Chapter 19

With water streaming down his face, Andrew massaged his temples. The hot water combined with the steam from the shower, his second of the day, helped to relax his muscles and settle his mind somewhat. Something was totally wrong, he had decided, completely and totally wrong.

Silver had prepared a wonderful meal of beef stew and they had finally been introduced as he sat down for the biggest meal that he had eaten in nearly a month.

Andrew had found himself unusually impressed with Silver. She was beautiful, that much was obvious to any man with a pulse and decent eyesight, but it was her manner, the way that she carried herself. Andrew had always felt that he was a reasonable judge of character, and Silver seemed to carry an aura of a woman in charge. It was apparent that she was sizing him up as well, not as a threat, but simply trying to judge him trustworthy.

It was also plainly apparent that she was as deeply in love with Bryan as he was with her. The competence and sheer will of the couple united together was truly intimidating. Anyone who took advantage of this couple through coercion would have to be a truly professional con artist; that much was certain. Andrew could see no benefit in trying to hide anything about his past from them, and it was clear to him that they would tolerate no discrepencies.

Following the meal they had remained in the kitchen talking about the accomplishments of the day and the issues going on around them.

It had been nearly a week since Andrew had heard any news besides small tidbits and a headline on a newspaper in a gas station. And admittedly he had spent the past few weeks in a drunken stupor after coming home to find no home remaining.

It had all seemed strangely conspiratorial to find his family dead, the property foreclosed, his sister in rehab. Supposedly things such were protected against, and he had filed a complaint with the Judge Advocate General. Nothing so far had come back to him.

So when he had been briefed on the happenings of the past few days, having had his mind on other things, he found himself confused and concerned.

"There are a lot of things that don't make sense about this," Andrew sputtered. "This is so destructive to the economy. Who could actually believe that this is beneficial?"

"Could be a way of repaying one crappy currency with another of supposedly greater value," Silver countered, her financial knowledge coming into play. "Bait and switch. Reduce the national debt to one seventh or whatever the latest figure is."

"And all progress comes at the expense of someone," Bryan added. "It seems that we the people get to pay for this one."

"And so all of this came about as an executive order?" Andrew asked. They both nodded. "Some presidents don't have a clue what they are doing do they?" The sad thoughtful looks that answered him were enough to confirm their beliefs.

They had then all retired to the family room to watch the evening news and comment on it. The news had simply reinforced and elaborated on everything that he had been told. A sick feeling in the pit of his stomach gave him pause.

Andrew had been deployed into a foreign country where the locals hadn't been exactly excited to see them. This compounded with the way that he had seen his comrades portrayed by the American media and government at large, Andrew's cynicism kicked in immediately.

"Something is going on that isn't being told here," Andrew asked. "Something big. Nothing about this makes sense."

"It almost seems as if they want everyone to suffer," Bryan said. "This is being blamed on our failing economy and making banking easier by using smaller denominations, but in reality it seems like it is geared to take the remaining wealth out of the middle and lower class." He shook his head in disgust. "Your parents farm was foreclosed on without your knowledge, in fact you weren't even given notice of their death?"

"This has all the makings of an Orwell novel doesn't it?" Andrew sniffed. "Conspiracy and corruption everywhere..."

"This one," Silver pointed to the television screen, "seems to be geared at removing all the private property from the people. All the currency devalues. All the bank notes stay the same."

The men looked at her, waiting for further insight. "So say your house payment is five hundred dollars. And say you make twenty-five dollars an hour." She cleared her throat and continued. "So that means you need to work twenty hours right?" She paused then added, "That is if you oversimplify but you get the idea." They nodded.

"Ok, so then this comes along and you make..." she squinted as she made some quick calculations in her head. " ... about three dollars and fifty cents. Your note is still for five hundred, so that's now one hundred forty some hours of work."