Chapter 9 hspgpjbzokuqhcdggrpaoklifgpxvjbpsihczubjynqinzynnsnhjfptqfu Sir Walter and Sir Andrew led the small group back to the front of the village, where the prisoners had been lined up in five rows. They were spaced about two to three feet apart, and two full squads surrounded them. Restrained, they were no threat, but the intimidation factor was useful. The two remaining Mike Charlie squads surrounded the group, and the remaining men were moving about, making it difficult to count them. "Who is in charge of this operation?" asked Sir Andrew. After a moment, a man in the same nondescript uniform as the others stepped forward. He looked to be in his early forties, and was clearly shaken. "I'm in charge of the operation" he said. "The Justice Department supervisor is over there" - indicating a woman at the end of the line. Myles had seen one woman among the group captured at the orchard - this was the only other one he had seen. He scanned the lines of prisoners, looking for others, but saw none. "Bring her over" said Sir Andrew, and two squad members pulled the two out of line and moved them some distance from the others. Sir Andrew and Sir Walter, with Matthew and John on either side, stood in a line before them. Myles and the others formed a small group behind them. "Identify yourselves" ordered Sir Andrew. Both produced government ID folders and handed them over. The man, it seemed, was an FBI agent. The woman was a federal district attorney from the Kansas City office. Both Sir Andrew and Sir Walter had put on slightly tinted glasses after the shooting stopped. The glasses had small, almost undetectable cameras installed and recording to a small memory unit inside the frames. Such devices were not uncommon, and their prisoners most likely were aware of them, and some were almost certainly using them or something similar to record the event. "I'll make this short" said Sir Andrew. The federal district attorney opened her mouth as if to speak, but before she could utter a word she was staring down the barrel of Sir Walter's .45 revolver. "The first word will be your last" he said. "That goes for all of you." They stood silently as Sir Andrew continued. "By all rights we should just kill all of you" he said. Myles could see he was thoroughly angry, most likely because of the two dead civilians. "That would leave a neat mystery for your masters. However, we want to be sure they know what happened here." He continued. "These people have nothing do do with us, and they have nothing to do with what you are supposedly investigating. And you know it. "Now" he continued "You will clean up and take your dead personnel away. If you don't wish to retrieve the wrecked vehicles, perhaps some of the local population will be willing to deal with them. We don't care how you do it, as long as it is done within the hour. You may call local ambulances if you need them. "We will be leaving forces in the area for some time. You are unlikely to be so lucky as to spot any of them. If you molest these people again, you will regret it. You and many other people." One of the squad leaders approached. "The survivors are in good shape" he said. "A couple of near misses and some cuts and bruises. They've taken their dead inside the church and are waiting to have ambulances to come for them." "Thank you, Chris" said Sir Andrew. "We will be done here shortly." Then to the prisoners, "You have an hour - I suggest you utilize it efficiently." One of the squad members cut the cuffs from one of the men and handed him the wire cutters. "You can release the others" he said. The command group, along with the other men, began disappearing into the woods. They would watch as the attackers departed. It would take a half hour or so for the first ambulances to arrive. Since there were ten dead and none of the wounded were in imminent danger of dying, they would probably put two in each ambulance. There were probably enough of them to accomplish it in one trip. Most likely they wouldn't be gone in an hour, but it should be close. A safe distance from the village, they began preparing to move out. Having checked out of their motels before leaving, they could be back in their freeholds before any of whatever authorities were interested could begin any kind of search. It was likely they would soon trace the action to the area freeholds, and Mike Charlie would be implicated sooner or later. Sir Walter suspected their spy would work out their involvement based on their movements. Mike Charlie would be one of the hardest targets, at least in the States. The foreign enclaves would hard to even find, assuming their existence was suspected. The Mike Charlie men would stay at Sierra Delta until the next day, and then begin making their way back home in the most inconspicuous way possible. One of the advantages of being sufficiently disconnected from the mainstream of society, as many of the Freeholders were, was that their very existence could be difficult to verify. Oppressive as the government had become, it had not yet perfected the ubiquitous surveillance and tracking of all citizens. Outside the cities it was still possible to hide effectively, if done carefully. Myles knew that with the coming war he would likely have to give up his estate. Once he was connected with the resistance it would be a target, and having vacated it beforehand would make it easier to let go. He had few personal possessions that he was especially attached to, and with his considerable wealth hidden in various safe places he had little to lose. Much as he and Sarah loved the place, it was of little importance in view of the greater mission. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ * ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The next morning Sir Walter and Myles departed Sierra Delta on the same aircraft that had brought them. The flight home was quiet, as they were both rather tired and absorbed in their own thoughts. Myles drifted between waking and sleep for a while, then fell completely asleep. In a brief dream he found himself back at Penn Creek, facing the black-clad attackers again. He and several squad members chased a group of them into a space between two houses, the terrified residents scattering and seeking shelter. He raised his carbine to fire as they turned to face him, and saw one of them holding a young woman, an arm around her neck in a choke hold, a ski mask over her face. He pulled off the mask, and her long blonde hair spilled out - Sarah! The man produced a pistol and pointed it at her head. "NO!" he shouted, jerking awake. Sir Walter was looking over at him. "You'll have those dreams. Most men do. As long as the war goes on, and probably long thereafter," he said. "I had one before we left" said Myles. They were attacking my estate. With helicopters." He didn't mention Sarah. He supposed Sir Walter was aware of their relationship, and presumably had no objection to it. Still, there was no point in complicating things. "Those of us who live through these times will always be haunted by them" said Sir Walter. "I suspect it's a sign of you humanity. I'd be worried if I didn't have nightmares occasionally. It's a rejection, or an aversion to, what isn't normal. Unfortunately it doesn't make it easier to deal with." "Looks like we're close to home." Myles said, not wanting to continue that discussion. The pilot had throttled back the engines and they were descending. A few minutes he could see the small airfield as they turned to line up with the runway, and shortly thereafter were on the ground. They disembarked and got into a waiting car, and were on their way back to the Freehold. Myles was greeted enthusiastically by Sarah and Tanya. Sarah must have had some idea of what he had been up to, and was obviously relieved to see him. She held him for a long time without speaking, before finally letting to. He gave Tanya a hug and a quick kiss on the cheek, then said "I've got to get a shower and change clothes. It's been a long day. I expect Sir Walter will be wanting us down for dinner before long." He headed for his quarters, the women following. "I'll get an outfit out for you" said Sarah. "The usual?" "That's good, thanks." said Myles as he headed to the bath. He had a long shower, with more scrubbing than usual. Do I feel dirty inside as well, he asked himself. After all, defending innocent people from an unprovoked attack was not the same as a calculated assassination. In any case, didn't know if he had actually shot anyone. He brushed his teeth again and went out into the bedroom. He found one of his khaki shirts and jeans outfits on the bed, the girls were nowhere in sight. He checked his phone, found a message from Sir Walter: 'Dinner at 1900'. It was 1820 now, so forty minutes to compose himself. Things were likely to move fast after the previous day's events, and there would be a lot of discussions with Sir Walter, and with other leaders of the major Freeholds. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ * ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ He found Sarah and Tanya in their quarters, in Sarah's room. The last half of the six o'clock news was beginning, and the main feature was coverage of the events at Penn Creek. The usual late thirties, maybe early forties blonde anchor - he supposed that was her position - was beginning the segment. After the usual introduction - 'and now, more on the unusual events at Penn Creek, Arizona, etc, we still don't know much, etc.' Myles had found the shallow babbling of the news presenters for most of his life, but as he grew older and found that what passed for news was largely people could never succeed at a useful occupation blithely reading whatever was put in front of them in return for ever-larger paychecks, most of them not realizing they were dispensing propaganda produced by people who would dispense with them as readily as anyone else when their usefulness was ended. He tried to concentrate on the news, it was important to know what the reaction was likely to be, and how soon it would occur. It seemed the news people knew next to nothing. It was likely that the government personnel, as soon as they were free, rounded up the news personnel and ordered them to leave, with perhaps a face-saving cryptic statement. Perhaps it worked, he thought. They had assembled the prisoners well away from the road, and he recalled the view from the other side was partially obscured. The long camera lenses may have showed something interesting, but with no explanation it would be of little use. Besides, they may well have had the memory of the cameras erased before being allowed to leave. He became aware that Sarah and Tanya were looking at him instead of the television. "Is that where you went?" asked Sarah. Myles saw Sarah and Tanya looking at him somberly. There was no longer any reason to hide anything, he thought. They knew the general situation, to the degree they were equipped to understand it. "Yes," he replied after a moment. "There was an operation, a diversion, using a completely innocent group of people, mostly women and children. We intervened, unfortunately there were a couple of casualties among