That left Eva with Gordon Knox and all the trouble he might cause and Jon Brewer who had led things for a while when Trevor took his alternate-Earth vacation.
She considered Brewer a great General and sound thinker, but he lacked the balls to take the nation by the horns. For all his brilliant military maneuvers, Brewer came across as ill-suited for full-blown leadership; too timid in the face of political hardliners and always questioning himself. Besides, one look in the man's eyes clearly showed he did not want the position and he nearly said as much whenever the topic came up.
So in reality, that left Eva only one choice: Gordon Knox, and that's how she finally decided to vote, until she climbed into the Chevrolet Suburban sent by I.S. to collect her. In the rear seat waited Dante Jones. "Hey, Eva, good morning." "Mr. Jones? Interesting that you would come all the way out to fetch me yourself." Dante smiled, "Yeah, I thought we might have a little chat before the big vote and all." The car drove along the dirt road kicking up a cloud of dust. "I sense you have something to say, Dante, so out with it." As usual, Eva Rheimmer got straight to the point. The council learned long ago that this gray-haired woman suffered no bull shit.
"Well, it's like this. I'm not really good at this whole campaigning thing, but I just thought I'd let you know that I'm throwing my hat, you know, in the ring for this whole Emperor thing. Not that I like that title and all, you know?"
"I see."
"I don't want to know how you might vote, Eva, but I know that most people are thinking there's only Jon and Gordon in the running. I didn't want it myself, either, but I don't trust Knox as the head honcho and I'm thinking Jon doesn't really want it."
"And why should I vote for you?"
"I was Trevor's friend since he was a kid, I've been in charge of I.S. for ten years now and you know that Internal Security is involved in just about everything, from the war to guarding your farms and all that. Like I said, it isn't something I used to think a lot about, but now that I do I see I've got the experience this job needs. Oh and it helps that I've got friends in the Senate, too. I think Jon or Gordon will have a real tough time with them."
Eva glanced out the window, but still listened as Dante finished his sales pitch.
"Besides, like I said, most people think there are only two choices. I'm not going to put any pressure on you. Just think of me as another choice."
– "Daddy! Look what I drew!"
Jon Brewer worked the button on a cuff of his dress uniform and leaned over the breakfast table for a closer look at the piece of construction paper in front of his eight-year-old daughter. He saw a flower with four big petals in four different colors, a purple stem, and some kind of scraggly lines-maybe a butterfly-sitting on top.
"Wow, that's good. Now your mom said to go brush your teeth and get ready for school."
"But dad, school is just about over for the summer."
"Right. Just about over. Not over. Now hustle along." His dark-haired daughter scrambled off, passing her mother as Lori approached the kitchen dressed in a business suit. "Alright, you ready for the big day?" Jon shook his head and told her, "I can't wait to get all this off my shoulders." "Get what?" "This whole leadership thing."
Lori searched through her purse for her identification card. Security would be even tighter at the estate today with the entire council convening. As she rummaged through her purse, Lori said, "What makes you think you won't win the vote? You're the only one on the council who has any experience at the top. That means something."
Jon burst into a short, sardonic chuckle and replied, "Experience? Yeah, I've got experience. I screwed things up."
"Don't be so hard on yourself," Lori abandoned her search for a moment, stepped to her husband and threw her arms around his shoulders in her classic pep-talk maneuver. "Hey, you know I'm the first one to tell you you're an asshole when, well, when you're an asshole." "Gee, thanks." "That was a hard situation before. This is hard, too, but who else on the council is fit to be in charge?" Jon shrugged and answered, "Gordon. Maybe even Evan." Lori spat, "No one is going to vote for Evan, you can count on that." "Oh yeah? Why is that?" "It'd be a slap on the face to Trevor, after those two went head to head all the time."
"Remember, Trevor was on his way to patch things up with Evan when it, you know, happened. Evan has been President of the Senate for a while now. He knows how to get things done. He's got friends in the labor unions and that could help get the economy moving again."
"Oh, I get it, you just want to make sure you don't have the responsibility, is that it?"
He pulled her arms from his shoulders.
"I never wanted this kind of responsibility. It's not who I am. Besides, I can't handle all the crap that's going on out there: inflation, strikes, political bull shit. That's not me."
"Trevor never wanted the responsibility either, but he did it because he was right for it."
"It doesn't matter. Like I said, no one is going to vote for me. And if they were to ask me, I'd tell them not to."
He turned away from her to work on the other cuff. Lori considered for a moment, then walked up behind him and put her arms around her husband in a soft hug.
"You're a good man, Jon Brewer. I love you."
Jon, a fan of Clint Eastwood in the old world cinema, repeated one of his favorite Dirty Harry lines: "A good man always knows his limitations."
– The full council gathered in the basement of the estate: Evan Godfrey, Anita and Omar Nehru; Dr. Maple; Gordon Knox; and Eva Rheimmer all sitting around the table as Jon and Lori Brewer descended the basement stairs. After a few minutes, Dante Jones and Brett Stanton came down together, thus opening the meeting.
All ten sat in their usual positions, leaving the chair at the head empty although each of them knew that in a few minutes someone would earn the right to sit there.
Jon got things started, "We all know the procedure. I've placed paper ballots at each of your chairs. Those ballots hold the names of all council members. Circle the person of your choice, only one vote per ballot. Please do not abstain, this is too important. Also, this is a confidential vote, so there shouldn't be anything to say at this point. When everyone is finished, I'll pass around a box for you to put them in. Then I will pull the votes from the container and hold them up for everyone to see. The results of this vote are final, barring a tie in which case we will vote again. The person who wins this vote will immediately assume the responsibilities of the Emperor from this moment forward."
Jon glanced toward Evan, expecting some kind of outburst. To the contrary, Evan sat quiet with his arm in a sling.
"Okay then, mark your ballots."
Each of the council members examined the small paper at their place. Most marked that paper fast and folded it. A few, such as Eva Rheimmer, Brett Stanton, and Anita Nehru took considerably more time.
Jon circled the name of Gordon Knox, folded the paper and waited. When he saw everyone had finished, he placed his ballot inside a small square box and passed it around the table. A minute later the box returned to him.
His hand trembled as he pulled the first paper ballot, glanced at it, then unfolded it completely and showed the table, "Gordon Knox." Gordon folded his hands over his chest and leaned back slightly in his chair. Jon opened the next ballot and, to his surprise, read, "Jon Brewer." The process continued with, "Gordon Knox"
Knox struggled to suppress a smile. Evan, on the other hand, grew a shade pale. The following ballot, however, caused Knox's smile to fade.