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Post by pbbrown0 on Mar 28, 2017 12:54:12 GMT -6
OUT OF THE STUMP Post # 28
Their group had to stand under guard for quite a while as the sentries examined the small SUV thoroughly and conferred with the officer in charge. Eventually they backed the white vehicle through the barrier and began attaching a tow strap to Jacobs's SUV. As they were working Steve noticed some large patches of slightly mismatched white paint on the vehicle where they had painted over some large lettering. He also noticed a low profile turret on top with a protruding weapon barrel. He had no idea if it was a machine gun or a small bore cannon of some sort. The black vehicle looked more like a modified armored car like those used by SWAT teams. Soon Jacob and Rob were told to get in the back of Jacob's small SUV. Rob and Jacob were seated in the second row of seats with one sentry in the front drivers seat and another in the front passenger seat. Meanwhile Steve, Rebecca, and Tricia were herded to a door in the back of the white high wheeled armored vehicle. Steve, Rebecca, and Tricia were shown seats inside the white vehicle and joined by the officer in charge who was now holding his 'old' sidearm in his hand. Steve was guessing the vehicle they were in was some kind of armored military troop carrier that had been adapted for a more urban environment. He vaguely remembered hearing crazy rumors of UN vehicles being seen on railroad cars in the U.S. several years before. The patches of paint on the sides might have been to cover up the large block letter markings he vaguely remembered on those pictures. Inside the vehicle he also noticed the labels and signage were written in multiple languages. All of this was strengthening his previous suspicions about the current state of affairs.
The officer was sitting where he could watch the three friends. He held his side arm in his hand, but it was resting on his leg. Even though they were not formally under arrest nor in hand cuffs, they were clearly under guard and not free to do as they pleased. Steve was keen on learning more, and as they started moving he tried to work up a conversation with their captor. “Officer, my name is Steve, Steve Boone. Do you have a name I can use to address you or should I stick with just calling you officer?”
He looked at Steve and the two ladies with an odd kind of stern curiosity. He hesitated before responding, then answered, ”You would probably be more comfortable calling me Captain 'Shep'. It might create issues for you to address me by my full name.” “I see, Captain Shep. Thank you, by the way for your help, earlier.” Steve made a slight grimace and breathed in slowly through his teeth “What is the procedure now?”
“The first step is to determine who and what you are, then assure that you are assigned to the proper facility for the transition period.”
“I'm sorry that we have so little information. Three of us were on a vacation camping trip in the wilderness when the trouble started, and we never found out what really happened. What can you tell us about the transition?” Steve was interrupting his comments periodically to breathe carefully.
Captain Shep looked at the three for a minute as if trying to assess the intent of the question then shook his head with a suppressed smirk. “The troubles here were disruptive at first and then became progressively compounded. Your government was overwhelmed with the chaos that followed. Your leaders received assistance from many quarters in order to stop the chaos, but the assistance was not uniform across your territories. Our units have tried to join our efforts with some of your own agencies to maintain order and provide humanitarian assistance in this district until more enduring structures can be sorted out and normalized.”
Steve considered that vague but disturbing response and took a minute to let it sink in. While Shep's response was cloaked and ambiguous, some things were very clear. Steve and his friends would be evaluated, categorized, and assigned to one of several types of 'facilities' and would probably be kept there for some time to come. From the sound of it, sorting everything out would take a long time with the old government no longer in firm control. It sounded like foreign units from 'many quarters' were scrambling for their share of the structure to be sorted out. It almost sounded frighteningly like Germany when it was being chopped up into sectors after World War II. What ever had happened must have been very bad and very complicated. The power outage may have been only a side effect of something bigger, but he had trouble imagining what that might have been. Had it been part of a coordinated attack? Maybe it was only a coincidental event among a collection of crisis events. Steve tried to refocus on their current situation.
“Captain Shep. Let me thank you again for your help. As for who and what we are, Tricia Bridges,” he nodded toward Tricia,” and I, along with Rob Stoner who is in the other vehicle were on a camping trip during a holiday break from college. When things fell apart, we couldn't get back to school. We had to extend our camping efforts. We met up with some other campers, who turned on us and killed one of our companions in order to steal what food supplies we had with us. We chanced upon Becky, that is Rebecca Sargent,“ he looked to Rebecca, “who is a lawyer from the Princeton area and Jacob Du Bois who also had been living in this area. Becky and Jacob had separately fled to the country to get away from the violence in the towns. We all decide to join together to try to survive. Fortunately they had some food with them which they shared with us. We tried to avoid the marauders out there, but that was not easy. We finally decided to head back toward civilization to look for help and scavenged enough fuel to add to Jacob's vehicle.”
Steve knew they would be interrogated separately, but he took a chance on trying to help the other two sense his approach. Steve was being careful not to reveal any information about specific locations or any of their other friends outside the five being taken into custody. He wanted to offer a plausible story about their not being any kind of a troublesome threat. They were simply a group that were wandering around looking for help who chanced upon each other. He was avoiding any statements that might be contradicted by the others in later interrogations. They needed to be trusted or at least discounted in the view of their captors if they were ever going to get back to the Haven. Steve wondered just what kind of facility they were being taken to and where it would be.
“Captain Shep, I apologize for being so much trouble, but you can understand our curiosity. When the blizzard blew in we tried to get back to a safer place and discovered the power was out there. When we tried to find more help it appeared the power outage was not merely local and was the cause of significant disruptions. What happened with the power outage. Can you tell us anything about it? Just how wide spread was it? Was it caused by an accident, terrorism, a CME, or EMP? Please, can you tell us anything at all about how this started?”
Officer Shep again studied Steve before speaking. ”Steve, is it? You seem intelligent, and perhaps we can talk more when there is more time. My information about the power failure indicates that is was not a malicious act, but it was not a simple accident either. The root cause of the power outage was essentially unforeseen and complicated to explain.”
Steve barely had time to begin considering that riddle of a response when they began slowing down, then turning before coming to a complete stop. A few seconds later they were starting up again and the road noise increased, like they were on a coarser roadbed with periodic thumps as they crossed seams in the road. After a couple of minutes the road was suddenly quieter, and soon they were stopping again.
All five were ushered out of their vehicles and walked single file through a fenced corridor toward a low block style building complex. When they got inside they were each separated and led by a guard to separate rooms. Captain Shep was leading Steve, who was glancing over his shoulder and asking, “Where are you taking Becky and the rest of my friends?” “Ah, so I was right about the lawyer being your podruga.”
“It is not that, Captain Shep. She is not my girlfriend. It is just that having lost one dear friend already, I have been extra diligent to protect my friends. I just want to be certain they will be safe.”
“Of course.” Shep gave just a little smirk. “They will be safe as long as they cooperate. Procedures require that the new – residents be interrogated separately to assure they are not giving false information about their activities or intentions.” “So we will be back together after our processing?”
“Not exactly. The men are kept separate from the women here for security reasons. But you will be able to talk with the ladies later – through a fence.”
That information hit Steve hard. It would not be easy getting out of whatever this facility turned out to be, but it would be far more complicated with the two women being held in an area separate from the men. Shep was stopping now and talking to another man in uniform. Steve did not understand any of what was being said, but he gathered Shep was explaining what he already knew about Steve and his group. He was led into a small room with a table and two chairs. He also saw a large mirror/window on one wall that was clearly a one way observation glass.
“So, Steve, I understand you are the leader of your little gang. How long have you been raiding together?” The new interrogator was across the table from Steve. Shep was not in the room but Steve was fairly certain Shep was watching and listening from behind the glass.
Steve waited a couple of seconds so as not to react to the accusations. “As I was telling Captain Shep, we are not a gang, and we have not been raiding. Also, I am not the leader, we are all just friends trying to pool our efforts simply to stay alive.” “So you were not originally an organized unit, but you have effectively emerged as the leader of your team. True?”
Steve was not fooled by the effort to manipulate him. “I guess you might better understand us as five friends or comrades rather than a unit or even a team. Three of us were classmates in college and were taking some holidays to go camping. When things fell apart we could not get back to school. We were trying to stay alive without harming any one. One gang attacked us and killed a fourth classmate just because they wanted to steal what few supplies we still had. Later we chanced upon the two other civilized people who became part of our current group as we tried to stick together and manage to stay alive.”
The interrogator paused a moment. “Obviously you have been eating well for months. You had to be stealing food from others or you would not be so healthy for this long. That makes you a gang of thieves, doesn't it.”
Steve remembered the issue of their being healthy and well fed being mentioned in a discussion before they came on this ill fated venture. Steve was angered by the sudden accusation by this self righteous bureaucrat. The group back at the Haven were determined to help others rather than become savages themselves. This little piss-ant was acting like surviving without the help of the state was evidence of being some kind of a criminal. Then he realized that this man had been trained to interrogate and he was trying to manipulate Steve's emotions. He only hoped the others had their wits about them, and would keep their emotions in check in dealing with this accusatory style of interrogation.
Steve calmly leaned over, looked his interrogator in the eye, and spoke in a very quiet voice as if teaching something to a child who did not understand.. “If I am in the wilderness, and I am hungry, and I find a few berries on a bush or snare a wild rabbit to eat, I wouldn't consider that stealing, would you? Unfortunately in the dead of winter most of the berries are gone and the rabbits are in their burrows. It may be easy for you, sitting in this nice warm facility built by others, eating your hot meals that are provided by your superiors and prepared for you by others, to feel judgmental toward people on the outside who are trying to survive without help from your superiors.”
Steve's tone began to change. “One of my friends died because some bad people wanted to steal from us. I will not lower myself to become like one of those savages who killed my friend, and who go about stealing from others. I like camping and we were able to find some edible roots and nuts. We were also able to find food in several places where families had already been killed by gangs of bad people.” Steve was becoming more sarcastic and condescending as he went on. “Those bad people, sometimes stupidly left edible food behind. My friends and I cannot be accused of stealing from those families, because they had been murdered by the bad people days or months before we found them. The food was just there like berries on a bush and nuts on the ground waiting for anybody who had need of it.” Now Steve's demeanor changed to that of a stern authority calling down a foolish subordinate. “If you are so intent on finding robbers and raiders, I suggest you get out of your cozy abode and go hunting for them out in the wilderness where they are shooting and killing civilized people like me and my friends. Now, are we done here, or do you need to ask your superiors who are watching this interrogation, if they want to enhance your perspective by providing you a chance for first hand education about the world outside this cozy, safe facility?”
