Repacious creditor

[forthteller]

Chapter 46



According to plan



Marisa: Day 7 after WWIII



In the white house, President Connolly is in his oval office when one of his aides knocks on his door. “Enter,” Says the president.

The aide sheepishly enters and stands at the door to be acknowledged.

Brusquely, the president says, “well, what is it?”

“Mr. President, we have some of our communications up and our computers are coming on line as we speak. We have a communiqué that I think you need to see before it becomes public in the whole USA.”

Relaxing, the President says, “let me see it.”

The aide hands him the communique and it appears to be from General Hans Christianson. A quick glance and the president asks, “has anyone else seen this?”

“No sir, when the rest of the systems come up, it is possible others may see it but for now only I have. I read enough to know it was for your eyes only and stopped reading immediately. I brought it directly to you, Mr. President.”

“Excellent, keep this to yourself, I will remember your discretion and loyalty. I can always use people I can trust.”

“Thank you, sir.” The man backs out and closes the office door. Thinking to himself, “that went better than I thought, Stan will be pleased.”

The president reads the communiqué from Hans. It is about information related to the actions of Marisa de Sousa to seize control of the UN and how the media throughout Europe has been flooded with it. Also, the dual nature of the UN has been thoroughly and believably exposed to the whole would that still has access to the internet.

He goes on to inform the president of the movements of the Russian military and as the only country with functioning satellites, the USA is in a position to help the Germans to fight off the Communist advance.

In the communiqué, Hans doesn’t implicate himself or President Connolly but it is obvious from his tone, the evidence is there and it is only a matter of time before it also gets made public. “Why have they kept the rest of the information secret,” thinks President Connolly?

Reaching down to his desk, he pushes a button on the intercom, “Rachel, can you locate my new security advisor and have him meet me in the oval office at the earliest possible time. Let me know when you have reached him.”

“Right away, Mr. President.”

“Do you know if our phone lines are up out of DC yet?”

“Your direct line has been patched through by the Technical people but the regular lines are not working yet.”

“So, no internet or phone service for most of the country.”

“Mr. President, I am not well versed in technology but I believe there is nothing yet. I have yet to be able to contact my own family in Dallas. I can have your technical advisor come in and brief you.”

“No thank you, can you connect me with the UN headquarters in New York?”

“Yes Mr. President. It is one of the available connections.”

“Great, can you get me Jake Pallone at the UN headquarters in New York as well. I need to speak with him immediately.”

“Right away, Mr. President.”



Minutes later the intercom buzzes, Mr. President, I Have Jake Pallone on line 1 for you sir.

The President picks up the phone. “Hi Jake, I need an update on what is going on over there.”

“Well John. Not much to say. The entire UN delegation cleared out this morning. I don’t know when the interim Secretary General left but she was already gone when I went in to see her this morning to get an update.”

“Are your computers online yet?”

“Some but we still have no outside access. Only communication so far has been ham radio, now some patched phone lines and an ancient teletype.”

“Any idea what prompted the clear-out?”

“None. I know they have been working on secure outside communications for a few days and they thought they were close last night. I was awoken at 4:00 by one of my men who informed me they were clearing out. By the time I got dressed and over there, they had already removed or shredded everything in all the main offices and most of the senior people were already on the way out.”

“You didn’t stop them?”

“With what authority. This is UN territory, we are only in the building at the permission of the UN, I am only an ambassador. They also wiped all the computers and everything here.”

“Crap. Gotta go Jake, you should clear out of there. You need to get out of sight buddy, grab your family and anything important and get out of New York. Go to your country home in Maine and take care of yourself old friend. All hell is about to break loose.”

“Are you serious John? We can put a lid on this!”

“No, we can’t Jake, I already got information from Europe, the whole world will know in a matter of days. You need to get out before the news reaches our mainstream. Riots and destruction are on the way, we screwed up really bad, this one is terminal. I need you to get my wife and kids out with you. Take the two Choppers we have on standby and get out. Make sure you have enough secret service to protect yourselves once you get there. I am serious.”

“What about you?”

“I am in way too deep. I have to do what I can to save what is left of the United States. Good luck my old friend.” With that the president hangs up leaving his friend of 40 years to wonder what could possibly be that bad.

Pacing the office, President Connolly cannot help but think about what will happen to him and his family when the truth gets out about his escapades. He knows that the evidence is out there and that Middleton will have assured the evidence got out should anything happened to him. Marisa De Souza also knows and will leverage him with it. There is no way to avoid the inevitable.

Sitting down at his desk, he pushes the intercom and his secretary responds. “Yes Mr. President.”

“I would like you to delay the new security advisor request I gave you earlier. I need that changed to my entire senior staff for 1:00 PM. All the ones who can be there are to be in the oval office at the same time.”

“Yes Mr. President.”

After hanging up the President of the United States takes of his jacket and gets to work. Turning on his encrypted lap top he begins uploading and compiling documents and files. Once done he takes those files and prints them out on the printer in a small alcove off his office. He continues to do this for over an hour. By 12 he has 15 thick files, all identical.

He then sits down and writes his confession and his regrets for the actions he has taken with the 6 others in his group of seven over the past 10 years. He names them all, including their tittles and their positions within the group. He then pens a letter to his wife of 30 years and his nearly grown children. He places the three letters in three different envelopes, addresses them and seals them. He pushes everything to the side on his massive desk and places the 15 folders across the front.

After doing this he walks into his smaller adjoining office and sits at the desk. He reaches into the top drawer and inserts a key in a spot at the rear of the drawer. A false door opens and inside is a small arsenal of weapons. Selecting a Glock and a matching magazine, he puts them on the desk. With a look of commitment, he inserts the magazine, chambers a round and clicks off the safety. With a breath and a tear trickling down his cheek, he says a final sorry and places the muzzle in his mouth. With a final breath he pulls the trigger.

1:00 PM. The secretary buzzes the President. Nothing. She buzzes a second time, still nothing. Looking at the assembled men and women. “I don’t understand. He may be in the washroom.”

With that, she taps on the big door, no sound. She quietly opens it and eases around the partially opened door and enters the oval office. Seeing his small office door open, she walks over to it. As she is about to enter, she notices the president slumped at his desk. Within a second, she can see blood pooled on it and a glazed look in his eyes. She begins screaming.

Hearing the screaming, the assembled people run into the oval office and then crowd into the smaller office. Within seconds every person present has taken in the entire scene. A dead president who has just committed suicide, sealed and addressed letters and labeled folders for everyone present and a few who are not there.

Behind them, several heavily armed UN soldiers, flanked by Stephan Cabot has slipped in. When Mike Renner, the new security advisor, notices them he says, “there is no danger here, you can stand down.”

Stephen Cabot says, “we understand that. We need you and your group to leave now, leave everything here, nothing leaves this office.” With that, he holds up the Walther he previously had concealed. “Now.”

Mike Renner pans the armed UN soldiers and the armed Stephen Cabot. “This is treason, you will be arrested, convicted and executed for this. Surely you don’t believe you can execute a coup of the United States of America?”

“We don’t have to. The United States of America already gave itself over to the UN to escape repaying the trillions of dollars in debt it owes. The western world has destroyed itself because of its materialism and complacency. We own the UN, we own the USA now. You will find that by now, most of the senior leadership of the US military is already on board. You see, for the last 3 years, we are the ones who have paid them, fed them and equipped them. Do you think the UN was doing it for your benefit?”

One of the people present, the secretary of state, Melisa Robertson reaches out and takes the file addressed to her. As she is about to open it, Cabot levels his pistol at her and says, “don’t”.

Looking at Cabot, she challenges him as she opens the folder. Blam, a single shot. Her head explodes as she drops in a heap, the folder spilling across the floor. “Anyone else?”

Beginning with those at the back, they begin to file out.

“Wait. One more thing.” He hands out photographs of family members in their homes, work or school and the pictures are currant. Everyone in the room is stunned, looking at surveillance photographs of their loved ones in vulnerable positions. “The Presidents suicide has not changed anything, you will all do as you are told and if anything you saw here leaks out there will be consequences. The president died of a heart attack this afternoon. That is the official story.”

Looking at the Vice president, Stephen Cabot adds, “You are now the President and when you are sworn in, remember who is really in charge here. You can do what we need or we will find someone who will.” With that he hands photos of the Vice Presidents family to him. “Your wife is picking your two girls up as we speak.”

The senior white house staff begin to back away. With a wave of his hand, the soldiers let them leave. They are all allowed to leave except for the Vice President and the National Security Advisor. Once gone, Stephen Cabot has all the files collected and shredded as he looks over one of them. He keeps this one and strides from the smaller office. Once in the oval office he motions the new President to sit at the presidential desk. We need to talk for a moment.











Same day in Brazil.



Marisa de Silva emerges from the private Jet with a smile. She knows she has been outed but she has a secret and the whole south American continent will soon know who is boss. Police vehicles screech to a halt in front of her and her party. Out hops a senior police officer who quickly approaches her. The rest had all arrived moments before and had surrounded the group. All have handguns trained on them and semi-automatic weapons at the ready.

The officer says, “Marisa de Silva, you are under arrest for conspiracy, conspiracy to commit murder, murder and treason.”

Marisa looks at him and smiles. “Really, and who issued the warrant?”

“Chief of police, Riccardo Rojas. You are to be taken to his headquarters and detained there until he sees fit to question you.”

“I would like to speak to him on the phone please.” Marisa replies in a condescending tone.

“I am afraid that is not possible.”

“Your daughter Elise is sick with the flue, no?”

“How do you know that.”

“I know many things, including what the cure is. You would like her to survive?”

“How do you know this?”

“Have you not wondered why the entire country of Brazil did not get the plague last year when the rest of the continent did and why they are getting it now?”

“I have wondered. You know why? Then tell us so we can save the rest, we have already lost millions.”

“In due time, I need to see the president and his council. Your chief can arrange that, I assume.”

The police captain steps back and takes out his phone. In private he carries on a short conversation. After talking he waits for a few moments as the people on the other end discuss what he just told them. He then listens, takes the phone over and hands it to Marisa and moves out of earshot.

She takes the phone and says into it, “I will only speak with Carlos Lorenzo.”

“This is Carlos, pretty demanding for someone who is under arrest. What do you want.”

“Freedom of course and to speak with the President, the entire Senate and the Chamber of Deputies. They will most certainly want to hear what I have to say.”

“I have to keep you in custody, I am afraid. We cannot have you getting away.”

“I flew in and announced my arrival. I knew what you have already seen and that you would arrest me the moment I touched down. Why would I want to escape?”

“Very well. My officers will guard you then. You are in danger from the public because they know your group started the Ice age virus and all its variants and many have lost love ones.”

“Guard me, protect me, detain me. Not much of a difference.”

“Very well, my people will see to it that you have safe accommodations for yourself and your entire entourage. I will contact the administration at the Brasilia to see if I can get them to arrange for a house sitting. It will be a few days I am afraid.”

“You may want to speed that up a bit, your Captains daughter is already well into her second week with the virus.”



