Yes, sir. I will, sir.
To Gideon, he said, You can take those off, and well put them by the fire. Your feet must be miserable.
Yes, they are. Thank you, sir. He followed the chair hed helped build, and Nelson Wellers fell into step beside him.
Speaking over his shoulder again, for he could not easily turn his head, Mr. Lincoln said, Im glad to see you escaped unscathed, Gideon. When we got word of the blast, I feared the worst. But Ephraim said he didnt see any sign of you, not in the rubbleor in the basement either, when he dropped a lantern down there. You barely missed one another. He rode out on horseback and only just returned. You made awfully good time on those frozen feet of yours.
Gideon didnt hear any of it after the part about the lantern. The basement? So the floor held? Is the Fiddlehead intact?
The floor held. Your printing apparatus is so much scrap metal, Im afraid, but as for the Fiddlehead, I do not know. Ephraim couldnt say. There was a great deal of debris, and dust, and smoke too, I think. There was a small fire, but it was quickly brought under control.
But theres a chance?
Theres always a chance. He reached the library and maneuvered the chair through its doorway. But we wont know anything until morning, so lets not worry about what we cannot change. For now, I want you to show me what you were able to save. And then, of course, you must tell me what it means.
Two
I dont like it when you talk in absolutes. It usually bodes ill. He kept his eyes trained on the glass while he waited for a response, because the glass was more likely to tell the truth.
Desmond Fowler leaned in close, trying to force the presidents eye contact and failing. He gave up and withdrew into his narrow seat. It wasnt intended to be comfortable. Grant didnt want him to stay.
Freedom and slavery are absolutes. War and peace.
Youre wrong about all four. Grant swallowed the last of his drink, but neither put the glass aside nor filled it again. He held it firmly, lest his hands shake. They often shook these days. He called it nerves or exhaustion. But these two things are true, Fowler: They cant hold on much longer, and neither can we.
Youre wrong about both, if I may be so bold.
Ive never stopped you yet, even when I should have.
Grant looked up in time to see him frown. Sir, the program is vital to
The survival of the nation, yes, as youve said. But were fooling ourselves if thats what were out to save. The nation has been lost for years. Maybe even since the war
began. You could make a case for that.
And youve done so. But now were arguing semantics.
So well argue, then. We cant save the United States; we can only reconstruct it. And we cant do that until we wrap up this damn war.
Which is why I
The president slammed down his glass. I dont like the program, he said bluntly.
And I dont like the war, Fowler replied. I thought you didnt, either.
It took all Grants strength to keep from calling him a liar. If hed been a bit more sober, or a bit younger, or a bit less alone in a quiet room with a man he could not trust, he mightve done so. Instead he calmed down and forced himself to breathe.
He rubbed at his eyes until they were red, then folded his arms and matched Fowlers stare. I hate it. But this is what it comes down to: Do we hate the war more than we love our country?
Desmond Fowler did not quite squirm, but was clearly uncomfortable. Im not sure I understand.
The war cant go on forever, but if a Union victory costs all hope of reconciliation, then what have we truly won? Shall we govern a conquered, resentful people by forceuntil they rally to rebel again? Or shall we welcome our fellow citizens back into the fold?
Obviously one hopes to welcome ones fellow citizens, Fowler tried carefully. But Alabama and Mississippi still cannot agree with Lincolnor yourselfregarding who is a citizen, and who constitutes property. Reconstructing the Union will be an uphill battle regardless of how the war is concluded. The question is not one of tactics, but of expediency.
And there you go againnow youve turned the matter into a binary. Another absolute. We can end the war expediently, tactically, without without
My program is the fastest, most efficient option.
The most brutal, you mean. Killing Americans, civilian and soldier alike.
Killing Confederates, and thereby ending the conflict.
And killing our own men, too. God knows how many of them. Youve said it yourself, theres no safe means to deploy such weaponry. Not without tremendous casualties to both sides. Wed have to lie to our soldiers, assure them we arent leading them to their deaths.
All soldiers assume, or at least suspect, that theyre being led to their deaths. And as for the deployment, were working on that, Fowler assured him. And sir, we must be pragmatic. The simple fact is that we have more men to lose than they do. If it costs us a handful to kill thousands of the enemy, then we
The enemy ? Our fellow Americans, you mean.
No, sir. Not anymore. By their own choice, and their own hand. Some days, I dont understand why we fight so hard to keep them, when they fight so hard to get away.