Repacious creditor

[forthteller]

Feb 13, 2018 8:49:16 GMT -6 solo said:

I am finally caught up.... I hate being finally caught up!

Next chapter won't be ready before Friday or Saturday, that ought to give you a breather. I am having trouble with it as I need to keep the suspense going but also need to get the apocalypse started. Threw my outline out 10 chapters ago. Just got a great idea as I am writing this post. Gotta go.

[accountant]

You started with an outline? WOW...you must be a professional writer.
My outline would be..here's the start, here's how it ends..I fill in the blank as I go along.

Seriously though, your story is much more complex than I could ever make mine. I'm sure it's difficult to keep all the characters in position and waiting their turn. The apocalypse will be whole other kettle of fish, but I can't wait to sink my teeth into it even though I'm more of a steak and potatoes man.

[forthteller]

Feb 13, 2018 15:41:11 GMT -6 accountant said:

You started with an outline? WOW...you must be a professional writer.
My outline would be..here's the start, here's how it ends..I fill in the blank as I go along.

Seriously though, your story is much more complex than I could ever make mine. I'm sure it's difficult to keep all the characters in position and waiting their turn. The apocalypse will be whole other kettle of fish, but I can't wait to sink my teeth into it even though I'm more of a steak and potatoes man.

Professional, as in I get paid, not. I have done some writing though but non fiction and persuasive thesis. Nobody ever reads it though. This is my first attempt at fiction.

As for the complexity, it was never supposed to be, it just evolved this way. Crazy brain syndrome coming out in my narrative.

[papaof2]

Feb 13, 2018 15:41:11 GMT -6 accountant said:

You started with an outline? WOW...you must be a professional writer.
My outline would be..here's the start, here's how it ends..I fill in the blank as I go along.

Seriously though, your story is much more complex than I could ever make mine. I'm sure it's difficult to keep all the characters in position and waiting their turn. The apocalypse will be whole other kettle of fish, but I can't wait to sink my teeth into it even though I'm more of a steak and potatoes man.

Outline? That's something I do in four or five words for a chapter ;-)

"Accidental Family" was to be a short story - and ran well over 100,000 words.

"Jack's War" started with a name, a face, an age and the idea "Let's see what happens to this person". Ran two books of 100k words each.

"Just Another Voicemail" started as an entry in a short story contest. It's currently at 120K+ words.

Maybe an outline for the entire story would help. But then what would I do with all the interesting rabbit scents that cross the trail?

[solo]

Feb 13, 2018 15:33:03 GMT -6 forthteller said:

Feb 13, 2018 8:49:16 GMT -6 solo said:

I am finally caught up.... I hate being finally caught up!

Next chapter won't be ready before Friday or Saturday, that ought to give you a breather. I am having trouble with it as I need to keep the suspense going but also need to get the apocalypse started. Threw my outline out 10 chapters ago. Just got a great idea as I am writing this post. Gotta go.

That happened to me with Diver's Down...  It took on a life of its on... And the Last Baseball game was supposed to be a short story.... It bloomed too.  Just feel the muse and go with it.  That way it will surprise you as much as us!  As an aside, I am learning alot about financials and the economy reading this.  it definitely passes the "makes sense" test.

[forthteller]

Chapter 22



Battle for control



March, 2022



President Jonathon Connolly Wraps up his final day in the white house before he takes his family on a retreat to a small island in the Bahamas. One owned by his family.

His senior staff all recommended he do a press briefing before leaving to try and quell the unrest brewing throughout the entire USA and he agreed. His press secretary recommended the briefing be on the white house lawn so he follows his secret service detail out to the waiting reporters. Chanting and jeers drown out the press briefing as reporters and journalists struggle to get their questions in. President Connolly raises his voice and does his best to answer their questions. At one point he leaves the stage to get closer to the reporter who posed a question he really wanted to answer.

“In response to your question, we will be instituting martial law throughout the United States and curfew will be 11 PM to 5 AM. US soldiers and UN soldiers will stop, detain and question every person out during that time and will arrest anyone without proper permits. Resistance will be met with lethal force. Looters and vandals will only be given 1 warning and individuals with a firearm will not be warned at all.”

Stepping back, the president looked over the crowd and for a few moments the entire assembly quieted as if expecting a miracle; “we will have peace in the land again.” As he says his National Security Advisor steps between the President and the reporter as he attempts to usher the President back up to the podium. The reporter attempts to get one more question in, the Security Advisor quickly sidesteps in front of him to block him.

A shot rings out, the reporter who just posed the question falls to the ground, then another reporter, followed by semi automatic fire from several locations. Secret service agents swarm the president and knock him to the ground covering him with their bodies, the National Security Advisor slips away in the chaos. Secret service personnel surround the president as they pick him up and rush him, uninjured into the Whitehouse.

Small arms fire continues for several minutes, the crowd rushes about in a frenzy trying to flee the gunfire to no avail. Tear gas is dispersed into the crowd. Gunfire echoes from several sources and to the naked eye there is no way of telling who is shooting who. As the crowd disperses and the gunfire dies out it is apparent that there is more than a hundred dead and injured outside the white house fences and at least a dozen are down inside the fence and on the white house lawn.

The media filmed it all and every outlet around the world had it on newsbreaks throughout the day and well into the evening, giving viewers a welcome break from the devastation in India and Pakistan.

Ironically, the news media all reported the incident as an assassination attempt but senior officials in the Secret Service knew that there was only one shooter in the crowd and it was possible that the president was not his target. They also knew that the initial shooter was among the dead and that all the rest of the shots came from plainclothes secret service, uniformed security personnel and armed military guards. 21 of the dead were security or military and they were all shot by their own forces.

Hoping to keep the confusion and pandemonium under wraps the secret service seized and deleted every video that popped up and concocted a narrative that included several shooters in the crowd and a plan by the right to assassinate the President and his senior aids.

What the senior secret service people did not know was that some of the shooters had been pre-warned of the event and had been instructed to fire indiscriminately into the crowd. In trying to cover up their own mistakes the Secret Service has destroyed the evidence that would have alerted them to the real target.



April, 2022



Edwardo Palmeno, Arch-Bishop of Palermo and President of the Council of European Bishops, exits the Papal Palace and heads out to the street. This was his third Papal audience this week and he was confident the Pope was not going to interfere in the WHO decision to continue the border blockade around Pakistan, India and Bangladesh. Since the development of an effective vaccine, the virus had been effectively halted but the secondary infections and sickness from exposure to death and decay was still rampant. Also, fears that the virus could be still viable and may have even mutated have forced continued resistance to allow anyone out of the infected zone.

Checking to see where his security was he turns back towards the palace. “Where are they?” He thinks to himself as he begins to worry. Not seeing his security detail, he quickly starts back to the compound. His progress is immediately blocked as a statue of a man, early 4o’s. Muscular, at least 220 cms tall and clean cut, steps into his path.

The man reaches into his jacket and removes a large manila envelope. “Cardinal Edwardo Palmeno?”

“Yes, who are you.”

“Doesn’t matter, this is for you.”

“Do you need a signature?”

“Nope.” With that he turns about face and marches off.

Within moments the Cardinals security detail is right there and with an irritated look on his face he wheels around and proceeds to his car. He looks at the fat letter sized envelope and decides to wait until he gets to his own apartment before he opens it.



At exactly that moment the president and CEO of the second largest auto maker in the US is driving his car in light New York traffic. He is on his way to see his mistress in Manhattan so he has left his security detail behind. At 72 years old, he feels much younger when he is with Marie, before her Liz and before that Erica and before that the list goes on. Too bad they had all disappeared after they had gotten too serious. They all end up spoiling a good thing, "greed I guess'" thinks Stephen.

Stephen Cabot does not usually drive himself, he prefers to use the auto drive feature so he can work while in transit. He had this car custom built and can turn off the GPS when he chose to, today was one of those days. The only consequence is that it had to be driven manually whenever it was disabled so today he is driving. Traffic is much lighter these days with more people using transit and fewer people working so he is doing at least 35 MPH on Park Avenue and has made three lights in a row.

As he approaches E57th the light turns yellow so he slows and prepares to stop. At that moment a car darts out of an alleyway and brakes hard, directly in front of him. He stops the car and is about to back up when a second car drives directly up to his rear bumper. Before he has a chance to do anything else, a very large military looking man is standing at his driver’s window with his right had removing something from his left breast, to Stephen it looks like a 9 mil browning. Covering his face to uselessly deflect the coming bullets he begins begging for his life. One shot and glass explodes inwards. When no other shots come, he reluctantly uncovers his face and looks at the man. The man reaches into his jacket and removes a letter sized envelope. Holding it out he waits until Stephen takes it and he points the gun at him again. Stephen ducks his head again and waits for the shot that never comes.

When he looks back up, the man is gone and he hears the clunk as as a vehicle is shifted into gear. Both vehicles back up and drive away, no tires squealing, no dramatics.

Stephen sits motionless for several moments and only comes to his senses when another motorist honks for him to go. He turns right onto 57th and decides to go home. He cannot even phone his friend because he is afraid to take his phone out of the security pouch for fear someone may track his whereabouts. Not once does it occur that someone had done just that.



Patrick Poulin leisurely walks along the boardwalk at the private resort near Charleston, South Carolina. He has gained a certain level of comfort and familiarity with seeing a significant number of uniformed security in places of business and recreation for the noble class. There is not a lot of freedom left in his home in France, as riots and anarchy has made the residents prisoners in their own homes. Here in the US there is so much room, even with the discord, people like him could enjoy their well earned luxuries.

As the head of the largest Pharmaceutical company in the world he couldn’t help but smile as he recalled his corporate takeover of the larger Pfizer. With that takeover, his company, Silade pharmaceutical became the largest in the world. His labs were busy making billions on vaccines for the very viruses they had created. Of course, they had already created that vaccine before they infected the foxes but timing was important to avoid suspicion.

As he stops to enjoy the breathtaking view of the ocean he doesn’t see but hears a jogger running along the boardwalk. As the person nears he turns slightly and notices it is a woman in shorts and a bikini top. She stops directly in front of him and he gasps at the breathtakingly beautiful woman. Without a word, she thrusts a letter sized manila envelope into his hand, gives him a malicious smile, and runs off. As he watches her leave, he becomes aware of the fat manila envelope he is holding. “I wonder what this is?”

There is nobody nearby so he opens it. He pulls the first thing he can grasp out and drops the envelope as the 8 x 11 glossy photograph comes into view. Gasping, he slouches to the ground. Clutching the photo and holding his chest he attempts to get the attention of the guard nearby. Gurgling and gasping for air, he is unable to speak. As he loses consciousness, the last thing he sees is the jogger taking the picture from his hand.



As Patrick Poulin was being loaded into an ambulance, three states over, Barry Middleton, National Security Advisor, was Briefing the President. “Security precautions have been taken everywhere. Secret service has been busy on the island for weeks, making sure you and your family will be safe and secure on your vacation. Air force one will take you to Miami and you will travel aboard a yacht from there to the island. The Vice President will arrive at the white house after you have arrived in Miami.” Once finished he asked, “do you have any questions?”

“A few. We want as normal a vacation as is possible. My son wants to jet ski, I would like to get some scuba diving in and my daughter needs her Dance instructor to come with us.”

“We already knew that. The equipment is all there and secured but they are not in the itinerary because we don’t want to alert the public. Your public appearances will be tough enough to secure but once you get to the island we don’t want anyone to know where you are. If they find out the media will bombard you and of course the protestors will be out in droves.”

A knock on the private door to the left of the oval office. The president’s wife sticks her head in, “can I borrow you for a moment?”

“Are we done Barry?”

“Yes sir, for now. I will make sure this goes off without a hitch.” Turning, he cannot help but inwardly smile, “this will be your last holiday, Sir.”

Barry exits the Oval office and quietly closes the door. He turns towards the west wing and is stopped by an intern in the conspicuously empty hallway. The beautiful young woman, petite, early 20s stands erect before him. He has never seen her before and she is not wearing a badge or any identification so he is immediately on alert. She pushes a letter sized envelope at him and lets go. Instinctively he grasps it and grabs her wrist with the other hand. With barely a flinch, she twists it free, sweeps his feet from under him, grabs him by the collar and with a spin slams him face first into the marble floor. In what feels like seconds he rebounds to his feet and turns to where she was but she is gone, not a sign of which direction. At that moment several security detail arrive but rather than admit he had been bested by a woman he just says he fell. Knowing the camera was watching it all, he looks up and immediately it is obvious the lens is broken. He points to it and says, “get that fixed, right now.”