Next day, in house arrest, Marisa is lounging in a chair as she hears a knock on the apartment door. She gets up and walks over, looking through the eyehole, she sees the President of Brazil flanked by armed guards and trailed by a few senior people from the Brazilian senate and house. She opens the door and looks the group over, “Mr. President, I don’t think this is the place for a meeting.”

“My dear Marisa, I am not going to let you come into the house and make a mockery of our democracy. You can say what you have to say to this group or you won’t get to say it at all. These men here will be taking you to less comfortable accommodations should you decline.” The Presidents says as he motions towards the armed guards.

“I think you need to go back and see what it would cost if I were to make a few calls or fail to make them for that matter. Do you think I would be so stupid as to walk back in here without some pretty impressive bargaining chips?”

One of the Cabinet ministers says, “Bargaining chip. You have a cure or vaccine for the virus your group created. We have news for you, the resistance has developed a successful treatment for it and all the people who contract one strain are immune to them all after they recover. Nothing more than a bad flue now.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t bet my life on it. The new strains are totally different. Brazil was almost untouched by the first wave and now is the only country that is being affected by the new strain. I am quite certain your treatment is not going to work.”

The President thinks for a moment and turns to a woman Marisa doesn’t recognize. “Is what she is telling us possible Doctor Mendez.”

“Yes, Mr. President. It would explain why the virus has made a resurgence that started in Brazil. I know it has begun to spread but so far we have been the hardest hit.”

The President looks at Marisa. “What you say may be true but I am still not letting you address the entire house. The public already knows we have you in custody and your criminal actions are well known. I really don’t see how you come out of this even if we are able to come to an agreement on a cure.”

“I did say I have bargaining chips; your may want to know what else I can offer.”

“Okay, what else?”

“How many factories and manufacturing facilities are in the city and the rest of the country? If you check with your legal people, you will find that I own or control most of them. I can and will shut down your economy should things not go over well. I also know you don’t have nearly as much loyalty as you may have previously thought. Check behind you.”

The president looks behind him, two of the three senators nod and one of the congressmen nods. All of the security also nod. The President turns back to Marisa. “How?”

“How can you be so naive? When your country and every other nation cut funding to the UN because of debt, who do you think stepped in to fund it. We didn’t take over the UN, we own it. At the same time, we have taken over almost all the major corporations in the free world.”

“Our citizens will never accept UN rule.”

“They will or they don’t get medical treatment, they don’t work and they don’t eat. We could have done this in the house but now you have made it so you have to address them yourselves. If the house doesn’t agree, they don’t get medical treatment either, they will all be sick within a week and dead by the end of the month.”

“You would have brought armed soldiers into the house. What kind of insanity is that.”

“Insanity. You and the rest of the world leaders have pushed the planet to the brink of extinction. The population would be close to 9 billion by now had we not interceded. The climate alarmists were correct about some things. Rising oceans, increased carbon and melting ice caps. With your greed and materialism, you have extracted and wasted vast amounts of the earth’s resources and created a society where very few have the vast amount of wealth and the masses have nothing. You have mismanaged your economies by using debt as a means to supplement your revenues and reached a point where you couldn’t even pay the interest on your debt. With no one willing to make the tough decisions, we did. When everything shakes out in a few years, a better, more organized world will emerge.”

Marisa is now wound up and begins to lecture about what she sees as the guidance her group has provided to make a better world. “Population will be a manageable now, we will provide people with what they need and they will contribute what they can.”

The Brazilian president interjects. “This is communism, the people will not give up their freedom.”

“Freedom is an illusion. The people will do what it takes to survive. We own all the factories, we own most of the land and we own most of the transportation systems. If they want to work, they work for us, if they want to buy, they buy from us, if they want to eat, the get it from us. They still get to elect governments, they still get to come and go as they please, they still get to associate with whomever they choose. We are only interested in maintaining a balanced econemy and insuring that the world does not destroy itself.”

“You killed hundreds of millions with your virus and your wars. You have destroyed millions of square kilometers of land and your nuclear was has done more harm to the environment than 100 years of our system.”

“We right sized the population and the nuclear war was inevitable. All we did was expedite it. It was actually much smaller than it would have been had the Americans and the Russians been allowed to progress to the eventual showdown. The Russians will be content with re establishing their Soviet Union and the far east. We have control of sufficient stockpiles to insure they do not overextend their boundaries. You see, we have the best interests of the whole world in mind. This will be better, you will see. Your choice is, are you going to be part of a better tomorrow or do we have to give your position to another?”

[9idrr]

Fell free to keep goin'. I sure didn't see it happenin' this way.

[texican]

“Freedom is an illusion. The people will do what it takes to survive. We own all the factories, we own most of the land and we own most of the transportation systems. If they want to work, they work for us, if they want to buy, they buy from us, if they want to eat, the get it from us. They still get to elect governments, they still get to come and go as they please, they still get to associate with whomever they choose. We are only interested in maintaining a balanced econemy and insuring that the world does not destroy itself.”

Thanks FT for the chapter....

Two choices....

Toe the line....

Or....

Die....

The communist mantra....

Now this may not go over so well in America and multiple other nations....

Texican....

[papaof2]

The Golden Rule - whoever has the Gold, makes the Rules.

[forthteller]

Oct 7, 2018 20:57:04 GMT -6 texican said:

“Freedom is an illusion. The people will do what it takes to survive. We own all the factories, we own most of the land and we own most of the transportation systems. If they want to work, they work for us, if they want to buy, they buy from us, if they want to eat, the get it from us. They still get to elect governments, they still get to come and go as they please, they still get to associate with whomever they choose. We are only interested in maintaining a balanced econemy and insuring that the world does not destroy itself.”

Thanks FT for the chapter....

Two choices....

Toe the line....

Or....

Die....

The communist mantra....

Now this may not go over so well in America and multiple other nations....

Texican....

Thanks for reading Tex  I had no idea the book was going here when I started it. In this book, the North and south American regimes are on the way to becoming totalitarian fascist, ie. the corporations own and control the government and all means of production. They will do this by coercion, withholding resources, violence and manipulation. Profit is the motive for them but their undoing will be the rapid decline in the market due to customers who have no money to buy anything. In communism, the government controls the businesses and means of production, Russia, Europe and all the far east will fall to that regime. The middle east, Africa and all the Mediterranean nations will become an Islamic regime suffering under shariah law. None is elected and the people have no freedom or actual rights. Also in all extreme systems, efficiency and productivity go out the window because all the labor is forced, pay and compensation is barely livable and the workers have no hope. As the pockets of free peoples succeed and prosper, they will face incursions from one or more of the totalitarian regimes. It is in this effort to establish a free society and establish a new free market economy while continuing to defend themselves from one or more of the three totalitarian regimes that will likely be the focus of the rest of this book.
, defend themselves from the other nations 

[forthteller]

Oct 7, 2018 19:00:38 GMT -6 9idrr said:

Fell free to keep goin'. I sure didn't see it happenin' this way.

Fact is, neither did I. Thanks for reading 9idrr

[texican]

Oct 8, 2018 0:11:12 GMT -6 forthteller said:

Oct 7, 2018 20:57:04 GMT -6 texican said:

“Freedom is an illusion. The people will do what it takes to survive. We own all the factories, we own most of the land and we own most of the transportation systems. If they want to work, they work for us, if they want to buy, they buy from us, if they want to eat, the get it from us. They still get to elect governments, they still get to come and go as they please, they still get to associate with whomever they choose. We are only interested in maintaining a balanced econemy and insuring that the world does not destroy itself.”

Thanks FT for the chapter....

Two choices....

Toe the line....

Or....

Die....

The communist mantra....

Now this may not go over so well in America and multiple other nations....

Texican....

Thanks for reading Tex  I had no idea the book was going here when I started it. In this book, the North and south American regimes are on the way to becoming totalitarian fascist, ie. the corporations own and control the government and all means of production. They will do this by coercion, withholding resources, violence and manipulation. Profit is the motive for them but their undoing will be the rapid decline in the market due to customers who have no money to buy anything. In communism, the government controls the businesses and means of production, Russia, Europe and all the far east will fall to that regime. The middle east, Africa and all the Mediterranean nations will become an Islamic regime suffering under shariah law. None is elected and the people have no freedom or actual rights. Also in all extreme systems, efficiency and productivity go out the window because all the labor is forced, pay and compensation is barely livable and the workers have no hope. As the pockets of free peoples succeed and prosper, they will face incursions from one or more of the totalitarian regimes. It is in this effort to establish a free society and establish a new free market economy while continuing to defend themselves from one or more of the three totalitarian regimes that will likely be the focus of the rest of this book.
, defend themselves from the other nations;

FT,

Remember, Americans have never given up and will fight to the very end....

Liberty or death....

Live free or die free....

I regret that I have only one life to give for my country....

Knowing where I will be going when this life ends makes decisions and living this life easier

Texican....

[forthteller]

Chapter 47



Jason, Day 9 post WWIII



A new west is born



5:30 AM Rap, Rap, Rap.

Snapping awake, Jason answers, “yes, what is it?”

Sir, we have our phone lines up and running throughout the valley. Wherever they have electricity the phone lines are working. We just got a call from the police chief in Agassiz. The UN stronghold near there wants to set up a meeting with you and the other valley leadership.

“I will be with you in a moment,” Jason says to the corporal standing at the doorway. The man pulls the door closed and walks away. Jason pulls the covers off and puts his uniform on. Checking himself quickly in the mirror, he is satisfied that he looks like the leader he needs to be. Out the door he strides and over to the temporary communications room in the building.

“Attention,” yells a corporal and everyone in the room snaps to attention.

“At ease people. Can you get me in contact with the RCMP commander from Agassiz?”

“Right away sir. He is awaiting your call.”

Jason heads over to the ham radio but is handed a regular landline phone. “You can use this sir, our communications people have them back up in the whole valley. We also have electricity back on line as well. A reserve unit and local contractors have the Dam at stave falls and the ones on the Fraser back up and running. Most of the grid was undamaged.”

“Excellent work people.” Exclaims Jason as he takes the handset.

“Hello there, this in Lt. Colonel Jason Smit speaking. Who am I speaking to?”

“Sargent Larson of the Seaforth Highlanders sir. Staff Sargent Carlson is awaiting your call sir, he will be with you momentarily.”

Moments later, “Good morning Jason, got some good news for you, I think. UN wants a meeting. I think they have run out of food.”

“Great, Rick. When and where. Don’t trust them, they are not above trying to pull a fast one on us.”

“Already on that. We are meeting at the restaurant at the base of Bridal Falls. I am putting the reserves on standby and have several of my people already in position to provide protection. They will keep us informed about what the UN is doing. Can you put a chopper on to watch from the air?”

“I can do that. With almost zero demand for fuel here at the airport, we have plenty. When?”

“2 PM. I called you this early because they sent 2 messages at five AM. I think they are under some form of time pressure.”

“Do you have any idea how many are there?”

“Hundreds. Also pockets more in several areas in the Valley. While you have been cleaning up on the south side of the river, we have been busy over here. I have 65 of their people in custody at present. They all gave up without any resistance.”

