001

Chapter 3

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Myles got up early despite his late night work, wanting to be up before Sarah and Tania. He had just made coffee when they arrived, still in pajamas. Despite having just gotten out of bed they looked quite beautiful. Tousled hair, rumpled pajamas, bare feet - it seemed there were few early morning sights more pleasant. Sadly, the girls were a complication he could ill afford just now.

"The girls," he thought. "I'm already thinking of Tania like family." Whether it was because she needed help, or because she was Sarah's friend, he didn't know. Probably both.

Sarah busied herself fixing breakfast, with Tania helping her. Myles thought she seemed calm, wondered if she was still sedated. She didn't seem to be - there was no sign of lethargy or uncertainty in her movements, and her chatter with Sarah seemed normal.

He sipped the hot black coffee and stayed out of their way. Talk of serious matters would come soon enough. During the night he had spent several hours in discussions with Sir Walter and his staff. He couldn't remember Tania's last name, and in fact he wasn't sure he ever knew it. She had visited briefly a couple of times, and on both occasions Sarah had stopped by while they were leaving on a trip. It wasn't difficult, however. Springdale wasn't a large city, and finding someone named Tania who worked at one of the few banks there didn't take long. Sir Walter sent a picture of the person they found, and sure enough it was her. Her name was Tania Webster, and her brother Travis was a member of the November Three freehold in the western part of the state. It was small, about four hundred members, initially financed by a couple of wealthy sponsors who did not live on the site, much like the relationship Myles had with Mike Charlie. The freehold not occupied twelve hundred acres of land, which included a ghost town which they had rebuilt. The freehold operated several businesses in surrounding area to finance their community. The connection of the business operations to the freehold was known by few outsiders, and even they knew nothing about the purpose of the freehold.

The possibility that Tyler's arrest was connected with the assassinations was nonexistent. It had happened while they were in progress, and in any case it was unlikely the government had yet connected them to the freeholds. Not that it mattered, Myles thought. They knew enough about the freeholds to fear them, and would likely use any excuse to attack them. It was more likely, he thought, that Tyler was arrested because of his own political activities - or because his brother was known to be a member of a freehold. In any case, a lot of things were about to change.

He watched Sarah and Tania for a minute, then got up. "We've got a few things to do" he said. "Why don't we meet in the rec room in about an hour?" Both girls nodded, and he went back to his apartments.

After a shower and shave, he brushed his teeth, and put on his usual uniform. Myles ran his hands briskly over his short hair, leaving it just slightly disheveled. A royal blue baseball cap went on over it, and he went downstairs to wait for the girls.

They eventually arrived, and sat down at a small table, Myles on one side and the girls on the other. Tania looked better, but was clearly distressed. Best to get on with it, Myles thought.

"I need to explain a few things" he said. "Tania, your brother Travis is a member of an organization which to outsiders looks something a commune, or even a cult to some people. They usually buy large pieces of real estate, a few hundred acres at least, in remote areas, or at least some distance from the nearest large cities. Because they don't allow outsiders in, and most of them don't spend much time outside, they may look suspicious to others.

"What these organizations are, and there are a lot of them, are groups of people who have want to live in a particular way, and live with others like them, for mutual aid and protection.

"One of their primary interests is in the way our society has declined in recent years, and the constant erosion of our liberty. They engage in a certain amount of political activity, but also prepare for the eventual possible, even probable, complete end to our way of life. Which, in the end, will mean resistance. We always hope it will not come to that, but if so the government will pay a high price. They know that, and spend a lot of time and money keeping them under surveillance, trying to get spies inside, and other ways of finding out what they are up to."

Myles paused. Tania's expression was unreadable.

"You said 'we'", said Sarah.

"Yes", Myles replied. "I didn't want have you worrying about it, so I never told you that I am a member of one. A big one. I suspect both of you are now going to have to learn about them, and probably a lot of other things you would rather now know about.

"Tania, it seems that Tyler was also involved in some sort of political activity. Do you know anything about it?"

"Not much," Tania replied. "He's active of the local Federalist party, attends a lot of meetings, rallies, that sort of thing. He writes for some political web sites, has one of his own. I'm afraid I don't know much about any of it."

Myles felt a darkness rising inside him. These two beautiful, sweet young women, one of them his own sister, had not the faintest idea of how bad things were. Yet they, and millions of others like them, would be ground up by the malevolent machine that had been set in motion decades ago, with no active resistance at all since the Second Civil War, and that had been close to a hundred years ago. While the truce between the dissident states and the federal government had included a number of effective reforms, within a generation or two they were being ground away like the original constitution.

"It's likely his activities were the reason he was arrested," said Myles. "And from the description Sarah gave me, it certainly looks like a federal operation. They usually try to catch their target somewhere alone, no witnesses at all. But if they must arrest them, they do it at night, unmarked cars and no uniforms."

"But why?" asked Tania. "I don't believe he did anything wrong."

"Probably not," said Myles. "But the regard for law, never all that great, is greatly diminished these days. Ever since the Solomon's Creed massacre produced no adverse reaction at all, the abuses have become ever more egregious. As long as they can claim that the victims were criminal, or some sort of strange cult, or whatever they can say to prevent the larger part of the population from having any sympathy for them, there are no consequences.

"We are now at a point where the federal government can completely shut down entire cities or even states, closing all transportation services and essentially imprisoning the entire population. They started by using disease epidemics or terrorism as an excuse, now they don't even bother explaining - they just do it. So making a few citizens disappear now and they isn't a big deal to them."

