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"It is a terrible thing to be living in the last days of a civilization's golden age," Reggie told the auditorium of Murray State University students. He had been asked to speak about his time as the JP President, but this was the core of his message. It was what he wanted people, especially these young men and women who would be the future of the JP, to understand.
"Our civilization's golden age has passed. We have lived through it," he explained. "We will not see its like again. We must accept that fact if we are to move forward and prepare for the future."
He pushed the remote and an image appeared on the screen behind him. It showed the Roman Forum in ruins beside an artist's reconstruction of what that area had looked like in full glory. "Rome was the most powerful and stable government and civilization the western world had ever seen. Most of our laws have been handed down from them. Their empire and way of life at its height spanned the majority of their known world. Yet, over time it became corrupt, weak, and rotten from a lack of civic responsibility. The very citizens who had made Rome great turned on it, seeking bribes, little comprehending they were the ones paying their own bribes."
Reggie pushed a button on the remote and the picture changed to show a painting of the Goths sacking Rome. "When Rome finally fell, priceless information was lost. Although much of western civilization's knowledge was preserved in Constantinople and Alexandria, these were eastern cultures. It was simple knowledge lacking practical application. Europe passed into the Dark Ages. Previous knowledge and civilization and culture were largely lost for nearly a thousand years before the Renaissance began to reapply those lost ideals."
"So you're implying," interrupted a young woman in the front row, "that we are also entering a dark age?"
Reggie smiled. "I am. We are already in it. It would be a mistake to try to return to what we lost before N-Day. It is as impossible for us as it would have been for the Picts to build an aqueduct. We have to stop trying to return to the way things were before."
"And just give up?" asked a large black man near the back.
"No," answered Reggie, bringing up his next slide. It showed a picture of an Irish monk painstakingly copying an ancient work. "We preserve what we have for future generations. There will be a Renaissance for us too, if we prepare for it. To do this, we must pass down the information of our forefathers. That information must be protected at all costs. It is our calling and our one true responsibility beyond survival and the main reason education of future generations is so important."
"So that we can eventually have another industrial revolution following our renaissance," said an acne-covered face to Reggie's left. "That was the beginning of mankind's leap forward."
Reggie frowned. "An industrial revolution may not be possible within our lifetime, if ever."
"Why is that?" asked the moderator.
Pushing his reading glasses up on his face, Reggie sighed. "The industrial revolution would have been impossible without three things. Of those three we only have one and only in insufficient quantities. Steel. The Mennonites have been able to produce in moderate amounts from the raw iron mined at LBL. Eventually, this could expand to large amounts."
"Electricity we have also," said a diminutive girl with auburn hair.
"Yes," answered Reggie, "but we need internal combustion engines for an industrial revolution, and those run on fossil fuels. Right now, we're limited by what was left over after N-Day and the meager amounts we've been able to obtain by trading. There are small oil deposits to the south and east and still vast amounts of coal in eastern Kentucky, but our ability to procure fossil fuels in sufficient amounts will be difficult. Also, we're just beginning to learn how to process and refine these fossil fuels for our use."
Muttering filled the room as the audience talked among themselves.
"You said three things were required," said the moderator.
"Yes," answered Reggie. "Surprisingly, there would not have been an industrial revolution without rubber. There is no internal combustion engine without rubber seals and gaskets. Rubber is in everything and of critical importance. The majority of the rubber supplied for the Industrial Revolution came from rubber trees in the Amazon."
"What about synthetic rubber?" asked someone in the back.
"Made from petroleum byproducts which we have very little of," said Reggie.
"We could recycle the rubber we have," said a tall teenager.
An older gentleman with spectacles raised his hand and spoke, "Sir, I'm a professor of chemistry here and I'd like to answer that question if you don't mind."
"Please do," said Reggie.
The professor nodded and seemed to collect himself. "Rubber is one of the most unique substances in nature. Its elasticity is what makes it so stable and why it is not seriously affected by extreme heat or cold, but its stability means it cannot be broken down and modified easily. Strangely enough, rubber forms into molecules of its final shape. As an example, each rubber band is one gigantic, extremely complex rubber molecule. There is simply nothing else in nature like it."
"Couldn't we grow our own rubber trees?" asked another student.
Reggie frowned. "Rubber trees only grow in tropical environments; they would never survive our winters here. Although people do have small rubber trees as houseplants, these are very small. To obtain raw latex from a rubber tree, it needs to be mature, and mature rubber trees are very large. Too large for any indoor structure or greenhouse."
"So what do we do?" asked a horse-faced blond girl.
"Figure it out," said Reggie. "Work with what we have. Discover something else. Remember that before there was an industrial revolution there was an agricultural revolution, and that is potentially within our grasp. We must regularly produce a food surplus in order to turn our minds to other things. Beyond that, we simply wait and bide our time until it is possible to establish a global trade again. Waiting might be our safest course of action."
"But for how long?" asked the redheaded teenager. "Surely not another thousand years like between the fall of Rome and the Renaissance."
Reggie shrugged. "There is no way to know. Could be a hundred years, maybe ten thousand. That is not within our control. We can only do our best to survive with what we have and preserve the knowledge of our forefathers for the future. The world we knew is effectively dead, and no one in this room will ever see it again."
The room was suddenly silent.
"That's my last slide," said Reggie with an awkward smile.
There was a smattering of applause from the few dozen students. The moderator stepped up from the audience. "Thank you, Mr. President. I'd like to open it up for questions and answers. Just raise your hand and Mr. Philips will point you out."
A pretty blond on the right raised her hand. "What was it like to work with Governor Jason Henry, and do you think he might still be alive in the state capital?"