“The UN groups on this side didn’t surrender. We engaged them a few times but never sustained any casualties and we allowed them to retreat back to their strongholds. There is another large group holding up south of Aldergrove but they have anti-aircraft munitions so we have not risked our choppers getting intel yet. Do you have any idea how they have been communicating?”

“I don’t think the group we have in custody have been, the ones who want to meet us today have somehow. They were in the midst of something when the attack came. Not sure what it was. I have questioned the captives but they either don’t know or aren’t saying. I am reluctant to use harsher methods of interrogation.”

“OK. Let’s talk with them to see what is going on. On a different topic, how is your side doing for supplies and getting back to producing food and necessities?”

“We have a massive reception area on the east side of the Pitt bridge. Survivors have been coming across for days. Lots of gunfire and other action going on the other side but I am not sending anyone over because the radiation is still too high. The blast damage went as far as Coquitlam but radiation is still an issue on the west end of the bridge.”

Rick continues on. The locals have hundreds of acres under glass and have them all up and running. They pulled out all the marijuana plants and replaced them with vegetables and as soon as the weather warms we will be planting crops in fields that have been fallow for decades. All the farms are fully staffed and running as all the people who commuted to Vancouver for work are now unemployed. We are going to a fully cash or barter system here and the local government is trying to stay out of that as much as possible to allow the market to take over. We are only providing policing to ensure fair trading.”

“We are also instituting an open carry policy over here as there seems to be way more guns around than we would have thought and my staff and I would rather assume everyone is armed and be able to see it then walk up on a situation where we did not know any weapons were involved. We also have a lot of our cars and trucks running as the EMP didn’t cause as much damage to our infrastructure as further south. Stave falls dam is already up and running so we have electricity.”

A pause in the conversation and Jason remarks, “they have done essentially the same here. Has your leadership discussed the possibility of joining the rest of us as part of Cascadia?”

“We have. We are split on it. Some think we can survive as an independent state, some want to stay with Canada but others believe we don’t have the military might to withstand an onslaught should we become a target for a takeover. I think we would all like to discuss it more and possibly hold a referendum in late spring. We also need to have new municipal elections and maybe regional elections. My own job is federal. I and my people have not been paid for months, we exist because of the goodwill of our friends and families. I expect it is the same with you.”

“We have more military on this side but we have also had more destructive groups to deal with. Surrey is a war zone. The best we can do is blockade it and when individuals attempt to join us we protect them with cover fire. We have a refugee village in Cloverdale with thousands of people and we are rapidly running out of food to feed them. Whiterock and south Surrey is stable and they have all their greenhouses up and growing. We have thousands of acres of fallow land we can plant but we need to find a way to feed everyone until the crops mature.”

“Are you and your troops going to try to establish some order in the city?”

“We don’t have the resources. The gangs are well armed and better organized than I would have expected. We have no idea what the RCMP are doing or if they are even still active. There are no active reserve units we can count on and we know the UN has a large presence in the community. My local government leaders think it is wisest to secure all the other communities, get our essential economy going and let them come to us when they run out of food.”

“That is insane. The strong will kill and rape all the weak and take everything for themselves. They could last year’s cannibalizing the whole community.”

“I am a soldier, not my decision. I gave my opinion but I won’t go against local elected officials.”

“Where they unanimous in that decision.”

“Nope. The Mayor of Surrey was in Vancouver on the night of the attack but a couple of the aldermen were able to get out before the gangs locked the city down. They want us to go in and secure the city but most of the mayors, 1 of the 3 MLA’s and one of the two surviving MP’s all want us to utilize the resources we have to provide security for the rest of the Valley. We have hundreds of able-bodied men and women who have already volunteered to become reservists, equipment would be an issue. They are unanimous in becoming part of Cascadia after I showed them the reports and video of what the UN were up to and how our own federal government is complicit in the ruse.”

“I gotta go and get ready for the meet. I want to talk with you about this later. I don’t think we have seen this video you are talking about, it may change peoples mind over here if it is actually true.”

“It is, my own son compiled most of it. Evidence is pretty compelling.”



1:55 pm that day, Jason sits in the passenger seat of a Silverado Milcots as it enters the parking lot of the restaurant on Bridal Falls road. He can hear the chopper hovering overhead as he exits the truck and looks around for his friend, Staff Sargent Rick Carlson. He steps out the entrance of the restaurant and briskly walks over to Jason. Extending his hand, he says, “Glad you could make it. This is going to be interesting.”

They converse for a while and at exactly 2:00 PM, 2 US military pattern H1’s arrive at the parking lot entrance. Whistling, Jason remarks, “where did they get those beauties?”

“I can’t say that I have seen any of them around, I didn’t know they even had any US support here. Heads up guys, already something we haven’t expected happening.”

The trucks come to a halt and for a few moments nothing happens. Eventually, the passenger door of the trailing vehicle opens and a uniformed soldier exits. Displaying prominent UN markings and the trademark blue beret he is obviously not an officer but he is definitely a senior NCO at the very least. He takes one look Jason’s way and purposely marches over to his position. Halting, he stops directly in front of Jason, snaps to attention and salutes. “Sergeant Crosley of the Australian Army, temporarily assigned to the United Nations special forces, sir.”

“At ease Sergeant Crosley. I am Lt. Colonel Jason Smit, Retired, of the United States Marine Corps. Temporary commander of the Southern British Columbia military reserves and this is Staff Sergeant Richard Carlson, police commander of the Agassiz, Mission, Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows police services.”

Jason continues on, “Are you in charge or are you the representative.”

“Sir, here is the thing, I represent about three quarters of the UN forces, all the officers and their special force troops stay in a different area and we don’t have much contact. All my people want is to get out and get back to our own families. The little communications we have had tells us we are needed in our own home countries. We will no longer stand by and take orders from people we don’t see as working towards stated United Nations goals.”

“Are they willing to let you go, do they even know you are meeting us today?”

“They know we are meeting. I am supposed to negotiate a truce, some supplies and safe exit out of here using the airport in Chilliwack for the entire UN contingent.”

“Why wouldn’t they send an officer or someone that represents the UN to negotiate?”

“They were expecting your people may take them into custody. The Major was in command of the two units that attempted to kidnap you and your family and several police officers were killed as well. They don’t believe you and your people will be willing to let them go so easily.”

“This makes no sense, I wouldn’t let them leave regardless who negotiates. What is your game here?”

“No game, mate. Me and my people were posted to the UN as peacekeepers and we don’t see us doing any peace keeping. We just want to go home.”

“How many soldiers are ‘your’ people and how many are theirs.”

“335 are regular UN peacekeeping troops and we know of another 136 who are mercenaries and officers.”

“Mercenaries?”

“Paid soldiers with no sovereign allegiance. Most of us were assigned by our countries to this mission but 97 have no national connection. I don’t know about the officers as we never spend any time with them outside of receiving orders. At present, my people have received no rations or supplies for over a week. We are surviving on what we have found in the houses we are in. We occupy 22 houses in the Laidlaw area, they occupy all the farms around your house, southeast of the falls.”

“Have you been in radio contact with your command?”

“We have, they want to send some troop-carrying planes in to pick us up. They are asking for permission to land and sufficient fuel to make it to Ontario. They plan to fly us to Toronto and use us to help secure the area. Ottawa and Montreal were both hit with 10 kiloton or better devices and the Military in both provinces needs all the help it can get to maintain order.”

“You said you want to go home. Ontario is not your home?”

“The officers are still taking orders from somewhere out east. We believe that when we get out there, we can lobby to get sent home. Most of us are well beyond our original assignments and are eligible to be sent home.”

“With what you know, do you actually think you and your people will be allowed to go home. I think that if they release control of the west, it is because they have decided to solidify their control in the east. They are not likely to let any able-bodied troops go.”

“We have information that all the army and air force in Alberta were untouched by the EMPs and are supporting separation. They have pledged allegiance to Alberta. It is my opinion that they may actually get out of Canada altogether. They seem to be having the same issues in the US.”

Jason steps aside and has a quiet word with the Staff Sergeant. “Okay, we can will agree to that, but the major and the men involved in the attempted kidnapping at my house stay to face charges, that is not negotiable. I want correct ID for everyone who gets on one of the planes.”

“I don’t think they will agree to that sir.”

“I guess we are at an impasse then.” Jason writes a number on the back of a card and hands it to the Sergeant, “when they decide what they want to do, have them contact us. They can call us on a landline, we have them up and running. Any place that had a landline before the attack will have it up and operating right now.”

With that, the sergeant salutes and marches back to the hummer. He opens the passenger door and before it is even closed the truck starts moving. They turn around, both trucks accelerate and disappear down the forest service road.

Staff Sergeant Carlson whistles, looking back at Jason he says, “what do you make of that?”

“makes no sense. Would you send an NCO who is obviously not in sync with your goals to negotiate on your behalf? I don’t like it, something else is at play here.”

“They obviously want out. They must be almost out of everything and no doubt the UN needs reinforcements in the east. No major cities left here, not much they can peace keep. Let me know when they contact you with their demands.”

“I have to wonder who else was inside those Hummers. I expected someone else with more authority to join us. I have to wonder if they had the sergeant wired. He did say a few things they may not have wanted us to know. We need to be prepared for something, this makes absolutely no sense.”

Richard shrugs. “I can only deal with what I hear and see. Guy wants out, his team wants out, UN brass wants out. Let em go, good riddance. I thought I was getting a meal out of this meeting. Wanna go in and grab a bite?”

“Sure, lets go see what they have.”

Jason grabs his laptop so he can show the latest video to Staff Sergeant Carlson. They head into the restaurant.

The owner greets them as they enter the empty restaurant. “Hey guys, first shift starts at 4:00 but if you are willing to settle for Left over soup from lunch, I can fix you up.”

“Sounds great. Do you have any coffee?”

“Afraid not. I only serve coffee with breakfast, it will last until April. I hope we have gotten supplies in before that. I can do water or tea.”

“I’ll take the soup and a cup of tea.” Says Jason.

“Same.”

“Be right back.”

“Within minutes, he returns with two large bowls of soup, to large freshly baked buns and steaming cups of hot water with a teabag in each. On the house guys. I appreciate what you are doing for the community.”

Jason declines. “I appreciate that but we need to pay like everyone else. We need to set the example for everyone, no more free rides. Everyone contributes and they get compensated for it. How much?”

“5 dollars each, Canadian or USA currency.

Jason hands him a US 10. “Here you go.”

The man takes the cash and heads to the kitchen. Jason and Rick eat the hearty soup that is actually more of a stew and drink their tea.

Jason flips open his laptop and turns it on. Once he types in the password it opens on his desktop. He selects an icon on the desktop and a video catalogue opens. With a click, he selects the file he wants and double clicks it. As it begins to play he swivels the laptop around so the Staff Sergeant can see.

10 minutes into the video, Richard reaches out and pauses the laptop. “Can you send me a copy of this?”

Jason reaches into his pocket and hands a flash drive to the Staff sergeant. “Here, we can record it right now. You can take it with you.”

They finish watching the



22-minute video, record it onto the flash drive and head off in separate directions with a quick hug and a handshake.

