Opportunity Calls Chinavare's Find Book 1

By M. A. Roberts

Opportunity Calls is the first title in the Chinavare's Find series. Random Arthur Hause, a history teacher/baseball coach trades in his teaching career and sets out on a quest to do something meaningful. The road to Hell may be paved with good intentions, but Random soon finds himself following a road that someone else has built, where everything happens for a reason and even his dreams are not his own. Random builds an odd collection of friends, including an indentured servant named Cynthia Han. Together, Random, Cynthia, and friends save the colony of New Beijing. What do you do when you discover that you have taken on the role of the blue touch paper? The trigger of a massive upheaval in the world order.

Lisa Corson created the beautiful cover art for Opportunity Calls. You can see more of Lisa's creations at Homespun Heritage.

• Language: English
• Publisher: M. A. Roberts
• Release date: Aug 7, 2017
• ISBN: 9781497750753

Book preview

Chapter One: Good-bye George.

Monday June 19th, 2045

Monroe, Michigan.

It was a warm summer evening. A group of young men gathered at the base of the statue of General George Armstrong Custer that faced northeast, looking out over the intersection of Elm and Monroe Streets. Custer, mounted upon his horse, fixed the streets of Monroe with a blank look, as he had done for the last one hundred and thirty-five years.

Many Monroe residents found it hard to shake the feeling that the statue of Custer had somehow become a metaphor for the city. Custer's legacy was that of a man who often made rash, foolhardy decisions. His last decision had gone so badly wrong that it had earned Custer enshrinement in the history books.

Downtown Monroe bore the markings of a city that had once seen better days and better times, but was now fading. The city and its residents had been rashly, perhaps even foolishly unwilling or unable to adapt to the changing reality, choosing instead, to cling to the glories of the past. Like Custer, Monroe's citizens had paid dearly for the decision.

Unlike the statue of Custer, which had sat upon his horse, unmoving and unchanged, Monroe, had been ravaged by the passage of time. As off-world development expanded, employers had left the city, one-by-one, and the local economy sank deeper into a funk. Now left behind by the changed conditions, Monroe seemed condemned to stagnate, watching helplessly as the city's best and brightest continued to leave, drawn to the glittering promise of off-world adventures.

The young men gathered beneath the statue, eagerly discussed their posting orders. Enlistees in the Army of the United Nations, Ninth Air Cavalry Corp, their eyes gleamed as they talked about the adventures that lie ahead.

An older man approached the youths. One of the youths, a stocky young man named Toby Pickett, called out to him. Mr. Hause, did you sign up too?

The newcomer laughed and replied quietly. Yes Toby, I signed up too.

Toby continued. Really? They're going to miss you at the school.

Hause chuckled and answered softly, I doubt they'll even notice Toby.

Toby gave Hause a confused look. Fat chance of that. Why are you leaving?

The same reason that you're leaving. I'm looking for the opportunity to do something that matters, Hause answered wistfully.

Toby studied his feet for a moment. Aw man. We always thought what you did mattered.

Hause's eyes lit up and he smiled. Thanks Toby. Coming from you, that means a lot. So what are you doing here?

We were just comparing orders. What'd you get Mr. Hause?

Hause pulled out his orders and looked them over quickly. OCS.

Toby whistled and said, An officer, cool.

A taller, thinner youth named, John Thompson, spoke up. They assigned Toby and I to artillery school, because we had good math scores.

I told you, math would be good for something, John, Hause answered. The other young men laughed.

Bill and me chose security. How'd you rate OCS, Mr. Hause? A third youth, Steven Tucker, asked.

Mr. Hause frowned, but choosing not to correct his former student's grammatical faux pas, he said instead, I do have a college degree Stephan. When do you ship out?

Toby answered. Wednesday, at 7:30 in the morning.

Me too. I guess I'll see you on the platform then. Mr. Hause responded.

Stephan looked around and said. I don't know about you guys, but I feel a party coming on. What say we pick up some juice and get tagged? Hell, we've got less than forty-eight hours left.

