The Voting Machine

The Real Heroes

The Senator ended his speech and left the stage to boisterous applause. A line of the politicians had been seated behind the podium, with Brenda at the center in the seat of honor. As they filed off the stage, down a stairway behind a line of Secret Service agents, I shouted out to Brenda.

She heard me call her name and turned, walking towards me as a pair of Secret Service patted me down.

"It's alright," I explained, handing them Stevens' business card. "I am working with the FBI. They know I am here."

"Just let me talk to him for a minute," she asked the men. "You know he's unarmed. You can stay right by me."

The guards led us to a room behind the stage, a waiting area for speakers with a water tank and a tray full of empty coffee cups. Politicians and reporters were passing back and forth in the halls outside, chattering on their cell phones. The guards closed the door so we could have some private, one of them standing on the outside, the other standing on the inside. We started speaking in soft, hushed voices that blended into the background noise from the hall.

"I can't believe this is happening, Temo," Brenda said, sounding both bewildered and relieved. "A day ago I was public enemy number one and now they want to make me into a celebrity. The President has invited me to dinner at the White House. The Army wants to use me for recruiting. They want to put me on a press tour, talk shows, book contracts, movie deals. They say my story is a good thing for vets, it shows that we're still helpin' out here at home now that everyone forgot about the wars we fought overseas."

"Are you gonna do all that?"

"Damn right I am gonna do it. My daddy told me get whatever recognition you can in this world because that's a form of protection. That's one less reason they gonna turn you down for that house you wanna buy. That's one less reason the cops gonna pull you over and give you shit for no reason. If they wanna make me rich and famous, who am I to turn that down?"

"Is Stevens' story true? Were you really working together with him?"

"Of course it ain't true. They needed a story to save face. How it gonna look if I did a better job of finding Shiro than Homeland Security with all their billions? That's OK. That's how it work in the military too. You make the top brass look good and they care of you. Besides, I ain't dumb enough to think Shiro is completely gone. If the military wants to use me for their PR campaigns that means I'll have plenty of protection. You and I know something that big can't just die with one person."

"My daughter is missing. I can't rest until I find out what happened to her."

"I know that," she said. "I wish I could help you but I don't know how. They destroyed my bird. And I wasn't ever any sort of detective like you, Temo. Do you think there's anything I can do?"

"Nothing right now, Brenda. Let's keep in touch. I'll tell you if I think of something."

A man in a suit and tie entered the room, introducing himself as Brenda's new talent agent. He told her they had a meeting over in Hollywood and needed to leave the theater. As we went back out into the hall, I waved goodbye and heard a familiar voice call my name. It was Senator-Elect Salinger.

"Temo McCarthy," he said, pacing towards me with an entourage in tow. "You were one of my volunteers. Emmanuel Stevens told me you've been removed from the watch list." He gave me a firm handshake and glanced at a press photographer passing through the hall. "Maybe we should take a shot together?" He grinned, flashing perfect white teeth.

"No, sir," I said. "I don't want my picture in the paper."

He nodded. "I understand. After all you've been through you probably just want some quiet and privacy. I hope your wife is recovering."

"She is."

"I am sorry about your daughter. Stevens has his best people searching for her."

"I hope so."

"It's an outrage what has happened to you, Temo. To think of how you were treated. To think of what you've been through. I remember you from the time I gave a speech at the Sunflower Clinic on Cheyenne and MLK. Annabelle had already told me about you, how she held you in the highest regard."

"You remember me from that rally?"

"I never forget a face."'

"That was the day Zeke Legend Junior got shot."

"That veteran? What a tragedy. He was a hero, too, just like you. Annabelle never gave up on you, Temo, even when they put you on the watch list and accused you of shooting those FBI agents."

"How is Annabelle?"

"She is doing better. She's in Las Vegas, still recovering from what happened in the desert. She hasn't talked too much about it. It's been a traumatic time for all of us."

"Not for you," I said, glaring at him.

He seemed a little shocked at the impoliteness of my statement, as if I was the only person in recent memory, or at least since his Senate victory, who had addressed in him in unflattering terms.

"No," he conceded with a nervous smile, "I've been very fortunate."

"I volunteered for you. I worked my heart out to get you elected. Then when I was in trouble you didn't lift a finger to help me."

"I was in a campaign."

"You campaign on issues, issues like the right to a free and fair trial. They could've locked me in a dungeon, which they did, and you wouldn't have protested."

"How could I protest? I didn't have the facts."

"Nobody had the facts. That's the point. A lack of facts didn't keep them from putting me on the watch list. You could have raised the flag not to pre-judge the situation. But you didn't."

"We all failed you."

"That's what you big shots say when you get it wrong. You say everyone got it wrong. But that's not true. Not everyone. Annabelle never doubted me. She tried to convince you I was innocent. She asked you to help. But you didn't, did you? You wanted to play it safe."

He glanced around nervously to make sure no one else could hear our conversation. "You're right, I played it safe," he whispered. "I am a politician. We aren't known for our courage. We aren't known for our great decision making. You know that. We're here to try and serve people like you, no matter how flawed that service may be. It's a crime what happened to you and others, innocents who've been chased, questioned and held without a warrant. National security is used as an excuse for abuse of power, for the denial of individual rights. I campaigned to stop these excesses. But people are afraid, Temo. And the best intentions in the world don't mean anything unless they vote you into office. I was worried that if I got involved it might hurt my chances of winning the election. And I needed to win the election to be in a position to help you."

"That's a good answer. But it's too easy. I think it's more than that."

"What do you mean?"

"I think you knew about Shiro all along. You and the losing candidate. You knew how the game was played. You were part of it."

"You have no proof of that."

"I am not going to try to prove it. But you and I both know it's true. You and your opponent are both part of the game."

"You know I can't comment on that. But if you ever publicly accused me of any ties to Shiro, you know that I will categorically deny it."

"I was inspired by you," I said. "I thought you were a hero, the one who was going to change things."

"People like me are never the heroes, Temo. We understand how to play the hero. We understand how to communicate, inspire and clarify a vision. That's the theater of politics. But don't ever mistake us for the real heroes. People like you are the real heroes, people who struggle in the shadows of justice, anonymity and uncertainty. Your sacrifice had purpose. History will remember you, Temo McCarthy.."

"I don't care about any of that. I don't want to be remembered. I want to be forgotten."