The interrogator sat there rigidly for a few seconds before standing up to leave the room. Shortly, Shep came in and spoke to Steve. “ I am sorry for that. He is only recently trained in this process. While I am amused by your handling of him, I must warn you not to take an attitude like that toward any of the overseers in the rest of the facility. They typically react badly to refu – uh, residents talking down to them.”
Steve was processing what he had learned. His group were to be treated like refugees, and there were overseers in this facility that looked down on them much like prison guards looking down on the convicts. They were being careful to sort out those had been more inclined toward aggressive action on the outside so they could deal more effectively with potential trouble makers. Captain Shep escorted him down a corridor toward another part of the building. Steve had still not seen any sign of his friends. “Up ahead they will check you again for contraband. It has been a while since we got new people in this facility. When we were first rounding up people we were using electronic scanners. With the fuel situation we have fallen back to less technical methods. We are no longer requiring newcomers to give up their own clothes in favor of the uniform clothing we issued. We finally ran out of those so you will be able to keep your own clothes. I will try to make this easy for you since you are – being so helpful, but they will want to pat you down and inspect your pack.”
Sure enough they did pat Steve down causing him to gasp and wince when his broken ribs were patted. They also made him take off his hiking boots. While he was putting his boots back on he watched as one of the security people set his pack on a table off to the side. Captain Shep said a few words and took the pack to shake it upside down showing it was empty. One of the security people took a plaintive tone of voice and Shep responded with some sort of monologue that sounded like a rehearsed speech on character or professional pride or something like that while he stood at attention with his head tipped slightly up ward. The security person relented and reluctantly handed the virtually empty pack back to Steve who was still on the floor. Steve worked hard to not give away how relieved he was. They gave him a dog tag style necklace with a tag on it displaying a large four digit number on both sides.
As they walked on down the corridor Captain Shep told him, “I am going to stop by the clinic and have them check your injury.” Their next stop was into a cluster of rooms that looked somewhat like an austere clinic. Only one person was there in a white lab coat and Captain Shep spoke to him briefly.
“You need to take off your shirt so I can examine you.” The clinician was speaking as if he was totally bored and bothered by the interruption. He did not bother to take Steve into an examination room. When Steve got his shirt off the doctor walked around to look at his back and made a brief grunting sound. He lightly felt on and around painful area. “You probably have two broken ribs, but we cannot be sure without X-rays. We cannot do that very well, however, without electricity. They seem to be intact and reasonably aligned. I could put some tape on your ribs to stabilize them, but that would need to be changed at least daily to prevent skin rash. With it being on your back that would be too difficult for you to tend to it. Bringing you back here once or preferably twice a day would require a guard to escort you every time. Besides it would only help a little if you did something that might re-injure the breaks. So, be careful not to twist too much for several weeks. Sometimes when it hurts to breathe deeply, people try to keep their breathing shallow, and that can lead to pneumonia. Make a point of breathing slowly and deeply. Most important; Avoid getting hit again.” With that the doctor returned to a small desk and began writing in a notebook.
As Captain Shep escorted him down the corridor again, Steve realized that the lighting in the building was coming mostly from skylights. He remembered only a few places where there was a small LED lamp to add extra lighting on a desk. Shep interrupted his thoughts commenting, “You seem to be a resourceful and intelligent young man. I suspect at some time you might come across something that I might find helpful and need to shield it from prying eyes. Your pack can be useful for that but, do not let it be seen that you have it any more than is necessary.”
Steve was now pondering the fact that Captain Shep saw him as 'that guy' now. Well that might prove helpful to Steve as well, but it also put him in a position of needing to supply helpful things to this officer from time to time to stay in his favor. Steve was handed off to an unnamed overseer and Captain Shep disappeared. He was escorted down a hallway full of doors on both sides while the overseer droned on about the daily schedule and individual responsibilities. Finally he stopped in front of a door with a simple plaque marked B176.
“This will be your room for tonight. Tomorrow is the regular day for reallocation so you will be without any room mates until mid morning tomorrow. Restrooms are at B199. Your dining area is at B100. You just missed the noon meal so the next meal for you will be at 18:00. it is now 12:40 so you have until 12:55 in the exercise yard. The door to that is across from the dining hall door. You are expected back in your own room at 13:00 and will be contacted regarding your schedule for the remainder of today.” With that the unknown overseer turned and walked away.
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Post by papaof2 on Mar 28, 2017 15:24:52 GMT -6
Russian or Chinese dormitories and regimentation - they did find "the authorities".
These soldiers wear no hats because any remaining local hunters would consider blue UN headgear as prime targets and the headgear of any other nation as only slightly secondary?
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Post by pbbrown0 on Mar 28, 2017 15:54:10 GMT -6
Very good pick-up, Papaof2. FYI, the setting is eastern U.S. so the Asian invasion has not reached this far.
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Post by kaijafon on Mar 28, 2017 17:08:46 GMT -6
Thank you very much! chilling!
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Post by papaof2 on Mar 28, 2017 17:18:17 GMT -6
Very good pick-up, Papaof2. FYI, the setting is eastern U.S. so the Asian invasion has not reached this far. At least one author had Chinese soldiers hitting the West Coast from non-Chinese merchant ships. The same could be done on the East or Gulf Coasts - the trip is just a little longer. The Russian states are more likely.
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Post by pbbrown0 on Mar 30, 2017 7:17:17 GMT -6
I live in a location where I frequently cross a major coast to coast east-west rail route (multi track). One of the cities here in north Texas even has the equivalent of a whole police department dedicated to "keepin the peace" just in the rail switching yard there. The number of stacked and non-stacked inter-modal shipping containers that pass each day, not to mention the customized container cars that carry oversized equipment and vehicles under protected coverings, is phenomenal ! A well planned logistical operation could use this route or others to move several divisions thousands of miles in just a few days. Yes, OPSEC would be a huge issue, but it is sometimes amazing how a magician on stage with an audience watching can distract and misdirect their attention. Even when the audience is watching for a slight of hand manipulation that they are sure is going to occur, they all still miss it. I'm just sayin ...
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Post by pbbrown0 on Mar 30, 2017 11:21:03 GMT -6
OUT OF THE STUMP Post # 29
Steve stepped into his room. There were four tubular metal framed beds. Each bed had four inch thick mattress with a pillow, one pillowcase, two white sheets, one washcloth, one medium sized towel, and one wool blanket folded neatly and stacked at one end of the mattress. There was a sheet metal chest of drawers with four empty drawers against one wall. There was a stainless steel sink in the corner with one of those spring loaded plunge handle faucets that allowed you to push it down to get water, but the plunger crept back up and turned off the flow in about three seconds. The door to the room had no handle on the inside, but it had an automatic closer. He remembered a door knob on the outside, so it could be pulled open from the outside or pushed open from the inside. “Oh, goody!' he though to himself. He decide to hurry down to the exercise yard to see if he could spot any of his friends. He wasn't ready for what he found. When he made his way through the doors at the end of the hallway, he stopped and looked out on a yard full of about two hundred fifty, maybe three hundred, men in a dirt covered yard surrounded by a twelve foot high chain link fence topped with razor wire slanting inward. There were several one story buildings similar to the one he had come from with separate doorways into this open courtyard. Each building had a large black letter painted on a sign near the door designating the buildings as A, B, C, D and E. To one side of the courtyard was a second layer of the same kind of fence with a twenty-four foot wide paved road between the two fences. Through that second fence was another identical courtyard full of women and a few children. Steve made his way over to the fence to see if he could spot Rebecca or Tricia. The women's courtyard seemed to be more crowded than the men's and he was not seeing either of them. He did notice that there were a variety of clothing types being worn. Many of the women were wearing institutional style shift dresses and mule style shoes. A few, however, were wearing street clothes in a wide variety of styles. He turned and looked at the men in his own courtyard and realized there was a similar mix with a few in street clothes, but the majority were in institutional pants and tunic style shirts.
He had not looked for Jacob or Rob, yet, but was expecting more chances to make contact with the men than with the ladies. Suddenly a bell sounded from the direction of the buildings and everyone started moving back toward the doors. Steve was hanging back a bit while moving toward building B. He did not spot either Jacob or Rob in the crowd. When he got inside his building all of the residents were being corralled in a widened section of the hall way between the dining hall and the outside doors while a head count was performed. Once the overseers were satisfied the group was told to return to their rooms until time for their next 'work contribution time'. As he proceeded down the hallway Steve noticed that most of the men in the institutional clothes pretty much kept their eyes forward toward the floor. Some of those in street clothes were doing the same, but a few were occasionally glancing around at the other men, particularly at him. He also noticed that the majority of those in street clothes were pretty thin. Even those who were considerably heavier had a look to their faces of having recently lost weight.
When Steve got back to his room he looked around and spotted a camera up on the wall in one corner. As he moved around the room looking things over he managed to get in the corner under the camera and looked up to take a closer look. None of the spots on the back of the camera case with LED indicators were glowing. He took that as a hopeful sign. While he was looking up, he saw that the light for the room was coming through a skylight in the high ceiling and the electric light fixture was not on. There was a light switch on the wall near the door, but the light fixtures on the ceiling did not respond when he tried the switch. He decided to examine his bed situation more closely. The mattress was about a four inch thick foam pad with some kind of heavy vinyl cover laid on a metal framed bed. Rather than bed slats or wire mesh underneath, there was a thin metal plate spot welded to the tubular steel frame supporting the mattress. Steve made his bed with the sheets, pillowcase and blanket stacked on the foot of his mattress, then he put his backpack, towel and washcloth in the bottom drawer of the chest in the corner of the room.
Having now thoroughly examined every nuance of his living quarters over the last five minutes, he decided to check out the restroom facilities. As he entered the hallway he noticed two overseers standing in the hall a few doors down from his room in either direction. As he walked down the hall he could see them watching even though they tried not to blatantly follow him by turning their heads. These hall monitors were all wearing black pants and blue shirts, but apparently the insignia patches on the upper arms of their shirts had been removed. He also noticed a tubular leather holster on their belts containing long handled metal flashlights. As he proceeded toward the restrooms he passed a few more hall monitors also keeping watch for anyone who might go for a stroll in the hallway. As he glanced back over his shoulder once he noticed one of the monitors he had just passed checking his watch and then making a note in a notepad he had pulled from his pocket. Steve continued on controlling his breathing and keeping himself in an emotionally neutral state.
