Repacious creditor

[forthteller]

Chapter 27



Brad



Tues, Nov 22, 2022



     Brad and Max sit at on a bench overlooking the river. They are working together on the bankruptcy of another large retail firm. This one, a major national sporting goods chain has hundreds of outlets with a national law firm handling the overall disposition and local law firms handling each state.

     Max has 5 outlets assigned to him and has enlisted Brads company to aid him in the protection, disposition and liquidating of the marketable assets. Max is going to administer all the contracts, leases, and payouts.

     Brad is now a partner in Cascade Asset Recovery and oversees all asset recovery operations that involve corporate and business bankruptcies. As the senior operator, he is able to draw agents from the general pool when he needs them. What has been happening lately has not been good and he has needed more people every time. They had one fatality in their second major project and Brad never wants to make that visit again. His people have all had time at his camp firing range and air soft range working on strategy and teamwork and weapons skills. He has also recruited several of his co owners who have military experience and have weapons skills. It looks as if combat skills are now as important as negotiation skills in this brave new world.

    From the moment a bankruptcy becomes public, many of the employees and management immediately seize company property and take as much away as possible, believing it is owed to them. Looters are next and come in hoards, sometimes so large that the local police are helpless to stop it. Any law-abiding employees and bystanders who attempt to stop the looting are ignored, brushed aside, violently overcome and in some cases killed. With zero assets left to disburse, the creditors, shareholders and the employees get nothing.

    This will be their third project together and while they were moderately successful in the previous two, it does not seem to be getting any easier. The local police even refuse any assistance at all but all the recovery agents are legally permitted to carry firearms and use the force necessary to protect life and property. Brad has had to let a few good agents go because they were a little too quick to revert to lethal force. There had been no legal repercussions but in Maxes opinion, lethal force should be used only as a last resort, and even then, only to protect life.

    Max hands a folder to Brad. “5 stores, 30 to 75 thousand square ft. Total 273 employees, 5 general managers and about 35 assistant managers. They announce chapter 7 on Monday morning, 8 AM, eastern time. Since the store is not open yet, I don’t expect a problem with the staff but most of the management already suspects. We need to keep an eye on them immediately but it needs to be discrete so we don’t tip off the staff. If they learn too early, we could have a riot on our hands.”

   Brad looks over the file. “What about suppliers? Do we have any more shipments coming in this week?”

   “Several. Firearm’s in one truck, making a stop at all five stores. They have armed escort so I don’t anticipate any issues with that. Two trucks to the warehouse store with fishing and camping gear and only 1 other to a smaller store and its full of camping gear.”

   “Can we not just cancel the shipments and send them back?”

   “Nope, they are already invoiced and transferred, they are the legal property of outdoor world and sports. I know it does not make sense but they are regular loads and if they are cancelled, red flags will go up and all hell will break loose. We are talking about over 100 million in inventory, dollars or fucking intur credits, you pick.”

Brad looks at the locations of the 5 stores and makes a suggestion. “Why not run just one liquidation sale from the main warehouse location, they could staff with existing employees and offer a premium for those who volunteer? That way, I only have to protect the outside of the other stores and increase plainclothes security there.”

    “Makes sense. We could move all the high value goods immediately and store them at the warehouse store, reduce the incentive for an incursion in one of the other stores. How would you vet the volunteers?”

    “No way to. They would have to agree to a search upon leaving the store after each shift or they don’t get to work. I think 6 weeks at most, everything left you should sell as a package to a surplus dealer.”

   “Management employees won’t agree to that.”

   “Then they don’t work. We have an obligation to all the stake holders to ensure that they get the most of what they legally have a right to. I don’t make the rules. The federal government has modified several amendments to the constitution because of the anarchy we see everywhere and the decision to declare marshal law.”

   Brad recites a portion his oath. “’Citizens no longer have the right to refuse search and seizure. A deputized federal law enforcement agent has the right to detain and search any citizen they have reason to believe has contraband or stolen property.’ We are also allowed to shoot to kill anyone involved in looting or destruction of public and private property. The other thing in our favor is that only federal and state officers, active and retired military and private law enforcement people like us are permitted to carry or even own firearms, with the exception of single action hunting rifles and shotguns. They actually deputised us, all my people are deputized as well.”

    Max digests this for a moment, thankful that his friend Brad is in charge of this part. “Okay, we have uniformed people outside and plain clothed inside. What do we want to do between now and Monday morning?”

    “I think we should insert rotating secret shoppers who will report on anyone doing something suspicious. We discretely corral and detain anyone caught taking anything out and let them know we work for head office. Offer to not charge them in exchange for non-disclosure. I have several good people who can easily take care of this.”

   “Good plan. Get a budget from Wilson and see how many resources and people we can get, in the meantime, we should get some people into the stores, starting tomorrow morning.”

   “Who is paying for the people to load and unload trucks.”

   “They provide all the labor, we just make sure it makes it there.”

   Brad is about to get up when he comes up with an idea, “Why don’t we get all the firearms delivered to the warehouse store, that way we will have fewer high risk goods to transport after they announce?”

   “Great idea, I could get the paperwork screwed up and they would need to take everything over to the main store until it gets sorted out. That would not raise any suspicion.”

   Getting up, Brad says, “I will head over to the office to see Wilson and get our plan together. I will have people in the stores and outside by tomorrow morning.” With that, Brad walks to his trusty lifted F250.

   Thinking that he has never told Max about another part of his life, Brad reflects on the fact that has never told Max that he is also an undercover agent with what is reported to be the now defunct National Security Agency but is still waiting for his first assignment. Max has never mentioned that he too secretly aids the same organization. In fact, many of their friends and family have also been recruited but because of the compartmentalization of the organization, no one knows who else is involved so there is never is a risk that a person could reveal the identities of the other covert agents.





That Afternoon

   Wilson is looking at the file. He has had his copy for several days and was the one who submitted the bid. “We have enough in the budget for 20,000 hours plus reasonable expenses. I anticipate we will get our commission from the 40 million they expect to get for the merchandise. The figure in my contract is binding and if they fail in the retail portion of the endeavor it will not affect us as long as we protect the goods. They want 90% intact and they will be using their computer for verification, we cannot afford to have much pilfered. That includes goods damaged by vandalism or accidental damage.”

    Brad does some quick calculations on his laptop. “For the 7 weeks at the warehouse store we need 5 plain clothes and 5 uniformed agents for 12 hours a day for 7 weeks and then 5 uniformed agents for the other 12 hours a night for the 7 weeks. Total of 8820 hours. The rest of the stores will be emptied into the main store so we will need only uniformed agents and a team of 1 driver and 4 guards/helpers for up to 3 weeks. I think the balance of the hours will easily cover this. As for the trucks. I think I would need 3 trailers and 1 tractor, we will use the companies forklifts and equipment.”

   “They want to use their own trucks.”

   "Not a good idea. Looters may try to hit a truck on a store to store shipment, I need a strapped and capable driver and security to make sure they make it. We can bill them extra for it.”

   “Ok, I will push for it, I doubt they have a driver that wants to take that risk, once I tell them about it.”

   Sending a report to the printer, max gets up and pulls it out. He hands it to Wilson and says, “I need 25 plainclothes for tomorrow morning, can you arrange it? Total blackout on information. 10 need to have carry permit. I then need”

   “No problem. I will have them waiting for you at 7, board room.” Looking down at the manpower request, it looks like I am going to need to put some of our regular business on hold for at least 3 weeks. At least there is no problems getting additional help, I get 10 resumes a day now and most are well qualified.”



7 Am sharp the next morning.



   Brad walks in to the boardroom and the buzz dies down immediately. He places a ream of empty cups and several portable boxes of coffee on the table.

Behind him, Pedro enters and has several boxes of doughnuts and a tray of creams and sugars. He distributes them across the table.

   Once everyone has some coffee and whatever they want from the boxes, Brad starts in. “We have a big project coming up and I have to rely on you all to keep the information I am going to share with you under wraps until the official news comes out Monday morning. Our collective safety and that of our clients’ property depend on it.”

    Brad pushes a button on his laptop and a picture of the outdoor world and sports store pops up on the TV screen. The sounds of “no way” and “can’t be” emanate from the assembled group. “Yes, it can and it happens at 8 pm eastern time Monday morning.” "
   "We need to be discrete and make sure the staff are not wise to us. My information is that the management are aware and some of the staff may suspect as well. We need to make sure that the nothing leaves the store unpaid for before Monday. Pedro, Cheryl, Rooster, Eliza, Mathew and Richard will each lead a five-person team. I need to remind you all, discretion is of the upmost if we are to get these people their last paychecks and severance payouts.” With that, each of the five leaders call out the name of their team members and take them to a separate area to plan.

   Later that day, Brad is meeting with Jessica’s aunt Alana to see if she is interested in providing a tractor and 3 trailers for the job.

   “I can do that, I have a few loads to deliver in the interim but I can drop trailers at the store loading docks and pick them up once they are loaded. I think you need four or 5 trailers. They have two docks at the warehouse store. I can coordinate the distribution if you want.”

   “That works, I am going to put Cheryl on your security detail because we are going to do all the store to store shipments after close. She can help you with anything you need.”



Friday Nov 25th, 10:00 pm.



    Heading down front street with her radio tuned to the last country station in the pacific northwest, Alana shifts down and prepares to enter the parking lot at the Vancouver, Washington store. Swinging wide she drives in and heads towards the loading bay. A few cars are in the lot and there are a few people milling about in the north west corner but the lot is well lit so she doesn’t have much concern. She is right on time so someone from the store should be out to open the outside doors so she can back the trailer into the enclosed loading bay.

   As she approaches the bay doors a car cuts across the parking lot and stops directly in her path so she brakes to a stop. She quickly grabs her shotgun and chambers a round, clicks off her safety and holds it across her lap. Two men emerge from the car, dressed in military fatigues and brandishing automatic weapons. The people milling in the north west corner all approach, now brandishing weapons. Alana realizes she is seriously outgunned and places her weapon on the seat beside her. Raising her hands in surrender, she waits for instructions.

   “Come out with your hands up, slowly.” Shouts the man on her passenger side as another man climbs the step and opens her door.

   “Alana slowly puts her foot on the step and climbs down, keeping her hands in view. “I am empty, I was just dropping off the trailer.”

   “Go Check.” Shouts the leader.

   A man goes around the back to check and comes back. “Its locked, give me the keys, bitch.”

   Alana steps up and starts to reach into the cab to take the keys from the ignition.

   “Easy bitch, get down here, I’ll get them.”

   Alana climbs back down and keeps her hands up.