The four youths animatedly discussed the idea and agreed with Stephan, vowing a major blowout before leaving Monroe. Toby turned to Hause and said, Care to join us? It'd be wicked to party with you.

Hause laughed again and said, I'd love to Toby, but I have some business to take care of, before shipping out.

The young men headed south along Monroe Street, across the bridge over the Raisin River, and into downtown Monroe. Hause watched them leave, and then looked up at the statue of Custer, thinking, Well George, in two days, I'll be heading for the frontier. I sure as hell hope I have better luck than you did. Funny how everyone remembers when your decisions go wrong, but no one remembers when they go right. You saved the Union's bacon at Gettysburg, but who remembers that you were even there?

Hause turned, walked past the statue, down Elm Street, along the river, and deeper into St. Mary's park. He headed for one of the park benches overlooking the river. He couldn't help feeling sad. He was leaving behind a ton of memories, mostly, but not all, good.

Hause sat down on the bench, leaned back, and smiled as he looked across the river. The back wall of one of the buildings had been turned into an enormous billboard, advertising Reverend James Abbott. Reverend Abbott was the founder of a yet another 'new' fundamentalist movement.

No one can stop you now. Random thought as he grimaced, and sifted through the horrors. He remembered sitting in his tiny apartment, watching with dismay as the election results rolled in last fall. The political campaign of 2044 had been especially brutal. Dozens of candidates, all across the nation, had been forced to drop out of the running because of one scandal, or another. The candidates that dropped out all seemed to be opponents of candidates supported by Reverend Abbot.

Nearly all of the accused had loudly proclaimed their innocence, and most had produced copious amounts of evidence to support their claims. Those protests hadn't mattered: the 'attack media' created telnet frenzy and simply shouted the accused down. Occasionally, the results had been tragic.

One of the victims, a young Christian business woman, running for Congress, had been accused of having an abortion at the age of fifteen and then secretly harboring a lesbian lover. Random could remember watching her press conference on telnet. She had tearfully presented clear and compelling evidence showing that both charges were bogus.

Her sincerity and her evidence hadn't mattered. The coverage of the scandal continued unabated. To Random, it seemed like he had been the only one listening to her conference. He watched in horror as the young woman's life publicly unraveled. She first lost her political backing, and then her business. Eventually, unable to take any more shame, she jumped out of a twentieth story window.

She hadn't been the only victim that fall. There had been other suicides as well, during that horrific October, leading up to the election. The attack media responded to each tragic death with glee, flooding the telnet with reports that touted the suicides as further proof of the veracity of their reporting. By the first of November, Random felt that the America he had known, loved, and taught about, was a thing of the past.

Election night only served to confirm his feelings. He watched with growing apprehension as the Reverend's party captured seven state legislatures, outright, and large minorities in six others. Nationally, the Reverend controlled one hundred seats in the House and twelve seats in the Senate. Random shook his head slightly, thinking, So much for the separation of church and state.

Election night seemed like a lifetime ago. The new year, 2045, began with a legal battle over censorship, as the local public radio organization fought to preserve its right to present the news without prior approval. Each new week seemed to bring another fight as one local government after another attempted to override constitutionally guaranteed freedoms, equal protection, and due process.

A man, who had suddenly appeared behind the bench, interrupted Random's thoughts. The man's eyes remained fixed on the billboard as he said, That man gives me the willies.

Where did he come from? There wasn't anybody there a minute ago. Random wondered, and then replied, He certainly seems to catch all the breaks. How can one man be that lucky?

The man, dressed like a vagrant, gave Random an odd smile. But it's not just one man and I wouldn't bet the farm on him being lucky either.

What the hell did he mean by that? Random thought as he watched the oddly dressed man turn and walk away.

Random couldn't help wondering about the odd man. It was obvious, to him, that the man hadn't been all that much older than he, but had been dressed to look like an aged vagrant. Random also puzzled over what the man had said. The vagrant had made it sound like he knew for sure that Abbot was merely a pawn in somebody else's game. Finally, Random couldn't shake the impression that he'd seen the man before.

