Birth Pangs of the Coming Age | Chapter 11
Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal...for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Matthew 6:19-21)
Previously . . . Katie’s dream of flying medevac helicopters in Ketchikan was shattered because of her general discharge. Global supply chain shortages worsen. The government promised to provide people’s needs through FEMA. Moses’ wife Rachel had a prophetic, end-time dream. With no job offers after diligently searching for a month, Katie accepted Moses’ offer to work as a dishwasher in his restaurant.
Chapter 11
Ethan
Uncle Andy’s Cabin, October 9th
Uncle Andy was away on a three-day camping and fishing adventure, serving as a pilot and fishing guide for two fishermen at a remote mountain lake. So Katie and Buster were enjoying a quiet evening at home.
“Hopefully, he’ll bring some fish home, eh Buster?”
After dinner, the television cast a blue glow on Katie. The evening news anchor said, “After sacrificing twenty years’ worth of American blood, and trillions of dollars, the president just decided to pull all American troops out of Kygyristan.”
A drone camera showed thousands of Kyrgy men, women, and children flooding the road leading toward Kygyristan’s only international airport.
He continued, “If there’s an orderly exit plan, nobody seems to know what it is.”
She watched, aghast, as the news showed one chaotic scene after another.
“It looks like the Kyrgy people have no confidence their government will survive after America’s sudden departure.”
The newsman paused, holding his finger to his ear.
“We’ve just been notified the US government made a deal with the jihadists. Apparently, US government negotiators said we won’t oppose the jihadists’ takeover if they’ll agree not to attack American military forces as they leave within the next three days.”
Katie pounded her fist on the table and yelled at the TV. “What? What were the last twenty years all about?”
Wiping tears from her cheeks, Katie petted Buster and ranted, “I can’t believe it. It was all for nothing. And now we’re backstabbing all the Kyrgys who helped us in their ‘fight for freedom and democracy.’”
The camera showed Kyrgy faces contorted in fear, desperate to escape the bloodbath they knew would start in four days.
Horrified, Katie saw Kyrgys riding on a C-17’s wheel-well as it taxied for takeoff. She yelled at the TV, “No! You can’t survive holding onto the plane like that.” They’re so primitive, they don’t understand the danger.
The news anchor repeated his somber message. “The president just announced the imminent withdrawal of all US troops from Kygyristan, resulting in the chaotic scenes you’re now seeing.”
“Also, there’s also a lot of confusion among American citizens in Kygyristan who will be abandoned after the pullout. It’s estimated there are about 800 American missionaries and foreign aid workers scattered throughout the country. The US State Department claims they don’t keep track of these people, and don’t have their contact information. So, the State Department spokesman says these civilians must contact the State Department if they need help. But, after three days, the jihadists will control Kygyristan, including this airport, so how can these civilians be evacuated after that?”
Katie's hands clenched into fists, her knuckles white. This is worse than incompetence. This is criminal. It’s like the president WANTS to humiliate America in the whole world’s eyes. Nobody could be this stupid by accident.
The drone camera showed armed US Marines in battle gear forcefully closing the American embassy’s gate, as hordes of Kyrgys push against them. Many of the Kyrgys held up documents, pleading to enter. Armed Marines were posted every ten feet inside the embassy’s perimeter to preventing anyone from cutting the fence, or climbing over it.
The newscaster said, “Many of these people trying to enter the embassy are holding up documents of some kind.”
A retired army colonel who now works as a military news analyst responded, saying, “Yes, it looks like they’re holding up their American ID cards, showing that they were Kyrgy employees of the US government. Many Kyrgy employees faithfully served the American war effort as translators. Others may be secretaries, truck drivers, and so on.”
These were the people American troops had fought alongside, people who believed America was committed to making their country free from tyranny and cruelty. They trusted us, and now we’re betraying and abandoning them. They’ll face execution after three days, and they know it.
The TV scene cut to an image of 840 Kyrgy civilians packed into a cargo plane.
Moments later, she was horrified to watch as the people who’d been riding outside, on the plane’s wheel-well, fell to their deaths.
“Oh, God! How terrible!”