   The man climbs up to get the keys and sees the shotgun on the seat. He shuts off the truck and takes the keys. He then grabs the shotgun and climbs down from the cab. Brandishing the shotgun, he says. “look what I found guys, Tough bitch was gonna take us out.” He chambers a round and the gun ejects one because it was already chambered. “And the little c*** was already locked and loaded, and lookie, the safety was off. With that, he points the shotgun at her face and slowly lowers it to her chest as he uses it open her jacket to expose her buttoned blouse. And she has a pretty nice rack, I am going to take her with us and get me some fun later.”

   With that he lowers the gun, and like an amateur, passes the barrel across several of his comrades and heads around the back of the truck. Alana takes note of the fact that this clown has no training and the ones behind her have no idea how to hold a loaded weapon in a hostile situation. Before he rounds the corner he leans the locked and loaded shotgun against the rear wheel. He unlocks the doors and with effort opens the levers that lock the doors and pulls open the door. “She’s not lying, the thing is empty.”

   He walks back to the front of the truck where Alana is standing and puts his face right into Alana’s as he shouts, “where are the fucking guns you little bitch?”

   Alana leans her head back and rockets it back and smashes him right in the face, as she does this she brings her knee up into his crotch, with so much force he exhales all his air in one gulp. Pushing his limp body in the direction of the front of the car she dives for the leaning shotgun and has it in both hands before the first shot rings out.

   During this whole time, Brad and two of his agents had seen the ambush and had slipped out of the store and were positioned behind the dumpsters beside the ramp. Watching and waiting for an opportunity they silently watched the situation unfold and when Alana made her move, so did they. With perfect timing, co ordination and aim they took out the three men standing on the right of the truck while Alana rolled out from the passenger side. The leader had not even responded to the initial encounter when she sighted and fired from the ground and took him out with one blast from her shotgun. The men further away ran from the scene and the car which must have had a third person squealed away. Brad sniped the car and hit the rear with several rounds. One must have hit the tire as sparks flew from the right rear wheel. Coming to a stop, a man jumps from the driver’s side where he is met with a flying roundhouse from a now fully engaged Alana. “This is for the asshole we won’t get to question,” she says as her foot makes contact with his forehead.

   Sirens from a distance break the moment so Alana quickly grabs the man by the collar, “how did you know we were coming tonight?” No answer.

Alana stands and puts the gun right in his face, “How did you know?”

   “The manager told us.”

   Screaming now, “which manager.”

   "the guy who sells the guns. They get them in every second Friday.”

   Alana says, “roll onto you stomach, shitwad, hands behind your back.” He does.

   Watching, Brad takes his time arriving at the scene and when he gets there he says, “you go girl, holy shit that was awesome.”

   “Thanks, I think. Any of those guys still alive?”

   “Doubt it. I wouldn’t have killed them but it looked like they were not going to just walk away after finding we had an empty truck.”

    “Next time I am just going to ram the little pricks out of the way. That was a little too close.”

   As police cars screech to a halt, max and his people all lay their weapons down and hold up their id cards which are hanging around their necks. The senior officer cautiously approaches and almost immediately recognizes Brad. Surveying the area, “how many meat wagons today, Brad.”

   “Three, maybe four. I don’t know, I haven’t checked. Several ran west, never got close enough to get a description. This guy says the firearms manager told them a truck was coming in tonight, loaded with weapons. I can get you his name and address if you like.”

   “Great. Why are you here and why are guns coming in, I though most people cannot buy them anymore?”

   “I was here to do a repo.”

   “Of the truck, or what was supposed to be in it? Better not ask, cannot lie if I don’t know.”

   “They are allowed to sell guns to active and retired military still, plus anyone with a badge.” Brad says as he points to his badge and the officers.

   “I guess the UN still respects a uniform, even though they don’t respect most of our charter rights. I think I may be in for some shopping this week.” With a wink, he is off to check on the hijackers.

   The four are dead, three from gunshot wounds and one from a bone in his brain. Video evidence and the dash cam from the truck support the statements made by the four agents, Brad fires the fifth agent who stayed hidden in the warehouse. The wounded man gave up the names of the three other perpetrators and the two men and one woman were arrested and put in jail.

   Brad gets home early the next morning, as he is just about to go to bed the phone rings. He picks up his blackberry and answers. “Good morning, Brad Collins here.”

   “Hello Brad, Stan here. Its time. We have a location and are working out a plan as we speak. Window is Aug 1st to the 10th at which time they are moving her to another location but we don’t know where yet. She doesn’t think she can get any more intel for us so we are going to get her out.”

   “She has been a hostage this long and you knew where she was and never told me? What the f*** were you thinking? We could have rescued her six months ago.”

   “She had the choice, she decided to stay so we could find out what was going on. The united Nations has no idea she is there, another group is pulling the strings and we have enough now to blow the whistle on the works of them. Can I count on you?”

   “You know you can. Where and when?”

   “Get your project on the way and let your leaders take care of it. I may put a few of my people on it to help if necessary. If they aren’t needed, you wont even know they’re there. We will send someone to pick you up at one of the stores you are working. My men will be watching, when you can get away without being detected we will let you know. Until then, carry on as if nothing is happening.”

[texican]

FT,

Thanks for the chapter....

Getting more interesting....

Texican....

[jkhs]

I found this a few days ago and now I’m caught up. Great writing! I’m anxiously awaiting the next chapter.
~jkhs

[forthteller]

Mar 26, 2018 19:51:44 GMT -6 jkhs said:

I found this a few days ago and now I’m caught up. Great writing! I’m anxiously awaiting the next chapter.
~jkhs

Thanks for reading. I am working out of town right now so I only get about 1 chapter done a week.  Forthteller

[dallanta]

Great story, you have me hooked on it!!

[texican]

Mar 28, 2018 22:40:54 GMT -6 forthteller said:

Mar 26, 2018 19:51:44 GMT -6 jkhs said:

I found this a few days ago and now I’m caught up. Great writing! I’m anxiously awaiting the next chapter.
~jkhs

Thanks for reading. I am working out of town right now so I only get about 1 chapter done a week.  Forthteller

FT,

You do know that work is a four letter word....

Texican....

[forthteller]

Chapter 28



Brad and Jessica



Monday Dec 4th, 2022



Dr. Rodgers and Jessica are in the computer room running some models for a new theory they are working on. Inside the room are several other Economists and two armed guards at the door. Also, in the room are 2 computer scientists and several analysts who are trying to find out who and how someone is getting information out of the system. Annoyingly, they watch over everything Jessica does, every keystroke, every note, every document, every calculation. Nothing.

Her room gets searched, they examine everything she does and all her news releases. They now retype everything she produces and check for encryption and any hidden messages, nothing. They do the same with Dr. Rodgers and with all the other collected experts. Nothing.

They had air gapped the system four months ago and there is still a leak. Data and information has shown up on some of the alternative news feeds and it could only have come from here. With control of the media, all the information had been shut down but, how was it getting out?

Down the hall, Marisa de Souza shouts at the collected staff. She tosses copy after copy of radio transcripts and newspapers on the table. “We are so busy refuting this shit, I swear, I am going to start shooting people myself. How long do you people think we can keep the mainstream media from printing it themselves? One week and I shut this whole program down, do you hear, one fucking week!”

Marisa points at two of the senior people there and says, “everyone else out, you two stay. And stop the leaks now.”

Once out, Marisa pushes a button on the intercom and says, “send him in.”

A meticulously dressed Barry Middleton walks in and says, “Afternoon my dear, having problems?”

“You know dam well what the issue is. Your computer geeks, your analysts and your profilers cannot figure out how the information is leaking out.”

“It would seem my dear that had your profilers, your technicians and your analysists called us before you shut out the outside world and before the trail went cold, we may have had a better chance of solving this. My people have been telling you that your entire system has been compromised and you need to move to another one that has never been in contact with yours.”

A middle-aged man who was still in the room clears his voice and waits to be acknowledged.

With an irritated tone, Marisa snaps, “What.”

“I don’t know if you want me to know about any of this, shouldn’t I get back to my research.”

Marisa snaps back, “fine, both of you get out, get me some answers. But first, I want to know, how deep can that kid have penetrated our computers?”

“We believe he was able to plant a Rootkit before we air gapped the system. If he did, he would have been able to access all our worldwide systems and every computer that has been connected. I don’t know how good this kid is but it is possible.”

“rootkit? What the hell is that, why can’t you find it?”

“It’s a program that gets secretly installed on a system and then creates a back door. It covers it’s tracks and actually deletes itself. It is possible that his program could have migrated to every connected system before we air gapped it. Since he had access to our entire system from here, he may have not migrated his program, if we are lucky.”

“If it is that easy, why doesn’t everybody do it and why can’t you find it?”

The programmer looks at the ground and replies, “it is not that easy, I don’t even know how to do it and there are only two or three hackers in the world who can plant one as sophisticated as this, that is if it is even there.”

“Fine, get out both of you and find that rootkit. Close the door on your way out.”

Once they are out, she turns to Barry Middleton and with contempt, “Don’t be so condescending, you arrogant son of a bitch. That kid from Cal tech was the answer and your people fucked up.”

Marisa didn’t stop there. “Not only did you not get him, but the mess you left behind cost us. Media got wind that the team was UN. We had a hell of a time turning the story around to look like we were trying to investigate a terrorist threat. 5 dead UN security forces, 3 dead RCMP, ballistics match the guns of our people, no evidence found at all. How do you think we look? Worse yet, the local authorities know the truth and their senior constables are not going to let this one go. They will press for an inquiry and that is going to go a long way to expose us. Plus, what kind of support do you think we get when we ask them for assistance next time.”

“I wouldn’t worry about it. The latest harassment scandal should be that last straw. The prime Minister will be going to the governor General to have the RCMP disbanded and the UN will replace it as the National police force.”

“Then how do we get that kid.

“We now have an APB out on all four of them. If we don’t get them first, we cannot afford to let the RCMP bring them in alive. The kids are in the USA now but we have not told the FBI or Homeland. We are certain the sister in Mt. Vernon knows where they are, but all our tails have been blown so we have not had an opportunity to track them down yet. Worse yet we have no idea where the dad is.”

“How do your tails get blown?”

“The aunt lives with a retired cop and between the two of them, they have made us several times, it is like they have eyes everywhere. They have increased their own security, associate with careful people and are always on guard. Plus, I think the national security clowns are involved somehow.”

“Can’t you arrest those guys now.”

“We still need probable cause, but mostly, we don’t even know who they are. Most are actually in other services, I probably have lots of them working for me. It’s Ironic, I don’t know who to trust. It is like that room down the hall. Those economists act like they are consoled to helping us but one of them is somehow feeding information to the outside.”

“You heard my programmers the kid has a rootkit on our system. They will find it and shut it down. Then when we get to the new location, we can get on with monetizing all the countries we now have on board.”