Barry Middleton stoops and picks up the sealed unaddressed envelope and strides off to the nearest bathroom to examine his bruised forehead. Inside the bathroom he stops to open the envelope and slides out a thick report. It is from a clandestine CIA operation he conducted 15 years ago. Not only was the operation illegal, it was unsanctioned and it resulted in the deaths of hundreds of American citizens and the destruction of 2 buildings. Dropping from the folder is a single sheet. He picks it up and can see the amounts, the account numbers and the dates of dozens of deposits and withdrawals. “Holy shit,” he exclaims as he hurriedly pulls another file from the envelope. This one is a full account of an operation mounted within the continental United States, highly illegal, also unsanctioned. This time he had coordinated a mission to place munitions and weapons into the hands of known terrorists.

Quickly, he stuffs the documents back into the envelope and immediately heads for the parkade, completely forgetting to look at the growing bruise on his forehead.



Hans Christenson sits in his office at Military headquarters in Bonn, Germany. It has been a day. As the Inspector General of the Bundeswehr it is a great disappointment that he has to send his troops into the streets of Germany to maintain order when they should be doing battle elsewhere, bringing honor to Germany. If he had his way he would let the civilians fight it out and the strong would survive. Finished for the day, he neatly arranges his desk and stands. At the door he takes his Headdress from the rack and arranges it carefully on his head, he then opens the door and smartly steps out into the hallway.

Out front he walks over to his Staff car and a young officer holds the door for him. He gets in and leans forward and says to the driver, “Officers mess. Where is my regular driver, Sgt Voight?”

“I was not told that sir. I am Sgt. Bruin, Sir.”

“Very well.” Hans sits back and pulls his seatbelt across him. Idly looking at some reports, he notices the driver turned left when he should have gone straight through. “The mess is not that way.”

Coming to a stop where there were no lights the driver says, “I know” as he leaps from the car and hurriedly walks away.

Hans sits in the back, wondering what is up. He draws his service pistol and chambers a round. Looking around he is trying to remember if there is a radio in the rear of the car. Not finding one he slides over the seat and into the front but the driver has taken the keys. Shit.

A loud metallic rap on the window, He looks out and sees a man in German army camo fatigues with a g36 held across his chest. Behind him the General could see another man also dressed in combat fatigues and carrying a g36.

Knowing that the glass is bulletproof the general checks to see if the doors are locked and they are. To his surprise the man at the window produces the key and grinning, shows it to him. He holds up a letter sized envelope and motions for the window to be rolled down.

General Hans Christenson rolls the window down half an inch and the man in fatigues slips the envelope in. It drops in the Generals lap. The man in front of the door steps aside as the other man is now holding a rocket launcher and aims it at the driver’s window. The General knows the bullet proof glass will not stop the rocket so he decides to go out fighting. He grabs the door handle and in one move attempts to exit the car. The first gunman was ready for it and lunges forward. He kicks the door shut and steps to the rear of the car. Now covering the door in case it opens, the man with the rocket launcher takes aim again. He slowly walks up to the car while a wide eyed, disbelieving general looks out. When he gets to the car, he taps the window with the barrel and mouths, “boom!”

They turn away and casually walk into the darkness. A terrified General Christenson sits in his car for the better part of an hour before the sound of sirens get his attention, several provost vehicles screech to a halt, lights flashing. Armed men disgorge and take positions. Slowly, the General opens the door and steps out, “ungezwungen.’

The military police search the area and investigators arrive to perform a more thorough search but they find nothing. Inside the trunk they find an unconscious but unharmed Sgt Voight.



4 PM and the Central Bank is closed and is already empty. Only Marisa and her personal assistant are still working. She says to her assistant, ”You can go home now,” as she examines some financial statements. Her assistant collects her things and heads towards the elevators. Two armed security officers eye her suspiciously.

After she leaves, Marisa closes her office door and takes a portrait off the wall, exposing a safe. She puts it on the floor and punches in a code and the safe door clicks open. Inside is a substantial stack of cash, a handgun, bearer bonds and several files. She extracts a file and takes it over to her desk and sits in her large office chair.

Flipping it open she examines the columns of numbers and takes some notes. Punching numbers into the open file on her desktop computer she finishes up and loads an email. She attaches the file she just typed to the email and using a program on the computer, encrypts it. This information will enable the recipient to make a massive amount of money in the morning when the Bazillion stock market opens. As President of the Bazillion Central Bank, she was the only person who knows the actual state the Bazillion economy and it is in bad shape. In fact, the Brazilian cabinet would be working on the debt crisis all this week. The spiraling inflation only gave her the opportunity to do what she needs to push it over the edge. Tomorrow morning, she was going to raise the central bank rate, setting off a stock market crash. Knowing this beforehand would allow her accomplice to sell stocks before the open of the markets.

With a smile she wipes the history and shuts down the computer. She replaces the file in the safe and closes it. Taking her shawl from the hook she drapes it over her shoulder and opens the door. Once out she locks the door and walks out the outer office and into the hallway.

Marisa shouts, “Where is my security detail,” down the hall. No answer. Looking at her phone, no service.

“What the hell is going on,” A very frustrated Marisa Bellows. “Hello, anybody.” She pushes the elevator button and waits. And waits. And waits. She walks to the far end of the hall and tries to open the emergency exit door, locked. Marisa decides to go back into her office and get her gun. After she unlocks the door and opens it her eyes lock on a large brown envelope on her desk. Looking around, “where did that come from?”

Totally confused now, Marisa opens her safe and takes out the handgun. She walks behind her desk and sits in her chair. The computer is on and her email page was up, complete with the email she had just sent and now it wasn’t encrypted. As she goes through her memory, this cannot be happening. She says to nobody in particular, “I know I shut the computer down and I know the door was locked. And where did the envelope come from?”

Cautiously, she opens the envelope, keeping it at arms length from her. Inside are bank documents, account lists, transaction amounts and dates, photographs and a cassette tape.





3 Days later



Stephen Cabot holds the black dot and the meeting this time was at a hunting lodge in Vermont. Heavily guarded, Marisa de Sousa and General Hans Christenson arrive by helicopter. Barry Middleton and the Cardinal both arrive in non descript electric cars. Everyone is picked up at the gatehouse and diven to the house in 2 separate limousines. Patrick Poulin is still in hospital, having had a massive coronary and now in need of a new heart.

Tossing his chip into the center bowl, Stephen starts. I am going to open this by letting you know that someone is blackmailing me. They know about my indiscretions and how I have kept them out of the news. They have proof, enough to put me away for life. I have not disclosed our group to anyone yet they also know about us and our plans. I can only think of one person who knows this much and has the ability to get the proof.

Cardinal Edwardo Palmeno, speaks up. “I got one too, this one would destroy my career and would do permanent damage to the Church. I don’t know how they knew where I was and how they bought off my security but somehow, they did. There was also video of us in the meeting room in Lausanne, complete with volume.”

Marisa de Sousa jumps in. “I got one too, somehow, they got into my building, into my office and onto my computer without leaving a trace. They could have exposed me or even diverted money from my accounts but they only showed me they could.”

“They got onto our base and diverted me into an alley. I thought they were going to kill me and they could have if they wanted to, instead they left me with an envelope. It had pictures of us all, together and separately. They knocked my driver out but didn’t kill him, I don’t get it.”

“I have no doubt that our missing members heart attack was related as well. It is not likely they intended to cause the heart attack though. He was in very bad shape and the shock of whatever was in his envelope was probably enough to trigger it. He will have a new heart within the week, I saw his biological profile on a black web site.

Some men are too proud to admit they were bested by a female and Barry Middleton was one of these idiots. “I got one too and this guy made sure I knew he could have killed me if he wanted. Still got the bruise on my head to show for it. Got in to the White house, disabled the cameras, somehow got security out of the area and slipped out without a trace. Very professional. I was just briefing the Preside on his family trip. I have a surprise in wait for him there but I think he is behind the letters.”

From the lone woman, “If not him, who else has the resources and the inside knowledge?”

“I agree,” states the Cardinal.

“Options.”

Barry states. “I already have a plan in the works but I think we need to abort. He will have put all this evidence in storage somewhere so if anything happens to him it will be made public. I have already got people on it but I am afraid that until we have secured the evidence and are certain everything is destroyed he will need to be left in position. In fact, I think we would be safer if we bring him back on council.”

The General replies, “he somehow got video and audio recordings of us so obviously our meetings are not secure. Also, are we certain he is behind the plot.”

“All the circumstantial evidence points to him but it really could be anyone, it could even be one of us. Everyone here has the resources and the ability as well. How do we know that nobody here is attempting to break the code? The only way for us to all prove our innocence is to share the blackmail evidence with the others.” Stephen says as he looks around the table looking for a tell.

Shaking his head, the Security Advisor says, “Supposed some of us do expose our information to the rest, how would we know that none of us held back some of the most damaging evidence or that the evidence they provide is fabricated?”

Marisa speaks directly to the ex CIA man, “You have access to the largest and most effective investigative and duplicit organization in the world. Surely, you could investigate every file and determine which are true and which are not. I believe you have already done that and to be honest, I don’t care. Exposing any one of us exposes us all.”

“Agreed, we are back to the only person who stands to gain from this action. As todays chair, I would like to motion that we invite the President back into our group. If Patrick doesn’t pull through, the candidates we have already vetted can be considered to take his place.”

The General responds. “I second that motion, I would add that the letters remain secret in case he had nothing to do with them. We can let him believe that we had reconsidered our hasty decision. I will feel tacky in here but we have a mission.’

“Any other comments.”

Marisa pipes in, “agree.”

“I agree,” states the Cardinal, who has been very quiet during the whole discussion.

Barry Middleton is the lone dissenter. “I think we can control him without bringing him back into the council. I am right there to watch him and so far, he has not deviated from the plan. I had something planned for him over his vacation but to be honest, I was actually thinking of recommending we leave him in the presidency.”

“Objection noted. Three days from today with our friend back in the fold. Do we want to do it here?”

Barry reaches into the bowl, “I think this is the best place because the building has a built-in faraday cage and I am certain no recording devices are in here.”

“Good with me,” says Stephen as he reaches into the bowl.

“OK, I will extend my stay in the USA for a bit.” Says the Cardinal as he draws a chip.

“I can change my schedule but it is very volatile right now so I cannot make any promises, replies Marisa de Sousa.”

“I will stay in New York for a few more days. I can make it with arousing suspicion.” He takes a chip.

Marisa takes a chip and puts it in her purse. Stephen takes the last two chips out and lays them on the table. One has the black spot. “I guess I chair again next meeting.

Once out of the Meeting, Barry Middleton heads directly for his car. Once inside he takes out his encrypted phone and call a number on it. As soon a person on the other end answers, he says, “flowers are blooming early these days” and the other replies with, “yes but not as early as we like.”

“Project ascension is aborted, repeat, project ascension is aborted.”

“mission aborted, repeat, mission is aborted. Any new orders.”

“Negative, make safe and withdraw.”

“Affirmed, make safe and withdraw.”

Click. Middleton makes a phone call to his secretary. Have my chopper at the airport by 4 PM.



Next morning at the private island



The President is preparing for breakfast with his family and as he dressing he can’t help worrying about his failed attempt on the life of Barry Middleton. How could that idiot of a reporter step right in the way of the bullet. Middleton must have known he was the target so it was really a good idea he had backed up the plan with a hit of the shooter so there should be no proof.

    He slips out without waking his wife to start the coffee maker knowing that he had prepared it the night before. Leaning against the machine is a legal sized manila envelope, thick with whatever is in it, addressed to John. As he picks it up, he runs through his mind who has access and could of left it there. He checks the locks and the security, nothing amiss. It must have been Middleton because he is the only one who has the keys and who knows the security code. He takes a cup of black coffee and sits at the table with the envelope.
    He slips a letter opener in and opens the envelope. Cautiously he examines it to ensure there is no powder or anything else foreign in it. He slides the stack of documents and photos out and looks at the top one. There are pictures of him with boys, 10 to 12, he doesn't look at the rest because he knows what they show. There is several top secret classified documents about assassinations from the 60's and 70's, an investigative report on known connections and photos of his father, grandfather and other important members of his family with criminals, known terrorists and every one of the council. Picture after picture, document after document all information the President knew Middleton possessed, he was, after all, the agent who had done most of the cover-ups. This must be just a reminder and the President believed that as long as he played ball, Middleton would not do anything too stupid. He needed to get more on him and the rest of the council to insure his safety but how? Middleton had tendrils everywhere so it would be extremely difficult.
    A DVD was also in the envelope but Jonathon knew what was on it. He walked over to the fireplace and tossed the envelope in and watched it burn, he took the disk and broke it in half and threw the halves into the fire. He used a poker to stir the fire and mix the ashes. Startled,"who started the fire?" He looks around, rechecks the locks and searches every room and closet. 

He had a pleasant breakfast with his family and enjoyed the day water skiing and boating but for some reason, all the scuba tanks were missing. He would have to talk to the Secret Service liaison about that.

He went up to the ocean front beach house to relieve himself and was surprised to find His National Security Advisor waiting for him. “Anything wrong?”