She clicked the mute button. The desperate scenes she’d just seen echoed in her mind, merging with her own bloody, tragic memories. And for what? So we could retreat like a dog with its tail between its legs?
Uncle Andy's words came back to her, a prophetic warning that sounded so cynical at the time: “We never were the good guys. It always was all about money and power, not about freedom and democracy.”
She remembered Sergeant Salvadore’s outburst back at the FOB Freedom Hospital. He and Andy had both seen through the patriotic façade. Now, America’s warmongering hypocrisy and faithlessness were apparent for the entire world to see.
Katie sat in stunned silence as the TV showed the vast piles of US military equipment America was abandoning in their hasty evacuation. She saw tanks, guns, planes, and even Blackhawk helicopters. Traitors! They’re giving all this weaponry to our enemies? Russia and China will reverse-engineer any technologies they don’t already have. The only good news is they won’t be able to operate and maintain this high-tech stuff for long before it becomes unsafe. It’ll be junk.
But the bankers and contractors don’t mind. They sold all this stuff, and now they’ll profit again when the US military has to buy more to replace it. It’s a win-win for them.
Katie's heart raced, her breath shallowed. These realizations were cataclysmic, shattering her concept of America. I believed the propaganda, that we were fighting for freedom and democracy, or to keep America safe. But it was all a lie.
Katie turned the TV off. The room was silent, but the images were burned into her memory, the sounds of despair in her ears. She looked out the window into the quiet night, the stars distant and uncaring.
I’m glad Uncle Andy wasn’t here to witness this humiliating disaster.
In the stillness, she acknowledged that her service, her sacrifices, and the sacrifices of so many others had been exploited by an evil world system. The patriotic cause she believed in was a mirage, crafted by those who viewed the blood of patriots as currency in their pursuit of power.
October 10th
As the first light of dawn peeked horizontally across the mountaintops, it was still dark around Andy’s cabin. Katie stepped out into the crisp morning air, with Buster by her side. She appreciated his quiet companionship.
The forest surrounding the cabin was alive with the sounds of wildlife, especially mockingbirds, ravens, and squirrels. She tread quietly over the spongy, moss-covered floor, enjoying the fresh scent of the spruce and cedar forest. Buster’s keen senses were on guard for bears as they hiked diagonally up the mountain.
When the buck appeared, she didn't hesitate. The 100-yard shot was on target. The buck dropped immediately. As she chambered another round and re-engaged the rifle's safety, Buster ran up to it, as if to guard the kill until Katie arrived a couple minutes later.
“Good boy Buster.”
A nice Sitka Blacktail. About 100 pounds. Killed instantly, so it didn’t suffer. Good meat.
She touched the buck's eyeball with her rifle muzzle to make sure it was dead. No movement.
Satisfied, she scanned all around for any bears who might be attracted by either the rifle shot or the scent of blood. Seeing none, she knelt down and laid the rifle within reach.
She placed her hand on its neck. Its hair was coarse and still had warmth. She prayed, “Thank you, Lord, for this deer’s life. Please help me honor it by using its meat wisely.”
She cut the buck’s jugular, and cut around the anus to loosen it, then tied it closed with a piece of string. She tied a rope around each of the deer’s rear-leg Achilles tendons, threw a rope over a tree branch, and hoisted it up by its rear legs, head-down, to bleed out.
As Buster licked the buck’s blood off the ground, Katie field-dressed the deer. She used her knife to unzip the buck’s belly hide until its stinking, steaming intestines fell onto the ground near her feet. She cut the head off and tossed it twenty feet downhill. Forest critters will enjoy that tonight.
Inside the deer’s neck, the esophagus and trachea were still attached to the stomach, lungs, and hanging intestines. Reaching up through the rib cage, she grabbed these two tubes and pulled them out, letting the whole gut pile fall to the ground.
Wars in Vietnam and Kygyristan both lasted more than a decade, cost thousands of American lives, and hundreds of thousands of civilians died. But each war profited banks and corporations trillions.
She sorted the gut pile, tossing the lungs five feet away. Buster devoured them while she collected and bagged the heart, liver, kidneys, and pancreas without his interruption. Whether it’s by coyotes, ravens, raccoons, eagles, or bears, what’s left of this gut pile will be gone by tomorrow.
