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Chapter 11

The Net Tightens

Council Command Center

Washington DC

May 28

Admiral Sandini, a staunch muscular man, six feet and two inches in height, considered one of the nation’s finest admirals, commander, First Central Atlantic Revolutionary Fleet (CFCARF), entered the room with two aides following closely behind him. “Good morning, gentlemen. Good to see you. Have we had any news yet on our missing infiltrators?”

“No, sir,” an aide replied across the room. “We have lost contact with them. Duncan reports they are close to the desert base but is not sure just where they are at this point in time, sir.”

The admiral replied, “Before I can move naval units into position, I must know if we have been compromised in any way. All naval deployments must appear normal. The movement of a carrier group must be done at the right time to avert suspicion and give us the edge we need. It’s taken us a year to move all of our people into that group to ensure we have absolute control.”

A senior council member looked up and spoke, “We know, Admiral. We’ve all had to work miracles this last year to help restore the country. Since the last election, we’ve had no choice but to plan on the restoration, not since Hitler has such a liberal socialistic government been elected to power anywhere in the world. I’ve almost come to believe the administration and Congress will start regulating how we dress next, and they have already dictated our daily menus. It’s like working for a brick wall. No matter what you do, that lopsided House and Senate pass laws revoking our rights. Yes, gentlemen, we must make sure at all costs. There must never be a compromise, now or ever.”

A senior member of the House spoke up, “Yes, I truly believe that old Frank and Harry would roll over in their graves if they knew what happened to the party.”

Another member retorted. “I’ll bet ole Ronnie’s there with them, all shaking their heads in disbelief, especially after the merger with Canada and Mexico.”

His remark was followed by laughter, and one member remarked, “Yes, and I’ll bet there’s a jar of jelly beans sitting on the table.”

The door to the council opened. A young woman, Lieutenant Sanders, Naval Intelligence, entered and spoke, “Gentlemen, I just received a message from October One. The New Mexico base is fully operational with the detainee’s quarters ready and waiting for their guests.”

Senator Forthright cleared his throat and said, “Gentlemen, we are very close to saving the union. As they saved it once before through a great civil war, so can it be saved again? We must keep in mind that we are involved on a highway of civil war. As the South saw fit to break away from the union, we are trying to unite the union and return us to a God-fearing republic that has a government of the people, by the people, and for all the people—a government ruling the people. When we make laws making it a felony to have school prayer and one that legalizes the killing of unborn babies, we lose and our losses are our inability to control our freedom and to decide for ourselves as a representative republic what we want, not what the government dictates. Keep in mind, there should be no question as to where our destiny lies, and we therefore should not have to rely on the government to make all of our decisions for us. It is time to move the country forward as our Founding Fathers envisioned. ‘To victory with freedom for all,’ so to speak. Gentlemen, the time to tell the people is now. If all goes well in California, Operation Freedom Earned will begin to forge ahead. The call to arms has been made, and all are waiting to move forward.”

The senator looked at the admiral and said, “Admiral, do we have those squadrons of F-18 available? And can we rely on all the men?”

“Yes, sir. All of our men and women are ready. All are operational. Reserve and National Guard organizations are waiting for the word to move. All active-duty units were moved into launch position. We now have two carrier groups and two submarine squadrons ready to move on their initial targets. One carrier group is on station, and other submarines are on stationed in both the Atlantic and Pacific areas. Only a few of us have the full details to maintain complete secrecy. All units are tuned in to our new crypto codes and will operate only using them when we activate the coup. We are relatively safe on exposure at this time. In fact, we believe it is completely safe.”

Looking over the assembled group, the senator spotted Tony Calbreath, head of the Arrest and Confinement group. “Tony, are you ready?”

“Yes, sir. As you heard, the base in New Mexico is ready and waiting. I have a fleet of cars ready for the initial retrievals here in Washington, with special groups ready to pick up those members that are out of the Washington area. We have three senators that are out of the country, and we have handpicked military groups there to retrieve and fly them to New Mexico. The infiltration is complete now.”

“Thank you, Tony. Next item, I want those two loose gongs in California apprehended and questioned. At this point, we can’t take chances. I want to know immediately when you have them in custody.”

*****

Tork was between fantasy and reality, half asleep and half awake, struggling with the hard ground and fatigue, dozing and waking, looking at his watch only a few minutes from the last time he looked. He knew it was going to be a long hard day.

“Hey, Tork!” Cal was nudging him in the ribs. Dawn was just coming up over the mountain, and light was beginning to illuminate the valley floor.