“No but you may be interested to know that with the heart attack suffered by one member we have had a rethink on your membership. Most of the members think it would be expedient to bring you back so here you go.” With that he handed him the chip.

“Most?”

“We are a democracy, majority voted you back.”

“When.”

“Tomorrow. You can join me in my chopper, it will look like business as usual. Then you rejoin your family for the rest of your holiday.”

As the President rejoins his family he can’t help think, “I don’t trust him,” which is ironic because Barry was thinking the exact same thing as the President walked away.

[poppa]

This one made me think .......and it hurt :-)

[forthteller]

Feb 18, 2018 19:16:43 GMT -6 poppa said:

This one made me think .......and it hurt :-)

If it was the last few paragraphs that hurt, I fixed the content and grammar to better narrate the story I am trying to tell. Thanks for reading.

[solo]

Definitely a lot to think about....

[forthteller]

Chapter 23



Jason



Monday Aug 19, 2022



Grrr, grrr, grrr sounds the mini excavator as Jack backs it off the flat deck trailer. “This thing needs a major overhaul” says Jack to nobody, “but it is so hard to get parts these days.” He has had to fabricate everything to keep their equipment running. What a waste of time University was, he should have take metal fabricating. Of their three excavators, this small one was the most useful but the volume of work it does is too much for a machine its size. He negotiates the small incline and crawls into the fenced yard, rolls it into the Quonset hut and leaves it idling for a few minutes. Shutting it down he listens intently for any out of place sounds and it rumbles to a stop. At least the motor is good.

As Jack is closing the hut doors, his sister comes into the yard. “Hi Jack. I just made a pile of flapjacks, they are in the kitchen ready to go. Dad is going to be here any minute. He is picking David up at Peters house.”

“Great, I am starved. I couldn’t find a restaurant that would take Canadian money so I had to go to a gas station to buy some junk food. They only let me have 60 liters of diesel at $5 a litre so dad is going to be pissed.”

“How long is it going to take to transition into this new money?”

“Once the US is fully in, it will be quick. Dad thinks it is really the shits. Our house is already paid off and so is everything we own. It looks like everyone else will get their debt wiped and they will still get to keep everything. We can’t even buy anything because we still use Canadian money and its value fluctuates so much all the stores demand the International currency which is only electronic. We have to take our Canadian cash to the new bank and have it converted to Intur credits but they would want to know where we got it. Dad wants to start bartering more labor and materials. We are lucky we are way out here, the city folks don’t have much of a choice.”

As they are eating their pancakes, Jason drives in his little electric car. Brad always has a chuckle when he sees his dad unfold himself out of that little 4 seater. After plugging it in Jason and David stomp up the steps and open the side door. “Smells like flapjacks.”

“10 more minutes and there would have been none left for you. Is the blockade still on the trans Canada?”

“They were still stopping cars on the road and asking for ID. I don’t know what or who they were looking for but they had taken several people aside and were busy with them when we rolled up. The officer who examined my license wasn’t wearing any UN identifiers but most of the others had the blue beret and sash on.”

Alicia added, “We went into the grocery store. They aren’t taking Canadian money anymore but they have a machine that will exchange our money for Inter credits and they put it right on your card.”

“You got a card then?” Says an unbelieving Jack.

Alicia answered, “I had to, for my job at the hospital. They pay in intur credits and to be able to spend it I needed a card.”

“I have one now too, no choice. The news says that we have until September to exchange Canadian cash for intur credits. After that Canadian money will have zero value. Most of my friends are going to use Canadian money for barter but if we get caught with it they will confiscate it and possibly start an investigation as to where we got it.”

Standing to take the dishes, Alicia says, “Mr. James next door was here this morning. He is moving to the city. They gave him an apartment in an assisted living facility. He didn’t seem too happy about it but he seemed resigned to the change.”

“Is he still there, I would like to say goodbye.”

“He went home and around 11 a big truck came, they loaded some stuff and a bunch of boxes and he left with the truck. He left this letter for you.” With that she hands him a sealed envelope.

Jason blurts out, “what about his house.”

Alicia is almost crying when she quietly says, “They told him that because he was single, on a pension and no longer producing, they were assigning his house to a more deserving family and would compensate him for it. Is that going to happen to us? I know his house was almost paid off and he had money saved for his retirement.?

“I don’t know honey, they have moved some of our neighbors to the city but that is because most of them had to get food, fuel and electricity from the government. It is impossible to be able to afford to live in anything but social housing on guaranteed minimum income. Plus, you cannot get guaranteed minimum income unless you surrender control of your assets to the government. Same goes for pensions.”

Jason continues, “we have our own source of electricity but I am going to have to get a regular job or register my business and get paid in intur credits so we can buy food and other commercial goods. Even with proper paperwork and paying taxes, as of January, there will no longer be any self employed people. I will have to start an incorporated company and provide a service the government agrees is necessary. I am a civil engineer so I can start a residential construction firm that does site services on new builds.”

As they are talking, Jack interjects. “I won’t be returning to university next year, I can come work for you. I already know how to operate all our machines and I can read plans.”

“Not going to University, why not.”

“They cancelled almost all the sports programs and football was defiantly on the top of that list. Pac 12 has folded so there would be no league to play in anyways. I lost my scholarship and they have withdrawn my acceptance because of a few papers I wrote. I can probably transfer and finish at UBC but I doubt there is any purpose in that.”

Jason knowingly asks, “why is that?”

“Politics is gone crazy. If you don’t buy into the currant social policies they treat you like a misanthropist. No room for any views or policies other than the currant drive to take back from the rich and give to the poor. With automation and the recession, plus years of bad fiscal policy the only way a lot of people can get by now is government aid and with aid comes control. We have exchanged freedom for security and looking at the streets, I don’t see much security.”

David has been sitting here, listening, all along munching on his pancakes. “Why do you think they took Jessica and Dr. Rodgers? They wouldn’t stay quiet and they were right every time. I designed a program using her thesis and it is correct every time. Some government recruiters were in at the end of the year and several my classmates signed on. They couldn’t talk to me because I was still a minor. I wouldn’t have been interested anyways. All the students who got selected were part of the pro UN student Society. Socialists.”

Jason looked thoughtfully at his son. “You never told me that.”

“I didn’t want to worry you. And I have been going over my future since then. I don’t think I want to go back to finish my masters though. Ever since they took Jessica I have been especially careful. I know my room has been searched, someone has spyware on all my computers and I have been followed.”

“your sure.”

“Are you serious? Of course I am sure, Its easy. Use the glass and mirrors in the streets to triangulate your position so you can see the people you think are following you. Then do unexpected things while watching the mirrors. You have to not alert them to the fact you are on to them. It is easy to spot people who react to unexpected stimuli. Anyone who is not watching you is focused on their own phone, conversation or thoughts and they don’t even notice. If they do notice, they were paying attention to you in the first place”

“So, you just let them follow you? If you know the virus is on your computer, just remove it, I am sure you know how.?”

Sarcastically, David responds. “Of course I do, but then they would know I am on to them. This way I get to feed them all kinds of crap. Kind of creeps me out though, knowing they grabbed Jessica, right under Brads nose. Has he found her yet.?”

“What exactly do you think is going on, David.”

Sighing. “You already know dad, you have been preaching it for years, Jessica has been shouting it out in her research, Jack had professors fired because of it. They drove the free world into bankruptcy, rode in to save us and in exchange we give up our freedom. What I don’t see happening is the government take over of business and corporations.”

Jack breaks in, “my professor said exactly that, if it was a socialist or communist takeover the government would be moving to nationalize all means of production. What seems to be happening is, the government seems to be assisting some companies in explosive growth while the competition gets trampled to bankruptcy. Like the takeover of Pfizer a couple years back. Within a couple years there will only be one pharmaceutical company and they will control al the drugs, vaccines and medical research. That takeover was not only approved by the US and French but it was endorsed by the World Health Organization. Johnson and Johnson are now chapter 11 and I seriously doubt they pull out of it.”

Jason stands and gets himself another coffee. “So, if you don’t go back to college, what are you going to do? No jobs unless you work for the government.”

“Sure, there is, I have offers from several companies already in their software engineering departments but I think I am going to go solo and write programs to help average people. Everyone has a phone, even those who only get GMI. There are plenty of apps out there but most are crap, I can do better. I just have to figure out how to market my ideas so I get paid.”

Jack chirps in, “I can help you with that. We are going to have to work around some pretty serious regulations now, so I can brush up on that right away.”

Jason rubs his chin and looks up. “Good thinking boys but how do you get paid. All the smaller computer companies have been sucked up by Google and Microsoft so how do you propose to sell your product.”

“No problem, we sell to google as an independent contractor. If we don’t compete against them they will most likely be willing to market our programs. I just have to figure out how to get patents so they don’t steal your ideas and give you nothing.”

“looks like you boys have it all figured out. What time do you work this week Alicia?”

“Tuesday to Saturday, 8 – 5 in the Remington seniors center. It should be an easy week. They have the nicest people there but it is way too crowded. Everyone is double bunked now which is why they have stepped up recreational activates and physio. Keep everyone busy and they don’t complain as much. They are also building another wing with an additional 120 assisted living units for couples or shared accommodation. Small units, really cozy, I would live in one. Less than 200 sq. ft. each but everything you need. Bathroom with sit shower, kitchenette and murphy bed.”

“You can take the electric car. I will use the scooter and public transit if I need to go anywhere.” Jason looks at Jack and David. “So, what are you guys doing this week?”

Jack rattles off, “Mini excavator needs the tracks repaired, several pads are almost worn through and if we try to turn it on the pavement it will chew it up. The John deer needs an oil change, a couple of hydraulic seals on the boom are leaking and it is running hot. I am going to start the propane conversion on the truck this week if I have time. Plus, I was going to check on Jessica’s car to make sure it is ready to go. If David helps me, I can make some contacts and get his business idea off the ground. He needs to get some apps developed though.”

“How do you propose making a conversion from diesel to propane? No spark plugs and too much compression.”

“I am going to go dual fuel with 60 to 70 percent propane and the rest diesel. I made some injectors using the ones out of the old cat and have them on a high-pressure pump. Most systems use electromagnetic injectors but they do not shoot the fuel in deep enough to get a good mix. Under more pressure the mixture should be closer to optimal to produce more power and use less fuel to do it.”

“Assuming it does work, what kind of mileage are you talking? And if it doesn’t work can we switch back to regular diesel? How long is the truck going to out of commission?”

“Put it this way, dad. If we do nothing the truck will never pass next years mileage and emission standards. In addition, I have to upgrade safety as we have to pass 2023 safety this year too. They want older cars and trucks off the road so that we will have to be in debt if we want one or we move to the city and take transit. I think it will save 50 to 70 percent of the diesel consumption but all the savings will be eaten up by propane unless my idea works better than I expect. Propane is cleaner burning and easier to get and they don’t expect as much mileage with it. If this modification works I will be able to sell the design and do the conversion for others. Lots of people out here who don’t want to give up their trucks.”

“Ok. What about your truck?”

“Still up at Brads campground. It will never be able to be licensed again. We converted it to propane and use it for hunting but that’s it.”





3 miles away in expropriated house 2 men are listening to the conversation going on in Jason’s house. As Jack and David leave for the workshop and impound yard, the older man sits at a computer consul and picks up an encrypted phone.

“What are you doing Richard.”

“Calling in to district. That kid is not going back to Cal Tech. How are they going to keep an eye on him? Plus, you just heard, he has already made us. We probably have not gotten any useful intel since we started surveilling him.”

“Are you an idiot, admit we blew an easy target and we both end up on shit duty at some god forsaken backwoods or in the great white north. Let them know in our report he is not going back to school but that last conversation needs to disappear. How did you get the bug in there anyways? That guy never lets his guard down.”

“We put it in 3 years ago and only activated it when the kid got home. Nobody realized they were all a threat to national security they only thought it was the kid and then when we found out his brother was also a subversive we started investigating him. A libertarian, in fact they all are except the girl. She is the weak link and our lever if we need to encourage behavior.”

“don’t be ridiculous, a threat to who? The guy turned all his guns in, doesn’t go to meetings or any other subversive groups. They are just a family trying to get by, so he tries to stay off the radar, big deal.”

Richard swallows hard and spits out, “To the global community, you moron. Individuals who will not fit in and expect to do things their own way make it too hard for everybody else who do. In the 21st century you cannot run against the tide without harming everyone else you brush against. We all have to do our part for the common good and if that means we give up some of what we think we own so the less fortunate can share in the wealth then we need government that has the stones to enforce it.”

“Like this house?”

“These people had 1 son in a 6-bedroom house, a huge mortgage and 4 cars. He is an overpaid lawyer and she was a shyster investment broker. Neither ever produced anything remotely of value for society so the bank called in their margin and when they couldn’t pay the bank foreclosed. When we are done here, the house will be occupied by an approved family with up to 10 foster children.”