At that moment, the power goes off for a few moments, seconds later it is back on and running normally. There is a whir and whine as the computers and cameras reboot.

“Quick, I need all security personal to check in, right now,” shouts Marisa de Sousa into her cell phone.

“Taking check ins now,” says the security man on the other end of the line. Moments later, “all positions have checked in, no issues.”





Elsewhere in New York city, David Smit speaks into a mike, “central security has just done a full circuit check in, and the cameras along the service corridor are all on 15-minute loops. Your window is now open.” Watching all the camera feeds on the 10 plus screens he has in the room, he silently wishes them Godspeed.

In the Basement, Brad and Peter are just finishing up restraining an unconscious security guard and they carefully place him inside the laundry truck with his two partners. Locking the doors, they quickly sprint to the waiting elevator, occupied by the team leader and a third agent. The team leader pushes the button to the third floor and the elevator doors close. She holds the elevator there while she addresses the three agents.

The team leader says, “heads up guys, they won’t be expecting us but will be alerted by the elevator cars arrival. There could be as many as four but most likely 2 with the other 2 at the ends of the hallway. we need to take them all before they make a sound. For some reason they have no cameras on this section of hallway.”

They all check their weapons to assure they have full magazines of darts in each pistol. They also check their sidearms and assault rifles that have lethal rounds just in case the operation goes off plan. The plan is to get in and out with the captives without taking any American lives. If necessary they are prepared to use lethal force to achieve the objective.

What Stan is hoping is that the UN soldiers who are guarding the captives will realise that the National Security Service is not the enemy. By rescuing captives without taking lives, the seed of doubt will germinate in their minds as to the righteousness of the UN actions. For this reason, they are using darts that inject a serum that causes nearly instant unconsciousness and lasts for at least an hour.

Standing with weapons at the ready, the team leader releases the button. The elevator raises up 1 floor, ding. It raises up another floor, ding. The doors slide open and two guards are surprised by the occupants, phtt, phtt. Both guards fall to the ground. From down the hall a voice says, hey, what’s going on down there. Brad steps out of the elevator, sights the man and fires 1 dart. Down he goes.

Quietly, the team leader says, there may be more down the hall to the right. Peter and Mark, go. Off they go, slinking down the hallway, listening for any sounds. About 50 yards down the hallway there is an open door and a guard is half inside speaking to someone. They take cover, hoping he exits and closes the door but he doesn’t. He steps into the room and the door closes.

“Do we have eyes in any of the rooms along this corridor, inquires Peter as he watches the door the guard went in.”

The team leader says “none, we need to breach each room in order. Intel says the hostages are in one of the rooms along this service corridor. Let’s clear the room the guard went in first.”

Brad joins the other two men at the door. Peter quietly places his hand on the doorknob and just as he is about to turn it, it twists itself and the door opens pulled by an unseen person. A startled guard is taken down quickly by Marks expert shot and peter quickly steps around the man and into the room followed by Brad and then mark.

Barry Middleton reaches into his jacket and pulls out his service weapon. Before he can even draw a bead, he drops to the floor as his gun skitters across the floor. Marisa holds her hands up, “don’t shoot,” she begs.

“Peter quickly closes the door and radios the team lead, Room clear and we have a surprise. Middleton is down and we have a cooperative Marisa de Souza. Advise”

“cuff her and keep her quiet, I will be right there.” Quickly the Team leader gets to the room and enters. Closing the door as David reminds them, 8 minutes.

“Once in the room, the team leader asks, where are your guests.”

Looking down at the prone Middleton with a dart sticking out of his neck, Marisa de Souza says, “you won’t kill me and I am not telling you.” She is looking at a door on an adjacent wall to the hall door as she says it.

The team leader nods at the door and motions for the men to check it. Locked. The team leader pulls a silenced gun from the holster and shoots the lock off. A second shot at the spot where the door latches and it is easily kicked open. Inside is Jessica, Dr. Rodgers and several other people. Also, two guards who both draw weapons and are quickly silenced by well placed darts near their carotid arteries.

Seeing Brad and his friends, Jessica turns to her computer console and types in a line of code, the screen starts clearing, all the other screens in the room start clearing as well. She then runs to Brad and gives him a big hug, “about time, you big oaf.”

Hugging her back, he plants a kiss on her cheek, “Later, we gotta move, David only got us a small window and it is about to close.”

With that, the Team leader chimes in, “parties over people. We are only here for Jessica and Dr. Rodgers but we can take you all if you want. Follow us, keep up or get left behind, your choice.” Into the mike, she says,” there are six more scientists here, we are taking them with us.”

Jessica interjects, pointing at the two men and 1 woman slightly separated and the three men near the door, “These men are UN workers, they aren’t with us.”

“Cuff them and leave them behind.”

Jessica asks for a gun. The team leader hands her a dart pistol.

“No, a real one.”

Hesitating, the team leader looks at the now cuffed men and back at Jessica, “Can’t do that mam.”

“Not for them, I need it for something else, quickly.”

The team leader reluctantly hands her the gun and Jessica takes the silenced pistol. She shoots out two computer screens and two windows and hands it back to the team leader. I will explain later if we get a chance.”

With that the team leader leaves the room and heads out to the hallway where one of her men is situated. During the incursion another team had come up and were now in the hallway, having cleared the other rooms. They were all awaiting further instructions.

Into the mike, the team leader says, “what are we to do with de Silva?”

“Bring her to the exfil site, we can use her to get away if necessary.”

“With that, she says go, go, go. Exfiltration plan B:” Having looked at her watch, Nadine powers, the team leader, knew that with almost 13 minutes expired, there was no way they were going to get out in the two laundry trucks they came in. “Decoy explosions in 30 seconds.”

Led by Peter, the entire team quickly passes the 2 now jammed open elevators and exits the previously unlocked emergency door. As they head up the stairs, they hear distant explosions as the planned decoy incursion starts taking place on the other entrance to the compound.

“2 minutes, David sounds into the earbuds of all the agents. They hurry up the stairs and exit to the roof top. As the first person opens the door, they are immediately sighted by a sentry on one of the towers surrounding the compound. Peter sounds on his radio, we’re blown, south east tower. He pulls back in as a hail of bullets come from the tower. In seconds a missile hits the tower and the shooting stops. They all file out and stay against the building knowing that the two towers to the south east and south west can see them just 5 feet from the wall.

Two choppers can be seen from the horizon coming from the south, it is dusk now but they immediately start drawing fire from the ground and from the two towers. Two missiles are fired as well and are dodged by the choppers who launch decoys.

Two snipers with scoped high-powered dart rifles head in opposite directions. Both peer around the corner and attempt to take out the men on the tower ramparts. The sniper to the southeast is successful in dropping two targets before the rest take cover. The sniper to the south west only gets one and is hit by return fire. A man behind him grabs his legs and pulls the injured man to safety as another takes the rifle and takes his place. The choppers get within range and the first comes in for a landing as the second hovers over the compound, taking fire and returning it.

Peter, grabs dr. Rodgers and pulls him towards the chopper, follow me. At the chopper door, two men grab the people and pull them aboard as they get to the side of it. Once loaded with all the civilians and several uniformed agents, the chopper leaves and flies directly away, faking fire but getting away safely and fading into the distance. The second chopper now swoops in but with no cover it takes several probably terminal hits and puts down. “Plan C,” Shouts Nadine as she pulls her para sale from its pouch.

One by one all the soldiers and agents jump off the side of the building with special low drag parasails. They rapidly cross the compound to the nearest wall, each knowing the 20 plus mph impact with the ground will be incredibly painful. They all narrowly miss the top of the compound wall and land on the lawn and street on the opposite side. Two trucks are waiting and the soldiers quickly pick up the incoming soldiers and help them into the trucks as a ring of men cover their exfiltration.

Once the trucks are loaded, they rumble off into the city as the plainclothes men who gave cover merge into the city and the crowds. 2 blocks away a warehouse door opens and the trucks disappear into the doors as sirens wail in the distance.

On the roof of one of the UN Buildings, Marisa de Silva is sitting against the wall beside a closed rooftop door. She is fuming at the incompetence of her underlings and wondering how she is going to explain this to the rest of the seven. As she is musing this, the door opens and Middleton enters the rooftop.

“That was a f*** up. Not only did they get away with our guests, they also caused zero casualties and wiped our computer system clean. How do you think this is going to play in the media?”

Holding her hands out, she says, “Cut me loose, we have to get on top of this and quit squabbling.”

He flips out a knife and cuts the zip tie, “You should carry a knife yourself, come to think of it, you should be armed as well.”

“f*** you. Let’s get to the control center to see what the situation is.” Marisa says as she marches into the rooftop door and down the emergency stairs. Once inside the room she surveys the area. No apparent damage but all the computer screens are blank. She attempts to get something up on the screen but even though the computer is on, it still is blank.

“f***, f***, f***.” Marisa says as she goes into the adjoining room. The five computer analysts are all cuffed and sitting along the wall. The senior man asks to be let loose as Middleton enters the room.

Marisa looks at Middleton, “Give me your gun.”

He hands her the gun and as she takes it she hovers it over the senior computer operator. Then over the man next him and pulls the trigger. Two more shots and three cuffed computer analysts slump dead to the ground. Looking at the two left, she says, I guess there were casualties after all. You two, one word about this and you join them.”

Middleton cuts the cuffs off all of them. The two remaining analysists shakily stand and Marisa barks at them. “Get these computers up and running and find out what happened to them.”

The senior man says, “she had a pre-set worm on it and when she typed in a code it wiped the system. It is probably down permanently.”

“And you didn’t know she had done it,” Marisa says as she raises the gun and shoots him in the forehead. She turns the gun on the last analyst and shoots her as well. “I guess the outlawed National Security service aren’t as guiltless as they want the world to believe.” She says, “Put that on the news tonight, we need some dead security as well.”

Unfortunately for Marisa, several of the security personnel had already been in the room and although they had not released the 5 analysts they had reported them safe and alive and had intended on returning to free them as soon as the intruders were secured or gone. She also didn’t wait until the senior analyst informed her of the method used to get information in and out. He had figured it out when Jessica shot out the windows and the two computer screens exactly parallel to the windows.

As for the security, they all knew there were no casualties and that the intruders had taken every precaution possible to limit injuries as well. The 7-dead security and 5 dead analysts on the mainstream news was quickly overshadowed by the conspiracy theories of the fake alternative news who claimed that all the casualties came after the rescuers had left. The divide widens.

[pbbrown0]

Up until the late 90's very high security facilities had stipulations prohibiting a telephone receiver (Remember the old telephone hand sets with a microphone and ear speaker mounted inside opposite ends of a handle?) from being on a cord that could stretch to within six feet of a computer screen(the old CRT displays). Even forty years ago, with the right listening equipment, they could "hear" over a phone line the placement of the dots on a display screen and recreate any text being shown on a computer screen at any given moment.