When he got to the restrooms he entered through a swinging door and immediately noticed an overseer monitoring the inside of the facilities. He looked around and quickly assessed the community restroom. There was a row of shower heads on one wall with four foot high tiled half walls extending about three feet out from the main wall between each shower station. On the opposite wall was a long row of stainless steel toilets mounted to the wall. There were toilet paper dispensers, but on closer observation he realized that they were all empty. Along the wall opposite the door between the showers and toilets was a wall full of stainless steel sinks, just like the one in his room, with chrome steel mirrors on the wall above them. On the wall behind him where he had come through the door there were long benches on either side of the door, long wooden shelves about five feet off the floor, and a row of coat hooks attached to the wall under the shelves. He went over to one of the toilets and saw that they were equipped with a single metal button on the wall to activate the flush. When he turned back toward the showers he saw they had a similar single metal button to obtain a temporary flow of water. There was no sign of soap or soap dispensers. He mused to himself that the water was probably cold , but it would be better than washing in a creek fed by melting snow.
As he was walking back to his room Steve stopped by the hall monitor he had seen making the note about his passing by and asked him for the time. The monitor stared at him quizzically until Steve held up his wrist and apologized for not having a watch. The response was in an accent that sounded like the guard was from the local area, and he told Steve it was 13:45. Steve continued to his room and decided to relax and think. Several hours later he noticed sounds of feet shuffling in the hallway and got up to join the herd of sheep going to dinner. He followed along with everyone as he went through the line where everyone picked up identical trays. Each tray was being served up by people wearing the institutional uniforms for residents. There were apparently supervisors overseeing the work wearing two tone blue uniforms. Each tray had a large plop of mashed potatoes, a half inch thick slice of processed meat, a serving of dried fruit, a polymer spoon/fork combination utensil, and a plastic glass with 8 ounces of milk.
Steve found his way to a table with several other residents and sat down to eat. All of the residents at his table were in the institutional uniforms , and no one was talking. When Steve said hello to no one in particular all he got in response was a few nods. As he ate, he could see their eyes sometimes wandering around. He noticed some of them glancing at him but looking away when he looked their way. The processed meat was very processed with lots of fats, salt, and preservatives. The mashed potatoes were obviously made from potato flakes, but they were cold and apparently had been stirred up without the benefit of hot water. The milk was skim milk that was reconstituted from powder and also obviously made with room temperature water. The dried fruit was the most appetizing thing on the tray. Every thing was pretty close to room temperature or perhaps slightly cooler. Steve tried hard to suppress his thoughts of what was being served at the Haven right now.
Steve was watching the line being served to see if he could spot Jacob or Rob, but he was trying also to keep his mind off the gourmet cuisine he was enjoying. He almost chuckled at how he had ridiculed his interrogator about the luxury of hot meals. He never saw either of his friends and assumed they must have been separated as a group so they could not conspire on any level. He remembered the comments about the regular reallocation, the monitors in the hallways taking notes, and the cameras in the bed rooms. He glanced at the monitors patrolling the aisles in the dining area, too. This was one very paranoid facility. He needed to confirm that the camera in his room was not working, like he suspected. If the power had been out for six months fuel for generators was certain to be a luxury.
He hurried out to the bare dirt exercise yard, which he sarcastically named 'the garden' in his head. He was watching the doors from the other men's living quarters while trying to not appear to be starring straight at them. He manage to spot both Jacob and Rob coming out of separate doors. He meandered his way over near them and spoke quietly while watching the surrounding yard. “They will be watching. Keep a low profile. For us this is temporary. Stay cool.” Steve saw a slight sneer creep onto Rob's face
Rob responded with some choice expletives under his breath, while Jacob kept an intensely stoic look and merely repeated his previous admonition for patience. Steve and the other two men separately made their way closer to the fence toward the women's enclosure, but they still did not see either Tricia or Rebecca.
When he got back to his room, Steve got out his wash cloth and washed his face and hands with it. There was no soap available. He grimaced a bit realizing he would not likely be using it to wash his face again for a while. When he finished rinsing it out he wrung it out very hard, and started waving it in the air like he was trying to dry it. Then he started twirling it around and tossing it into the air like a spinning pizza crust. He was not being very skilled with his tossing it into the air and was scrambling to catch it. If the camera was working and the indicator lights on it were simply disabled he did not want his next move to be too obvious. After tossing the washcloth up high several times he had worked his way over toward the camera. His next toss landed it just right on top of the camera with one edge draped in front of the lens.
If any one was monitoring the cameras they would notice one was masked and would have to investigate. He had an explanation prepared for the accidental mask on the camera lens, even if they were not recording about what had happened. If no one came to investigate, his suspicions would be confirmed. He needed to be rested and alert for tomorrow, and there was nothing to do in his room so he laid down on his bed. He needed to make contact with his friends, he needed to learn more, and he needed to get them out of this place. His mind was spinning but he finally drifted off. One time in the night he wok up grimacing from having rolled onto his broken rib. As he was about to drift back off to sleep, he saw a very faint light from the hallway as a monitor silently eased his door open and then back closed.
The next day after breakfast he found Jacob and Rob in the court yard. He carefully acted aloof and quietly talked to them with out turning directly toward them. Steve mentioned a reallocation today so they might get assigned to different rooms or buildings. He also mentioned the stealthy bed check in the night. Rob was very quiet and sullen. Jacob reiterated his advice about being patient, but he surprised the two others when he said to them, “It appears our gracious rescuer was correct, about much more than we realized.” Steve was not sure about what precisely Jacob meant, but he had contemplated similar thoughts in the last twenty-four hours about Michael's cautions.
When Steve got back to his room he used his towel to knock the wash cloth off the camera, and put them both back in his drawer. Shortly after that a monitor stepped into his room without knocking. Steve was totally startled, but the monitor ignored that. He was told in a very matter of fact manner that there would be two men sharing this room with him for the next allocation cycle. Steve caught the overseer's attention. “I am very new here, and I wonder if you might explain the allocation cycle.”
The uniformed overseer answered in a crisp and rehearsed response. “Room assignments are changed monthly. It encourages more diverse friendships and support for community goals among the whole community and discourages the forming of exclusionary counterproductive relationships.”
That was just what Steve had guessed. It limited the ability of small groups to conspire together, it provided more opportunity for moles to ferret out anyone with a subversive attitude, and therefore it discouraged any non-compliant behavior since you never knew who was watching and listening. He also noticed that no mention was made of the camera having been covered. He needed to make contact with the ladies, and he needed to work out a way to get more contact with that Captain Shep. About an hour later two men in fresh institutional garb were brought to his room and introduced as Nick and Alex. They got their almost non-existent personal things put away in the chest of drawers and made their own beds with surprising efficiency. Steve observed that in spite of their attire being typical of those who had been in this facility longer, these two were in very good physical condition. They were also too alert, cheerful, and poised to have been subjected to months of being closely observed and confined to a painfully boring environment that was the normal environment for residence here.
After lunch Steve went quickly to the 'garden' courtyard to see if he could find the ladies. He passed Jacob and Rob separately and quietly mentioned “moles in my room” before continuing farther across the yard. When he got to the fence, he spotted Tricia clinging to the fence and scanning the men's yard. Without looking directly at her Steve spoke softly as he could hoping she would hear. “I see you. Tricia. Don't stare at me” Trisha gasped but kept her eyes steady. Steve put his hands in his pockets and turned parallel with the fence. “Are you two okay?”
“I am,” Tricia let go of the fence, “but, I haven't seen Rebecca.”
Steve was suddenly tense all over, which gave him a sharp reminder of his broken ribs. “We are being watched, all the time. You do the same. Keep a low profile. Cooperate. We'll get home.” Steve began to stroll along the fence with his head slightly down as he passed the spot in the fence where Tricia was standing. A few minutes later he passed near Rob. “Tricia is okay. Haven't seen Becky.” As he meandered around the courtyard he was able to tell Jacob. “Saw Tricia. Don't know about Becky.”
“Courage, my friend, and be careful with your ribs.” Jacob stooped down to retie his boot. Steve also stopped and tipped his head back and lifted his arms up over his head trying to breath more easily. While they were stopped a few feet apart Jacob said, “C 113. Two moles with me.”
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Post by kaijafon on Mar 30, 2017 17:02:58 GMT -6
are female moles called "molettes"? hehehe!
thanks so much for the more!
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Post by ydderf on Mar 30, 2017 19:50:33 GMT -6
Are the moles slow in the cold months like mole asses. :-)
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Post by misterjimbo on Mar 30, 2017 22:21:36 GMT -6
Thanks for keeping this story going.
I can't help but wonder why a controlling force would keep so many people 'prisoner' and so many soldiers occupied as watchers. This is wasteful of already short resources. The socialist/communist powers in charge should have had the mind to start farms and at least take advantage of the available 'slave' labor. Is this only a collection point and are they planning to ship the citizens out to other places in need of laborers?
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Post by pbbrown0 on Mar 30, 2017 22:32:38 GMT -6
Thanks for keeping this story going. I can't help but wonder why a controlling force would keep so many people 'prisoner' and so many soldiers occupied as watchers. This is wasteful of already short resources. The socialist/communist powers in charge should have had the mind to start farms and at least take advantage of the available 'slave' labor. Is this only a collection point and are they planning to ship the citizens out to other places in need of laborers? You are right about that, but...
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Post by pbbrown0 on Apr 1, 2017 23:02:59 GMT -6
OUT OF THE STUMP Post # 30
Steve received his work contribution assignment almost as soon as he got back to his room. He was going to be working in the serving line for the evening meal. He mentioned to the overseer that he did not have a watch, and Nick volunteered to let him know when it was time to head to the dining area for his assignment. Nick had a similar assignment and Alex would be going earlier to help with the food preparation. The food on the menu was identical to the night before. With a change in the crew assignments the servers were all given tediously repetitive instructions for making sure the serving sizes were uniform and accurate. By getting there a few minutes early Steve was able to catch glimpses of the food preparation which went almost exactly like he has suspected. He also noticed that the bank of industrial ovens and stoves which looked like they had never been used. He somehow guessed the same was true for the rows of industrial sized refrigerators.
