Chapter 4

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A staffer brought Sarah and Tania in and, when they were seated, offered
refreshments.  They accepted an offer of a locally produced wine, and he went to
fetch a bottle and glasses.  Once they were comfortable and had a sip or two of
wine, Sir Walter motioned to Myles to begin.

"Sarah, Tania, this is Sir Walter." Myles began.  "He and I have known each
other for quite a while.  He is the founder and leader of an organization known
as the Knights of Atlantis, first among equals as they say.  Not to make it too
mysterious - Sir Walter and several of his friends, eventually nine altogether,
formed the organization back after the Second World War.  

"The original purpose was primarily a think tank, to explore some ways to save
the nation from it's continuing deterioration.  Eventually they began to put
some of their ideas into action, which required raising money and recruiting
like-minded men to the cause.  That was the beginning of the Freehold League.

"You asked me what a Freeholder was, Sarah.  You are in a Freehold now.
Essentially, it's a place where people who wish to live with some freedom from
the increasingly oppressive government -- the constant surveillance,
increasingly onerous laws and regulations, and all the other results of a
government that has gone from being the servant of the people to being their
master.  It also allows them to do certain things without being observed, such
as preparing for an eventual war."

Myles looked at Sarah and Tania.  They both seemed attentive but calm, and he
continued.

"After the Second Civil War, there were some attempts to stop the decline, but
in the end constitutions and laws are only words, and if people will not honor
them they are useless.  The founders knew this, and some of them predicted,
almost three centuries ago, that things would go wrong if the population became
immoral and unprincipled.

"In the end we had two political parties which for a time had kept each other in
check to some degree, just as the separate branches of government were supposed
to.  But with the increasing power of the ruthless American People's party and
the Republic Party becoming more inept and cowardly with each passing election,
we finally came to the point where there is effectively only one party and a
monolithic government.  Howard Douglas was the last Federalist president -
elections now are only a formality and everything is decided by bureaucrats and
their financial backers.  

"They have a constitutional convention scheduled for next year, and that will be
the end of even the paper version of the republic.  And, according to our
sources, the new constitution is already written.  The convention will be just a
show."

Myles paused, sipped some wine.  He wished he had a cigarette, but that would
have to wait until they could go outside.  Sarah and Tania sipped their wine and
waited.

"So," he continued "the Second World War delayed things for a while, and it
seemed the rise in patriotism, and the election of a military man to the
presidency afterward, provided some hope, but it was temporary.

"As someone once observed, people in large numbers are intrinsically incapable
of governing themselves responsibly.  A small primitive village, maybe even a
small town in a more civilized environment, might manage it.  But once the
population increases to the point that people who make the rules never see the
people who have to live by them, and can't be held accountable, things fall
apart fast.  

"So you have entire populations literally confined to their homes due to an
alleged disease of terrorist activity, or whatever excuse they decide to use,
the way it is on the east coast now.  And the sheep-like behavior of the people
encourages it.  Unfortunately, it's now past the point where anything can be
done politically.

"Seeing this coming, Sir Walter and his associates began planning a way to
mitigate the eventual result.  Thus the Freeholds were created.  This is the
first one, and Sir Walter is the leader.  There are quite a few of them, of
various sizes and using different infrastructure setups.  They are largely
autonomous, but are bound to certain obligations as members of the League.  That
includes mutual defense, in case of any of them being attacked."

Myles paused again, and Sir Walter spoke.  "Why don't we take a break outside.
You look like you could use a smoke."

Sir Walter, like Myles, enjoyed an occasional cigar.  Myles and Sarah both
smoked cigarettes occasionally, but neither had what could be called a habit.
And not liking being confined with the smell of smoke in the air and on their
clothes, they normally only did it outside.  A door in the room opened into a
small courtyard, and the group went out and sat on a group of stone benches.
Tania, it turned out, was also a smoker.  Apparently an occasional one like
Myles and Sarah, as neither of them had cigarettes with them.  Myles passed a
pack of his personalized cigarettes around and they lit up, while Sir Walter lit
up a small cigar.  He noticed Tania looking at his initials printed on her
cigarette just above the filter, but she did not otherwise betray any unusual
interest.  She had known Sarah for quite a while, and was probably aware of
their wealth.  Customized cigarettes probably would not surprise her.

