• Choose a category
• All
• Classic-Fiction

Paul and Jack were still dating, although Paul hated that word, but most importantly, they talked daily and Paul relied on him heavily for information. Sometimes Jack would say, “You only love me because I work at the Justice Department.” Paul didn’t even disagree. People love other people for what they do; there was nothing wrong with that, and if Jack got fired, Paul would deal with it then. In the meantime he was invaluable in helping Paul ease the fears of AARP.

A whole section of the monthly AARP news blast was called “Protecting Yourself.” It contained everything from how to carry concealed weapons, to naming safe places to live, to suggesting the kinds of younger people to stay away from. The Justice Department had done sophisticated profiling trying to figure out who hated the olds the most. The disturbing result was that it was millions of younger people, such a large number it scared the hell out of everyone. But the Justice Department always made a distinction between the people who showed up for a rally and the people who organized it. And as with all protests throughout history, they thought that if they could bring down the organizers, they could contain the rest.

Max Leonard read the AARP news blast every month and expected to see his name under a section called “Troublemakers.” He had mixed feelings when he didn’t. Part of him thought he wasn’t doing enough, and the other part thought he was being clever by flying under the radar. That part wasn’t true. The Justice Department knew Max Leonard well and so did AARP, but until there was an arrest, his name would not be published. They chose not to warn him that they had him in their sights.

AARP membership demanded that their organization publish as many names as they could get their hands on. There were other groups vying for their business and one of them, the Association of Older Americans, promised it would spend whatever it took to stop the violence. It said it would hire private police in order to catch and prosecute anyone hurting the seniors. Its slogan was “We’ll get ’em before the cops do.”

So Paul Prescott had to match that promise, which was why the names that Jack provided him were so important. Even if they were bogus.

* * *

The night that Shen Li was scheduled to speak to AARP was also the night The Sunset pulled into port in Miami for its two-month stay. Over a hundred of the ship’s residents had planned to see the event and had secured tickets weeks in advance. The ship’s director organized three buses to take them, and everyone was so excited. Including Brad Miller.

Li was getting a reputation as a kind of health god. His legend was growing as fast as older people liked to gossip, which was constantly. And in a world where there was so much hostility toward those who had reached a certain age, to see a young man who liked the older people and could also improve their lives—well, it was like seeing the biggest rock star in the world.

* * *

Max Leonard and his five associates took a flight from Indiana to Chicago, and then on to Miami. They also planned to see Shen Li speak, but that was not the real intent of their visit. Leonard had come to the conclusion after his embarrassing confrontation with Sam Mueller that he had to do something really big. Something that would finally capture the attention of the country, maybe the world. Something that would change laws and redistribute wealth. Something that would give younger people a reason to hope. That was his dream. And he felt he was about to accomplish it.

In a strange way it was what Matthew Bernstein wanted, too. Bernstein had campaigned on taking the burden off of the younger generation, but he was unable to accomplish anything in that area. If going partners with the Chinese in the rebuilding of Los Angeles was a success, he would go down in history as a great president and he would certainly be reelected. But he couldn’t help but think of what he’d wanted to do before the earthquake. It seemed that every action he’d taken since that fateful day was