He was working the serving line three times a day, but others had the clean up jobs so he was able to get out to the court yard and watch for Becky. Tricia was cautiously shaking her head or shrugging her shoulders indicating she still had not seen Rebecca. It was their fourth day there when Rebecca finally appeared. She was facing along the length of the fence when Jacob spotted her. He communicated their concerns over not having seen her, but she only replied that she had needed to adjust her attitude. Jacob passed along the same message that Steve had given Tricia. When Jacob got word to Steve and Rob, they were all three stoically trying to controlling their reactions.
Steve began walking around the perimeter of the fence to keep calm. At first he was walking fast, and before long he was jogging. It was not easy to do with his ribs so sore, but he forced himself to breathe slow and deep in spite of the pain. He had to use a totally different gait than he was accustomed to when jogging so he was not jarring his rib cage with every footfall. His mind was churning over their being trapped here and worrying about what might have happened to Becky. He was stopping fairly frequently from getting winded since he was not letting himself breath like he normally would when running. In his first lap around the perimeter of the men's garden he spotted Becky and stopped by the fence, holding her gaze for a few seconds before nodding to her. Then she turned slightly and began walking away from the fence. As he continued circling the yard he began observing more outside the courtyard. He needed to learn more if he was going to find a way out.
Each of the 'gardens' was roughly one acre in size. At the corners of the fences were guard towers, and he could see sentries inside them. There were also several guards on the ground keeping somewhat near the fenced perimeters. Outside the fenced areas there was a perimeter of about seventy-five yards covered with various wild grasses. Beyond that they were surrounded by woods. The corridor between the two gardens was gated at the outside and the road from the gate continued to the west into the woods. He noticed a cluster of picnic type tables outside the fence and several yards down the side of Building A with staff in various uniforms lounging around. There was no break in the fence so there must be an exit door out the side of that building near the door to the dining hall.
It occurred to him that if he bent over with his hands on his knees, exaggerating the fact that he was out of breath or leaned his head back with his arms resting on top of his head, it would mask the fact that he was stopping to look more carefully at something that needed closer observation. The bending and stretching was painful when he tried these moves, so he learned to move much more slowly into these new positions. One thing he noticed was that farther away from the fenced garden area buildings A, B, C, and D seemed to be joined together. There must be access to those connections through a door or doors near the restrooms that were not obviously marked to indicate that.
Steve decide he needed to make a practice of jogging the perimeter of the fence, at least that of the men's garden, at every break time. It gave him opportunities to study the facility without appearing to be focused on it. He was also determined to not get out of shape while his ribs were trying to heal. He encouraged Jacob and Rob to not get soft as they were being patient, and to observe even more diligently than they were being observed. During his periodic stops during these after meal breaks (actually they were breaks from the boredom) he was able to see patterns among the other residents and the guards. There were a few guard towers overlooking the fenced gardens, but there was apparently only one guard per tower to watch both the residents in the garden and the perimeter of the facility. Whenever a man and a woman approached each other to talk across the corridor between them they drew an inordinate amount of attention from the guards. It was almost like there was a paranoid mindset about preventing 'inmates' from conspiring together. He also noticed that while there were a few adolescent and teen aged boys in the men's garden, all of the younger boys were in the women's garden. Rather than congregating with other's their own age as some might expect the youngsters in each garden seemed to be staying close to a parent.
More than once in the days that followed Steve used that stopping ploy to get a look at Tricia and Becky to see if he could get a better idea of how they were getting along. Tricia seemed to be okay, but her demeanor was a concern. She seemed very tense and was gazing off at nothing as if she was somewhere else and disconnected from the present surroundings. Becky on the other hand seemed alert, but very reserved. Steve would try to smile at her occasionally, but she was careful not to turn toward him. While she clearly looked at him with her eyes, her expression showed no reaction that he could read. One day when he was jogging up from behind her where she did not see him coming he saw some old bruises on the left side of her face. He could see even from this distance the remnants of stitches in the midst of her bruises. He thought back and realized that until this time she had always been facing where he could only see the right side of her face. As he continued to run the perimeter his mind was racing. He had to find a way out of here. He had to get his friends to safety. Suddenly he felt a hand tap his arm as he ran past. He glanced around and slowed to a stop realized he had been racing physically as well. As he was bent over recovering his breath through gritted teeth, he heard a familiar voice speaking quietly nearby.”
“Slow down, my friend. Remember, subtlety. It was the tortoise who won the race, not the hare.”
As he straightened back up he saw Jacob nearby on his side away from the fence, walking away from him. He turned back slightly in the direction of where he had been running and saw Rob turned away from him casually leaning against a fence post. Steve cringed realizing he had possibly drawn attention to himself immediately after passing Becky. He was grateful to have friends looking out for him.
Steve's roommates had been gradually trying to get more friendly, talking about themselves and trying to get Steve to open up to them about himself. They did not even realize they were showing their unusual level of comradery in the hallway on their way to their work assignments. At least in public areas most of the residents were much more subdued in their interactions with others. Steve was dancing around in his conversations with them to seem amiable, but still keeping his cards close to the vest. He was certain the stories they were telling him of their backgrounds were fictional ones that someone had created for them to learn.
At the evening meal, after Steve had noticed Becky's face, he went to take his position at the serving line. The supervisor seemed agitated and called all the servers together to give them new instructions before the meal. The menu had not changed with essentially the same three meals being served day after day. This night however there were new instructions for reducing the size of the portions served. The supervisor went over the new, reduced portions repeatedly. The next morning he repeated his instructions about serving sizes for breakfast and again for lunch that day. Steve was sensing a tension among the kitchen supervisors that was mirrored by his two new roommates. The residents coming through the line would sometimes look up at the servers with frustration. If anyone started to say anything about the smaller portions, someone else in line would quickly shush them. When Steve returned from the garden after the lunchtime break, he went to the showers after his run. When he returned to his room his two roommates seemed to be talking intently when he entered the room and stopped immediately when he walked in.
Steve laid down on his bed looking up at the ceiling. “You know, guys, I haven't told you much about myself, but I was in college working on a graduate degree in anthropology when things suddenly fell apart last fall. We Americans have some cultural attitudes that are probably considered unusual in many other countries. We have these unusual notions that the authorities who make policy decisions still owe an explanation to the common people about the decisions they make. Take for example the food portions being changed. If those responsible offer an understandable, well crafted explanation for why that decision was made, people may be placated. However if those in charge simply make a decision like that without an explanation, people here will start getting anxious and imagine all kinds of malicious intent on the part of those in charge. It is a cultural quirk, but it can cause a lot of headaches for managers that don't understand it. I just wish I could talk to someone in authority so I could explain this to them and help them avoid a lot of unwanted agitation and morale issues among the residents here.”
Steve was trying so hard not to laugh at himself for being about as subtle as a sledge hammer. He wanted to roll away from his roommates to hide his smirk, but he did not want to aggravate his ribs. He needed to make contact with Shep as soon as possible. He needed more information, and he also had to try to do something about Becky. He was also worried about the growing level of tension in the facility and what might be coming next. That evening there was more tension in the dining hall among the residents. At breakfast the next morning and again at lunch time the tension was building. There was actually one fight that broke out at lunch which was dealt with rather brutally by the overseers. Toward the end of the evening meal, two guards, not wearing the same uniforms as the overseers, entered the dining hall and found Steve and then escorted him out of the room. Steve noticed that rather than the dining hall growing quiet when everyone stopped to watch his unusual exit, there was more of a tense rumble in the room. They walked him toward the showers. As they neared the showers they stopped and then through a door near the end of the hallway that looked just like all the doors to the sleeping rooms. On the other side of this door however was another corridor. They proceeded through a maze of hallways and corridors until he ended up in an office where Captain Shep was sitting with his back to the door. After the two sentries or guards left the room, Steve could not keep the slight grin off his face. Captain Shep turned around and saw Steve's smirk, then shook his head.
“Okay, you are a clever man, and yes, you may be of some help to us in more ways than I thought. I am responsible for security here. That means protecting this facility from outside threats, but also protecting it from inside threats. You appear to have some insights about those inside threats. Talk to me.”
“Well on the surface it is pretty simple.” Steve began. “Of course, I don't know about any conspiring taking place regarding insurrection. I merely understand the mindset, and how these people are likely to respond to some circumstances. Whoever is in charge of the food service suddenly and quite noticeably took something away from everyone without giving any explanation. The regular portions of food were something the people had come to expect. It was something they felt they were entitled to have as part of the unspoken social contract between the authorities and the people. What was taken away was not merely a reduction of privileges like free time in the courtyard. It was a reduction in their food supply. That is a fundamental element of their basic needs for survival. That significantly intensified and accelerated their agitation over the change, and their concerns were intensified by the lack of explanation. It provoked a lot of anxiety and and even paranoia about the unknown. Essentially you not only infringed on the assumed terms of the social contract; you, that is whoever made the decision, seriously violated that contract. Unless someone fixes that 'mistake' you are going to be facing continued troubles, rather than submissive acceptance.”
“There are expectations that incidents such as the one at noon in your dining hall should be dealt with harshly to deter future incidents.” Shep was being calm, and sounded as if he was very carefully choosing his words. “There are also defined protocols for escalating the response if further incidents occur. Having listened to you I am thinking that those responses would not only be distasteful but ineffective or even counter productive. Do you realistically think you can help me avoid the need to follow those protocols?”
Steve suddenly saw Shep in a different light. This was a man trapped in a bad situation who did not like the parameters he had been given for accomplishing his job. He was also smart enough to know if he did not do his job the way it was defined for him, someone else with less moral conviction would be assigned to do the job.
“Captain Shep, I caught a glimpse of those protocols this morning. I am still experiencing the effects of those protocols. I recently saw more evidence of ... seriously distasteful protocols as well. What happened today in the dining hall was just a reminder of how distasteful those protocols can become. If I am going to help you find a way to calm things down, I first need your help with those distasteful matters that are very important to me. Then I need you to help me understand what is behind this change.” Steve waited to let that statement sink in. “If you give everyone an explanation for cutting rations that is obviously fabricated or that they find threatening, that could turn out worse than not giving them a reason at all. If you want my help, then you need to be straight with me. Why were the food rations cut so radically?” Shep looked at Steve for a while before answering. “Our monthly food delivery was significantly short on quantities.” He sat there with a poker face not saying more.