The cool spring air was pleasant and the courtyard was quiet and serene.  For
just a while, The storm building in the outside world seemed far away and not so
urgent.  But, Myles thought as he finished his cigarette, what must be done must
be done.  He watched Sarah and Tania chatting quietly as Sir Walter finished his
cigar, and then signaled a return to the meeting by opening the door and holding
it while the girls and Myles entered.

"So," Myles continued, "we are in a near state of war, but neither side knows
what is likely to happen.  There are now hundreds of Freeholds around the
country, and in other places, with anything from a few dozen to nearly a
thousand members.  All the members are carefully vetted and recruited, many of
they have military experience, and all are skilled with weapons, and other
useful skills are common.  Some freeholds have aviation services, allowing us to
transport people, and other things, without being noticed.  Many Freeholds have
other locations beside their main site, such as safe houses in various places.
Property is owned by various convoluted corporate entities, making it hard for
the government to run them down.  

"And, we have quite a few people outside the country.  Some of them are located
in foreign countries with the cooperation of their governments, others are a bit
more creative.  You may have heard about people converting old ships - cruise
ships, oil tankers, and such into floating communities.  Some of those are ours.
And some are not, but only we know which ones are.  You can hide all kinds of
things in places where the government can't easily look, even if it knows about
them."

Myles paused, waiting for a reaction.

"How does this involve my family?" asked Tania.

"Probably Tyler's activities were the cause" said Myles.  "They may or may know
about Travis, but it would seem that Tyler attracted the attention of the
government and they arrested him.  In the past they have been more subtle,
setting dissidents up to be accused of crimes, tried, imprisoned - but in recent
years they have become bolder.  They know there is no longer a possibility of
political reform, so they are dealing with enemies in a more direct manner.

"We have people inside the government -- not many, but we do get some useful
information.  Government types can't seem to avoid gossiping.  So we have a
general idea of where things are going, but not much that would help with
something like this.

"I suspect" he said, looking at Sir Walter, "we might come up with something by
watching potential targets, and grabbing the perpetrators."

"Indeed," said Sir Walter.  "We have been collecting data on those operations,
among other things, and they do seem to be happening more often.  We can
probably identify some potential victims and keep them under surveillance."

"Speaking of surveillance" said Myles "where is your sister, Tania?"

"She lives in Arizona, near Mom and Dad." replied Tania.  "Is she in any
danger?"

"Probably not, but we need to check on her." said Myles.  We can have some of
our associates in the area keep her under surveillance, and see if she has any
visitors.  In the worst case, we could intervene if she seems to be in danger.

"Meanwhile, our only prospect for getting a lead on your brother is to see if we
can lay our hands on some government operatives and interrogate them."

"I'll get you some help on that" said Sir Walter.  "Tania, let Myles know where
your sister lives, and we'll get some people on the case.  Myles and I have some
work to do -- why don't you two get settled in and we'll have dinner later."

As if on cue, a man appeared in the doorway and waited for Sarah and Tania to
follow him.  Sarah gave Myles a light kiss on the cheek as she passed, and to
his surprise, Tania did the same.  She shyly turned away as their eyes met, and
followed Sarah from the room.

"Let's go to my office" said Sir Walter.  "We have a couple of hours before
dinner, we can make some calls and begin making some plans.  I've been wanting
for some time to get inside the government's black operations, particularly
these covert arrests.  This may be a break."