“We thought we were doing the right thing, didn't we, Buster?”
“Now I understand the bitterness of Vietnam veterans. It always seemed so foreign to me, until now.”
I can’t safely carry the deer, my backpack, and my rifle, all at the same time. Looks like I’ll need to make two trips.
She put the bag containing the deer’s organ meats into her backpack and hoisted it into a nearby tree for safekeeping until she could return for it. She needed to get the main carcass to the cabin first.
“We were used, Buster. We had noble intentions, but we were pawns in their game of power and profit. I didn’t believe it, but it’s true.”
She leaned into the deer’s hanging carcass, then stood up, supporting the deer across her shoulders, and adjusting it until it felt balanced. Without its head and innards, it weighed about sixty pounds. She balanced it on her shoulders, holding a back leg with one hand and carrying her rifle in the other. “Let’s go, boy.”
Carrying the deer diagonally downhill, they stayed alert for bears.
“I sought success and respect in the world, and I achieved both. But the world isn’t our friend, is it, Buster?”
As she neared the cabin, she knew she no longer belonged to the world system built on lies. Like Neo, I’ve chosen the red pill, and there's no going back. So, what’s next? What’s the goal of my life now? The Lord told me I’ve got some lessons to learn before he gives me the desires of my heart. But I don’t even know what those desires are anymore. I trust he does, and he’ll give them to me if I am faithful to him, one day at a time.
By noon she’d wrapped and hung the deer’s carcass in their bear-proof cooler to age for a week, then retrieved her backpack containing the deer’s organ meats.
“Looks like deer heart with fried onions and potatoes is on the menu tonight. How’s that sound Buster?”
Buster looked up at her and barked enthusiastically. He’s such a smart dog.
Breakwater Restaurant, November 15th
Following the after-church rush, Moses came into the kitchen. “Great job Juan. We had quite the rush, but you kept up with it and I didn’t have one complaint about anybody’s food.”
Juan responded, “Thanks, boss. Katie deserves some of the credit. Before the dirty dishes started comin’ in, she helped as my sous chef. I couldn’t have kept up otherwise.”
From the back of the kitchen, Katie interjected, “Does that mean I get two paychecks for doing two jobs?”
Moses laughed, “I wish it did. We’d all be getting two paychecks if that was the case.”
Moses patted Juan on the back as he continued past the stoves and refrigerators on his way back to Katie’s dishwashing station.
“Wow!” Moses said. “This place is spotless. I’ve never seen it so shiny and clean.”
Katie said, “Thanks Moses. In these last two months I’ve learned to take pride in my work, even if it is only washing dishes.”
“Keep it up, child. The Lord will surely bless you.”
Katie nodded and smiled as Moses left the kitchen.
After her fall from being a respected army aviator to being a dishwasher in a small restaurant, Katie had almost overcome the resentment she felt about her situation.
I’m a dishwasher who lives with her uncle. Instead of commanding a multi-million dollar, state-of-the-art helicopter, I drive his old spare truck and operate a dishwasher. But I did the right thing.
She didn’t blame God or herself. God didn’t institute the vaccine mandate, and after what happened to Shrek, she’d make the same decision again.
As Juan cleaned the grill, he said, “I noticed you said to Moses that your work was only washing dishes, as if that wasn’t an important job.”
After scrubbing a tough place on the grill, he continued. “Your job may not be very prestigious to some, but it’s a critical role. Without clean dishes, we’re out of business. Moses and I would be out of our jobs. I couldn’t support my wife and children. So we appreciate and value what you do. We’re a team.”
“You’re right. Thanks Ju-wan.” She said, mispronouncing his name on purpose. He smiled.
***
Later that afternoon, Moses came back into the kitchen, followed by another man dressed in an orange flight suit. Moses pointed at Katie and said, “There she is.”
The man nervously approached her, then said, “Katie Whitefeather, do you remember me?”
She did.
She was trapped, with no way to escape.