Jason gets back to the Airport in Chilliwack and heads into the hanger he is using for his squad. He stops several times to make a comment or to give directions to various reserve and civilian personnel on his way to his office. He enters the office and sits down at his desk. Moments later, a captain raps on the door. Jason waves him in.

The man enters and stands at attention at the desk, salutes and says crisply, “sir, I have a communique from Washington requesting you to contact him as soon as you have an opportunity.”

“Why the secrecy, you could have informed me on my way in.”

Handing the number to Jason, he says, “sir. It was your son I spoke with, he asked you to contact this particular person but to keep it secret.”

“Does the person I am supposed to contact have a name?”

“Sir, your son only gave me a first name, when I attempted to get his tittle or full name your son said it was just Stan. I hope that makes sense to you.”

“Thank you, Captain, your dismissed.”

The captain salutes, turns and walks out of the office, closing the door behind him.

Jason picks up the phone and calls the number. A voice answers and says, “consolidated meats, can I help you.”

Jason replies, “this is Lt. colonel Jason smit, can I speak with Stan?”

I am sorry sir, there is no employees named Stan here, perhaps if I connect you with personnel.” A click and the phone is transferred.

Hello, “could you please identify yourself.”

Remembering the last time he had called this strange organization, Jason recited his name, rank and serial number and finished with, “I would like to speak with Stan.”

“Right away sir,” another click, 2 rings and the call is answered.

A voice Jason does not know, answers. “Stan here, thank you for calling Jason. We have some important things to discuss. Do you have some time?”

“Since I know you are not Stan, I doubt we have anything to discuss at all.”

“Oh. I see your confusion. Perhaps you should call your son for an explanation, I seriously doubt you will believe anything I may say until then and it is good that you don’t. Once you have spoken to your son you can call me at this direct line. I would request that you do not write the number down but commit it to memory. You will be using it many times.”

“Very well, I will call my son. Once I have spoken to him, I will call you back. Goodbye.” Click.

Jason dials his sons’ number from memory and on the second ring his son picks up. “David here.”

“Hi David, your dad here. Got a moment to talk?”

“Sure dad. Did you talk to Stan?”

“That is why I am calling. I talked to someone calling himself Stan but I have spoken to stan before and that was not him. He didn’t seem surprised at my confusion so I am wondering what is going on.”

“You don’t know the whole thing then. Have you ever heard of the National Security Agency?”

“I have heard rumors of it but nobody I know actually knows what they actually do or if they even exist.”

“Oh, they do. Some background first. In 2017, the President was having serious problems making sure the public was aware of everything the public service and their elected servants were actually doing. He was upset that news was no longer being reported but was censored and editorialized before becoming public. Everything that happened was filtered by one of the two extremes and people no longer got the news, they got opinions of the news. Even social media became nothing more than partisan propaganda for one side or the other.”

“To combat fake news, the president set up a secret organization that had as its mandate. “Investigate, uncover and expose any and every action done by every level of government, without partisan bias. They were encouraged to use any and every method of reporting to insure the public has full knowledge of the decisions and actions of every elected person in the United States Government, foreign governments, every major corporation all charitable organizations. Government sanctioned Wikki leaks, you might say.”

Jason had been listening carefully. “So, these are the people responsible for the random internet news, radio broadcasts and TV news flashes”

“Exactly. Unfortunately, it was impossible to get the public to listen to, believe and act on the facts until it was too late and now here we are. The organization is still around and they are still trying to honor their original mandate but they seem to have an additional self-issued mandate, freedom and democracy.”

“How come the Democrats didn’t shut the agency down when they won the house in 2018 or the presidency in 2020?”

“Because they don’t know who runs the organization, how it is funded and how it is set up. They can’t shut down something that doesn’t actually exist, yet somehow, every now and then, media and the internet gets flooded with irrefutable evidence so they all have to report it or get left behind.”

David stops for a moment, gathers his thoughts and continues on, “This leads us to the next issue. I personally have dealt with three different Stans. I have met one in person and one I spoke with was a woman. They seem to have an unbelievable network of sources and informants but I have no idea who. It is almost like the name Stan is a title but they only keep the tittle ‘Stan’ for a specific task or mission, then they disappear back to whatever they were doing before.”

“So, you are telling me, the Stan I spoke with is someone I should trust?”

“As much as anyone you may never actually meet. I expect he gave you a phone number. There will never be a different Stan at that number and nobody else will ever answer it. If they do, hang up and never call it again. The Stan line is encrypted and is a secure line. Even I don’t know how they do it. I don’t even know if they know each other or if their networks are all compartmentalized. I just know that they are my source for all the information I post and every time I have run into a problem, one of their people has gotten word out that I need some help.”

“The stan I talked to before coordinated my extraction in the fall.”

“Actually, he didn’t. He only passed the information on to someone else who dispatched the gunship and contacted some of the officers that are now under your command. He then relayed their instructions back to you. These people know everything, who to trust, who is dirty. They have sources at the deepest levels of government, in every company, everywhere. Patriots are everywhere dad, they just look and act like everyone else in public but when it counts, they step up. It is amazing.”

“Ok. Thanks son. I will call him back right away.”

Jason hangs up and sits at his desk, pondering what he just heard. “How? How could they actually do the job and stay secret? No organizational structure, no chain of command, how?” He dials the number Stan gave him.

The call is answered on the first ring. “hello.”

“This is Jason Smit. I just talked to my son, he says I can trust you. So, what can I do for you?”

“We know that most of the civic leaders in your region are planning on holding referendums on whether the citizens want to remain part of Canada, separate, join the US or amalgamate with other communities in the region into some form of constitutional democracy. We are hoping someone, possibly you, could coordinate a vote in the entire valley from Vancouver all the way to hope on both sides of the Fraser. By the End of February; Montana, Oregon and north west Washington and southern Alberta are holding similar referendums. We are encouraging other regions to hold similar votes. Another option on their referendum is to form a constitutional democracy called Cascadia which would include all the communities who wish to join, including BC and Alberta.”

“The United States and Canadian governments would just stand by and allow that.”

“They have their hands full. Russia is saber rattling, all the east is in tatters, nukes landed in several major cities. Ottawa and Toronto were both hit. Your Maritime provinces are already preparing to take a vote for their own separation. All the UN forces have pulled out and headed to south America and Mexico. Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and what is left of California and Nevada have already declared independence and have forged their own union. We have yet to hear from sources in the Midwest.”

“the Federal governments will get their organizations up and running and will once again assert control over the rest of the country. Military will fall in line and we will be back to what we had before in 5 years or so.”

“Not likely. We have evidence that the CEOs and boards of the three largest corporations left in north America are making a play for control of the US and Canadian governments. If this happens, free elections will be a sham as any elected officials will have no control whatever over the financial and military affairs of these governments. The whole UN takeover has been about big business taking control of the government.”

“Communism?”

“Worse. Under communism, the government may not be elected but the dictatorship and its leaders control all the means of production and make a pretend effort at equality. If the corporations gain control, they own the government and all the means of production. Nobody buys or sells unless through them, they will own everything and everyone works for them at whatever they want to pay. In both cases a suffocating military, police and secret service will uses any and all means to force compliance. There will be no freedom for anyone.”

“Nobody I have ever served with would support a government like this.”

“You son managed to get a video as Marisa de Souza personally killed 5 unarmed computer operators and had several of her own guards killed in order to fake a UN incursion. As for those in the military and the police, they will if their families are starved or arrested. If friends and co workers are publicly executed. If the little they do have is stripped away from them. Desperate people will do desperate things. And there are also those who are greedy for power and they will step up to take leadership roles within any regime, regardless how brutal it is. You can expect the east to take military action against the west as soon as they consolidate power in the White house.”

“What about the President and Vice President. National Security advisor?”

“President Connolly had the security advisor arrested and he has not been seen since. And then just two days ago, the president committed suicide and left behind a confession and a detailed declaration of everything his group of seven has done over the last 10 years including all the evidence and where all the proof is. Those files conveniently disappeared before his inner cabinet arrived. We have done what we can to insure all the parties received the information but the majority of them have disappeared and the ones who are still active are predominantly complicit to the whole coup.”

“I have a hard time believing this. Are there other people I can talk to corroborate this?”

“Lots of people know parts, our organization put all the pieces together. I will send you a copy of all the information he tried to expose and his confession, you will have to come to your own conclusions.”

“Ok, I will talk to the leaders, see what we can do. Is there anyone here I should be concerned about?”

“There is. I will send you an encrypted file with the names and positions of people who are loyal to the UN and or your National government. It will include what we know about them, and our analysis of the danger they pose to democracy and freedom. Do what you think best with this information.”

“How are you going to send all this information. We just got our landlines up this morning?”

“We use drones with stealth technology. The files are encrypted. You will have to call this number to get the encryption key when the files arrive at your destination.”

“Why encrypt them? I thought your mandate was to ensure everyone know all the information.”

“True, the files don’t need to be encrypted but the identities and positions of everyone involved in the referendums, security and information dissemination must remain secret. Also, plans that we are working on and which I hope you will be part of need to be secret. We fully expect you to make public all the other information we are sending you. If it is still encrypted when you receive it, you will know without doubt it has not been tampered with.”

[texican]

FT,

The deep state reaches across the world....

The secrecy of freedom also reaches across the world....

Which will win?.?.?.?

The info when released will awaken the masses....

Kid of like what is slowly happening now....

Thanks for the chapter....

Texican....

[forthteller]

Oct 28, 2018 22:38:15 GMT -6 texican said:

FT,

The deep state reaches across the world....

The secrecy of freedom also reaches across the world....

Which will win?.?.?.?

The info when released will awaken the masses....

Kid of like what is slowly happening now....

Thanks for the chapter....

Texican....

Thanks for reading Texican  
Did you notice that your state and several others also decided to remain free and not drink the coolaid? Other pockets also remain free in my world. It looks like the communists are going to make a comeback too. Might look like an unofficial prequel to 1984 by the time I get to the end.  

[forthteller]

Anybody notice that I nailed the midterm elections in chapter 13, I wrote it 2017? Republicans gain 2 seats in the senate and lose control of the house. In my fiction, the Democrats win 223 to the republicans 209 so I was actually a little low on the democrat side but recounts and absentee votes are still being counted. Let us all hope I am not correct in my next few predictions.


                        Forthteller 

[forthteller]

Nov 8, 2018 22:44:52 GMT -6 forthteller said:

Anybody notice that I nailed the midterm elections in chapter 13, I wrote it 2017? Republicans gain 2 seats in the senate and lose control of the house. In my fiction, the Democrats win 223 to the republicans 209 so I was actually a little low on the democrat side but recounts and absentee votes are still being counted. Let us all hope I am not correct in my next few predictions.


   Should have chapter 48 published by Sunday night

[texican]

Nov 8, 2018 22:47:42 GMT -6 forthteller said:

Nov 8, 2018 22:44:52 GMT -6 forthteller said:

Anybody notice that I nailed the midterm elections in chapter 13, I wrote it 2017? Republicans gain 2 seats in the senate and lose control of the house. In my fiction, the Democrats win 223 to the republicans 209 so I was actually a little low on the democrat side but recounts and absentee votes are still being counted. Let us all hope I am not correct in my next few predictions.