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

Myles closed the door behind him and sat down in one of the chairs facing Sir
Walter's desk.  Sir Walter rarely sat behind his desk at one-on-one meetings
such as this, and did not do so now.  He also did something else unusual.
Taking a small whiteboard from a drawer, he wrote on it and handed it to Myles.
Myles read the writing: 

'Marlene Knox is a spy'

and handed it back.  Sir Walter quickly erased the message and replaced the
board in the drawer.  Infiltrators in the Freeholds were unusual, at least
successful ones.  There were plenty of attempts, but rarely did one get in and
remain undetected for long.  Myles' memories of her went back at least two to
three years, and he wondered how serious the damage was.

"You remember the circumstances" said Sir Walter.  Not a question, he and Myles
had known each other for quite a while.  Myles remembered she had arrived with
her husband, a doctor.  About four years, he thought.  Doctor Knox, not that
old.  Forties.  Cancer.  Dead just a couple of years after his arrival.

"Probably a bad apple from the beginning" said Sir Walter, "though it's hard to
say.  We began to suspect about a year back, and allowed access to some
information.  Useless, except for tracing a leak.  Knowing the trap exists is
the first step in avoiding it, so we're just observing for now."

The structure of the Freeholds varied, as did their routine activities.  Some
operated various business enterprises which did business with the outside, even
hiring employees who knew nothing about their employer.  There were several
well-equipped hospitals with a good supply of doctors and other medical
professionals, as well as weapons factories, and other types of manufacturing
operations.  Myles knew that one of the foreign enclaves had an aircraft
manufacturing operation, ostensibly creating an air force for the local
dictator.  In fact, the arrival at regular production was timed for another
event, and the despot was in for a surprise.  

Mike Charlie operated some rather unremarkable enterprises in the open, while
some others were quite secret, as secret as the meetings in Sir Walter's office.
So a casual spy would know about the vehicle reconditioning plant where used
trucks were turned into high-performance off-road vehicles and sold to the
public through some local car dealers, or about the small agricultural operation
which sold organic food at the local farmer's markets.  And only a handful of
the members knew about other operations conducted out of sight and underground.
Literally underground in some cases.

Myles knew she would be fed useless information to keep the government spies
busy.  How they would deal with her eventually was anyone's guess.  There were
always ways to get people to leave and think it was their idea, and that was
probably what would happen.  Simply revealing that her cover was blown would
likely be enough - he knew that had happened in other similar situations.

"Myles?" said Sir Walter.

Myles realize he had become distracted.

"Sorry, I'm sure you have the situation covered."

"Certainly" said Sir Walter.  "I'll keep you updated.  For the time being we
just need to watch her.  The other matter is interesting.  

"We have another young man stashed in a safe house over in Bellville.  He looks
like a likely recruit, but we have to be careful in cases like his."

"What sort of case?" asked Myles.

"He has displayed the sort of qualities we seek, at least to the extent that he
is the sort of person who actively fights injustice, and has demonstrated his
courage in doing so.  You probably remember the Mannis case from about two years
ago - a young man named Rodney Mannis shot by police while sleeping with his
girlfriend in his house.  No warrant, no announcement of their presence - about
a dozen cops just shot up the house, somehow aiming only at the windows of the
bedroom where the two were sleeping.  The girl survived, he was killed pretty
much instantly.  Something like eleven bullets in him.

"No disciplinary action, a quick whitewashed investigation, a report
contradicted by numerous witnesses, leaks to the news media attacking the dead
man, the usual setup.  Clearly he was targeted, much like Tania's brother, due
to his activism.  In this case he was done in by the locals, although it is
possible, indeed probably that higher powers were involved.

"In any case, his brother Jeffrey tried for a while to get the truth revealed,
but got nothing but threats against both him and his brother's girlfriend if he
continued.  So he continued.  With the girl safely out of town, he made himself
a nuisance to the local authorities until they came after him."