I don't even want to think how much the super tech heads have advanced by now in their ability to 'snoop' over wired or wireless computer and cell phone connections (even when you are unaware that a connection exists).   Three months ago I was "asked" by a reviewing service I knew nothing about to give a review for a restaurant I had visited a month earlier.  I had not paid the bill there (I was a last minute invited guest when I ate there.) The restaurant had no record of me being there.  I did not make or receive any phone calls or text while I was there. I did not even use an online mapping service to find the place since someone else was driving me there. I cannot remember for sure on that occasion, but I typically have the "location" feature on my phone turned off for all apps unless I turn that feature on so I can navigate to a new location I do not already know. It is my practice to turn it off when I am not using it. Even if I had that function 'on' unintentionally, someone had to have converted my GPS coordinates to a business address and then sold that information along with my phone number and name information to a restaurant/hotel reviewing service.

[papaof2]

Have you ever seen or been inside the CIA building with it's somewhat green windows with the EMR (electro-magnetic radiation) shielding in the glass? I have an in-law who was an analyst there for a number of years and was visiting there one year on their "Family Day". The historical things on display made me think about what the then-current crop of "goodies" might have included.

With all the security cameras in use now, they might have found your face and used the associated location information to place you near or in that restaurant. And there's always the reliable word of mouth - buy a cashier or server lunch and ask if any of the people you have photos of were in their restaurant recently.

[freebirde]

....Or one of your friends may have mentioned you being with them on a social media site.

[texican]

FT,

Good chapter....

Thanks....

Texican....

[forthteller]

Chapter 29



Jason



Nov 4th, 2022



Crisp morning and Jason lays in his handmade cot for a few more minutes. He usually rises early to check the surroundings to see if anyone has been around but not this morning. For at least two weeks he has not seen any signs of a search and his forays to the edge of Sunshine Valley and overlooking highway 3 have turned up nothing.

They had searched for him until the middle of September. Until then, he could see the roadblocks and the choppers, flying search patterns. He heard the dogs and saw the search teams but he had eluded them all. It looks like they may have decided he had gotten past them or had gone into the US. It is possible they were waiting for him to come out Ross lake but once again he had outfoxed them.

His mind went to his kids. Did they make it and are they safe? He hoped so. They were great kids, fit and intelligent. On that fateful day he had watched the helicopter search patterns and listened on the radio he had taken. He was pretty sure they had gotten away. That radio had been a godsend once he located the frequency the searchers were on. Too bad the batteries had died.

Today, he was going to turn on his burner phone and call his friend, Balvinder Singh Grewal, to ask for his help. He needed to find out where his kids are and if he was wanted by the authorities as a victim or a felon. One thing was certain, those men were not official and they were there to kill or kidnap him and his family.

Jason gets up and quickly dresses. He puts on a rain slicker and gets to the mouth of the cave and watches the cascade of water flowing down. He had found this cave years ago when he was prospecting and to his knowledge, No one else knows of it’s whereabouts. Peering through the falling water, he doesn’t see anything so he quickly and silently slips through it.

Quickly Surveying the area he sets out. He jumps from rock to rock and wades through the shallow sections until he gets several hundred meters down the river. At a well-worn animal trail, he heads east into the woods.

After a couple of hours, he has stealthily made his way to an overlook position where he would see the entire village of Sunshine Valley and both the north and south legs of the highway leading to and from it.

Taking out his phone, he dials one of the numbers he has memorized and it is answered on the second ring. “Hello, Balvinder here,” says a man in the Punjabi language.

“Hello Bal, it’s Jason, is it safe to talk.”

“For the moment. They do not know I have this phone and I am in the field on my tractor. I believe they have my house and my phones recorded but I have not found proof. They have been here asking for you and have searched my whole property. They even have dogs and these machines that take picture of the ground.”

“We both knew this day was going to come, I had hoped I was wrong or that it would be much later. I need your help now.”

"Anything, my friend. If I can give it to you I will. What can I do for you.”

“I need to know what the official story is about my disappearance. And I need to get to the Valley so I can start mobilizing a resistance.”

“The official story is that the United Nations personnel went to your home to retrieve firearms you had not turned in and were turned away by force. They called the RCMP for backup and you killed them all and 3 RCMP officers before escaping into the mountains. Your children were all presumed to be away when it happened.”

“I killed the 5 UN men, they were all armed with assault riffles, carried no id were there to kill or kidnap us. I was the one who called the RCMP and I promise you I did not kill any RCMP officers.”

“I know you didn’t. My daughter works in dispatch and she was there when the call came in. She was still on the radio when the officers reported being under fire by uniformed military men. They took 3 into custody and two they killed after being ambushed.”

“So, I can come back and not be arrested.”

“Maybe not. They came and took all the recordings and ballistic evidence. They took all the photographs and all the written statements. Then they threatened everyone who had first hand knowledge with charges treason if they share any of the information. Everyone is afraid to say anything.”

“but there are three dead officers. Who is going to pay for that?”

“They say you will, when they catch you of course. Information is leaking out; my own nephew was one of the first officers on the scene after the shooting was over and he has told me it was as you say.”

“Too many people know what happened to cover this up. How do they intend on keeping a lid on this?”

“I have been told the Detachment Sargent is insisting on an inquiry and that someone was able to get duplicates of most of the evidence. If you were to turn yourself in, you could get a good lawyer and they may be able to help you. I don’t know what other chance you may have.”

“Do you know what they have done with my house?”

“I am afraid not my friend. The whole street has been blocked since then and they have many soldiers and government coming and going into your area. They have taken all the houses there. I know a family who were taken out of their home, you know them, the Atwal’s.”

“Thank you, Bal. I will figure out what to do next then.”

“Before you go, I will give you a number and a name. He says he is on our side but I do not know. I did not tell him anything about what you helped me prepare and he did not ask. He only asked me to give you this number if I heard from you. They said you should give them your license number from your first car.”

Jason memorized the name and number.

His next call was to his sister Alana and there was no answer. He called her landline, knowing that it may be tapped. A woman answered but he did not recognize her voice.

“Hello”

“Can I speak to Alana please.”

“She is on the road and won’t be home until tomorrow evening. Can I take a message?”

“Who is this?”

“You are speaking with Cheryl, I live with Alana. And who am I speaking to.”

“Her brother Jason, I didn’t know she had a roommate. I was just calling to say hi. I will call back.”



10:45 Am

In an expropriated house on Cedarville road in Mt. Vernon, 2 men are listening to live feed from several wiretaps. There are not many home landlines so most of the taps are in business. 

One rings and they listen in on a conversation between a person they know lives in the house and another unknown person. It is short and reveals nothing of consequence so they record the conversation, jot down a couple of details and the name Jason on their logbooks and go back to playing cards.



Back in the mountains in Canada

Jason looks down on the town and thinks, how do I find out how my kids are without alerting anyone to there whereabouts? If they have enough power to kill and then coverup the murder of three police officers, they may have that same influence over in the US. Most likely the phones of all known acquaintances and family will be tapped, trying to catch a fugitive. Murder is an extraditable offense. If the United Nations security forces has gained as much control in the US they will be doing all they can to catch Jason and his kids there as well.

He dials the number he just got from Bal and hesitates a second before pushing send. With a deep breath, “here goes nothing.”

A pleasant male voice answers, “hello. Can I help you.”

“My names Jason Smit. I was given this number, I am not sure if you can help me.”

“Do you have anything else to tell me?”

“Right. The license on the first car I owned in BC was SMJ819.

“Just a minute sir, I can connect you with someone you may want to talk to.” He puts Jason on hold.

A series of clicks and some ringing sounds. “Hello, Foxtrot 6 here, can I help you.”

“Reception here, I have a person here who would like a word with one of your recruits. It is a very important matter. The recruits name is Jack smit.”

“It will take some time. I have to get him from training. I will have him here at 2PM sharp. Is that acceptable?”

“It will have to do, I will let the other person know, we will call back at 2. Thank you.”

“Mr. Smit, the person I think you want to talk to will not be available until 2 PM. I can connect you then, if you like.”

“Just who do you think I want to talk to?”

“I believe Jack Smit would be who you wish to speak with but if I am wrong I apologise.”

“It is. I will call back at 2. Thank you.”







Jason watches through the trees and idly munches on some roots and berries he had picked and dried. Kind of like Granola, he thinks as he munches away. In the time that he has been on the run, he has eaten food he foraged and hunted and was in the best shape he has been in for years.

When he combined his training with the seals and what he had learned hunting and hiking, Jason had become a master at tracking and avoiding being tracked. He had hunted his prey, using only a knife or traps, right under the nose of those who were actively searching for him. Thinking about it brought a mischievous smile to his lips. “These idiots think numbers and tech can outsmart experience, drive and motivation. They will learn soon enough that Karma is a real bitch. I need to get back in the game.”



1:55 PM

In the expropriated house in Cedarville road the two men playing cards continue to monitor the phone calls of several citizens and chat about anything but what is really bothering them. As they do, a senior UN Agent enters the room. “Anything I should know about in our taps.”

“Been pretty quiet. Logs are over there.” Says one of the two men as he points to a book on the table.

“Can you at least put down the cards while you address me. We are officially the Jurisdictional police force for all domestic security you know, I am your superior.”

“So, you transfer from the FBI to the UN domestic security force and that suddenly makes you some important big man! We were assigned to monitor the phones and record anything we think is pertinent in the logbooks. We did. Look for yourself and let us know what you want to hear and we will pull it up for you.”

“The Un security man walks over to the logbook and flips through the pages, skimming the calls. Stopping at a few entries to read in more detail, he asks some questions and continues on. When he gets to the call to Alana and sees the name Jason he looks up and says, “this call to 555-5555, I want to hear it.”

“Sure thing,” one of the FBI men say as he puts his hand down and goes to the recording devices. In less than a minute he has located the recording and starts to replay it. The conversation is short and he quickly gets to, ‘Her brother Jason, I didn’t know she had a roommate. I was just calling to say hi. I will call back.”

“What the hell, you know this guy is on our most wanted list. Why didn’t you report this immediately?”

The still seated man replies, “who, the guy or the girl. Neither one is on our list. Why would we report it?”

“Let me see this list of names.”

The standing FBI man hands him the list of names wanted by the police and possibly connected to one of the phone taps. The UN man looks at the list and exclaims, Is this it. “Where is Jason Smit, Jack and David Smit, Delmar Singh, Rebecca Strong or Daniel Stein. These are the real enemies of the state and the criminals we need to capture.”