   Should have chapter 48 published by Sunday night

FT,

Well good forecast and another chapter by Sunday....

What more could we want except moar....

Texican....

[remembergoliad]

Either you've read E. Mullins or if not, your writing is near-confirmation of his. (His was non-fiction. If anybody's not familiar with it, go look him up. "They" call him a nutcase, enough of a character reference for me.)

[texican]

Nov 9, 2018 14:53:17 GMT -6 texican said:

Nov 8, 2018 22:47:42 GMT -6 forthteller said:

FT,

Well good forecast and another chapter by Sunday....

What more could we want except moar....

Texican....

Well FT, Sunday night has about 50 minutes to become Monday, but a chapter on Monday would work....

Texican....

[forthteller]

Chapter 48 


Cascadia, day 10 after WWIII



Gong, gong, gong. The air raid siren sounds. Jason jumps from his bed, drags on some combats and puts his boots on. 47 seconds later, he is strapping his gun belt on as he glances at the clock, 04:43.

Rushing from his room, Jason is pleased that so many of his soldiers are up and going and more are responding as he runs to the situation control room.

As he enters the room, everyone stiffens but nobody rises to attention. The senior person in the room says, “Commander in room, remain at your stations.” He marches directly to Jason, snaps to attention and salutes.

Jason glances around the room and then looks directly at the young man. “Situation report, Lieutenant de Franzen.”

The Lieutenant says matter of factly, “we received a communique from cold lake that their reconnaissance detected multiple F35s over Saskatchewan heading west. The aircraft did not respond to any attempts at communications. 2 broke off and attacked the unarmed Cold lake aircraft. Both escaped without taking damage but the F35s were using live fire and had lethal intent. Last sight of the flight of 12 birds was 400 kms east of Calgary and still heading west. They dispatched 24 F35s but the 12 jets were too far south to intercept so they are directly on route to support us if we need any help. They will arrive within minutes of the eastern aircraft.

“Were they able to determine what armament the aircraft had?

“Yes sir. All the aircraft were armed for air to air combat.”

“Air to air combat? They know Cold Lake has a far superior force. Why would they be sending such a small force?”

“They were flying low sir. It is possible they were hoping to slip through undetected. It is unlikely they know we have any fighters ourselves.”

“They have to know we are aware they are inbound yet they continued on after scaring away the recon aircraft. What could they possibly be up to? Unless we engage them with our own aircraft there is not muh they can actually do.”

“Like I said, they probably don’t know we have any defenses ourselves other than a few helicopters which would be easily defeated by F35s. They could be escorting something and they want to protect it from air attacks. They may be trying to divert our air defenses away from the area or even reroute to some rendezvous. No way to tell. They do know they have a substantial head start on the Cold Lake aircraft so they must have an exfiltration plan.”

Jason can hear aircraft taking off and helicopters winding up. “What has our response been?”

“Sir, I have dispatched 6 F35s from Abbotsford with orders to intercept and attempt to establish communications. All our ground to air defense is active, armed, loaded and ready to engage. Awaiting further orders sir.”

“Is Comox operational yet.”

“Partially sir. Their runway suffered significant damage as a result of the earthquakes but they have communications, radar, ground to air defense and 90 percent of their choppers fully operational. They can land and take off cargo and search aircraft on the short portion of the runway that is still intact and if necessary they can take off over the bluff but they cannot land any jets yet. They report that 90 percent of their aircraft and almost 100 percent of their ground equipment was undamaged by the EMPs or the earthquake.”

“Has there been any activity in the mountains where the UN is encamped?”

“Yes sir. We detected unusual activity in both Laidlaw and Abbottsford compounds. We have been monitoring both sites to determine what they are up to. In hindsight sir, I believe they both had foreknowledge of the incoming aircraft because this activity has been detected for about 12 hours.”

“Lieutenant, would you risk that many valuable aircraft trying to rescue 600 troops who have already been given permission to retreat?”

“No sir, I would not. 12 F35s couldn’t rescue anyone anyhow.”

“I would not either Lieutenant. If you were trying to rescue some of your most senior people, how would you do it?”

“I would use helicopters and provide air cover to protect the choppers.”

“I would do the same. There must be one or more individuals in the groups who are so important they cannot risk us capturing them. Let’s get half of our choppers in the air and make sure nobody gets out of either encampment. I would like both groups under tight surveillance until I give orders to go back to the previous state. Well done Lieutenant.”

The Lieutenant snaps to attention, salutes and returns to his duties, issuing instructions to the radio man and the others at various controls.

Jason steps from the room and heads over to the hanger where his ground forces stage operations. As he approaches, he is challenged by an alert sentry. Identifying himself as Lt Colonel Jason Smit, he continues on.

The corporal who has never actually met him chambers a round and clicks off his safety. “Sir, Halt right now and let me see your hands or I will shoot.”

Jason slowly raises his hands in the air.

“Sir, I need you to use your left hand and remove your wallet. Then you are to remove your military ID and hand it to me.”

“I do not have Canadian Forces ID but I do have my driver’s license.”

The sentry takes his radio and calls in backup. “I have an armed individual here who claims he is Lt. colonel Smit but I cannot make visual confirmation because I have never seen him. This guy is way younger than the colonel.”

The person on the other end of the radio says. “Sergeant Wilson is on the way there, he knows him”

“Hey John, caught yourself a big one. Hello Lt. colonel Smit.” He says as he snaps to attention.

Noting the gesture, the corporal makes safe his rifle and shoulders it. Snapping to attention and saluting, the corporal says, “my apologies sir, I had no idea it was really you.”

“No apologies necessary Corporal, you did exactly as you were trained and it was I who should have been more aware. Running around in the dark during a state of alert is not the smartest thing to do.”

With that, Jason joins the Sergeant as he returns to the ready hanger. Once inside, Jason walks right over to the RSM office. Knocking on the door, he hears, “enter.” Jason opens the door and steps in.

“Howdy.” Upon hearing the voice, the Master Warrant Officer looks up and is about to stand when Jason says, “Don’t get up, I am going to sit down.” Jason takes a seat directly opposite the MWO.

“Jack, I think one or both of the UN groups are going to make a run for it tonight. I don’t know how but their allies from the east have a 12-bird flight of F35s on route. Cold Lake thinks they are headed our way. They were flying under the radar. It is possible they have other aircraft on route but I doubt it. Any ideas?”

“We have all the road exits out blockaded. They would have to attempt to get out by air. Since they have no choppers themselves the exfiltration force must be coming in from somewhere else.”

“Agreed. So where would they come from?”

“They could fly from Manitoba if they still have control of Shilo and fly with a tanker. Or they could put down at small local airstrips along the way and get into the mountains but I am pretty sure we would have gotten word from some of the airstrips. They would have to refuel at golden or Revelstoke in which case we would have heard about it. Risky but they could land in a private airstrip or even on the Cochahalla and refuel. If I was running the operation, I would do the Cochahalla landing. Fly in, grab the people and get back to the highway. Refuel and get out. They may have been moving choppers into position for days and we wouldn’t even know about it. Lots of areas to put down in the prairies and even in Montana where nobody with communication abilities would even notice.”

“What about in-flight refueling.”

“Canada does not have any in-flight refueling tankers and most likely the US ones are still inoperational from the emp attack.

“Makes sense. What about coming from the north. Distract the Cold Lake recon flights, slip through Dawson Creek and come south closer to the coast.”

“I don’t know of anywhere they could put down a tanker along that route. They could refuel at Vanderhoof but there is nowhere else they could put down that would not have reported it yet.”

“The same problem would be coming across the US and then coming north. Is it possible the UN may have loyal people at any of the airstrips that could act as a staging point?”

“Possible. I can contact reserve units in all the communities with an airstrip and have them check to make sure. We should be moving to secure the airstrips anyway.”

“Let’s do that, US strips as well. We need to find out what they are up to. Without radar and better communications, we have to use other methods to track these guys. I think we need to go in and secure the UN holdouts soon. Is there any way you can think of doing it without risking casualties?”

“Nope. We try to take them by force, both sides will suffer extensive casualties. They are well dug in. We can wait them out, they have to be running low on food.”

“I am thinking that is what this rescue attempt is all about. A last-ditch effort because they are out. F35s will be here in 25 minutes. Let’s get that information.”

Jason heads back to his command center. Nodding to the alert sentry on his way by, he says, “carry on corporal.” Once inside he heads right over to the Lieutenant sitting at a large map. Before he stands, Jason slings his leg over a stool and says, “as you were.”

Relaxing, the lieutenant moves a large green pin closer to the Laidlaw site. “Lots of activity here sir. Gunfire. It looks like the larger group is blockading itself from the smaller group further west. Both sides have fired on each other. We attempted to get closer but the western group fired 2 anti-aircraft missiles at us. We managed to avoid both but we have withdrawn because we don’t know if they have more. We have run reconnaissance over the area and never picked up any ordinance that could fire them. They could be shoulder launched missiles but they would have had to come from US military sources.”

“Ok, I need some eyes in there. Get some snipers up on the hillside.”

“We already have two teams, sir, headed by a retired special forces sergeant. There is no high ground at the other location but we have a team over there as well, from the best vantage point available.”

“Excellent Lieutenant. This time, when you are sure of the point of launch, return fire. Also, we need to get the rest of our choppers up and going, we believe there may be some choppers coming in to do a recovery effort from the east or possibly the north. They do not get in here and nobody leaves those strongholds. Everyone goes in hot, no more games.”

“As he is saying this, his portable ham radio comes on. Sir, MWO Jefferies here. We just heard from 2nd mountain infantry, the choppers are coming in from Golden. All the airport personnel were killed except for 2 maintenance workers who hid in the hold of a private jet they were working on when they heard gunfire. The NCO IC reports that 6 US Venom attack helicopters are inbound. Their people rounded up and detained 26 UN troops and killed 2. The unit sustained 2 casualties and two wounded.”

“Thank you, Jefferies. What were the choppers?”

“I will transfer you to Captain Neels of the 2nd mountain infantry sir. He knows all this information.”

A cackle and another voice comes on, “Captain Neels here sir. They are Bell UH 1Y Venom, sir, US army markings. Range of about 250 kms, top speed of over 300kms and armaments of up to 2 hydra 70s or equivalents and 2 50 caliber machine guns. Canada does not have anything that can compare to these things. We are sitting ducks against them in air to air combat, sir. They have a payload of about 4,000 kgs so they may also be carrying combat equipment or reinforcements as well.”

“Do you have a reasonable idea when they lifted off?”

“Yes sir, I do. You will have visual within 30 minutes.”

“Thank you, Captain. That information is very helpful. What are you going to do with the UN troops?”

“Sir, they murdered civilian noncombatants in cold blood. That is a civilian matter. We are going to turn them over to the local policing authorities and let them decide what to do with them, I expect them to be tried, sentenced and executed by the end of the week. I will of course have them interrogated before that and I will share any information with you.”

“That quick. Have you already established a local government?”

“We have and we will be joining the Cascadian confederation when they form.”

“Thanks again Captain. I hope to meet with you some day. Out.”

