Chapter 44 -- WHKVSCCZYZYPMPIFG
After breakfast the next day they gathered in Donald's office. All had watched
the previous day's events until the end, which ended with the task force
departing, leaving a handful of personnel behind to complete the work. What
they did not learn was how it ended. The last television broadcast ended with
the reporter at the scene saying it was over and details would be available later.
More information came through unofficial channels. The league had its own
communications network, and by that morning one of Donald's colleagues had
provided an update. The endpoint they used was in a small rented office in
Chillicothe, ostensibly occupied by a lawyer who only worked part-time. A
small law firm, properly licensed and otherwise legitimate, rented the office
and Donald used it occasionally for communications he didn't want traced to
the farm. He had gotten up early and driven over to access the computer and
retrieve the data he wanted.
"You'll find this interesting," he said. "For the time being this is being
covered up - not difficult considering the situation. But we had access to
witnesses. So here goes.
"The task force, state police backed by National Guard forces, about fifty
altogether, about half and half. They went to the place, a small commune of
what were variously described by locals as preppers or militia members. About
a dozen houses, several other buildings, on the front of a partially cleared
area. How they were targeted we don't yet know - in the other cases we've
seen there was some provocation - members attending political events, writing
to officials or politicians in unfriendly terms, the usual. Nothing for which
they would have been charged with a crime.
"Which is the pattern here. They're not even bothering to try to entrap them
by infiltrating an agent provocateur. Just choosing a target that few will
have any sympathy for and attacking it. And so far it has worked. This time
was different.
"They attacked and cleared the houses, arresting several - no official numbers
yet but probably a half dozen. By the time the houses were cleared - taking
several casualties in the process - a large number of people who had exited
unseen from the back side of the houses had taken cover in the wooded area
behind the houses.
"As the LE types approached the woods, those in the woods opened up on them,
felling a dozen or so and retreating from the return fire. They exchanged
fire for a while, and the attackers, exposed and unable to see the defenders,
retreated and called for reinforcements. They apparently left their
casualties on the field, and it was about a half hour before a Humvee arrived
and was able to cover the casualties. Word is there were at least two dead,
some others that may or may not make it.
"And finally, once two more Humvees with a contingent of troops had arrived,
they set out to clear the woods. Big mistake - the light was bad in the woods,
and they hit a booby trap, killed one and wounded a couple more. They sealed
off the area and waited for sunrise. Apparently whoever was in there had
departed. They're searching the area now.
"For now, that's about it. I'll go over for another report in a couple of
hours."
"How does that affect the timetable?" asked Jessica.
"Alone, it wouldn't," Donald replied. He pressed some buttons on a remote, and a
large screen on the wall came to life. "But...
"While we were otherwise occupied," he said, "this was happening."
The scene they were watching showed what looked like another raid, only less
violent. Two buses, like school buses but painted the almost-black grey of
some military vehicles, were parked on a city street somewhere. Several
police cars were also present. As they watched, a procession - men, women and
children of various ages - was filing out of a door and boarding the buses.
They were not restrained but were being herded by men in dark uniforms, not
camouflage or even solid green, but a dark grey. When they all were boarded
the buses were driven away, escorted by the police cars.
"That's another way they have of dealing with dissenters," Donald said. "The
people there are members of an obscure religious community, the Order of
Malachi, just a small church commune, apparently minding their own business
for the past several years, no complaints from neighbors, just a harmless cult.
A few weeks ago the local media reported they were under suspicion of child
abuse and other possible offenses. Yesterday, while we were otherwise occupied,
the state child protective services, whatever they call it there, came in with
state police and federal agencies for backup."
"Where are they going?" asked Jessica. "Or do we know?"
"In this case no," said Donald. "There are many places they can use, the many
old inactive military installations, the FEMA camps that supposedly don't exist,
denied not by the government but by the captive press. A couple of Council
members, ex-military, have seen them. There are some large facilities with
heavy-duty inward-facing security, so even back ten, fifteen years they were
being built.
"In any case, they probably aren't out anywhere they can be seen by the public,
not yet anyway. Until the numbers grow much larger they can be contained in
existing facilities. As to these unfortunate people, they're probably just
being used as an example, to get peopled accustomed to seeing mass arrests and
not doing anything."
