we'll need to educate them so they can understand that other stuff. Thanks for keeping my feet on the ground."

We continued on in silence, partly because the slope of the mine shaft demanded that we save our breath if we were to continue at our present pace. When we emerged, I asked Amanda to round up Colby and bring him up to the house. I saw Carmen weeding a vegetable patch with a hoe and asked her to take a break and come up to the house.

When we had both of them together, I led them into the study, followed closely by Amanda.

"I'm told that you two can keep your mouths shut. Is this true? Can you keep something under your hat when you need to?"

Nguyen folded his arms and looked bored. "Yeah," was all he said.

Sanchez searched my face for clues before replying with a sharp nod. "I can keep a secret."

"Either of you got a problem working down in the mine for a little while? Claustrophobia? Problems with the dark? This isn't a test. I just need to be sure you can do the job I'm sending you to do. If you have any problems related to tight spaces, darkness, being underground, or anything else like that, let me know now."

Neither of them spoke. I raised an eyebrow in Amanda's direction but she had no questions, so we equipped them with lights and instructions on how to find Garcia, then told them to get a couple of horses from the corral and take them down there.

With that out of the way, I lit up Archie's computer and showed Amanda my draft:

Rules of Conduct

1. Each member of the group must obey the commands of its leader and/or his designated representative. An individual may question an order if:

   1. The order is not time critical or

   2. The order has already been carried out.

2. The group consists of a civil component and a military component. Unless expressly ordered otherwise, each individual is a member of both components, i.e. each person will have both civil and military duties. Failure to fulfill the required duties of either role will result in punishment for the individual as deemed appropriate by his/her superiors.

3. Duties and tasks, civil or military, may be 'traded' with another individual provided that:

   1. That individual is capable of performing said duties adequately, and

   2. The 'trade' is approved by both parties' superiors.

   3. If 'traded' duties are not performed satisfactorily, the original assignee will be held responsible for any malfeasance.

4. All property except items which have value only to the individual (e.g. personal/family photos, personal hygiene items, undergarments, etc.) belongs to the group. Disputes will be resolved by the group leader or his designated representative.

5. There is no prohibition, express or implied, against any consensual sexual act or domestic union between humans of age 15 or older, subject to the following conditions:

   1. Each individual, regardless of birth gender or sexual preference, must, if medically able, contribute at least three healthy offspring to the group. (In this context, 'healthy' is defined as surviving, with all physical and mental functions intact) until the age of fifteen years.

6. No one over the age of 15 shall engage in any sexual activity, consensual or otherwise, with any individual under the age of 15.

7. Non-consensual sex is expressly prohibited. This includes, but is not limited to:

   1. Use of physical force

   2. Coercion by threat of bodily harm

   3. Coercion by extortion

   4. Coercion by abuse of power

8. Anyone caught providing unauthorized information to any group or individual outside this group will be banished from the group.

9. Punishments up to and including public flogging may issued as deemed necessary by the group leader. The greatest punishment allowed is banishment. While killing enemies of the group may sometimes be necessary, there shall be no death penalty for members of the group.

10. Disputes between individuals shall be settled between those individuals. Fighting without weapons is encouraged in the settlement of such disputes.

    1. The use of weapons in such conflicts will be dealt with severely.

    2. This provision is made to encourage each individual group member, regardless of gender, to learn and practice hand-to-hand fighting tecniques. Any such conflict which results in death or disability of one of the combatants will be investigated, and if the uninjured party is found to have deliberately or negligently injured or killed his opponent, he will be punished severely.

    3. No individual or subgroup shall use this provision to gain unfair advantage over other members of the group. Any such attempt shall be dealt with severely.

Amanda read over the list, then turned to me.

"You sure you want to let disgruntled people just wander off? What if they take up with some of those 'enemies?'"

"If they become the enemy, then we will treat them as such, but frankly, I'd rather find non-lethal ways of dealing with enemies, too. The scarcity of genes to get us going again gives me the willies already, and I don't want to deplete the gene pool anymore than I have to."

Amanda thought about that, nodded, then, in a new window, started typing a list of her own. When she was finished, she turned the computer screen to show it to me. It read:

Rules of Conduct

1. Do what Gavin says.

2. Don't shirk your duty.

3. Get permission before swapping work with someone. You're responsible for the outcome.

4. Everything except 'personal' items belongs to the community. Check with somebody if you're not sure.

5. The age of consent is 15.

6. Everyone above the age of consent makes babies.

7. Don't rape anyone.

8. What happens in the community, stays in the community. KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT ABOUT IT!

9. If you screw up, you will be punished, including being whipped in public. If you screw up really bad, you'll be kicked out.

10. We may kill enemies but not each other.

11. Everybody must learn to fight and take care of himself. This includes resolving your own disputes.

12. No bullies or gangs allowed.

I held up both hands in surrender. "You're right. Let's keep it simple for now. The group is still small and we don't need courts and lawyers."