“That’s crazy. The bank doesn’t work for the government.”

“Of course not. They want you to think that. The government doesn’t own business, business owns government.”

“Makes no sense but I am just here for the credits. I want to go back to South Africa when it is safe for whites to live there again. I will do my duty to earn that privilege.”

“Exactly, that is why we need to send these transcripts in to head office.”

“Ok, I agree with most, I just don’t want them to know we fucked up and he made us, won’t look good on either of our records, since you are the senior officer here, you wear most of it.”

“I will wear it but they need to know the information they got from the kid may be of no value and may even be malicious. They need to pick this family up for rehabilitation because they are all extremely intelligent, creative and hard working and will be very dangerous if the other side finds them first. Their talents can be best used to serve our new society.”

“Not your call.”

“Yours either, I am sending the information in and they can make the decision.”









In a command center, somewhere inside the New York United Nations compound.



“we need the policy team in here right now, we have a problem and they have an even bigger one. They may have been setting policy on incorrect information and we may even have a leak into and out of our own systems.”

The senior assistant rushes out and heads rapidly down the corridor. As he is away, the north American director goes over the transcripts again. “The little shit, I bet he has been communicating with the economics girl, we know they are first cousins and he has cited her research several times. I have to wonder if she is getting information out somehow.”

Whistling, he says to everyone in the room, “how do we know they didn’t stage that whole conversation just now to smoke us out. Remember, he said; by

doing unexpected things, those who are watching react, the rest don’t because they are not paying attention. I bet the little shit is expecting a response.”

He reads the entire transcript again and listens to portions of the recording to try to determine emotions. Were they acting or did they not know of the bugs presence?

The senior assistant director of policy arrives and tells the Director, “the entire computer system has been air gapped. Our best engineers are on it to find out if he got in somehow and if she is aware. If we rough her up to get information we may tip her off and she may not willingly help us with our economic modeling.”

The director says, “air gapping the system will alert her if she is communicating with him or others and worse yet, the kid will know. I wondered why he was taking computer engineering and not economics at the school, now I know. Everybody, why would he want us to know he made us? What would he gain if we knew, what response is he expecting?”

A tall lanky man in a white lab coat says, “they can talk outside and while they are working, they may have planned this to find out where we have agents watching.”

The leader of the surveillance team chimes in. “we have not seen anything unusual about them at all. We track them all from satellite and they go to work, build their shelters, and prep their property, same as they always do. The only connection we have seen worth noting is a Sikh group in Abbottsford and Chilliwack. He has been coaching at least 50 or more on prepping, defense and teamwork. This could be a very dangerous group if they get access to weapons.”

Deputy director of security is standing at the back of the room. “Do we know how long he has been building these shelters? Do we know if he built any in the US?

A senior investigator answers, “We have only had him on radar for 3 years but his tax records show several years of self employed work and we have gone back to determine where he did all the work. He was diligent about his taxes so we have records of every job he did but because he paid his taxes, nobody cared to check out who paid the money as it was almost never business related. We have tracked down about 15 shelters so far and every one was well stocked but we only found a few weapons in them. Canadian are not really big into gun ownership. My guess is he could have done as many as a thousand over the last 10 years and they are very well concealed. People may have sold but you can bet they remember where their shelter is.”

The investigator produces a stack of CD’s. “this my friends is the entire gun registry done by the Canadian government and cancelled by the conservative Government in 2012. It was supposed to be destroyed but we got this copy from a friend in the Quebec government. Seems they never destroyed it as they were legally required to do. Lucky us. I cannot say for sure how many gun owners in Canada registered their guns but we believe that most law-abiding Canadians did. We can check this list to see who did not turn them in during our amnesty period. The currant government who does support gun control will issue warrants if there is sufficient evidence that a person has illegal firearms. We need at least one case to take all the way to the supreme court before we go after them all.”

The Deputy directory looks at him and says. “Do we have any records of weapons purchased after 2012?”

“Non-restricted weapons could be purchased by anyone who had an acquisition and possession certificate but we have no way of knowing who, only that they were purchased by licensed individuals.”

The investigator says. “That is the point, they have some pretty lethal guns classified as non-restricted. Assume a person has bought three of the same caliber over the years. They bring in one and some ammunition during the amnesty, where are the other two? We could get a search warrant but for what cause? We have record of everyone who holds an acquisition permit but how do we know if they actually bought a gun and how many?”

“The Director steps in, we are off the point. The kid and his fucking family. I don’t want to be lead around by the nose anymore. I want to pick them all up, is he on the registry?”

“he is and he turned all the firearms in that he had registered and a few he purchased since. 10 in all.”

“So, what can we use as justification to get a warrant.”

The investigator holds his hands up, “I got nothing, the guy pays his taxes, drives the speed limit, puts money into the collection box, pays his bills and even got an intur card. I bet he has clean underwear on, the guy is squeaky clean.”

“can we plant something.”

“Local police all know him, too suspicious.”

“Grabbing them all is not?”

“They are loners, if we grabbed them it could be a week before anyone reported them missing. Only the girl has a regular job and we could manufacture an excuse for her.”

The director paces around. “Ok, we grab the bunch, use the girl to force them to talk to us and john gets the kid for his team, the rest go in for re education. Any objections?”

[poppa]

I Object !!!!!!!! Me wants moar

[forthteller]

Feb 24, 2018 9:26:43 GMT -6 poppa said:

I Object !!!!!!!! Me wants moar

No problem. Another one coming tonight. It was actually 1 chapter but it was too long so I split it in two. I just have to edit and will post tonight.

[poppa]

:-) :-) :-) :-)

[forthteller]

Chapter 24



Jason and his kids



Alicia flips her leg over the saddle of her scooter. She could step through the middle but she had ridden motorcycles all her life and old habits die hard. As she gets to the end of the driveway she notices a new family moving in at Mr. James’ house. A big van, a gasoline powered sedan and a nearly new pickup truck. Weird. She drives down the road and turns left. As she nears the bus stop she looks for a spot to park her bike and lock it up, idlily she looks around and thinks of David’s tip, “do something unexpected and those watching you will react with unexpected actions.”

She flips the kickstand down and intentionally falls to the ground as she steps off the bike, a woman in the shelter and a man standing beside it immediately rush to her aid, another man on the far side of the bus shelter backs up and steps behind the shelter. Alicia gets up and runs around the back of the shelter and waits. The man steps from the side and is obviously looking for her and when he had done a full 360 she steps from the back of the shelter and gets back on her bike, waving to the man as she rides off. At a nearby park she stops the bike and pulls out her cell.

“Dad, new neighbours are there but I think something is suspicious. I was followed and the guy knows he was made. What do you want me to do?”

“Calm down honey, ride over to the police station and wait for me there. They may be following you but you haven’t done anything wrong so they can’t actually do anything.”

Jason calls the boys in from the impound yard. “We may be having some visitors, maybe not, heads up just in case.”

The boys head back in their coveralls, and David says to Jack as they enter the yard, “I wonder if they know.”

“Know what?’

“When I found out my computer was hacked I started feeding wrong information and making a false trail. I talked to Brad about it and he introduced me to a guy who is trying to stop these guys and is working to find Jessica. The guy was really interested in the computer hack and wanted to know if I could backtrack, to find out who was hacking me.”

“I did and I included information that would tell Jessica it was me feeding the information. Part of my conclusion in the paper I wrote in high school. Only she would recognize it and she did. We have been communicating ever since in my feed that is getting hacked and she communicates back in her news releases economic updates the UN publishes. We even know where she is but our friend thinks it is best to leave her there. The hackers have had their servers air-gapped for over a week now, I was wondering why.”

“Did you let your friend know?”

“I did, brad and several of his friends are now part of the organization, National security they are, I think. They are putting together an operation to get her out. It is in the UN Compound. I already gave them the security schematics, the floor plan and who should be there but it will be risky.”

Jason gets to the end of the driveway and says to the new people, “hello new neighbors, My names Jason.” He waits for them to introduce themselves, the don’t. “I live right next door and if you need anything, just let us know, 3 strong back available, just ask.”

The stunned man directly in front of him stutters a bit before he regains his composure. “We are from Manchester and are going to be doing some hiking in your beautiful mountains. Our employer owns this house and is letting us stay in it for a few weeks.”

“Great, who is your employer?”

“Can’t say, they are very public and don’t want people to know they are here, you understand?”

“Sure. If you need any maps or directions let me know, I have been here almost 20 years.” With that Jason turns to his left and starts towards the road.

As Jason turns, he is able to see into the open trailer from the corner of his eye but he pretends to not notice the two assault weapons leaning against the inside wall. He flips his head in the opposite direction and says, “see you later then.”

“Do you think he saw the guns?”

“Without a doubt, we gotta go now before he alerts the rest of them and they get prepared.” Into a mike he quietly voices, “go now, go now.”

“Jason’s keen hearing and his years of living in this environment enable him to hear the quiet command. He runs off the driveway and behind the hedges, just moments before one of the men he had just spoken to runs up the driveway. As the man gets to the fork in the drive he pauses. At that moment his head twists to the left and he falls silently to the ground. Jason drags the mans body behind the bushes and races back to grab the mans assault weapon. Once behind the bushes he takes the mans body armor, straps it on, picks up the weapon and checking to insure a round is chambered and the safety is off runs towards the house.

As Jason slinks through the shadows towards the house he sees a second armed man is about to enter the house. Staying beside the house Jason makes a quick call to Jack. Jack answers on the first ring, “everything ok?”

“Afraid not Jack. Several armed men on the property. No identification, they are not official. They may be here to kill us but I think they intend to take us alive. The backup units are not in place yet so we have a chance. Thank Alicia for the heads up when you see her. Go to plan beta. Do not engage. Second call is 911. Dispatch answers. He gives a quick synopsis and the address and hangs up.”

Jason is close enough to hear the instructions the man just inside the house gives. “No one is in the house. Anybody have eyes on them?”

“Negative.”

“Negative.”

“Negative.”

Long pause, “Robert, eyes on target? report “

No response. “Ok, listen up, this guy was a seal more than 20 year ago, obviously, he hasn’t forgotten his training. Heads up, the kid must be taken alive.”

Jason circles around the back of the house and silently enters the side door of the Garage. He quietly opens the door from the garage to the kitchen. He can hear the man in the doorway speaking on the radio. “I want this whole area sealed off, no one in, no one out and no witnesses, repeat no witnesses. Subjects to be taken alive, repeat, taken alive.”

Jason takes his phone out and texts Alicia. Plan Beta. Now.

At the police station, Alicia is sitting in the lobby. She has been waiting about an hour when she gets a text. She looks at the text and stands, opening the door she exits into the hot summer street. Once on her bike she heads towards the hardware store where her car is parked. She stops at the front of Lordco on main street and enters. At the counter is a friend she went to school with so she asks him if she can go out the back. “Sure.”

Out the back door, she sprints across the road and into the parking lot of the local grocery store. Heading north she is certain nobody is following her because, like David says, nobody is paying attention. Once across the road she slows and walks to the fenced yard where her car is. She unlocks the gate and swings it open. There, in all its glory is her red 1995 Pontiac Sunfire. As she gets in, she remembers the good old days, not really that long ago but things have changed so much in a short time it feels like ages ago. Engine starts with a twist of the key, fuel tank full and purring like a kitten. She looks in the glovebox. Inside is her US passport. Putting some glasses on and tying her hair back she calmly drives out of the yard and turns left down main street. Minutes later she is crossing the Agassiz bridge and on her way to the US border. She never thought this would happen. In her mind her father was paranoid, but in the last 3 years, everything he had ever warned about, was actually happening. We had traded freedom for stuff. We had borrowed against our future and the creditor had come to collect. Poetic she thought, I might write a song about it.

Jason wipes the message and put the phone back in his pocket. Ever so slowly he circles around the kitchen table. The leader is watching out the doorway and listening to the radio. As he puts the radio to his mouth to say something he feels a coldness in his chest, looking down he sees blood, quietly he slides to the floor. Jason drags his body into the house and puts it behind the door.

“The radio cackles to life, team 1 leader, this is team 2 leader, we are in position.” No response, “team 1 leader, this is team 2 leader, respond. Team 1 second respond.”

“Team 1 second. 2 men down, radio in enemy hands, turn to alternate channel” Radio goes silent. Jason slips out the front and along the house, shots ring out from the barns. Flattening himself to the ground, Jason rolls behind a large oak tree as bullets from two different directions ricochet off its trunk. Jason waits until one of them is reloading and sprints to the chicken shed to the southwest. After he rounds the back of the shed he sees one of the men still looking at the north end of the chicken house. Two semi automatic rounds later that man is down, 2 men left before the other team closes in. From the back of the chicken house he runs diagonally to the small implement shed beside the barn and enters the side door. Inside he starts the tractor and puts it in gear while holding the clutch down with his hand. Popping the clutch, it drives through the closed garage doors and out towards the house. Shots are fired at the tractor as he steps out the shed door and fires at the source. Number 4 down, where is the 5th man. Jason races over to the quasit hut the boys were working in. Lying face down just inside the gate was the 5th mercenary, his head smashed in by a tire iron.

