Chapter 71

Temporary Chancellery,
Mead, Washington
0600 hours local time, 29 October, 2014

“The various tribes of Arizona and New Mexico are much stronger than elsewhere now, and fully control everything inside their reservation borders, plus have added considerable territory by annexing nearby towns. Many folks have found themselves under tribal rule for the first time in their lives, including many in Colorado City, the former FLDS hub in Arizona.

“To secure their position, the Navajo Nation in particular has signed a nonaggression pact with Las Vegas, recognizing their annexation of Lake Havasu City. Other nations are negotiating similar deals with the same motives. They seem to be waiting out the Battle of Phoenix, though, before deciding whether or not to deal with Mesa or the Republic. Smart money’s on the LDS, though, by now. The Republic just hasn’t been able to hold up to them, at least in part due to refugees leaving ahead of the Mormon advance, but also due to sheer Mormon boldness and ruthlessness,” Marcy explained some further news as I pounded her from behind.

“And southern Arizona and New Mexico?” I inquired now, even as Zelda began rimming Marcy in front of me.

“Rapidly falling under Tucson’s sway. The Democratic Republic of Sonora and Aztlan, they call it. A heavy mix of Marxism and syndicalism there. Lots of state-run industries, especially the utilities and public transit. Light rail is heavily used in each of the towns, at least in its most bustling commercial districts. Most agriculture is collectivized, with corporate agribusinesses seized and turned over to the farmer-peasants of the area. Irrigation keeps the land fertile and arable.

“The official language is Spanish and they’ve clearly emulated their namesake from Warday, the post-apocalyptic nuclear novel by Whitley Strieber and James Kunetka. They hold multi-party elections, though the Justice, Reform, and Labor Parties are strongest. The former is an avowed Marxist, but not Leninist party. The Labor Party is syndicalist.

“The Justice and Labor Parties form the coalition government, with the pro-Catholic Reform Party in opposition. Even that party doesn’t dispute the major economic policies, just the social and cultural stances of the regime, especially on abortion and transgender issues. They are still a bit weaker, especially thanks to the Schism.

“The whole of southern Arizona and New Mexico outside of tribal lands is now part of Sonora and Aztlan, the former province consisting of the Arizona part and the latter of the New Mexico part. There are just two provinces in the Democratic Republic, plus the capital district of Tucson. They have an army, national militia which doubles as paramilitary police, and air force and are now recognized by at least the tribal governments, if nothing else.

“Texas is still a wide open country full of factions, warlords, gangs, and several city-states, the largest of these being Houston and Dallas, of course. Brownsville, however, is where the cartels drop off their undesirables on the former USA. It has turned into a hotbed of militant, radical feminism and I would frankly recommend crushing it if weren’t so logistically out of our range.

“There is also a large number of FLDS communities and there are other militant churches and religious groups. The Branch Davidians are rising again, much to the Almighty’s amusement mixed with chagrin. Evidently, the leaders are wise enough nowadays not to claim their parishioners’ wives and deprive them of marital relations at least. In other words, they are smarter than David Koresh.