"Well, you'll note that it's essentially what you said, but by putting it in less formal language, it becomes more accessible. I think it's a good start. I just wanted to make it a little easier for people to internalize."

"I agree," I told her, "We can read them to the people as they gather for dinner, and post copies around the place..."

I stopped mid-sentence as Amanda held up her hand.

"I think we should post one copy in an easily accessible place, not all over the place. We want to make it available, not shove it down their throats. This mini-dictatorship is going to be tough enough for them to swallow as it is, so let's not get too confrontational about it."

I stared at her in wonder, wishing I had had someone like her to help me run my company before the sickness made the whole thing a waste of time.

"I'm sorry," Amanda said, misinterpreting my silence, "I guess I got carried away. It's still your ball game."

"No, no, no," I replied, trying to back out her apology. "You are, once again, exactly right. I was just thinking how your talents complement mine perfectly. In fact, at least in private, I insist that you speak your mind on anything you think needs addressing. I am coming to depend on you to keep me real. Now, about the shopping list..."

We spent the next hour or so working on supplies we needed and trying to plan a route for the first scavenging expedition. When we had what we considered a good plan, we began hashing over who we could afford to send, and who needed to stay behind, finally concluding that we needed Gunny's input before we could finalize that list.

When Garcia appeared out of the depths of the mine, late in the afternoon, he asked "Hey, didn't you hear me calling on the walkie-talkie?"

Amanda and I looked at each other, shrugged, and checked our sets. Both were on, charged and functioning.

"Crap!" I said, "I forgot. Radio waves aren't going to travel far through this rock. We'll have to rig some other form of communication if we're going to leave fire control down there. What was it you wanted?"

"It wasn't really important. I was going to ask for some harness so we could hook those horses to the pallets, but Carmen found some outside the second door. That's probably how Archie got those pallets up there from the cave."

"Well, grab something to eat. There's something we want to go over with you."

We only gave him time to get a sandwich before dragging him into the study with the door closed.

"I'll take Colby and Sanchez, and put Smiley on the last truck as tail gunner," he said immediately, once we had laid out our plans.

"Not Sanchez. I'm sorry Gunny, but I don't want to expose any of the women like that. Pick another man. Preferably one who's already been with one of the women."

"Hmm. Let me sleep on it. That leaves only three possibilities, and of the three the only one I know who's been with a woman is Jamaal."

"Make him your last choice, anyway. Ruth is leaning on him pretty heavily right now. Let me know tomorrow. By the way, you making any progress in the 'being with a woman' area?"

"None of your business, boss," he grinned, "but thanks for sending Sanchez down to help out."

"Hey, I don't need to know, but if you do get anywhere, do us all a favor and let Cora know. She's trying to keep genealogical records."

"Right. Well let me go see what's up with Matt and the German guy. See if one of them wants to go for a ride."

"Speaking of keeping Cora informed," Amanda said as Ramon left, "should we make that one of the rules?"

"We may have to at some point, but I'd like to keep it informal as long as we can. Like you said, 'This mini-dictatorship... etc., etc., '"

"Yeah, okay. Look, I need to check up on some things. I'll catch up with you later."

Things were winding down a little from the initial rush of getting everyone settled into our new home. There was still plenty of work, but it was beginning to settle down into a routine. I checked up on Heather at the stables, and found her, dirty, sweaty, and, surprisingly, cheerful.

"How are you doing, Ms. Billingsley?" I asked.

"Oh! Mr. Thompson! You startled me!"

"I'm sorry. I just wanted to check in and see how things are going."

"No, I'm glad you stopped by. I - well, I really wanted to apologize for the way I've been acting. I mean, I guess I kinda got brain-lock there. Anyway, Matt helped me see things a little more, um, clearly, and I'm really, really sorry."

"That's good to hear, Ms. Billingsley," I answered cautiously, "but I'm not the only one to whom you owe an apology, and apology or not, your punishment still stands."

"Oh, no! I'm not trying to get out of it or anything! I just, well, when I realized what was going on, I was so embarrassed! I deserve this and more, but I don't know how I can apologize to, like, everyone."

"Finish your punishment and do your duty, and people will know. Actions speak louder than words, Ms. Billingsley. It may take some time, but people will come around, if you show them you mean it. I do think you owe Ms. Somers a personal apology, however."

"I-I know I do, Mr. Thompson," she said, looking contrite, "I know I do."

I wasn't entirely convinced. After all, she was an actress, but she seemed sincere, and time would tell whether she meant what she said or not.

I checked in with Gunther Schmidt who had taken over the weeding of the garden after Carmen was sent to help Gunny.

"Ach! Jah! I haff a list of sings I vill need! Some, though, I do not haff English for. It iss possible for me to go und look?"