New America 02 - Resistance (6 page)

Lance knew he had to get a grip – and fast!

“That’s much better, Mr. McGee.  I really do wish we could have one of our pleasant talks, but I guess we’ll have to settle for a boring, one-sided conversation.  Kind of funny, don’t you think?  For decades every man, woman, and child walked around talking on a phone, fiddling their little fingers around on a mobile gadget doing all manner of silly things.  It wasn’t long ago that you would be positively out of place if you didn’t have some sort of do-hickey in your hand.  Oh, how the tables have turned!  If you pulled that phone out of your pocket right this second, I bet people around you would start screaming and running from you like you were an alien with a ray gun.  Anyway, I’ve gotten quite far from the topic at hand, haven’t I?  You’re still with me aren’t you, Mr. McGee?  Give me a little cough so we can get this party started.”

Lance cleared his throat angrily

“Excellent!  That little phone i
n your pocket is telling me you’re about twenty yards from the front gate. I just wanted to chat with you in case you were having some crazy thoughts about backing out on me and doing something foolish like trying to get help.  It occurred to me a few minutes ago that you might think I won’t keep my end of the bargain, that no matter what you do your family will die either way, so why cooperate?  That sound about right?  Go on now; give us another one of your angry coughs.”

Lance’s face was awash in tears
as he obeyed.

“Fantastic!  I have your lovely wife here ready to talk to you one last time.  Don
’t you worry now; she knows you won’t actually be doing any talking.  You be extra careful not to get caught up in the moment and draw attention to yourself.  Are we clear?”

This time Lance could only manage a sob, his signal of recognition tangled in his throat.

“Okay now, here she is.  And Lance?  Remember, your family’s lives are riding on your performance.”

Lance closed his eyes and concentrated as hard as he co
uld to control himself. 

A
few seconds later, his wife’s sweet voice filled his ear.  Lance was so proud that Sheila sounded completely calm.

“Lance, my darl
ing, me and the kids are okay.  They actually brought us back home! I’m sitting in the living room, and the kids are in their beds.  You just have to do what they want and they’ll leave.  I really, really think they’re gonna go.  Please darling, be brave for me and think of the children.  We’ll be safe, I promise.  I love you so...”

“Mr. McGee, wasn’
t that just lovely?  Your wife is an exceptional woman indeed.  Now then, I trust you have the proper motivation to proceed?  No need to respond, Mr. McGee. I know you and I are on the same page.  Oh my! Looking at my little screen here I see that you’re almost at the front gate!  How positively exciting!  I’m going to stay on the line all the way to the end to ensure that we won’t need to pursue certain ...
liberties
with your dear wife.  And one last thing, Mr. McGee. I really do hate to even bring this up, such nasty business, but my two associates are
very
fond of your lovely daughter.  You must be so proud that she made varsity cheerleader before the country just went to pot.  She has been entertaining us with some very enthusiastic cheer routines.  She wasn’t really into it at first, I’m afraid to say, but after I asked her if she’d rather my associates, uh... occupy their time with her little brother, she just beamed a big smile with every cheer!  A real treat indeed!  Anyway, you just make sure you hold up your end of the deal, and you have my solemn word that my associates will focus their attention elsewhere.  Mr. McGee, it has been a real pleasure working with you. I thank you kindly for your time.  Good luck to you, sir.  I know you’ll do what needs to be done.”

Lance felt a strange sense of
relief wash over him.  The hell he had endured for the previous four days was finally ending.  In a few short minutes, he would leave this world for a much better one.  He would be reunited with his father and his younger brother. 

Just past the front gate was a large gymnasium that had been repurposed as an orientation center.  Lance watched as a Middle Eastern family was taken at gunpoint from the front of the line to a holding area.  He looked into the holding pen and saw naked men and women shivering in the cold while their clothes and belongings were searched.  Dignity had been replaced by stark racism
, and Lance couldn’t help but feel a sick sense of irony at his current predicament.  He stepped into the doorway and turned around.  Lifting his arms, Lance squeezed both fists, launching two projectiles from the tube rockets strapped to his forearms.   Not concerned with their trajectories, Lance pushed his way to the center of the gymnasium and ripped open his coat, detonating the forty pound vest that hugged his torso. 

T
he two guided projectiles found their targets.  The first missile burst through a window on the top floor of the headquarters building and detonated, killing Brigadier General Matthew Jacobs, commanding general of Fort McClellan, along with most of his senior staff.  The second rocket smashed into the front lobby of the base hospital, bringing the second floor crashing down into the first, killing hundreds of innocent patients.

When Lance’s vest detonated, a high powered explosive many times more
potent than C-4, vaporized his body along with every living thing inside the gymnasium.  The structure that had once promised frightened, weary refugees the possibility of a new life came crashing down.  Since most of the deceased had not yet been processed into the system, no one would ever know that three hundred nineteen innocent people had just been murdered.

