MacArthur's Freehold
Enak Nomolos
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Title - Part I
Chapter   1
Chapter   2
Chapter   3
Chapter   4
Chapter   5
Chapter   6
Chapter   7
Chapter   8
Chapter   9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Title - Part II
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Title - Part III
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Chapter 56
Chapter 57
Chapter 58
Chapter 59
Chapter 60
Chapter 61
Chapter 62
Chapter 63
Chapter 64
Chapter 65
Chapter 66
Chapter 67
Chapter 68
Chapter 69
Chapter 70
Chapter 71
Chapter 72
Chapter 73
Chapter 74
Chapter 75
Chapter 76
Chapter 77
Chapter 78
Chapter 79


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Chapter 6 -- SVWFFDKIKPDAWIR

Before long they were nearing Chillicothe, the town Jessica had mentioned at the beginning of the trip. She continued on through the small town and took a state highway north, and about ten minutes later turned onto a side road, unpaved but covered with gravel and quite smooth.

"Not much traffic here," she said. "This road runs just a mile, which is how wide my grandfather's farm is. It's a section and a half, a mile by a mile and a half. The only traffic that has any business here is ours."

A big place, Carter thought. Almost a thousand acres, and from the looks of it almost entirely covered with corn. But after about a half mile they came to a cleared spot, with what looked like a small village. A fairly large house, but not out of character for a prosperous farmer's house, was surrounded by several smaller ones, all with large yards.

On the other side of the road were a number of large metal buildings which he guessed housed farm equipment. As Jessica entered the driveway to the one of the houses, he saw that further down the road was a large complex of grain storage bins.

Jessica drove up to one of the houses and stopped in the driveway long enough for Tommy to get his bag from the trunk. "See you later," he said and walked towards the house. Jessica took out a small, cheap phone that Carter guessed was probably a burner, given that they were probably into some sort of activity that required secrecy.

"Hi Dad," she said to someone. "We're home. Where's lunch?" then "OK, we'll be there shortly."

"We're just in time," she said. "Lunch is at Granddad's. That's the big house back there."

They got back in the car and drove up the road to the large house he had noticed when they arrived. It was perhaps an eighth of a mile or so long, paved with light grey crushed rocks, but well maintained and almost as smooth as asphalt. The house was large but not so as to attract attention. It had a two-car garage and a couple of vehicles were parked outside. Jessica parked on a small area to one side of the driveway and similarly paved.

"OK," Jessica said . "Here's where you meet the rest of the family."

Carter followed her up to a wide porch at the front of the house. As they approached the door opened and a man who looked to be in his fifties held it for them.

"Hi Dad," said Jessica, the greeting accompanied by a light kiss on the cheek. "This is Darrell, Darrell, this is my dad."

Her father extended his hand, and his handshake was appropriately firm and brief. He was just about Carter's height, a little slimmer, a not quite wiry build, but with a suggestion of more strength than was apparent, and looked as if he would be very fast in his movements when warranted.

"Donald Campbell," he said. "Good to meet you. Did you enjoy the scenery on the way up, or did you already know there's not much out here between St. Louis and Kansas City?"

"I haven't travelled around the state much," Carter replied, "but I knew just about all the people lived there. It's pretty empty out here for a city boy."

"You always lived in St. Louis?" Donald asked.

"Yeah, grew up, went to work and never got around to leaving. Looks like I wasted just about all of my life."

"You mean your work?"

"Yeah, that was definitely a mistake. Didn't feel that way when I was doing it, for some reason."

"There was a time when it wouldn't have been," said Donald. "But the country has gone completely insane, with it being literally a case of the inmates running the asylum. Or more like the prisoners locking up the guards. Sadly, there doesn't seem to be any way to fix it.."

He paused before continuing "...is to fix it, properly, by whatever means is required. But enough of that, that sounds like Tommy."

Jessica stepped over to open the door, and Tommy entered. He had changed clothes, and was now dressed similarly to Donald and his father.

"Let's go on in," said Donald.

They entered a large room, looking much like the typical living room - a couch and several chairs around a coffee table near one end, several more chairs around a large wall-mounted television in the other.

From a doorway across the room another man entered. Carter guessed him to be in his seventies, guessing that he was the grandfather. He was on the tall side, probably six feet, and dressed in jeans and a long-sleeved khaki shirt. His son was dressed the same way, except that he was wearing cowboy boots while his father was wearing casual lace-up shoes. He walked with a cane but did not seem to lean on it so much as to use as an aid to maintaining his balance.

"Hello, Grandfather," said Jessica, going over to hug him. "We're back, mission complete. This is Darrell."

"Good to see you," the man replied. "I'm Gordon Campbell. And you've met my son and granddaughter. And since we're all here and lunch is ready, let's get to it."

They followed Gordon into a dining room with a large table which suggested to Carter the family might have once been larger. He already knew that Jessica had lost her mother and brother, and there was no sign of a wife for Gordon. The meal was just being set by a woman he supposed was a servant, retiring as the diners entered.

There was not much conversation as they began on the beef ragu, salad and rolls which seemed to have been made just in time for the meal. Jessica asked Carter what he wanted to drink, and he requested the iced tea that the others were having. He had rarely drunk iced tea, as he normally had not found it appealing. Apparently when it was made the right way, he thought. Strong and sweet in just the right mix, it was quite good.

Before long the main business of eating wound down, and the talk began. Gordon began the conversation.

"First," he said, looking at Carter, "let me formally welcome you, and then we'll try to answer some of the questions you probably have. It will take quite a while to cover all of it, but if you decide to stay with us we'll eventually get around to them.

"Very briefly, and I'm guessing Jessica has let you in on some of it, we are part of, actually the head of, a secret organization. Our purpose is, as you may have guessed by now, some type of resistance to the destruction of our republic, which has been well underway for quite a while now.

"As you already know, to most of the population, secret organizations are viewed with suspicion and, if they happen to visibly possess power, whether political or financial, fear. Those would be old secret societies like the Freemasons or some religions. As for the smaller ones that appear occasionally, notably the ones that oppose the government, are ignored by most people, unless they attract the attention of the authorities and are become targets for destruction. So we don't draw attention to ourselves.

"I'm getting old, and not able these days to be active beyond planning and organization, and providing financial support. That I can do, as my fortune is considerable. Nothing like the filthy rich who control the country by their political machinations, economic manipulation, and societal influence, but I have more money than I could spend no matter how long I live. So this is how I use some of it."

He paused, took a sip of tea, and continued.

"I'm going to let Don take over, give you some idea of what we're about, operationally. Before we adjourn for the evening you should have some idea if you want to join us."