Firebase Freedom by William W. Johnstone Read Free Book Online Page A

ass?”
    â€œWouldn’t be my crack that got sand.”
    â€œYeah, it would. If you really want to do this, we’re goin’ to roll through the sand like tumbleweed. It’s both of us, or no go.”
    Jake chuckled, then stood up and reached down for her. “All right then, let’s go. What’s a little sand in your ass anyway?”
    There was no moon, so it was quite dark on the beach, so dark that when then they were no more than a hundred yards away from the fort, it could no longer be seen. Jake stopped her, and they kissed again.
    â€œThis is far enough.”
    â€œHow do you know?”
    â€œLook behind us. If we can’t see the fort, nobody there can see us.”
    â€œWhat if someone comes out for a moonlight stroll?”
    â€œHaven’t you noticed? There is no moon tonight. They would have to stumble over us to see us.”
    Jake sat down on the sand and pulled Karin down with him.
    â€œIt’s time to get some sand in our ass,” he said.
    Karin laughed again. “I swear, Jake, you say the most romantic things.”
    They stretched out on the sand as the waves crashed ashore.

C HAPTER S IX
    Dallas
    Â 
    Sam Gelbman stood at the window in his office, looking out onto the terminal lot at the two eighteen-wheelers that were parked there.
    The two eighteen-wheelers were all that remained of what had once been a fleet of as many as fifty trucks. Mid-American Trucking, the company Sam owned, once hauled freight between Dallas and cities all over the country, from Spokane, Washington, to Miami, Florida, and from Portland, Maine, to San Diego, California, and from Canada to Mexico. That all ended shortly after Ohmshidi took office and decreed that fossil fuels could no longer be used. Mid-American, like every other freight and passenger line, went bankrupt.
    Sam did manage to hang on to two trucks in the hope and belief that at some point Ohmshidi would see the error of his policies, and fossil fuels would once again be allowed. That did happen, but it was almost too late, and now businesses all over the country were struggling hard to make a comeback.
    Because Sam had managed to hang on to the two trucks, he was slowly beginning to rebuild a successful business. He remembered reading something once which stated that, “if all the money in America were to be confiscated and redistributed evenly, within a year those who had been rich would again be rich and those who had been poor would again be poor.”
    Sam felt a sense of satisfaction in the belief that he was living proof of that declaration.
    Recovery had not been easy, and it was still difficult. No matter how much money one had, the purchase of goods and services had to be accompanied by showing an ID card, proving that the customer had converted to Islam. But Sam and his wife were Jewish, and by decree of the government of the American Islamic Republic of Enlightenment, Jews were not allowed to convert to Islam. Instead, they were issued Jewish Infidel cards, which they had to show in order to buy anything. Once identified as such, they were charged a “Jewish Excise Tax” of one hundred percent, and that meant everything they bought cost twice as much for them as it did for other people.
    That was not just for personal items, like food, clothing, and household appliances. It extended to his business as well, and Sam had to deal with crippling regulations and requirements.
    He needed a Special Infidel Business License to do business. This cost three times as much as a business license did for non-Jews.
    In addition to paying a one-hundred-percent Jewish Excise Tax on fuel for his personal vehicles, there was an additional hundred-percent tax on the fuel for his truck.
    He was charged a commerce tax on everything that came through the store.
    Despite all that, Sam’s business was picking up, and he was thinking about adding another truck and another couple of employees. One of the drivers