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“It was wonderful to meet you. I am a fan of your work. When The Card came to China it was a big hit. I had one of the first ones.”

Susanna smiled. “I know you did. I had to approve it.”

* * *

Max Leonard had never been to Kern County, but unlike most people he had at least heard about it. His uncle was a big country music fan and used to talk about Buck Owens and how he owned his own city called Bakersfield. Buck didn’t actually own Bakersfield, but he was one of its biggest landholders, and he had a nightclub there, the Crystal Palace. He certainly put Kern County on the map for a lot of people who would never have otherwise given it a second thought. Walter Masters did not live in Bakersfield; he lived about thirty miles west in a smaller town called Taft. And he was not a country music fan.

Before the earthquake, Max would have just taken a nonstop flight from Indianapolis to LAX and driven the rest of the way, but that was now impossible. Flying into L.A. was an ongoing nightmare, so Max took three connecting flights and landed at Meadows Field, the airport that serviced Kern County. He rented a car, drove to Taft, and thought he had entered a time machine.

This was one of those small towns that simply didn’t change, as if it had been set in stone. The Wal-Mart looked as though it had been remodeled maybe once in the last thirty years. The two shopping centers both looked exactly the same, as if they’d been built on the same day in the last century. And there was one movie theater complex. That was the only structure that looked relatively new.

Movie theaters no longer handled film or video. All products were sent by satellite and nothing was stored in the actual theater itself. This led to the disappearance of the traditional projection booth. The new projector, which was tiny, was built into the back wall. There was no longer any need for a room behind it, so some movie houses had taken on a different look. Many theaters had rows of lunch counters in the rear, where the equipment once was. You could sit at the counter, order food, and watch sports or entertainment. Everything was holographic or advanced 3D, requiring no glasses. That’s what people expected. No one was willing to pay sixty dollars to see flat images. Those days were long gone.

At the appointed time Max walked into Jennie’s, a small diner that had been there, as the sign said, since ’09. Walter had taken a table in the back where they could have some privacy. When he saw Max, he stood up to greet him.

“The funny thing,” Walter said, “is that modern communication takes away all the surprises. It used to be fun to guess what someone would look like. Have a seat.”

“I can only imagine,” said Max. “I’ve been looking at people on screens forever. I don’t remember it any other way.”

“It was interesting. It made you use your imagination.” They both sat down and Walter looked Max over for a few seconds. “So how can I help you?”

“Do you mind if I get something in my stomach? I’ll think better. I don’t want to waste your time by rambling.”

“Sure. They’ll send someone over if you want, but they like it if you just tell the kitchen yourself.”

“Is there a menu?”

Walter pointed to the wall behind him. Max turned around and looked at an old-fashioned menu board. “The tuna sandwich looks good. Maybe that with a dinner salad and a Coke.” Walter placed the order over the intercom; he ordered a peach cobbler and a coffee for himself.

“Do you want to wait until it comes or do you want to start now?”

Jesus, Max thought, this guy sure doesn’t waste time. You would think if you lived in a place like this you would want to waste time, but apparently not. “I can start now.” Max took a sip of water and gathered his thoughts. “It would be nice to find some common ground with you, so let me begin by saying that I also think there are too many old people taking up space.”

“Who told you I think that?”

“Well, no one told me, I just thought that one of the reasons you did what you did was that you felt older people were being kept alive against