Steve kept waiting for the other shoe to drop and finally realized that was not going to happen. The information provided was just about the sum of what Captain Shep knew, and in spite of the poker face he was trying to present. There was strain in his voice. It was the same kind of strain he had heard in the voices of his roommates. The stilted way he worded the answer also showed that he was disturbed about the situation. Steve decided to continue. “So, being a military man who thinks about strategies, tactics, and logistics you are faced with unanswered questions. Why was this delivery so much less than expected? If an excuse was given for those shortages, is that the real reason, or is there another reason they are not telling? To the point, what is the real reason for the shortage, and even more important is the question of what can you do about it?”
Shep was still staring, and Steve was waiting for a response which still wasn't coming. Steve was trying to size up his opponent. Why was he not talking? Was he just being cautious? Was he afraid of tipping his hand with information that Steve could exploit? Maybe, and maybe not. Shep had brought Steve to his office to see how Steve might be of help. Shep was looking for help, or he would not have bothered to do that. Was he merely testing to see if Steve was clever enough to be of real use to him? No, this went beyond Shep merely having questions regarding the logistical or tactical puzzle of the supply lines. Steve realized that he had real concern about the situation. The supervisors in the kitchen and even the moles placed in his room were already worried, too. Shep's silence was due to his uncertainties. He was probably trained in combat, or more likely in his position his training was focused on security tactics. There were many others in Shep's military structure who carried the responsibility for logistics. This facility was now facing a survival issue. Captain Shep was facing an enemy he had not been trained to fight. Steve's concern now was how bad this problem might get before Steve could find a way to get his friends out? Then two old adages came to him. 'Knowledge is power. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.'
“Captain Shep, my studies and interests in anthropology have taken me to unexpected places and I have learned quite a lot about how different peoples managed to adapt and survive or failed to survive in a changing world. I think I can offer you some real help in that regard rather than merely helping you placate the detainees, but I will need more information to be of real help. I need you to provide me with situational intelligence if I am going to be able to help craft some relief for our situation. Where are we? Tell me about our surroundings. Tell me what is really happening outside this facility.”
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Post by papaof2 on Apr 1, 2017 23:35:50 GMT -6
You do have the Captain's response queued for publication within the hour? ;-)
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Post by kaijafon on Apr 2, 2017 10:22:14 GMT -6
Thank you! this is giving me much food for thought!
I keep picturing this facility "merging" into a functional camp where all work together to survive. For example, I keep thinking Shep is in this assignment due to upsetting someone 'higher up' and therefore he doesn't know why they received less supplies. And therefore will work to make sure all survive under his authority.
Then I take off my rose colored glasses and realize that these people who have taken over may just want all Americans dead so they can bring their own people over and benefit from the resources. This is what literally has happened before here in this country.
To destroy a group of people, first make everyone believe they are not 'really human', then you can destroy them.
Thank you for the story!
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Post by pbbrown0 on Apr 5, 2017 12:51:05 GMT -6
OUT OF THE STUMP Post # 31
“You are totally in the dark, aren't you?” Captain Shep smirked and shook his head. “Well at least that is one element of the plans for this place that is still working the way it was originally intended to work. At least that is what your Director Westfield has told us.” Shep took a deep breath before continuing. “We are on an island in the river. This facility was built by your own emergency management agency in the middle of a restricted game preserve so it would be hidden from inquisitive eyes. I am guessing it's location also provided some perceived advantages for a variety of possible scenarios for which it might be utilized. Knowing how many bureaucracies work, the original concept for why this facility might be needed is probably not how it was being seen by the time the work on it was finished. There is an old joke that a camel is the result of a horse being created by a committee. The area in the center of this island was basically woodland. They chose this location so the facility could be built and stay hidden from outside observers. Outside of the wooded area, most of the island is covered in grasses or other low lying vegetation. That makes it easy to spot any unwanted visitors trying to enter, or residents who might make unauthorized attempts to leave. There is only one narrow bridge connecting us to one side of the river, which greatly enhances our ability to control who enters or leaves, including you and your friends, Mr. Boone.” Captain Shep gave Steve a bit of a smirk.
“I don't think there is actually that much wildlife on the island unless you count bugs and water birds. What wildlife there may have been seems to have been driven off or worse during the construction of this facility. The designation as a wildlife preserve seems to have been merely a tool to deflect curiosity. I think the cleared space inside the trees surrounding the buildings was an afterthought rather than part of the original design. What the designers and builders of this facility failed to plan for is the fact that we have no electricity and no heating fuel so we cannot even cook our food. There are emergency generators, but we are out of diesel fuel to run them. We have our two troop carriers with very little fuel left for them and now your friend's vehicle with an almost full tank. Fortunately the water system is fed by a reservoir at a higher elevation that served this whole area, so water pumps have not been necessary.”
“As for what is happening out there; it is chaos on multiple levels. The supply lines that failed in the early weeks were replaced by ad hoc supply lines, provided by your government or by those of us who so generously came to your aid.” There was an edge of sarcasm in Shep's voice that surprised Steve. His stiff no nonsense military veneer was loosing some of it's polish. Steve wondered if this cynicism was a long standing attitude, or if it was developing out of the stress of recent developments. “The inadequacy of those tactical supply lines is demonstrated by our having this discussion right now. My government originally thought there would be a huge opportunity here to initially provide help, and then to exploit the weaknesses presented by the circumstances. They, along with several other countries, sent some temporary resources and not so temporary troops, to aid your government, and to insinuate themselves into your country's affairs. They were not the only fools to underestimate the problems that were to develop. Leaders from many countries, including your own, failed to anticipate certain events and badly miscalculated the cascading effects. Now it seems, at least in the place I once called home, that those in charge are deciding to shift their focus much more onto their own domestic problems than on supporting the efforts of those they sent over here to exploit your problems.
The larger cities here are like war zones but the battles are not over territory. The fighting is fundamentally about gaining or keeping access to food and essential supplies. In those war zones, virtually everyone is loosing, either rapidly or slowly, contrary to their attempts to prove otherwise to themselves. Even those who win the battles and skirmishes find themselves facing other battles that cannot be won with guns. In the outlying areas, it is what I think you would call no man's land. In our facility here we are on the frontier between the war zone and no man's land. Our nearest superiors are so focused on the troubles in the cities that our support from them is fading. We are dependent on supplies from our larger units located in the cities, while we are responsible for holding the frontier border in place. You say your studies were in anthropology? How much do you remember about the collapse of the bronze age in the areas surrounding the eastern Mediterranean?” Captain Shep surprised Steve with that question.
Steve thought for a few seconds before answering. “There were nine or ten thriving civilizations that surrounded the Adriatic and eastern Mediterranean seas Apparently all of them collapsed within a single generation, and out of all of them only Egypt recovered. Even then Egypt, once it began recovering, was a mere shadow of its former glory. Over the last two centuries our so called academic experts have been egotistical fools in trying to explain why that all happened so quickly. Every time an archaeologist or antiquities historian dug up some new evidence from that period, that discovery, in their mind at least, suddenly becomes the single key for a new theory about the root cause of every problem that followed. The way I see it with so many problems coming so close together it was to be expected that recovery of a culture or empire would be problematic. The other factor was that all of these empires with their somewhat unique cultures were all interconnected with circular trading of goods. each one of them has a small cluster of goods in which they specialized that several other civilizations or kingdoms needed. When one failed and the goods it produced were no longer available it caused complicated stresses on the culture, the politics and even the religious belief systems of their trading partners. As an anthropologist I am aware that the belief system of a culture is more than just a collection of myths and legends. It is more like the map of reality people have for making sense of the world around them. If that map no longer seems to fit reality after a major disruption, they no longer feel confident in their choices or expectation. Their assumptions and basis for making decisions are stripped away. They loose their emotional anchors and become driven by fear and desperation."
“I agree. That was well said. I am glad to see you are not one of those youthful academics with a very narrow perspective. One of the oldest arguments was that the major technological advance of being able to create iron weapons versus the bronze weapons disrupted the balance of power among competing empires. In my own training in military science, most of the teachers tried to convince us that was the primary cause for the collapse of the bronze age. The problem I saw was that the facts did not support that theory. That is why I pursued my own study of that period of sudden and massive change. The academics all touted their simplistic theories about the collapse being caused by breakdown in trade between empires, or by invasions between empires, or by invasions from unknown outside armies with radically different battle techniques. That was another one the military historians loved to taut. Other experts pointed to a chain of earthquakes hitting multiple centers of commerce, or speculated about an extreme imbalance in social and economic classes of people resulting in discontent and social breakdown. More recently there were those who pointed to scattered references and scientific data indicating there were droughts during that period and fabricated scenarios blaming famines for the collapse.”
“The truth is there were many factors including all those I mentioned and more, that all converged in a short span of time causing everything and everyone to collapse very quickly. When one looks at how many factors coincidentally converged at that nexus of time and location, it is almost enough to make you wonder if the Hebrews were correct about it being a case of divine intervention in the history of civilization. What followed was a period of almost two hundred years before there was evidence of another civilization of any enduring substance beginning to arise from the rubble.”
Steve almost felt for a minute or two that he had been transported back into graduate school seminar being quizzed and lectured by one of his professors. Actually, Shep looked closer to the age of some of his professors than what Steve would have expected for most captains. “If you don't mind, Captain, why are we discussing the bronze age collapse? I will admit it is less boring than laying on my bed and staring at the ceiling, but I thought we were talking about some pressing problems here today.”
“You said you were an anthropologist, Mr. Boone, and that you had learned how people have adapted to changes in the world around them. I needed to see if you were an educated thinker or just another clever ... what is the term? Bull-shiter? The way I see it, our current situation is very similar to the bronze age collapse. The worst of it seems to have hit this country, but the effects, just like in the bronze age, are cascading into the empires all around yours and threatening all of them.”
Steve was trying to understand what Shep was telling him, but his mind was reeling with the overload of too many speculative scenarios about what happened several thousand years ago being bundled together as one and applied to current events. “Captain, forgive me for not taking all this in as a mere academic exercise. This is my country you are talking about and I am struggling to grasp what you are saying here. Up until now the only facts I had were that I got caught in a blizzard, and that buy the time I got back to a town the world as I knew it had changed. Before I could find out what had really happened, I and my friends were incarcerated in a prison camp. I am trying to find a way to improve the situation for my friends and fellow Americans in this place, which it would seem might also benefit you, However, I am not willing to gain a little short term comfort at the cost of worsening the long term problems. Can you give me something more concrete I can work with to help me understand what actually happened and how it came about?”