“Never mind you imbeciles”, he says as he takes out his cell phone, he dials a number and as soon as it is answered, says, “We had a call from Canada to 555-5555, at 10:45. Can you tell me where it came from.?” He hangs up and dials another number. "This is Commander Simpson, I need to know why our most wanted list wasn’t included in the wanted list provide to the FBI.@ 

He listens to the other end.

“Fine, I will take care of that, get another list over to the surveillance house on Cedarville in MT. Vernon immediately.” He hangs up and puts his phone away. Our targets are priority, when that list gets here, I want you to go through all the phone records and if any of our targets are participants or are mentioned in a recording, I want a copy today, do you understand? Today.”

Commander Simpson abruptly leaves without another word and walks out of the house to the parking lot. He looks around and seeing nothing out of place, opens the door to his car and gets in. Once inside, he calls a number on his phone. “Did you get a location on that call?”

A voice on the other end of the phone says, “It was a burner phone so we couldn’t pinpoint it but we do know what tower it was received from. He would be close to that. The town is called Sunshine Valley and the call was within 5 kms of there. Signal in the mountains is patchy at best.”





Overlooking Sunshine Valley

2PM and Jason dials the number again.

Ring, ring, “Hello, how may I help you.”

“This is Jason Smit again. I believe you were expecting my call?”

“Yes sir, we were. I will connect you now. One moment please,” as Jason is left on line this time.

“Beta 4 here, can I be of service?”

“I have a call for Private Recruit Smit, he was supposed to be available at 2PM.”

“He is right here with me.”

The Tech Sargent hands the phone to Jack. Your call son, I will be just outside.” With that the

Tech Sargent gets up and leaves, closing the door behind him.

“Hello, Private recruit Smit here.”

“Jack, is that you?”

“It is, I am so glad to hear from you.” Excitedly he blurts out, “we had no idea what happened to you. I have so much to tell you. When are you coming here?”

“Calm down son. I am okay, I want to know how you and your brother and sister are. Did you all make it?”

“We all made it but not without some help. The Washington State National guard intercepted David and I after we crossed into the US, by then the search choppers were looking in the wrong area, David got a boat at the lake and we were at the other end by midnight.”

“National guard, you got arrested?”

“No, they took us to their camp and we met the colonel in charge. They don’t like this global takeover. They swear their allegiance to the United States and they stand by the constitution and the amendments. The Lieutenant said they were expecting us. They even put a watch out for Alicia and saved her when someone tried to kidnap her at the motel.”

“How did they know you were coming?”

“Son of a bitch. I never thought about that. David has been in contact with someone from this secret National Security Service. I bet he somehow let them know we were coming. He is with them right now, planning on some operation to rescue Jessica.”

“So, where is Alicia.”

“She is with Alana and Cheryl. They dyed her hair, gave he a different name and gave her different clothes, you would never recognize her. I almost hit on her until I realized she was my own sister, what an idiot. She drives Alana’s smaller truck for deliveries and stuff.”

“That just leaves you, Private Recruit. In what unit?”

“Washington National Guard. We stayed with the unit for a few days and I decided I could best do my part as part of the resistance. They are now officially outlawed but we are one of many so the regular forces haven’t mounted any offensive against us. Plus, most of the Regs are in agreement with us and many have deserted. Also, there is so many sick people the hospitals are full and the military has had to build field hospitals.”

“Sick, with what?”

“Some kind of flue. We all got it in September but we all pulled through. The National Security doctors have a treatment for it and while it is brutal for at least a week, most healthy people make it. In the regular hospitals and the field hospitals, I hear that about half the people who get it don’t make it. News is keeping a lid on it but I have heard from other units that it is happening everywhere.”

“I talked to Bal, he never mentioned it.”

“I don’t know dad. It has been in the US since last winter and unlike any flue I ever saw, it went right through the summer, I got it in August. The Government doesn’t seem to be too anxious to make it public, as if people don’t know. All our doctors and the nurses who treat the sick have also had it and they say that they are now immune and so are we.”

“We?”

“Alicia and David. We all got it within a week of being at the reserve camp. I was up by the middle of September and joined October 1st. Alicia and David were a little longer but they both got through it. I don’t think Alana has had it or anyone else we know. They have no vaccine either.”

“As he is speaking, Jason sees several SUV’s heading into the town below and soldiers getting out. He cannot see what embalms they are wearing but they begin a house to house search. Road blocks are being erected on both ends of the town.”

“Gotta go Jack, I think they picked up my phone. Let your people know, your phone number may be blown. I will be okay, you know what to do. Proud of you son, give my love to David and Alicia.”

Looking down at the burner phone, “fucking thing was supposed to be untraceable, how the hell did they do it?” He opened the back and took out the chip and the battery, he then puts the phone and the parts into a pocket in his backpack.

“I wonder how long it will be before they start searching up here?” Thinks Jason. He doesn’t know if he should go back into the mountains or watch from here. He does know that they will cordon the area off better this time and they will not give up. He will not be able to out wait them again.

“Shit, I have no choice. He opens the pocket of his backpack and takes out the burner phone and the parts. Putting it back together, he is gong over a route in his mind. Once reassembled, he dials the number Bal gave him again.

Same pleasant voice, “hello, how may I help you.”

“it is Jason Smit again, I need to talk to someone from your organization who can help me escape the UN troupes who are coming for me.”

“I don’t think we are who you think we are but I will let you talk to my supervisor. She may be able to direct you to the police or someone who may help you. If you are calling from Canada the police number is,”

“I don’t need the police, I need you to put me over to your supervisor and tell her who I am.”

Music plays for a few moments. A female voice answers, “Good afternoon, Mr. Smit. You have my receptionist all flustered. I hope you did not tell him too much. An efficient young man and he keeps a good screen up for me. Not often he lets an unofficial call get through to me. So, what is up?”

“I used a burner phone today to find my children and the UN troops have blockaded all exits from town and I know if I go back into the mountains they will find me this time. I cannot stay hidden all winter and they will wait me out. They may be tracing this call.”

“They can’t trace the call if it is an unregistered burner and my end is secure. Who did you call besides this number?”

“I called a friend in Canada on an unregistered phone he has and only a few have the number and I called my sister on her cell and her land line.”

“Did you give your name?”

“My first one. I left a message for my sister.”

“Ok. They got your area but they don’t know exactly where you are. They will use a door to door and fan out from there. You don’t have much time. Do they have a chopper on the scene yet?”

“Not yet. They have road blocks, North and south of the village.”

“Is there a place where we could land a small helicopter 5 to 10 kms away? I have dispatched one already, it will be there in about 40 minutes.”

“There is a gravel pit about 5 kms North West of the village on the east side of the highway. I can circle back on them and get there without being detected.”

“OK, good, we will have a Bell Huey in there 40 minutes from now. Are you armed?”

“I am. I have an AR and a 9 mil Glock.”

“Ok. If they have resistance when our chopper comes in, we are going to need cover fire. I have a map of the pit in front of me. It shows a large truck and building in the southwest. I am going to instruct the pilot to put down as close to the south east corner.

Quickly but thoroughly Jason makes his way along the ridge, attempting to leave no trail. He doubts they will bring dogs in before they finish the house to house. He wonders, “how did they get a warrant to shut down and blockade a whole village? It seems that all our Charter rights have been wiped out. It is certainly time to fight back.”

As he passes far above the road block, he can see the uniformed soldiers talking to and turning motorists back to the village or to Hope, which ever way they came from. Once he gets to the point where he would need to cross the road, he comes down the slope and creeps along the ditch at the side of the road. Luckily there is a large culvert with about 2 feet of water flowing through it. Jason slips into the 5 ft culvert and wades through the frigid water as he passes under the highway.

On the opposite side, he waits until no traffic is passing and scrambles up and into the bush next to the gravel pit. He travels east along the treeline watching for any signs of movement. Taking cover, he squats at the edge of the clearing and waits for his ride.

Ten minutes later a truck pulls in and disgorges several uniformed people. They take up positions. “Shit. 4 bogeys.”

Jason heads west along the treeline and sneaks up on the first man who appears to be unalert as he lounges during his sentry duty, leaning against a tree. He quietly sneaks up on the man and grabs him from behind, one hand over his mouth and one arm across his throat. Once the man goes limp, he pulls him behind the tree and quickly searches him. No radio but he has some zip ties. He quickly secures his wrists behind him. Jason tosses the mans magazines into the bush and ejects the chambered rounds. He puts the weapons on the ground beside him. Three more.

One soldier is leaning beside a tanker truck, one is inside the vehicle they came in and one is inside the house. Surveying the scene, Jason cannot believe how poorly trained these troops are. They have no discipline, no sense of urgency and don’t appear to have any commitment at all. Unkempt hair, unshaven faces and lack of identification or unit insignia indicates lack of leadership.

Jason slips around the back of the house and silently tries the door, locked. Then the window, locked. It is a bedroom window and as he peers in, he can see a man sitting at the table with corporal hooks on his shoulder, a radio on the table in front of him and facing the front door. The other rear window, locked as well. Looks like an office and the door is closed tightly. Hopefully locked. Jason raps the corner of the glass with the but of his Glock, breaking it, he pulls a piece away. Listening at the hole, he hears nothing. He goes to the other window and sneaks a peak. The man hasn’t stirred.

Jason goes back to the now broken window and takes the pieces of broken glass from the window frame. Once enough is out he intently listens again. Still nothing. One more peak in the other window and the man is now fidgeting with a lighter.

Back to the window, he slips in silently. He goes to the door that was not locked. Quietly, he opens the door with his handgun pointed in the direction he knows the man to be in. At about 30 degrees the door squeaks and the man at the table spins on his chair. Jason points the gun directly at him and puts his finger across his lips. Motioning him to the open bedroom door. As the corporal passes, Jason keeps low so the men outside won’t see him through the windows or the open front door.

    They both go in and Jason tells him, “if you want to live, get face down on the ground and don’t make any noise.” Surprisingly, the man does. Jason pulls some zap straps and binds his wrists. He then takes out his knife and cuts a sleeve off the mans uniform. Making a gag, he wraps it around the mans face and ties it at the rear of his head. Once again, he takes the magazines and rounds from the weapons and this time he tosses them out the window. He leaves the weapons on the table.
     Before Jason left he said to the corporal on the floor, "If you were one of my soldiers, i would have trained you to resist and do whatever it takes to alert my fellow soldiers. Were i truly an enemy combatant, you and all your compatriots would be dead."  

Back in the kitchen, he takes the radio, shuts it off and looks out at the person in the truck. He sneaks out while the last sentry is watching the other direction and slides under the truck. Sliding to the front he takes his knife and punches a small hole in the tire. Once it starts hissing he sneaks back to the cover of the rear tires. Once the sentry is looking the other way he sprints back to the trees beside the house. He may have to use lethal force on the last sentry when the chopper comes in because there is no way to get to him or the driver of the truck without the other seeing him. 2 to 1 odds are quite acceptable to him.