Tork cried out to Cal in a low voice, “I thought I caught some movement at three o’clock.” They earlier decided to use the clock to determine their position if they saw anything. The twelve would be north, the three would be east, the six would be south, and the nine would be west. Cal faced twelve o’clock and Tork faced six o’clock.

“It’s moving to the right, about three o’clock. Should be moving around us. You might be able to see them in a few minutes. It was about 150 meters out. I couldn’t make it out, but it looked like a small land vehicle,” Cal continued.

Tork concentrated on his right side, straining his ears and eyes, hoping to see whatever it was. He picked up his night glasses and looked.

He saw nothing. He started to think Cal was seeing things and was about to say so when he saw them. There were three vehicles moving slowly, moving about fifty feet and stopping for a second or two, and then going on. He couldn’t quite see what was going on. Then he realized the vehicles were not behind one another; they were about a hundred feet apart, running parallel together. The question in his mind was, What are they doing?

The vehicles continued to move across his line of vision toward their right side, slowing, stopping, and moving ahead. Tork was uneasy. Something about those vehicles troubled him. As they moved away, the sun came up over the mountain.

Tork was scanning the distant landscape and mountains for anything unusual, and he was coming up empty-handed. Cal had his binoculars trained on a distant object. It was blurred, but familiar, just a little too far to identify.

“Boy, what I wouldn’t do for a satellite picture of that little sucker out there.”

“What was that?” Tork asked, lost in thought.

“Tork, I have movement at three o’clock but just can’t make it out.” Cal blinked to clear his vision. “It is gone now. Looked like a large cylinder had come up out of the ground and then went down again. The heat waves are distorting everything, making it hard to focus.”

Tork was having the same problems. The heat waves were so bad it was almost impossible to focus on any one object too long before you started getting dizzy from the dancing heat. “We’re going to be out of water by tonight, Cal. We’ll need to go down to the Jeep and fill our water jugs. It’ll be a good time then to look at the object you saw. Did you get a fix on it?”

“Sorry, Tork. I lost it before I could get a distance. Just know the direction.”

“Keep looking for it and get a compass reading if you can. Finding it will be easier.”

“Okay, Tork,” replied Cal. With his glasses on a short tripod, Cal aligned them to the last area he thought he saw the object. He then set his compass in line with it so he could get a true reading when they spotted it. “God, it’s hot,” he cried.

Tork rolled over on his back and wiped the sweat from his eyebrows. “Yeah, it’s hot, Cal. If we can’t come up with anything today, we’ll go looking for those vehicles we’ve seen. I’m a little curious about what they were up to.”

*****

Colonel Duncan entered the equipment garage looking for the security team they had sent out early in the morning. As he started crossing over to the office, a tall man in desert dress hailed him. “Colonel, just a moment please.”

The colonel stopped and turned. He was in luck as the man shut the door on a Humvee and walked over to him. “Colonel, we set up ground bugs every meter in three rows so they all intersect each other, about a meter apart. Believe me, sir, there is no chance in hell they can slip by us from the old road all the way to the strip and the access doors and entrances. We’ve run a zigzag. If they manage to get by one of them, they’ll walk right into the other one in front.”

Colonel Duncan looked at the security officer. “What happens when you pick them up?”

“Well, Colonel, we’ll be able to pinpoint their direction of travel, and the computer will predict their possible destination, and we’ll be there when they arrive.”

The colonel looked pleased. “I want to know the minute you get a reading. No matter where or what I’m doing, you call me. Understand?”

“Yes, sir,” he replied.

*****

Night had fallen and the cool night air from the desert was starting to chill Tork’s bones. “Cal, it looks like we’re in luck. Little light from the big cheese tonight.”

“Yeah, I’ve had to use my night glasses to see anything at all,” replied Cal.

Earlier Cal had been scanning for the cylinder he had seen during the day, and his vigilance had paid off. It was almost dark when it came out of the ground again, and this time the earth had cooled enough for him to see through the heat waves and pinpoint the target. It was about two hundred meters out and had stayed up more than two minutes, just enough time for a bearing check and distance.

Tork crawled out from under the enclosure and stood up, stretching out the kinks and looking around the area at the same time. “Come on, Cal. Let’s move out. Maybe we can spot that cylinder of yours and find out what those vehicles were up to.”

