Expatriates: A Novel of the Coming Global Collapse

50 O CANADA

The Super Osprey II eight-passenger amphibian plane touched down on Lake Dora and taxied to the City of Tavares Seaplane Base. The breezy day made the water choppy. The Altmillers were waiting excitedly for them at the dock.

It had been nine years since the families had seen each other face-to-face. Lance Altmiller was now nineteen years old. He had found part-time work in the local thrift store, moving and sorting boxes of donated household goods. He still lived at home with his parents. Sarah Jeffords was fifteen and had recently begun arguing with her mother about whether or not she could wear eye makeup. Peter and Rhiannon Jeffords were happy to be back in America, but Sarah felt as if she had left her home—and all of her friends—in Australia.

The first thing Rhiannon said when she saw her sister was “Uggggh. You got old.”

“You’ve got wrinkles, too, sis,” Janelle replied.

“Well, we can count our blessings. At least you never got fat, and I got skinny and I stayed that way. And we all have our health.”

Janelle nodded. “Yes, God is good.”

Unloading their luggage was tricky, even with the amphibian plane pulled up on the gently sloped ramp. The Jeffords had brought seven suitcases, two Pelican pistol cases, and four Kolpin long gun cases. The six people and luggage were a tight squeeze in the two vehicles that the Altmillers had driven to the seaplane base.

The conversations on the short drive to the Altmillers’ home focused on the Jeffords’ lengthy trip. They had taken flights on an Airbus A380 and a Boeing 747-8 to Miami, and then the charter in the smaller amphibian to Tavares. The men were in one vehicle, and the women in the other.

When they reached the house, the day guard ushered them in. Their housekeeper, Elena, already had lunch prepared for them. The habana sandwiches and mojito salad were served with coffee and iced tea. Over lunch, the conversation quickly turned to their family in Bella Coola, British Columbia. Janelle and Rhiannon’s parents, Alan and Claire McGregor, were in their mid-seventies and still living at the ranch there.

“There’s talk of outright resistance in Canada. Almost everyone has wanted the UN troops out for years,” Jake said emphatically.

“I’ve already been praying about this. I suppose we’ll have to do something about Canada,” Peter said.

“Do you suggest that we support the resistance or join it?” Jake asked.

Peter sighed. “If not now, then when? And if not us, then who?”