the targeted people, considerably more on their side." "Then it really is a war, isn't it?" asked Sarah. "If it isn't it soon will be" said Myles. "If something isn't done to stop what is happening, by the end of next year it may be too late. Once the constitutional convention is over, the way of life we knew will be over. We'll be no better off that China or those socialist nations in Asia and South America. "There won't be an immediate reaction to what we did, but they now know they have resistance. We hope to buy enough time to bring things to some sort of impasse, while some other developments we are working on are complete. But it will be pretty ugly for a while, maybe a long while." "What about the assassinations?" asked Sarah. "Was that part of it?" "Will a simple yes or no be the end of it?" asked Myles. Sarah looked at him for a while, expressionless. "I suppose so." she said. "Those three people were very bad people." Myles said. They were responsible for the deaths of many innocent people, just like the two who died at Penn Creek. And they would have gone on killing until someone stopped them. "If this turns into a long war - perhaps not a third Civil War, that is no longer possible - many people will die. People who have done nothing wrong, other than perhaps not paying attention to what is going on around them, but they don't deserve to die." "Like we've been doing," said Sarah, looking over at Tanya. "And Tyler," said Tanya. "He was paying attention, resisting, in his way. And they took him." "There are few people willing to do what we are doing, or even able to see the need to do it." said Myles. "Mike Charlie is named for the man who led the resistance to the French occupation of Samora, just after the first world war. His name was Michael Carson, and had been imprisoned and threatened with execution for involvement in a rebellion, which was rather brutally crushed by the French army. "He knew that a small band of rebels could not fight a war successfully, but he also knew the French did not have the financial and military resources to impose permanent martial law on a population of over nine million people in an island nation of over ninety thousand square miles. So he set out to assassinate the personnel they used to control the population - many were police, including native collaborators, others were spies and assassins themselves. The French government had been able to maintain control with less than a thousand personnel, and an indigenous police force of about four to five thousand. "So, with a small organization which probably never numbered more than a couple hundred men, systematically killed the personnel who were essential to maintaining order. They killed one here, two or three there, over period of about a year and a half. They caused further chaos by killing enough of their own people who worked for the French to persuade them to either quit their jobs or just not do them. "The key to his plan was to render the country ungovernable without imposing complete, and likely permanent, martial law. The French government cold not afford that, either financially or politically, so they eventually made a deal. Which is to say that they agreed to give Samora its independence. The total casualties were probably no more than a five or six hundred French personnel and even fewer Samoran. In previous rebellions thousands had died to no purpose. "We hope to avoid large-scale death and destruction while maintaining our freedom and way of life. It seems we are about to learn whether or not that is possible." "Do you think so?" asked Sarah. The sound of his phone signaling dinner time was at hand. Saved by the bell, he thought. "It's time" he said. "Let's go." They followed him down to the dining room. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ * ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sir Walter was their only companion. A simple but enjoyable meal, mostly locally-produced from the roast beef, potatoes and carrots, even just-baked bread. The wine was also made in the freehold - liquor manufacturing was one of Sir Walter's hobbies which also included making small batches of whiskey. There was not much conversation during the meal, but afterwards, over a final glass of wine, Sir Walter turned to business. "I suspect you've updated Saran and Tanya to a suitable degree" he said to Myles. Myles nodded, and Sir Walter continued. "We have some time, I believe, before the next event of any consequence. The enemy will want to do a thorough investigation and assessment of where things stand. They certainly don't want another debacle like the one they just experienced. It's quite likely, though, that whatever happens will happen here. They are surely able to, or soon will be, thanks to their asset, figure out whom they are dealing with. Still, it will be weeks before the operation is launched, which gives us time for a council of war at the highest level." "A League Council?" asked Myles. That would mean a meeting with all nine of the Knights, as well as probably two to three dozen of the leaders of the largest freeholds. Men like Matthew and John, who headed large freeholds with hundreds of men, in a few cases thousands. "Correct" replied Sir Walter. "I've briefed all of the Knights, and we will be contacting the leaders to be invited. That should be accomplished in the next couple of days, and then we'll set up the meeting. Prepare to be gone for several days - we'll be setting it up and making preparations." A meeting at that level was unusual - most business was handled by committees and the