Chapter 5

Abstract

Nelson Abram was a lean, tall, athletic fifty-four-year-old CEO who became one of the wealthiest and most powerful individuals in the world, on a par with Gates, Carnegie, Rockefeller, and the like before him. The large windows of his luxurious executive office framed splendid views of the Pacific Ocean to the south, the Hollywood Hills to the north, and Beverly Hills to the west. Below were a substantial number of high-speed rapid transporter vehicles, and a light monorail system that hung above the streets, quickly and quietly moving thousands of people every minute. Billboards boasted campaign slogans and images of President Connelly and Vice President Anthony Mathews: “Trust in your Country. Trust in Connelly and Mathews.” The incumbents were in a tight race with Senator Winfred Gotia and her running mate, Governor Sarah Kahuma, the first all-female presidential ticket in U.S. history. Although the incumbents’ Achilles heel was a turbulent foreign policy, Connelly and Mathews were seizing credit for the major improvements in U.S. student test scores.