It's been a rough year, Random thought as he looked down at his feet, chalking the man and his comments up as another enigma in what had truly proved to be a strange year. The highlights of the final semester of the second year American History course that he taught that spring, ran through his mind, especially, the lively discussions about America's place in the world.

The course had always been controversial, largely because it dealt with America's place in the modern world. His latest round of difficulties had begun several years ago, with the selection of a new textbook for the course. The number of available textbooks had expanded greatly with the advent of the telnet, but many of these new textbooks were undocumented, politically stilted, and unsuitable.

Random had carefully searched through each of the available texts until he found one that presented clear and balanced historical analysis, supported by readily verifiable evidence. He used the textbook to support his presentation of a logical explanation for modern America's place in the world.

According to the textbook, during the 1990's, one of the superpowers that emerged at the end of World War II, had simply faded away. The Soviet Union collapsed, losing control of Eastern Europe and the Baltic Republics. The nation of Russia was reborn. By the late 1990's, internal conflicts, combined with economic chaos, threatened the new, old nation's, existence. In fact, the new nation seemed to be ungovernable.

By the turn of the century, that situation had changed. A semblance of order had been established, but it was obvious to many that the Russian Mafia, many of whose members seemed to be ex-apparatchiks, was at least indirectly, in control, bad news for most Russians, but great news for those in position to take advantage. The Russian economy coughed to life and surged. As the economy surged, Russian nationalism began a resurgence that caused new headaches for the rest of the world.

The textbook had also detailed the Western European attempt at international government, which met with mixed results. Struggles with the issue of sovereignty derailed many of the planned initiatives. The authors of the text had used the struggles of the European Union as a cautionary tale about the dangers of world, or multi-national governments in general.

Even with the struggles, by 2007, many of the formerly communist nations of Eastern Europe had been integrated into this new European Union. The Baltic Republics applied for membership and were accepted by 2004. Russia, on the other hand, chose not to join the European Union. They opted instead, for the role of equal partner in its relations with the EU. Russia's decision created tensions, especially after the energy price crisis of 2008 and the financial panic of 2009.

This year's discussions, as they had in the years before, triggered fireworks. The real explosion began, as they always had before, when Random started talking about events on this side of the Atlantic. The cause of America's economic meltdown had been the subject of several books and years of intense debate.

Before agreeing to teach the course, Random had meticulously researched the topic. The telnet had made it relatively easy for him to read and investigate most of books on the subject, and also to investigate the claims made in those books. The process was a tedious one, but not difficult. He found most of the books to be long on political polemic and short on facts and supporting evidence. He found that the various authors had tried, unsuccessfully, to paint one sinister conspiracy or another as the true cause of the financial crisis.

His own telnet research into the causes of the meltdown had led him to a different conclusion. The conspiracy theories were groundless. He found it easy to debunk each of them in turn. Instead, the evidence he found supported a much simpler explanation. America's economic woes had been created by its people's own hubris and unrealistic expectations. Random also knew that, despite the compelling logic and the readily available evidence to support that logic, the conspiracy theories had continued to spread. Taking on a life of their own, and seemingly becoming a matter of faith. He shook his head as he remembered the time he had spent, each spring, carefully explaining how the lack of credit had brought about the changed world that both he and his students, had grown up with.

Each year, armed with his own research findings and the textbook he had chosen for the course, largely because of its clear and logical explanation of the continuing economic crisis, Random had started his lessons about what had happened on this side of the Atlantic by systematically shooting down the popular conspiracy theories. He presented his explanations first, and then allowed for discussion afterward. By the time he was prepared to explain the true cause of the meltdown, the telnet was normally abuzz with angry comments.

Random expected the angry comments, just as he expected the heated exchanges during the discussion periods. This year, he shifted nimbly, as he had, each spring for the last decade, from the heated discussions, to a clear and logical explanation of the United States' plunge into a sea of red ink. He began with the 2008 energy crisis and the ensuing financial panic of 2009, explaining that these events had hit the nation hard. The panic became the Great Recession, the name given to the worst economic conditions since the Great Depression of the 1930's.