small number of participants allowed for accordant operations. Myles suspected that as the conflict intensified, these high-level meetings would become more frequent. "It's about time for some sleep" said Sir Walter. "I'll need you close for the next couple of days, as we prepare for the Council. We should have the venue settled early tomorrow, and you can begin making preparations." As they went up to their quarters Sarah and Tanya followed Myles. "You aren't short on sleep this time, are you?" asked Sarah. Myles looked at the two women - Tanya with her usual shy smile, Sarah's eyes shining with a desire that would not be put off. "We don't mind sharing." she said. Myles and Sarah had never talked about their intimate relations with others. He suspected that she had arrangements similar to his, which consisted of a small number of women who were accustomed to sporadic nature of their relationships. As for group activities, it was not something he had done outside of a few wild indulgences when he was younger - not to mention intoxicated. Tomorrows become less certain each passing day, he thought. No need to get hung up on things like this. He put a arm around each of them and ushered them into his bedchamber. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ * ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Myles awoke early and lay quietly for a few minutes, wondering how difficult it would be to get out of bed without waking his companions. Sarah was in her usual position, her head on his shoulder, her right hand lying flat across his chest. Tanya was near but barely touching him. She didn't seem especially fragile, but he preferred she remain asleep until he was gone, in case there were any regrets about the night's activities. He didn't think there would be, but still better to let the girls sort it out. He carefully extricated himself, eliciting only a brief opening of Sarah's eyes. He kissed her cheek and she murmured something unintelligible. She squeezed his hand briefly and closed her eyes. Myles went to prepare for the day. Sir Walter was waiting in his office, and he and Myles went to work setting up the plans for the Council. They a list of freehold leaders to contact - not a long one as there were nine men to contact the sixty or so other freehold leaders. By noon they entire group of prospective attendees was connected to a group discussion hosted on a computer network outside the country. In fact, it was not even on land. The Stejaq Islands were isolated in the North Atlantic Ocean so far from land and so devoid of any useful assets such as minerals or convenient sites for military installations that it had never been occupied by more powerful nations. The group of islands was home to perhaps a couple of thousand inhabitants who subsisted mostly by fishing, although the climate was sufficiently mild that some agriculture was possible, and the large undeveloped areas were home to fruit trees and a remarkable goat population. Given the great distance from any continent, it was supposed the goats had been brought there as a food source by ancient colonists or passing mariners. In any case, if the herds were not culled constantly they would soon eat all the vegetation, so the problem of acquiring food and preserving the environment was the same. With a population density of less than one person square mile, it was not unpleasant place to live, if the rather long winters were not a problem. The November Alpha (meaning simply North Atlantic) freehold had begun as a small group of refugees fleeing the madness of the greater world, along with an arrest warrant or two. The ancient cruise ship they had brought was not seaworthy, and even if it could be moved the fuel was too expensive, so it remained where they anchored it fifty miles or so from the Stejaqs, and a handful of the hardier members of the group lived aboard, supplied by some land-based associates with food and other necessities. The leader, Arthur Sullivan, had been there from the beginning, and had learned through an them of the Freehold movement, as he called it, and made contact. Politically aligned to a large degree with the Freeholders, their cooperation with them proved profitable. The large and wealthy leaders such as the Knights and some of their peers knew how to acquire better quality used ships, aircraft and other expensive items at good prices, and before long the one ship was joined by numerous others, along with a couple of fairly large amphibious aircraft. Before long the community contained over a thousand people. And one of the League's data centers. It was a perfect place - an attack, at least one focused on seizing and occupying the place, would be seen long before its arrival. And in the worst case, the ship could be sunk quickly, taking it's contents to the bottom of the ocean eight thousand feet below. The relatively anonymous nature, at least for the present, of connections to the various communications satellites and their land-based networks made the seaborne facility an ideal location for especially sensitive work. While there was a bit of latency in the setup, Sir Walter and his cohorts were not annoyed. They were mostly older men who had grown up in a world before the current generation and its need for instant gratification of even the most trivial desire. Besides, security was infinitely more important that speed. If there was one secret to be guarded above all others it was the upcoming Council. So a moderately cumbersome method of encryption was used - it required considerable care in its use, but was absolutely