Project Terminus Read Free Page B

Conner, Jody, and Sean arrived from Milwaukee early in the morning on Christmas Eve. After congratulating Becky on her engagement, Wade maneuvered Sean to the lanai. He smiled and said, “Relax kid, I’m not an ogre. Tell me about yourself.”
    “There’s not much to tell, honestly. I’m twenty-two. As you can see, I’m on the thin side. I have a degree in Botany, and I love your granddaughter.
    Wade decided it was a good answer. Nodding, he said, “Your prospective father-in-law says you’re a good guy. That’s enough for me.” He patted the young man on the shoulder and smiled. “Interrogation’s over. But let me warn you about Bill.”
    “Thank you, sir. I appreciate that. Who’s Bill?”
    Wade started laughing and said, “On second thought, I think I’ll let you find out for yourself. Your fiancé looks apprehensive. Maybe you should put her mind at ease. We have all week to get to know each other.”
    Bill and Linda arrived for dinner, and while not intentional, Bill and Conner became the entertainment. For over an hour they traded insults and told tall tales, each yarn more preposterous than the one preceding it. The women grinned, but rolled their eyes to show they didn’t believe a word either of them said. The men listened and chuckled. It was getting deeper by the minute, and smiling inwardly, Wade thought, I wish I had some bullshit repellent.
    Fortunately, Jody saved the day by entering the “arena,” and interrupting the competition with the announcement that dinner was ready. She looked sternly at Bill and Conner and said, “You two will not say a single word while we’re eating.” Then with a smirk she added, “If you do, you’ll find yourself sitting at the little table,” and nodded toward April’s doll table set up in a corner of the dining room.
    Conner and Jody Macleod were well matched. They complimented each other in ways most couples never could. Conner was a tall, thin electrical engineer and a jokester. He hated to sleep because, as he was fond of saying, “I might miss something.” He was also forgetful and a bit of a slob. Jody, on the other hand, was short and plump, a decorated grade school teacher, and almost always serious. Plus, she never forgot anything, and was so neat and organized it even bothered her. As a bonus, Conner loved to cook and Jody liked to eat.
    After dinner, April and Adam were tucked into bed. Wade asked everyone to grab their drinks and come to the Florida Room. Once everyone was settled around the room, he said, “To coin an old phrase, ‘Houston, we have a problem.’ I know you’re all concerned with the direction the country’s heading. I am too. I’ve charted every faux pas, every decision, every Executive Order, every Executive Memoranda, and every failure and scandal the current administration is responsible for. The results are not pretty.”
    Holding up his dot-chart, he explained, “The black dots represent things I believe are nothing more than inexperience and/or stupidity. They’re not connectable to any other dot. The green dots indicate issues that are interconnected, but by themselves shouldn’t cause any immediate problems. The red dots represent serious events or decisions impacting the country in a major way. The red dots are inter-connected, and as you can see, there are a lot of red dots. It’s my opinion the country is in serious trouble.”
    He paused for a moment to let that sink in, and then continued. “We’re fortunate to have several very high placed military contacts. Chris has the pulse of the law enforcement community. The feedback we’re getting is that we’ll soon reach an Event Horizon —the point of no return—and the United States as we know it will cease to exist.”
    Bill blurted, “In other words, Owen’s gonna unleash the Kraken .”
    Laughing with everyone else, Wade said, “Well, yeah, I guess that’s another way to put it.”
    Looking around the room at their apprehensive faces, he