He was from her past life, when she had rank, wings, and glory. Now that was all gone. Now she was a dishwasher, working for minimum wage in the back corner of a restaurant kitchen, because that’s the only job she could find—not counting grave digging. How humiliating!
“Yes, I remember you. We talked about the little girl, Suzie, who’d been burned. You asked about my callsign and my tattoo.”
“My name is Ethan, Ethan Salvadore.”
“How did you—”
“How’d I find you here? I got out of the army in September. For the last couple months, I’ve been traveling around, looking for work. I just started as a flight paramedic at the Ketchikan Medevac Service.”
Envy and frustration erupted within her. She took a deep breath and held her tongue. God, I just reconciled myself to my situation. Why…
“Please forgive me for asking, but with your skills and experience as a medevac pilot, why are you here washing dishes? Don’t you know Ketchikan Medevac Service has a pilot opening?”
Hold it together Katie. Don’t explode on this man.
After calming herself, she said, “When I refused to take the XyloVirus jab, the Army kicked me out with a General Discharge. I applied for the open pilot job at KMS, but now I'm a leper.”
Shaking his head in surprise and disbelief, “Wow. Sorry. I didn’t know. When I noticed you weren't around at the FOB anymore, I asked where Warrant Officer Whitefeather had gone. They told me you got XyloVirus, and they never saw you again. I didn't know. I'm really sorry.”
She nodded silently.
He said, “Well, my shift is starting soon so I've gotta run. This is a small town, so I'll see you around.” He left as quickly as he came.
Her mind reeled with questions as she washed dishes during the last hour of her shift.
Is it a coincidence that he’s in Ketchikan, working at KMS?
He remembered my name and went out of his way to find me here.
How did he find me? And why?
November 17th
After a delicious ‘fish and chips’ dinner, made with fresh halibut, Katie turned on the evening news. They were showing a video collage of droughts, floods, and violent storms destroying crops and farmlands worldwide.
Next, they showed images of starving mothers and dying children, with flies swarming their eyes and lips.
The newsman said, “Because of these climate change disasters, these are a few of the millions of people who are facing starvation around the world. The situation in Western countries is not as dire, but UN officials say Western nations should increasingly expect food shortages of certain items, especially those made from staple crops, such as wheat, corn, rice, and sugar. Americans are encouraged to stay calm and trust their government to provide for their needs.”
At this, Uncle Andy clicked the mute button.
Andy said, “Remember what I told you when you left for the Army? Follow the truth, not the propaganda … The sad truth is, the government doesn't care about us; they only want to keep the masses pacified and subservient so the people won’t come after them with pitchforks. But they can't possibly help us all—and they know it. They're not walking in the truth. They’re lying.”
Katie looked at her uncle, wearing her poker face. Sounds like a tin-foil-hat rant, but he’s been right about everything up to now.
“Tomorrow, I’ll show you what we’re doing instead. Your ancestors prospered in Southeast Alaska over 5,000 years before the white man came, and they didn't starve or freeze. So, if we have the right skills and equipment, we don’t need to depend on any government to provide for our needs. We’re going to provide for ourselves, with the Lord’s help, of course.”
“Okay, sounds interesting.”
Early the next morning, Andy handed Katie a backpack and a .44 Magnum pistol before they started walking up the 3100-foot-high mountain behind his home. Buster came too.
To her surprise, after a 30-minute uphill hike, they emerged from the towering spruce, hemlock and cedar forest into a sunlit clearing, about 100-feet wide. It was on a gentle, South-facing slope, and it had a small log cabin on the far side, facing them, with a solar panel on the roof.
“Wow. This is pretty. Is this yours? Did you build it?”
“Yep. This was my hobby project while you were away in the Army.”
“Nice!”
Her smartphone app showed they were at 2102 feet elevation. In the clearing they passed a large, fenced garden with potatoes, onions, beans, butternut squash, and corn growing.
She saw at least five cords of firewood in the woodshed near the cabin.
“I’ll show you around outside first, then we’ll go inside.”
Enthusiastic, Katie said, “Can’t wait.”
Uncle Andy revealed his hidden stash of long-term food and supplies buried nearby in waterproof bags and metal containers.
