Chapter Text
Calais, Maine.
United States of America.
January 1, 1968.
Time - 3:45
The American border guard paced along the fence, shifting from foot to foot and warming his hands with his breath. Freshly fallen New Year’s snowflakes landed on his face and uniform. Thoughts of the holiday flickered through his head — the kind of holiday he, like everyone else, wanted to spend at home with his family. But fate had decided otherwise, assigning him for the night shift on New Year’s Eve. Beyond the fence stood his Canadian colleagues, who hadn’t taken their eyes off him. Normally they would approach the fence and chat with their American counterparts, but tonight they were suspiciously quiet.
“Hey, Jeremy, quit acting like a damn chaffinch, will you? Where's you holiday spirit? Put a smile on that face!” a voice boomed from the loudspeaker.
The border guard shot a reproachful glance toward the checkpoint booth where his grinning comrade was sitting.
“I’d like to see your smile if you were standing out here! It's cold as fuck!” shouted freezing the man soldier.
“Ehhh, noooo, buddy… There’s still over two hours left in my shift. I was out there earlier and nothing happened to me. You’re a soldier, quit being a pussy!”
“Fuck off!”
Loud laughter erupted from the speaker as the freezing border guard slowly walked toward the fence. The Canadians began to slowly back away, exchanging glances with each other. This puzzled the American soldier.
“Eh, Canucks! What's going on with ya'll? You look like you just saw a communist!” he said, hoping to strike up a conversation with the border guards on the other side of the fence.
The Canadians didn’t dare answer him. They continued glancing at each other and whispering in French. Now things were getting really strange. Deciding not to bother them anymore, the American headed back to his comrade at the checkpoint.
“Listen, Rich, something’s seriously weird with them today…” the border guard said as he stepped inside the booth.
“Like what?”
“They’re unusually quiet and weird.”
“No shit. They’re stuck out here on New Year’s just like us, and you’re bothering them. No matter how hospitable Canadians are, nobody likes standing in the freezing cold on a holiday.”
“No, that’s not it at all.”
“Then what is it?”
“They were backing away from me, never taking their eyes off me. When I got closer, they started whispering to each other in French.”
“We’re right next to Montreal — what do you expect from them? Of course they’re going to speak French.”
“So nothing about this seems strange to you at all?”
“Honestly, it does feel off, but I’d rather not think about it. Maybe they heard about the failure of our Vietnam campaign and the protests breaking out in every city. That’s probably what they’re talking about in their own language — so they don’t have to remind you what a total shitshow is happening across the country and the ocean right now. In some states, they say the protesters have already taken up arms and are having shootouts with the police in the streets.”
“And what are the authorities doing?”
“They’ve already sent the army. Hopefully this doesn’t turn into something even worse…”
“If the army’s already involved, then it’s no joke. I just hope everything’s okay back home.”
“Hmm… Let’s take a look then!” the border guard sitting in the chair said enthusiastically as he turned on the television.
”…the protesters have already seized the city hall building. According to unofficial data, the number of armed protesters in New York continues to grow rapidly and is already estimated in thousands of people. On these images, you can see several protesters posing with a captured U.S. Army M113A1 armored personnel carrier. At the moment, the number of civilian casualties is estimated in the tens of thousands. The U.S. Army continues to suppress the uprisings that have broken out in other cities across the country. Martial law has been declared in the states of: Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin.”
“Hey, turn it off for a second,” Jeremy said, peering out the window toward the border.
“What?”
“Look.”
A large number of Canadian soldiers were standing beyond the fence, way more than before. Right in the middle of the road stood a tank, its searchlights illuminating the checkpoint. Both border guards burst out of the booth and ran toward the fence.
“Hey, what the hell is all this commotion?”
“Peacekeepers! Open the gates!” a Canadian shouted.
“What fucking ‘peacekeepers’? Have you lost it? Why is there a tank here?!” Richard replied. “Jeremy, keep an eye on them. I’ll report to the command.”
The border guard ran back into the booth, contacting his commanding offiver and informing him of the situation.
“Martinez, what’s going on, I'm off duty. If you want to wish me a Happy New Year — leave it for later.”
“Lieutenant Davis, heavy armored vehicles have approached the checkpoint from the Canadian side. They identified themselves as ‘peacekeepers’ and are demanding we open the gates.”
“Wake everyone up and sound the alarm. I’ll be there in ten minutes. No one ratified this, they're bullshitting you. Do not let them in under any circumstances — this could be a Soviet or Chinese sabotage operation. I’ll contact the district commander right now; they’ll send us some reinforcements.”
“Sir, there's too many for us to hold them off. If they want to break through — they’ll do it, and they'll do it fast!”
“Your duty is to hold out as long as possible in the event of an armed clash until reinforcements arrive. Wait for me, do not engage first, understood?”
“Yes, sir!”
The alarm began blaring across the entire checkpoint. Border guards jumped out of their beds, throwing on clothes and grabbing their weapons. At that moment, a shot rang out and the Jeremy collapsed onto the snow-covered road with a thud, staining it red with blood. Martinez burst out of the booth with a heart-wrenching scream, running toward his fallen comrade while drawing his rifle and opening fire on the Canadians. American border guards poured out of the barracks, taking up defensive positions at the checkpoint and joining the fight. A deafening explosion thundered, and the barracks building crumbled apart. The tank smashed through the gates and rolled onto American soil, raking the guards with its machine gun. In the distance, a vehicle appeared, speeding at full throttle from Calais towards it. The officer inside was met with a horrifying scene: his checkpoint was in flames, dead bodies of his subordinates lay scattered everywhere, and in the center of this nightmare stood a Canadian tank with its barrel aimed directly at his car.
“Tonight at 4 a.m. Eastern Standard Time, Canadian armed formations crossed the border of the United States of America, opening fire on our border guards and attacking our country at such a difficult time for us. At the moment, our troops are engaged in fierce fighting in the states of: New York, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, Montana, and Washington. As of this hour, the enemy has fully occupied the states of: Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont. According to the latest reports, intense clashes have also begun on the southern border between the Mexican Armed Forces and the U.S. Armed Forces. The President of the United States, Lyndon B. Johnson, has addressed the nation with a call to arms. Our task is to defend our freedom, our homeland, and our values. At this moment, the United States of America is officially at war with the Kingdom of Canada, the Republic of Mexico, the British Empire and their dominions. Such a cowardly stab in the back from our former allies will receive a harsh and precise response from our side. God bless America!”
At that very moment, somewhere in California, a little girl with hair as dark as night and small black cat-like ears was sleeping soundly, tightly clutching her plush toy. Downstairs on the first floor, her parents sat on the couch, ebracing each other, their eyes glued to the television screen in fear. The girl was having happy dreams, and her face was spread in a cat-like smile. Her room was covered with papers displaying perfect grades in mathematics and colorful geometric drawings. Her New Year’s had gone better than ever before, and she could never have imagined what drastic turn of fate awaited her that very night.