The author of the textbook had a wonderful explanation of why full recovery from the Great Recession, proved to be elusive, always seeming to be just around the corner. Random remembered having to explain the author's logic. Explaining how bankers and investors, around the world, began to look at the economies of China, India, Russia, and Brazil, as the most likely sources of future economic growth.

Random explained that those bankers and investors believed that America's days as the engine driving the world's economy, had passed. As a result, international investment in America began to slowly tail off. The value of the dollar, which had stabilized in 2009 and 2010, began to falter once again.

He explained how the loss of international investment led to an expansion of the credit shortage that had rippled through the American economy. As credit tightened, more and more, and the nation's economy slowed even further, investors lost confidence in their ability to make a profit. Still, America soldiered on. The credit crisis and declining dollar were painful, but not overwhelming problems.

As the years unfolded after the election of 2012, America's continuing economic malaise convinced many central bank leaders around the world to make public their intention to stop acquiring new reserves of American dollars. Their decision resulted in a further tightening of credit. The continuing credit shortage effectively stifled any robust American economic recovery.

This spring's lecture on the events of 2015 produced an uncomfortable meeting with Random's principal and a group of parents. This year, despite Random's carefully explained logic, and supporting evidence, the telnet calls from angry parents accusing him of spreading lies and filth about America, reached flood proportions.

At the meeting, the parents were determined to have Random removed from the school. They didn't care that he'd given the same lecture for ten years, or that he had an abundance of supporting evidence that he'd gathered during his meticulous research on the topic. They insisted that Random be dismissed for spreading lies and being un-American. In the end, his principal chose logic over emotion and supported Random. The parents were unconvinced and vowed to continue the fight.

The gist of Random's lecture was that in 2015, two major events occurred that reshaped the American economy forever. First, Mexico's proven oil reserves finally failed. This wasn't unexpected, and it should not have been a disaster. The Mexican oil reserves had been in decline for over a decade. In fact, observers had noted back in 2006 that Mexico's proven reserves would be tapped out in ten years at the current rate of extraction. The experts had been right. The old reserves failed and Pemex had not been able to modernize and adapt quickly enough to bring new reserves to market.

Most American oil companies had already begun reducing their purchases of oil on the international spot market. The absence of Mexican oil threatened to force them to reenter the spot market, which would have led to higher fuel prices in America. This was process was offset by an upsurge in American domestic production, that had begun in 2010.

By 2015, the upsurge exceeded the amount of oil that had been supplied by Mexico. Unfortunately, the oil producers found more lucrative markets for their precious oil reserves outside of America. American oil producers cut refinery production in America and exported their excess product, creating an artificial shortage and elevated American fuel prices.

Logically, high fuel prices would encourage American entrepreneurs to develop alternative fuels to meet the need. Alternative fuel plants were built, some encountered ongoing technical difficulties, but many others ran afoul of a well-organized and well-funded anti-environmentalist movement. This led to increased efforts to develop domestic petroleum reserves. Oil production did expand, but nothing seemed capable of halting the slow, inexorable rise of fuel prices.

According to the textbook, the second event directly tied into the first. As the world's central bankers examined this new economic reality facing the already stumbling American economy, most opted for caution. They decided to further reduce their bank's holdings of American dollars. This decision resulted in a flood of American dollars into the international currency market. The flood triggered a near total collapse of the dollar.

The collapse was so complete, that for a short time, the American dollar had little or no value on the international currency market. Frantic actions by a collection of central bankers eventually stabilized the dollar, but at a drastically reduced level. The flow of foreign investment into America, which had been slowing, now ceased all together.

After the free fall and stabilization, most international credit markets closed their doors to American borrowers. Domestic credit remained available, but by the end of 2015, there was simply not enough credit available to meet the nation's many needs. Random remembered explaining to his students, each spring, how the process worked. He explained that, prior to 2015; nearly all American businesses had traditionally operated on short-term lines of credit. They would borrow the money to make payroll, and then pay back the money when they had finished selling the product.

