Confidential Correspondence

  Executive Mansion

  Washington, D.C.

  October 14, 1870

  My Dear General Sterling Ridge,

  I have studied your latest dispatch concerning the binding of the Free States to Colonial America. You and I both understand the stakes. This Union we are shaping is no passing arrangement; it is the bedrock upon which the continent’s future will either stand firm or fracture beyond repair.

  The very strength of Colonial America—the tenacity of the Reclaimers—is now our primary liability. Their historical defiance of the old Union, which forged Colonial America into a power capable of claiming vast territory, including the might of Texas, Hawaii, Arizona, and New Mexico, now provides them dangerous leverage. They are not merely agitators; they are a formidable political bloc.

  This power is currently focused on the Five Peoples, whose unity they seek to shatter, thereby jeopardizing the necessary majority before the year is out.

  Regarding Judge Nagy — be assured, the understanding between us holds. Secure the necessary majority for the immediate unification of the Free States and Colonial America, and his seat in the new order is settled beyond question. You deliver the votes; I deliver the bench.

  Nagy has his detractors, as any man of spine does, but his discernment is sound and his steadiness beyond reproach. The new nation will require a hand like his — firm when circumstances demand it, incorruptible when lesser men would bend. His appointment to the high bench is therefore not only a debt paid, but a tactical necessity; his impartiality will serve as the guaranteed counterweight to the political dominance the Reclaimers seek to sow. The authority granted to him will not be symbolic. It will be real, enduring, and commensurate with the risks we all now shoulder.

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  I rely on your ability to navigate the factions and close ranks. The hour is late, and any hesitation now will cost more than either of us can afford.

  Yours in confidence,

  U.S. Grant

  "You understand the stakes now?"

  "I do now Mr. Ridge. With your army and my hand we can do this very thing. Together."

  "How are you going to go about securing the important chairs necessary? The Free States enjoy their independence. The Indigenous will definitely pose a threat especially with Reclaimer support. So I ask again? How will you go about this?"

  "My dear Sterling. We shall go have our seats because we have our conspirators. Even amongst the Five Peoples. Harrisburg Trask may be the Governor of Oklahoma but it is me whom he calls when tough decisions are to be made. My black cupboard will do what is necessary until I no longer need them anymore."

  "You are still using those cannibals? How can you trust them?"

  "I trust their hatred and their appetite for destruction. Trust me. When the time comes and make my words. It will. I hVe cultivated an even more ferocious beast that will cull their lot when it becomes necessary."

  "Your little science project could be the end of us."

  "Not likely. One of the advantages having an Indigenous wife is a bewitching daughter. On the contrary it isn't music that soothes the savage beast but beauty. Nothing is more ravishing than my beloved daughter."

  "You have no disagreement there. Please tell me that you aren't dangling her over your science project’s head?"

  "I am doing more than that. Have I ever told you the story between the Wolf and the Deer, Sterling?"