The Independents (11 page)

“While I respect you
r
view of the truth old friend, if we
fail
, I don’t believe history will agree with you. We were very clandestine in our affairs. Even our communications w
ere
secretive and protected.”

Both men thought about that for a bit. Whe
n Senator Moreland first began
his efforts,
he realized the need for some method of communication
that
couldn’t
be traced,
intercepted,
or discovered. This requirement
allowed them not
only to
operate under the radar
of the press,
but
federal and military agencies as well.
Coincidentally,
one of the men joining their cause was a professor
at M.I.T. preparing to market
a rather clever invention to several of the
predominant
cell phone providers. His contra
p
tion converted
a regular cell phone into a satellite communications device
. The professor
originally began the research for the military, who wanted a small transceiver that would work anywhere in the world
without
any land-
based support
. The
simplici
ty of its use was quite impressive, and its
encrypted
signal rendered it
practically impossible to trace.
You merely
dialed
the cell
number of the person you wanted to reach. Simpl
e, secure
, and inexpensive -
the s
enator had
financed the manufacture of almost a
t
housand of the
diminutive
units
without hesitation
.

At first, their secret
communications network was used to avoid the ever-
prying eyes of the press and
competitive political organizations
.
The s
enator knew that U.S. intelligence agencies were occasionally used
by the party in power to scout the competition. The professor’s
device would circumvent any chance of discovery, even by the most capable agencies.
When the grid failed
, their satellite
phones were probably the most sophisticated non-military communications in the world. It had allowed them to organize and execute activities that would have otherwise been impossible.

After the White House had been
overrun
by protestors,
the
Independents
had
initially tried to support the federal government in maintaining
control. And when the
president
declared martial law without
congressional ap
proval, many in the movement
voiced concern, but cooperated. As the situation deteriorated, Senator Moreland had asked his followers to take control and organize only the areas that had been ignored by the military.
More than ninety percent of the country had been left to fend for
itself
,
and without crit
ic
al infrastructure, the help the Independents
promised was welcomed.  

When his people
approached town councils and churches, explained their plan and movement, it had been easy to gain almost everyone’s buy-in. Those who hesitated were shown documentation of what was happening in the large cities
being
“controlled” by the
president
. No one wanted
that
loss of freedom combined with extreme hardship
in their own backyard
s
.

What had really
surprised the s
enator
’s
organization was the ease at which military officers switche
d sides. As one Army Captain
explained, he had sworn an oath
to
support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic
.
A core element of t
he Independent’s message was a strict adherence to the U.S. Constitution. The infamous Patriot Act of 2004 allowed the
president
broad powers in declaring martial law, with one important restriction – The
president
had to “
advise Congress in a timely matter.” This
critical provision
had
never been
executed
. The
president
made no effort to either assemble congress or contact any of its members.
The
president
had broken the law.

There were other motivating factors.
The
demoralizing duties being heaped upon the typical military field officer w
ere
unprecedented. The American people, and often members of their own command, were
treated as
the enemy.
Many of the troops who joined
t
he Independents
were looking for any excuse, any logical reason to make a change.
It was easy to convince these men that it wasn’t the people who were the domestic enemy, b
ut rather a
president
who had ru
n from the fight and had now taken over as a dictator.

When a staffer at Fort Mead
passed along information about the new plan call
ed Operation Heartland, all of t
he Independent’s leadership
was
suspicious
that a spy existed in
the organization.
A
n
almost identical
plan had been initiated weeks ago
in the Independent camp,
and the similarities were
hard to dismiss as
coincidence
.
This led
them to
accelerat
e
their efforts
, especially
the recruitment
of military
personnel
.
Assets, once
loyal to the
president
, were being drawn to
t
he Independents
in growing numbers.

The discovery
that both
t
he Independents
and the executive b
ranch were targeting
the same exact territory
prompted Senator Moreland
to gather the brain trust of his
organization. A critical decision had to be made
. A
nd as is required
in a republic, he was careful not
to make that decision alone.

By the time he was
finally approaching the crash site
, Bishop realized
where he had heard
the
mystery
voice
. As he rounded t
he front of the fuselage, he discovered
the Colonel
lying on his side and a young man pointing a pistol at him with shaking hands. Bishop slung his rifle to the rear and moved immediately toward the injured man. On the way past the kid, his hand shot out like a striking snake and snatched the pistol away from the frightened youth. He ejected the
rounds
from the weapon and tucked it in his belt
,
and
then
knelt beside his old boss.

The Colonel’s words were strained.
“How are you son? I bet you didn’t expect visitors today
,
did ya?”