Cal secured his gear, grabbed the night glasses, and stood up. He too stretched out the kinks from the long day and got his bearing from his compass. Turning toward the direction of the cylinder, he said, “Tork, I figured it to be about three to four hundred yards, just to the right of my position. We should be able to walk right up to its location. It should be easy to find, whatever it is. I think it’s sitting down in the ground and raised hydraulically. We should find a good part of it sticking up just out of the ground when we find it.”

Tork grunted in approval and started toward the last area they had seen the vehicles earlier in the day. Now maybe they could find out just what they were up to and what all that stop and starting was about. “Come on, Cal. Let’s check the trucks we saw first, and then we can see what that cylinder is.”

The two of them spread out about fifty feet apart and started walking toward the area they had seen the trucks. Carefully, and with their night glasses on, they scanned ahead hoping they would not run into a trip wire or another sensor out there waiting for them. Tork found the first set of tire tracks and motioned Cal over to them. They walked slowly along the tracks and could see where the vehicles had stopped and they started again. It appeared no one had dismounted from the vehicles; they just seemed to stop and then start again.

They had gone about hundred yards and Tork spoke, “Cal, I’m going to move over to the next set of tracks. We’ve only seen this set and they’ve been made by only one vehicle. We saw three out here this morning. I’m guessing they were abreast and not in line. Just seemed to look that way to us. Give me a few minutes to find them, and then we can follow them together.”

Cal had walked another hundred yards seeing nothing unusual when he spotted a canister just to his left, sticking up out of the ground. It looked like a can at first, and then he noticed what looked like an antenna sticking out of the top of it. He stopped and adjusted the focus on his night glasses. It was not a can. He walked up to it and could see it was some kind of a device he hadn’t seen before. He turned and made sure his flashlight had its red cover over the lens, and then he flashed it toward Tork.

Tork had been scanning around him and had been unable to see anything unusual when he saw Cal’s red light flashing on and off. He stopped and then crossed over to Cal. “What’s up, Cal? Find something?”

“Yeah, look down here by my feet. What do you make of it, Tork?”

“Damn,” Tork almost shouted out the word. It’s a radio-controlled prox sensor, probably infrared and sound-detecting. “So that’s what they were doing. They were planting sensors around the perimeter. We better get out of here fast. No doubt they know we’re here, and right now they know where we are. Let’s move toward your cylinder area. It’s away from these sensors and we can lose them in that direction.”

Tork and Cal turned toward the location of the cylinder Cal had seen and started walking keeping low and in the shadows of the night.

The night had cooled considerably, and they both were starting to feel the desert night chill. The sky was clear and the heavens were filled with stars. Cal looking up and could see the enormity of the heavens and couldn’t help commenting on its beauty to Tork.

Tork looked up and saw the majesty of them all. “Cal, you really surprise me from time to time. In the most desperate times of your life, you always seem to find the good. Here we are in the middle of the desert looking for God knows what and you take the time to look over the sky, when you should be looking over this cold empty desert.”

“Yeah, I know, Tork. Just can’t help but see great things when they are staring me in the face. You know, Tork, it’s cold and were tired and we don’t seem to be getting what we want, but I can still smile and smell the fresh air out here. And with all my troubles, I have you as a friend. Thanks, Tork.”

“Yeah, well I…kind of like you too, Cal. Now let’s find these renegades and fix this problem. We’re running out of time and we don’t know who is after you, do we?”

*****

Security had picked them up almost as soon as the coming out of the ground, as they started walking toward the sensor line. Radar operations had brought up a ground sweep radar unit to track them, and they were now being followed electronically. Every step was monitored, and the information was being fed into the computer. There, every move was anticipated. Tork and Cal were being careful, moving slowly, deliberately. You could see the blip on the screen stop, pause, and then move again.

Yes, they had two very cautious bleeps on the radar screen.

The officer looked over to the sergeant and in a low, polite, unrestrained voice filled with confidence said, “Call Colonel Duncan. Tell him they’re on their way and ask him if he would like to be at the observation cylinder when we apprehend them.”

“Yes, sir,” he replied.

The colonel was just getting ready to call Washington when the phone rang. “Yes.… Very good. I’ll be right there. Don’t do anything until I arrive. Understand?”

The sergeant returned to the operations room and informed the officer in charge the colonel was on his way and to do nothing until his arrival. The officer nodded and watched the progress of the two bleeps on the screen as they moved across ground toward the observation post.