A text arrives, we are at point 1 already.

Jason texts back. “Good. All five attackers down, I am taking the bike out before the next team comes in. Will be in contact as soon as it is safe. We will all be on a wanted list after this.”

With that he sprints back to the barn and runs inside. A green 175 motorcycle is in one of the calf stalls, and he flips his leg over the seat and inserts a key. Kicking it to life with a few twists of the throttle, he exits the door he just entered.

An hour later, Jason texts again. “This will be my last text, I am at trail head. Going to destroy my phone here and bury it in an hour or so. You need to do the same.”

Once on the trail, Jason blends in with the tracks of hundreds of quads, motorcycles and dune buggies. Smiling, Jason thinks, “even now, with fuel as scarce as it is, people still find enough to go out and enjoy themselves.”

Jason rides for about an hour and passes a few other riders heading in the opposite direction. Nobody takes any notice of him. He knows that by now the attackers have crafted a story that makes him out to be the criminal with 5 dead bodies to account for. They will all will be looking for him, legal and mercenary alike. They want him alive which is the only reason they had not shot him in the yard. He would need to ditch the bike soon and head into the hills on foot to draw the attackers away from his sons.

What Jason didn’t know is that team two’s position was to stop traffic and keep him and his sons from escaping and that several police offices were attacked as they responded. The Agassiz detachment of the RCMP responded quickly and expertly and were able to shut down the offensive and take three of the mercenaries into custody. Background checks had tied all but three to the UN compound now stationed in Ottawa.

Heading into the trees at a fork near Laidlaw, Jason rides up a valley and into the woods as far as his fuel will carry him. Flipping onto reserve he looks for somewhere to hide the bike. Up ahead, several large deadfalls look promising. In the distance he can hear the telltale sounds of a dual rotor helicopter, most likely military.

Jason rides between two deadfalls and lays the bike down. He quickly gets branches and bushes to cover the bike. Then more, I hope they haven’t seen me. Quickly he does a makeshift camouflage job on himself as he hears the chopper getting closer. They are using a parallel search pattern which means they may have an idea where he is but don’t know for certain. Good.

He just has to leave no trail and go in a direction they aren’t expecting. To himself, Jason says, “I think I am going to leave a trail back to the highway and then veer off towards the Hope Slide area.” Knowing he has a stash near silver lake it will throw them for a loop. They will be expecting him to head for the USA and when they find his trail heads north to the highway they will set up a trap somewhere before there. That is unless they saw him already and have his heat signature. At the very least, he will pull them away from the boys.

Jason doesn’t know this but there were 2 helicopters in the air and they already knew that 2 people had gone south and just one had headed east into the mountains. They had not yet locked on to any heat signatures yet but if the boys made it to the Jones Lake stash, the camo stored there was insulated and was reasonably effective at cancelling out a heat signature.

David and Jack were in incredible shape for 21st century Canadians. They were both sub 30-minute 10 k runners and both had completed several full marathons so they made very good time getting to the Jones lake stash. Barely out of breath the huge deadfall came into view and they raced to the entrance. Without a shovel or any tools, they both used large branches to dig the earth away from the entrance. Once uncovered, another problem arises, locked. “Shit,” Says Jack.

“don’t worry, I got this,” as David produces a piece of stiff wire out of his runner piping. Deftly he picks the lock and replaces the piece of wire in his shoe. He opens the door and jack climbs in. “I don’t even want to know why you can do that,” he says, chuckling. He spins the lid off all three bins and begins tossing things up to David.

David strips his jacket and pants and pulls on the camo outfit. He can hear the very distant sound of a plane or helicopter. Tossing the clothes back in he takes the other items Jacks passes out. Jack asks, “do we want weapons or not. Dad had a handgun last time but he hid it before we got to the border.”

“I think we do, they are not going to be as friendly at the crossing this time and if they are Mercs they will not turn us back they will probably shoot to kill. I hear a plane in the distance, we have to hurry up.”

Jack changes in the bunker and hands out 2 AR15, 2 Glocks, 2 holsters, 2 packs and about 3 days rations for each. They reseal the bins, close and relock the door and with a folding shovel recover the entrance. After they have covered the entrance with branches and debris they retreat about a kilometre in the direction they came covering their trail as they go. They walk in circles around the spot and then head towards the lake and pass about 500 meters by the deadfall. They stop at the water and fill their canteens and with a nod to each other they break into a steady trot.

With only 1 break the boys cover the 15kms to the valley between goat and Williams peak in a little less than 3 hours. They stop for a breather and a bite to eat and to discuss their strategy.

“east of the lake, no people and good trails but the west is shorter. 7:30 now, we would be going through the campground while people are still up. We would be recognised for certain.”

David smiles wickedly, “we steal a boat and drive it to the other end. No way they expect that. And if we get it after dark, it won’t be missed until morning.”

“I suppose you know how to hot wire one of those too?”

“Spent a lot of time with Brad the last few years, you would be surprised how much that guy knows.”

They hear what they now know to be a chopper making another pass in its search pattern. “Most likely trying to pick up our heat signatures.” Muses David. “These outfits are insulated and they would have to be close enough to actually see us to pick us up on their screen. If they find our hidey hole at Jones lake they will know what we are wearing and change their strategy.”

“Ok smarty pants, why are they searching over there?” Jack says as he points to the north west.

“Shortest route to the US and they didn’t expect us to get this far this fast. They probably have dogs on it by now and once they figure we went south east the chopper will change its search area.”

“How do you know all this stuff.”

“I read. You waste time throwing around a ball, I read. You would be surprised what you can learn when you pick up a book instead of trying to impress the girls by picking up chunks of metal.”

“Fine Mr. virgin, lead on with your book learnin so us dumb jocks can get out alive.” With that they are off towards the lake head. Overlooking the beach, they don’t see anyone but they watch and wait anyway. After an hour they slink down to the beach and there are not any boats there but jack sees an aluminum cartopper pulled up and chained to some drift logs. No motor.”

They head up to the parking lot and there are at least 20 boats lined up on trailers. Slipping along the rank of boats, they find one with a 10-horse trolling motor and only a chain securing it. David quickly picks the lock and Jack flexes his muscle in front of David’s face before he lifts the motor with a smile. “heavy metal things,” He whispers.

Down at the beach David picks the lock and they silently slip the boat into the water. David takes his jacket off and puts on a jacket he found in the boats footlocker as they paddle the boat out into the lake.

“Why the change?”

“One heat signature, quietly trolling in the lake at night. Illegal, yes but not what they are looking for.”

“Smart. You piss me off sometimes, but I would have never thought about that,” says Jack as he pulls the cord to start the motor. After the 5th pull It still won’t start. “You row and I will get this thing started,” He remarks as he lifts the engine cover to look at the motor.

David rows and can see a little of what Jack is doing but within a few minutes, Jack pulls on the cord and it starts. With a couple of twists on the throttle, the engine starts pulling but the calm of the lake does nothing to mask the sound. As he settles the boat to trolling speed he looks at David who has now put the oars away, “what about the noise.”

“It Echoes across the lake, they will have no idea where it is coming from so unless they really want to catch us they will just ignore it. The real assholes will just think we are trolling and they probably have no idea what the laws are. Try to keep it at about 4kph and we will make shore in about 2 ½ hours.

At about 2 AM they reach the mouth of the Chilliwack river. Jack asks. “Why not use the boat all the way to the US border. In fact, if we put the jacket back on we may be able to cross without getting found out.”

“Great Idea, but I think we need to cross on foot. We would be sitting ducks in the boat and they are most likely watching the river.”

“makes sense,” replies Jack as he negotiates the boat through some rough spots. David changes back into the camouflage jacket.

“As they get closer to the border, Jack looks for a place to hide the boat. Finding a small fjord he steers into it. Quickly they pull the boat up and hide it. They grab their gear and walk toward the boarder.

Within minutes they hear the sound of a round being chambered, then several more, “hold it right there. Drop those weapons.”

David and jack look around and don’t see anyone, they look at one another. “Any Chance?” Asks Jack.

“I heard at least 3 maybe more.” David says as he slowly lowers his rifle to the ground. Jack follows.

Half a dozen men and two women emerge from the bushes. All wearing National Guard uniforms and prominently displayed American flag patches. “Been waiting for you two, thought you would be late morning at the earliest. Glad we got here in time.”

As they all clear the chambers and shoulder their weapons, the leader nods his head to the southwest and says, “come on, bet you boys are probably hungry.”

After about 10 minutes of walking they come upon a well camouflaged encampment with about 10 small tents and 1 larger one. Pointing to the larger tent he says to Jack, “you two head on in, Colonel is waiting for you. Someone will bring you in some breakfast.”

With that he flips open the tent flap and crisply salutes a seated military officer. “The two men we expected, Sir.”

“Well done Lieutenant. I see you were able to avoid any fireworks.”

“Thank you, sir.” With a salute he is gone.

“Sit down gentlemen. I see you are both still armed. You won’t be needing that with us but you will get you rifles back after we talk. For starters, how the hell did make it so fast. Forget it, I don’t need to know. I just wish my own troops were in your condition. Take a seat.”

Jack and David sit down. Jack asks, “are you border security?”

“Sort of. We are a unit of the National Guard and our commanding General has taken the side of America in the new battle. You Canadians are Americans too.”

“Our dad was a Navy seal and I was born in the US. Our sister is also a US citizen but David is Canadian.”

“As of now you are either American or you are an invader, there is no middle ground.” Pointing at David, “From what I hear, this guy here is something special and from what I have seen so are you. Is your sister in that class too?”

“Actually, it is my dad who is special. Do you know where he is?”

“Your dad can take care of himself but he doesn’t know he has friends yet. With his training he will stay dark for days, weeks maybe.”

“Your sister has already crossed the border, I have people watching out for her to insure her safety. Hiding in plain sight, you guys employ some of the best strategies I have ever seen. I would never expect a fugitive to escape in a red sports car and neither did they. You two are wanted for murder but there are no officials looking for her in the US. Unfortunately, the traitors have someone at the border crossing and might know what she is driving. They want you guys bad. Luckily only the dirtbags know you are in the US”

10 miles away

Alicia stops at the motel on the corner of Kendall and Mt Baker Highway and enters the lobby. She asks for a single room for the night and the clerk looks at her suspiciously.

“By yourself, a pretty girl like you?”

“Yes, my brothers will be joining me for a hike tomorrow, I am a day ahead of schedule.”

“I bet. 69 dollars a night, 100-dollar deposit and if you let anyone else stay it will be an additional 20 dollars. We take Canadian money here at 50% if you are trying to get rid of it.”

Realizing she had forgotten to change her plates to the Washington one Jessica replies, “No, I have US money.” She reals off the exact change and accepts her key. As she walks to her room she looks around to see if anyone is watching, nobody.”

Inside her room, she sits down and flips on the TV. News of riots, nope. News of economic crap, nope. News of more famines in Africa, nope. “is there anything but bad new on TV. No wonder dad threw ours out.” Resigned she gets up and goes for a shower.

Outside, a plain clothed man is sitting in a pickup truck across the street. He picks up a phone and dials a number. “I have eyes on her Lieutenant. “

“Good. Make sure she is safe. I will send backup.” If anyone goes near that car or into the lobby I want to know. Do you understand corporal.”

“Yes sir.”

The lieutenant dials another number and a woman answers. “sergeant, we have her at location delta. Take one person with you and back up the corporal in the Grey Silverado. No uniform, stay discrete. No action unless warranted.”

Around 4 AM

A grey sedan rolls into the parking lot and slows to eye the red Corporal Watson dials the Lieutenant and says into the phone. “We have a visitor. Either the red sports car is cool enough to get attention or our friends have arrived.”

“Leave the phone active and give me a play by play.” He hears on the phone, “smash, some other noises and then nothing.”

“corporal, Corporal, respond”. “Click, dial tone.”

Along the walkway on the top tier is a short hallway near the east stairway. Near the walkway is a large ice machine and in the shadows around it crouch a man and woman. To the naked eye they are probably together and discretely sharing a room here. In reality they are soldiers and they just observed the drive by and the incident with corporal Watson. They both draw their silenced weapons and drop out of sight. The car that cruised by stops in front of the lobby and goes in. Moments later he returns, replacing a silenced weapon in his back holster. Motioning to the man who shot the Corporal he goes to the end of the stairs and starts up them. The other man climbs the other set on the far end closest the ice machine. As he passes the ice machine he stumbles and slumps to the ground. The other man sees it and draws his weapon. Crouching he advances on the position of his downed comrade. When he is just 30 ft away the Sergeant steps out and with two hands holding her weapon fires two shots, one center mass and the second in the forehead. He slumps to the ground. Rushing to the door of the girl, she knocks. Moments later, a voice. “Yes, who is it.”