Reggie nodded. "Governor Henry was not only a great governor, but a good friend of mine. As many of you know, he and I were college roommates many years ago, and I likely would have never entered politics except at his urging. He is one of the genuinely best men I've ever met. As far as his still being alive, anything is possible, but we just don't know. Frankfort wasn't hit by any nukes, and we've considered going to look at the capital, but nothing indicates there is still a functioning government there. With that said, I hope he's still alive. Next question please."
A large athletic black man stood next. "Although the JP has agreed to incorporate the Bill of Rights into its working constitution, what do you say to those who believe this is a sham? After all, you were part of Tim Reynolds’ last broadcast."
Reggie looked to the moderator for help, who stood and moved to the front. "Let's please keep the questions to the presentation please," he said while looking at the two state troopers who sat in the back of the room.
A tall thin older gentleman stood next. "Yes, my question Mr. President is, do you eat? That is, would you be willing to have lunch with me and my friends?"
Reggie smiled. "Good to see you, Clarence. General Clarence Anderson, everyone." He now saw that Harold Buchannan and Butch Matthews were also sitting nearby. "Oh my, if I had known all these VIPs were in the audience, I would have had the decency to be more nervous. And to answer your question, yes."
Reggie talked and mingled with the students for another half hour before walking out of the auditorium over to the Campus Diner. Clarence, Butch, and Harold already had a booth. He shook hands with them all and slid in beside them.
"This is quite a surprise," said Reggie. "I had no idea you were coming."
"Butch spread the word," Harold said. "How could we not come see your debut scholarly presentation?"
"It might be my last talk," said Reggie. "Did you see the way those troopers watched everything and took notes?"
"Yeah," said Clarence. "That's one of the reasons we wanted to meet. You already know about the arrest of Tim Reynolds and the exile of Nathan Taylor, but have you heard about the proposed plan to unite the JP and the WTR?"
"I have," said Reggie, "but I don't know enough about the situation to really make an informed decision."
"There's something you probably don't know," said Harold. "Nathan was exiled because of something he was investigating. Something he was pretty sure of."
"What?" asked Reggie. "What could be that bad?"
"President Paul Campbell is working for someone in the WTR," said Butch. "Nathan thought it might even be President Ethan Schweitzer."
"Ethan?" said Reggie. "But he's not a strong arm and General Sampson is gone. Must be someone else. Besides, what would Paul gain by such a thing?"
"Nathan thought that they had his son," said Harold, "but he couldn't prove it."
"And he believed that Ethan might even be Gabriel," said Butch. "The man who sent that assassin to kill you and instead got Janice."
"No need to remind me," said Reggie.
"The point is," said Clarence, "that something isn't right in the JP. Everything we worked so hard to build is potentially falling apart. I don't know if you see it, but we're pretty close to undeclared martial law right now."
"And there's not enough food set aside for the winter," said Harold. "We've been stockpiling on the side, but if the JP found out, it would make for some awkward moments."
"So," said Reggie, "what do you think should be done? Harold, you're a county executive. Can't you go talk to Paul?"
"I've tried," said Harold. "He's totally isolated. That guard of his, which Nathan thought was a WTR plant by the way, won't let anyone by."
"How about the other council members?" asked Reggie.
"They're afraid," said Butch. "They see what's going on and how the troopers are watching everyone."
"If Nathan was right," said Clarence, "and Paul Campbell is simply Ethan Schweitzer's puppet, we can't let the WTR unite with us because that will make Ethan the vice president. Which will, for all intents and purposes, make him the president."
"We should call for a recall vote," said Reggie. "It hasn't been but six months since the election. We could do that."
"Would the JP even allow it?" asked Clarence. "Nothing to do with the government is really written down yet or agreed upon. Everything is run right now by precedence and expediency. Campbell might ban the recall election in the name of national security."
"If he does," said Reggie, "then he will have lost. He'll look weak and scared."
"How do we even go about something like that?" asked Clarence.
Reggie nodded. "There's no precedence for a federal recall, but most states allowed recalls if one third of the registered voters asked for one. Not sure how we would go about that, but that seems like a good place to start. I could talk to some old friends and get the ball rolling."
"I don't think it's a good idea for you to do that," said Clarence. "Nor for either of you." He pointed at Butch and Harold.
"Why not?" asked Reggie.
"Well," answered Clarence, "you're the candidate who just got defeated in the last election. It would be too easy for Campbell to discredit you over being a sore loser. People would lose focus on the real issues. Butch and Harold are either part of, or connected closely to, the current administration. I think them doing anything like this would come across as disloyal and again lose focus."
"Who then?" asked Harold.
Clarence smiled broadly.
"Really?" asked Reggie.
"Why not?" said Clarence. "I'm retired. Well known. And have nothing to lose. They can threaten your families or intimidate them, but not me."
"They could imprison you, like they just did Tim Reynolds," said Reggie.
Clarence smiled. "That would be a win for us as long as we could publicize it. Show everyone how shaky the current government is."
Everyone looked at each other and nodded.
"Okay then," said Reggie. "I guess we're all in agreement. I gather that you want the rest of us to stay out of this?"
"If you don't mind," said Clarence. "It will make it simpler and avoid painting any of you with further suspicion."
"I think Nathan was onto something though," said Butch.
"What was that?" asked Harold.
"He told Bethany if things started to go bad to get to the Land Between the Lakes Park. He said it would be safer there. More secure. Close to the electricity and people you can trust."
"You'd all be welcome there," said Harold.
"Excellent," said Clarence, rubbing his hands together. "Off I go to battle again."