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Chapter 3

Concern

Washington DC

Tuesday, May 28

A very influential member of Congress was on the phone with a highly placed member of the revolutionary council, busily trying to mend a breach in a high-level security activity that could save America.

“I spoke with Colonel Duncan yesterday, and he assures me he will have the intruder in custody by tonight. He has two intelligence officers working on it right now, and I do not think we have anything to worry about.”

Senator Forthright put down the phone and turned to his aide. “Michael, call Emory and have him get my plane ready. We’ll be flying to California tonight. I have to make sure nothing goes wrong. Too many errors are showing up to suit me.”

Michael Poncie nodded his head, went into his office, and dialed a private number.

The phone rang several times before a gruff voice answered, “Yeah?”

“Is Emory there?”

“Yeah, just a minute,” he replied.

“Hello, Emory Watson. May I help you?”

“Emory, Michael here. How soon can you have the Falcon ready to fly with long-range tanks? We have a long trip ahead of us.”

“It’s all ready to go, Mike. Give me an hour for in-flight preparations and we can take off.”

Emory didn’t particularly like Michael, so he took advantage of calling him Mike whenever he could. He knew Michael detested it, and it made Emory feel good when he could put one over on the pompous bureaucrat.

Michael had told him before that his name was Michael, not Mike, or Mickey, or Mick. It was Michael and he would not stand for anything less.

Well, then, thought Emory, Mike it will be. Yes, sir, Mike it is.

Emory pulled back on the Falcon’s throttles and the four jet engines started to whine as the turbine’s RPM increased. The plane began to move down the runway as the plane’s airspeed picked up rapidly. The wings began to move up as air under and above the wings started to lift it into the heavens. Just as Emory felt her rise up, he reached over and pushed the switch to raise the landing gear.

You could hear the hydraulics whining as the wheels came up, the wheel well doors closed, and the closed door light came on. The plane increased its altitude to its assigned airspace and headed west. Destination? Somewhere in Southern California.

*****

The senator reached over and pushed the intercom button.

Emory responded immediately, “Yes, Senator.”

“Patch me through to Duncan.”

A few minutes later, the intercom next to the senator buzzed. “Yes,” the senator answered. Duncan was on the line. “Have you taken care of that problem yet, Colonel?”

“No, sir. My two operatives are still on it. Seems Mr. Calvin Varner has disappeared. They are checking the area now and hope to have a lead soon. We have found his girlfriend and have her under surveillance as we speak.”

“Colonel, I don’t have to tell you the serious consequences we may encounter if this fails. I’m airborne and will give you our ETA in about an hour from now. Mark the time and have the scrambler on. Our destination is the strip. Be there when we arrive!”

“Yes, sir. How many are in your party?”

“There’ll be myself, Emory, and Michael.” Then as an afterthought, the senator said, “Out,” to end the conversation.

The colonel reached over and pushed his intercom button. “Get me Stewart and Maps on the scrambler and make it pronto.”

Within a few minutes, Stew answered, “Colonel, Stewart here.”

The colonel asked, “Were you able to locate the targets?”

Stew answered, “Yes, sir. We were able to find out they had left early this afternoon.… No, sir. At this time, we have no idea where they were headed.… Yes, sir. From what we found out, it’s a man by the name of Marion ‘Tork’ Albertson. We ran a make on him. He was a Special Forces officer during the Iraqi War. He is a fully qualified gunship pilot, who they decorated during four special assignments behind enemy lines. We have ordered his records from the records archives and should have them soon, sir.

“We believe they are moving south to investigate what happened to Mr. Varner at the strip. So we might be seeing them early in the morning if they are headed that direction. You should have security on alert and put out some perimeter personnel sensors around both the compound and the detention center. That’s the area they saw Varner in when we started following him. Also, sir, we have completed our investigation in Frisco and are en route home now. We just fueled in Modesto and should reach home plate as planned. Colonel, next time, we go by air. We wasted a lot of time on this trip, sir.”

“Roger. Keep me informed of any unusual incidents that may occur on your return. By the way, what was Mr. Albertson’s military rank when he was released from active duty?”

“He mustered out as a captain, sir.”

The colonel called out to the orderly. “Check with communications and see if we have Stewart and Maps on satellite tracking.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Also let me know when you get the ETA on the Falcon.”

“Yes, sir.”

The colonel rose from his chair, stretched, yawned, and looked at the surveillance monitor and then to the distant mountains. For a short time, he watched the waves of heat rising off the desert floor. In deep thought, his mind started to wander as he looked out. The soaring temperatures had shot up to 120 degrees. The night would be just as cold.

Soon some of the country’s born and bred marauders and wheeler-dealers will feel the heat of labor. They will then appreciate what the American people have been going through. Thoughts of the past and the foreseen future came to mind.

The doors will soon be closed and America can start rebuilding her economy, giving back the people their jobs, their factories, and their dignity. Made in America will mean in America and not when they assemble it here and make it elsewhere. Yes, the colonel thought, now is the time. Yes, now is most definitely the time.

Colonel Duncan called the main control center in the compound and gave the man on duty an order. “Get me security immediately. Have him come directly to my office?”

“Yes, sir.”

Within minutes, the chief of Security entered the colonel’s office.

“Yes, sir?”

“I want proximity sensors set up around the compound and the detention center. We may have guests coming, and we wouldn’t want them to get lost, would we? Also make sure the VIP quarters are ready for guests. The senator and his party will be here soon, expecting three in all. Oh yes, we have two guests that will be coming by way of our sensors. Make them comfortable in the detention center until we can interrogate them.”

“Yes, sir. We have surveillance systems in operation now, ground sweep radar and sensors at a hundred yards.”

“That’s fine. However, we are dealing with a Special Forces intruder. I would feel better if you had another sensor line out at least another a hundred yards.… Okay, thanks.”

The security officer picked up the phone, barked a few orders into it, and reassured the colonel the sensors would be in put in place.