“Alicia Smit, you don’t know me but I am on your side. You are in great danger. The traitors have made your car and they are intent on kidnapping you.”

“How do I know you are not the one who wants to kidnap me?”

“Because I would kick down the door and come in to get you, that’s how. Your brothers have already made it and are sleeping at one of our border posts.”

Click, the door opens and a sleepy young woman looks out. “I have a 100-dollar deposit, can I go get it.”

“Not possible. They already know you’re here. A second team is most certainly on the way.” With her thumb she points down the walkway, Alicia can see the other person dragging a body into the hallway where the ice machine is.

They get to the bottom and the Sergeant takes Alicia to her truck, the corporal with her goes to the other truck and unknown to Alicia, will drive back to camp with the body of corporal Watson in the passenger seat.

20 Minutes later they turn onto a rough trail and bump along for another 10 minutes, eventually coming to a stop at a very well camouflaged camp, the same one her brothers are at.

“Do you want to sleep or do you want to see your brothers? As if that’s even a reasonable question.” She leads Alicia to a smaller tent guarded by another corporal. “Can you wake them up corporal,” Alicia brushes past her and enters the room unannounced, David wakes up immediately,

“Alicia. Your safe. I am so glad.” With that he starts to toss his blankets aside but she stops him.

“Sleep little brother. I just wanted to see you.” Jack is now awake and sitting up.

“So glad you could make it. You better not have wrecked the car.”

“Oh shush. It is fine but I doubt it is making any more trips with us. Probably lost our house too. You guys go back to sleep, I will see you in the morning. With that she exits the tent and faces the sergeant. “Anywhere I can rest up. We have to get to my aunts tomorrow?

“Sure, you can bunk in my tent, as she leads Alicia to her room. Colonel is going to want to see you later in the morning. We brought your car here but it is not a good idea to drive it now, they are looking for a red sports car. By the way, it is a good thing you didn’t change plates. Had you done that, they would have found you sooner because they already know the Washington number. They have access to the Washington motor vehicle databases but your BC motor vehicles is not actually owned by the government, it is run by an insurance corporation so they don’t have your BC number.”

“is my dad okay.”

“We don’t know, the colonel served with him before he transferred to the National Guard and assures us that your dad is one of the best. I am very confident he is somewhere safe.”

“You know its weird, I know my dad and my mom both served in the marines but I didn’t know he was special services.”

“I don’t know about your mom but your dad was a very highly decorated Navy Seal. You should be very proud of him.”

“So why doesn’t he ever talk about it?”

“Most of us don’t talk about it, we have to do things that are not pleasant. It helps to not talk about it except with those who also live through it and those trained to help us through it.”

“You are a soldier too? I am so sorry, I never realized.”

“Master Sgt Cruz, at your service, mam.” Maria says jokingly. Part time wannabe as the regs call us. Been active duty for two years. 2 deployments and 1 purple heart. Get some rest, we are taking you to Mt Vernon tomorrow.”

[poppa]

Things are in the works :-) Nicely done!

[texican]

FT,

Thanks for the chapters....

Intriguing potential of what is coming....

The only problem that I see, is your last chapter was 2/24 which is nearly a week ago and we do not know what has happened to Dad....

A little help would be greatly appreciated by all of your rabid fans...

Texican....

[forthteller]

Mar 2, 2018 0:54:11 GMT -6 texican said:

FT,

Thanks for the chapters....

Intriguing potential of what is coming....

The only problem that I see, is your last chapter was 2/24 which is nearly a week ago and we do not know what has happened to Dad....

A little help would be greatly appreciated by all of your rabid fans...

Texican....

Took a while. Too many jobs on the go at one time. I will have another chapter tonight, I believe. Tomorrow night at the latest. Jason is former navy seal, no way a bunch of evil, poorly trained idiots are going to outmaneuver him but you wont hear from him from a while.

[forthteller]

Chapter 25



Max and Sarah



Tuesday Feb 16, 2022





Sarah is sitting at the table with a registered piece of mail and isn’t sure what to do about it. If she ignores it, a process server, maybe even Brad will track her or Max down and serve them the document. She decides that she will share it with him when he gets home today.

As she is contemplating this, she hears keys in the door and smiles as max announces himself as he does every time his enters. He does this so she knows it is him and if it isn’t, she needs to get to safety because nobody else should have a key. Kind of overprotective but cute as well.

He stops to remove his shoes and coat and enters the kitchen wearing his inside shoes. Leaning down to kiss her he immediately notices her somber mood. “What’s wrong hon?”

Without answering, she passes him the still sealed envelope. It is from their mortgage broker, LSG Financial. Registered. He opens it and quickly reads it and puts it down. “I was expecting this, we have to make some decisions.”

“What does it say?”

“They are calling in our margin in order to renew our mortgage and the rates will be higher.”

“What is a margin?

“housing prices have dropped substantially in the last few years. Our place is now worth only $175,000 according to their assessment and we still owe $220,000. They want $45,000 plus 10% and the rate on the balance is 9.25%.”

“Where would we get that kind of money.”

“I don’t know. We may be able to ask your parents but I know mine cannot help us. Even if we do get the money, we cannot afford the mortgage on my salary plus what you make on your two-part time jobs. Plus, we have over 25,000 in credit card debt as well. I have been barely meeting the minimum for at least 6 months now. I think we should sell before we have no choice. We would have to carry the 45,000 as personal debt, I don’t know how we would pay it.”

“Where would we live?”

“We have some options. My parents have a second house on their property in Montana, we could live there, I could start a practice in town and there should be work available for you.”

“Do we want to move from the city, we have good friends here, you have a good job and we have our life here?”

“Its an option. We could rent but with the debt we will have to carry we may need to declare bankruptcy and then there would be no place that would rent to us except government subsidized housing. I hear there are lots of subsidized housing units available in this neighborhood, do you want to go look? It would help us decide what to do.”

“Sure, lets go look.”



The next day



“From what I see here, you would qualify for a one bedroom or a one bedroom plus den. No parking and utilities paid for 1,200 a month. We have units available for immediate possession in your neighborhood. Would you like to see one?”

“Who owns the buildings.”

“They all belong to different corporations, who in turn lease them to the Federal government housing agency. They in turn rent them at geared to income rates to people like yourselves who have found themselves in need.”

“In need, like as in welfare cases.”

“Oh no. You are both working but in the currant climate you cannot afford to own, so the government gives hard working people like yourselves a helping hand. You will find that the accommodations available to you are much more desirable than those available to non-working people in need. We certainly do not want to discourage the American work ethic.”

“We need to talk about it first. We still have our own place and haven’t put it up for sale yet.”

“From your application, I see that you owe far more than the unit is worth, I may be able to arrange a sale for you and try to get the left-over debt you are taking on down to a more manageable level. What would it take for you to be able to manage without bankruptcy? If you were to avoid it, you would be able to retain your car and we could find you a unit that includes 1 parking space.”

“We will talk about it and let you know on Monday.”





Outside in the car



Max leans back in the seat and asks Sarah, “What do you think.?”

“I think we fucked up. We have made good money all these years and spent it on stuff. We don’t even have most of what we bought because we bought newer stuff. I feel so stupid. We could have paid down our mortgage like you wanted and this wouldn’t be happening. We are now at a point of choosing between several shitty options and I really don’t want to choose.”

“Ok hon. Why don’t we go home and sleep on it? We can get an appraiser in and see what our condo is worth, if we need to we can sell it and take it from there.”

“Once home, Sarah heads into the bedroom and puts on he night clothes. She comes back into the living room and kisses max good night. “I am so lucky to have you’” she thinks as she heads back into the bedroom to read.

“I am so lucky to have you,” Max thinks as he watches her go.

Max powers up his computer and pulls up his corporate account. As he researches the companies who own the apartment buildings the government is renting out, he finds a common thread. They all belong to the same corporation. Oxford industries and 51 percent of the oxford industries stock is owned by 1 man, Michael Cabot. He decides that tomorrow he will stay late and use his office computers as they have access to more corporate information.



Friday February 19, 2022



“I can’t believe it. GM will be the last Automaker standing by the end of the year.” Max says as his new legal assistant walks into the room.

Alex asks him, “why is it so important to you, not like you can do anything about it. Their stock price is already so high you cannot make a buck.”

“I am not allowed to play the market. My access to corporate information means I could be guilty of insider trading. I am investigating these corporate takeovers for a different reason. I think the law is being broken and worse yet, officials from the federal trade commission have to be complicit.”

“So, why not just go to the police?”

With a resigned sigh, “I tried a few years back when I saw something like this with a pharmaceutical firm but I got slapped down by the trade commission bureaucrat I took it to and even had my partnership delayed because of it. Not doing that again, unless I have absolutely irrefutable proof. “

“Why bother then, seems like a lot of work?”

“I find it really intriguing. I have seen a few other really suspicious mergers, always with the same process and the same result.”

“What result,”

“The pharmaceutical company, through its network of holdings is now larger than the next three companies combined. They set all prices and literally control the entire industry while they put on the appearance of competition. Same thing happened with Stanfield steel, TSN media and the worst one is oxford properties.”

Max continues on, “Oxford controls more than 25 different development and holding companies and they in turn own hundreds of smaller development companies. Through these companies they own well over 10 million condominiums, townhouses and apartments in the US alone. All leased to the US and state governments who in turn rent them out as subsidized housing. They also have interest in dozens of development firms in at least 15 other countries. Most interesting is that 1 person owns most of the stock in the whole thing. The guys name is Michael Cabot. His dad owns General Motors.”

Alex is looking interested now, “General Motors, you just said they were also growing very rapidly. Are they like all the rest?”

“Exactly, GM also owns a large interest in oxford and all the other companies I just mentioned. They will eclipse Ford by December and if Ford is even in business by December 2023, I will be shocked. More likely, it will be operated as a competitor by GM, the same as all these other companies feign competition with one another.”

“You are talking about orchestrated monopolies. So, is there anything you can do about it?”

“Not that I know of. I don’t want to risk my own career. Ever since Sarah got laid off we have been really tight and I cannot afford to risk my partnership. You can go home now if you want, I am going to stay a bit longer and do some more research.”

Alex starts to collect his stuff, “I will see you tomorrow, I will have the boeing bankruptcy papers on your desk in the morning. See you tomorrow.” With that he is off.

5 Minutes later, max’s phone starts beeping because its battery is dead. “Crap,” says max to empty space. He then remembers that he has a spare battery in his glovebox so he decides to quickly run down and get it. He stands up and heads out the door and down the hall but as he nears his assistants’ office he can hear him on the phone, slowing to pass without disturbing him he catches his name being mentioned. Quietly he stops at the side of the door and listens to Alex’ end of the conversation.

“Yes, he has traced several of your primaries…. No, he doesn’t know them all but it is only a matter of time… He has no idea how to alert the authorities, he is still stung when he lost out in the partnership in 2018… no, I don’t think he is close to reporting… He may have the information somewhere else but I could wipe anything in the office…”

What a coincidence, he had overheard this conversation and he suddenly knew what to do. Timing is everything.

Quietly, Max slips back into his office where he gets a fresh flash drive and downloads all the data and information he has collected on it. After a moment, he gets four more and records the same information on them. He takes out 5 bubble pack envelopes and after looking up the addresses of an investigative journalist, the national security man, his friend Brad and 2 newspapers he writes them on the envelopes. He inserts the flash drives and seals the envelopes. He then transfers the computer files to his home computer, his laptop and his account at the head office.

20 minutes later he gets up and exits his office with his 5 bubble packs and his briefcase which contains his laptop. He locks the door and noisily heads towards the elevator to alert his assistant if he is still here. His door is closed and presumably locked so Max heads to the elevator and with a second thought takes the emergency stairs. He exits the back door and heads to the convenience store that he knows has a sub post office at the back. Inside he purchases enough stamps to pay the postage and drops the envelopes into the mail.

He heads back to the building but now must go in the front as the back door is only an emergency exit. He proceeds down to the parkade using the stairs and enters. He is frightened now and listens for any sign of another person. As he gets to his car, he is beginning to think his mind made the whole thing up. He has been researching these mergers and takeovers for years now and it suddenly dawns on him, what if his last assistant’s accident wasn’t an accident?

Frightened now, he activates his 6 year old tesla. No explosion, no attack, maybe they think he will not do anything or they need to get his research first. He backs up and heads home to Sarah.

