Chapter 94

“Read from a distant star, the majuscule script of our earthly existence would perhaps lead to the conclusion that the earth was the distinctively ascetic planet, a nook of disgruntled, arrogant creatures filled with a profound disgust with themselves, at the earth, at all life, who inflict as much pain on themselves as they possibly can out of pleasure in inflicting pain which is probably their only pleasure.”
― Friedrich Nietzsche, On the Genealogy of Morals / Ecce Homo

0845 hours, local time
Saturday, 14 February, 2015 (Valentine’s Day)
The Chancellery Complex
The City of Haven, The Province of Oregon
The Commonwealth of Haven

“And so, the penny drops, doesn’t it? Veracruz has fallen to the cartels. Now, only Chiapas remains untaken. The cartels already have a provisional government in place in Monterey, which they now plan to relocate to Veracruz due to their success in that city. It’s quite clear that they are really one of the few hopes that the folks in Las Vegas have for exerting as much influence and clout as they wish in the future, surrounded as they are by us, by the Restored Nation of Deseret, and by the various communities in the remnant of California,” Marcy informed me while she rode my cock at breakfast with her lovely ass.

“Well, speaking of which, the formal creation of the Province of Cascadia, along with nearby North Nevada, has certainly kicked up a lot of dust in some councils of government, hasn’t it? Well, to be fair, we have now annexed: Del Norte, Siskiyou, Modoc, Humboldt, Trinity, Shasta, Lassen, Tehama, Glenn, Butte, Colusa, Yuba, Sierra, Mendocino, Plumas, Lake, and Nevada counties, more than enough territory and population to constitute their own province. We’re dangerously close to Sacramento now, and the locals know that. The Sacramento People’s Republic is not particularly fond of this development, given the present strategic context,” I observed, even as my beloved first wife, Cherry, coughed in my presence.

“Indeed. Nor are San Francisco, Oakland, Berkeley, and several other places a bit too close for comfort. Yes, it’s not just Las Vegas and Sacramento that are nervous about your expansion. Incidentally, I have received a formal request for some kind of ... parley from one Robert Wagner, the former actor turned politician, the Chairman of the General Executive of the Republic of Orange. It has been quickly followed by similar ones from various communities throughout California. We just haven’t heard yet from the big ones ... or from the Moonies in Pasadena.

“It’s not really that shocking, though. The larger ones are tempted, I think, to form some kind of coalition against us. However, they don’t have much in common with each other, other than being in California and despising and/or fearing us. With a significant chunk of their own former state lopped off, their anxiety has grown to no small level. San Diego might be the exception or outlier, though, with its local boss already discussing openly how to secure some kind of peace with us. He doesn’t want to be servile or a doormat, but he also doesn’t want to antagonize you, or them for that matter. He’s caught in the middle between so many cities and towns,” my first wife, who was also the Commissar of Foreign Affairs, briefed me.

“Definitely get busy on that overture from Mr. Wagner. He’s a bit long in the tooth to be a head of state, but as long as he can work with us, that’s a move in the right direction. We have to play the long game, gradually expanding while maintaining a strong diplomatic and geopolitical position. Establishing and normalizing relations with our neighbors is certainly the right approach and I dare say that your hard work has produced dividends there. Well done, babe!

“What are some other communities that have contacted us for the purpose of initiating talks? Let’s get moving on all of that for sure! If we can either align them with us, or even annex them, so much the better. The more we can stabilize the old American and Canadian West in particular, at least for now, the better, in fact. California’s many microstates are highly unstable, as you know.

“A formal alliance or bloc at the very least can reduce the confusion and uncertainty of such a patchwork quilt situation. It feels like how it must have been for Philip of Macedon, trying to maneuver around so many Greek city-states prior to his conquest and unification of Greece,” I stipulated next while fondling Cherry’s fine tush.

“Well, starting from the northern parts, so, from the top, there’s Winters and Woodland in Yolo County, Cloverdale, Cotati, Healdsburg, Petaluma, Sebastopol, and Sonoma in Sonoma County, Live Oak in Sutter County, Auburn, Lincoln, Colfax, and Loomis in Placer County, and American Canyon in Napa County. To say that this burns the folks in Sacramento is to put things quite mildly and diplomatically, I would think. It angers and frightens them at once. Their worst-case scenario is annexation, of course, as it would put us very close to their own borders. Even an alliance, though, threatens their security. Petty tyrants can be the most paranoid of all,” Cherry remarked on the suspicion and animosity emanating from the likes of First Commissar Michael Moore of the Sacramento People’s Republic.