Shep took a deep breath and held it for a second before exhaling. “It was a very complex collection of events. Generally speaking most people only know bits and pieces of what happened where. My superiors were able to put together an intelligence briefing for the officers before we were sent awa ... over here. That complexity is a reflection of the root weakness and a major factor in the collapse that followed. Too many elements in our very complex civilized structure had been stretched too far, and there were too many inter-dependencies. It is like your expression 'a house of cards' that fell when someone bumped the table. What was not understood by your leaders was how much the tenacity of those cards had depended on the confidence of your people.”
“I'm sorry, Captain. You are still discussing notional concepts. I am having trouble understanding how a power outage from a blizzard could cause the collapse of my country. That simply does not make sense. We have problems like that happen before. Even when the outage hits a larger area, there are preparations that have been made in advance and resources that are marshaled to address the problems fairly quickly.”
“Okay, Steve, let me see if I can pull together enough pieces of what happened to help you. First, before the blizzard, there was a relatively minor earthquake that went unnoticed by most and drew very little attention because the damage that it caused was hidden underground. Very few people, even in your own government are aware of that event and how it contributed to the problems that followed. Then that blizzard came through causing some temporary transportation disruptions and also some otherwise manageable power outages. The severity and expanse of the blizzard caused unfortunate delays in the restoration of normal functions over a fairly wide area. Next in rapid succession there was a sequence of fairly large earthquakes in areas that were seriously unprepared for them, so the damage they caused was much greater and more difficult to handle than it might have been if they had occurred in other locations. The damage from those earthquakes coupled with the power outage caused by the blizzard apparently created a perfect storm of coincidences that collapsed both some fail safe control systems and the power system itself for many of the more populated areas of your country. Suddenly about a third of your population was without power. These disasters also disrupted supply line infrastructure that had been built without considering the possible earthquake risks. Your government's emergency preparations were challenged by the unexpected scope of problems, but also by the disruption of many of the systems they had assumed would be intact to facilitate responding to these disasters.”
“Think of it like this. Imagine a fire department in a large city that has made special preparations in case a fire occurs in a very tall building. Then, instead of one big fire at a time, imagine there were several large fires at once and they were all in large tall buildings. The combination of fires in several of the high buildings meant the fire department is going to struggle with where to focus their resources, and they will also struggle with maintaining adequate water pressure in the fire hoses needed at those heights in multiple locations.”
“There were also issues about getting adequate information to the public regarding the causes of the multiple crises. The combination of factors of prolonged power outages, disrupted supply lines, and the harsh winter weather impacted the ability to deliver food and fuel to a massive number of people for too long. The various crises lead to panic and violence in some major cities. Your leaders apparently miss-gauged the reaction of you Americans and tried to clamp down on the information available thinking to prevent the spread of panic and violence. That backfired on them. Just enough information leaked out to scare people without enough information to reassure them. Markets were going insane, banks were teetering, business did not know how to react, The public knew several damaging and disruptive disasters had taken place, but without adequate information, their fears and imaginations were lacking an anchor point to hold them in check. Then your government clamped down hard on the wide spread violence and looting. They tried to implement the same constraints and solutions everywhere. In addition to spreading your domestic resources too thin, that lead to outrage in many areas that had been unaffected before the clamp down. “ “Apparently the panic was infecting your leaders at the top as well as the people on the streets. The outrage of the people on top of the other problems must have been the tipping point for your leaders. Hasty and poorly planned arrangements were made outside of the public view to get help from outside your borders to supplement your domestic resources. Arrogantly opportunistic leaders everywhere followed their greed instead of keeping their heads. Their judgment was clouded, and they made decisions that underestimated the problems and overlooked the intricate inter-dependencies of the global economy. The help they sent here is now threatened by the same vortex that was originally threatening only your own country's stability. Before this chain of events my country had very little economic trade with your country, but our own trading partners were also trading partners of yours. Without revenue from trade with you, they could not buy from us. Just like the system within your own country, the global economy had become thoroughly interdependent. If one card falls they all fall.”
Steve was stunned. It was like he was reviewing a synopsis of an epic transition point in history, only this tale was not about ancient history. It was about the last six months of current events. This tale was elevating the domino effect to a whole new level. It still seemed like there were too many pieces missing for him to make sense of all of it. He looked at Captain Shep and asked, “So who is in control right now? What is being done to sort things out here?”
Shep looked pensively back at Steve and said, “As I said before chaos seems be a wide spread problem. To the best of my knowledge the answer to both those questions depends on where you are standing and who you are asking. The answer for you sitting right here is that locally, and for the moment, an emergency management director, Brett Westfield, that was previously designated by your government is officially in charge of this facility. So far he has been calling the shots and deciding the protocols. It seemed expedient to me accept that for the moment, as the original objectives assigned to me were to appear supportive and gather information. With the support from my own country and your own government fading for this facility he and I are now trying, separately, to determine who is most likely to exercise the most authority and support for this facility in the near future.”
Steve sat there pondering the information that Shep was providing, and he was also reading between the lines sorting through the implications. He finally remembered his need to focus his attention on the immediate rather than the academic, however, so he pulled himself out of his reverie. “You said we cannot even cook our food? Does that mean we have food we are not using for that reason?”
“That has not been my area of responsibility, but I had understood at one point that we have some supplies like dried beans, rice, flour, grains, and potatoes that the cooks say cannot be used because the stoves and ovens don't work. They have been using dehydrated potatoes, powdered eggs, and powdered milk that could be re-hydrated by merely stirring in water along with canned meats, and dried fruit. We were getting scheduled shipments of foods, but those were becoming more irregular as to what was included. This last shipment was quite simply short on quantities. At least that is what I have been told. As this problem has persisted and worsened, the quality information shared among the leaders here has diminished almost as much as it has between us and our support organizations. The official explanation for the reduction in the last delivery was fuel shortages delaying distribution. Of course fuel shortages could have complex causes, and they can vary in degrees. The core problem for us is that there is not enough usable food to last until the next anticipated delivery. I also have my doubts concerning how reliable that next delivery will be.”
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Post by papaof2 on Apr 5, 2017 13:27:53 GMT -6
Most campers can cook without electricity or gas (natural or LP).
The area around the facility was cleared of trees. Does that mean that there is dry wood available for splitting?
Do Steve and company now teach the cooks about wood-fired cooking or do they wind up doing it? Either allows for many options.
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Post by ydderf on Apr 6, 2017 21:34:47 GMT -6
Is there enough sunshine and aluminum foil to make solar ovens?
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Post by pbbrown0 on Apr 8, 2017 8:52:26 GMT -6
OUT OF THE STUMP Post # 32
“I'm sorry if this sounds harsh, Captain Shep, but this is just unbelievable. I told you I had learned a number of things about how people manage to survive. Apparently there are some people in authority here that would not have a chance to survive without minions catering to them. The most basic rule of survival is “ Adapt !”. I need you to show me what food supplies we do have, usable or not. I need to talk to some people on your maintenance crews, to see what we might do to convert those stoves to burning wood. There may even be some residents with skills that could help with that. Even if that is not possible, we could cook over campfires outside. Don't you realize you have trees all around this area that can be used as fuel for cooking. By the way, how did you manage to even survive the winter without electricity or gas?”
Shep was bristling at Steve's implications.“You need to understand that I am not as foolish as I might appear to you, Mr. Boone. As a military officer with battle experience, I know it is foolish to engage an enemy at every point of contact. To assure victory and minimize losses to your own men you must gauge your enemy's positions and measure their strengths to avoid rushing into the jaws of a tiger. My men know how to cook over a fire pit when separated from their support systems. They also know when it is better to forego any fire, rather than alert the enemy to your position. Our unit was sent here under the guise of offering help to your government in quelling the violence that was out of control. Our real purpose was to gather intelligence about your operations. We did not realize how little intelligence we would find among your leaders, but even a dumb beast can be dangerous.” Shep took a moment to slow his breathing and compose himself.
“Remember what I said about a horse being designed by a committee? It appears that those who built this facility had a large liquid gas tank installed and assumed that it could be refilled at any time if the facility was needed for extended use. That fuel actually lasted almost two months. With even a little foresight it could have lasted much longer. Instead it was used up quickly, just as the diesel for the armored carriers was used up scurrying around to gather survivors into this facility. When the fuel was virtually gone everyone was quartered in the dining halls to conserve body heat. Eventually the people were told the weather was warm enough that they could now be dispersed to their sleeping quarters. There were many days after the gas was used up when my men were actually more comfortable outside, because they could build a fire. Of course it had to be kept out of sight of the residents to avoid increasing the already serious tensions. That has not helped my men get over their suspicions that Americans are not really as intelligent as they are supposed to be.” There was still an edge of sarcasm in Shep's voice as he ended.
“Captain Shep, I apologize for offending you. Please understand I am angry at the incompetence of my own so called leaders. It seems at times that our culture encourages brain atrophy, but not all of us are brain dead, yet. I need to know more about this island. How large is it? What kind of soil does it have? I need to know more about the situation in the immediate area on either side of the river. How much of the area have your men explored and what have they found? Can we get to the mainland on the side of the river that does not have the bridge? What resources are left in nearby towns that we can utilize?” Steve's brain was suddenly spinning up into the kinds of adaptations Michael had implemented to make the Haven self sustaining.
Shep gave Steve another blank poker player face for about half a minute before answering. ”I am responsible for security at this facility both from the outside and from within. If I show you restricted areas and provide you with information about the capabilities of our facility, the size of our island, and the status of surrounding areas, that information could undermine our security for this facility. Just because I am willing to accept help from you in exchange for minor favors does not mean I can afford to trust you. If you find an opportunity and means to escape, I have no doubt a resourceful person like you will try to exploit that opportunity and quickly forget any favors we might have exchanged. An event like that would only serve to weaken my position within this facility. My position and hence my needs, my opportunities, and my ability to protect my men in the midst of our ... opponents depend on no one getting in or out of this place without proper authority. I will not jeopardize the safety of my men by offering you every piece of information I hold.”