"But they can't just keep him locked up forever, can they?" asked Tania. "Without a trial, not letting him communicate with his family?"

"Them seem to be able to" said Myles. "However, this is the first time we know of they've grabbed a family member of a Freeholder. We may be able to do something here."

"What's a Freeholder?" asked Sarah.

"That's a long story" Myles replied. "Tania, have you contacted your employer yet?"

"No," she replied. "I was so scared, when I got home and found out some strange people had been asking about me, and couldn't contact Tyler. When I found out what had happened, I called Sarah, and she suggested I get out of town. Anyway, today is Monday, and it's early. I can call in sick. Why do you ask?"

"Don't panic," said Myles, "but you may not ever be able to go back to that job. You want to leave on good terms, in case you have to use them as a reference in the future. Go ahead and call in, tell them you're going to the doctor. I can get you a letter from a doctor later, if you need it."

He looked at Sarah. "I'll explain everything shortly. Meanwhile, get ready for a trip, and possibly being away from home for a while. Don't worry about your homes, whether you have enough clothes or whatever - I can take care of those things later.

"I'll make arrangements while you get ready. I know things have gotten crazy all of a sudden, but you're in good hands. I know people who can do all kinds of things, OK?"

Both women nodded, Tania looking mostly confused while Sarah gave her brother a searching stare - not long, but he noticed. Then they turned to go, and Myles headed down out to find Frank.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ * ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Within an hour the three were in the minivan, Myles driving. If he ever needed an inconspicuous vehicle it was now. Sarah was in the front passenger seat, Tania in the second row. They would drive straight to Mike Charlie, no diversionary routes, aircraft or other vehicles. He would have to trust to the efficacy of their security, and to Frank and his men who were running ahead of and behind him, looking for any potential interference.

As far as Myles knew, his carefully constructed shell of anonymity was intact - the freehold's security was even tighter than his own, and to any observer, even a curious one, he was just a young man living a carefree life on inherited wealth, and had a sister who was doing the same. Even so, he could see having to leave Southfork, as he called it, behind. There was no word yet on reaction to the first strike, other than the usual news, which was worse than useless. Especially in this case, since absolutely nothing was known by anyone other than the perpetrators. Still, sooner or later the state would have to do something, and the likely target would be one or more of the freeholds, since they were strongly suspected to be acting against the state, even if in some vague, unknown manner. If his connection with the freehold movement became known, he would have to move inside and abandon his home, at least temporarily.

It was a quiet ride. Myles had promised Sarah and Tania an explanation once they were in a safe place, and the two women chatted quietly as he drove. Frank had him take a couple of detours due to suspicious situations along the route, but it was otherwise uneventful. In just under three hours they were at one of the seldom-used gates of Mike Charlie. Looking like a pasture gate on a farm, it was accessible only by a narrow dirt road a half mile from the highway.

Myles had cleared entry for Sarah and Tania, and the guards - a couple of men in jeans and plaid shirts who had arrived on a tractor - identified them and opened the gate. Myles drove to the area where Sir Walter's house was located. This would be a very private meeting.

They were expected, and one of Sir Walter's people directed Myles toward a garage, where one of the doors opened as he approached. Inside, the three got out and were ushered into the house. They sat for just a few minutes in a casually furnished living area before a member of the household staff appeared in a doorway and motioned to Myles.

"I'll just be a few minutes" he said to Sarah and Tania as he departed.

He found Sir Walter in a small study, with little in the way of decor or any material suggesting he did much work there. Probably, thought Myles, he didn't often meet with people here either.

"Glad you arrived safely" said Sir Walter. "There have been some developments you need to know about, but first let's get your ladies safely stowed somewhere.

"I'm fairly certain Sarah will have no problems -- she thoroughly trusts you and so should be able to weather any disconcerting revelations. Her friend, I of course know nothing about. I suppose having a couple of dissident brothers could be a good sign, but one never knows."

"At this point she shouldn't have any problems with anything" said Myles. "She's terrified, and Sarah is one of her closest friends. She will trust her, and therefore us. Along with us offering some hope of rescuing her brother, I believe she will be manageable."

"Yes, the brother." said Sir Walter. "We're not altogether certain we can manage that. We have never been able to find where any of the disappeared people go. No doubt a secret prison somewhere, but none of our assets have been able to tell us about the disappearances. They must have a small, tight unit handling that."

"There's one way we might find out," said Myles.

Sir Walter waited silently. "If we could get one of our people picked up," said Myles "we could track him.

"Of course" he continued, noting Sir Walter's expression, "we'd prefer not to have them actually succeed in an arrest. We could grab the abductors and make them talk."

"Given the intensification of the situation, you may be right" said Sir Walter. "Our action has obviously produced a reaction, as you may have noticed if you've had time to watch any news. Things may heat up quickly."

Myles had seen some coverage of the assassinations, mostly on the cable television and some news sites, but no one in the government seemed to know what to make of it.

"We may have been too effective" said Myles. "and they have no idea who did it. There is no way to know how they may retaliate - only that they will."

"Precisely," said Sir Walter. "They may, indeed likely will, attack some dissident organization unrelated to the freeholds, even though they know a good bit about us. At this point we can only wait. I suspect they will spend some time investigating, as much for appearances as to actually get some useful information. So it could be a while. There will be some clues in the news coverage, as they still try to show some justification for appearances.

"I do have another item of interest for you, but it can wait. Let's get your ladies in here and try to calm them."