"What does that portend for us?" Jessica asked.
"It means the day is near," Donald replied. "I expect a tentative date to be set at the
next Council meeting, in two weeks. Of course, that's the date to begin
staging, the first operations could be another month or more away. In any case,
it looks like there is no going back. They're determined on their course,
and we no longer have a choice."
Carter looked around the table. This, apparently, was it. For two years he
had prepareing by learning survival skills and practicing working with his
comrades, but how prepared was he mentally? He reflected that he had at least
already fired a shot, even though the war was not yet underway. He saw Jessica
looking back at him with a look that didn't quite hide her concern. She was
not close enough to touch his hand, or she would have.
"At whatever point we begin staging, I'll have Mary and Dalton go to their
safe place. They're prepared, and know what is happening. Essentially, they're
retiring early. They'd rather stay, but it's too dangerous. I hope we are
able to avoid being compromised, but if it goes on for very long every
freehold is in danger of being exposed."
"What about Grandfather?" Jessica asked.
"He's in agreement about the need," Donald replied. "They won't be far away, at
a small place near Spring Hill. Just far enough away not to be connected to
this place. And with Mary and Dalton near he'll be comfortable and safe. I've
arranged for a couple of men to provide constant surveillance, and they'll
know if anyone comes nosing around."
"When are they leaving?" Jessica asked.
"Within the next month. We want them well away and settled in before things
start happening. For now, we'll have daily meetings and stay informed about
events, and I'll probably be in at the office in town at least once a day, for
anything that's too hot to handle here."
They watched the news channels for a while, while streaming a patriot internet
channel on another large screen. It proved more useful, giving updates on the
previous night's raid and arrests of the religious group the day before that.
Donald turned the sound down on the television and increased the volume on the
computer.
The coverage of the raid was about over. It seemed that the search of the
woods that morning revealed several more booby traps, but their quarry had fled.
No more news on who or where or how many there were, at least from the
official channels.
There was a young woman at the news desk on EEONTV when they joined.
"..so it appears that the operation is over," she was saying. "It looks like
the last vehicles have departed - those remaining apparently belonged to the
residents. The gates are now closed and secured with chains and locks, and we
can see that some type of signs have been posted. Gregg Markham is on the
scene. Are you there, Gregg?"
The picture changed to one showing a young man standing if front of the place,
his back to it, a short distance away. Some smoke was still rising from the
houses, all of which appeared to have been burned.
"I'm here, Sandra," said Gregg. "They attackers have been gone for about an
hour, and most of the people living nearby that were watching - there weren't very many - have
also left. As you can see, all of the houses have been burned. That was
the last thing they did before leaving. Apparently they don't feel the need
for investigating."
"How did the operation end?" asked Sandra. "Apparently there were a number of
casualties."
"Right, Sandra. We had some rumors while it was going on that possibly two of
them were killed in the house-clearing, possibly more. And afterward, when
they approached the wooded area back there, they were fired on again and
retreated to wait for reinforcements. I was told by a couple of sources that
they had at least one killed at that time. We don't have anything definite,
and we'll have to wait and see what the official reports are."
"Apparently they were surprised by the resistance," said Sandra. "Were there
any indications beforehand that there might be violence?"
"Apparently not," replied Gregg. "They were actually rather casual as they
entered the area and began going to clear the houses. Apparently they had
gone through a couple when the shooting began. They were more aggressive
after that, firing grenades, certainly smoke, maybe gas, through the windows
before going in. We could hear explosions, possibly they were using flash-bangs."
"Any word on arrests?"
"Nothing official," Gregg replied. "We could see some people being put into
cars and taken away. We don't know how many."
"How did it go this morning?" Sandra asked.
"They returned with a much larger force. There were four Humvees and what
looked like a couple of SWAT vans. There were probably thirty, maybe more
personnel. They spent about three hours clearing the area, and apparently
found no one. It appears they found more booby traps - I heard four explosions,
apparently they detonated them. There didn't seem to be any panic from what I
could see."
"So there were no more arrests?" asked Sandra.
"No, as far as I could see there was no one there. Last night I found a road
around the back, and the area behind the trees is open. They would have been
long gone, and probably were."
"Thanks Gregg," Sandra said. "Next we'll look at those arrests yesterday."