“Captain Shep, I respect your diligence and – your perceptiveness on that point. Perhaps you should reassess your situation. When you refer to your position, opportunities, and future I am assuming that is a reference to the control and support you receive from your superiors as well as support from my government for your activities. I am afraid we both need to consider our common circumstances and common needs while still remembering our, um ... differing motivations. Remember you, yourself said that support from your normal chain of command was disappearing and the future looked doubtful. That would also seem to apply to the support being received by Director Westfield. As for exchanging minor favors, please consider this, also. With a group of people as large as this one, famine, or hunger, is like one of the four horsemen of the apocalypse. If there is too little food, people will get discontented, but they will also get weak and eventually get sick. Yes, those who are weaker may get sick sooner. They may even die, however their deaths do not, as some callus leaders might think, improve the circumstances of those remaining by simply reducing the number of mouths to feed.”
“With larger numbers of people in close quarters, like in this facility, anyone who gets sick acts as a host or incubator cultivating a larger concentration of germs or viruses. That concentrated presence increases the probabilities of other stronger individuals also contracting the disease. Their system's defenses will be overcome by the proximity and concentration of disease carriers. That is just a fundamental principle of epidemiology. The lowered and unbalanced nutrition now being fed to everyone here means that everyone's immune systems will be weakened. That includes, yours, mine, and even the director or whoever else it is that is in charge of this facility. You said you are accountable for the security functions here. Someone must be held accountable for the over all level of functioning of this facility, including how many staff and residents die of disease. If we do nothing but continue to rely on dwindling support from the outside, we'll all be caught up in an untenable deteriorating situation. Once that deterioration reaches a tipping point it would take extreme intervention to change the course of events. Changes are needed quickly, while we still have time to prevent a local disaster within this facility. ”
“Captain Shep, I want to say this carefully. I respect your abilities, and I would prefer to avoid situations where you and I might find ourselves at crossed purposes to each other. Perhaps while we work to make our survival less dependent on untrustworthy providers, we should also explore ways to work together for our common benefit, and avoid situations in which our divergent goals might put the two of us in direct conflict.” Steve's face was nothing like a poker face at this point.
Shep swiveled in his chair so he was facing away from Steve without speaking for at least a full a minute. This reaction puzzled Steve, and without seeing his face he could not pick up any clues as to what Shep was thinking. Finally Shep turned around and spoke. “Steve, How confident are you that you can really help with changing this developing situation? I need you to be straight with me.”
“Captain Shep, you and I are both in situations neither of us like. I have gained some knowledge that I believe can help this place become self sustaining, even if supplies from the outside are cut off completely. If you can find a way to convince whoever is in charge to let you make the necessary operational changes, I am confident we can make this happen. In the mean time I, rather we need to spread the word that the rationing is temporary and solutions are being pushed forward, so the attention and resources of this facility can be focused on improving our situation rather than being focused on foolish self destruction. I will work to help you, – but I also will need help from you, as I said before.”
“Mr. Boone, do not be alarmed, though you would be wise to appear alarmed, when your schedule becomes completely disrupted tomorrow. Your little group are latecomers to our facility and as such you have drawn special attention from some of the staff. Regrettably, it has come to my attention that your podruga is drawing too much attention from certain overseers who are also becoming more anxious about our circumstances. Just so you will understand the overseers are not my direct subordinates. I need to intervene quickly on her behalf without giving the appearance of inappropriate intervention. You, and she, will need to be interrogated at length regarding … security concerns, and I will use that ruse if necessary to justify bringing others from your group into the interrogations which I will personally supervise.” Captain Shep paused then suddenly stood up as he shouted at the door. “Enough! Light Sergeant!”
The door to his office burst open and one the the guards that had escorted Steve to Shep's office rushed in. “Take this man back to his quarters! I've wasted enough time with him today!”
The guard grabbed Steve by the arm and dragged him out of the office. As they got to the outer room the other guard grabbed his other arm and they took him back to his quarters. When they got there, they roughly shoved him through the door and he stumbled into his room, where Nick and Alex were relaxing on their beds. No one spoke a word.
The next morning when Steve was getting ready to serve breakfast the supervisor once again walked the serving line reminding those who were helping to limit the serving sizes as on the previous days. When he had passed on down the line with this admonitions about serving portions the man next to Steve whispered, “What is going on? Are they trying to starve everyone?”
Steve whispered back under his breath, “This is only temporary. The administrators are pushing for a solution to the problem. Everyone needs to keep calm.”
When Steve got to the garden after the meal he made contact with Jacob and Rob. “It's too complicated to explain now. Help spread the word that the food shortage is only temporary. A solution is coming.” Steve wandered over to a small cluster of residents who were mostly dressed in street clothes. “I just heard that our keepers are not too happy about the food rations. They're working on a solution.”
“Oh yeah? Where did you hear that? “
“I was about to leave my room and I heard two hall monitors talking at a shift change. I stopped with the door barely cracked so I could listen without them seeing me.”
“You're new here, aren't you?” How do we know you're not a stooge?”
As they were talking two guards had entered the garden area and began heading toward Steve. When they reached him one had a collapsible baton extended and the other quickly handcuffed Steve's hands behind him, eliciting a gasp and grimace from Steve. “We have orders to take you to interrogation.”
Steve's eyes got big, and the small group of residents backed away seeing the apparent fear in Steve's eyes. The garden was suddenly silent as everyone turned to watch this newcomer being handcuffed and dragged out of their presence. He was taken to an interrogation room with a large one way window and shackled to the table. Soon the interrogator he had met on his first day entered the room. What followed was extremely frustrating for the interrogator. Steve was being questioned about his past,, his activities before and after the blackout, his activities since arriving at the facility, his intentions for the future, and on and on. At first every question posed to Steve was met with a blank stare. Again and again the interrogator would ask an array of questions with the same results. He would try to act nonchalant about Steve's lack of cooperation. He reminded Steve that this was his job and he would be able to continue this questioning all day. He even tried explaining to Steve that it was in Steve's best interest to cooperate and answer the questions. Finally he resorted to threats about having ways to force Steve to talk. Steve continued to act deaf and dumb. Finally the interrogator left the room.
When the interrogator finally returned, Steve decided to change the nature of the interrogation. Every time he was asked a question, Steve responded with a non-sequitur question of his own about the interrogator. Steve asked questions about the interrogators uniform, about what his daily routine was like, about what he had for breakfast two days ago, and about what he did for entertainment at the end of the day. He asked where he came from, what he liked most about being away from home, and how long he was going to be stuck here before going home. While his questions were non-sequitur as far as what the interrogator had been asking Steve, his questions were not really random. He was deliberately picking at the interrogator where he lived. The questions from Steve were chipping away at the focus on Steve, and his interrogator was somewhat distracted from the fact that Steve was being totally uncooperative.
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Post by papaof2 on Apr 8, 2017 9:51:53 GMT -6
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Post by dallanta on Apr 10, 2017 7:54:22 GMT -6
Love your story!
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Post by pbbrown0 on Apr 12, 2017 15:25:57 GMT -6
OUT OF THE STUMP Post # 33
At the beginning of the lunch period in one of the women's dining halls, two male guards entered the room and began looking around. Things got very quiet there and almost everyone stopped in place. After looking around for a few minutes they left. Soon this scenario was repeated in another of the women's dining halls. Then one of the guards spotted Rebecca in line waiting to get a tray and conferred with the other guard. They marched together toward her, and the other women began backing out of the way. The guards stopped by Rebecca and told her that she had to come with them for questioning. The other residents in the dining hall gave them wide berth as they had seen Rebecca hauled off for 'questioning' before. Previously it had been by an overseer. This time it was by two of the other kind of guards, the kind that were seen in the guard towers. These guards were almost never seen inside the women's areas. As the guards took her through a door near the end of the residence hallway, Captain Shep was waiting. He had them handcuff her and then dismissed them saying he could get her to the interrogation rooms from here.
As they walked down the corridor, Captain Shep spoke very quietly to Rebecca. “This is not what you fear. This is for your protection. Steve has been very worried about you. He is helping me, and I am returning this favor. We must keep up appearances, however. It must appear that you and he are being interrogated for security reasons. I am bringing you out of there because Steve was concerned for your safety, and I had become aware that … the distasteful attention that you have already received was likely to continue.” A few steps further down the corridor as they were approaching an intersection Shep suddenly jerked Rebecca's arm forward and shouted, ”Come along! Quit dragging your feet!” Just as they turned the corner the interrogator that had been with Steve bumped into them.
“Ah, Andrey, how is the interrogation going?”
“It is progressing, but this one is a very clever and difficult subject, as you know. It may take extensive interrogations to obtain the information we need.”
Shep gave Andrey a smug grin. “Perhaps I can provide additional incentive for his cooperation. I found his podruga.” As Shep led Rebecca toward the interrogation room, he noticed Andrey slipping into the observation room, though she didn't know that's what it was. When Andrey was out of the corridor, Shep whispered to Rebecca, “We are being watched, Rebecca. It is best for you to not know more than is necessary for the moment in case someone else tries to interfere.” They entered the interrogation room where Steve was seated. Shep took her across the room and seated her at the table opposite Steve. He stood with his back toward the one way window where Andrey was watching them. Shep removed the cuff from one of Rebecca's wrists, pushed it through a large metal loop on the table then reattached it to her wrist. As Shep had escorted her over to the table and worked on her handcuffs he continued to whisper.“No matter what we say to each other in here, you two need to act the part of two newcomers to this facility who are being intensively interrogated for security reasons. Rebecca, I told that idiot out there that you are Steve's podruga, or girlfriend and implied that I could use that to encourage Steve's cooperation.”
Shep stepped to the side and grabbed Rebecca's hair pulling her head back. Then he got his face close to her and leered at her. “Rebecca, I apologize for this. Steve I am going to hit you in a minute and it would be wise for you to roll with the punch so it does less harm. Shep turned Rebecca's face so her left cheek was turned toward Steve. He then began shouting. “You see what happens to people here who do not cooperate! You want to see your girlfriend's pretty face messed up more? You think you are very tough, but how tough will you be if your pretty girl is the one who suffers?” He released her hair and drew back to backhand Steve. “Now.” he swung his hand toward Steve using a lot of body English to make it look like he was putting his weight into the blow. Steve's face snapped away from the blow, but a ring Shep was wearing on his little finger cut a streak across Steve's cheek bone.
Shep leaned forward in an aggressive posture, but whispered his apology. “I am sorry. I forgot about my ring. Right now I am supposed to be taunting you about how you will feel watching me do this to your girlfriend. This is why we must rearrange things very soon, so we are not working at crossed purposes. I will next threaten to strike Rebecca, but you must stop me before I strike.”
