Todd flushed. He implored, “What are you saying, that I blew it?”
Mike shook his head. “No, what I’m saying is…. What I’m saying is that ‘a beginning is a very delicate time.’ I don’t differ one iota in the substance of what you told Dunlap, but I think that you could have acted friendlier.”
“You weren’t there, Mike. If you had been, I think that you would have said the same things, and used the same tone of voice. I wasn’t about to play the weak sister. I was trying to negotiate from a position of strength. As near as I can tell, these Templars aren’t quite as altruistically motivated as we are. They seem to want to exert some power at the same time they do good works like doling out charity.”
“Do you think they’ve been corrupted?” Mike asked.
“Corrupted in the sense of Lord Acton? As in,‘Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely?’ Probably not yet, to any great extent, but there is definitely the potential there. You know we’ve discussed that at so many group meetings. Everyone in our situation has to be on guard for that. It’s not just the Templars. Neither group is immune. We’re all sinners. The building blocks for tyranny are right here in this house. Look at our situation compared to most of our neighbors. We’ve got real organization, superior arms, above average tactical skills, and plenty of beans and bullets. In today’s economy, a deep larder and a big pile of ammunition is the equivalent of a millionaire’s bank account. We can’t let all that go to our heads. It would be all too easy for us to declare ourselves petty dictators over the region.”
Todd interlaced his fingers and clicked his thumbnails together. “We’ve got to show restraint, heed our conscience, and always remember that we are Christians. Instead of playing ‘lifeboat captain’ and just plain taking or ‘requisitioning’ what we want or need, we have always got to engage in fair barter.
When those in need don’t have anything that they can spare to barter, we’ve got to do our very best to dispense copious charity. To quote Matthew Chapter 8:‘Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.’ I believe in salvation solely by Grace, but I don’t believe in faith without good works. It’s our duty as Christians….” Todd glanced at Kevin Lendel, and quipped, “Sorry, no offense intended with that New Testament stuff, Kevin.”
Lendel replied, “No offense taken. My God is the same God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I subscribe to the same code of ethics. I just don’t eat pork.”
Everyone laughed.
Todd waited for the laughter to die down, and thrust his hands into the pockets of his DPM trousers. He said, “Enough of my lecturing. Now, getting back to the issue of image we want to put forward. What do you folks think we should do next?”
Mary spoke up. “I’d suggest that the next time you go back to talk to Dunlap one of the women goes with you to soften our image. We can’t come across as being entirely militant. We’ve got to show that we are human, and that we’ve got compassion and balance.”
Todd’s shoulders slumped. “I think that you’re right.” When a series of votes were taken later in the evening, it was decided that Lisa should go with Todd to the next meeting, and that she should attempt to intervene if Todd and Roger Dunlap started to show any friction. There was general agreement among the group members that it was important to have the militia patrol a large territory. In the short term, it would be a burden to patrol the area and give critical aid to the territory’s inhabitants. In the long term, however, as a more stable situation developed, a large territory would mean a larger base of population with more resources available to barter, and most importantly, a large pool of manpower to form a network of militias to defend against well-organized hostiles. T.K. predicted a situation “somewhat akin to the city states of Italy during the Middle Ages and into the Renaissance.”
Mike brought out a large map that had been assembled from nine USGS topographical maps and mounted on a piece of plywood. The map was covered with heavy clear “combat” acetate so that it could be marked with water-based fine point felt tip markers. The acetate was already extensively marked with property lines and the surnames of landowners. Mike often used the map board when briefing and debriefing patrols. Following the discussion of how much territory they could handle, it was decided that a north-south line near Deary should mark the dividing point for the two groups’ areas of responsibility for providing aid and security.
At the end of the meeting, T.K. led the group in a Bible study in 1st Kings, studying Solomon’s alliances with Hiram and Egypt, and Asa and Ahab’s alliances with Ben-Hadad. Then they prayed that God would give them wisdom and strength. They also prayed that God would allow the two groups to reach an understanding and form a lasting, equitable alliance.
Just before noon on the twenty-fifth, with a light snow falling, Todd and Lisa arrived at the Deary cemetery, again driving Jeff’s Power Wagon. As Todd pulled the pickup to a halt, they could see Dunlap and a woman standing next to two horses that were tied up to the fence that surrounded the graveyard.
Lisa observed quietly, “Looks like the Templars decided to soften their image as well.”
Todd let out a faint chuckle in reply. When they stepped out of the cab, they felt a cold blast. The weather had deteriorated considerably since their last meeting. Carrying only their holstered .45s, Todd and Lisa approached Dunlap and the woman.
“Hello!” Dunlap half-shouted.
“Hail and well met,” Gray replied.
As they approached to within a few steps of each other, Todd said, “Roger, I’d like you to meet Lisa Nelson. She’s our logistician, and the wife of our tactical coordinator.”
Dunlap smiled and replied, “Pleased to meet you, ma’am. This is my wife Teresa, she’s our group counselor.”
Todd tipped the brim of his boonie hat, and let out a quiet “Ma’am.”After a pause, Todd suggested, “It’s pretty cold today. If you’d like, we can talk in the back end of our rig. We’ve got a kerosene heater and a thermos full of hot tea.”
Roger Dunlap and his wife exchanged glances, then nods. “Sure, that sounds great,” Roger said.
Carrying their rifles with them, the Dunlaps crunched through the snow, following Todd and Lisa. Once they were inside the camper shell, Todd shut the tailgate and the back window, propping it open a crack with a scrap block of two-by-four for ventilation. Nobody spoke as Lisa lit the Kerosun kerosene heater-cooker. The four sat cross-legged on the carpet that covered the bed of the pickup, staring at the light of the heater that sat between them. The Dunlaps took off their gloves and wool glove liners and warmed their hands. Again without speaking, Lisa poured tea into four heavy porcelain coffee mugs.
Finally, after taking a sip of tea, Roger spoke. “Earl Grey—my favorite.”
Next, everyone tried to speak at once, then laughed.
After a few pleasantries and talk about the weather, they proceeded to talk business. Roger reported, “We took several votes in the course of two meetings of the Templars. We are prepared to talk terms of an alliance.”
Todd beamed. “Excellent. What scope for the alliance did you have in mind?”
After a pause, Roger answered, “We want to set up a mutual aid and security pact. We would each be assigned a geographical area to patrol and secure.”
Todd beamed. “That’s exactly what we had in mind. However, we also wanted to clearly set our priorities for providing charity—with no strings attached—both to local residents and bands of legitimate refugees.”