The polite man on the other end of the phone told his two associates that he was going out
to the car for a quick smoke.  He walked to the end of the driveway and opened the driver’s-side door.  With great anticipation, he lit his cigarette, took a long, satisfying drag and slowly exhaled.  Once the nicotine rush hit him, he reached into his coat pocket and produced a small device.  Carefully typing in the requisite five digits, the man hit the enter key and watched, smiling, as the McGee residence erupted in an explosion that rocked the neighborhood.  Car alarms wailed, dogs barked.  The polite man always tied up loose ends, and he certainly wasn’t looking to take the blame when The Silent Warriors would be more than happy to take credit for his actions.

CHAPTER FIVE

“Are you sure it’s time to make such a bold move, Richard?”  Howard Beck knew the day was coming, but he never envisioned it would be so soon.

“We have a lot of preparation to deal with before we’re ready to move forward, but it’s time to set things in motion.  What do you think, Max?”

“I’m nice and comfy with things the way they are, but we have to move at some point and it might as well be now.  My only concern is maintaining the resources we have to secure our own borders.”

“You don’t think Hal can manage it?” asked Howard.

“I have no doubt that Hal can keep the drones busy, but can he repel thousands of troops if they move on our borders?  Even worse, what if Sterling decides to wipe us off the map with nukes?  What does Stacy think?”

Howard was quick to answer.  “Our top spy tells us that Sterling wants the nation intact.  He’s confident that once he fully restores power to The Pulse Zone and squashes The Silent Warriors, he’ll have
little trouble conquering our quaint little nation, as he calls it.”

“All the more reason for us to strike a serious blow to that smug asshole while he’s weak,” said Richard.

Howard agreed.

“How in the hell does he think he’s going to stop The Silent Warriors?  Terrorists don’t exactly walk around in uni
form and engage the enemy in direct combat,” said Max.

“Stacy isn’t sure
exactly what his plan is, but she did say he seems quite confident that he can pull it off,” said Howard.

“Hal, how many attacks have occurred outside The Pulse Zone?”  Richard
knew his plan would prove difficult if they had to reallocate manpower to deal with terrorist attacks.

“Only minor incidents, sir.  From the intelligence I have gathered, The Silent Warrio
rs have attacked two hospitals—one in Nevada and the other in California.  Both attacks were quickly repelled with only minor damage.  Several fires spread across California have managed to destroy seven residential areas; however, the possibility remains that The Silent Warriors were not responsible for four of the fires.”

“Let’s hope it stays that way,” said Howard.

“Or they’re kind enough to stay out of the PSA,” Richard said.

Max tapped Richard’s chair with his cane.  “Okay
, Richard, the suspense is killing me.  How the hell are we going to invade California with the UAE wiping out anything that crosses into the no-man’s land around our borders?”

“Hal and I have been monitoring every engagement in the no-man’s land since the UAE instituted the hundred mile zone around the length of our borders.  The UAE only makes a move if any of their civilians try to cross over into our territory.”

Howard shook his head.  “Wait a minute. Just because they’re stopping everything going
into
the PSA doesn’t mean they won’t attack what comes
out
of the PSA.  We don’t exactly have an abundance of stealth jets like the one you fly around in.”

“I realize that, Howard.  The one thing they aren’t monitoring is the Pacific.  The bulk of their navy is in the Atlantic defending our borders from the invasion Iran is no doubt planning once they’ve finished conquering Europe.  The safe bet is that Iran will come onto our shores on the Atlantic side and spill into The
Pulse Zone where resistance will be the weakest.  Their navy is twice the strength of ours; it will only be a matter of time before they break the line and make it to our shores.”

Max cracked a s
mile for the first time since the conversation began.  “You want to invade California by sea?  You realize we don’t exactly have an impressive armada?”

“I want
boots on the ground, that’s all.  It’ll be a short trip.  Their radar station and drone base in California is located in Redding.  The radar coverage extends a hundred miles into the Pacific, and they haven’t set up any blockades.”

Howard interrupted.
“Jimenez has managed to keep trade routes open, but pretty soon he won’t be able to export anything for trade. China has already been kind enough to send humanitarian aid, which doesn’t really say a lot about their confidence in us.”

“How the
mighty have fallen,” said Max. “The arrogant nation begging for handouts.”

Richard let the sting of the
pointed remark hang in the air a few seconds longer and continued.  “The biggest advantage we have going for us is that Hal has managed to disrupt the UAE’s satellite coverage of the North American continent.  They can put radar planes in the air, but that’s about it.  Sterling deliberately keeps his planes from getting too close to the PSA for fear of sparking a war.  We can load up our troops on cruise ships without them having a clue.”

“Why not just send a stealth jet and take out the base in Redding?
” Max asked. “We could send our troops pouring in by land.”