The colonel arrived and said, “Raise the observation post up just out of the ground, just enough for them to stumble over it or see it so they can look it over. Have the external mic on and two men armed in the post. As soon as they look it over, raise it up and have the men apprehend them and bring them to me. I’ll be in my office. Then find their transportation and equipment and impound it.”

“Yes, sir,” he said.

They watched and charted Tork and Cal’s movements, observing each step they took. They were within feet of the cylinder, and the solider watching the RadarScope raised his arm, hand closed, and his first finger pointing up. Suddenly he dropped his hand and exclaimed in a load voiced, “Now!” A hand activated a switch button, and hydraulics started to hum. The cylinder with occupants moved up to catch the prey.

*****

Tork and Cal moved very carefully across the sand in the direction of the cylinder. Tork had been searching ahead, looking for more sensors, finding none. He felt they were safe, hoping the observers had seen nothing more than rabbits moving around their sensors.

Cal spoke, “We should be getting close, Tork. And if my calculations are correct, we should see something soon.”

Just as Cal had finished speaking, Tork suddenly fell forward. “What the hell was that?” Tork had tripped over something he failed to see in his night glasses. He stood on top of a large rock when it suddenly started to rise out of the ground, knocking him down again. This time, he rolled over and out of the way as a large cylinder rose up out of the ground.

As he looked up, startled, Cal caught a glimpse of a door sliding in on the side of the cylinder, and before he could say anything at all, someone switched on floodlights illuminating them. Two uniformed men stood there with M-16s aimed at them.

“Gentlemen, welcome. We have been expecting you. Please raise your hands and don’t try anything heroic. We only want to ask you a few questions.”

They handcuffed, searched, and took Cal and Tork into the cylinder.

Tork looked over at Cal and knew at this point it would be smart to play along with them. Maybe now they could get a few answers. In any case, it seemed they were getting in deeper and deeper.

Cal and Tork entered the cylinder. It was much larger than Cal had suspected; it could hold a dozen men easily. It had a small ladder going up about eight feet to a second deck above them. It looked like some kind of observation deck. Cal could hear the valves open and the pulse of the hydraulics as the cylinder began to silently move down into the earth. Well, he thought, wherever they were going, it was a plus, for that was the reason they were here. To find out just what this was all about and why they chased him all the way to the bay area.

The observation unit dropped into the earth, and the door opened. The two men ordered both Cal and Tork out. As they walked through the doorway, a stern man with purpose and obvious authority met them.

Colonel Duncan casually invited both men to follow him and then led them into an interrogation room. He had their handcuffs removed and instructed them to sit.

“What the hell is going on and why have we been taken prisoner?” Tork demanded.

Colonel Duncan spoke, “Why, gentlemen, you’re not prisoners. Your guests, and while we’re at it, perhaps you can tell us why you are on a military reservation without permission. As far as what the hell is going on, perhaps you can tell me.”

Tork realized they were in the hands of expert military personnel and knew they had intruded into something very big.

Colonel Duncan smiled at Tork and commented, “Interesting, Mr. Albertson, that you have such an abundance of cigarette lighters hidden on you! Are you an advent smoker or did you have something else in mind? Perhaps like sabotage?

*****

Council Command Headquarters

“Gentlemen, I have good news. We have the two men in custody and are ready for action. The time draws close for our freedom. In the next few hours, everything will be ready, and we can start to return the country back to its citizens and get rid of the liberal left. If we want to remain a viable part of the world, then we must act. It’s obvious that congress will do nothing more than the president and his cohorts allow them to do. All bases have reported they are ready. All combat commanders have signaled ready to go. All receiving bases have the heat on and accommodations ready for their guests.

“The time is here, gentlemen. Countdown has started. We have been assured through negotiations with big business that they will return to these shores if and when reality is here. They have given us a list of all laws that have financially forced them out of the country to manufacture their products in foreign lands. If we are successful, they will reopen their factories here and put America back to work. To do this, it will be necessary for the people to realize the need for the new laws and to see the necessity for change.

“We have organized a cohesive group who will be responsible for ensuring this information is properly given to the people. We have infiltrated the major media groups, which can be used for this purpose. Are there any outstanding problems in any area that we will need to correct before implementation? If there are, let’s have them now so we can get the field teams going and resolve them. We don’t want any delays or miscalculations at this point. Our teams are waiting.”

No one spoke. Everyone seemed ready.

“Okay then let’s meet back here at 0300 hours. By then Colonel Duncan should have his problem completed, and we should be ready for our second deployment prior to zero hour.”

With those words, the group silently returned to their duties and on each of their minds, Treason.