On the way home, max plots a zig zag route home and activates the self drive. Watching out the rear window for someone following him, he scrutinizes every vehicle on the road, which these days is not many. More than once he thought someone was following but the car had turned off. As he nears home he decides to drive by his building rather than drive into the parkade. A vehicle directly behind him pulls into a parking spot just in front of his building as another from the curb pulls out behind him. Max turns right, then left and the second cars does as well. Two blocks later max does a quick u turn and takes a quick right, then right into the shoppers drug mart parkade.

The car has not caught up and most likely did not see him enter the parkade. He selects a parking spot and after pulling up his collar, calmly walks out the parkade entrance as the car that was behind him cruises by. Heading left, he enters the store and goes to the postal outlet. It is open so he purchases a special delivery envelope and inserts his bubble pack in. He then addresses it to the National security man he met and has it weighed and stamped. “When does the mail get picked up.”

“The courier picks up our priority post mail in about an hour.” She says as she drops the envelope into the slot. Max then exits the store and heads across the street to the Starbucks where he buys a coffee and sits at the window to watch the storefront.

The grey Chevy bolt passes again in the opposite direction and turns into the parkade max was parked in. “Damm.” It doesn’t come out and neither does the driver. The man must have gone into the store through the parkade entrance because 10 minutes later the volt drives out and casually drives away. Within minutes, police cars and an ambulance arrive, light wailing.

Incredulously, Max watches. “So much for anonymity, I guess there is no other way.” Without another moments hesitation he opens his laptop and activates his email. He then addresses his email to the one on the card and attaches his research files. As the Bolt drives by again, he can see the man in the passenger seat and takes a picture with his phone. The man is scanning the restaurant fronts but doesn’t appear to see Max., Max pushes send.

As casually as possible, max gets up and walks to the cashier who he has known for years. Can you put this under the counter for me, I will be back to get it tomorrow?”

“How about I put it in my locker, it would be safer there?”

“That would be awesome, thanks so much.” Max says as he leaves the coffee shop. He goes to the end of the street and crosses. As he approaches the Shoppers Drug Mart, he is stopped by a police officer who politely tells him that there is an active investigation going on, “only officials are allowed in.”

“I was across the street and saw a car enter and leave, I videotaped it and have a good picture of the passenger. What did they do inside?”

A very surprised officer says, “wow, don’t get voluntary help very often these days, come with me. Can I get someone to take over here, the captain needs to talk with this man?”

He leads Max over to the command center and speaks for a moment with the commander. After that he leaves and goes back to his post.

The Captain looks at Max and holding out his hand, introduces himself. “I am captain Hann of the 39th prescient of the Seattle Police department. I understand you have information that may be pertinent to this investigation.”

Max hands him his card and says, “I am a corporate lawyer and I came across some criminal activity in the markets so I recorded it and decided to mail it priority post on the way home. I thought I was being followed so I decided to wait until the courier took the mail to insure it got to the destination I wanted it to go to.”

“And that destination was.”

Max produces the card from the National Security man and hands it to the captain. “What did they do?”

“Looks like the mail was ransacked and it is possible your item is the missing one. They left no witnesses.”

Shocked, Max says, “There were at least 5 employees in there.”

“We know and several customers as well. What is the address of your office, we should get the information you wanted to send to the National Security service.”

“I wanted it to be anonymous but it is highly unlikely now, I fear.” Max says as he points to the address on the card.

The captain steps away and gets on the radio to talk to his dispatch, presumably to get men to Max’ office. Obviously shocked at some news he has just heard he puts the radio mike back on its rack and comes back to Max. “Did you put another one in the mail near your office?”

“Yes. A convenience store around the corner.”

“Any more?”

“No, these ones were regular parcel post but they had no priority post at the store so I came here on the way home. I was a little suspicious of my assistant so I kind of got frightened and decided to get my information out tonight. Then I thought I was being followed. I and couldn’t tell if I was just being paranoid so I tried to be stealthy but it obviously didn’t work.”

Handing Max his card, the captain says, “Can I get a copy of the picture you took and the video.”

Max pulls out his phone and deftly pulls up his email, types in the correct address, adds the files and sends them to the Captain who looks at the picture and quickly forwards it to his office.

Motioning to the officer nearest him, the Captain says, “Corporal, I need this man securely taken to the precinct, for his protection. Make him comfortable and I want around the clock guards on him. The people who did what happened in that store may be after him as well.”

“Understood Sir.”

The corporal and another officer escort Max to their police cruiser and place him in the back seat. As they are just getting in, another official vehicle pulls up. The man in the driver’s side gets out and approaches the apprehensive corporal. He holds his jacket open so the NSA logo is visible to the officer and holds out his ID. We will escort you to the station, we would like to help insure he makes it there safely.

The two cars head out towards the 39th precinct and arrive at the station without incident. In the parkade they park near the elevator and the two NSA men get out and secure the area before the officers get out and allow Max to exit the car. Upstairs they take him to a large conference room and usher Max in. Standing at a video screen is the NSA man Max met before. The one who warned him to not muddy the waters in the Jessica Richardson kidnapping.

“Hello Max. I am glad you made it. I would think our friends are not too happy you made it here. They probably think they stopped you from getting your data out, they have already been to your office and wiped your computer and it looks like your books and ledgers have been taken as well. They have also taken whatever you mailed from both post office outlets.’

“My wife is at home; did they try there too? Is she safe? “

“She is. We have someone watching from the next unit and two men on the street.”

Max stands and paces for a moment. “They will be going there next, you need to get her out, they have already killed at least 5 people tonight. I sent you the data on the email address you gave me so you already have the information.”

“Call her, so she knows we are coming and my men will get her out. We will take her to a safe house with a female agent, Is that acceptable?”

Max takes out his phone but the battery is dead, “right, I forgot about that. Can I use the station phone?”

The NSA man points to a wall jack with a recoiling android charge cable hanging from it. “You can plug in there and make a call while it is charging. When you are done, leave it there for a while to let it charge/”

Max does and dials his wife’s number. Holding his breath until she answers he quickly explains as much as he can. “they are National Security Service and he has ID with the number.” Looking at the NSA man he asks, “what ID number will she see?”

“The NSA man quickly checks his log and says, it will be Samuel Weinstein, badge number W36259.”

“Samuel Weinstein, badge numberW36259. They are going to take you somewhere safe hon. I will be there as soon as I can.” With that, Max hangs up and leaves his phone charging.

I got your email and it looks like we may have enough to mount a major investigation. This thing goes right to the top. If you are interested, we could use an analyst in my office. You would be tracking these companies full time. This thing is bigger than even you could imagine.”

“I have other issues to deal with, I cannot even consider something else until I get that taken care of.”

“Would a 45 thousand dollar signing bonus help get you on board?” Says a persistent NSA agent.

“How do you know about that?”

“We know about a lot of things, we have been onto Oxford and their holdings. You will find that they also own LSG financial and we have been monitoring their acquisitions and your account popped up, this is the way thy acquire a lot of their properties, your building is on their list. You are not the only owner in that building who received a letter from their mortgage holder. Did you not wonder why it took them so long to call in your margin?”

“I just thought they were busy and because we always made our monthly payment they may just leave us be. We were also hoping house and condo prices would recover but it is looking like the prices are going to continue falling. Our unit was worth over a million just 4 years ago and now we will be lucky to get 175 for it. And when the government converts to the common currency, then what?”

“Offers there, we would pay you the same as you are making now and what you have been spending all your fee time on, you would now be getting paid to do. Plus, we can get you access to more sources and information that is not available outside government channels. You help us, we help you.”

“reserved, Max responds, “it sounds like a great opportunity but I need to talk it over with my wife.” Inwardly, Max feels like a giddy child who has just been given a whole bag of jelly beans. He can’t wait to share this news with his wife.

[solo]

I don't know... Max is being a bit too quick trusting an NSA person.... maybe.... Has sort of a "I'm with the government, and I am here to help" feel to it. Max accepted the $45,000 knowledge pretty quickly..... Good writing!!

[forthteller]

Mar 5, 2018 8:55:36 GMT -6 solo said:

I don't know... Max is being a bit too quick trusting an NSA person.... maybe.... Has sort of a "I'm with the government, and I am here to help" feel to it. Max accepted the $45,000 knowledge pretty quickly..... Good writing!!

The real question is, who can we really trust. If the enemy of my enemy is my friend, what happens when we have jointly dispatched our common enemy? Do we then go back to being enemies?

[forthteller]

Mar 5, 2018 11:12:36 GMT -6 forthteller said:

Mar 5, 2018 8:55:36 GMT -6 solo said:

I don't know... Max is being a bit too quick trusting an NSA person.... maybe.... Has sort of a "I'm with the government, and I am here to help" feel to it. Max accepted the $45,000 knowledge pretty quickly..... Good writing!!

The real question is, who can we really trust. If the enemy of my enemy is my friend, what happens when we have jointly dispatched our common enemy? Do we then go back to being enemies?

Thanks for the input. I think the next chapter needs to be a Stan the NSA man chapter so everyone will know who he is and how he fits in. I was gonna do it later but I think now is a better time.

[sniper69]

Thank you for the great story, and I definitely am looking forward to reading more of your fine writing.

[poppa]

MOAR PLEASE

[forthteller]

Chapter 26



Plans go awry


March 8, 2022



Breaking news.

The Zoonotic virus that began in Nepal and spread through India, Bangladesh and Pakistan has mutated and escaped the quarantined countries. Cases have been reported in Europe, Russia, China and now even in North America. The original virus has mutated and changed rapidly, many who contracted and survived the original strain have fallen victim to the new strains, which makes hope of a vaccination very faint.

Of note, communities and individuals who previously lacked access to modern medical treatment seem to have been bypassed by the virus. It would appear that they must have been infected with similar strains in the past and have developed natural immunities to the virus. The locus of research is to find what makes these people immune and develop a vaccine from that.

It is believed the virus was frozen in the mountains, thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of years ago and was released when the glaciers receded up the mountains due to increases in temperature in the area. Named the ice age virus, it has a long incubation cycle of two to three weeks and is contagious days before symptoms present. Mortality rate is a staggering 50 to 60 percent and recovery for those lucky to survive is several weeks during which time the victim is still contagious.

The World Health Organization is working with Silade pharmaceutical to develop a treatment and vaccine for the ice age virus but at present they don’t believe they are close.





March 10, 2022



“What the hell happened? You told me the virus had an incubation of 3 days and symptoms would present before contagion.” Shouts an enraged Patrick Poulin, putting incredible pressure on his new heart. “The fucking virus has reached the US and our own vaccines don’t even work. It was supposed to thin out some overpopulated areas and we were in a position to be the first out of the gate with a marketable vaccine. We would have dominated the industry.”

The lead virologist replies. “We released the virus late spring of 2020 and expected the heat of the summer would weaken it. We could have released our treatment then and our vaccine would have become an instant recommended addition to the schedule.”

“Doesn’t answer my question, what happened?”

“We now think the virus we found in the melting artic ice came from a time in history that was considerably warmer than our currant temperatures. When the heat of summer hit it thrived. It was an H5N1 strain of the bird flue and it made an antigenic-shift when it infected people who had also been infected with a common strain of influenza A.”

The scientist continued on, “Because the virus survived the summer it infected people who had been vaccinated for the 2020/2021 flue season. The minute amounts of flue in the vaccine again shifted the genetic makeup and now we have a third strain. Because we know where the original strain came from and have been working with it for over 2 years, we believe we will have an effective treatment for all three strains before the summer.”

Another senior virologist interjects, “as for a vaccine, every time we develop one, the virus mutates. It is almost like it’s intelligent. we develop a vaccine, it evolves. I have to wonder if the prehistoric extinction event we have evidence of, was caused by this virus and not the ice age. Is it possible the animals died off before the ice encroached and the virus went into hibernation until we activated it?”

The lead Virologist chides him, “Peter, I think you have seen too many science fiction movies. We know from the preserved carcases that the prehistoric animals froze to death. Had they died of the virus before the ice age they would have decomposed long before the ice age and we would have no remains.”

“Maybe the reason we find so few mammal’s remains in the ice is that only a few survived and by the time the ice age came, immune mammal populations had not fully recovered. It would seem to me that with a wide-open world there should be far more specimens found in the melting ice, yet we find more amphibians, reptile and dinosaurs, why?”

Patrick Poulin, himself a world-renowned virologist, looks at both men and evaluates what he had just heard. “I disagree Mikhail, His assessment of the frozen remains makes sense. There are not as many mammal’s remains as there should be in relation to the numbers of other species that have been found. Also, the small number of carnivores compared to the massive number of herbivores suggests that there was insufficient food sources to support a larger carnivore population. What this tells me is that the mammals found where we found the vestiges of the virus must have been immune. It is quite possible, the DNA we need to create a vaccine will be found in the remains of thawed out prehistoric mammals.”

“We would need to send an expedition to the area we found the virus in without raising suspicion. Do we have a team that could do it? We would need to get remains from several different species of mammals and from several different locations if we want a reasonable chance to find and isolate the virus and to identify the immune response.”