Taking the radio with him, he makes his way back to the south east edge of the clearing. About 1000 meters to the lone sentry and the truck. He puts the lone sentry in his sights and instead, decides to shoot to immobilize. He flips on the radio and listens to the conversations. “Houses on the west side all cleared, we ran into some resistance. 2 dead civilians and one injured trooper. I thought all the guns were gone. This guy still had a shotgun and a rifle.”

“Burn the house down and proceed to cover the rear of sector d.”

“Sir?”

“They need to know that resistance is not acceptable, if I have to come back here, I want compliance.”

“Yes sir.”

“Sargent Johnson here. Side streets all clear but several armed individuals made it out before we got there and disappeared into the bush. I am bringing out several non-compliant citizens who resisted our search. These people do not recognize our authority. Advise?”

“Sargent Johnson, did any of the fleeing subjects match our subject description?”

“Most did not but we did not get an adequate visual on them all.”

“Why did you not have men at the back of the buildings when you breached the front. Were you not trained to contain the situation?”

“We are not the enemy, we are on these peoples’ side, we are after a fugitive. I think only criminals or the enemy would escape out the back when we are only looking for one individual. I had one person out back.”

“You need to know that not all Canadians think we are on their side. In the city most do but out here, we are the enemy. Treat them as such. Also, some are armed and will fire on you or your troops. Burn the houses down of all the fleeing citizens.”

“We weren’t told that Canadian citizens were the enemy, I am not firing on my own countrymen and i am not burning down their houses, we are not at war!”
"Are you refusing my orders?"
"Sir, your orders are unlawful. These are not enemy combatants, they are under no obligation to even let us in their houses. Canada is a free country."

The senior UN man on site makes a call on another frequency and tells the man on the other end, “Captain Desjardin, Head to sector C and take Sargent Johnson into custody, leave Sargent Lutz in charge of his unit. I want Johnson stripped of his rank insignia and placed under closed custody until this operation is over.” Jason does not hear this exchange but all of the military police did.

A distant sound of a chopper is heard by Jason at the same time as someone reports a sighting of an inbound civilian helicopter. At first, the exchange is about the group trying to determine if the chopper is a logging unit or personal transportation. “Has it filed a flight plan.”

“No sir, it has not. It also appears to be flying low enough to avoid radar detection which would indicate it is most likely here to retrieve our target. We are only picking it up on visual now. It is about 10 minutes out.”

The UN commander radios, “Are our perimeter defense units in position?”

“They are sir, do you want us to take down the chopper, we can do that without causing it to crash.”

“If it closes within 5 kms of the town, shoot it down.”

"It could be a civilian aircraft, not aware of our situation, sir."

"Shoot it down."

“Yes sir.”

The chopper drops down below the trees at the north end of the clearing. It can now be seen by the two remaining advance sentries who immediately radio in the sighting.

The UN commander radios in to the Lieutenant that had been previously immobilized by Jason. “Corporeal Murphy, report.”

Nothing. “Corporal Murphy, report.”

“Corporal Mathews, get in there and find out why that ass isn’t answering.” The corporal runs to the house and enters, no corporal Murphy. He then tries the door to the right and opens it, nothing. Luckily there was not enemy combatants inside or he was a sitting duck.

He then tries the second door on the left. Locked. “I think he is in the second room but the door is locked.”

“Kick it open, you idiot. Perimeter defense, shoot that fucking chopper down.”

“We cannot get a visual on it sir and our instruments can only get an approximate location because of the interference.”

“I don’t care, shoot it down. Now.”

“Sir, our own men are there, we could hit them without a better location.”

“I don’t care, shoot that fucker down, it cannot get away.”

“Can’t do that sir, those are my company associates there. We are not at war Sir. That is a civilian helicopter that has not displayed hostile intent Sir.”

“Defense unit 2, shoot that chopper down. Lob enough in there to insure its destruction.”

“I stand with defense unit 1 decision. I will not fire on my own people.”

An enraged UN commander screams into the radio. “If that chopper gets away with that fugitive, every one of you will be court-martialled and shot for treason. I want my orders obeyed.”

The Chopper drops into the field as the corporal finishes untying the lieutenant. Having listened to the entire exchange with the UN commander and the forward defense units, the corporal relays it to the senior corporal who makes the decision to not stop the chopper from picking up the fugitive. He had heard rumors about the Agassiz incident and he now believed the RCMP version not the official UN report. He heads out to the truck and tells the female driver to stand down,then heads over to the bush and cuts the zap straps off of a still unconscious private.

The Chopper lifts off and Jason who has been listening to the whole exchange waits until they are in the air before he gets on the radio. “This is Lt Commander Jason Smit, Ret, of the USA Navy Seals. You are being commanded by an illegal occupation force that is not there to help your country, they are there to take it over for their dream of a global commonwealth. Your commander has given illegal orders to kill and destroy civilian contacts, he has ordered you to fire blindly on a civilian aircraft with a strong likelihood of friendly fire casualties and he has threatened court-martial for not following illegal orders.

You have NCOs and officers in charge who have pledged allegiance to the Canadian Government and to the queen, honor your commitment and do not follow these people.”

The conscripted reserve soldiers look at one another, the UN troops interspersed try to maintain control but they are massively outnumbered.

One by one the NCOs radio in.

“Master Corporeal Ashcroft here, standing down,”

“Sargent Lutz here, I have just arrested Captain Desjardin and released Sargent Johnson. We are standing down.”

“Corporal Murphy here, we are standing down.”

The UN commander screams into the radio. “This is mutiny, I will have every one of you shot. Get back on task and follow orders, right now.”

At that moment he turns as two reserve soldiers have placed him in their sights, “You are under arrest Commander.”

The UN Commander looks at the assistant to his side and nods. They both withdraw their sidearms and place them on a nearby table.

“this is treason, you will be shot for this.”

“It is not treason to defend your country against invaders, foreign or domestic.”

The Master corporal gets on his radio. “Commander Schuler in custody. command center, under control of the 3rd Canadian division of the 39th brigade group.”

“This is Sargent Johnson, As the Senior NCO I am taking command of this entire operation. All squads are to bring the UN soldiers to the compound set up in front of the control center. They are to be placed under closed custody.”

The Sargent then speaks to Jason. "Lt. Commander Smit. I would like a word with you. I can promise you a safe landing and safe passage out of here if you would like to come speak with me.”

“Jason leans over to the pilot and gets his approval. “We can do that, I have been listening to your radio chatter. We would like to wait until you have all the UN soldiers accounted for and in custody. Let us know when that happens.”

Jason has the chopper put down beside the truck that is now getting the front tire changed. As he gets out, the soldiers all stand erect and salute. “Hold on, I am a civilian and a Canadian just like you. Stand easy.”

The corporal walks over and says, “at least let me shake your hand. You could have killed us all in this encounter and easily made your escape. We have all heard rumors about this UN thing and the lies that are being told but none of us wanted to believe it. I do now.”

Jason walks over to the now conscious man and asks, “are you okay?”

“Gonna be seeing stars for a while but I am gonna make it. I would really like to know how to do that. Thanks for not killing me like the murderer they said you were.”

Jason looks at the 4 militia soldiers, “we will be at your control center, keep up the surveillance. Do not engage but report anything you see. It will not be long before the higher ups know something is up and send in a force arrest you all.”

“We have two Sikorsky Ch148 cyclones inbound, piloted by reserve air force and crewed by reserve aircrew. Also 1 Chinook 147F helicopter from search and rescue. They must really want you.”

"We need to get those choppers on our side. I gotta get to the command center."



10 minutes later, Jason and Sergeants Johnson and Lutz are conversing. They have convinced the pilots that nothing has happened and the choppers are now just touching down. The reserve unit soldiers casually walk up to the choppers and begin securing them as the aircrews do the same. Once all the choppers are down and secured, the three pilots approach the two sergeants and Jason.

Sargent Lutz, who knows two of the pilots’, salutes sharply and explains the situation to them. He includes the commands to shoot down a civilian helicopter, the two dead civilians, the order to arrest and burn down all the resistors houses and the order to fire on a target when it was more than likely our own troops would be among the casualties. One of the pilots is a Captain and he walks over and addresses the Commander.

“Sir, these are very serious accusations. I do not want to be a party to an illegal action and I want to know. Are these accusations true?” While waiting for a response he looks at the two sergeants and says, “if we want to leave right now, are we free to.”

Without hesitation, both Sargent’s say in unison, “yes you are.”

After considering his situation, the Commander responds, @i will not answer to mutineers. I demand you surrender and contact the United Nations Western command in Vancouver to facilitate my release. This man beside you is a murderer and a subversive. He has misled you and put you all in immediate peril. What do you think happened to the New Westminster unit?”

The pilot knows full well what happened there. The unit refused to switch allegiance to the UN and its leaders were all arrested. His brother was an officer and he has not seen him since he was arrested.

The captain looks over at Jason and the two sergeants. “That was a big mistake, my brother was an officer in that regiment and he has been held without bail for over a month. I’m in and so is my bird. My crew and the other two choppers can make their own decisions.”

The second pilot says, “I'm in." Looking at his crew who all nod, "and it looks like my crew is in.”

The third pilot adds, “I guess that makes it Unanimous, we are all in.”

The pilot of the chopper that was sent in to rescue Jason says. “I have to get back but I will give a full report of what happened here. You need to get an uncompromised communication conduit to the rest of the resistance groups, you are not alone. Most of us use the computer program, snapchat.



In all. Jason now has a resistance unit with 2 attack helicopters, one search and rescue helicopter and 69 enlisted non-commissioned officers, 4 senior NCO’s, 14 aircrew and 3 pilot officers. An easily defended town with the exception of an unmanned airstrike but there is no way the UN would do something that public. It could turn the whole country against them if they bombed 3000 Canadian citizens.

[solo]

Very Nice and Long offering! Thank you!!

[accountant]

Another excellent chapter, my friend.
Thank you for all your hard work.
A.

[forthteller]

Apr 16, 2018 9:47:59 GMT -6 solo said:

Very Nice and Long offering! Thank you!!

It did turn out pretty long, could easily have been 2 chapters. A logical break would have been after he talked to Jack and before he called back to the "office". I was just going to have him get into the chopper after a little chase but crazy brain syndrome took over and he ended up with his own resistance unit.  

[papaof2]

The characters occasionally take over the story and do things their way ;-)

[texican]

FT,

Thanks for the long interesting chapter....

Starting to get hot....

Texican....