The former actor and filmmaker had become the head of a rather militant, aggressive, but inefficient and recently somewhat impoverished council-communist regime created in the former state capital after the infamous Sacramento Riots annihilated Governor Jerry Brown and the entire, constitutional state government. Both Sacramento and San Francisco had emerged as power centers in northern California, the biggest ones, in fact, city-states that sought to exercise their clout and dominate their neighbors. While Sacramento was fiercely collectivist in an economic as well as social sense, San Francisco was the typical mix of political correctness and neoliberal cronyism, a champion of “rainbow capitalism,” and a gated, gentrified community dystopia. Its head of state, Chairperson Adam Steves, was understandably worried about the relative weakness of San Francisco next to an expanding Commonwealth of Haven.

“And further south?” I continued debriefing her while Marcy and she groped me right back.

“Placerville and South Lake Tahoe in El Dorado County, Markleville in Alpine County, Dixon, Fairfield, and Vallejo in Solano County, Corte Madera, Larkspur, Novato, Ross, Mill Valley, and San Anselmo in Marin County, Angels Camp and San Andreas in Calaveras County, Ione, Jackson, and Plymouth in Amador County, Lodi, Tracy, Ripon, Manteca, and Escalon in San Joaquin County, Sonora in Tuolumne County, Bridgeport and Mammoth Lakes in Mono County, Mariposa in Mariposa County, Madera in Madera County, Merced, Atwater, and Dos Palos in Merced County, Hollister in San Benito County, Monterey, Gonazales, Greenfield, Marina, Pacific Grove, and Seaside in Monterey County, Clovis, Kerman, Fowler, and Huron in Fresno County, Lindsay, Visalia, Woodlake, and Exeter in Tulare County, Avenal, Corcoran, and Lemoore in Kings County, Bishop in Inyo County, Arvin, Bakersfield, Delano, and Taft in Kern County, Calexico, El Centro, and Calipatria in Imperial County, all of Orange County aka the Republic of Orange, and San Diego in San Diego County. If even half of these negotiations are successful, the other communities in California have cause for anxiety, worry, and indigestion,” Cherry noted, even as Nydia, Shelby, Ninve, Sandra, Ana, Teresa, and Anne all made a point of kissing her, Marcy, and me.

“Damn ... that’s a lot of places ... and that can’t just be from watching the news or hearing rumors,” I pointed out.

“Nope. The missionaries of the Church of Haven are rapidly spreading both the message and a certain condition, if you catch my drift,” Aunt Lydia winked at me with considerable pride in the success of the church’s proselytizing efforts these days.

“Well, absolutely work hard to exploit this opportunity. If we can make this much progress so far, imagine how much more success we can have if we keep after it. If we can isolate and weaken such city-states as Sacramento, San Francisco, Oakland, Berkeley, etc., so much the better. We want to surround and outmaneuver them as much as possible, making it much more difficult for them to succeed at their goals. While we have transferred plenty of military forces southward to defend our territory, that is not our preferred option. Diplomacy, conversion, infiltration, and transmission are much better alternatives, when possible,” I encouraged the joint-efforts to strengthen Haven at the expense of the various California city-states.

“Indeed, our proposals so far have largely consisted of mutual recognition of each other’s lawful existence and current borders, mutual non-aggression, reduced tariffs and trade barriers, social, cultural, and scientific cooperation and exchange, full diplomatic relations, respect for each other’s laws, full diplomatic immunity for senior staff, and whatever level of mutual security and defense might be feasible. We’ve made a lot more progress than expected so far, but we are scarcely finished. Every level of success, though, backs certain city-states into a corner and they don’t like that much at all,” Cherry clarified while we all ate, drank, flirted, and groped each other.

“What about Las Vegas?” I persisted now while caressing her bottom a little.

“They are actively seeking improved relations with both us and the Restored Nation of Deseret. We haven’t had any overtures from the latter, but there have been tentative moves from the Democratic Republic of Sonora and Aztlan. We hope for more, of course. As expected, Idaho is being very much carved up between us, Deseret, and the First Nations folks. Sydney Sweeney’s work has been very effective in particular, but others have assisted her quite enthusiastically, including more than a few locals.