The approval of the Vancouver treaty nations wasn’t news to anybody in the room, but Jed was aware of a palpable sense of relief. So wretched had the government’s finances become at one point shortly after the Battle of New York that Treasury had been forced to issue IOUs to employees and creditors. There had naturally been rampant speculation on those IOUs. Many had sold theirs off in exchange for more viable currency or food and resources. Some hoped to keep the value of the IOUs down, while others hoped for a profit if and when the government decided to honour those promissory notes at face value.

The Chief of Staff still woke up some nights with the pain in his chest, worrying about the speculative bubble. Marilyn had forced him to see a doctor in the end, so frequent had these episodes become. Apparently the federal budget deficit had been giving him killer indigestion. After the amount of vomiting he did from the acid reflux, Jed marvelled at the need to let out his trousers further and further.

‘Negotiations to roll over the line of credit at the end of its period will commence in Auckland, next week,’ McAuley was saying. ‘Both the Vice-President and I will be in attendance.’ He glanced up at Kipper at this point, as if confirming his permission to attend. Kip nodded. ‘Of course, our capacity to repay these loans by drawing on liquid assets is severely limited. We have been able to service some of the loans through barter, exchanging military surplus to our top six lenders. However, their capacity and need for such surplus is reaching an end, as is our ability to provide anything more they could want or feasibly integrate into their own militaries.’

‘I take it no one wants to buy another carrier?’ Culver asked.

‘The Brits have the one Nimitz class they want,’ Ritchie noted. ‘Frankly, it’s the only one they can afford.’

‘Continue, Paul,’ the President said, dragging them back on topic.

‘I will cover the accounts receivable first. We should start to see royalty flows from the mining leases taken up by BHP Billiton, West Rand and JCI within a six- to eight-month window, but it will still be three to four years before those companies ramp up to full production.’

Jed nodded. The United States, contrary to popular belief, still possessed vast mineral resources, especially in the form of coal. The mining corporations were required by law to hire at least forty per cent of their workforce from the local civilian population. It was dangerous, dirty work, but it paid relatively well compared to what else was available in the post-Disappearance economy.