Ping settled back into a state of shock.
Joshua’s eyes gleamed. “Do you feel better now? You wanted to do penance. I think competently running a country will serve as a fine form of reparation.”
Ping blinked her eyes and muttered, “So, now I have a country. What am I going to do with a goddamn… Never mind, I refuse to ask the question.”
Tiny dots of snow swirled around Sabaah and Uwais as they squinted toward the south. A vast expanse of white-frosted pine trees beckoned them, stretching across the invisible border utterly heedless of the political ramifications.
Uwais looked at the map on his tablet, then at the scenery to the southwest. “You can see the West Wall.” The West Wall, made from the same rust-colored steel slats as The Wall, blocked off casual tourists from the uninhabited