Sir Walter paused, waited for Myles to become impatient.  Myles didn't - it was
a game they played.  Sir Walter had become something of a father to him, and
readily accepted Myles in the complementary role as a son.  After a moment, Sir
Walter smiled slightly and continued.

"So, sure enough, they came after him.  Apparently they figured what worked with
his brother would work with him, so they executed a similar operation.  Or tried
to.  Suffice it to say things went wrong in a big way."

"I remember that" said Myles.  "A bunch of cops killed, the perpetrator
disappeared without a trace.  That was what, five or six months ago?"

"Correct," said Sir Walter.  "Having lured them into what was most likely
another assassination attempt, he set his house up as a trap.  The main door was
heavily reinforced, so they tried to take it down with a battering ram.  That
didn't work either, and so soon they had four cops crowded around the door,
three others standing some distance away.  Those three survived."

"I believe some grenades were involved, perhaps some of those East European
YM90s, or perhaps an improvised version."

"Precisely." said Sir Walter.  "They apparently recovered enough pieces to
verify that they were YM90s.  Probably four of them - one  probably would have
been enough.  The survivors recall them coming down from the roof, just above
the door.  There were five dead instantly - he seems to have tried to get the
other ones, but didn't get them far enough out.  They got ripped up pretty good,
but survived."

"I haven't heard of those things even being in the country" said Myles.  The
YM90 was essentially a small omnidirectional Claymore mine - an ordinary-looking
hand grenade with a couple of thousand small steel balls packed around the
explosive core.  Myles knew similar devices were made by the Freeholders, in
anticipation of a really dirty war at some point, but no sane person really
wanted to use them.

"A few have made their way over," said Sir Walter, "thanks to organized crime,
as is so often the case.  Our man Jeffrey is quite resourceful himself, and
quickly figured out how to get what he wanted.

"In any case, as you observed, he disappeared without a trace and all efforts to
locate him have failed.  Recently, he contacted a friend who, unbeknownst to
him, was a member of Whiskey Sierra Two."

Whiskey Sierra Two was one of three Freeholds located along the Black River.
The Black River, marginally navigable by large vessels for only part of the
year, was easily traversed by smaller boats.  The three Whiskey Sierrra
Freeholds, allied more closely than most due to family relationships among the
members, had been built on a stretch of the river about forty miles long.  One
and Three lay on the east side, Two was on the west side.  Looking like small
settlements in the dense forests along the river, they harbored some interesting
secrets that could only be discovered if they were overrun and occupied by
enemies.  Small boats were often used for travel among them.

"That's certainly a good place to hide him" said Myles.  "Assuming they took him
in."

"They did" said Sir Walter.  "His friend, and some others, vouched for him, and
after some investigation and debate they accepted him.  Of course, any new
membership is provisional for quite a while, even if the new member doesn't know
it.  The Whiskey Sierras are a careful bunch.  And of course, if someone goes
looking for him there, they can quickly have him in a boat and at one of the
other sites."

The Black River flowed into the much larger White River, which carried
considerable commercial traffic, eventually joining the Mississippi River.
Trying to keep up with what the Freeholds were doing could be difficult indeed.

"Why do we have him," asked Myles.  "since the Whiskey Sierra crew is willing
to take him in?"

"He's a young man" Sir Walter replied.  "Twenty-three.  The brother who was
killed was, I believe, about four years older.  In any case, being a young man
of considerable intelligence, not to mention courage, craftiness and
determination -- they thought he might be of some help in more active missions.
They don't have much involvement in that sort of thing at this point.  He's
interested in talking to us, and I'd like to have you with me.  We can meet with
him in a day or two, as soon as we get your ladies settled in.  We try to keep
our facilities comfortable, but even so being stuck indoors for several days
isn't too enjoyable for anyone.

Sir Walter walked over to a window and looked out into the courtyard.  He seemed
more contemplative than usual.  It was beginning to rain, and the clouds had
brought darkness early.  After a while he turned back to Myles.  

"We should probably get ready for dinner," he said.