With credit greatly restricted, the cost of borrowing money rose dramatically. Businesses could no longer afford the short-term line of credit loans, and were forced to operate with the cash they had on hand. They had to learn to make do with smaller output and fewer employees. This new business model meant that job creation would slow, if not stop, and that millions of Americans would remain unemployed. As a people Americans now had to begin the painful process of learning to live locally and within their means.

This process was a gradual and painful one. By 2020, the American population had stopped growing, and in many regions, actually declined. The cause of the population change wasn't hard to pinpoint. During the crisis, very few immigrants opted to come to America, and many who were already in America, opted to leave.

In this new economy, local agriculture became a driving force. Cities, especially in the northeast, had open space and abandoned buildings, so they consolidated neighborhoods, and created green space for parks and gardening programs, like Urban Harvest. In many cities, abandoned office buildings and shopping malls, were turned into multi-story greenhouses, and urban farms.

As it became more and more expensive to import raw materials, Americans turned to local sources. Everything was recycled. Landfills were mined for the raw materials they contained. More and more manufactured goods that had once been imported were now hand produced, by local craftsmen.

Even with all these changes, unemployment continued to be a problem. This year, as he had several times before, Random asked each of his classes if they knew of someone in their extended family who was unemployed. For the first time, this year, every one of his students, in each of his classes, had confirmed that a member of their extended family was unemployed. Unlike many of his coworkers, Random didn't find it at all surprising that almost every one of his students planned to go off-world when they graduated.

Then again, Random recalled that things hadn't been all that much different during his own junior year in high school, back in 2029. Nearly all of his classmates had made plans to pursue off-world careers. Many of them had already signed up with America's Off-world contingent. Not Random. Oddly enough, he had applied and been accepted at Michigan State University, where he planned to study History and to become a writer.

Random remembered sitting on this same bench, on a warm April morning, in 2029, The back of the building, across the river had been painted differently then. An advertisement proudly proclaiming that the 2029 Ford Taurus would now be powered by an electric/Tesla Turbine engine hybrid. The Taurus was one of the oldest manufactured lines in America, and perhaps the last to switch completely over to the electric/Tesla Turbine engine technology.

Random remembered sitting on the bench, looking at the back of the building and talking with one of Monroe's local legends, a man known as Crazy Ike. Ike was also known to frequent St Mary's Park, tell very tall tales, and drink prodigiously. Random had spent a great deal of time talking with Ike, during his high school years, and had come to know that Ike was sober, more often than not, would listen when most people wouldn't, and gave sensible, level headed advice, most of the time.

I heard you didn't sign up with that Off-world recruiter. Sounds like you're not planning on going off-world, Ike said as he and Random watched people walking by on the Riverwalk.

Nope, I'm planning on staying right here, Random answered.

And people say I'm crazy, Ike replied, chuckling in response.

I don't think you're crazy, and I don't think it's crazy to want to study history and to preserve those things that make us who we are.

Ike reached down and picked up a small stone and pitched it into the river. Thanks kid. No, I don't suppose that's crazy either. Have you told your mother?

Random looked down towards his feet. No, I haven't told her.

Why not? You know you gotta tell her son. It's the right thing to do.

I know Ike. I'll tell her.

When?

Random shrugged and replied offhandedly, Maybe, next summer.

Ike glared at him and then retorted sharply, Random Arthur Hause, that woman has poured her heart out to bring you up right. The least you can do is let her know what you plan on doing with your life. You know full well that she's going to blame herself for your decision to stay here, on Earth.

Random hung his head even further and responded, barely audibly, I know. I'll tell her Ike. I promise.

Random kept his promise. He had gone home later that evening and told his mother about his plans. The conversation hadn't gone very well. Just as Ike predicted, Mrs. Hause had blamed herself for Random's decision to stay on Earth. Random had tried to explain that he was staying because he felt that someone should try and fix the Earth before everyone headed off to mess up new worlds. Mrs. Hause didn't buy his explanations. In the end, they'd exchanged angry words.

Random didn't want to admit it, but in a sense, his mother was right. A