Chapter 7 -- FEQWQTRGQZEFPTGREWFCDMR
"As my father said," Donald began "we are part of a resistance organization. I
know that that term usually refers to something that exists during a war, or
an occupation of one's homeland by a foreign power. In this case it is a war,
it just isn't yet out in the open. We're laying the groundwork, preparing for
the time when this situation can't be allowed to continue.
"How long that will be, there's no way to know. The present government is
determined to turn this country into a fascist regime, and now that
they seem certain to control elections from here on out. They're likely to
have complete control after the next election, not that there is any serious
opposition now. The only thing saving us so far is their incompetence and
that most of the population is so thoroughly corrupt as to be unpredictable
should they make any major mistakes.
"Most of the major cities, even most of them in conservative states, have
become veritable cesspools of crime populated mostly by parasites. The politicians
who have been buying their votes with the taxpayers' money may not know what
to do when the money runs out. We can certainly expect the usual riots and
destruction, but who knows what the government will do with literally millions
of people who have been dependent for their entire lives.
"They won't be coming out of the cities, not in any great numbers. Most of
them don't have any way to travel, or any idea where to go. It's going to be
one big mess, which is one scenario we hope for. Those of us out here in the
country, mostly well armed, can defend ourselves. We just hope the eruptions in
the cities will be starting before the government gets its plans for the rest
of us underway."
"You mean taking the guns? Locking up political dissidents?" asked Carter.
"To begin with," Donald replied. "There are a lot of other plans, but those
will come first. Which is why we are hoping the cities blow up first. With
about forty cities over a half million population, and most of that is the
underclass, it's going to be wild. And of course by then, it will be in our
interests to be sure it does, and encourage it."
"Infiltrate the bad guys, agents provocateur. Something like that?" Carter asked.
"I like the way you think," said Donald. "If necessary, and other measures may
be needed as well. As I said, given the incompetence, and downright stupidity,
of many in the government, they won't know when we arrive at the breaking point.
The fact that we will be ready for it gives us an advantage. The government
will be reacting to circumstances while we are carrying out already prepared
plans."
"You said you're part of an organization. If I may ask, how big is it?."
"It's big," Donald said. "Our organization has about twenty available people,
and we're one of the smaller ones. There are a few with close to a
hundred, but that's getting to the point where security becomes a problem.
"We have operations in, I believe, eighteen states. That may not seem like
much in the way of coverage, but some states are not even worth considering
for our purposes. If we are successful, they won't matter. We have the
entire southern section of the country covered, coast to coast. Along with
much of the northwest."
"You mentioned security," Carter said. "How tight is the operation?"
"I would ask if you've heard anything about us, even rumors. But you've been
out of it for a while. But that's one thing we constantly look for - any
signs that our existence is even suspected. So far, it isn't."
"How did you happen to be interested in me?"
"Tommy believed you would be a good candidate. Aside from the fact that you
seemed to have no goal in life other than revenge, he saw you had potential.
He's been through the mill himself. While we're on the subject, what are your
thoughts on vengeance now?"
"I'd like nothing better than to kill him as I planned. But only if I can
look him in the eye and tell him why. But that would be kind of pointless, no
good as a deterrent to others of his kind. And there are way too many of them.
I like the idea of fighting the entire enemy, not just my personal one."
"As we're doing?" Donald asked.
"Yes. I had no future before, I like the one you're proposing."
"We're all happy to hear that," Donald said. "There's a lot more for you to
learn - I'm just explaining our basic mission. Jessica and Tommy will
be you guides - you'll be spending a lot of time together the next few days,
and of course for a while you'll always have one of both of them with you on
actual missions. Meanwhile, since it's a while to dinner, they'll show you
around the place, and fill you in some more. Dad and I have some business to
deal with here, so we'll see you about seven."
"Welcome to Sierra Verde," said Tommy. "Thats our call sign."
"There aren't many mountains around here," Carter said.
Jessica smiled.
"We intentionally use misleading code names," she said. "Our security borders
on paranoia. Or probably goes past now and then."
"You must be awful sure of me," he said.
"We are. Tommy's a pretty good judge of character. But we do
run a risk in recruiting, always. We try to minimize the risk."
Carter left with Jessica and Tommy, who had arrived in a Chevy Trailblazer
that had to be close to twenty years old, but under a light coat of dust it
looked new, much like Jessica's Taurus. He guessed it was one of the
reconditioned vehicles Jessica had described. It was white, which was, like
the blue of Jessica's car a common color, and thus about as inconspicuous as
possible. Jessica got into the back seat, affording Carter a better view from
the front.
"I suppose Jessica told you something about our vehicles," Tommy said.
"A little," Carter replied.
"Since we're part of a pretty big operation, we have a lot of resources beyond
what we can do here. This is a big place, a section and a half of land, but
most of it is rented to other farmers. There are just a few small parts that
we use. To outsiders it looks like any other big farm.
"We get most of our vehicles from a couple of other outfits. They have shops
where they recondition older vehicles, essentially returning them to mostly
new condition. The idea is to not attract attention. We've got several of
these, and a few of the Tauruses like Jessica usually drives. They're all
registered to the farm, with proper licenses, insurance and all that.