Bishop hardly recognized the man before him.
“Colonel, how badly are you hurt? Let me take a look.”

Bishop helped
him roll slightly to one side and immediately
saw the problem
. There were
about two inches of metal
shaft
protruding from
the Colonel
’s body
,
right above his kidney. The metal had once been part of the aircraft, but now it looked like
he
had been shot through the
side
with an arrow. Bishop started to ask him how deep the metal was inside him, but
a sudden
coughing
fit produced
a bloody mist
that
sprayed from his mouth and nose.
Shit.

Bishop unhooked his rifle from its sling and unloaded it. He turned to the boy and said, “Do you k
now how to look through a rifle
scope?” The lad
, clearly frightened of Bishop, nodded vigorously.

Bishop tried to soften his voice, but the adrenaline still bled through.
“I want you to take this weapon and go about one football field down the road. I want you to watch for anyone heading toward us from that direction. They may not stay on the road, so sweep back and forth. We need as much warning as possible. The rifle is unloaded, so if you see anybody, hightail it back here
,
yelling all the way. Now go.”

The young man hefted the weapon and started to turn, but Bishop grabbed his shoulder and stopped him. “I
’ll
take good care of your grandpa.
Just one more thing before you go.
Have you had anything to drink since the crash?”

The boy pointed toward a pile of empty water bottles lying nearby.

Bishop held his shoulder tightly, but his eyes showed concern.
“Good. Are you Okay? Hurt? Need anything before you go?”

“No, I’m fine.
What about my sister?
”

“
First things first – there’s nothing we can do to help her right this minute, so
get going. Remember, you see anything odd at all, get your ass back here pronto.”

Bishop
opened
his blow-out-bag and began
digging around inside, not sure what he could
do with this type of wound.
While he was hunting through the contents, he momentarily looked up to
check his patient and noticed
the Colonel
’s eyes
were intently focused on something, and tears running down his
cheeks
.
Bishop followed his gaze and saw the woman’s body lying in the road. Her empty stare was looking
straight
back at
the Colonel
.

What a dipshit I am
, thought Bishop. He immediately went to the airplane and dug around until
he
found a plastic tarp, probably used to cover the aircraft during bad weather. He went to the woman’s body
,
and under the watchful eye of his ex-boss, gently wrapped he
r in the tarp. He then picked her up and moved her
from the
man’s field of view. Something was familiar
about
her, but Bishop had way too much on his mind at the moment to think about it.

When he returned to
the Colonel
’s side, the man
looked up at
Bishop
with pathetic eyes
and
mouthed the words “Thank you.” 
Bishop nodded back and then said, “Sir, I can’t do much for you here. I have basic pain relief in my kit, but nothing stronger than aspirin.
We have to get out of here, and I think we can move you. Is there anything else I can do for you
right now
? Anything
that would
make you more comfortable
before we
head back
?”

The older man thought for a moment and then said, “My granddaughter
, Bishop…I need you to patch me up so I can find her. But right now, I need you to get my briefcase from
the plane
. It has some documents in it. And t
here is food and water in the luggage hold, but not much. There
’s
no gasoline left, we were empty.”

Bishop
went
to the aircraft and
soon
found the briefcase
, along with
a couple of cardboard boxes
filled with
food and water.

“What is your grandson’s name
,
Colonel?”

“David.”

Bishop yelled out to David,
waving
him back. As soon as the boy arrived, Bishop asked him to stay put for a few minutes
and keep an eye on
his granddad. Bishop reloaded his rifle and slung the weapon while trotting off toward the nearest patch of scrub oak. He proceeded to cut several long branches, each about seven feet long
and
a little smaller in diameter than his finger. Returning to
the wreck site, Bishop retrieved
a small bundle of para
-
cord and a large net from
his pack. He spread out the net
and began weaving the o
ak branches around
its
edges
. When he had several of the fishing pole size
d
sticks in place, he bound them together with the cord and tested his contraption. 
He had constructed a sturdy, makeshift stretcher.

Bishop handed David two bottles of water from the boxes and told him to put them in his pocket. He filled his camelback water bladder with another and left the rest. After he had gently rolled
the Colonel
onto the stretcher, he scattered the scavenged food around the patient’s head to put the majority of the weight toward
the front. Next, he hurriedly
collected all of the weapons that were
lying around and hid
them behind a nearby rock formation. He might want to
retrieve
them later.

Bishop and David
each grabbed one end of the stretcher and lifted
.
After verifying David was going to be able to
handle the load, the two began their journey
as the sun set
over the now quiet w
est Texas desert
.