The stunned crowd was suddenly surrounded by other resistance fighters, led by the doughty Father Waverly.  They quickly captured the surviving  THRUSH minions and took them into custody.  The next month was hectic, as the resistance rooted out the last few pockets of THRUSH dominance.

That was the easy part.  Far harder was their next task: reinstating, or in some cases creating, representative governments.  Everyone seemed to have their own ideas about what should be included in their nation's constitution.  This led of course to another area of conflict: who decided where national borders were located.  THRUSH had arbitrarily redrawn the map into convenient "districts", and there were several ethnic groups who wanted to carve out homelands for themselves.

It took almost a year to create a constitution that was acceptable to a majority of regional delegates, and even then it was modified to suit individual nations.  Pre-THRUSH maps were used for the most part to define national boundaries, though there were areas set aside for ethnic groups, decided on a case-by-case basis.  Not everyone was happy with the result, but most were satisfied it was an equitable division of land.

The basis for the new constitution was the old US constitution, slightly modified.  The word "persons" was substituted for the word "men" in the phrase "all men are created equal".  The electoral college was gone; national leaders were elected by a simple majority.  Term limits were instituted for ALL elected offices above the local level, with the majority being limited to two terms.

Legislators were forbidden to vote themselves pay raises; all such increases in salary had to be put to their constituents, even if this meant some legislators earned more than others.  Which was more equitable than it might seem, since some legislators had more constituents than others.

There was also a debate over how much re-education would be necessary to undo the harm THRUSH had caused by not allowing all who could learn to do so.  Some were determined to have everyone re-educated, while others didn't see the need for any re-education at all. It was decided to make the material available and advertise its location, and let people choose for themselves if they wanted to learn.  It would be an interesting next few years as political parties were formed and vied for votes.

While Father Waverly and the regional delegates were hammering out a blueprint for democracy, Napoleon and Illya were working out their own plans for the future.  "Napasha, what are we going to do now?  This new world doesn't appear to need spies or assassins," Illya asked one day soon after what was now being called "Liberation Day".  Both men had fought THRUSH pockets after they'd recovered from their injuries.

They were lying in bed together naked, having just made love.  Illya's fears of his Napasha rejecting him had proved unfounded; although he was hesitant at first he quickly returned to being a responsive and ardent lover.  "What would you like to do, my Illyusha?  Didn't you ever have a dream of what you might have done if things had been different?"

"I honestly never considered it," Illya replied.  "I had always thought I wouldn't survive to see the end of THRUSH.  I do not know how to use what I've learned in a constructive, peaceful way."

"Hmm.  Why not list all the things you can do," Napoleon suggested, "and perhaps we can find something useful."

"I'm very good at killing people."

"No, I think we can rule that out."

"I can break into and out of places."

"Nope."

"I can blow things up."

"Un Uh."

"I'm good in bed -- I AM good in bed, nyet?"

"You're excellent in bed, but I don't want to share you."

"Nor I you."

It went on like that for some time as Illya racked his brain for skills he possessed, and Napoleon could find no peaceful use for them.

Until Illya mentioned how many languages he spoke.

"Does Father Waverly know you're fluent in more than a dozenlanguages?"

Illya eventually went to work as a translator, first for Waverly and later as the head of his own firm, translating documents and textbooks into many languages.

Napoleon and Antonia founded the Liberty Party, and both successfully ran for office -- Antonia as mayor of New York, and Napoleon as a US Senator. Though they never recovered the vast fortune their family had as THRUSH elite, they did manage to save enough to live their lives in modest comfort.

After reestablishing democracy, Father Waverly faded into a very welcome obscurity.

The world recovered from THRUSH's tyranny, even though there were efforts to resurrect it as a political party and the more militant elements which escaped capture took it underground and plotted for the future.

But for a time freedom and peace were the conditions worldwide.
 

FINIS