“That was my first plan but I’d rather catch them off guard.  We send three cruise ships down the coast and set up a three-pronged attack.  Before Jimenez even realizes what’s happening, we’d be hitting them hard from north, south, and center.”

“Do we have the manpower to pull it off?”  Howard was starting to like this idea.

“I’m confident that
we do.  Eight months ago I thought about instituting a draft of all eighteen- to twenty-four- year-olds, but it wasn’t necessary.  Once I announced the call to military service, men and women of all ages stepped up to the plate.  We actually had to turn away people who didn’t qualify medically.  Most of them insisted on doing something to help, so we put them to work behind a desk.”

“How many made it through basic training?  What’s our total fighting force?” asked Max.

“When you factor in the guardsmen and current active duty from the old army, just shy of four hundred thousand, but that’s not all when you take into account the sympathizers in the UAE.”

Howard was
really
starting to like this plan.  “What’s the estimate on that?”

“It’s hard to gauge, really.  Before the UAE locked down our borders, we had waves of people fleeing into our territory.  Max and his people managed to intervi
ew the majority of them. I’ll let Max fill you in.”

“I wish I could give
accurate numbers, but Richard’s right.  The vast majority of people who fled into our territory spoke longingly of their family and friends and about their hatred for the UAE.  They begged their loved ones to make the journey to the PSA, but they all had too much to lose.  Some feared death or didn’t want to risk the lives of their families. Others were too complacent, not willing to leave the security of their homes. The idea of becoming a refugee in our territory didn’t appeal to some, so they stayed put.”

Howard
stared at the wall, his brilliant mind was racing. “I wouldn’t factor sympathizers into any plan you’re making, Richard, at least not until we invade California and can make an assessment of how large the resistance will be.”

“That was my plan as well.  If half of what we’re hearing is true, all the sympathizers need is a fighting force to
rally around.  I plan to give them one.”

“How long before the invasion?” asked Max.

“We’ve secured two cruise ships, and they’ll be loaded up with troops and supplies within a week.  The third one is turning out to be a problem.”

“Why?  Is she not seaworthy?” asked Howard.

“She’s seaworthy. The problem we’re having is the five hundred people who have taken up residence onboard.  They’re refusing to leave until we can find them a place to live.”

“You’re shitting me,” said Howard.

“I wish I were. They’re living in luxury compared to most.  We’ve tried relocating them, but they disapprove of the new accommodations.”

“What about Senator Wilson? 
Is he able to do anything?” asked Max.

Richar
d rolled his eyes and chuckled.  “The good senator is on their side.  He firmly believes the military has no right to forcibly relocate citizens.”

“I don’t give two shi
ts what Senator Wilson thinks. These aren’t fucking Native Americans being moved to a reservation!  Much more is at stake than some spoiled crybabies living on a luxury liner.  If you can relocate them to adequate shelter, do it.  Do it by force if necessary.”

Richard and Max exchanged surprised g
lances as Richard turned to Howard. “I must admit, Howard, I’m shocked to hear you say that.  The political fallout is going to be enormous.”

“I know. 
Let me be the bad guy.  It’ll give me and Senator Wilson something to talk about next week.”

“Careful, Howard. Y
ou start using the military to strong-arm the population, and people might think you’re the next Simon Sterling,” said Max.

Howard snapped.  When he got a
ngry, there was no gradual ascent into rage; it was as if an internal switch was flipped in Howard’s mind.  “How dare you!   After all I’ve done and all the suffering I’ve endured at the hands of that madman!  He killed my best friend and stole my house!  You have the nerve to compare me to a dictator, a mass murderer!”  Howard’s face reddened, the veins in his forehead pulsating to the rhythm of his pounding heart.

Max was completely shock
ed; he had never seen Howard so angry.  His first instinct was to become defensive and blame Howard for overreacting.  Once he saw how deeply he had wounded the man, he changed his mind.  “Howard, very poor choice of words. I’m deeply sorry.  I was only trying to advise caution.  I understand your line of thinking, but the people do have rights; this could potentially escalate into a major problem.  If even one soldier harms a single person on that boat, you could have a riot on your hands.”

“What would
you have me do?  Renovate a Hilton for these people and give them room service?  You have a better option, I’d love to hear it.”

“Howard, you should only use force once you’ve exhausted every conceivable option.  If you
told them the reason, explained what’s at stake, I think they’d go willingly.  You’re going to Seattle anyway. It’s worth shot.”

Howard
and Richard exchanged knowing glances.  Howard looked back at Max with a wicked grin.  “Looks like you just volunteered to go with me.  Feel free to bring your lovely wife.”

Max massaged his
aching knee.  He wanted to get some fresh air and see the sun, but this wasn’t what he had in mind.  “Son of a bitch.”