Jason turns to the Lieutenant at the consol. “Lieutenant, you heard that, let the pilots know where the incoming choppers are coming from and what to expect. We will lay in a trap. They think they are surprising us, let’s give them a surprise. Let’s get our ground troops ready to cover the skies as they come into the valley. Once we soften them up, we send in our own choppers to engage them. If we are lucky the F35s from Cold Lake will be here in time and can finish the job.”

The radio crackles to life, “Flight commander Wilson here. I have visual on the inbound F35’s. 600 kms east of your coordinates. Instructions please.”

Jason picks up the mike, “you are to attempt contact with the fighters, convince them to turn around and inform them that if they refuse or do not answer, you will take whatever measures are necessary to prevent them from continuing west. That means lethal force if necessary. Do you understand major? “

“I understand sir. They outnumber us but we will do what we can to prevent them from coming west. What is the expected arrival of the Cold lake reinforcements?”

“15 minutes Major. Try to delay the intruders if possible. We are going to attempt to prevent the choppers from coming in with our own choppers and our ground fire. Good luck major.

Major Wilson, the flight leader sends 2 of his F35s south at full speed, 2 North at full speed and directs them to circle back towards the incoming F35s, weapons hot and flank them as they head west. He and his wingman fly directly into the path of the incoming F35s while he attempts to make contact. After several attempts his warning buzzer sounds and he immediately takes evasive action having already been prepared. His wingman does the same and the two dive towards the ground. Both his other wings have closed on the flanks and have fired a full battery of heat seeking missiles.

6 of the incoming F35s break off and attempt to evade the incoming missiles while attempting to get into position to fire their own weapons. Two take hits and break away. Four F35s are successful in evading the incoming missiles and launch counter attacks. The Cascadia F35s roll away and spew decoys. All four come into formation and sweep to the south and continue attempting to evade the incoming missiles. Several of the missiles turn to follow the Jets and all four head directly towards the jets that fired the missiles. Firing the last of their munitions the four Cascadia Jets head in collision courses with the UN fighters. The UN F35s break into chaos not knowing what to do. The four Cascadia jets all break into four different directions. A few of the heat seeking missiles follow the Cascadia fighters but several pick up new targets. In chaos, 2 more UN fighters are hit, this time by their own devices, a third is hit by the Cascadia missiles.

Meanwhile, Major Wilson is successful evading all the incoming missiles but his wingman is not so lucky, after both his heat seeking missiles he is hit and goes down in smoke. Wilson sees the ejected pilot to the west but he cannot spend his thoughts on his friend as he is aware that 4 of the Jets had not engaged. They had continued west and were now too far out of range for him to stop, even if his Jets were successful in dispatching the ones they were in combat with. After firing two missiles, he radios the command center. “We are engaged with 8 of the F35s but 4 didn’t engage and are now out of sight to the west. They are on their way towards you, we cannot intercept them, even after we dispatch the ones we are currently engaged with.”

“Affirmed Major. We will use our ground forces for defense. What is the status of your currant sortie?”

One of Wilsons missiles makes a direct hit and the F35 explodes with no chance of an ejection. The other F35, ejecting flares, turns and accelerates to the east, Wilson hot on his tail. Wilson fires the rest of his arsenal and circles back to the west. The F35 continues east making no attempt to turn. Moments later, the major sees smoke.

“Wing two and wing three report.”

“Lieutenant Berryhill here sir. Spence was hit and safely ejected. We took down three of the six, two were damaged and I doubt they will make it back, the other one retreated and we have lost visual. I think they went low because I don’t even have them on my radar. We are totally out of munitions with the exception of 50 caliber. I believe they were out too.”

“Great job lieutenant. Return to base. Send the last coordinates of Lieutenant Spence to the command center so they can send out a search team. I lost Lieutenant Johnson as well. He also safely ejected. Did you hear that sir? Wing one also dispatched 3 and possibly the remaining jet as well sir”

“I did. Excellent Major. I will inform the Cold Lake F35s that you won’t be needing their help, I will divert them here as we have incoming choppers.

22 minutes later the 4 remaining F35s emerge from the mountains east of hope, Jason’s ground forces begin firing. On jet takes a direct hit and spirals towards the mountains to the south. Out of sight an explosion signals its sudden end. The other three fighters engage the ground forces but the cold lake fighters are now in sight. Within minutes, the three remaining fighters are down, 2 of the pilots safely ejecting. On the ground cheers abound.

While the fighters were busy the rest of the UN force of six Venom was still attempting to accomplish its mission, either unaware its covering fighters were all gone or continuing because they have already passed the point of no return. “Choppers are in sight sir.”

“Tell the ground forces they are permitted to engage. Full force. Take them down. Are the F35s in range yet?”

“We have already engaged sir, we took one F35 down and the Cold Lake flight took out the rest. They are prepared to assist with the choppers, our own F35s are too far away.”

2 of the choppers get past the hope defenses and drop into the Laidlaw area. Men on the ground scramble to bring a forklift with a pallet on it and several crates and bins strapped to it. A pair of Cold Lake fighters swoop in and destroy both gunships before the load gets close. The forklift quickly reverses back into the shop it was in.

A smaller chopper from the Cascadia group fly’s over the camp, someone with a shoulder mounted RPG launcher steps out and takes aim. He is downed by an unseen sniper from a high point outside camp. Another man races to grab it as the chopper strafes the ground and flies away.”

Two larger choppers close in on the Cascadia chopper. One fires a missile and wheels away. The other strafes the area the sniper fire came from. The Cascadia chopper is hit by the missile and crashes to the mountainside in a ball of flames.

Two more Cascadia choppers flank one of the larger choppers and fire missiles at it. Two direct hits. The other chopper lifts up and north. It turns and heads for the two smaller choppers. A guided missile strikes the chopper broadside before it fires, an F35 flashes by. Smoking, it lands in a clearing. As the passenger scramble from it, reserve ground forces surround them. All the UN people raise their hands and surrender. The Cascadia people rush to the captured chopper and put out the fires as the soldiers are taken into custody.

Jason gets on the radio, “does anyone know where the other two choppers are?”

With a chuckle, a familiar voice comes on the airwaves. “The choppers you are looking for landed in my neighbors’ field, we surrounded them and they all surrendered. 6 UN soldiers. I have 25 of my family and friends armed and ready to serve if you need us.”

“Balvinder, is that you? How are you listening in?”

“When you set up my survival shelters, you also outfitted us with a short-wave radio. My son got training on it and we have been listening in to the battle the whole time, hoping we could be of some use. It would seem, the battle has come to us. I would think we are not the only ones listening in.”

“Excellent, my friend. Keep the UN soldiers in custody. My people will be by to collect them and the birds as soon as we clear things up here.”

Jason talks to the lieutenant. “We need to give the Coldwater F35s clearance to land at the Abbotsford airstrip and refuel. Thank them for their assistance. Then our F35s will be here in about 30 minutes. Bring them in when you can. Make sure all our aircraft is combat ready as soon as possible. I will be heading over to the staging area, you can contact me there if you need me. Good work all” Jason says to the people manning the various stations in the room, turns and leaves the room.

Briskly, he strides to the RSM’ office. With a tap on the jamb he enters. “Hey Jack, good job with the snipers and the choppers. You and Lieutenant de Franzen have done a great job shutting down that offensive. Did any of the UN troops get out?”

No sir. “We have 2 casualties in one of our choppers and we have already recovered both our downed F35 pilots. I have a crew on route to scoop up the 2 Venom and crews. I still have both camps blockaded.”

“Lieutenant de Franzen says there was shooting going on between the two UN groups in Laidlaw area. Do you have any more intelligence on that?”

“I do sir but I was waiting to get the offensive dealt with before we got involved in the UN feud.”

“Feud?”

“It appears that the larger group to the east are now blockaded from the west group. We were contacted by the eastern group and they want to surrender. They claim they are unwilling combatants and only want out but the other group refuses to surrender. You met their leader.”

“I did, an Auzie. Sergeant Crosley. Decent fella. I was wondering why they sent him to negotiate their safe passage to the East. I told him they could all go except the ones involved in the home invasion of my house and the deaths of the RCMP officers. He didn’t think they would agree with that. I gave him my landline number so he could call me on that line. How did he contact you?”

“He contacted us this morning at about 6 AM. He knew the UN group was going to do something but he didn’t know what. The sides traded shots not long after that. I think our conversation may have been overheard.”

“When I was talking to him, I could not get over the feeling that something was not right when they sent him to speak on behalf of the whole UN group. Now I think it may havebeen that because he didn’t have the whole picture, he couldn’t tell us anything. They were feeling us out. But then again, they had to know he was not on the same page. I have to wonder now if the UN officers even knew he was meeting with us. It makes no sense.”

The sergeant major asks, “do you think the sergeant is telling the truth? Can we trust him at his word?”

“I think we should allow them to surrender, put them under house arrest and after we have verified all their identities, give them what they want, safe access out. We could put them under house arrest in one of the hangers after they turn over their weapons.”

“OK. Do you want to make the offer or do you want me to?”

“Be best if I did. Did they leave a number?”

Writing it down, the Master warrant officer hands it to Jason. “What about the officers and the mercenaries?”

“As soon as the surrendering group is out and in custody, I want a full-fledged assault launched. They need to see a show of force prior, to give them a chance to surrender, if they refuse, take the compound. Do you have enough resources?”

“We do but after todays attempted invasion and after the assault, we will be running short on small arms ammunition and air to air missiles.”

“We may be able to be resupplied by Comox and at some point, we may even go into Esquimalt to see if we can salvage anything. They may have been far enough away from the epicenter to have only sustained minimal damage. Plus, there may be survivors.”

Jason sits down at a stool near a land line. He picks up the antique piece of communications equipment. Dialing the number, he waits for the Sergeant to pick up.

“Howdy Mate. Was hoping you would call. What did the old man say.”

“The old man here says ok. You surrender your weapons, provide us with adequate proof you are regular UN forces, we put you under house arrest and we arrange transportation out of here.”

“House arrest. You mean Jail?”

“We let you and your people stay in a few of our hangers, I put some guards just in case this is some sort of a trick. We have to feed you all for as long as it takes to get transport out.”

“Ok mate. Give me your word as an officer and a gentleman that we will be permitted to leave and I think my crew will agree.”

“You have my word.”

“Ok. I don’t have enough vehicles to transport everyone at once and we would need to refuel to do return trips.”

“We can do that. What about the officer and the mercenaries. Are they going to just let you leave?”

“They don’t have a choice, we outnumber them 4 to 1 and we have almost all the munitions.”

“Ok. I will send in some of our troop carriers as well. We can expedite this quickly. I also need some intel on the other group.”

“I can give you some intel but they never let any of us over there so we don’t know what defenses they may have set up.”

“Ok Sergeant. Expect our trucks to be there in 15 minutes. Your people can keep their weapons until they get across highway one, we will have a transport truck at the crossing. You will present Id and turn over you weapons there. Your vehicles and your people will be searched.”

“Expected. I would do the same. We will be ready to ship out when you get here. If the other side fires on you on entry, we will cover you and return fire.”

