And so, another Martin Luther King day is upon us.
Each one seems to be a marker in our history asking how much closer, or farther, is our nation now in realizing Dr. King's dream of universal justice and equality?
What is America today? Is it the nation so proudly symbolized by Lady Liberty standing in New York Harbor inviting the oppressed masses of the world to cast off the chains of foreign dictatorships and empires and join the American dream? Is it the America whose soldiers have heroically laid down their lives to defend smaller, weaker democracies against the onslaught of would-be conquerors to the east?
No. America, tragically may be on the verge of joining the ranks of the tyrannies we once declared our enemies. America stands on the brink of invading and conquering Greenland. A scenario once reserved for fascist and communist regimes. What lies ahead for America and the free world it once led and inspired?
This story offers an answer. May it never come true.
**********************
51st and counting…
Frank, Joe and Harvey clinked beer glasses in their favorite
New York bar, celebrating their upcoming deployments to Canada and Greenland.
“Here’s to the 51st state,” Frank said, chuckling…a
bit buzzed and trying to get majorly buzzed fast.
“And, counting,” Joe said with a laugh, stuffing pretzels
into his mouth.
“And, here’s to Greenland…the 52nd!” Harv said,
raising his glass.
“Greenland!” They all shouted, raising their glasses.
The digital TV droned on, the announcer declaring more
bombing runs over Mexico City.
“Mexico…fifty…fifty-third?
Izzat right?” Frank said, his head spinning as he laughed.
“One thing at a time, ol’ buddy,” Joe said, wiping his
slobbering mouth on his shirt cuff. “There’s
a whole world waitin’.” He laughed,
trying to grope one of the waitresses as she passed by, almost toppling out of
his chair.
“Steady, guy,” Harv said pulling Joe upright with Frank’s
help. “Don’t wanna get busted the night
before deployment. Heh-heh…Hey, more
beer for the war heroes here!”
A thundering explosion.
A bright light. The windows
shattered. The TV went dark. “What the hell?” Frank asked.
“Everybody stay calm!” A cop shouted, brandishing his
assault rifle.
“Wh-what was that?” Joe asked.
“Police station across the street,” the cop said. “Bomb blast.
Everybody stay put.”
“Damn Mexie rebs again, prob’ly,” Joe said. “We should wipe ‘em out.”
#
Offshore, near East Greenland's Jameson Land basin…
Joe shouted as the shock wave from the exploding oil rig
threw him off the deck of the U.S. battleship.
The firelight washed over him, the cold of the freezing waters biting into
his bones like a million icy needles. He
dove as the burning rig collapsed into the bay.
He surfaced into a burning sea, oil igniting all around him, dead bodies
floating in the burning water. Had he
died and gone to hell?
He thought his fingers would snap off as he managed to grab
one of the rescue lines.
#
Joe trembled as he took another swallow of hot coffee. “And, here I thought I had the easy job at
sea,” he said, pulling the blanket over his shoulder.
“Ship ahoy,” one of the other sailors said, raising his
coffee cup.
“More rebs?” Joe asked.
“Yeah, Greenie nationals, probably. They love to blow up oil rigs. They figure it’ll drive us out. The brass says they’ve linked up with
eco-scum.”
“Why the f***k don’t we nuke this damn island?”
The other guy shrugged.
“Can’t pump oil that glows in the dark, can ya?”
Joe swore, clenching
his teeth, shaking in rage. The damn
cold. No way to strike back. No one to strike back against. He hated this. He just wanted to hit back, somehow. Well…Last he heard, Harv was assigned to
counter-insurgency. Joe had counted
himself lucky not be assigned inland. He
wished now he was with Harv. Kill a few of the bastards for me, ol’
buddy.
#
Kangerlussuaq…
Harvey smiled as he fired his assault rifle, the civies
falling dead against the wall. In the
light of the burning houses, he lit a cigarette. He shrugged as the prisoners were ordered to
form a detail to burn the bodies. He
sighed. There was a time when he might’ve
said this kind of thing was wrong, but not anymore. Not after all the guys in his unit he’d seen
die. He was sick of it. The damn Greenland Underground planted one
IED after another. Civilian engineers
dying on oil rigs. GI’s dying in
convoys. What a way to die. Burned alive or blown apart. No way for a man to die. Why couldn’t the scum just give in? Why’d they have to fight?
The enemy ordnance came from the NATO scum, he thought as he
walked out of the burning village. When
the hell are we gonna nuke Europe, that’s what he wanted to know. He’d made corporal already. He smiled grimly, running his hand over the
notches on his rifle stock. He looked
up, admiring the beauty of the Northern Lights. A good omen, he hoped.
He saw two of his men…Ross and Carver…laughing as they
divvied up stolen civilian property. “I
could stay here forever,” that idiot Ross said, popping an upper.
Harv shook his head.
More of that poison the damn Euros were shipping in by the boatload. He’d lost count of how many GI’s had OD’d
here on their first tour. He was about
to bust the jerk when Carver shot the lock off a civie beer cooler. Harv was thrown off his feet by the explosion
as the booby trap went off. Damn, was
that a piece of Carver’s head he saw burning in the snow a few feet from him? What was left of Ross was burning nearby.
F***k. Harv slowly
pulled himself out of the snow, brushing bloodied ashes off his uniform as his
men came running. He hated this place.
#
He looked over the little blonde Danish whore he’d picked
out of the rubble near one of the villages they’d burned out. He could hear the sirens in the distance as
he looked out the flap of his tent. He’d
heard rumors the Russians and Chinese had joined up with NATO, trying to grab their
share of the oil. Well, he wasn’t gonna
worry about that now. He lit a
cigarette. For the next couple of hours,
all he wanted was to…
The click of the safety on the small automatic pistol in the
girl’s hand was the last thing he heard.
Her cold blue eyes reflected the light of his match as she fired.
#
North Canada…
Frank smiled as he grabbed a peak at the porn vid on his
phone. He yawned as the train rumbled
along. Damn, what an easy tour he’d
pulled. Guarding a trainload of kinook
civies conscripted to work the slave mines in Greenland. He thought of Joe and Harv up north. He hoped they were okay.
He was thrown off his feet, groaning as his head collided
with the wall, the wheels screeching against the rails.
He came to as the other GI’s on the train were locking and
loading. He heard gunfire. “Wh-what the hell?”
“On your feet!” His squad leader shouted. “We’re being boarded!”
Frank barely heard the helicopter blades as machine gun fire
ripped through the windows, broken glass flying. The white-uniformed Canadian Resistance swung
in through the shattering glass, their weapons blazing. Faces hidden behind masks and goggles. He barely had time to raise his rifle. The
repeating muzzle flash was the last thing he saw.
#
Joe sighed as his ship sailed into New York harbor. He glanced at the Statue of Liberty. He tried not to look down at the stump were
his right leg used to be. He saw a troop
carrier ship pulling out as his transport pulled in. More cannon fodder for Greenland, he thought.
He started as the outgoing ship exploded like a flaming geyser, flaming
shrapnel raining into the sea. Home
sweet home.
#
His favorite table at the barroom seemed damned empty
without Frank and Harv. The announcer
droned on from the digital TV. NATO
guerillas were being blamed for the bombing of the outgoing troop carrier. Meanwhile, Russian and Chinese naval
deployments were moving up off the Greenland coast. American nuclear subs were moving up to
intercept.
Joe raised his glass.
God bless America.
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