“I’m impressed.”
For water, a spring-fed creek flowed past the cabin from higher up the mountain. He had a pipe coming down from the spring into a reservoir above the cabin.
Andy said, “The reservoir will gravity-feed water into the sink’s faucet, so we’ve got running water.”
Katie said, “The pipe is laying above ground. Won’t it freeze in the winter?”
“Yes, it will. To prevent that, I don’t have water coming into the pipe right now. Burying the pipe is next on my to-do list. Afterward, it won’t freeze.”
Finally, for the outside tour, Andy showed her the clean, new outhouse.
Stepping inside the cabin, Katie saw a wood stove, a kitchen counter and sink, bunk beds, and a table and chairs. Shelves were stocked with canned goods.
Andy said, “The solar panel powers indoor lighting and outdoor floodlights, a small TV, and AM/FM/Shortwave radios.”
“Uncle, what kind of reception do you get up here?”
“We receive all the local TV and AM/FM radio broadcast stations. At this altitude, with my shortwave radio I commonly receive information from New York, Florida, Texas, California, Australia, Japan, and Mexico. And if ionospheric conditions are right, I can hear news from Europe, Africa, and South America.”
She sat at the table. “Uncle, why have you gone to all the trouble and expense to build and supply this cabin all the way up here?”
Sitting, he said, “Good question. There are two reasons:
First, for food security. You saw the news last night. Because of climate changes and natural disasters, food scarcity is increasing worldwide, and inflation is skyrocketing. Even if food is available in the future, it won't be long before inflation makes food everywhere so expensive it’ll be hard to buy. As you know, everything in Ketchikan comes by plane or ship, so food will be even more scarce and expensive here. Law and order will break down when people get hungry. But most town people are lazy, and even if they knew this place has food, they won’t hike up here to get it.
Second, Jesus said that, in the end time, men will faint with fear and foreboding because of the roaring of the sea and the waves. That tells me tidal waves will increase in the end time, and tsunamis are already our biggest natural disaster threat in this region. In 1958, the world-record mega-tsunami happened close to here, up near Glacier Bay. It wiped out everything up to 1,720 feet. How big was it? For comparison, that tsunami would completely submerge the empire state building in New York City, with another 500 feet of water above the top of its roof. It was so powerful that all buildings and trees were obliterated, gone, even the soil on the side of the mountain got washed out to sea. So that’s why I built this cabin this high up the mountain. It’s a hike to get up here, but if it’s going to be tsunami-proof, that’s the way its gotta be.
Katie nodded and said, “I remember hearing about the Lituya Bay tsunami in school.”
Andy said, “This place should be high enough to survive and provide sustainability for us, and whoever else we might invite . . . and while we’re talking about people we might invite, how would you feel if I offer your friend Ethan to move out of his sailboat and stay in this cabin awhile? I could use his help to finish the remaining projects.”
Shocked, Katie said, “My friend Ethan? How do you know him?”
“How do you think he knew where to find you at work?”
“I was wondering about that. How did he?”
“You told him Ketchikan was your hometown, and he thought it sounded like an interesting place. He remembered your last name, so when he got here, he looked you up in your high school yearbook. He seemed like a nice young man, so Mrs. Mitchell at the high school called me and asked if she could give him my phone number. I met him at the Blue Mountain coffee shop. He answered all my questions and didn’t seem like a stalker, so I told him where to find you.”
“Ah, so that’s how—”
“He doesn't have family elsewhere, so he came to Ketchikan looking for work. After getting the KMS paramedic job, he used his savings to buy a sloop in Ketchikan harbor that’s big-enough for a bachelor to live in.”
“Well, don't start planning the wedding just yet. When he found out why I was washing dishes, he made a pretty hasty exit.”
“Oh, I've got a feeling he’s not that shallow. What you did that caused you to be washing dishes is admirable and I'm proud of you. But, back to my question. My first impression is that Ethan’s an okay guy. So, do you have a problem if I offer him to stay here and help me finish this cabin project?”
“No, you could probably use his help.”
Coming Next Week . . . Ethan uses his paramedic skills, and Katie welcomes a visitor.
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