“If they do, we will drop some heavy munitions in on them, should keep them at bay.”

2 hours later, lieutenant Colonel Smit enters the first hanger full of Australian and New Zealand soldiers with the red Berets. A makeshift command center is over in the far side and Jason can see Sergeant Crossley there. As he begins to walk in that direction one of the people setting up a cot sees him and yells, “attention, officer on deck.” Everyone in the room snaps to attention with no regard to their state of dress or what they were doing.”

Loudly, Jason responds. “At ease everyone, as you were.”

As Jason walks across the hanger he cannot help but marvel at how quickly these men had set up their temporary quarters. He was also impressed with their professionalism. He approaches the Sergeant and notices the number of stripes and badges that adorn his uniform. Not knowing what every badge is, he does know that this sergeant is the equivalent of at least an E7.

Sergeant Crosley stands and salutes. Jason returns the Salute and says, “good to see you again Sergeant. My team is incorporating the intel into the assault plan we are putting together. We are going in in one hour. Is there any last-minute information you can remember?”

“Of any military sort no but just an observation. There are several civilians in there but they seem to be actually high-ranking UN people. They are not combat trained for certain though. Diplomats maybe. The numbers I gave you are combat only, I can only estimate how many officials are in there, I would say at least 20.

“Would you like to join me in my communications center while we stage the assault. You may be able offer some advice as the action proceeds.”

“I certainly would.”

Jason turns and as he walks towards the exit, the sergeant says, “can I ask you a question?”

“Of course. I may even answer it.”

“How is it a US special forces officer is in command of an assortment of Canadian Army, Airforce and Navy personnel.”

“As they exit the hanger, Jason says, “really long story. I will share it with you over a meal or two while we wait for your transport. By the way, I contacted your commander in Perth. They would like you to contact them today. I will put you through right after we are done today.”

“Ok. You sound confident. Do you expect a short action?”

“The RSM is the best in the business. He has snipers in the mountains and several choppers. We are going to fly in with two captured venom choppers, when they realize it is us and not their allies it will be too late as we will have already launched an attack from the mountains, the air and right through their front gate with an APC.”

“Doesn’t sound like much opportunity to offer advice. I would try to keep an eye out for when they surrender. I am certain there is valuable intel available.”

The battle goes off without a hitch. Cascadian forces suffer 6 casualties and 14 serious injuries. 31 of 75 mercenaries are killed or injured and 2 UN officers are also killed in the action. As a sergeant leading a team of 4 enters what they thought was a barn he gasps, yells “everyone out, now. Move, move, move.”

After they are clear of the building a corporal looks at the sergeant and says, “what is it? What did you see?”

“Let you know later,” says the sergeant as he fingers the mike on his radio. “Sergeant Hiller here. We just entered a building and bugged out. the MWO needs to see this. I have to tell him in person what is in there. Over.”

“Ok. Lieutenant Jacobson is on her way over.”

“No, you need to send someone from medical over.”

“Is someone injured?”

“No. Just get someone higher up from medical over here, and do it now! It doesn’t even need to be military. I don’t want to repeat this.”

Looking at his crew, “Nobody in, nobody out. Shoot to kill if you have to.”

“Are you serious Sarg?”

“Yes, I am. I will take any responsibility for anything that happens, you all heard it. You two, guard the back exit. Same instructions.”

7 minutes later a MILCOTS arrives with one woman and an older man in the back seat. Driven by Lt. de Franzen. They all hop out.

De Franzen walks over to the sergeant who salutes crisply. “At ease sergeant. What is the emergency?”

Walking away from the other soldiers he motions the three to follow him. Once clear, he says, “they have a biological lab in there. At least 20 people on beds. Look like patients. At least 2 doctors and several nurses. All wearing hazmat suits. They saw us at the door and didn’t even make a move to stop us.”

Lt. de Franzen says, “keep guard here sergeant. I have to get to the Colonel and find out what he wants to do? Turning to the two people who came with him, “do we have hazmat suits in any of our trucks or quickly available?”

“No but I can make one call to the hospital and get as many as we need, be about an hour.”

“Okay, let’s go back and you can make your call. Sergeant. I am going to send you some more people. Keep guard here. Nobody in, nobody out.”



Later, in Jason’s office. “You have had a chance to investigate, what is in there.”

“I am not a virologist but I can tell you this, they have 22 infected people in there, 2 virologists, 1 bacteriologist and several other specialists. They look to be working on a vaccine and they also seem to be trying to do research on one or more viruses. The place has been converted to a first-class lab. I think it has been there for years.”

Ashen white, Jason quietly says, “Biological warfare. I never believed it.” Turning to Lt. Franzen, “are these people all in custody?”   
    
“They are sir. We have our own people in there now treating the patients. If this is similar to the ice age virus they will begin to show signs of recovery in a few days. Unfortunately, the ice age virus is only active during warmer weather so this may be a different strain of flue. Our doctors tell me the people were infected on purpose.

[forthteller]

Nov 11, 2018 18:17:14 GMT -6 remembergoliad said:

Either you've read E. Mullins or if not, your writing is near-confirmation of his. (His was non-fiction. If anybody's not familiar with it, go look him up. "They" call him a nutcase, enough of a character reference for me.)

I have never read E. Mullins but I am a nutcase too. This whole book is totally fiction. I used to write non fiction but nobody ever read it.

[forthteller]

Nov 11, 2018 23:12:58 GMT -6 texican said:

Nov 9, 2018 14:53:17 GMT -6 texican said:

FT,

Well good forecast and another chapter by Sunday....

What more could we want except moar....

Texican....

Well FT, Sunday night has about 50 minutes to become Monday, but a chapter on Monday would work....

Texican....

Sorry about that tex. I had a chapter ready but in my crazy brain state I had a great thought. Major rewrite to get it in. The chapter I was going to post will have to be number 50 or so.   Forthteller.
  

[texican]

Nov 22, 2018 0:30:03 GMT -6 forthteller said:

Nov 11, 2018 23:12:58 GMT -6 texican said:

Well FT, Sunday night has about 50 minutes to become Monday, but a chapter on Monday would work....

Texican....

Sorry about that tex. I had a chapter ready but in my crazy brain state I had a great thought. Major rewrite to get it in. The chapter I was going to post will have to be number 50 or so.   Forthteller.
  

FT,

The moar hounds will wait, maybe slavering at the jowls, but we will wait....

Thanks for the work and time you expend in bringing the moar hounds your writings....

Texican....

[forthteller]

Nov 23, 2018 13:58:14 GMT -6 texican said:

Nov 22, 2018 0:30:03 GMT -6 forthteller said:

Sorry about that tex. I had a chapter ready but in my crazy brain state I had a great thought. Major rewrite to get it in. The chapter I was going to post will have to be number 50 or so.   Forthteller.
  

FT,

The moar hounds will wait, maybe slavering at the jowls, but we will wait....

Thanks for the work and time you expend in bringing the moar hounds your writings....

Texican....

Thanks for reading tex. Winter is here and I am in construction which means I get more writing time with short days and crap weather. I get a little break as I head to Vegas next week so my son can race in the silver state winter nationals. This book is nearly done me thinks. 5 or 6 more chapters. I have already started my next one but it is not postable yet. It will be called Not me too.   Forthteller

[texican]

Nov 23, 2018 21:11:40 GMT -6 forthteller said:

Nov 23, 2018 13:58:14 GMT -6 texican said:

FT,

The moar hounds will wait, maybe slavering at the jowls, but we will wait....

Thanks for the work and time you expend in bringing the moar hounds your writings....

Texican....

Thanks for reading tex. Winter is here and I am in construction which means I get more writing time with short days and crap weather. I get a little break as I head to Vegas next week so my son can race in the silver state winter nationals. This book is nearly done me thinks. 5 or 6 more chapters. I have already started my next one but it is not postable yet. It will be called Not me too.   Forthteller

FT,

Enjoy Vegas and the son's race....

Another 6 chapters is great....

And another book to wait for!!!!

Texican....

[supermag]

Nov 23, 2018 21:11:40 GMT -6 forthteller said:

Nov 23, 2018 13:58:14 GMT -6 texican said:

FT,

The moar hounds will wait, maybe slavering at the jowls, but we will wait....

Thanks for the work and time you expend in bringing the moar hounds your writings....

Texican....

Thanks for reading tex. Winter is here and I am in construction which means I get more writing time with short days and crap weather. I get a little break as I head to Vegas next week so my son can race in the silver state winter nationals. This book is nearly done me thinks. 5 or 6 more chapters. I have already started my next one but it is not postable yet. It will be called Not me too.   Forthteller

A quarter midget racer?  My nephew raced those for several years before moving to 600s this year.  

[forthteller]

Chapter 49



David and Jessica



Formation of Cascadia, A new west is born



“That just about does it” says David as he sees the last of his computer screens come up. “We now have communications across the entire USA and most of the world now.”

Behind him, Anthony Davis, the construction engineer looks on. Beside Anthony, the man David knows as stan, also looks on.

Stan asks, “how many people now have access to the internet?”

“Out east, not many. The government needs to control information and it would not be possible if everyone had access to unfiltered and un edited media. Almost everything west of Missouri has full access. In Canada, almost everyone has access because the EMPs did minimal damage north of the border.”

“So, the news of the attack on the reserve forces in BC has been aired?”

“That and the ground skirmishes in the Midwest and New Mexico as well. The UN forces have to realize they are losing the public relations war as well as the battles themselves. The feed where we videotaped the secret medical research facility and shared what we know of the virus and vaccine they were creating has been labeled fake news. Already news stations and anchors have received contrary evidence from the UN that we manufactured the whole scene. People will have to believe what they believe.”

“You are right about the believing bit but I have the reports here from our own medicals experts and it won’t matter what they believe. This new strain of the virus will be catastrophic.”

David straightens up and focuses his attention on Stan. “How so? We already have a reasonably good treatment ,for the virus and once someone contracts it, they are immune. Plus, we got the entire lab, nobody escaped or got out.”

Tapping on his folder, Stan says, “they didn’t need to get out, they would have sent reports and once communications went back up, they would have been able to send updates. Likely the reason they sent in the choppers was to get the vaccine that had been created.”

“Most people have already been exposed and either got it or have natural immunity. It won’t make much of a splash.”

“For starters, the ice age virus was active and contagious above 75 degrees so a majority of those in more temperate climates have never been exposed. The strain these people have now developed is active and contagious above 60 degrees so it will be active in the fall and spring, similar to regular flues and viruses. Our northern friends will be susceptible as well now, as well as other parts of the world like Russia, Great Briton, Australia and New Zealand.”

“With less international travel, won’t that limit the spread?”

“It would but I believe the spurious UN knows that as well. They have probably put together a delivery plan.”

“What kind of plan.”

“It looks from the evidence we found they were attempting to prolong the incubation period of the virus. Some of the victims that we rescued had been infected weeks ago and some of the patients, less than a week. The latter ones had no symptoms at all but our tests show they are already contagious. It would be possible for people to infect hundreds of people and they wouldn’t even know they are sick for a week or two. In a week, symptoms would appear and within a few weeks the outbreak starts.”