Patrick responds to Peter, “I have just the man, and I know he has the resources to get it done. Get your team on this right away, we will get you specimens.” Looking at Mikhail he says, “your team can stay on the path you are on. If you can find a vaccine that works before the other team does, so much the better. I think two approaches will give us a better chance of success. Need I remind you both, 2 billion are already dead and the virus is now in countries where natural immunities have been all but wiped out.”

After they both leave, Patrick pushes a button on his intercom, “Lucy, I need you to get me Colonel Guy Chardin. I want to talk to him immediately.”

“Certainement, Monsieur Poulin.”



Meanwhile, in a virology lab in Oregon, several virologists and physicians are discussing the same thing. The difference is, these people did not plant the virus, they want to find a cure and share it with the world.

This group had already sent an expedition to retrieve and preserve samples from as many mammals as they could from the melting ice. They had come back with hundreds of samples and several strains of the H5N1 bird flue had been identified and studied. Autopsies had revealed that the Flue had not harmed these mammals and that they were only carriers. Each species of mammal carried a different strain and for some reason the strains did not mix in the mammals.

Stan looks around at the assembled people in the room but addresses his question to one person who is obviously the leader of this group. “Where are we with finding a cure for the ice age virus?

Dr. Mellissa Delgado replies, “we have a successful treatment that reduces the severity, helping us to achieve less than a 5% mortality rate and even better results in young adults and children with fewer risk factors.

“What are the risk factors?”

“As the virus runs its course a victim can expect temperatures to reach 104 to 105 for extended periods of time, multiple times a day for several days. We have observed stretches up to 2 hours and when we have attempted to diminish the fever, it lasts even longer. People with previously weakened immune systems, any raspatory issues at all, diabetics and those with heart conditions frequently cannot outlast the virus and our success with them is much lower.”

She continues on, “at this point, we are unsure if those we have treated can contract the virus again or another strain but early indications are that they develop antibodies that should provide a strong immunity to the virus. At present we have identified the three strains currently ravaging the east but have identified several more in the remains we retrieved from the melting ice. We are trying to develop a theory as to why they all coexisted in the past and if they will do the same today.”

“How long before we have an effective vaccine?

“We have several that we have developed and several volunteers have been vaccinated with each type. We are reluctant to expose these volunteers to the virus as human Guinea pigs though. We think we need to develop vaccines for all the strains we have identified for use should some of those flues spread.”

Frowning, Stan replies, “I don’t think we have a choice, we need to know if it will work.”

“Sir, with all due respect, I think a better method would be to treat those that contract it and allow natural immunity to take care of the plague. What we have observed is that in areas where vaccination rates are low to non-existent, the virus does not gain any foothold. It is as if most are already immune, yet we cannot identify why. In addition, it appears that some of the antigenic-shifts are occurring in individuals who have recently had the flue shot.”

Dr. Delgado continues. “My theory is that if we do develop a vaccine and the individual contracts another strain we haven’t vaccinated for, a new strain might emerge. In the remains we studied, no species has evidence of ever being infected with more than one strain and yet they are all carriers of one strain. Interestingly, each separate species has its own distinct strain. It is as if they all carry one strain of the virus but it does not affect them and that strain makes them immune to all the H5N1 varients. It will take us years to understand how and why this is the case.”

“Ok, I accept your recommendation. Excellent work, all of you, keep it up.”





Breaking economic news



General motors and its principles have offered to purchase all of the publicly traded stock from Ford Motor Company shareholders for $11 a share. With the currant value of around 8 dollars, shareholders flocked to unload their shares. It is expected that GM will own controlling interest in Ford Motor Company by the time markets open.

It was expected by analysts as most did not believe Ford would emerge from chapter 11 bankruptcy. With new car sales at the lowest since 1965, there simply was not enough market for more than 1 domestic automaker. Only Japan still has more than one national automaker and at this point both look stable.

With its newfound supremacy, General Motors will have greater control of production, pricing and its workforce. It is expected that GM executives will be meeting with United Auto Workers leadership within days to wrangle out some significant concessions. Competition in the USA is not strong with only Toyota and Mitsubishi having any market share of significance.



March 15, 2022



Stephen Cabot paces across the floor, he should be ecstatic but here he is, angry and frustrated. “you said your people got all the copies and the originals of his research.” With that he tosses a news report from an obscure “fake news” publication in New York and on line across America. Small readership but larger

Following on-line. “These fuckers claim to have everything on my takeover of Ford. They are going to publish more every day, for the next week. What’s worse, several other shitbag papers are going to publish it too.”

“we did but somehow he managed to send it to another database or he got the files out another way. The police took him into custody for questioning but I know for certain he didn’t have any storage devices on him. We wiped his home computer remotely, wiped his work computer and our technician assures us that he did not send files to anything else through the internet. We had eyes on him the whole time.” Replies Barry Middleton.

“Could he have sent the files to another computer in house or have handed off a copy to another person?”

“Our technicians hacked into every computer on site and are certain the files didn’t get sent there. My people followed him and have video of the entire surveillance with the exception of the 10 minutes after he made them and did the u turn. We accessed the street, parkade and store video and are certain he didn’t hand off anything.”

“You are so certain, yet here we are looking at the evidence. What happened at the police station, who did he talk to, did he give them anything?”

“Don’t presume to tell me how to do my job. If your financial experts hadn’t been so sloppy, they wouldn’t have left a paper trail so obvious a lone lawyer in a shitty law firm was able to trace it.”

Angrily, Cabot spits back, “he cannot be alone. This is the same guy that tried to expose the Silade pharmaceutical takeover a couple years back. Luckily, we had people at the Trade Commission and were able to short circuit it when he tried to report it. Obviously, he never stopped investigating, who knows what else he has uncovered? We need to know what else he has and who he is working with.”

“We control almost all the mainstream media, we will just get it labelled fake news and overwhelm it with our own truth. There are two ways to control the public, fear and ignorance. We tell them what the truth is often enough, loud enough and long enough they will believe it. Those who dispute it just need to be corrected, by force if necessary.”

“Fine, you need to find out what else this guy knows and shut him up. Anyone else he has shared it with needs to be shut up as well. We cannot afford to have mainstream media get their teeth into this, there are still some uncontrolled reporters who will ram something like this through if they get actual evidence.”

“I will get to the bottom of this, you get the paper trail closed up. Someone from NSA was at the station to question him but I cannot find anything on the guy and they aren’t sharing.”

“Who the hell is NSA?”

“Security agency set up by Trump. He was pissed that the FBI and other agencies spent so much time attacking him and never investigated those he thought were the real enemies of the American people. He instituted a new agency that was to be immune to political and presidential interference and tasked them to investigate and expose any actions detrimental to National Security or threats to constitutional freedoms. They have no obligation to go through any legal channels. Their mandate is this. ‘Investigate, accumulate and disseminate information in any way possible to inform the American public of any and all threats to the American Constitution and to activate and organize pockets of resistance if necessary.’”

“The President was supposed to shut that organization down?”

“The bill went through and was passed by the congress and senate, the president signed it but they are still in existence. Law agencies and the military still recognize their authority and we don’t even know who they are, there is no public record and we don’t even know where they get funding.”

“So, you are telling me that you have the CIA, the FBI, NCIS, Secret Service and every other resource at your disposal and you cannot unmask this group.”

“I have my best people on it, Trump set it up in a way that nobody knows who else is involved and we have not identified anyone higher up. He took his organization structure to the grave with him and left nothing behind that would give us any clues. We are always a step behind because they have an uncanny ability to blend in with the regular police forces. They know who we are but we don’t know who they are, plus they have the respect of state and local police. They even have sources and most likely agents within all the major federal agencies.”

“What is the likelihood, they are responsible for the envelopes we all received?”

“At this point, almost a certainty. I bet the President got one as well, he probably thinks we compiled it.”





Breaking world Economic news



The two-year transition to the new Intur Credit system in Canada, Australia and New Zealand has been declared a complete success. Al three countries now use only the United Nations Intur Credit monetary system and have retired their antiquated paper and capitalist monetary system. All Sovereign debt has been converted to Intur Credits and can be recovered in goods and services from the previously indebted countries. All personal debt has likewise been converted to intur credits and can be paid down in goods and services. No person can borrow or accumulate greater than 10 percent of their historical gross yearly income in debt and all currently indebted individuals will have their debt wiped clean on January 1, 2029.

100 percent digital, the system instantly credits citizens for any work or contributions they make towards the good of society and deducts instantly any expenses individuals incur consuming goods and services produced by others. Upon reaching a zero balance, individuals will have all transactions refused unless they have established credit in the system by repaying debts in a timely manner. Work, goods or services currently in demand will be suggested on the persons tablet. The balance must be increased in order to access any further goods and services. Guaranteed minimum income is still in force but individuals will be free to perform any needed services in order to supplement their income.

Marisa De Sousa quickly marches down the hallway of the offices of the United Nation headquarters in New York City. She is on her way to participate in a discussion taking place with leaders of the largest countries that are in the process to transition to the UN Intur Credit system.

While it has been shown that the UN system can be successful domestically, several of the largest countries, United States, Great Briton and Germany, are expressing doubt as to the currency being equitable in international trade and commerce. The World Monetary Fund insist that their top economists from the United Nations compound in the US have developed economic models and strategies that insure equitable international trade.

The major stumbling block is the largest creditor to all three nations. China is not willing to renegotiate the debt it is owed and is demanding repayment in full. As the ice age virus escaped the quarantined areas it invaded the east first. China has been hit the hardest. Impoverished factory towns were almost eradicated as the virus had a nearly 70 percent fatality rate in the mostly vaccinated, malnourished communities. With nearly 200 million workers sick or deceased, China has lost nearly half its production and now cannot even meet its own needs, let alone export anything to other countries. Other manufactured goods exporting countries in the region have suffered similar fates but none have fatality rates remotely close to the Chinese. North Korea, as the lone exclusion, has had some cases but very few fatalities.

On the way, Marisa slips into a side room to meet with the President of the United States to discus strategy before going into the meeting with other world leaders and the Secretary General of the United Nations.

“So, what would it take for your congress to pass your bill?” Asks Marisa de Sousa.

President Connolly answers, “even though we have a solid majority and could pass the bill, without substantial bipartisan support, ramming it through could ignite a civil war. They need a logical plan of how we deal with our sovereign debt because China will not accept anything less than full payment and they are poised to launch a first strike with very little provocation. Secondly, congress needs to see how the system works with a GDP 10 times that of the earliest adopters.”

“The debt issue is an easily solved one. China is in need of everything, consumer goods, food, equipment, materials, oil and medicine. Ramp up your production and pay them back in trade.”

“Sounds easy, how?”

“I come from Brazil where we have Favela’s full of available workers, keep them hungry and they take any work you offer. You have buildings full of guaranteed income residents. I have been informed that you have millions of unemployed, able bodied people, sitting around in comfortable accommodations getting free money. Tighten the screws, put them to work. You also have thousands of mothballed factories, assets of the government. Get them going and you solve both problems, fix the national economy and prove you can make it work in international trade.”

“That may work in your country but here in the US we have a constitution and slavery will never be acceptable. ‘Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.’ We would have to offer incentives to get these people to work but we cannot force them. If we raised the subsidised rents to a percentage of the possible income rather than to the minimum guaranteed income and at the same time reduced food stamps, many would be encouraged to take the jobs. To get more we would have to develop a system where we don’t claw back guaranteed income but instead, slowly erode it so that working is the only way to achieve any means of security.”

“Is there no way to revoke any of the constitutional amendments?”

“Not without a civil war. The best we can do is use public opinion to evolve amendments to reflect current public opinion. We did it with gun registration. After all the mass killings, school shootings and gun violence between 2010 and 2020, the public developed an appetite to accept and even encourage gun control legislation. Without eliminating the right to right to bear arms, we were able to limit the number and type of guns citizens are allowed to bear. Because we allowed those who could demonstrate they had the training and the need to possess combat rifles and handguns, we were able to prevent the NRA from regaining support.”

“So, you cannot make them work, they get to sit around and collect welfare and give nothing in return.”

“No. Welfare is not a constitutional guarantee it is a socially approved and encouraged method most believe will reduce inequality. We need to find another incentive to get people to work.

If we were to find a cure or vaccine for the virus and price it so that only working people can afford to get it that may motivate working. We could make it so that it requires yearly boosters and that should make people more inclined to work. Fear will work for a few years, in the meantime we continue to use the media to help modify public opinion.”

“What about all the pockets of resistance that keep appearing. Preppers have larges stashes of weapons and are starting to organize, you have a rogue organization set up by that idiot, Trump, and several reserve units have pledged allegiance to the United States Constitution and refuse to recognise you as the President.”

“Middleton has that under control.”

[texican]

FT,

Interesting chapter....

Seems like chaos is gong to break out....

Thanks,

Texican....