[solo]

Apr 16, 2018 13:08:02 GMT -6 forthteller said:

Apr 16, 2018 9:47:59 GMT -6 solo said:

Very Nice and Long offering! Thank you!!

It did turn out pretty long, could easily have been 2 chapters. A logical break would have been after he talked to Jack and before he called back to the "office". I was just going to have him get into the chopper after a little chase but crazy brain syndrome took over and he ended up with his own resistance unit.  

Don't fight it! If you don't, there will be sequels after sequels to get the voices to quiet down.... Wait... Fight it! Fight it! Fight it!  We need lots of sequels!!!!

[bunyip]

I am loving this.
It is as good as any of those 'can't put it down' books I have read over the years.
Trouble is, I should be finishing my own stor(ies) - instead I am reading yours.

Well Done Sir!

[papaof2]

Apr 19, 2018 20:22:46 GMT -6 bunyip said:

I am loving this.
It is as good as any of those 'can't put it down' books I have read over the years.
Trouble is, I should be finishing my own stor(ies) - instead I am reading yours.

Well Done Sir!

That's a definite hazard for any author who posts on these forums ;-)

[forthteller]

Chapter 30


Alana



November 21st, 2022



Alana looks over at Cheryl who holds a 12-gauge shotgun across her lap. “you can put that thing away for now. Keep it Loaded because we may need it to protect ourselves and our cargo while we wait at the truck stop.”

Alana and Cheryl are passing through Sacramento California, on the way to Oakdale to pick up a load of Fruit and Vegetables. Instead of running empty south, they are carrying a load of used vehicles inside their van to drop off on the way. They both know they are safe from Hijackers in the city limits but on the interstate between Eugene and Sacramento there are plenty of open areas where a truck can get hijacked and truckers killed. Shortages now are so severe, gangs are willing to take extreme risks to get whatever a truck is carrying.

The police and the UN Security forces only provide escorts for convoys of 5 or more trucks but today the cargo they are carrying to Oakdale is contraband and they cannot risk joining a government protected, interstate convoy.

As of January 1st 2022, the sale or transfer of used cars is no longer legal. You can only sell a car to the government, who in turn assigns it to permitted individuals or salvages it for parts and raw materials. They pay a fraction of what a car should be worth. The only exception is that trucks can be sold and transferred to a T licensed person. T licenses are issued to individuals who can prove they need a truck to perform work that is paid for in intur credits.

As for cars, they are still allowed to be operated and licenced by currant owners, but parts are no longer manufactured for them and parts that are in existence can only be purchased by government approved repair facilities. Government approved repair facilities pay a large fee to operate and it is very expensive to get a car repaired in one.

The cars and trucks in the trailer are all less than 10 years old and will be used for parts. The cars and trucks still in operation can continue their service for years to come. Those who can fix their own vehicles and had the good foresight to get all their cash out of the banks and investments can still afford to have a car, getting fuel is another problem altogether.

The underground economy is a dangerous but necessary game. US cash was replaced by the intur credit system but there is plenty still in existence. When the exchange rate was announced, most debt immediately diminished by 75 percent, including the government. The exchange rate was laughable but since most Americans were heavily in debt, getting the debt monster off their backs was a welcome change. Many drained their bank accounts and sold their investments for whatever they could to get US cash and now the currency is no longer accepted for any corporate owned goods and services.

By travelling alone, Alana and Cheryl are hoping they look empty or are carrying worthless cargo. So far, this has worked but there is no way they will make it on route 99 to Oakdale.

A California National Guard unit is providing security along 99 in exchange for A percentage of the cargo in US cash or in barter. It seems that the UN is a little tardy in paying its troops. Alana has an H1 hummer in the back she is going to offer as payment.

The convoy is leaving from a truck stop southeast of Sacramento but Alana and Cheryl were unprotected until they were satisfied they weren’t a setup.

On the off ramp to highway 99 Alana moves to the right lane and sweeps over the I5 and heads towards highway 99. Just ahead, a UN checkpoint is stopping selected traffic and waving others on through. Alana pulls into the single lane and hopes she will be let through.

Looking over at Cheryl she says, “hide the gun, we don’t need any questions.” As a retired police officer, Cheryl is at still permitted to carry firearms but Alana is hoping to avoid closer scrutiny knowing that she has unapproved cargo.

“What are we going to do if they decide to search us?”

“It depends what they are looking for. Back doors are sealed by officials in Mt. Vernon so they are not legally allowed to open them. If they become too suspicious, they may try to get approval to break the seals and sometimes they don’t even care and just break them. These idiots have no discipline and their chain of command is strange. It seems like there are 2 separate commands, yet they all wear the same uniforms, badges and designations.”

As the line of traffic slowly gets through, the soldiers seem to be taking vehicles to the side with Washington plates. Cars, trucks and one van. No big rigs have been pulled over. The ladies were hopeful that they were looking for someone and not something. Alana clutches her documents as one of the soldiers walks to the truck. She had already opened the window before he got there.

“Destination?”

“Oakdale.”

“Papers?”

Alana hands out her shipping orders, insurance and ownership documents. The man flips through them. “Pull it over there, mam.”

Alana pulls over to the side as he follows he of foot. He walks back to the truck window.

“I am on a tight schedule. If I don’t make it to the produce distribution centre, I will not get my load until tomorrow morning if at all.”

“It will only be a moment mam. You shouldn’t be travelling alone along this stretch, why aren’t you in a convoy?”

“They have one coming back this way but nothing going to Oakwood until too late today.”

“We had one through 20 minutes ago, why weren’t you with them?”

“I didn’t know about it. It is not on my list.”

“Communication is not always so great these days. I hope things get settled soon.”

“Be right back.”

After a few minutes he returns with an officer who approaches the truck. At this point, Cheryl starts coughing.”

The officer stops and hands Alana’s papers to the junior soldier. With a wave of his hand, he is headed back to the main vehicle.

The Junior soldier comes back to Alana’s truck window. “Here are your papers, you are free to go.”

Alana shifts into gear and eases the truck back into the through lane, as she shifts up, she watches in the rear view to make sure they are actually being released. Once sure, she bursts out laughing. “That was so fucking funny. That chicken shit officer was so afraid you may have the disease, he let us go rather than doing his job.”

By now Cheryl is breaking up laughing and pounding the dash, “did you see his face when he heard me. He was determined, looked like he meant business, one cough and he stops. Second cough and he nearly drops your papers. I bet he is still wiping up with antiseptics. It is so easy when we have to deal with chickenshit assholes.”

Once she collected herself, Cheryl once again becames serious. “By the way, how are you going to reseal the truck when we drop our load and how did you get it sealed anyways.”

I was just going to leave it off and act like someone must have broke in on the way here. Happens all the time if you leave a trailer unattended for even 5 minutes. People break in and try to take whatever they can grab. The hungrier people are the more desperate they get. You get the real criminals, trying to steal to sell and control and then the others who are just trying to survive.

At this point the sign for the truck stop comes into view and so does the smoke. Alana slows the truck and stops on the barren 4 lane road. No traffic, either way, what gives. Cheryl and Alana look at one another. “What do you think, want to check it out before we drive in there.?” Says Alana.

Grabbing a shotgun from the overhead, Cheryl says, “how about I check it out and you stay with the truck. Just need to see what we are driving into.”

“Good idea”, replies Alana as she opens the overhead and takes out her own shotgun and a 9 mil Sig Sauer. I will watch from the roof. With that she opens the door and drops to the road in one leap.

As Alana climbs the ladder at the front of the trailer, Cheryl climbs out and walks up the road until she gets to the crest of the hill. What she sees is incredible. It looks like the UN escort has actually hijacked the trucks they were escorting. Several truckers were all sitting along the roadside under guard by the UN soldiers and the smoke was coming from a car accident that looks staged. As Cheryl watches, several plain clothed people stream out of the back of a troop carrier. They each walk up to a truck and climb in.

One of the UN men gets out of the lead truck and walks to an officer who appears to be in charge of the soldiers guarding the Truckers. After a short conversation officer nods in assent to whatever order he was just given. The senior man leaves and heads back to his truck and as the door closes the officer draws his sidearm and turns towards the men sitting on the ground. He gives an order to the guards who each begin to shoulder their weapons.

Crying, Cheryl quietly steps backwards as the sound of mortar shells being fired sound. A cascade of engine sounds, gunfire, mortar explosions and screaming rises. Cheryl jumps up and runs back to the truck to find Alana standing with two National Guardsman. All three are armed but they are together, not opposing one another. Confused, Cheryl slows to a trot and then a walk and about 20 feet away she lowers he gun and with a “what the f***’” stops.

This is the escort we were meeting at the truck stop. “Their company is putting out the fire down there. I hope the truckers are okay, they are in the crossfire.”

“The UN was going to execute them, un armed, right on the side of the road. What the f***! What the f***, What the f***. They are supposed to be the good guys.”

“Cheryl, calm down, they were sitting down so it quite likely most have survived. The National Guard are very good at what they do and I am sure they are okay. We need to wait here until the operation is over. The UN won’t want any evidence of this so we have to be ready in case they try to come in and mop up. There are lots of houses around here. I wonder how they planned to make sure there were no witnesses.”

One of the National Guardsman, a corporal is listening and as he hears the last statement, immediately thumbs his radio and speaks into his mike. “Staff Sargent Prince, Corporal masters here. The trucker here just made an observation that I think we should check out, Sargent.”

“Go on corporal. I’m listening.”

“they were about to execute the truckers and around the area are several houses and a couple of businesses. Is it possible they would have taken measures to silence any other witnesses.”

“How do you know they were going to execute the truckers?”

“One of the truckers went over to see what the smoke was from while the other watched the truck.”

“Can you put him on the radio, Corporal?”

“He’s a she, they both are Sargent. Here she is.” The corporal hand Cheryl his headset.

“Can you tell me what you saw?”

“A staged accident, UN dressed soldiers guarding 8 men and 1 women. Several men emerged in plain clothes and got in the trucks, an officer exited the lead vehicle and conversed with one of the gourds and left. That guard drew his weapon and the rest readied to fire upon the truckers. I ran back to the truck at that point at the same time as all hell broke loose.”

“You are certain they were going to execute the drivers and were reading to meet the oncoming attack.”

“They were totally unaware of the incoming attack at the time, they were about to kill the drivers in cold blood.”

“Thank you for your information.”

Signing out, Staff Sargent Prince talks to a Sargent beside him. “You heard that. I need you to get your squad and do a house to house. Be prepared, there may be hostiles. I do not want any civilian casualties and I would like you to take any hostiles alive if possible. Do you understand?”

“Yes, Staff Sargent. We will get it done.”

By now the sound of gunfire is mostly out with the exception of isolated gunshots in the distance and one from the area the trucks are. Two helicopters can be heard and as Cheryl tenses, one of the Guardsman says, “Their ours, don’t worry.”