"By the way, you're an employee of the farm. We have a couple of people in
the office that take care of all the paperwork stuff, keeping everything
legal. We'll get you a vehicle - one like this - and we'll have to get your
driver's license reissued."
"There is a certain amount of interaction with the government, by necessity."
Jessica said. "It's part of our camouflage. You'll look like a regular
working, tax-paying citizen. You'll be paid by your employer, which is
MacArthur Farms, by the way. In case you weren't onto our Scottish ancestry.
"The fact that you aren't going to be driving a tractor or anything like that
is irrelevant. Farming these days is such that little time is spent
actually in the fields. There's the planting in spring, a little fertilizer
and chemical treatment, then the harvest. The equipment is so big these days
that it all gets done fast, and most of the time there's no one around. Which
is a good thing."
Tommy slowed the vehicle a bit as they came to the end of a cornfield, and
turned onto a gravel road. Although well maintained and smooth, it did not
have the look of the driveway obviously more upscale dwelling of grandfather
Campbell. About a quarter of a mile down the road were three small houses,
about the size of the ones found in a typical working-class neighborhood. He
turned into the driveway of the center house and stopped.
"This is where I stay," he said. "Not that I'm here much, and you won't be
home a lot either. I'll show you that later."
The houses and the road leading to them was surrounded by cornfields. It was
perhaps a couple of hundred feet from the back of the houses to the field.
"It's easy to go out the back door of the house and disappear into the corn in
just a couple of minutes," said Tommy. "In case there's a need to disappear
quickly when unwelcome visitors arrive. Not much chance of that now, but in
the future it might be, should this place be compromised. We have some other
places around, for hiding things."
He backed out of the driveway and headed back the way they had come. They
soon turned onto another road.
"It may take you a while to learn your way around," Tommy said. "But there
aren't that many roads. Once you know how to get from you place to mine and
Jessica's, there are only a couple of other places. Like those houses. We're
going to your place now."
Shortly they arrived at a small clearing in the fields, about two or three
acres in size. It was dotted with large trees, evidently very old. A small
house sat near the road, somewhat older than the ones they had just seen. It
looked like it had been built in the early part of the preceding century, with
what looked like rough sawn wood and a roof covered with green shingles. Some
distance behind it was an old mobile home, with faded paint but seemingly in
good condition. A large covered porch, enclosed with screen panels,
was in front of the door.
A short driveway led to the house, but there was none to the mobile home.
Tommy drove off the driveway onto the grass, stopping in front of the mobile
home. Here's where you'll be staying, at least for a while. I've got
something like it not far away. We'll get you set up tonight."
He drove around back, and Carter saw a couple of small buildings that seemed
to be suitable for housing equipment or for storage.
"There's a pumphouse for the well, and a generator shed, and a gas tank. In
case of a power outage, you can get by for quite a while here. Winters can be
bad up here sometimes."
Carter saw a tank beside the shed which appeared to have a capacity of several
hundred gallons, while another tank of the type used for propane storage, sat
nearby.
Back on the road, they drove until a crossroads, and Tommy turned again.
Shortly they came to another small open space, this one with an old barn and
like the previous lot a large number of old trees. A large barn, looking
about the same age as the house they had see, was accompanied by another old
mobile home, apparently provisioned like the one assigned to Carter. In
addition there was a newer metal building, about the size of the average house.
A common sight on farms, it was of a type used for storing supplies and equipment.
"This is my place," Tommy said. "Plenty of room for one guy, and anyway we're
not home a lot."
"I'll give you a map of the place," Jessica said. "You eventually won't need
it to get around the farm, but it also shows the area around here, some other
places you need to know about. We've been needing another set of eyes and
hands around here. You'll be helping us with security, more and more as
things begin to heat up."
"You mean on the larger stage?" Carter asked.
"Yes. Until now we've been preparing, providing money for various projects
that are being worked on. But the way things look, bad things may be coming
sooner than we expect. You'll learn more as you hang around with us. Until
you know your way around, you'll be with one of us all the time.
"One more place to show you," Tommy said, "and we'll get back for dinner."
Returning to the crossroads they had just left, Tommy turned in the opposite
direction. They travelled for some distance, perhaps a half mile, before
arriving at a large complex of buildings, grain storage bins, and other farm
equipment. It looked like anything that might be seen on a large midwestern
farm. There were several large metal buildings, probably a hundred feet or so
in length and with the usual wide sliding doors at the ends. There were two
large groups of grain bins, one larger and newer than the other, which was
itself fairly large. A handful of trucks and tractors were parked here and
there.
"All of this," said Jessica, "is completely unrelated to agriculture. The
farmers who rent the land have their equipment and buildings somewhere else.
But this looks like it belongs here, so it raise any suspicions. We don't
use anywhere near all the space at this point, but at some point in the future
it might prove useful.
"So, that's some of the main attractions. Tomorrow we'll start to actually
work. For now, it's close to time for dinner. Afterward we'll get you moved
into your new place."