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Back Angels of Vengeance
Chapters (68)
  1. Blurb
  2. CONTENTS
  3. Dedication
  4. CHARACTER LIST
  5. 1
  6. 2
  7. 3
  8. 4
  9. 5
  10. 6
  11. 7
  12. 8
  13. 9
  14. 10
  15. 11
  16. 12
  17. 13
  18. 14
  19. 15
  20. 16
  21. 17
  22. 18
  23. 19
  24. 20
  25. 21
  26. 22
  27. 23
  28. 24
  29. 25
  30. 26
  31. 27
  32. 28
  33. 29
  34. 30
  35. 31
  36. 32
  37. 33
  38. 34
  39. 35
  40. 36
  41. 37
  42. 38
  43. 39
  44. 40
  45. 41
  46. 42
  47. 43
  48. 44
  49. 45
  50. 46
  51. 47
  52. 48
  53. 49
  54. 50
  55. 51
  56. 52
  57. 53
  58. 54
  59. TWO MONTHS LATER
  60. ONE YEAR LATER
  61. TWO YEARS LATER
  62. FOUR YEARS LATER
  63. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
  64. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
  65. Also by John Birmingham
  66. ALSO BY JOHN BIRMINGHAM
  67. Copyright
  68. Cover

The trumpets still irked Kip. Every couple of weeks he tried to sell the producers on the idea of introducing his weekly pep talk with one of his favourite tracks: ‘Takin’ Care of Business’ by Bachman-Turner Overdrive. ‘But it’s appropriate,’ he’d protest when everybody said no. As always, the supreme executive power of the President of the United States of America turned out to be not so supreme after all. He’d eaten plenty of pizzas with way more supreme than he could ever call on. So trumpets it was.

‘Hi everybody,’ said Kipper on the radio, while Kipper in real life finished off the last two bites of his toasted ham and cheese sandwich. The President started the broadcast, as always, with a discussion on events of the last week. It wasn’t just a political catch-up. Kipper liked to chew over ‘the goings-on’ all around the country, and overseas if necessary. He liked to think that listeners might pay attention to him while he was talking about the budget or some legislative vote after they’d heard him discuss that week’s sports results, unusual weather and any WTF items in the news. Jed Culver was strangely indulgent about this, generally letting him have his way on the basis of ‘connecting with the average asshole’. Not how the former city engineer would’ve put it, but then Jed’s phrasing rarely was.

‘I hope you’ve all been keeping safe and warm during the weather we’ve been having,’ he told his listeners. ‘And looking after each other, too. Whether you’re in the city or out on the frontier, if you have a neighbour or a family member or friend you think might need help, don’t sit around wondering. Reach out and find out.’

In the drawing room at Dearborn House, Kipper took a sip from his beer to cover another wince of discomfort. He did mean what he said on the radio, but he always felt awkward putting it into words, and even more awkward when reading the lines that Jed had added to his notes for the show. Fucking ‘reach out and find out’, who spoke like that? His Chief of Staff seemed able to read his mind, and shook his head as if dismissing any concerns before Kip had even voiced them.