Glimmer of Hope (Land of Tomorrow Book 1)

Part III, Chapter 4

Getting the locks repaired and closed was a top priority. Although they still hadn't located the mysterious source of the dam's heat fluctuation, it could take months to build up the water level to power the turbines once the problem was fixed. Although the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers still flowed northwards, the combined flow was a bare trickle at the bottom of the vast muddy chasm where the lakes once stood.

Closing the lock doors was more difficult than Nathan initially thought it would be. First of all, water still poured through the narrow opening, granted at a slower pace than when it had the entire force of the two lakes behind it, but it still necessitated opening all the dam doors to help relieve the water pressure on the locks.

The next step was to clear the pile of debris left in the locks. Mangled boats and dredged up debris filled the space. Cranes and wenches carefully pulled items away, but it would take the rest of the week to complete that job. Then they could see how badly the lock doors were damaged and what needed to be done to repair them. At this point, Nathan hesitated to even think about that daunting task, he had enough to worry about already. He would leave those problems in Jim Meeks' hands.

Nathan was shocked and outraged by the talk going around after the battle. Once the fear and uncertainty of the threat ended, negative talk started circulating about David's actions. After-the-fact second guessing was unfortunately natural in warfare. It was fueled by everyone's fear that electricity was gone forever. Such talk wouldn't normally bother him, but David's ego seemed fragile of late and the talk only made him more defensive.

Nathan made David sit down once there was an opportunity. "You know that your actions probably saved the JP."

"A lot of people would disagree," said David tense.

"Those people don't know what they're talking about," answered Nathan. "You were thinking when everyone else was losing their heads. If you had not done what you did, me and my force would have likely been killed after coming upon a superior force."

David squirmed, "But the dam, they say it's my fault everyone still doesn't have electricity."

"They don't know shit," said Nathan. "The dam was broken long before this. You saved us son. You did well, I'm proud of you."

A heavy weight appeared to lift off David's shoulders. He smiled at his father like he'd used to, before the dark times. David returned to his platoon, light in his step.

Nathan's troops were also busy cleaning up after the battle. There were more prisoners than expected, and when not burying their comrades, they helped clear the debris from the locks, or were interrogated. Nathan felt the need to personally supervise this task since he knew how easy it was for interrogations to get out of control. Walter Beale's earlier interrogation brought this home to Nathan. These interrogations, combined with the battle and Joshua's information from the south, necessitated Nathan's hurried dispatch to General Anderson. Despite the seriousness of the information he sent to General Anderson, he was surprised to see him at the dam within several days. He was even more shocked to see Reggie Phillips with him.

Reggie looked horrible. He was pale, drawn, and his normally engaging eyes were heavy and clouded. Several State Troopers with assault rifles followed behind them. They weren't taking any more chances.

"Good morning gentlemen," said Nathan. "I'm surprised you are here. My apologies for not greeting you."

"No problem, Colonel Taylor," said Anderson. "We needed to see the damage to the dam ourselves. I also wanted to see the site of the first battle of the new world. I have to say it doesn't look a whole lot different from other battlefields I've experienced." Anderson stated this while staring at the grave digging parties.