unbreakable. All routine encryption methods could be broken, eventually, with sufficient computer capacity. And the enemy certainly had that ability. With the entire group connected and signed in, they decided to break for lunch, based on North American Central Time, since the majority of the Freeholds were located in or near that time zone. It was possible that a few of them might not have had breakfast yet, or would be having dinner during the break. Myles and Sir Walter went to have lunch with Sarah and Tanya. Both of them expressed their happiness at seeing him with a decorous kiss on the cheek, and a brief embrace. Sir Walter looked on with a slight smile. Myles knew he had a family somewhere, a wife and two daughters. He had never mentioned a son, so Myles didn't know if he had ever had one. While their relationship was practically that of a father and adopted son, they rarely spoke of personal matters. Sir Walter had known Myles' father, and had always been fond of Sarah. He seemed to like Tanya as well, but whether that was because of her relationship with Myles and Sarah, the involvement of one of her brothers in a Freehold, or some combination. Tanya was quiet, almost shy, and that was a charming attribute on its own. The lunch break was two hours long, to accommodate the geographic and temporal differences among the participants, so they had some time to talk before going back to work. "Myles and I will be gone for a while" Sir Walter told them. "Probably a week or so. As always, you're in good hands here, so don't worry about anything. This is a business meeting, so there is no risk involved." "Is there ever truly no risk?" asked Sarah, speaking more to herself than to anyone else. "Sorry, I was thinking aloud" she finished. "In a word, no" said Sir Walter. "Even at the best of times, and these are not some of the best. But that is why we do what we do. We could do nothing, like sheep, and take whatever is given us without resistance. But to some, that seems as evil as what we are resisting - to be able to do something and not do it. "At my age" he continued, "I'm not likely to see the end of it. But you girls, Myles, my own children - I want something better for all of you, and the millions of people who will never know what is happening. Or care. "Make no mistake, we are in for some difficult times. And unpredictable as well. All we can do to try, do the best we can, and hope." He looked at his watch. "We had better get back to work. We'll see you at dinner." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ * ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Back in Sir Walter's office the conference resumed. The main items consisted of selecting a venue and setting the schedule and agenda. The latter was simple - it was necessary to devise a plan of action for the impending war and organize the Freeholds around the plan. The former should be simple enough - select a place with the necessary facilities, ideally as convenient possible for the participants to easily travel to and from the event. In the case of the more remote members, such as the Stejaq group, or the Tandong freehold, would have to travel a considerable distance in any case. The Stejaq location, or one of the other larger seaborne freeholds, would be great for security, thought Myles, but not so practical, as a number of large delegations arriving together, and then departing the same way, would surely alert any observers to the fact that something interesting was going on there. After a relatively short discussion, given the large number of participants, the location was decided. Of course, these were serious men who for whom the objective was greater than any one man's preference. Their conversations were efficient and concise. So it was that the selected site was the West Plains freehold, near the northern border of Kansas. It was not a long distance from the Mike Charlie location, just over three hundred and fifty miles, as Myles recalled. There also were no plains near it, the name being selected to obscure any connection between the name its environment. The northern part of Kansas was covered by a range of hills that ranged from a few thousand feet to much higher levels as it made its way west. They were for the most part covered in forest and were sparsely populated. The West Plains freehold had acquired a large tract of land in the foothills and built their enclave there. The nearest city of any size was almost a two hour drive away, and aside from hunters there was little traffic in the area. The agenda had been worked up by Sir Walter and the other Knights, and was short and simple, dealing solely with preparations for the impending hostilities. Discussions would be related mostly to aligning the roles of the various large freeholds, and the parts played by the smaller ones who would be guided by their relationships with the larger ones in their geographical regions. Not surprisingly, Sir Walter was selected as the leader of the council. The date was set for five days, in order to allow the two to three hundred participants to arrive without attracting much attention. Finally finished, Sir Walter and Myles began to prepare for departure. Although the journey was only a few hours by car, they would want to be there early. After a quiet dinner Sir Walter went off to prepare for the journey, while Myles did the same, with enthusiastic assistance from Sarah and Tanya. By the time they were finished, it was close enough to bedtime that they all were ready to get on with it, since sleep was not a priority for the first part of the night.