“Do you think any of the regular UN forces were infected before they surrendered to Lt. Colonel smit and his people?”

“They are all in quarantine now and we are sending a warning out to all our friends. My thinking, that may be the reason they let them separate themselves from the Mercenary group. If they infected them and allowed the Canadian to take custody they would not yet have smptoms. Then the Canadians arrange transport to wherever they had originated and in two weeks all hell breaks loose. My concern is why, what is the purpose.”

“What about the vaccine? Did they have one developed.”

“We think so but we are not certain. Our team is working on it but we won’t know for a few more weeks. Even then it will take months to manufacture enough vaccine for even half the population. The Vaccines we recovered are sufficient to treat about 10,000 people but we are reluctant to administer it until we are certain. They are working with the victims we rescued to find an effective treatment. So far, 3 people have died and we expect another woman to pass on this evening.”

With a sad look David idly flips off a video screen. He turns back to Stan and points at the folder Stan has in his hand, “Is that intel you want me to get out to the public?”

“Some is, some is information you need to know about what else is happening in the US, Canada and elsewhere. Things are unfolding in unforeseen ways. I don’t know if this was their plan or if their plan has gone awry.”

“OK. On another point. When and where is the meeting now that the referendum results are in?”

First meetings will be held in Spokane. We are only going to discuss possible governance systems but most I have spoken to like the idea of a constitutional republic but regions would retain more control than was allowed in the USA system. Also, there are pockets of USA and Canadian loyalists who claim that the 65 percent pro separation vote we got was illegal and has no validity. We expect significant pushback and if the UN is still able, they will interfere, both UN groups.”

“We have hundreds of reserve and national guard units here and in Canada as well as several regular forces, do we have their support or are they going to support maintaining the United States illusion.”

“Almost all are. The commanding general at McCord-Ft Lewis base is publicly against succeeding the United States but the senior officers at the Army garrison are all in favor. The senior air force officers are mixed. Every reserve unit and the national guard are in favor. Canadians are solidly in favor but they are more inclined to form a looser union. These will be interesting discussions and at times contentious.”

“Who is going to be involved in the discussions?”

“Local communities will be electing representatives and they in turn will have 3 months to make recommendations. They will elect from amongst themselves 2 people who will attend the final series of meetings with recommendations. Whatever we come up with will be put forward on a referendum and will require a 60 percent vote to be implemented. I personally would like to see a mechanism where amendments can be put forward and instituted with a super majority in the future.”

David hunches his shoulder. “Ok, I will get this out to the masses.”

Turning to Anthony, “You wanted to show me something.”

Anthony shrugs his shoulders, “not nearly as important as getting that information out to the public. Just wanted you to see the back exit my people built and something very surprising we found as well. The people in the plant across the street have no idea the exit is there.”

Pausing, Antony continues,” there was actually a hidden tunnel leading to a small room in the back. We can get out there but it would be very difficult to get in from the outside even if they knew the panel was a door. The original building is well over 100 years old but the tunnels were most likely put in during the prohibition era.”

“So, we cannot use it as a regular access point then.”

“Not if we want to keep it secret. It will make an excellent emergency exit should the need ever arise.”

“Great, is it down the tunnel we were in before?”

“It is, but what I need you to see down there is what else we found.” Standing beside him, a smiling stan nods.

“What did you find?”

“You would have to see it to believe it. This way,”

Anthony leads the way down the corridor and into the maze of tunnels. David behind him and trailed by Stan. They pass by several sections of the wall that have been jackhammered open to reveal rooms behind. On both sides, almost empty rooms line the maze. After a couple hundred feet Anthony stops at what looks to be a new set of heavy steel doors in a cleanly cut 8 ft opening.

Stan steps forward and produces a key and opens a lock. Out pops a console with a screen and a keyboard. Stan types in a code and then places his left hand on the screen. He steps back and Anthony does the same, springs and mechanisms sound, the door clicks and a slow beeping starts. Stan pushes the door and it swings open. He steps in, followed by Anthony and then David.

Gasping, David pans his eyes across several pallets of gold inside securely locked recently built jail like cells. “What the???”

Stan interrupts, “my thoughts exactly when Anthony took me to the first room he found it in. It had hundreds of pounds of gold. Bars of several sizes and coins from several counties and different years. Latest date was 1893 liberty head pure gold coins.”

“But this is way more that hundreds of pounds, I can see tons in here.”

“After we uncovered the first room purely by mistake, we got some scanning equipment and found that the hallways are lined with entrances, long since covered over and then concealed with further concrete work. So far we have found gold in 11 rooms, all sealed at different times over the last 150 years.”

David looks at both men in the room, “unbelievable, how do you know they were not sealed at the same time?”

“State of decay of the concrete, type of concrete, dates on coins and bars and the decay in the wooden pallets and skids. How they were stacked. Trust me.”

“11 rooms, we have passed more than 20, were they empty.”

“Nope. A few were full of WWI weapons, a few with WWII weapons and the most recent has late 50’s early 60’s weapons in them. Personal weapons like handguns, rifles, assault rifles, grenades and shoulder launched RPGs. No heavy munitions have been found, yet. We know of at least 10 more spots where we think there may be a doorway.”

“The gold is here, where are the weapons?”

“We had them distributed to reserve units throughout the region. They were massively under equipped and were more than happy to take even the oldest equipment. The ammunition and explosives are very old and likely not usable. Their weapons techs may be able to use what we sent them to manufacture new ammunition.”

Absolutely shocked. David looks around the room at tons of pure gold. “Who, how, why?”

Stan steps forward. “We don’t know but Max is tracing ownership of the buildings and the identities of everyone involved in construction down here. We are talking about over 100 years of planning for something.”

“100 years, 4 or 5 generations and it was kept secret all this time. I don’t know what to say. Who else knows about this?”

Anthony replies. “The three of us and my 2 most trusted carpenters. We moved it all here and built the steel doors. The military only knows about the weapons. Only Stan and I can open the door and it requires both of us.”

“If something happens to one of you?”

“About 2 days and a lot of jackhammering. We want to add your password and hand print, then it would only require 2 of us three to open it. I think that is safest. There is several trillion worth in old US currency in there. It is virtually useless with the new intur because gold has no value other than for its industrial use under their system.”





Meanwhile, in another part of Seattle.



“So, you are telling me that the only stable way to run a modern economy is with an economic system thousands of years old? If it is the only way, why has every modern society distanced themselves from it?”

Jessica looks at Steve Walkman. The middle-aged former speaker of the house genuinely believed the current system where a government can manipulate economies and pay debt by printing money was sustainable. He had an MBA from Wharton and was mentored by some of the best. Even now he is having trouble understanding what has happened. “They all switched so they could manipulate economies and the marketplace to benefit their own patrons and causes. As the largest spender into any economy the government can spend money to stimulate economic activity or reduce spending to slow an overheated economy. Previously they could only do this with taxation and spending policies. Typically, a responsible government would spend less than it takes in during a hot economy and save that excess. If the economy needed stimulus, they would spend more than they took in using the saved resources.”

“Everyone knows that. We are taught that from day one in economics. The gold standard was cumbersome and inefficient. The federal reserve has gold and other assets to back its cash, how is that any different?”

“By the late 50’s, most Democratically elected governments had found that once programs and institutions were installed by a previous government, they were almost impossible to de fund so they needed more and more resources to fund their own base. Increasing taxes almost certainly guaranteed losing in the next election.”

Jessica continued, “They started to borrow to finance infrastructure projects which generated good paying jobs and stimulated the economy. They also did it with taxation and with spending of reserves.” Eventually they had to pay so much interest it began to cut into their ability to fund social programs and health care. We have run a deficit since 2002 and have accumulated about 108 percent of our GDP in det. It works as long as the GDP grows at a greater rate than the debt but even that has not occurred for the last10 years. Once debt is too high, the government loses the ability to raise interest rates enough to control inflation.”

“Why is that?”

“As the largest debtor in the industry the government must pay interest from currant revenues. As interest eats up larger portions of the budget, the government must raise more revenue or reduce expenses. Up until 2019, they just borrowed or printed more money. Printing money actually reduces debt by eroding the value because of inflation.”

Dumfounded, the 57-year-old congressman looks at the young woman lecturing him. “So, you think it was corrupt governments who dropped the gold standard?”

“Corrupt, incompetent or misinformed. When Dr. Rodgers began to sound the warning bells in the 90s, he was ridiculed, maligned and eventually bullied into silence. It wasn’t until some of his students and I renewed the warnings and several renowned economists confirmed some of our models that the difference between the misinformed and corrupt officials began to become clear. While many government leaders wanted more answers, others wanted us to simply shut up. When we continued to research and publish our findings some of my peers were arrested, threatened and in a few cases disappeared altogether. In fear, almost everybody stopped attempting to warn the government and joined in ridiculing those of us who continued to sound the warnings.”

“I still don’t understand. With the gold standard, they could have simply increased the value of the gold and printed more money against it.”

“That causes inflation. If a bar of gold is worth 35 dollars and you raise the value of it to 40 dollars, you could print 5 more dollars and put it into circulation but you still only have one bar of gold and its value has not actually changed. If one cow is worth 1 bar of gold, it is still worth only one bar of gold, only now both cost 40 dollars. In a free market economy, everything else is still worth the same but costs more money, unless….”

“Unless what?”

“Glad you asked. The government could determine the value of goods and artificially set their values. If they tell the market that one cow is worth 2 bars of gold but that everything else is still the same price, they have now created an artificial demand for cows. More farmers will try to breed, raise and sell cows but nobody is going to buy more cows than they previously did and in fact the higher price will mean even less demand. A surplus of cows will dictate that many will have to be euthanized because the extra cows need to be fed. Famers still want the two bars of gold for each cow but few can buy them so they will expect the government to pay. Now nobody gets any milk and the farmers get 2 bars of gold. The farmers will continue to breed, raise and attempt to sell more cows while the government must find a way to pay for excess cows. Taxes are the usual way. Farmers won’t care much if they have to pay 25 percent taxes but the rest of society who cannot afford to even buy the cows will resent paying taxes to support the people who are getting paid for not producing cows. Now the government has to set quotas for cows and decide who gets to fill those quotas. They can sell the quota to farmers to recover what they spent on buying euthanized cows but now the quota has value of its own.”

“OK. Way more to digest than I can in one visit.” The ex-congressman says as he turns his attention to Sam Rodgers who has silently observed the whole conversation. “Is she right?”

“In my opinion, absolutely. In fact, she explains it better than I do and I wrote most of the books she learned from.”

“Ok, I am convinced. I am going to recommend we go to the gold standard for the new economic system. Would you two be able to make other economic recommendations we would want to bring forward for possible inclusion in the new constitution.”

Sam and Jessica look at one another. Both incredulous that they are actually being asked for advice by someone who only 3 years earlier would have had them imprisoned for their views. Jessica responds, “I have a few and I am sure Dr. Rodgers has some ideas too. We will get them to you within the next week.”

[texican]

FT,

Thanks for the New Years Day chapter....

Texican....

[freebirde]

Idea #1: Lawmakers and regulators cannot exempt themselves from laws and regulations.