Alana looks at the corporal and says, “can we go down and see if the drivers are okay.”

The corporal says, “we need to wait until the situation is secure. They will radio us when it is.”

“Can we at least find out if they are ok.”

The corporal thumbs his mike, “Lt. Jacobson, sir. The drivers here are hoping for an update on the status of their fellow drivers.”

“We think they are all going to make it but we have a problem identifying the real drivers and the false one. They all look the same and they all claim to be the drivers so we are holding them all until we can confirm identities.”

Hearing this, Alana says, “There is an id card attached to the sun visor of all the trucks. It has a picture of the driver and the name as well as company and insurance company. Also, every driver I know keeps their insurance in the side door pocket for easy access. It also has the name and address of the company that owns the vehicle. The drivers will know.”

“did you get that sir” The corporal says.

“We did, we are getting the cards and insurance papers now. Thank you corporal and thank the drivers for their help.



Later that day, Cheryl and Alana are sitting at a table in the truck stop with a National Guard Captain, the Lieutenant and Staff Sargent Prince.

The Staff Sargent looks at the ladies, “I need to thank you for the heads up on the witness elimination scheme. They had already killed a whole family of four and were just circling a second house to presumably do the same before we got them. They had a second hit team that had not yet come across a house with people in it. It seems that most of the houses and all the business around here are empty. We have no idea where the residents are.”

Cheryl says. “A lot of people are coming north. The virus never hit us as bad. Most think that because it is so rampant in hotter climates and is most contagious during the summer, living in the north and even in Canada is safer. Every vacant place now has squatters in them and most have come from the south. All our factories and manufacturing plants are up and running as we have enough people to do the work. Even with the deaths from the plague.”

Captain Richards breaks in. You ladies handled yourself pretty well out there and I hear you both handled your weapons with confidence. You ex-military?

Alana responds. “I was a vehicle operator in the marines for 12 years. 2 tours, 1 in Afghanistan and 1 in Iraq.”

Cheryl adds. “20 years in the Mount Vernon police force. Retired a couple years ago.”

Alana asks “Are your troops going to escort the trucks to Oakdale?”

“Actually, we were going to escort todays convoy all the way to Bakersfield, picking up trucks and dropping of them off whoever wants to join the convoy. And pausing at points so trucks can pick up supplies or drop them off at communities off the main highways. Now we know we have to watch out for UN hijackers as well.”

Cheryl says. “You don’t know they are UN. Only that they are in UN uniforms. Have you interrogated them?”

Captain Richards says, “we have and so far, nothing of significance. They all believe they are following orders. I have calls in to my seniors and the UN Brass has already denied any connection with what they are calling a rogue UN unit.

Alana asks, “ok, so when is the convoy leaving and how can I help your cause in the way of compensation?”

“What are you carrying that you can spare. We need fuel, ammunition, food and medicine.”

“How about a low mileage civilian H1 hummer?”

With a whistle, the captain says, “for that you could join us on the backhaul and then some. Convoy leaves at 6 AM tomorrow morning.”

[9idrr]

Sounds as though the Captain's ready for a hummer.

[forthteller]

Apr 23, 2018 18:15:50 GMT -6 9idrr said:

Sounds as though the Captain's ready for a hummer.

He would like one but he needs it for parts for the hummers in his unit. Most of the National Guard has either been conscripted by the UN or has gone rogue like this unit and the one Jack is with. They pledge their allegiance to the United States and reject the UN who is insidiously taking over.  These rogue units don't get any pay or support from the Federal or state governments. In is too busy with trying to control the urban chaos to mount any efforts to shut down the reserve units. In addition, American soldiers will not wage war on American soldiers on behalf of the UN. Same thing is happening in Canada, ie: Jason's last chapter and in Australia, great Briton and Germany. future chapters.   

[texican]

Apr 23, 2018 18:15:50 GMT -6 9idrr said:

Sounds as though the Captain's ready for a hummer.

Yep....

[forthteller]

Chapter 31



World Weekly



November 12, 2022



Actual News Headlines posted on the world wide web by the World News Weekly.



USA midterm election



The Democrats are now solidly in control of the US congress with 245 seats to the republicans 150. For the first time ever, a third party has made a dent in US politics, as the libertarian party has rolled up the middle in hotly contested districts and picked up 40 seats in the house.

The libertarian party is led by Stanley Marcos, a second generation Mexican American and retired CIA operative. Since he is relatively new to politics, not much is known about him. The other two parties never paid much attention to him or the libertarian congress candidates as they were not seen to be a threat to the status quo. Party financing comes from crowd funding with no individual or corporation giving any sizable amount. See Shawn coopers blog, where he digs into this new upstart party.

The Republicans will be licking their wounds for a while and need to find a candidate who can take on Connolly in the Presidential election in 2024. Their biggest problem at the moment is financing. The regular staple of donations from major corporations and businesses has all but dried up, as many traditional republican donors have switched allegiances and now fund the Democrats. Could we be seeing the death of the republican party?

The second problem the republicans need to deal with is trying to regain support from the populist vote. Refusing to nominate a sitting president has backfired on them greatly as he not only ran as an independent and split the presidential vote but his support either voted for the Libertarians or didn’t vote at all in the 2022 midterms. The Republicans need to get that populist vote back in the fold and 2 wedge issues could be their opportunity.

The south and the north west are strongly opposed to the United Nations presence in the United States. The Libertarians got most of their seats in these states but the Republicans could regain much of that support if they come out against the UN. The rest of the country is still split on support. If news of recent authoritarian moves by the UN is to get out, expect that support to wane. Democrats are all in on the UN connection so there could be good ground made in the next election.

The second issue is the Virus. While the government does not publish it and actually prevents the Mainstream media from reporting on it, the Ice age virus is out of control and has cost the government trillions in health care and lost productivity. The numbers we have are over 17 million dead, 100 million have contracted the disease and lost up to 2 months work and an additional 40 million contracted a milder strain. What this means is that more than half the population could still get the virus should it make a comeback next spring.

The ice age virus has decimated southern states and had a major impact on the central and northern states. The democrats and the President have no solution and it is hoped the virus will have petered out before the weather warms up and it has a chance to take hold again.



In the Senate races, President Johnathon Conolly spent a great deal of time in the states of some very tight races. Once again, the populist vote abandoned the Republicans and split the right vote. Winning only one seat, the libertarian party still took enough right leaning support that the Republicans lost 7 seats contested by incumbents and one seat not contested by the incumbent.

In class three seats that traditionally voted Republican, the Democrats made a major breakthrough. Taking 8 previously Republican seats while losing only 1. This gives the Democrats a majority in the senate. With two left leaning independents, the republicans don’t have a chance of ever blocking legislation.

In the writers’ view, we can expect an acceleration of the Connolly agenda to replace the American greenback with the new intur credit system and further tightening of the credit market. United Nations peace keeping units will become the norm and we will see leadership in the military supplemented by UN Advisors.





More Political News from Europe you won’t see in mainstream media.



Resistance from European residents to the replacement of the Euro by the UN intur credit has continued to swell. Instead of bringing people together, the move has caused decentralization as several states in Germany are actively advocating for separation. North Rhine Westphalia and Schleswig-Holstein are holding separation votes early in 2023. The federal authorities have said it is against the constitution of the Federal Republic of Germany, signed in May, 1949. Government spokespeople have indicated that the ruling CDU/FDP/coalition will reject the results, even if they are in support of separation.

In France, entire communities are sealed off from any non-professing Muslims while in most of Paris, only Parisian French is allowed to be spoken. Barricades have been erected between the two groups and the police and the UN has been powerless to stop hostilities, as the Muslim side is well armed with modern weapons while the more numerous white French are armed with second world war leftovers and sheer numbers.

Norway, Sweden and Denmark have closed their borders and are now deporting anyone who cannot prove they have been legally in any of the counties for more than 10 years. The Ice Age Virus has not had any impact at all it any of the Nordic countries.

Greece, Italy and Spain are now turning back every refugee vessel. They do fire multiple warning shots but have sunk a number of vessels. All three countries pick up survivors in foreign flagged ships but they deliver the rescued refugees to the closest southern ports and if necessary the will force disembarkation at gunpoint.







On the health front

The Ice age virus has continued to ravage hotter zones while it has stopped its march through the more temperate areas of the northern hemisphere. Southern hemisphere countries where isolated cases had been previously reported are now on full alert as the virus has begun to run unchecked. Australia has a relatively low fatality rate of under 20 percent but much of Africa, already pillaged by Ebola has a staggering fatality rate of up to 50 percent.

In eastern Africa and the central interior, a majority of the people left have already had the flue virus and survived, leaving them immune to the virus. With the UN and most other security forces unwilling to send in peacekeepers, the entire region has disintegrated into tribes and clans and civil war is bubbling over in numerous places.

The entire South American continent has seen few cases of the virus and all of those cases were people who were from other parts of the world. The WHO has scientists and virologist scrambling to try to find out why. Many speculate it is the raw coca plants throughout the continent and while the WHO don’t believe it is processed drugs that is the cause, millions have begun using cocaine and its derivatives as an attempt to vaccinate themselves. Word has now spread throughout the USA, Europe and Asia. Gangs and organized crime syndicates have rapidly capitalized on the increased demand for the product.

Interestingly, Americans of South American descent also have a markedly lower infection rate and those who do contract the virus recover faster and more frequently then every other ethnic group. The anomaly only presents in 1st generation Americans, those born in North America have the same infection rates as every other race.

North Korea is set to force reunification with South Korea. It is ready to use its never abandoned Nuclear arsenal to force its case. It is more likely the south will surrender and seek aid from its northern neighbor as it staggers with almost half its population decimated by the virus. Of greater concern is the dysentery and illness due to the number of unburied dead and the massive hit to production due to deaths and illness.

China, finally getting a reprieve from the virus as the winter weather slows the virus incubation rate, is now embroiled in a major dispute with North Korea over a long-forgotten border issue. North Korea has had almost no cases of the Ice age flue and is expected to push a destabilized china to the brink. With the UN so stretched with peacekeeping in the west the Security Council does not have the resources or the influence they need to intervene in hostilities. Many believe a nuclear war is a certainty.

In the United States, the Virus has stopped its spread in most northern and central states, with only the southern states still seeing more cases. Rumors have it that a treatment has been found and select groups are experiencing better than 99 percent recovery rates in less than 3 weeks from the onset of symptoms. It is expected that these people will now be immune to a resurgence of this strain and other variants of the same strain. What is not clear is why can’t the immunologists develop a vaccine using samples of the new immune people. I seem as if the World Health Organization is not even interested in preventing or curing the virus.