Shep walked around the table and grabbed Rebecca's hair again in his left hand, pulling her head back. Steve's adrenaline was already flowing after the slap in the face. When Shep grabbed Becky's hair a second time, Steve reacted without thinking.
“Wait!” Steve leaped to his feet trying to raise his hands and almost tipped the heavy metal table over. “I'll cooperate!” He looked at Becky for a moment before he sat down and hung his head. The sudden strain had caused a sharp pain again in his ribs and he sat down trying to control his breathing through his clenched teeth. “Shep my body language right now is an act, but do not make any mistake about our crossed purposes. I will help you because there are many people here who need your help to survive. You must assure me that Becky will be kept safe until I can personally assure her safety. If you fail in that I assure you that whatever success you may accomplish here will be taken away from you. This system you are a part of is infected with an evil that must be removed. Do we understand each other?”
“Steve, I think we do. I need to get your Becky to a safe place, first. Then you and I have a lot of work to do.”
“Shep, remember my other friends. They will be troubled about our absence. It is going to be a while before we can get everything working right. I don't want to wait until it is all done before I see Becky again. I need to see for myself that she is doing okay.” Steve lifted his head just enough to catch Becky's intense gaze.
Captain Shep began unlocking Rebecca's hand cuff again. “I am sorry I cannot give the two of you more time right now. We are being watched, and it is important that appearances are noticed and gossip is spread for my plans to work properly for us.”
As they left the interrogation room Andrey was outside to meet them. “Did you get the information you were needing, sir?”
“This is only beginning, Andrey. That subject holds a large store of valuable information, and it will take some time to access all of it. Now, however I have the combination to the vault. See that some food is brought to the informant and I will be back after I have stored the 'combination' in a safe place.”
As they proceeded down the corridor, Shep spoke quietly to Rebecca. “I must apologize for referring to you as a mere combination. When you are speaking to fools, it is sometimes wise to use a fool's language. I am afraid I will need to keep you rather isolated to assure your safety. Even if you do not trust me yet, you saw and heard Steve make it rather clear that I would be made to deeply regret it if I neglect your safety in any way. I need his help, and his cooperation depends on him knowing you are safe.”
Captain Shep took Rebecca to an area where the doors along the corridor were much like those she was accustomed to seeing, except she noticed there were key locks in the door knobs. When she entered a room where Shep stopped it was just like her other room except there was only one bed and there was a toilet in the room. “The lock on the door is to keep others out. That was not the original intention, for sure, but it will serve our purposes. I will see that you are cared for, but it will likely be a bit lonely. I will be back. Oh I almost forgot. You will be considered under restrictions and possibly hostile by the staff. When someone knocks loudly on the door, move to that corner and call out 'Ready'. When they enter they will be prepared for an unruly prisoner if you appear anything but compliant. Please, pretend to be cooperative for your sake. I will try to make this less difficult soon. These arrangements were made on short notice.”
Fifteen minutes later Rebecca heard a knock on her door. She was startled, but moved quickly to the corner before calling out “Ready!” she saw the door open and two overseers stepped in with collapsible batons in their hands. One stood guard stood in front of her as the other retrieved a tray of food from the hall and placed it on the foot of her bed. They then told her they would be back shortly to retrieve the tray, and they left the room. Rebecca was trying to comprehend what was going on. So far this sounded promising, but she was yet to see if it would actually turn out any better than before. She had to wonder what in the world Steve had agreed to do to get this much bizarre attention for himself and for her.
When Shep returned to Steve's interrogation room, Andrey was waiting in the observation room. He was eager to watch the Captain's interrogation techniques. “Andrey, I'm afraid this is not going to be very exciting now that he has decided to cooperate. I do not want you in the room distracting him with your presence as he concentrates to remember details that we need. Unfortunately the electronic listening system cannot be used at present. You can sit here and watch if you wish, but you might want to find something more entertaining to do. Why don't you take a break and visit with some of your comrades in the fresh air. If I meet any resistance, I will send for you so you can watch how we deal with that.”
Shep shut the door behind him as he crossed the interrogation room and sat across from Steve at the table. “So far my friend there has been a lot of acting. If you think about it, this might have been an act within and act. I have not given you anything of substance so far and you have returned that favor in kind. So, before either of us gets over committed and begins to feel exploited, you need to help me understand more about what you are thinking you can do, and why you need the information you are asking for. How do I know this is not just a tactic for gathering the information you think might help you achieve your … other goals. ”
“Captain, It seems pointless to lie to you about my other goals, but if I do not help you with the immediate concerns to both of us, my other goals will be harder to achieve. I can afford to help some, and then help more if you are still holding up your end of the agreement. We may have separate purposes, but if we are both smart they do not have to be conflicting purposes. You mentioned food that is here without the means to prepare it. I don't know how much there is but three month's supply of that kind of food is bound to be significant. If we can improvise ways to utilize those supplies that will help everyone here. You may be able to find the right kind of help from within the staff, but it is beginning to look like you are concerned about finding someone there you can trust. You are more likely to find the skills you need among the residents, and you will be more likely to obtain their cooperation and secrecy with my help.”
“In my experiences I have been exposed to an array of manual agriculture techniques, and there is an over abundance of manual labor resources available here. I do not condone forced labor, but I imagine most could be persuaded about the advantage of working for more and healthier food to eat. I need to understand the soils and condition of this island to pick the crops that are best suited for growing in this place. I also have wilderness survival experience in this region, so first hand understanding of the wildlife and vegetation currently surrounding this island may help in bridging the gap until the new crops can be harvested. Does that sound like the kind of help that might be worth your efforts and taking a little risk?”
“Okay Steve, I need to make some more arrangements, but first you need to understand the internal situation. Most of what we are discussing is outside my areas of responsibility, and in spite of the different factions pretending to cooperate, everyone is being watched. I will need your cooperation regarding internal politics to avoid derailing our efforts prematurely. What we have here at this facility on the surface looks like a coalition of elements from your government, my government, and yet another coalition of governments all pretending to agree on how this effort is to be managed. Because of the past, multiple countries and alliances were trying to play nice and appear to be helping your country's leaders rather than being blatant about exploiting your weaknesses. By the time your country's weakness had lessened the risk of these other entities shifting their tactics, the economic aftershocks and its effects at home were becoming a far greater concern to my government than expansion and conquest. The whole situation is very complicated. Your leaders were fools to ask for help in the way they did, but our leaders were just as foolish thinking they could exploit that. A number of your military leaders reacted like some of your people. Where there was rioting and violence they followed their orders to a crack down and get it under control. But many officers in areas where the violence was not happening questioned the orders to treat their own people as belligerent enemies. Those who did follow orders in those less troubled areas inflamed the people to become hostile.”
“Some of your officers looked on the foreigners as coming to help. Some saw our presence as evidence of betrayal by your government leaders. Your whole country became a patchwork of chaos. Areas surrounding your military bases are under their sphere of influence, somewhat like those areas where there are other facilities like this. In some locations less affected by the initial troubles, local authorities are trying to hold things together in spite of the collapse of normal commerce and the conflicts of authority elsewhere. In other areas, like this, various entities or coalitions have established islands of authority in the midst of anarchy. There is no general rule that applies everywhere. Once there was a crack in the command structure of your military, it suddenly became unclear which commanders at what level would follow which superiors. The same was even more true with local authorities where the hierarchy of authority was even less rigid. I have enough military force here to keep marauders and anarchists at bay in the nearby area. However, if even a small contingent of your military were to come here, there would be no question about my yielding authority to them. I suspect the commander of the Coalition unit present here is smart enough to yield as well, in spite of his clouded judgement on that subject. Ironically, since we are not a serious threat to them, commanders of your military may not want to come here for a while until they are better able to provide for the – refugees who are here.”
“For the moment we, that is my unit, the unit from the international coalition, and the emergency services staff from your own government, are here trying to work together without adequate support to accomplish our original missions. This facility is struggling with the chaos on the inside as well as the outside. Supplies and facility provisions are inadequate. Some people are trying to follow old rules that have become counter productive. Leaders sometimes compete with other leaders scrambling for a greater piece of a very messed up pie and are trying to curry favor and support from their sponsors to improve their positions. As leaders we each need the continued support of the troops and staff under us as well as the staff under the other leaders to keep this all working. The staff are pulled between loyalty to their original leaders, who represent their original organizations, and following whoever is making the most sense at the moment. In other words inside this facility we have a microcosm of the house of cards that is collapsing outside the facility.”
“So why should I help you instead of Brett Westfield? If I help you gain power, won't your government be using that to leverage power from my own government?”
“Steve in this case I believe you need to be very selfish. Your government's designated leader for this facility is the one insisting on the … distasteful protocols that neither of us want. I will let you do your own speculating about the reasons for that. The commander of the coalition force here has a deep personal desire to extract revenge on your country that colors his efforts to execute his assigned mission of helping your country. As for my government gaining advantage over yours, I said it already. The leaders in the place I use to call home have already forgotten about me and my men here. We have been essentially abandoned here. I am trying to be reasonable and look to my longer term prospects in this place without any practical connection to my homeland. One problem I have is that the troops in my unit still cling to fond delusions about their old homeland, that none of them will ever see again. At this point everyone can speculate, but no one can predict the evolution of governance in this land. My speculation does not include any form of control being exercised by the government of my homeland over any territory in your homeland.”
Steve looked into Shep's eyes to see if he could read if this was the truth or one more act. Maybe he could, and maybe he couldn't, but he was going with his gut to take the risk. “Captain, I know we have to keep up appearances, but at some point we will need to trust each other enough to shake hands on our agreement. I just want you to consider the fact that for that ritual to mean what it is supposed to mean, these handcuffs will need to come off, first.”
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Post by dallanta on Apr 12, 2017 15:52:21 GMT -6
Excellent!
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Post by 2t2crash on Apr 13, 2017 2:43:04 GMT -6
Awesome!
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Post by ydderf on Apr 13, 2017 10:56:54 GMT -6
AS everywhere not all are evil. Thanks for the update. Only 267 chapters to go eh! :-) :-) He says with a grin.
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Post by kaijafon on Apr 14, 2017 6:52:11 GMT -6
Thank you! I'm glad Steve is standing his ground in such a way that not only maintains his integrity but is resourceful. AND I like seeing that others can see that be bullheaded is NOT the same as keeping integrity. I hope Shep is not playing him!
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