“We are now about to embark upon the next great challenge, winning the peace. We have won the war, no one will dispute that, but we must truly work to achieve peace. We are on the cusp of a new world order, a world that I am determined must be led by America. Over the next several months, Chinese forces will be withdrawing from most of Southeast Asia while our forces begin the withdrawal from mainland China and Taiwan. Not everyone is going to be happy with our ceding Taiwan to the Chinese, especially after having fought so hard to secure it. I hate to use the term bargaining chip, but that is ultimately what Taiwan became. In ceding Taiwan, we liberated the Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia, Cambodia and what will now become South Vietnam.”
“As Chinese forces leave these countries, our forces will move in. We will provide security and stability to them while we rebuild a new civilian government and security force. I want the Pentagon to begin identifying where we should establish permanent military bases in these countries. We are not going withdraw from these countries and leave an empty void like what was done in the Middle East in the 2010s. We must continue to win the peace if we are to avoid another war in the future.”
The President had been pacing as he was speaking; now he stopped and turned back to his staff, who had been paying rapt attention. “One of the problems we have faced in the past after a war, is that our nation has historically begun a massive demobilization and moved immediately back to civilian life. While this has ultimately been the goal of our forces in the past, it is not going to be my goal. America, and the world, need to have a shared vision for the future.”
One of the advisors in the room asked what everyone was thinking, “What do you have in mind Mr. President?”
Stein believed in his gut that America would eventually win, so he had spent many hours in the quiet thinking about what to do after a victory was achieved. Just as President Truman had established the Marshal Plan at the end of World War II, President Stein needed to establish his own post-world war plan to bring the people of the world back together, this time for a greater cause than nationalism.
He explained, “We are going to lead the world in the colonization of space. It is time for man to begin his next great adventure and expand our presence beyond our own solar system. We have the tools and technologies to make this happen. Now we need to make it a priority. Over the next several weeks, I am going to work with Dr. Gorka, Professor Rickenbacker, and Dr. Bergstrom to develop plans to construct a space elevator, orbital space station and spacecraft construction yard. We will also look for ways to expand our presence on the Moon and plan to start a new colony on Mars, as well as on Europa and other moons in our solar system. It is time mankind moves beyond the earthly squabbles that have led to countless wars across human history. Our future is in the stars, not here on Earth. That is the vision I want to project to the world as we usher in a time of peace, and hopefully, tranquility.”
The room erupted in spontaneous clapping. A global project and vision would not only give the survivors of this great war a chance to move on, it would inspire people to dream big again.
They all broke out into chatter, discussing various aspects of the President’s vision, Eventually, everyone started to leave the briefing room, until it was just Monty and the President sitting there. Monty looked at his long-time friend and smiled. “That was one world-class speech you gave. You really think we can make it happen?” he asked, raising one eyebrow slightly.
The President smiled, then replied, “I think so. We need to at least try. We need to find a way to heal not just our country, but the rest of the world if we are to sow the seeds of long-term peace and not animosity.” Stein was confident for the first time in the future of humanity.
Note from the Authors
Miranda and I truly hope you have enjoyed this series. If you appreciated our books, we entreat you to please take a few minutes to write up a great review for us on Amazon. Miranda and I would like to make writing a full-time career one day, and these reviews greatly aid us in making that dream a reality. You can also connect with us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/JamesRosone/?ref=aymt_homepage_panel and Twitter https://twitter.com/jamesrosone and https://twitter.com/AuthorMirandaW. We would love to hear your comments and suggestions for how to make our next book series better. We have strived to incorporate many of our readers’ comments into this series and will look to do so with our subsequent books. Thank you again for your purchase and I hope you will continue to follow our work as we keep writing.
Preview of Upcoming Novel, “Enemies from Within”
It was hot and dusty as Michael Stone stood in the smoke break shack and took a deep drag from his cigarette. He dropped it to the ground, putting it out with his boot. “Man, I needed that fix,” he thought, and then he sighed. “I really should quit smoking one of these days.” As Mike exited the shanty, he looked off into the horizon. He could see that a storm was brewing. They needed to accomplish their mission soon if they were going to get the Predator back before the nasty weather arrived.
Agent Stone was the CIA operative in charge of this drone mission. For the last four months, he had been tracking a man they had identified as one of the primary financiers of ISIS, a man who was acquiring large quantities of explosives for ISIS and selling ISIS-controlled oil and natural gas on the black market to foreign buyers. This arrangement had made his target extremely wealthy and well-connected in certain circles in Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar. After Stone learned that his target would be getting married and hosting a large gathering at his home, he had worked aggressively to gain the approval needed to conduct this drone strike. He had eventually convinced his superiors to act, but because the house was in Turkey, it had to appear as if the attack was a car bomb and not a drone strike.
Since the formation of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), the CIA had created a counter-ISIS group code named Task Force Torch. TF Torch’s initial purpose was simply to monitor and identify ISIS leaders and as many of their members are possible. Once the parallel CIA mission to train and equip an opposition force to the Syrian government and ISIS had failed, TF Torch’s mission changed; they became more of a direct-action unit, focused on eradicating ISIS. The task force had been given access to SEAL Team 6 and the Army’s Delta Force to help them eliminate senior leaders in the organization.
Agent Michael Stone had been a part of TF Torch from the very beginning. He had started out as a case officer, developing sources within the numerous refugee camps and then assisting those sources as they infiltrated ISIS directly. He quickly made a name for himself as someone who could get things done. His ability to operate and think outside the conventional norms had separated himself from his peers. Soon, he was promoted to take charge of the task force. Through expanded use of drones and access to the CIA’s “Special Activities Group,” they were starting to turn the tide on the war with ISIS.
Stone attributed most of their success to the close collaboration with the Kurdish Peshmerga, who were providing the brunt of the forces combating ISIS. Today’s mission had been a multi-month collaborative effort between the CIA and the Peshmerga. It had taken years for one of Stone’s sources to infiltrate the ISIS leadership, now that effort was about to pay off.