Chapter 16 -- HTMRZDYFSOCXEHFWWI
Dinner with grandfather Campbell was as usual, not especially fancy but
no expense spared for quality. The roast beef was better than anything he had ever
experienced, the other dishes equally so. He wondered where it came from.
"There are several small farms around, quite a few nationwide, where people
grow their own livestock and have it processed with small operators," Donald
told him. "They take them the cows, hogs, whatever and have it cut up and
packaged to their specifications. So it has natural food, no chemicals. We
get most of our fruits and vegetables the same way, from small farmers who
only sell direct to the consumer."
Carter remembered that much of the food and Charlie Niner was locally produced
or came from other freeholds. He already knew that they traded among
themselves, whether food, weapons and equipment, or facilities for training.
"If what I've seen so far is any indication," Carter said, "you're a lot
better off that about ninety percent of the country if things fall apart
suddenly."
"There's a pretty good chance our network could survive," Donald said, "somewhere close to
indefinitely, as long as no one has the ability to attack us on a scale that
only the government can, and they'll be too busy with that ninety percent.
Cities full of people who weren't civilized to begin with suddenly deprived of
the basic needs - what will they do?"
"It's entirely possible," said Gordon, "that we may go into a period of chaos
like that seen in so many smaller countries, constant warfare between various
groups, a government that essentially does nothing except try to put out fires,
or what it perceives as fires. The question is whether one of the big enemy
states - China or Russia - will try to take over, or just wait and see."
"An attempted takeover would have the same problems the current government has,
I would think," Donald said. "Except they would be far from home with people
shooting at them from every window and tree. I wonder if those governments
even have a plan, or if they believe the status quo won't be disturbed, and
they can continue exploiting us."
"Once it breaks down, though," Jessica said, "we won't be such a lucrative
buyer for China. I have to wonder what will happen."
"That," said Gordon, "is the question we have to deal with in deciding when to
move. We often think of that time coming when the confiscation of weapons,
the detention camps being populated - what if it is just a collapse on such a
scale that the machine grinds to a halt. Manufacturing and transportation
greatly curtailed or stopped almost completely, the populations of the inner
cities doing whatever they will do..."
He left it hanging there.
"So do we act earlier?" Donald asked. "We know now that the election process
is unlikely to recover. It's gone too far. They don't have to start rounding
up dissenters and guns right away - just grind everything down gradually. That's
what they're good at."
"I suppose we should shut up for a while and have dessert," said Gordon. "Mary's
going to be disappointed if we don't - I suspect there's a cherry pie
or two involved."
As if on cue, probably because she was listening in the kitchen, Mary entered
with a large, freshly baked cherry pie balanced on each hand. Expertly
setting them on down on the table, she returned to the kitchen and came back
with a large bowl of ice cream.
Mary and her husband Dalton were longtime employees of the elder Campbell, with Mary
overseeing the house and Dalton taking care of the grounds.
While Mary cooked, her main job was managing the upkeep of the house with
various hired personnel, while Dalton oversaw the grounds maintenance and
other outdoor duties. Their main job was seeing to it that they came and did
the work and left, and didn't do any snooping. Although there was never
anything to be seen or overheard.
After dinner they went outside behind the house and sat down around a large
round table, away from the house and under a group of very large mimosa trees
trees. They were in full bloom and the delicate scent filled the air. The
house was safe enough for talking, but getting a listening device could be done,
if they were targeted. Every week or so a technician from a freehold just off
the I-70 corridor between St. Louis and Kansas City stopped by and checked
for bugs.
He ran a small technology consulting company in nearby Columbia, with clients in
the two larger cities. He and his wife and two sons were, with about a half
dozen other families and several individual members, populated a small village
well off the nearest major highway. They had houses on large lots of several
acres, with a jointly owned area used for raising large crops of vegetables
and a small chicken farm. All the properties were contiguous, and
the area around them was all farm fields, so they had near perfect privacy.
Several of the members had businesses or jobs in nearby Columbia, which was a
city large enough to provide whatever they needed from civilization, which
wasn't much.
"So, Darrell," Donald began. "What do you have?"
Here goes, he thought. They haven't carried out or even planned an operation
yet, and here I am about to tell them they should do something. But he was
committed, and had been from the beginning.
"We all know what's going on down in Little Rock," he said. "I expect it will
go like most of these have so far - they toss a cop or two overboard to stop
the riots. I've been there, seenin another innocent cop from having
his life destroyed is... I'm more sensitive to this because of
my experience, but if it goes this way it will be a perfect opportunity for,
say, a shot across the bow.
"Here's the general idea. They indict one or more, probably more to be have the best
chance of conviction. Not that it will be difficule there. It's months, maybe close
to a year until the trial. Presuming the guy is willing, we
take him out of there, hide him where he can't be found. We have the resources
to do it, and it's less exposure than sending in a strike force against the
rioters. We're looking at a small team to get him out and into a safe house.
From there is just a matter of keeping him safe, permanently. We have plenty
of places for him to stay, once he has a new identity and appearance changes -
the only they can find him is to get close enough to get fingerprints or DNA.
And if he's one of us, he won't have that exposure."
"If he's one of us," said Donald. "Do you think we should do it only on the
condition he does join us, and is suitable?"
"Absolutely," Carter replied. "I don't like the idea of leaving him to his fate,
but he would have to be recruitable, and willing."
"We'd have time to evaluate, and work on him," said Tommy. "He'd have to
understand he would be giving up his old life completely. Of course, what
they'll do to him on a murder charge - he knows the same things we know. He'll
most likely be willing enough. And with months of time, we can decide whether
we want him in. Of course, if he's not a good fit, we could give him a
fighting chance on his own."
"We'd have to find a way to do that without revealing our existence," said
Donald. "But is seems doable."
He looked at Gordon.
"We have to move sometime," Gordon said. "We've discussed operations to break
up some of the riots, inflict some pain on the participants. If we do that we
will almost certainly have conflict with law enforcement, and in all these
situations, or almost all, they have orders to let the rioters go and arrest
anyone who interferes. Even motorists who try do drive away with these people on
top of their cars, are being prosecuted. As for this being a shot across the
bow, as Darrell says, it would be a good way to start, since we can avoid
exposure. Once we start sending strike forces against the rioters that won't be
so easy."
"Getting him out, to a hiding place, should be easy," Carter said. "He won't
be watched closely, particularly if he doesn't raise any red flags. And he's
likely to be wearing a monitor. That's easy enough to remove when the time
comes, and he could be long gone before anyone notices. I would think we need
to get him far away, quickly, to a safe house. What are the prospects for
flying him to say, Nebraska or somewhere. Apparently we have air transport
capabilities."
"We should be able to do that," said Donald. "We have a fair number of privately owned aircraft,
A few with considerable range and capacity, and even a
couple of helicopters, which could prove useful."
"So," Carter said "we remove the tracker, if there is one, drive him out to a
small airport, and in a matter of a couple of hours he's in a safe house, in
some place he has no known connection to - no family or other acquaintances,
never lived or visited there. When they finally notice he's gone, they've no
idea where he is or how to find him."
"Well," said Donald "we'll have to get it approved. I suspect quite a few on
the council will approve. We're pretty much all in favor of some probes
before we get to the breaking point. This would give us a chance to put some
of our practice to use. The Council week meets after next. If we get
clearance to go ahead, we can start planning."